billiken_roy Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Success often leads to and creates additional success. IMO, Brad came real close several times to turning the program around. If Brad had landed a real 4 to contribute 2 years ago, we would have had much needed depth, an inside game other than IV, TL would not have had to rebound but could have been leading/participating in a fast break, LM would have been allowed to play the 3 and give us some additional outside shooting and IV would not have been double and triple teamed. obi ikeakor was the straw that broke his back. he appeared to have all the physical requirements and had the pre-injury reputation to have filled that need. however, his head and heart were apparently the size of a small walnut. the beginning of the end. had ikeakor lived up to it, i believe soderberg would still be the coach. we should send old country buffet gift certificates to obi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 obi ikeakor was the straw that broke his back. he appeared to have all the physical requirements and had the pre-injury reputation to have filled that need. however, his head and heart were apparently the size of a small walnut. the beginning of the end. had ikeakor lived up to it, i believe soderberg would still be the coach. we should send old country buffet gift certificates to obi. Making Obi the scapegoat for Brad's failures is overly simplistic and downright wrong. Due to the injury, Obi was a bit of a project that was going to take a while to be a big contributor even if all went well. Soderberg didn't even view Obi as a savior or quick fix, that's why he kept trying to recruit fours. He later signed Dixon and of course he continued to "save" scholarships. Soderberg had a lot more recruiting failures than just Obi. After Tommie and Kevin signed, Soderberg did a terrible job of adding to the talent base on the roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Making Obi the scapegoat for Brad's failures is overly simplistic and downright wrong. Due to the injury, Obi was a bit of a project that was going to take a while to be a big contributor even if all went well. Soderberg didn't even view Obi as a savior or quick fix, that's why he kept trying to recruit fours. He later signed Dixon and of course he continued to "save" scholarships. Soderberg had a lot more recruiting failures than just Obi. After Tommie and Kevin signed, Soderberg did a terrible job of adding to the talent base on the roster.It may be overly simplistic, but I do believe it is accurate. Had Obi lived up to the hype, we would have been a MUCH better team last year. Obviously, it's not all Obi's fault, but his lack of development certainly hurt a team who's biggest weakness was at power forward. I think it is a big leap to assume Brad didn't see Obi as a fix because he continued to recruit 4's....he also continued to recruit 1's, 2's, 3's and 5's. You are correct that BS did a bad job adding talent after Kevin and Tommie, but you also have to expect the talent you do have to contribute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbofive Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Making Obi the scapegoat for Brad's failures is overly simplistic and downright wrong. Due to the injury, Obi was a bit of a project that was going to take a while to be a big contributor even if all went well. Soderberg didn't even view Obi as a savior or quick fix, that's why he kept trying to recruit fours. He later signed Dixon and of course he continued to "save" scholarships. Soderberg had a lot more recruiting failures than just Obi. After Tommie and Kevin signed, Soderberg did a terrible job of adding to the talent base on the roster. I miss IkeakorPhan or whoever he was... his pushing Ikeakor as the next Jordan was about as successful as the time Hulk Hogan dressed like Harry S. Truman and told a bunch of Japanese senior citizens that nuclear fusion was "GNARRRRRLLLLLYYYY, BROTHER!!!!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 It may be overly simplistic, but I do believe it is accurate. Had Obi lived up to the hype, we would have been a MUCH better team last year. Obviously, it's not all Obi's fault, but his lack of development certainly hurt a team who's biggest weakness was at power forward. I think it is a big leap to assume Brad didn't see Obi as a fix because he continued to recruit 4's....he also continued to recruit 1's, 2's, 3's and 5's. You are correct that BS did a bad job adding talent after Kevin and Tommie, but you also have to expect the talent you do have to contribute. The "hype"? I recall Obi was pretty highly regarded prior to the injury, but after a very serious injury those expectations had to be tempered. Obi was returning to action last year after not playing for TWO YEARS. There is no way that anybody could have realistically expected him to be a be a big-time contributor his freshman season after such a long lay off. The kid hadn't even played since his junior year in high school! I think even Soderberg viewed him as more of a long-term prospect. The only reason his name was in the mix was because Soderberg failed to land Stemler or any other viable four the prior spring. All he got was Dixon and the open scholarship. That's terrible. Soderberg had many opportunities to land other 4s. If you are going to take a gamble on an injury risk like Obi, you better also have more of a sure thing on your roster to play that position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 I miss IkeakorPhan or whoever he was... his pushing Ikeakor as the next Jordan was about as successful as the time Hulk Hogan dressed like Harry S. Truman and told a bunch of Japanese senior citizens that nuclear fusion was "GNARRRRRLLLLLYYYY, BROTHER!!!!!" I always got a kick out of those posts. Where did Obise end up, anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 The "hype"? I recall Obi was pretty highly regarded prior to the injury, but after a very serious injury those expectations had to be tempered. Obi was returning to action last year after not playing for TWO YEARS. There is no way that anybody could have realistically expected him to be a be a big-time contributor his freshman season after such a long lay off. The kid hadn't even played since his junior year in high school! I think even Soderberg viewed him as more of a long-term prospect. The only reason his name was in the mix was because Soderberg failed to land Stemler or any other viable four the prior spring. All he got was Dixon and the open scholarship. That's terrible. Soderberg had many opportunities to land other 4s. If you are going to take a gamble on an injury risk like Obi, you better also have more of a sure thing on your roster to play that position.Every preseason magazine/article on the A-10 and SLU tabbed Obi to be a contributor. I'm not trying to defend Soderberg's recruiting/coaching/whatever here. Just saying that a lot of people not named Ace expected Obi to be a staple in the rotation. With both him and Horace being complete busts, our ability to make the postseason was severely hampered. I don't see how that is even debatable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 If they pegged him to be a contributor, it's because Soderberg didn't have many other options on his roster. There is a reason he was recruiting Stemler and other 4s the prior spring. I bet most of those preseason magazines also said that the 4 was a big question mark heading into the season. If Soderberg realistically expected Obi to be a big contributor his freshman season after not playing the prior two years, then he made a HUGE screw up. But based on the way Soderberg was trying to recruit 4s the prior sping, I don't think that's what Soderberg expected out of Obi. Soderberg had other failures not named Obi. For Roy to put the demise of Soderberg on one player is ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOSLU68 Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Outside of the Gonzaga game at the Scottrade Center, it's difficult to come up with many instances in which Brad's decisions and adjustments helped put us in a position to win (and we still didn't even win the Gonzaga game). A-10 has very good coaches and Brad was outcoached; Brad seemed to have no second half adjustment. To give him his due: without media or administrative support enjoyed by Romar and Spoon he wasn't bad even if his style was boring. His teams did not play with bursts of emotion to take over games. RM has a real reputation going for him and we are about to find out if RM can coach Brad's players Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbofive Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 A-10 has very good coaches and Brad was outcoached; Brad seemed to have no second half adjustment. To give him his due: without media or administrative support enjoyed by Romar and Spoon he wasn't bad even if his style was boring. His teams did not play with bursts of emotion to take over games. RM has a real reputation going for him and we are about to find out if RM can coach Brad's players Best point I've heard in awhile... can RM coach BRAD'S players? I think he can, but it's more a question of will they be coached, and how much talent is really hidden there below the surface. This isn't exactly turning Laney Boggs into the prom queen. This gurl has awesome assets in the back, two mismatched, unknown parts up top and a wheezing, sloppy, raw jumble of who knows what down low. She's getting some really awesome new makeup and maybe even some plastic surgery for X-mas, but until then she's just going to have to make do w/ the Target® Big Girls® Starter Kit that dad gave her right before mom kicked him out of the house, cashed in the savings bonds and opened the front door to the Sausage King. If that makes sense to anyone, I'll be impressed, it barely makes sense to me right now. Was at the office until 9 last night and I'm still all wobberjawed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinfootes Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Brad Soderberg would never land a high profile black recruit ever. Those are the players that bring talent to win championships. TL only because he lives 5 minutes away. Players now go with coaches that are able to relate to them. Look at Bob Huggins. Brad was some bum Christian idealist who sends photo shop edit afro pics of himself to get Scott Suggs, HOW DID WE NOT GET HIM after that? You have to be kidding me. Was he trying to make this program a joke. Small time people land small time players and run small time programs. We were, but no longer..... BECAUSE BRAD IS GONE~! "Losers whine about trying their best, winners go home and f the prom queen" So are you saying Tommie Liddell wasn't high profile or that he isn't black? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 A-10 has very good coaches and Brad was outcoached; Brad seemed to have no second half adjustment. To give him his due: without media or administrative support enjoyed by Romar and Spoon he wasn't bad even if his style was boring. His teams did not play with bursts of emotion to take over games. RM has a real reputation going for him and we are about to find out if RM can coach Brad's players I agree that finding out if Rick can coach UB's kids is an interesting take on the situation, but one without an answer if the question is what would UB have done with this team. Ever. I find it interesting that on Oct 16 we are still debating what would UB do? One similarity i see between UB and Rick is they are both very headstrong. You can get away with that if you are on a certain level, we will find out if Rick is still on that level (he better be!!!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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