Today, This Bills Team Is Less Talented Than Last Year

[aj_arete]

If Knollmeyer contributes one minute a game, then Majerus will really have to work some magic to prevent his first losing season. I recognize that many of you took some positives in competing with the big, bad Pitt Panthers and I thought SLU, with the exception of turnovers, gave a great effort. I agree that Pitt is a formidable team, but this current roster is a bit disconcerting. However, I look down the road. With the grinding season just ahead of us, I see Lisch and Liddell wearing down. I expected Knollmeyer to be a solid contributor for 10-15 minutes. It's early and Majerus could be sending him a message, but without him this team is not as talented as last year's edition. While Vouyoukas had a disappointing senior year, his presence down low created more space for Lisch and Liddell to operate. I don't see Eberhardt, filling that role.

By the way, how long is Mitchell out? The season is young and no conclusions should be made, but as of today this year's edition would get beat by last year's edition. By the way, Soderberg is being underrated by posters here. He couldn't recruit, but he got a lot out of his teams and I don't see Majerus getting too much more THIS year.

Before I get mischaracterized by the usual "suspects", I do believe the future at SLU is bright and this will be a brief bump in the road.

[BIG BILL FAN]

If Knollmeyer contributes one minute a game, then Majerus will really have to work some magic to prevent his first losing season. I recognize that many of you took some positives in competing with the big, bad Pitt Panthers and I thought SLU, with the exception of turnovers, gave a great effort. I agree that Pitt is a formidable team, but this current roster is a bit disconcerting. However, I look down the road. With the grinding season just ahead of us, I see Lisch and Liddell wearing down. I expected Knollmeyer to be a solid contributor for 10-15 minutes. It's early and Majerus could be sending him a message, but without him this team is not as talented as last year's edition. While Vouyoukas had a disappointing senior year, his presence down low created more space for Lisch and Liddell to operate. I don't see Eberhardt, filling that role.

By the way, how long is Mitchell out? The season is young and no conclusions should be made, but as of today this year's edition would get beat by last year's edition. By the way, Soderberg is being underrated by posters here. He couldn't recruit, but he got a lot out of his teams and I don't see Majerus getting too much more THIS year.

Before I get mischaracterized by the usual "suspects", I do believe the future at SLU is bright and this will be a brief bump in the road.

I don't know why any on here thought Knollmeyer was going to be a contributor. There was a reason Brad didn't play him last year.....Yeah, I know Brian and Taj, he is still better than Harrrellson would have been.

[Bay Area Billiken]

I share some of these concerns re the bigs, the 4 and 5 positions. I think Eberhardt will prove to be ok at the 4 in the A-10. The biggest question mark is the 5, the Center position.

This being said, I disagree that SLU is about to have a losing season. I think SLU will have a winning season and be on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. SLU is strong at guard, and Tommie Liddell will eventually get his game going. Kevin Lisch is obviously a fine ballplayer, as is Luke Meyer. And Paul Eckerle looks to be a keeper coming off the bench, small in stature, but a fine shooter.

I may be in the minority, but I still think Liddell is more valuable playing the wing as a slashing 2 or 3, as opposed to the point guard.

The A-10 is a guard's league. I know that Fordham has a big horse at Center in 6'8" Bryant Dunston and saw him before a practice recently. He will be a load with which to deal. Xavier has some people. But as far as I know, only Dunston would be anything like what Pitt had yesterday.

I'm pretty sure that Pitt will prove to be the best team SLU plays this season. And SLU was right in that game with Pitt yesterday for 2/3 of that game on Pitt's home floor, where Pitt virtually never loses.

[3star_recruit]

I think Eberhardt is comparable to Ian offensively but he isn't the rebounder Ian was -- advantage Ian

Polk, Lisch, Liddell, Meyer and Husak under a Hall of Fame coach should be slighly better than last year -- advantage this year's squad

Eckerle + Relphorde > Brown

Knolmeyer < JJ

Mitchell is a better all-around talent than Maguire but because of the crowd at the guard spots he might get squeezed out.

I think it's a wash.

[3star_recruit]

But as far as I know, only Dunston would be anything like what Pitt had yesterday.

Dayton's frosh Chris Wright isn't the widebody Blair is but with his crazy athleticism and ability to go inside-out, I think he's just as dangerous.

[ACE]

Thank God we have AJ to tell us that we might have trouble competing against big, physical teams. I mean, I have never heard a SLU fan say this before. What brilliant observations from an astutute basketball mind. If it wasn't for AJ, I don't think any of us would know that our frontline could be a potential weakness.

[Clock_Tower]

If Knollmeyer contributes one minute a game, then Majerus will really have to work some magic to prevent his first losing season. I recognize that many of you took some positives in competing with the big, bad Pitt Panthers and I thought SLU, with the exception of turnovers, gave a great effort. I agree that Pitt is a formidable team, but this current roster is a bit disconcerting. However, I look down the road. With the grinding season just ahead of us, I see Lisch and Liddell wearing down. I expected Knollmeyer to be a solid contributor for 10-15 minutes. It's early and Majerus could be sending him a message, but without him this team is not as talented as last year's edition. While Vouyoukas had a disappointing senior year, his presence down low created more space for Lisch and Liddell to operate. I don't see Eberhardt, filling that role.

By the way, how long is Mitchell out? The season is young and no conclusions should be made, but as of today this year's edition would get beat by last year's edition. By the way, Soderberg is being underrated by posters here. He couldn't recruit, but he got a lot out of his teams and I don't see Majerus getting too much more THIS year.

Before I get mischaracterized by the usual "suspects", I do believe the future at SLU is bright and this will be a brief bump in the road.

AJ. A few comments:

1.You mention you "expected" AK to be a solid contributor for 10-15 minutes. Why? Because he is a sophomore (a year older) or because he has talent and skill? Instead, did you "hope" he would be solid contributor for 10-15 mintutes?

2. Early in the season last year, Brad coached our team against Tex A&M - another top-rated team, on their home floor and as part of an early season tourney? If last night was any indication, RM will get much more out of these guys than Brad did.

3. Team played well last night. Defense was good. Have not seen such defensive effort since the early Soderberg years. Way too early to make such comments about RM for this year.

4. TL played better defense last night than he did last year. IV, as you concede, underperformed. How do these 2 examples indicate that Brad got more out of his players than RM?

5. Will this team be better than last? I am not so sure but will wait for games to have been played before passing judgment. BE and BH, as I commented in another thread, gave us a better or "deeper" look at the 4 and 5. At this point, I am not convinced BH can play at a top level the whole season. If AK, AM and MR don't step-up this year, the result will be similar to last year. A talented core of key players will win many games but, eventually, will wear down. KL and TL just cannot play 37 or 38 minutes per game and be at their best the end of the year.

[TheA_Bomb]

Last year SLU played in a 3 game tournament and stuggled a bit then got blown out against a ranked team at their house.

This year SLU played in a 3 game tournament and did well keeping it close till the end against a ranked team at their house.

Hmmm.

aTm last year is better than PITT, I think, but the scenarios are still comparable.

Eberhardt is playing well, Meyer is still here, Husak is getting some minutes, TLIII KL still out there, hall of fame coach who never had a losing season on the sidelines with a much improved assistant coaching staff, Chartered flights, easier schedule, lots of reasons this team will be better or equal to last year.

Your storm cloud will not dampen my optimism which is based on reason. Now go back and check the paper to see which Tiger is currently in jail.

[jjray]

I think this weekend Knollmeyer was passed in the rotation by Relphorde. He's thin but gives us more than Adam and using Relphorde at 4 allows Luke to play more 3. Eckerle's ability to knock down the open 3 off the bench is something this team has been looking for forever. Danny Brown was supposed to be that guy but he was a turnover machine who couldn't defend. I was surprised that Eckerle didn't look out of place defensively in the Pitt game. Bryce was the disappointment for me in the Pitt game ... but he's barely practiced so what should one expect? But Barry is the PF we have been searching for all these years only to find him at a time when we have no center. Such is the life of a Billiken fan.

[Bay Area Billiken]

Dayton's frosh Chris Wright isn't the widebody Blair is but with his crazy athleticism and ability to go inside-out, I think he's just as dangerous.

I just checked out this Chris Wright of Dayton- 6'8" 214 lb. freshman. Wright had 22 points and 11 rebounds in Dayton's opening 78-74 home court win over East Tennessee State. So yes, it looks like Wright will be a force.

[TheChosenOne]

At this point in the season as compared to last season it is tough to say which team is better and I really don't see any real point in doing so. We have a new coach who has had little time to get his system in place and to really see what he has in different guys.

Last years team beat two bad teams and got manhandled by a very good A&M team. This years team beat two bad teams before getting beat by a good Pitt team. We did not even give A&M a game last year, but they were the type of team with their pressure defense and fast break offense that could really bury you. Pitt is not that kind of a team. They have some nice players, but they are no A&M. We played them tough which is good to see. The loss to A&M seemed to really hurt the team last year and Ian never really seemed to recover from that game. Maybe Ian's senior season would have gone differently had he performed well against Joseph Jones and AK. Lat night's loss to Pitt was certainly not a loss to hang your head after and that at least puts us in a better position than last season in my opinion.

I watched the game last night and I saw many things offensively that looked like the Sodie days. We seem to pass the ball around the perimeter and dribble without real purpose. It does not seem like we have many guys who catch the ball and are looking to make a play. It looks like we are always playing against a zone with guys just passing it around the perimeter. I really hope that changes, but some of it may be the lack of playmakers and that may not change till we get guys in like Kwamain who have that ability. Lisch seems capable of making plays at times but not consistently and Tommie certainly has the ability but does not seem to have that killer instinct. Polk has speed but he seldom goes to the basket to make a play for himself or a teammate. Also, I am not a fan of our power forwards and specifically Barry from last night having the ball in their hands and looking to make plays for the offense. There is a reason they are post players and not guards, they do not have the ability to create offense 20 feet from the basket. Too many bad decisions last night that led to turnovers.

I still do not understand all of the praise for Barry. I think he finishes well on the offensive end, but he does not give this team what I was hoping he would bring. He is not the physical power forward this team so desparately needs. He seems to lack toughness overall and really does not battle down low. It is good we play in the A-10 and a conference we can get by without much inside presense. I think Barry will give us some points, but we will continue to get dominated by any tough physical post player.

[Billikan]

I agree with the proposition that Pitt is not the team that A and M was last year. They are young and learning at several positions while A and M was experienced and had great leadership. However, they will probably improve a lot as the season progresses.

In terms of the effort, I thought most played hard for most of the game but I was distressed by the number of bonehead plays and the breakdowns on defense, particularly when Polk guarded Fields. Thank the lord for Luke, Tommie and Kevin because they will rebound with anyone their size and bigger. Our "bigs" do not play big. Bryce looks like he is getting better but he needs to get a lot better. I think that BE is a classic juco transfer. He has some nice size and ability around the basket but his passing is not good and he is not tough in the paint. If he played as tough as Luke he would get 10 or more rebounds a game. As was the case often last year, we do not seem to look first to pass the ball in to the post and our entry passes are low or to the wrong hand.

Anyone who thinks that Eckerle cannot play at this level should have watched the game yesterday. He plays with heart and intensity and as opposed to Polk he can actually hit the outside shots. Dwayne is still needed for his speed and defense but he really struggled yesterday.

On about 30% of the plays we looked like we knew what we wanted to do on offense and executed fairly well. The other 70% of the time we looked lost with no ball movement or effective plays. The defense is good enough and it will get better with Mitchell playing but the offense is a long way from being what we will need.

Based upon yesterday, I would say that this team will be middle of the pack in the A 10 and will really struggle to win 20 games. But that could all change if the coach can get his team into his offense. The future is bright and I hope we can improve this year! Go Bills.

[brianstl]

I don't know why any on here thought Knollmeyer was going to be a contributor. There was a reason Brad didn't play him last year.....Yeah, I know Brian and Taj, he is still better than Harrrellson would have been.

BBF Harrellson is not on this team. There is a good chance he will never be on the team. Take your Harrellson man crush to the SWIC board or to STL Hoops Insider.

[Clock_Tower]

I agree with the proposition that Pitt is not the team that A and M was last year. They are young and learning at several positions while A and M was experienced and had great leadership. However, they will probably improve a lot as the season progresses.

In terms of the effort, I thought most played hard for most of the game but I was distressed by the number of bonehead plays and the breakdowns on defense, particularly when Polk guarded Fields. Thank the lord for Luke, Tommie and Kevin because they will rebound with anyone their size and bigger. Our "bigs" do not play big. Bryce looks like he is getting better but he needs to get a lot better. I think that BE is a classic juco transfer. He has some nice size and ability around the basket but his passing is not good and he is not tough in the paint. If he played as tough as Luke he would get 10 or more rebounds a game. As was the case often last year, we do not seem to look first to pass the ball in to the post and our entry passes are low or to the wrong hand.

Anyone who thinks that Eckerle cannot play at this level should have watched the game yesterday. He plays with heart and intensity and as opposed to Polk he can actually hit the outside shots. Dwayne is still needed for his speed and defense but he really struggled yesterday.

On about 30% of the plays we looked like we knew what we wanted to do on offense and executed fairly well. The other 70% of the time we looked lost with no ball movement or effective plays. The defense is good enough and it will get better with Mitchell playing but the offense is a long way from being what we will need.

Based upon yesterday, I would say that this team will be middle of the pack in the A 10 and will really struggle to win 20 games. But that could all change if the coach can get his team into his offense. The future is bright and I hope we can improve this year! Go Bills.

Good points.

With regard to BE, as I mentioned, yesterday was my first time watching him. Still too early to make judgments on him, RM and the team. At the same time, maybe my expectations were so low that BE kind of surprised me. Most JUCOs take a good 10 games, at a minimum, to figure things out. Alot to ask BE... replace IV and carry the team with little other interior help. If playing time and performance were based upon seniority, BH and AK should be the starters with BE adding valuable minutes. Instead, BE appears to be the starter with BH and AK expected to add a few minutes thereto. A lot to ask of anyone new to the program - JUCO, transfer or freshman.

Kind of makes you wonder. Without the miracle hiring of RM and his ability to land BE, it was my understanding that BE had turned SLU down and was going to Dayton. If that were the case, Brad would be trotting out BH and AK and we'd all be hoping that MR can help out. We're sure better off than where I thought we'd be 10 months ago.

[billiken_roy]

i dont think eberhardt will make us forget anthony bonner, the greatest power forward ever to be a billiken, but i think eberhardt is going to be a very effective player. i think he is going to be at least somewhere between quitman dillard and donnie dobbs in more ways than just production. i think his style of play is going to also be somewhat of a cross between those two players.

considering our power forward luck since donnie dobbs left slu over a decade ago, i'd take a dobbs/dillard cross.

[slufanskip]

Good points.

With regard to BE, as I mentioned, yesterday was my first time watching him. Still too early to make judgments on him, RM and the team. At the same time, maybe my expectations were so low that BE kind of surprised me. Most JUCOs take a good 10 games, at a minimum, to figure things out. Alot to ask BE... replace IV and carry the team with little other interior help. If playing time and performance were based upon seniority, BH and AK should be the starters with BE adding valuable minutes. Instead, BE appears to be the starter with BH and AK expected to add a few minutes thereto. A lot to ask of anyone new to the program - JUCO, transfer or freshman.

Kind of makes you wonder. Without the miracle hiring of RM and his ability to land BE, it was my understanding that BE had turned SLU down and was going to Dayton. If that were the case, Brad would be trotting out BH and AK and we'd all be hoping that MR can help out. We're sure better off than where I thought we'd be 10 months ago.

From a very good source ... BE was coming to SLU and would have committed within days had Brad not left.

It doesn't matter though BE is here.

[Clock_Tower]

From a very good source ... BE was coming to SLU and would have committed within days had Brad not left.

It doesn't matter though BE is here.

Interesting. Along these same lines, wasn't there speculation that he turned SLU down? I kind of remember hearing a rumor as well as post on this Board, albeit incorrect as you mention, to that effect. Or am I thinking of someone else?

[BIG BILL FAN]

BBF Harrellson is not on this team. There is a good chance he will never be on the team. Take your Harrellson man crush to the SWIC board or to STL Hoops Insider.

Hey Brian, I will take my man crush elsewhere if you quit offering your uninformed and idiotic opinions about Harrellson.

[3star_recruit]

Interesting. Along these same lines, wasn't there speculation that he turned SLU down? I kind of remember hearing a rumor as well as post on this Board, albeit incorrect as you mention, to that effect. Or am I thinking of someone else?

P diddy said at the time that Eberhardt was coming if Brad was still the coach. Thiago Cordiero, a kid we were recruiting, did end up at Dayton though.

[slufanskip]

Interesting. Along these same lines, wasn't there speculation that he turned SLU down? I kind of remember hearing a rumor as well as post on this Board, albeit incorrect as you mention, to that effect. Or am I thinking of someone else?

There may have been speculation, but as you probably know many things on this board get tossed about due to what one person who may or may not have a clue. People were pretty down on UB so it didn't take much to get the ball rolling. Like the 7 visits with Stemler thing. It's ridiculous.

I assure you my source is good. BE was coming with Brad as the coach. He's lucky though, he ended up still at the school he wanted to attend, and with a better coach ...

[GOSLU68]

BE passing cross court was almost as bad as Danny Brown two years ago and DB was worse

in my opinion last year whether that was injury related or not.

BE was very good for us against Pitt, none the less.

BE can finish near the basket, that is a big plus.

TL was not able to get free. He reminds me of Monroe Douglas who was a great freshman

and sophomore but did not continue to improve under Grawer. I'm hoping TL listens to RM

and continues to improve. His soph year was certainly great.

We seemed to lack an offensive rhythm and RM acknowledged that.

KL can not carry this team without 2 other offensive players.

For a freshman Eckerle looked good-but undersized and a step slow against the

quality of the Pitt players. He should be better against MO State or Valley teams, possible

exception SIU.

I thought for being hurt BH has hustled and looks like he has better focus and out rebounded BE

Polk was 2 of 3 against Pitt but not the 35 minute player you would expect of a senior.

Here is hoping we get more from AK, MR, AM as the season goes on. AM has great speed and

instinct for the ballgame. MR needs playing time. He has not gotten into the flow as yet.

[bauman]

BE passing cross court was almost as bad as Danny Brown two years ago and DB was worse

in my opinion last year whether that was injury related or not.

BE was very good for us against Pitt, none the less.

BE can finish near the basket, that is a big plus.

TL was not able to get free. He reminds me of Monroe Douglas who was a great freshman

and sophomore but did not continue to improve under Grawer. I'm hoping TL listens to RM

and continues to improve. His soph year was certainly great.

We seemed to lack an offensive rhythm and RM acknowledged that.

KL can not carry this team without 2 other offensive players.

For a freshman Eckerle looked good-but undersized and a step slow against the

quality of the Pitt players. He should be better against MO State or Valley teams, possible

exception SIU.

I thought for being hurt BH has hustled and looks like he has better focus and out rebounded BE

Polk was 2 of 3 against Pitt but not the 35 minute player you would expect of a senior.

Here is hoping we get more from AK, MR, AM as the season goes on. AM has great speed and

instinct for the ballgame. MR needs playing time. He has not gotten into the flow as yet.

A few unrelated points:

Your TL/MD comparison is interesting-they are very similar players about the same size with similar skills-both can sky and rebound-TL seems to be better going to the hoop while I seem to remember Monroe being a better jump shooter, although TL has certainly come a long way in a year.

Conclusions from watching the Pitt game twice:

As with many of you, I am pleased with BE-he is more athletic than I expected-not as bulky as you would think for 250 lbs., BUT at least at this point I am concerned about his rebounding-I thought he would be a beast on the boards, but at least in the PITT game I didn't see it.

Not sure where the PE "undersized and a step slow" is coming from-didn't see either one of those as an issue-just see PE as a very welcome addition to the rotation, a guy who is a threat from outside, much like I think we were hoping Matt Roth would be. I never saw PE in HS, but he is much better than I expected-he gives us that other outside threat that, as of now, nobody else is giving the team. We know he is smart, but he also looks to be basketball smart.

BH will be ok, not great, but ok and I think we can live with 20-25 minutes of that so long as the other pieces of the team play up to their ability. Hope we see more out of MR, AK and AM (is he hurt?).

I love KL, but I was not impressed with his results against PITT-too many turnovers for our rock-solid team leader and not good enough shooting in the first half when we needed his scoring. In games like this against top level teams we need KL & TL to step up their games-except for a couple of moments TL also seemed to disappear-maybe they were worn out-KL's points at the end of the game were too little, too late.

Having said all this, if we can play the #20 ranked team in the country this close on their homecourt, this early in the season, with a new HC and a new system being put into place, I feel pretty good about how we will do this year. What we need to do now is come home and get a good start against a couple of teams we should be able to beat. 4-1 going to Springfield will be just fine, and I expect a win down there-a good start to the RM era.

[billiken_roy]

A few unrelated points:

Your TL/MD comparison is interesting-they are very similar players about the same size with similar skills-both can sky and rebound-TL seems to be better going to the hoop while I seem to remember Monroe being a better jump shooter, although TL has certainly come a long way in a year.

Conclusions from watching the Pitt game twice:

As with many of you, I am pleased with BE-he is more athletic than I expected-not as bulky as you would think for 250 lbs., BUT at least at this point I am concerned about his rebounding-I thought he would be a beast on the boards, but at least in the PITT game I didn't see it.

Not sure where the PE "undersized and a step slow" is coming from-didn't see either one of those as an issue-just see PE as a very welcome addition to the rotation, a guy who is a threat from outside, much like I think we were hoping Matt Roth would be. I never saw PE in HS, but he is much better than I expected-he gives us that other outside threat that, as of now, nobody else is giving the team. We know he is smart, but he also looks to be basketball smart.

BH will be ok, not great, but ok and I think we can live with 20-25 minutes of that so long as the other pieces of the team play up to their ability. Hope we see more out of MR, AK and AM (is he hurt?).

I love KL, but I was not impressed with his results against PITT-too many turnovers for our rock-solid team leader and not good enough shooting in the first half when we needed his scoring. In games like this against top level teams we need KL & TL to step up their games-except for a couple of moments TL also seemed to disappear-maybe they were worn out-KL's points at the end of the game were too little, too late.

Having said all this, if we can play the #20 ranked team in the country this close on their homecourt, this early in the season, with a new HC and a new system being put into place, I feel pretty good about how we will do this year. What we need to do now is come home and get a good start against a couple of teams we should be able to beat. 4-1 going to Springfield will be just fine, and I expect a win down there-a good start to the RM era.

i would bet that young and blair will make a lot of inside players perform below expectations this season. while eberhardt isnt bonner, he appears he might be better than any power forward we have had since dobbs. considering our power forward drought, i will take him. prior to the pitt game his rpg average was right at 6.

as to the lisch turnover comment, i am puzzled. kevin had 2 turnovers in the pitt game. for the season his assist to to ratio is over 2:1. which i believe is considered pretty good.

as to his missed shots, the shots he missed were right there even though he was heavily guarded. i continue to be extremely impressed in kevin's ability to create his own shot. and after 3 games even though he has shot the most shots on the team, kevin is shooting 60% from the field and 42% from the 3 point distance.

kevin and barry are not my concern. i also know that liddell and meyer will perform. the problem continues to be the drop after those 4. imo we really need husak and knollmeyer to step up. knollmeyer apparently is in the doghouse bigtime as he only played 11 minutes total. considering the state of the houston baptist game, one would think that knollmeyer would have seen more clock than 11 minutes.

i have really good feelings about mitchell relephorde and eckerle. all three are freshmen, but all three have shown they have the want to play and get time, but thus far, as much as we like what they have done, none have risen to the level of lisch, liddell, meyer and eberhardt imo.

dwayne polk is also on the team. and he had a number of nice cuts to the basket which was very encouraging. but he had a real hard time guarding the very strong pitt guards sunday. i think we have to live with that. he is good at outcourt harrassment. but get close to that lane, and dwayne is going to always be a little disadvantaged.

i think judging from the fact it is still real early, there are a lot of reasons to be positive about the season. at this time last year i think our "i feel real good about" list was probably limited to lisch, liddell and ian. now after a year we have come to take luke forgranted and add him to the list and it seems that if eberhardt is allowed to play his position and not forced to be a very undersized center, he will also be ok. now we need husak and knollmeyer to step up.

[Clock_Tower]

i would bet that young and blair will make a lot of inside players perform below expectations this season. while eberhardt isnt bonner, he appears he might be better than any power forward we have had since dobbs. considering our power forward drought, i will take him. prior to the pitt game his rpg average was right at 6.

as to the lisch turnover comment, i am puzzled. kevin had 2 turnovers in the pitt game. for the season his assist to to ratio is over 2:1. which i believe is considered pretty good.

as to his missed shots, the shots he missed were right there even though he was heavily guarded. i continue to be extremely impressed in kevin's ability to create his own shot. and after 3 games even though he has shot the most shots on the team, kevin is shooting 60% from the field and 42% from the 3 point distance.

kevin and barry are not my concern. i also know that liddell and meyer will perform. the problem continues to be the drop after those 4. imo we really need husak and knollmeyer to step up. knollmeyer apparently is in the doghouse bigtime as he only played 11 minutes total. considering the state of the houston baptist game, one would think that knollmeyer would have seen more clock than 11 minutes.

i have really good feelings about mitchell relephorde and eckerle. all three are freshmen, but all three have shown they have the want to play and get time, but thus far, as much as we like what they have done, none have risen to the level of lisch, liddell, meyer and eberhardt imo.

dwayne polk is also on the team. and he had a number of nice cuts to the basket which was very encouraging. but he had a real hard time guarding the very strong pitt guards sunday. i think we have to live with that. he is good at outcourt harrassment. but get close to that lane, and dwayne is going to always be a little disadvantaged.

i think judging from the fact it is still real early, there are a lot of reasons to be positive about the season. at this time last year i think our "i feel real good about" list was probably limited to lisch, liddell and ian. now after a year we have come to take luke forgranted and add him to the list and it seems that if eberhardt is allowed to play his position and not forced to be a very undersized center, he will also be ok. now we need husak and knollmeyer to step up.

Roy. Nice summary.

[xfactor9600]

SLU may (MAY) be less talented than last year, but as an outsider looking... they're way better coached this season. Good luck guys!