Billikan Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Tonight's game was like the girl that goes on a blind date and a handsome, thoughtful and very nice man picks her up on the date. He treats her like a queen and they have a nice dinner with music and great conversation. However, after dinner the guy opens his shirt to display nasty tatoos. He becomes an obnoxious bore that she cannot stand to be with and he slobbers on her best dress. The roller coaster of that date describes the game tonight. In the first 17 minutes of the game we played beautifully and Josh was sensational. We hit 8 of 11 three point shots and closed down their stars on defense. We haven't looked that good in years. I was dreaming of a 3 game home winning streak and an exciting finish to the season. But with 3 minutes left in the first half the team began to unravel and in the blink of an eye our 21 point lead was reduced to 12. DePaul left the floor with a bounce in their step and we walked out with our heads down. For some unknown reason we came out in the second half and simply forgot what had worked earlier and the energy level was up for them and down for us. Unfortunately, I felt early in the second half we wouold lose the game and I was right. Some observations-- 1. Anthony Drejaj played a great game--4 for 4 from 3 point range and tough chasing defense on the shooters--he also made several nice passes. 2. Ian V. showed that he may yet become out version of Vlade Divac--several very clever passes, nice interior efforts and a nice touch from the line. I can now see why the coaches are so excited about this potential. 3. Fisher had a sensatonal first half and then just disappeared on the offensive end in the second half. They changed defenders and put a much bigger more athletic man on him and he had only one terrible forced shot. 4. IO played brilliantly early and then he missed a wide open dunk and it seemed to deflate him. He took some absolutely awful shots later. Let's hope he continues to progress because when he is good he is very very good. 5. Chris Sloan is a marked man with the refs. On every 50-50 call he never , ever gets the call. He pouts and frowns. It might be too late but he really needs to change his persona with the refs. The last shot was a perfect example. It sure looked like he was bumped on the drive but no call at all. 6. Tom Frericks hip is so bad that he can only play about 2-3 minutes at a time. He can barely run. He tried hard but they drove the ball at him repeatedly in the second half and he could not step in and stop the penetration. 7. JJ got some minutes and had good energy and made some nice defensive plays but he also got burned and he missed a jumper and a bunny. For all of you who think it is so easy for and "athlete" to just jump up and dunk the ball under the basket--JJ almost missed the rim from 2 feet. He still has potential and I hope he keeps up the effort. 8. After making some 3s in the first half, for the rest of the game Reggie threw up some of the worst shots I have ever seen. He is not playing good fundamental basketball and it seems like he feels that he must get his shots. In fact, when we were on the big run in the first half Reggie was a small part. If he would play smarter, there are plenty of other offensive options. 9. I said earlier that I was worried that this team is snakebit. Now I am convinced. WE have had several games taht could have gone our way and the little things just beat us down the stretch. What a bummer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 I thought JJ played his best defense to date. Maybe he's finally "getting it". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 on the how did justin play tonite poll as well. if frericks was hurt, they should have let justin play even more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 That's been our MO for quite some time...We DREAM of being a good basketball team and making a run at the NCAA Tourney, but without better players we're going to continue to DREAM. What's the old saying if wishes were horses then beggars would ride. You just cannot blow 21 point leads in your gym...we had collosal breakdowns in order for that to happen. Right now, I predict even a NIT bid will be a DREAM for this team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 If you are talking about the play I think you are ... on JJ's missed bunny ... the pass was low and he was moving towards the basket ... It was a harder catch and finish then it looked. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobo Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Blowing a lead on the road is one thing, but to do it at home is really hurtful. As I recall we blew a good lead at Charlotte and they are coming to town this weekend and they are a solid team. We really need to beat them, but I think it is doubtful as is an NIT bid. Maybe tomorrow I won't feel so negative re: our Bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBlueDemon Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Now you guys know how the DePaul fans felt when Marquee Perry when coast to coast to beat us at home last year. Very painful that was. SLU did a great job on the Demons in the first half defensively. Keep you chins up and root on a victory over Charlotte on Saturday. All the Billikens have to do is figure out a way to stop Brendan Plavich and Demon Brown (if he plays) from three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Obviously you didn't see Eddie Basden rip us a new one the last time the teams played. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Law Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 He may have played a nice game on the offensive end but he cost SLU big time on the defensive end. His man was Diener and when AD was on Drake Diener got too many open looks from 3, was allowed to drive and scored most of his points. He gave up as many point as he produced and in a 2 point game you cannot do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 > If you are talking about the play I think you are ... on >JJ's missed bunny ... the pass was low and he was moving >towards the basket ... It was a harder catch and finish then >it looked. > Yeah, and he was trying to jump over a defender after catching a low pass ... not exactly what I would call "a bunny". Would have liked to see him hit that open 8 footer though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted February 13, 2004 Author Share Posted February 13, 2004 Although I would agree taht Diener made two off balance runners I do not agree that Anthony was in any way at fault for those shots. His job was to be in the shorts of Drake at the 3 point line and he did just that. Even a marginally mobile player can drive around that type of defense and the wole idea is that he would have help if Drake beat him off the dribble. In the past we have been excellent in those situations and the help would stop the drive. The problem is that tom is so injured that he got there late and committed a foul or let him shoot. I don't blame tom because he was trying hard and he could barely walk but he was really a defensive liability for most of the second half. As to the three point shots Diener ran Drejaj into about 50 screens and on one play the guy blocked him down to the ground like a football player--Diener hit the wide open shot and the ref, as always, swallowed his whistle. On the other hand, in the first half when Josh was guarding him he made the terrible mistake of playing off him and attempting to help in the post--disaster--easy 3 point shots. By the way, I watched diener warm up for a long time and he has one of the sweetest strokes I have ever seen. In practice it seemed like he made about 90% of his shots from 3. He is a much better shooter than Drew ever was at that stage of his career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 billikan said, "Although I would agree taht Diener made two off balance runners I do not agree that Anthony was in any way at fault for those shots. His job was to be in the shorts of Drake at the 3 point line and he did just that. Even a marginally mobile player can drive around that type of defense and the wole idea is that he would have help if Drake beat him off the dribble." i disagree on your last statement. there is no way that drake diener should beat any of our guards off the dribble. both of the last two times drake beat drejaj, anthony momentarily stopped his feet to make a swipe at the ball instead of just staying in front of him. a 7th grade mistake. like his brother, drake isnt going to score if he isnt open. drejaj gave him an open window. to be fair, drejaj rarely gets beat defensively and picks his spots pretty well to go for the ball. split seconds. billikan said, "In the past we have been excellent in those situations and the help would stop the drive. The problem is that tom is so injured that he got there late and committed a foul or let him shoot. I don't blame tom because he was trying hard and he could barely walk but he was really a defensive liability for most of the second half." agree completely. he shouldnt have been in there. justin johnson or even varner should have been. when healthy, frericks is just a tower of power and strength, but last night he was worthless and depaul picked up on it and ran right at him. why it was allowed to continue is beyond me. it was the game. tom is obviously a tough kid and wants to be out there, but brad doesnt know how much he is hurt and wants him out there. if he cant go, he needs to be honest and tell brad such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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