Billikan Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 today's game was frustrating in that we could not shoot well but there were many positives: 1. I love the fact that our team never quits. Again, with their backs to the wall, down 8 with 2 minutes to go we did not quit playing hard and it finally paid off after several disappointments. 2.IO has really matured on both ends. His defense on Withers was excellent and he is really starting to understand how the court needs to be balanced in order for him to use his incredible quickness off the dribble. He could be a real star!! 3. Our team was really hurt by the 10 game suspension for Ian because he became eligible after the staff had already set the rotation and it was difficult to experiment on the fly. The silver lining with Tom's injury is that it allowed Ian to get big minutes today. However, Ian looked like he had a leg injury--he was limping noticably late in the game. I sure hope he is OK. As I have said earlier and it was evident today he can be our Vlade Divac-- a big man who takes up room, makes some clever shots including some outside shots and is a great passer. I am excited about his future potential. 4. Chris Sloan's never ending hustle was rewarded today. this has to be a great morale boost for Chris and the entire team. 5. Late in the day, I heard the national ESPN radio announcers talking about the result and the commentator said that no one should be surprised with the Billiken win because Brad has the Billikens playing tough and they are excellent at home. Combined with the publicity from showing the end on ESPN tv, we could not ask for better national exposure on a game that was not on national tv. 6. After watching UNCC take apart a supposed great defense at Louisville in scoring 77 points and then watching the game today, I concluded that we must truly have one of the best half court defenses in the nation. It is truly amazing!! 7. I hope all of you who decreed that Ian V. and IO were a "bust" in our recruiting--I hope you will give them some time to improve because I think they will be great together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdog Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 I agree that these two guys look great on the court together. The give and go that resulted in an Izik layup in the first half was beautiful. Additional kudos to Izik for shutting down Withers in the second half, he held him without a field goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 1)imo, IV was not ready to contribute in Nov-Dec. He has really progressed in practice the last two months. I'm confident that IV will tell you that Coach Soderberg's practices are many times more difficult/physical than the games. He took a number of beatings before he started to dish it back. In time, it will be interesting to watch IV and BH on the court at the same time. 2)It is interesting, but not surprising, to see how fans perception of players change depending on if SLU wins or loses. 3) for some laughs, read some of the post-game posting on the Charlotte board. Fans are the same all over! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 >6. After watching UNCC take apart a supposed great defense >at Louisville in scoring 77 points and then watching the >game today, I concluded that we must truly have one of the >best half court defenses in the nation. It is truly >amazing!! Actually, in addition to SLU's stalwart half-court defense, the main thing that held Charlotte some 35 points below its scoring average (please correct me on that number if I'm mistaken) is SLU's half-court offense. Brad Soderberg said during the post-game interview that he emphasized the point that, if the Bills were to win, they would have to keep the game in the 40s to low 50s. At Brad's insistence, the Bills slowed down the game and limited the number of possessions. Brad said he knows it's not particularly a very fan-friendly way to play, but they needed to do it to win. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 Ian and Izik do have a special rapport on the court. I believe Izik has taken Ian under his wing off the court as well helping a foreign player get used to the US. Ian is still remarkably out of shape. Hopefully a summer of weight training and cutting down on the McDonald's will have him in better shape next year. Ian just slightly stronger and quicker would be dominant in the post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted February 15, 2004 Author Share Posted February 15, 2004 You are right but if we have some of those in and out shots roll in we would have scored 55-60 points which would be sufficient to win most games if we play defense like we did today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted February 15, 2004 Author Share Posted February 15, 2004 I am waiting to see some of the naysayers from the past week post and give props to our Billikens--Where are you NYBill???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 thicks yesterday's game was about as difficult and unenjoyable of a game i have had to watch in a long time. there was little joy and opportunity to like anything about it other than the methodical defense i thought both teams played. however the last 20some seconds was well worth it. and to see those 20 seconds played over and over on sportscenter yesterday was sweet. not pretty, but i take the win and run. about time the end goes our way once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 ... full, Mr. Billikan you are right in that you certainly emphasize the positives! Kudos to you for that. It's a win .... it would have been two out of three if CS had made that RuPaul shot or been fouled. Oh well ... shouldas, couldas, wouldas. A win's a win. Good job guys. For our Seinfeld crowd, this reminds me of the episode where the gang goes to see the couple that had the baby. And its apparently an "ugly" baby ... but the doctor that delivered it calls it "breathless." Then he calls Elaine "breathless." And the two don't jive up just right. This was a "breathless" win, eh? I won't complain ... just take it and move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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