4 games and counting

[Westy03]

Dwayne Polk has yet to score...How long will this go on? Im setting the over/under at 6 games. I will take the over. My prediction is that he will be held scoreless for 8 straight games.

[billikenfan05]

I realize Polkbashing is a pastime of this message board and I also understand that his lack of offensive production kills us at times but when he is on the floor IMO his defense and his ball movement along with his ability to break full court pressure thanks to his quickness even out his lack of scoring. He's also on of the few, if not the only vocal leader for us on the floor. I think he deserves to start and is effective on the court. It may not show up in the scoring column of the box score but he does alot for this team.

[Westy03]

I realize Polkbashing is a pastime of this message board and I also understand that his lack of offensive production kills us at times but when he is on the floor IMO his defense and his ball movement along with his ability to break full court pressure thanks to his quickness even out his lack of scoring. He's also on of the few, if not the only vocal leader for us on the floor. I think he deserves to start and is effective on the court. It may not show up in the scoring column of the box score but he does alot for this team.

Ball movement? The player guarding him is 10ft away from him and yet he still pump fakes. I guess we watch a different game. On defense he is quick but if he is playing a more physical guard he will get scored on at will. I really like dwayne as a person but for him to see more then 15-20mins a game is a shame.

[moytoy12]

Ball movement? The player guarding him is 10ft away from him and yet he still pump fakes. I guess we watch a different game. On defense he is quick but if he is playing a more physical guard he will get scored on at will. I really like dwayne as a person but for him to see more then 15-20mins a game is a shame.

I agree.

[slufanskip]

I realize Polkbashing is a pastime of this message board and I also understand that his lack of offensive production kills us at times but when he is on the floor IMO his defense and his ball movement along with his ability to break full court pressure thanks to his quickness even out his lack of scoring. He's also on of the few, if not the only vocal leader for us on the floor. I think he deserves to start and is effective on the court. It may not show up in the scoring column of the box score but he does alot for this team.

IF and you notice it's a big IF not a small if ... Dwayne will get in the lane and then find the open man and get the ball to him quickly Dwayne is an asset on the court when he doesn't which seems to be most of the time, he is a huge liability.

I can live with Dwayne not scoring if he would create some offense for his team mates, but the instances of him doing that is rare. No one is going to guard him 12 feet from the basket (and why would they) but when he gets in the lane they have to. I'm clueless as to why Dwayne can't be more of an asset. He had a couple of games in a row where he penetrated and moved the ball ... but it has stopped. His absolute lack of a jumper kills him and affects his ability to penetrate as he has to be so much quicker than the guy guarding him to get by him when he's 6 feet off of him. If he could hit a bucket or 2 early he could change the way he is defended. Like I said a big IF

[kmbilliken]

Does anyone think Dwayne has improved in his four years? He was always a good defender and ballhandler but he's now a worse shot than when he arrived. Player developement is a key for us.

Luke has improved every year similar to Chris Sloan. Tommie improved his shot last year and his defense this year. With Bryce its hard to tell since he hardly played before, but I'm assuming he's improved because he's playing now. Kevin was so intense when he arrived it's not that easy to tell, but he still has great defense and his offensive numbers are up so he's improved. DB seems to have improved his court awareness and decisions tremendously this year.

Who was the most improved player from freshman to senoir year as a Billiken? My vote would be Chris Sloan. He couldn't make a basket as a freshman. By the time he was a senior he was a very nice all around player and an offensive threat inside and outside.

[brianstl]

Does anyone think Dwayne has improved in his four years? He was always a good defender and ballhandler but he's now a worse shot than when he arrived. Player developement is a key for us.

Luke has improved every year similar to Chris Sloan. Tommie improved his shot last year and his defense this year. With Bryce its hard to tell since he hardly played before, but I'm assuming he's improved because he's playing now. Kevin was so intense when he arrived it's not that easy to tell, but he still has great defense and his offensive numbers are up so he's improved. DB seems to have improved his court awareness and decisions tremendously this year.

Who was the most improved player from freshman to senoir year as a Billiken? My vote would be Chris Sloan. He couldn't make a basket as a freshman. By the time he was a senior he was a very nice all around player and an offensive threat inside and outside.

My vote would be Carlos McCauley.

[billiken_roy]

IF and you notice it's a big IF not a small if ... Dwayne will get in the lane and then find the open man and get the ball to him quickly Dwayne is an asset on the court when he doesn't which seems to be most of the time, he is a huge liability.

I can live with Dwayne not scoring if he would create some offense for his team mates, but the instances of him doing that is rare. No one is going to guard him 12 feet from the basket (and why would they) but when he gets in the lane they have to. I'm clueless as to why Dwayne can't be more of an asset. He had a couple of games in a row where he penetrated and moved the ball ... but it has stopped. His absolute lack of a jumper kills him and affects his ability to penetrate as he has to be so much quicker than the guy guarding him to get by him when he's 6 feet off of him. If he could hit a bucket or 2 early he could change the way he is defended. Like I said a big IF

what makes me crazy is we see that dwayne that we saw the last 6 seconds of the first half sunday about once every 5 games and it makes you wonder, "why doesnt that dwayne play all the time?" that is the dwayne i want in the game. can you imagine how much more effective kevin, tommie and luke would be if we had that dwayne running the floor? why is that the exception instead of the rule?

if dwayne would be nate archibald even without scoring, which we have seen him do, dwayne would be lethal.

[jimbofive]

IF and you notice it's a big IF not a small if ... Dwayne will get in the lane and then find the open man and get the ball to him quickly Dwayne is an asset on the court when he doesn't which seems to be most of the time, he is a huge liability.

I can live with Dwayne not scoring if he would create some offense for his team mates, but the instances of him doing that is rare. No one is going to guard him 12 feet from the basket (and why would they) but when he gets in the lane they have to. I'm clueless as to why Dwayne can't be more of an asset. He had a couple of games in a row where he penetrated and moved the ball ... but it has stopped. His absolute lack of a jumper kills him and affects his ability to penetrate as he has to be so much quicker than the guy guarding him to get by him when he's 6 feet off of him. If he could hit a bucket or 2 early he could change the way he is defended. Like I said a big IF

I can't remember where I saw the photo, but all you need to know to explain Polk's shooting woes is his form. I was waiting for the picture to load, and as soon as I saw the off-the-ball hand, I knew it was Polk's busted-ass shot. The ball sits completely flat on his palm, and his support hand is way off the ball waiting for a high five from someone. A lot of times he's not square to the basket either. When it comes down to instinct, muscle memory, etc. the player w/ the better form is going to hit. That's why Lisch and Meyer shoot such good percentages. And that's why I've never had a consistent outside shot, because my form is jacked up and I've never taken the time to correct it. Thank GOD that Soderberg had success w/ Tommie's shot.

Polk probably accounts for at most 8 points a game for us, via his points and assists he dishes out. But I'll bet that if the other team took him seriously, Lisch, Liddell and Meyer would score at least a combined 8 points more per game. So we're basically getting zero net points offensively from our starting PG, 25-30 mins per game. That just can't happen. He's had NINE zero point games so far this year, six of which we lost. The only good game he had was against IUPUI when he had 6 pts and 9 asts. I'm expecting quadruple the points and near double the assists next year from Kwamain. He can't get here soon enough.

P.S. If anyone knows which photo I'm talking about and its location, please post. Also, I was able to use the numbers 6 and 9 twice in this post. Please turn your "Reading is Fun!" books to page 69.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jWygr14ShzQ

[billiken_roy]

Does anyone think Dwayne has improved in his four years? He was always a good defender and ballhandler but he's now a worse shot than when he arrived. Player developement is a key for us.

Luke has improved every year similar to Chris Sloan. Tommie improved his shot last year and his defense this year. With Bryce its hard to tell since he hardly played before, but I'm assuming he's improved because he's playing now. Kevin was so intense when he arrived it's not that easy to tell, but he still has great defense and his offensive numbers are up so he's improved. DB seems to have improved his court awareness and decisions tremendously this year.

Who was the most improved player from freshman to senoir year as a Billiken? My vote would be Chris Sloan. He couldn't make a basket as a freshman. By the time he was a senior he was a very nice all around player and an offensive threat inside and outside.

jeff harris would be a great nominee for this. luke would be good. sloan is good. but all in all it has to be claggett. claggett barely played his freshmen year until the seniors quit mid season. by the time claggett left he is the second all time leading scorer.

a better question is who were the most disappointing? the only two i would consider are polk and baniak, but even matt contributed some big games his senior year. i really expected polk to turn into a nate archibald like player by his senior season and imo he is the same player he was four years ago.

[kmbilliken]

jeff harris would be a great nominee for this. luke would be good. sloan is good. but all in all it has to be claggett. claggett barely played his freshmen year until the seniors quit mid season. by the time claggett left he is the second all time leading scorer.

a better question is who were the most disappointing? the only two i would consider are polk and baniak, but even matt contributed some big games his senior year. i really expected polk to turn into a nate archibald like player by his senior season and imo he is the same player he was four years ago.

My nominee for most disappointing would be Monroe Douglas. I know he's up there on the all time scoring list and was a good player for us, but he looked like a world beater the second half of his freshman year. He never was that good again. He was supremely talented, but never worked it and frustrated Grawer to no end. All the progress Grawer tried to coax from him each year was lost over the summer.

The biggest flop had to be Ricky Crandell.