Asst. Coach Paul B leaving

[Pistol]

Hubert Davis was on ESPNU and did a great job I thought. He is now a mainstay on ESPN College Gameday/night

Hubert Davis does a wonderful job. I'd love to see more of him. Pete "Gutty" Gillen is also on the U a lot, but I can't say I'm a fan of his color commentary.

[bonwich]

This is a really bad time for this to happen. There are not a lot of people looking for jobs right now. I guess it could give Rickma the chance to offer a package deal to someone if Rickma was so inclined.

I can think of a coach who knows the area (and the team) very well who might could use a 1-year contract.

[Quality Is Job 1]

I can think of a coach who knows the area (and the team) very well who might could use a 1-year contract.

I don't think Brad will ever pass through Midtown again. Kramer didn't show at Chaifetz (not that I blame him) in April or at Harris-Stowe Saturday (next door to Chaifetz). Heck, the Soderberg family probably would turn down free tickets to the Fox or the Symphony.

[billiken_roy]

i grew to really like paul b. when he was first announced, i wasnt excited either as his past ncaa problems sure didnt excite me. however it became obvious watching the games how in tune he was with the players, and when he would do rickma's job on the post game shows i thought he was very very good. i think he will be tough to replace. i would assume he likely had a lot of contacts and fixin's in the works that will be difficult to just pick up and go.

[satrap]

If working with ESPNU as a recruiting analyst is a "TV Job" then jumping up and down in your cubicle is an "aeronautics job."

I laughed out loud.

[slu72]

I'd love to see Corey back on the bench.

PS I wonder were Slu'72 is. This is perfect fodder for handwringing. "Are they rats leaving the sinking ship?"

Rich, you mean the sky isn't falling? Hell, it's not Billiken basketball unless the sky is falling?

[jjray]

This is a really bad time for this to happen. There are not a lot of people looking for jobs right now. I guess it could give Rickma the chance to offer a package deal to someone if Rickma was so inclined.

I don't know Brian. There are a few ways to look at this. We kicked 4 scholarships players off our team and now have two chairs holding down positions on the scout team for practices. I'm very interested in getting a look at the chairs in action. We've often said on this board that Drew Diener couldn't guard a chair but how well does Barry E matchup with these high level chairs Majerus has brought in??? Inquiring minds want to know.

Which bring us to asst coaches. We just lost 2 asst coaches. Might not there be two experienced chairs out there that could fill in these rolls as well? Think about it. No family commitments to hold the chairs back from hitting the recruiting trail no-stop. The chair just parks itself in the target's high school gym with Billikens logos front and back and a big "SLU loves you [name of target here]" sign. We cut out those road meals. Hell, maybe we can get these coach chairs to sleep in the car when they are on the road. The $ savvy Father Biondi is sure to be thumbs up on this one.

... then again, Corey Fraser might be a nice acquisition for Majerus' staff.

[brianstl]

I don't know Brian. There are a few ways to look at this. We kicked 4 scholarships players off our team and now have two chairs holding down positions on the scout team for practices. I'm very interested in getting a look at the chairs in action. We've often said on this board that Drew Diener couldn't guard a chair but how well does Barry E matchup with these high level chairs Majerus has brought in??? Inquiring minds want to know.

Which bring us to asst coaches. We just lost 2 asst coaches. Might not there be two experienced chairs out there that could fill in these rolls as well? Think about it. No family commitments to hold the chairs back from hitting the recruiting trail no-stop. The chair just parks itself in the target's high school gym with Billikens logos front and back and a big "SLU loves you [name of target here]" sign. We cut out those road meals. Hell, maybe we can get these coach chairs to sleep in the car when they are on the road. The $ savvy Father Biondi is sure to be thumbs up on this one.

... then again, Corey Fraser might be a nice acquisition for Majerus' staff.

Corey just happens to have a hell of a guard playing for him.

[billiken_roy]

i will be surprised if slu names the two new asst coaches anytime soon. remember, as long as they arent actually on the slu coaching staff, then individuals are not governed by the ncaa guidelines. slick rick in action. meanwhile, jensen and maybe harrington serve as a coach in the interim. i.e. how many folks are really out beating the bushes for the billikens?

[3star_recruit]

i.e. how many folks are really out beating the bushes for the billikens?

Hey, we always got the man formerly known as Vtime.

[kappy96]

i will be surprised if slu names the two new asst coaches anytime soon. remember, as long as they arent actually on the slu coaching staff, then individuals are not governed by the ncaa guidelines. slick rick in action. meanwhile, jensen and maybe harrington serve as a coach in the interim. i.e. how many folks are really out beating the bushes for the billikens?

Very good point.

[Clock_Tower]

I don't know Brian. There are a few ways to look at this. We kicked 4 scholarships players off our team and now have two chairs holding down positions on the scout team for practices. I'm very interested in getting a look at the chairs in action. We've often said on this board that Drew Diener couldn't guard a chair but how well does Barry E matchup with these high level chairs Majerus has brought in??? Inquiring minds want to know.

Which bring us to asst coaches. We just lost 2 asst coaches. Might not there be two experienced chairs out there that could fill in these rolls as well? Think about it. No family commitments to hold the chairs back from hitting the recruiting trail no-stop. The chair just parks itself in the target's high school gym with Billikens logos front and back and a big "SLU loves you [name of target here]" sign. We cut out those road meals. Hell, maybe we can get these coach chairs to sleep in the car when they are on the road. The $ savvy Father Biondi is sure to be thumbs up on this one.

... then again, Corey Fraser might be a nice acquisition for Majerus' staff.

JJ. Dogdays of summer and not much to talk about. Presume you are part kidding (chairs) but part serious (why we have opens spots on roster). If I am wrong, correct me.

Otherwise, I, for one, am glad RM has open scholarships and is trying to get more help for next year. Believe Duquesne signed one or two we were after. Obviously KY signed Harrelson. Yesterday, Nate posted that we just lost out to Malcom Kirkland. None of the guys could we have made a run after (including Cotto and Cassity) if it were not for running off players. Would you really rather we have a full bench and not try to improve rather than be 2 guys short and try to improve? So RM ranoff 4 non-contributors and replaced the with only 2, albeit contributors. I don't see the problem.

From a practical standpoint, the last 2 guys on any team's bench never contribute in any games and only benefit the team and starters by making the practices more competitive. Without naming names, some of the guys who left can be replaced with walk-ons for this year's practices. Also, Brad never had a full squad any year I remember in that he always kept at least 1 spot (intentionally) and then it turned out to be more spots (unintentionally) so I don't see the big deal.

[Pistol]

I don't know Brian. There are a few ways to look at this. We kicked 4 scholarships players off our team and now have two chairs holding down positions on the scout team for practices. I'm very interested in getting a look at the chairs in action. We've often said on this board that Drew Diener couldn't guard a chair but how well does Barry E matchup with these high level chairs Majerus has brought in??? Inquiring minds want to know.

Which bring us to asst coaches. We just lost 2 asst coaches. Might not there be two experienced chairs out there that could fill in these rolls as well? Think about it. No family commitments to hold the chairs back from hitting the recruiting trail no-stop. The chair just parks itself in the target's high school gym with Billikens logos front and back and a big "SLU loves you [name of target here]" sign. We cut out those road meals. Hell, maybe we can get these coach chairs to sleep in the car when they are on the road. The $ savvy Father Biondi is sure to be thumbs up on this one.

... then again, Corey Fraser might be a nice acquisition for Majerus' staff.

Drew Diener couldn't guard a chair but he could foul with the best of them. That made him a great practice player when there's no refs to call it. Handling the ball or getting free against his hacking and grabbing made our guards better.

[jjray]

JJ. Dogdays of summer and not much to talk about. Presume you are part kidding (chairs) but part serious (why we have opens spots on roster). If I am wrong, correct me.

Otherwise, I, for one, am glad RM has open scholarships and is trying to get more help for next year. Believe Duquesne signed one or two we were after. Obviously KY signed Harrelson. Yesterday, Nate posted that we just lost out to Malcom Kirkland. None of the guys could we have made a run after (including Cotto and Cassity) if it were not for running off players. Would you really rather we have a full bench and not try to improve rather than be 2 guys short and try to improve? So RM ranoff 4 non-contributors and replaced the with only 2, albeit contributors. I don't see the problem.

From a practical standpoint, the last 2 guys on any team's bench never contribute in any games and only benefit the team and starters by making the practices more competitive. Without naming names, some of the guys who left can be replaced with walk-ons for this year's practices. Also, Brad never had a full squad any year I remember in that he always kept at least 1 spot (intentionally) and then it turned out to be more spots (unintentionally) so I don't see the big deal.

Seems I'm on a sarcasm binge the last year or so. Was not pleased we kicked 4 kids off of scholarship. It just seemed unnecessarily excessive. First, if a kid is a solid contributor in practice and can give you 5-10 minutes a night if necessary, then he helps the program. Most team rotations are 8-9 players deep. By necessity, there are a handful of guys on every team who are bench players. I thought Anthony Mitchell would have been a fine bench player (probably best athlete on the team, developing shot, developing handle). Punting Maguire, OK, I get it. Knollmeyer, just not enough of an athlete to contribute but could have been a big body on the bench for emergencies. Relphorde ... baffled by this one. A big athletic wing asked to play on the block. He was learning a new position. We have exactly 4 bigs on the roster for next season. One of those (Reed) still is border line about qualifying plus he did not play basketball last season (oh, and he is 25 pounds underweight for a D1 center). Why did we punt Relphorde without having something better in hand? He had the athleticism to get up and down the floor as Majerus demands. Did not embarrass himself in the games I saw him play last season. He would have been a plus for practice and there to give us 5-10 minutes if anybody gets in foul trouble. With two freshman holding down the center position, don't you think they are apt to get into foul trouble?

Basically, we are going to lose games this coming season due solely to attrition of our bigs. I can only guess that Majerus dismissed Relphorde thinking he had Harrellson in the bag. If we got Harrellson, then Relphorde would have been expendable ... but we didn't. We didn't have to punt Relphorde to have an open scholarship to get Harrellson. There should have been a fallback game plan but apparently empty chairs was the fallback plan. Now we are ridiculously thin up front again. One of the 4 bigs goes down and even practice becomes a difficult proposition. Also, I wouldn't have decimated the roster to create a spot of Cassity. Not a shooter (thus, no 2). Doesn't have the handle to play point. A wing with no perimeter game. Physically weak. A glue guy without the strength / athleticms to contribute in that capacity. Who knows. I was wrong on Luke Meyer so Cassity may somehow morph into Luke but I don't see it.

All in all, I'm just frustrated at the decisions / signings the staff made this spring beyond Cotto.

[volfan]

What would u expect from Majerus. He is a strange character. Nothing he does makes sense, why do you think Paul B just up and left. It is because Majerus is a strange person to work for. The guy is never in his office and it is brand new. Majerus will not get this program turned around, the new arena is not going to get his program turned around. We need to get players that can shoot, defend and are smart at the game of basketball. Last time I checked a gym or new arena can not make a person shoot better. If you can not shoot well at Scott trade, you probably will not shoot well at the new place.

At least we only have 3 years of Majerus and he is out of here. The guy is one strange dude.

[Majerus Magic]

Seems I'm on a sarcasm binge the last year or so. Was not pleased we kicked 4 kids off of scholarship. It just seemed unnecessarily excessive. First, if a kid is a solid contributor in practice and can give you 5-10 minutes a night if necessary, then he helps the program. Most team rotations are 8-9 players deep. By necessity, there are a handful of guys on every team who are bench players. I thought Anthony Mitchell would have been a fine bench player (probably best athlete on the team, developing shot, developing handle). Punting Maguire, OK, I get it. Knollmeyer, just not enough of an athlete to contribute but could have been a big body on the bench for emergencies. Relphorde ... baffled by this one. A big athletic wing asked to play on the block. He was learning a new position. We have exactly 4 bigs on the roster for next season. One of those (Reed) still is border line about qualifying plus he did not play basketball last season (oh, and he is 25 pounds underweight for a D1 center). Why did we punt Relphorde without having something better in hand? He had the athleticism to get up and down the floor as Majerus demands. Did not embarrass himself in the games I saw him play last season. He would have been a plus for practice and there to give us 5-10 minutes if anybody gets in foul trouble. With two freshman holding down the center position, don't you think they are apt to get into foul trouble?

Basically, we are going to lose games this coming season due solely to attrition of our bigs. I can only guess that Majerus dismissed Relphorde thinking he had Harrellson in the bag. If we got Harrellson, then Relphorde would have been expendable ... but we didn't. We didn't have to punt Relphorde to have an open scholarship to get Harrellson. There should have been a fallback game plan but apparently empty chairs was the fallback plan. Now we are ridiculously thin up front again. One of the 4 bigs goes down and even practice becomes a difficult proposition. Also, I wouldn't have decimated the roster to create a spot of Cassity. Not a shooter (thus, no 2). Doesn't have the handle to play point. A wing with no perimeter game. Physically weak. A glue guy without the strength / athleticms to contribute in that capacity. Who knows. I was wrong on Luke Meyer so Cassity may somehow morph into Luke but I don't see it.

All in all, I'm just frustrated at the decisions / signings the staff made this spring beyond Cotto.

Marcus' decision to leave was probably the most mutual out of all the players that left....

[billiken_roy]

jj, i dont have to tell you i agree 100% with our "cuts".

however, i have seen both cotto and cassity a number of times and i am thrilled they will be billikens. while i think cassity might look overwhelmed to start out with, a lot of that will likely be from playing small school ball a lot. wouldnt be surprised at all if thompson starts out the same way.

that all said, i think cassity has a huge upside. imo, he has shown fabulous court vision, and good athleticism and an ability to make his teamates better. considering he is a 6'5" guard, he has plenty of workout room space to fill on his body. i have said it before and i will stick with it, i saw doug collins in high school at benton, and cassity reminds me of the benton doug collins. now before everyone gets all huffy about me comparing cassity to a future nba all star, i also contend that collins improvement from benton to illinois state to the us olympic team to the 76ers were monster jumps and it remains to be seen if cassity will do the same. my only point is that he has shown the same traits i saw of collins in high school. now he has to make the continued jumps in his game to keep pace.

cotto, is spectacular. that alton team without ruben would not have been a 500 team. i said it before and i stand by it, cotto has the body of randy pulley, the range of claggett and the court vision of h waldmen. cotto could end up being the real prize in this class.

so my point is while i hated the cuts, i have to admit i love the adds that the cuts allowed. and i too believe that someone felt that harrelson was a sure thing. otherwise why wouldnt all have waited until the harrelson decision was final to make the moves? well actually i wonder why that wasnt the case regardless.

i still believe there is at least one player add coming that rickma knows about but just hasnt been said. we shall see. overseas kid coming in would make that work. rickma plays it low key because he has no ironclad sure fire way to guarantee the kid is a billiken until school starts maybe. think of klieza when he came to mi$$ouri. if i remember right he was basically a late "i'm coming to mi$$ouri" deal. i'd take a linus klieza in a second.

[davidnark]

did we punt Relphorde without having something better in hand? He had the athleticism to get up and down the floor as Majerus demands. Did not embarrass himself in the games I saw him play last season. He would have been a plus for practice and there to give us 5-10 minutes if anybody gets in foul trouble. With two freshman holding down the center position, don't you think they are apt to get into foul trouble?

Basically, we are going to lose games this coming season due solely to attrition of our bigs. I can only guess that Majerus dismissed Relphorde thinking he had Harrellson in the bag. If we got Harrellson, then Relphorde would have been expendable ... but we didn't. We didn't have to punt Relphorde to have an open scholarship to get Harrellson. There should have been a fallback game plan but apparently empty chairs was the fallback plan.

It is my understanding that Relphorde's scholarship was not pulled. It is heresay, but I heard that Majerus sat down with him and explained what he saw as Relphorde's role (or lack thereof) going forward, and Marcus ultimately made the decision. If this information is accurate, I think coach should be applauded, not criticized.

[billiken_roy]

It is my understanding that Relphorde's scholarship was not pulled. It is heresay, but I heard that Majerus sat down with him and explained what he saw as Relphorde's role (or lack thereof) going forward. If this information is accurate, I think coach should be applauded, not criticized.

you want to applaud that rickma thought relphorde had no upside and told him such? imo, relphorde probably had the most upside on the team as jjray has already opined. i beleive rickma just wanted as many non rickma players out of here as he could possibly get to leave. not sure of his thinking on that, but it makes more sense than running them off with no replacements in hand.

sure brad left open roster spots, but he didnt create open roster spots. that is totally irrational imo. that is why i think there is a harrelson, and a player to be named later theory.

[davidnark]

you want to applaud that rickma thought relphorde had no upside and told him such? imo, relphorde probably had the most upside on the team as jjray has already opined. i beleive rickma just wanted as many non rickma players out of here as he could possibly get to leave. not sure of his thinking on that, but it makes more sense than running them off with no replacements in hand.

sure brad left open roster spots, but he didnt create open roster spots. that is totally irrational imo. that is why i think there is a harrelson, and a player to be named later theory.

Whether Billiken Roy thinks a player has upside is absolutely meaningless. While Marcus Relphorde was on scholarship at SLU, the only thing that mattered was whether or not Coach Majerus believed he had upside within the system and program Majerus was building at SLU. I applaud Majerus for being upfront with the kid rather than stringing him along (i.e., like Brad did with Husak).

[jjray]

It is my understanding that Relphorde's scholarship was not pulled. It is heresay, but I heard that Majerus sat down with him and explained what he saw as Relphorde's role (or lack thereof) going forward, and Marcus ultimately made the decision. If this information is accurate, I think coach should be applauded, not criticized.

If Rick sat Relphorde down, told him you're a practice player who only gets PT if someone goes down or foul trouble and Marcus decided to leave, then the situation makes more sense. As it turns out, I think Relphorde would have started this season in the rotation. Willie needs to gain weight / knock off the rust.

[jjray]

that all said, i think cassity has a huge upside. imo, he has shown fabulous court vision, and good athleticism and an ability to make his teamates better. considering he is a 6'5" guard, he has plenty of workout room space to fill on his body. i have said it before and i will stick with it, i saw doug collins in high school at benton, and cassity reminds me of the benton doug collins. now before everyone gets all huffy about me comparing cassity to a future nba all star, i also contend that collins improvement from benton to illinois state to the us olympic team to the 76ers were monster jumps and it remains to be seen if cassity will do the same. my only point is that he has shown the same traits i saw of collins in high school. now he has to make the continued jumps in his game to keep pace.

You know more about Cassity than I do but I'm not sure one can call him a 6'5" guard. He's a wing who can't play the 1 (at present) and will try to develop the skill set to play 2. And I question his skill set to play 3. How can a guy be successful on the wing without a perimeter game or the ability to slash? I'll take your word on awesome court vision. If TL3 can develop an outside shot in college, I'm sure Kyle can do so as well with determination. If he has the character as advertised, then I can see him developing a handle and outside shot as his career advances.

As far as Cotto goes, I'm fully on board w/ that get. Dude has unlimited range and that competitive knack to do what is necessary for his team to win. We've been dying for another shooter during the Liddell-Lisch era. Finally, we got one. Good thing, we have no front court. We'll just blanket the perimeter with shooters and let it rip!

[davidnark]

As it turns out, I think Relphorde would have started this season in the rotation.

Why do you think that? Relphorde is an oversized guard/small forward, which means he would compete against Kevin, Tommie, Eckerle, John, Cotto, Mitchell, and Cassity. He would never play center, and I imagine Eberhardt, Conklin, and possibly Reed will get most of the time at the power foward spot.

In the little I saw of Relphorde, I thought he was the classic tweener--undersized and understrengthed to play down low, and too slow and not a good enough shooter to play outside. (I had the same problem back in CYC 20 years ago .) I just never saw the great athleticism that others on this board attribute to him.

[jjray]

Why do you think that? Relphorde is an oversized guard/small forward, which means he would compete against Kevin, Tommie, Eckerle, John, Cotto, Mitchell, and Cassity. He would never play center, and I imagine Eberhardt, Conklin, and possibly Reed will get most of the time at the power foward spot.

In the little I saw of Relphorde, I thought he was the classic tweener--undersized and understrengthed to play down low, and too slow and not a good enough shooter to play outside. (I had the same problem back in CYC 20 years ago .) I just never saw the great athleticism that others on this board attribute to him.

Sorry david but I find no merit in your post. How can I say Relphorde would have been in the rotation in 2009? Basically we have one center on the team, Brett Thompson. Reed is not ready for D1. What is he, 6'11' 190? Hasn't played in a year. Raw, rusty. Yeah, he can jump but he'll get killed on the block if we actually play him in 2009 as he is currently constituted. Basically, Relphorde would have been the 2nd biggest player on the team capable of actually giving us minutes @ 6'6" 230. And we don't even have him any more!!! It's a freaking joke. Yeah, Barry weighs more @6'5" 250# but isn't as long nor have the jumping ability of Relphorde. Barry can't run either. I've never seen Conklin but predict he comes in smaller than Relphorde.

SLU spent $80 million on a new arena and the team we'll throw out there for the inaugural season shall have 4 bigs, three of whom are freshman. It's a joke and I'm pissed. No one can tell me I shouldn't be pissed because the sorry state of our front court rests on the shoulders of our current coach. Relphorde was a band-aide that our vaunted coach was too hard headed to realize he needed.

[Guest BillikenReport]

Sorry david but I find no merit in your post. How can I say Relphorde would have been in the rotation in 2009? Basically we have one center on the team, Brett Thompson. Reed is not ready for D1. What is he, 6'11' 190? Hasn't played in a year. Raw, rusty. Yeah, he can jump but he'll get killed on the block if we actually play him in 2009 as he is currently constituted. Basically, Relphorde would have been the 2nd biggest player on the team capable of actually giving us minutes @ 6'6" 230. And we don't even have him any more!!! It's a freaking joke. Yeah, Barry weighs more @6'5" 250# but isn't as long nor have the jumping ability of Relphorde. Barry can't run either. I've never seen Conklin but predict he comes in smaller than Relphorde.

Relphorde didn't want to play in the post. That was part of the problem this year, as he thought he was a guard and the coaching staff played him at power forward.

Here's a quote from Relphorde about why he picked the JUCO school he's going to next year: “There’s a chance for me to come in and get minutes right away at the wing, which is my natural position.”

- Nate