BC game observations

[Billikan]

Just home from the game and I am still on pins and needles--Now that was an EXCITING--game!

The atmosphere was great and the students were awesome and the band was wonderful as always--home court on campus arena at its best!

The AD tells me that he has a heck of a time scheduling anyone of note out of conference to come in here and play us now that we have Majerus and today's game wont help. This was a gritty grind it out with toughness game if I ever saw one. A team that wants to play us here better be ready to strap up the chin straps and play smart bb or we will take them out.

from my seats close to the floor it was obvious that BC had much better looking physical specimans at virtually every position--yet our guys, particularly our young bigs played with a heart and intensity that we have not seen from out inside guys in decades. Conklin is truly amazing as a freshman 4 who is not overly tall and not huge in the muscle department yet he is a warrior on the boards. Wille is already a crowd favorite and why not--his energy and athleticism are incredible. His tip ins when he first came in the game were huge and he was all over the glass even when he did not get the ball. His shot near the end on the beautiful pass from Lisch was a thing of beauty.

KM's defense on Rice was as good as you will ever see against a super athletic scoring guard who has put up big numbers on a lot of good teams. KM was so fundamentally sound that he never took the many fakes, lunges and moves that Rice was trying to put on and he just stayed in front of him. Rice was 2 for 12 and on one he dove into KM and then fired it up and the other was a fall away prayer from the deep corner. Other than those two he got nada!

This team--and I mean TEAM-- has guts and determination and a refuse to lose mentality. We will lose some games because we will probably continue to make bonehead plays and turnovers but we never quit and I love that attitude.

As some have said it is at times tough to be a Billiken fan but today was as much fun as I have had at a Billiken game in years. Go Bills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Box and Won]

KM was unbelievable against Rice. What an effort!

It's clear that Willie Reed is the fan favorite. He is such a sparkplug off the bench. He even hit both his free throws - judging from the one he shot against UMSL, I was initially concerned about his FT shooting.

Conklin was outstanding.

Crappy officiating again. The white ref made some ridiculous calls and Referee Gnarls Barkley wasn't much better.

Tommie had some good moments and bad moments, mostly good though. He tried to feed Reed down low and passed twice to Barry when I thought he should have taken it himself.

After being almost silent in the first half, KL really stepped it up at the end. His shot just looked off for a while, but he pulled it together when we needed him most.

The crowd and the atmosphere were outstanding. Still wasn't a sellout though, which was disappointing. It was great to hear the students chanting and cheering as we left the building.

[axeme]

Great win, gang! Very impressive. Your team has a lot of guts. This could be a special season, especially considering how young you are. And next year, look out!

Keep it up!

[billiken_roy]

i thought the two black refs were ok. i am not sending them xmas presents, but imo the best we have had this year thus far. the danny ainge lookalike wannabe that was there today though was as bad as kitts. the foul he called on liddell was just disturbing since tommie was at least 3 feet from the guy. he was so inconsistent on both ends it was terrible. he called two of the three phantom fouls on boston college to start the second half that were bad as well. for once we got some calls.

mitchell played his position, but rice had the ball and got to shot spots he has historically made. that wasnt the tyrese rice that went nuts last year in the conference tourney and i kept thinking he is going to put it into high gear anytime now and never did. rice had zero enthusiasm in that game imo. but not to take anything away from mitchell. mitchell indeed played very good defense.

i keep saying reed is going to get beat up. well today should have been the day as kan stated, those inside bc bigs had him big time physically and reed continued to be the spark plug. his athleticism and length is a difference maker and it has thus far overcome his lack of upper body strength. i also have noticed his defensive fundamentals continue to improve. he is bending his knees. he doesnt jump at the first movement he sees, he just keeps getting better.

conklin is going to make us forget luke meyer very quickly if he has more games like that. he was the player of the game today if you ask me.

boston college's game plan was obviously to beat the hell out of both kevin and tommy. both stood up to that pretty well, and ended up with pretty good stats for the game considering the beatings they took today. is lisch the toughest sob you ever saw. when he got off that floor with his face completely covered in blood, that was one scary moment. i had vision of some sort of eye injury. but to come back on the floor with a huge bandaid across his nose, and then stick the dagger in bc's heart with those threes and those free throws is just unbelievable.

speaking of those two threes, what the hell was skinner doing there? he shuts tommie and kevin out basically the whole game, then goes to a zone two possessions in a row and of course tommie finds kevin wide open for threes. nice al. thanks.

cotto's reverse layup was nice. it was good to see him have some success. down the road lisch or liddell are going to have a game where they are in foul trouble and we are going to need cotto to have the confidence to come in and score.

wonder what cassity did to get a zero in minutes played?

the good news of the game imo is that thompson, reed, and conklin continue to get better and against a quality team. if they carry cumlative stats like i am sure they had today (i havent looked at a box score) this team is going to win.

another good half time show. student turnout was spectacular. all in all a great day.

too bad the post dispatch guys missed it.

[Box and Won]

Definitely good to see Cotto make that reverse layup. He clanked that same shot badly against UMSL. He seems to be getting into the flow a little better.

[DeSmetBilliken]

wonder what cassity did to get a zero in minutes played?

I have somewhat of a theory on that. If you look at the Kent State game, Eckerle didn't log any game time while Cassity played. Today, Cassity sat while Eckerle was on the court. They might be considered interchangeable players in the eyes of Majerus, and maybe Eckerle had the better last few days of practice, while Cassity may have been better leading up to the Kent State game. You'd think that they could sub for each other, but maybe the coach has a different idea. Ruben also played a couple more minutes than last game, so maybe Ruben took some of those minutes.

[Tonka]

Definitely good to see Cotto make that reverse layup. He clanked that same shot badly against UMSL. He seems to be getting into the flow a little better.

"Team" - well said. These guys play hard and are very unselfish. I sit close to the SLU bench and these guys really appear to gel well together. Our players are really into the game from the very beginning. If you watch and listen to the bench, they are all highly emotionally involved. There seems to be a killer instinct on this team from top to bottom that I haven't seen in prior years.

Brian Conklin hustles on every play. I think he is going to be one special player.

[thetorch]

The key for us in this game was controlling the tempo. BC likes to run and they never did. We played pretty slow but lulled them to sleep and raced down the court a couple times for key baskets.

Our defensive effort was incredible. Mitchell and crew shutting down Rice was great but also holding the Trapani kid to 6 points was just as important.

Mitchell's defense made up for a lot of mistakes today. Hopefully by mid season he will quit making some of the careless TOs he had today. His shot doesn't ever look any better. He shoots over his shoulder. He has decent form but should be positioning the ball away from his side.

Liddell was active defensively and on the glass most of the game. He settled down the team several times on the offensive end while Lisch was out of sorts on the offensive end. He got to the basket pretty much at will but couldn't finish and our inside guys cut away from the basket when he drives instead of looking for a dish. His shot is also off. I swear his form has completely reversed back to his the way he looked as a freshman. You wouldn't think Coach would let kids shoot like that.

Lisch was played very tight in the first half. He couldn't get loose at all. BC posted him up too with some success. He hung in there and was clutch down the stretch, carrying the team in the second half. Great performance.

Cotto had one good drive to the basket, the reverse, had a couple TOs and didn't look for his outside shot much. He played good on ball and help defense though.

Eckerle was a non factor. 8 minutes of a non factor I guess is better then 20 minutes with Polk last year.

I'm pretty hard on Barry Eberhart but have grown to accept his shortcomings. He still thinks he is a guard and should be able to handle and move as well as one, he can't. This leads to TOs in every game. Still his defense has improved leaps and bounds. He won't make huge plays but he will occasionally score, make his fts and play solid defense in the post.

Brett Thompson continues to get more comfortable. I don't think he is good shape enough yet to settle in one the court (neither is Reed). He had a couple of nifty moves inside and he really is our only back to the basket performer. Right now he is a good complement to Conklin and Reed but soon he will be the dominant player inside.

Conklin was a revelation today. Tough hardnosed guy. Outrebounded BC's bigger and better players. Doesn't really post up but gets in the high post and shoots short turnarounds for a high percentage. Really excelled with post defense as well. Kind of an interior Lisch, I think he is bigger, stronger and scrappier than Luke ever was inside right now.

Reed changes the game when he comes in. Obviously he can't play big minutes yet not in shape. He mixes it up and his very high energy. I too thought he would get knocked around especially with BC players outweighing him by 20-40 lbs but he is too fast and just always in constant motion on both ends. Only credited with 1 block but he affected at least half a dozen shots if not more. So active on the offensive glass. He might not be the best of this Billiken class but he is my favorite player out of the group right now.

[MB73]

Excelent win! That's more like it!

Great atmosphere, too.

With today's win and the good showing in the Kent State game, it seems like RM is making significant progress.

The key is that the freshman "bigs" played better both games after a very flat opening vs. UMSL.

If we're gonna really change things around here, we'll need improvement up front, and steps are clearly being taken.

[jjray]

Awesome, awesome win. I'm shocked at the progress Willie Reed has made three games into the season. Each game he's stronger, has a better grasp of playing his position. The two tips in and a block in his first minute off the bench literally changed the game. I felt that BC was getting ready to go on a run and Willie just sucked the life out of BC. Tommie should know that Barry can't handle those passes in transition. I'd much rather just see him take it to the rack himself. Conklin was awesome. I liked Reed and Conklin best together. Brett was a bit tentative but you can see him progressing. The up and under move in the paint was a thing of beauty. KM ... the best freshman point guard I have seen at SLU in maybe forever.

[redbirdfan]

It got nasty out there!

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/photos?photo...ameId=283270139

[joe_davola]

Loved the game. Wasn't as exciting as the Kent State game, but we got the 'W' so that always makes it a great game.

Huge fan of Willie. Love his hustle, his enthusiasm, his athleticisim, his determination....I know I"m stating the obvious, but once he puts the frame together with all of these assets....watch out.

Conklin is an animal. He's my favorite freshman. He will never be outhustled.

Mitchell is a little careless with the ball, however, you still have to LOVE the upside with this guy.

I'm not going to go on about the other freshman, but I will make this note...saw Rich 'I love hot dogs' Gould at Triumph after the game. Classic.

[brianstl]

Conklin has really impressed me so far. I am glad it has gone like this so far or I would have really felt like an idiot for the Bonner comparison I was told about in the off-season and posted on here.

Reed has been really good, but the key for him will be limiting his minutes to the best situations for him. I really don't believe that he has the body yet that will allow him to play major minutes right now. I think the twenty minutes he got today is probably pushing it.

Mitchell will only get better as he gets use to playing at this level. I don't expect the carelessness with ball to last much longer.

Thompson will take some time as he gets use to playing against stronger players.

Cotto will be fine. I think the lay up will be a big boost to Cotto.

KL and TL were their usual selfs. Kevin is always there big when it counts.

I have no idea what was up with Cassity's benching.

BE got only 15 minutes today, but I thought he played well in his minutes. The BE that showed up for the UMSL game was a big let down. The BE that showed up for the last two games can help this team.

Eckerle is what he is. He is put in there when Rickma wants stuff run a certain way. I get the feeling that Rickma almost uses him as a teacher aid to show the kids how he wants it done.

Like Torch said earlier the key to this win was tempo we dictated along with the defensive intensity we played with.

[brianstl]

Just thought I should add that Mitchell's D on Rice was great today. Rice is a big time player.

[drkelsey55]

I thought Barry looked more like a freshmen than our freshmen. He was like a deer in the headlights when he got the ball at the free throw line. also if he's moving, don't throw him the ball. he can not catch, dribble, and run at the same time.

[The Dude]

conklin is going to make us forget luke meyer very quickly if he has more games like that. he was the player of the game today if you ask me.

To compare conklin to luke meyer is a terrible disservice to conklin. Meyer is no where near the talent of conklin. Majerus wouldn't even recruit a player of Meyer's ilk today and that is a tremendous thing. I'm sick of all the beloved talents of the past that get credos because they hustled or dove on the floor for loose balls. I WANT TALENT and Majerus is delivering in droves. Now if he can just find ways to drive that waste of a roster spot Eckerle off the team we will be set!

[Archy McNally]

I also agree that Conklin is the player of the game. He has stepped in and played 'd', rebound, looks good in the offense, scores a little bit. He is playing like an upperclassmen. He is strong for an upperclassmen and especially for a freshman - broad shoulders and pretty darn thick. I think that jumper of his is going to come around later this year or next year and he will become more of a scorer. He will be the best PF on the Bills since Anthony Bonner (and he actually played center most of the time). I thought that losing Luke was going to hurt us, but from how he has played these 1st 2 games, Conklin is going to be a step up this year.

Mitchell 'd' was great, where did that come from. Besides the TO's, he played well. I think he will have a Marquee-like impact in the next 4 years.

Reed is a type of player we have not seen before. He will be part of the big 3 in this freshman class. Just so athletic. A quick top-notch PG, a strong 6-7 PF, and a super athletic big man inside. If KM can can down on his TO's in the month or 2 while WR improves defensively, the Bills have a real shot at a tourney bid.

KL and TL had down days and we still won. We probably actually played a better game against Kent b/c of what those 2 did but Kent and Fisher were just better than BC (remember Kent won 28 games last yr and 20 in 8 straight yrs). But the freshman picked us up and the 'd' was top-notch against BC.

I thought BT did a good job on the 'd' end. Gets some rebounds, strong. Actually with Conklin, BT, and BE we have some muscle inside.

[Malibubill]

To compare conklin to luke meyer is a terrible disservice to conklin. Meyer is no where near the talent of conklin. Majerus wouldn't even recruit a player of Meyer's ilk today and that is a tremendous thing. I'm sick of all the beloved talents of the past that get credos because they hustled or dove on the floor for loose balls. I WANT TALENT and Majerus is delivering in droves. Now if he can just find ways to drive that waste of a roster spot Eckerle off the team we will be set!

Welcome to the board Dude, but your comment about Eckerle is not even worth responding to. I look forward to more informed comments in the future.

It will be interesting to see how the freshman play in their first game on the road. Nebraska won its 27th consecutive non-conference home game recently. The record speaks for itself. I think the freshman will struggle in such a hostile environment, but the last two games show they can play with heart and play tough whomever the opponent. It will be interesting to see the line on the game.

[jjray]

I also agree that Conklin is the player of the game. He has stepped in and played 'd', rebound, looks good in the offense, scores a little bit. He is playing like an upperclassmen. He is strong for an upperclassmen and especially for a freshman - broad shoulders and pretty darn thick. I think that jumper of his is going to come around later this year or next year and he will become more of a scorer. He will be the best PF on the Bills since Anthony Bonner (and he actually played center most of the time). I thought that losing Luke was going to hurt us, but from how he has played these 1st 2 games, Conklin is going to be a step up this year.

Mitchell 'd' was great, where did that come from. Besides the TO's, he played well. I think he will have a Marquee-like impact in the next 4 years.

Reed is a type of player we have not seen before. He will be part of the big 3 in this freshman class. Just so athletic. A quick top-notch PG, a strong 6-7 PF, and a super athletic big man inside. If KM can can down on his TO's in the month or 2 while WR improves defensively, the Bills have a real shot at a tourney bid.

KL and TL had down days and we still won. We probably actually played a better game against Kent b/c of what those 2 did but Kent and Fisher were just better than BC (remember Kent won 28 games last yr and 20 in 8 straight yrs). But the freshman picked us up and the 'd' was top-notch against BC.

I thought BT did a good job on the 'd' end. Gets some rebounds, strong. Actually with Conklin, BT, and BE we have some muscle inside.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Conklin has played 3 games at SLU. Anthony Bonner is the university's all-time leading scorer and had a nice career in the NBA. Unless I'm missing something, Conklin is not going to be playing in the NBA. He's not Bonner ... but an extremely solid player of whom I am thrilled to see in a Billikens uni. I look forward to seeing the blossoming of young Mr. Conkiln's career at SLU but let's keep it real. ... And please don't kick dirt on Luke Meyer. The guy was a warrior who gave his blood for the SLU program. He has earned our respect many times over.

[brianstl]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Conklin has played 3 games at SLU. Anthony Bonner is the university's all-time leading scorer and had a nice career in the NBA. Unless I'm missing something, Conklin is not going to be playing in the NBA. He's not Bonner ... but an extremely solid player of whom I am thrilled to see in a Billikens uni. I look forward to seeing the blossoming of young Mr. Conkiln's career at SLU but let's keep it real. ... And please don't kick dirt on Luke Meyer. The guy was a warrior who gave his blood for the SLU program. He has earned our respect many times over.

I never said he was Bonner. I asked somebody I trust on this stuff before the year who he would compare Conklin to coming into the program. He said Bonner. He said that.....I didn't. I think it is fair to say that Conklin has looked better as a freshman three games into the season than any other Billiken 4 in a long time. The last two games have been against two solid programs.

Will he be as good as Bonner? Probably not, but he has a chance to be the best 4 we have had here since Bonner.

JJ, I wouldn't worry about people kicking dirt in Luke's face. The poster who made that comment sounds an awful lot like one of this boards most infamous posters. Most fans respect Luke's history in this program.

[Billikan]

To compare conklin to luke meyer is a terrible disservice to conklin. Meyer is no where near the talent of conklin. Majerus wouldn't even recruit a player of Meyer's ilk today and that is a tremendous thing. I'm sick of all the beloved talents of the past that get credos because they hustled or dove on the floor for loose balls. I WANT TALENT and Majerus is delivering in droves. Now if he can just find ways to drive that waste of a roster spot Eckerle off the team we will be set!

Just because you snuck in here with a new name does not mean that you are not an ignorant troll. I know for a fact the Coach loved Luke Meyer and he would recruit another player like him in a minute. He never was a 4 but he had to play there because we had no one else. I love Conklin and I think he will be a great player for the Bills but that does not mean that Luke was not a big contributor at a time when we were roster challenged because of a lack of size and a lack of talent in out big man group. Go away and leave us alone.

[DirtyRican]

Anybody else have a man crush on Kevin? The dude just gves it everything he has every night. While I think our freshman will be great we need to cherish every game we see him play. He is something special and we are lucky that he is a Billiken.

[jjray]

I never said he was Bonner. I asked somebody I trust on this stuff before the year who he would compare Conklin to coming into the program. He said Bonner. He said that.....I didn't. I think it is fair to say that Conklin has looked better as a freshman three games into the season than any other Billiken 4 in a long time. The last two games have been against two solid programs.

Will he be as good as Bonner? Probably not, but he has a chance to be the best 4 we have had here since Bonner.

JJ, I wouldn't worry about people kicking dirt in Luke's face. The poster who made that comment sounds an awful lot like one of this boards most infamous posters. Most fans respect Luke's history in this program.

I wasn't calling you out Brian. Others had taken the comparison between Conkin and Bonner to a higher level to which I took exception. I really like Conlin but let's be clear that he is not Anthony Bonner.

[TreyT3]

I have somewhat of a theory on that. If you look at the Kent State game, Eckerle didn't log any game time while Cassity played. Today, Cassity sat while Eckerle was on the court. They might be considered interchangeable players in the eyes of Majerus, and maybe Eckerle had the better last few days of practice, while Cassity may have been better leading up to the Kent State game. You'd think that they could sub for each other, but maybe the coach has a different idea. Ruben also played a couple more minutes than last game, so maybe Ruben took some of those minutes.

I talked to Cassity and he said he didnt play cause he didnt matchup with anyone well...guards were too fast and the forwards too big he couldnt guard anyone out there

[slu72]

I talked to Cassity and he said he didnt play cause he didnt matchup with anyone well...guards were too fast and the forwards too big he couldnt guard anyone out there

If true, and I don't really doubt you, that's a refreshing piece of honesty from a freshman, but even more importantly, reflects KC is a true team player. This team first concept can carry a team a long ways, look at the New York Giants as an example. This win over BC is big. Yeah, they may not be top 25, but they'll get their share of wins in the ACC. Skinner's a good coach, Rice is all conf in arguably the best hoops conf, and BC's got some tradition going for it. Also, losing that heartbreaker to KSU is nothing to hang our heads about. This W should give all Billiken fans some hope that this squad will perform better than expected this year, although there will certainly be some bumps along the way.