BC game observations

[Taj79]

Great win. Very happy. Things looking okay so far. Still a lot of youth to overcome but feel like we will get there with time.

News flash: out of all the commentary, the line by roy stands out. Anyone thinking about how other teams will defend us only need to read roy's line about BC beating the crap out of Kevin and Tommie. There it is, staring you in the face. And if you need a photographic reminder, pull up redbirdfan's photo of Kevin with blood down his face! Our weakness is well known --- youth. take out one of the two anchors to that youth, and there you have it. I got a feeling each and every A10 team has that little nugget filed away for when we come calling.

I happen to believe that Tommie and Kevin are good, strong kids and can take a lot. I don't know how a season-long pounding is going to affect them in the long and cumulative run. We all know Kevin can split the webbing on his hands. Both have lithe frames and Tommie ends up in some real interesting confrontations with interior players. The game plan against us is set. Take out the seniors and leave it up to the frosh. That's what I would do. WWTD.

[Taj79]

I am also guessing that 1 adn 2 on the upcoming road trip would be expected? Win at Detroit? Is that the break-even line on this trip?

[Basketbill]

JJray you are far too sensitive. I would agree with the statement that Conklin is an upgrade to Luke. Let us not have a knee jerk defense of the past, and acknowledge the improvements we are making. I loved Meyer, I was concerned we would lose both his effort and unsung leadership ability. Meyer will be honored, but he graduated. After three games, Conklin has been an incredible surprise (although I had hoped he would be that good). Against an undefeated ACC team that was bigger and stronger, he had a great game. He is clearly not playing like the freshman we are use too. He moves to the open spot much like Meyer did, he is rebounding already as well meyer did, and his offensive rebounding is better than Meyers. His tip-ins are something Luke did not give us. He reminds me of some of the big men that the Zags have had for years, and I always wondered how they could get them and we could not. Who would you start Meyer or Conklin? at the beginning of the season I would have said Meyer, after three games I would say it is a tough call but I would go with Conklin.

Congrats to the team, Lisch and Liddell were off, but the freshman kept us in the game. It is fun not to see a player go up for a shot and not have to cringe...."Burwell commented in his article that the games was well entertaining", I agree. I found my self thinking during the Kent state game with 10 minutes left in the game how fun it was to watch. It got even better after that........ Sure we will lay some eggs this season, but the future is bright!!

[drkelsey55]

YES!! If you like college basketball, the Chaifez is the place to be.

Some of the best defense I have seen in a long time.

Just would like to have a little more suport from the east end crowd yelling "DEFENSE".

If you were at the game you heard me!!

I had four high school kids sitting next to me for the first time and even they were afraid to open their mouths and yell.

I never got to play myself, so I always did what I could by making some noise. Good at that.

I can't understand why it is so hard for 7600 of the 9100 to get of their seats and yell EARLY in the game not just the last two minutes.

I think by now eveyone knows how I feel about this so I won't bring it up anymore.

However if you hear some idiot early in the game yelling "DEFENSE." Thats me.

[Billikan]

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

I was thinking about the game this morning and independently I came the same conclusion. As I watched all of those huge guards/forwards--or lighting quick guards check in at the table I wondered how we could guard them. Kyle does not yet have the bulk or the strength to deal with those big guys and he will need to work hard to be able to defend the super quick guards so the matchups were really not good for him. I would expect that he will be like Luke and by the time he is a senior he will be bigger, tougher and a more savvy, and just as smart player. Good for him that he is enough of a team player that he understands the matchup dilemma of the coaching staff. My hat is off to him.

[Archy McNally]

I also just want to repeat that I said Conklin will be the best PF since Anthony Bonner, not that he will be Bonner. Of course, nobody has had a career that AB had since he has been here.

[billiken_roy]

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!

dude, no one is saying that conkln doesnt have a great upside, but your comments about meyer are way out of line. meyer was the glue to the team during his stay at slu and while his stats arent all american, they arent horrible either. if you would have asked me prior to the season, i would have been very happy with a freshmen power forward matching luke's stats last season. thus far he has and that was the point of my comment. your point of bashing meyer though is deplorable.

[billiken_roy]

I was thinking about the game this morning and independently I came the same conclusion. As I watched all of those huge guards/forwards--or lighting quick guards check in at the table I wondered how we could guard them. Kyle does not yet have the bulk or the strength to deal with those big guys and he will need to work hard to be able to defend the super quick guards so the matchups were really not good for him. I would expect that he will be like Luke and by the time he is a senior he will be bigger, tougher and a more savvy, and just as smart player. Good for him that he is enough of a team player that he understands the matchup dilemma of the coaching staff. My hat is off to him.

actually, i am not buying that excuse. no offense to eckerle, but he didnt match up with the boston college guards either (look at timmermann's plus/minus chart for proof) yet was out there enough.

if matchups was a concern, then i would have played cotto more minutes and sat eckerle as well.

[Pistol]

First game at the new arena and I'm still buzzing this morning. Unfortunately, because I didn't get to spend my first game on HSSU or UMSL, I probably didn't get to focus as closely on the action as I normally do because I was looking around and soaking things up too much.

The new place is great. I'm not a huge fan of the exterior design and surrounding landscape- it is all okay but I would have made some different choices. I also would have made the concourse a little 'louder' - maybe more action shots of past players, a little more color couldn't help. It just feels a little too sterile around there.

Once you get inside the seating area, though, there isn't much at all I would have done differently- the screens in the corners, the LED band around the top, the luxury boxes at the top instead of the middle, a single deck of seating, perfect sight lines, good sound (guess they got the kinks out)- no complaints and our money went to good use. This place has a great atmosphere on the inside, even with the lousy PA guy and numerous older fans who don't show much emotion. It was embarrassing to have Guy Phillips requesting that the fans stand up 3 times- both because he did it and because there were thousands of people not standing as the game started.

I started in my season ticket seats, 205, then watched the first 8 minutes of the second half where my parents were sitting, 118, then headed up to sit by some friends in 211 for the rest of the game. There is not a bad seat in the house. I remember a lot of people saying the seats were too narrow and uncomfortable, but I didn't notice that.

I absolutely love the freshman class. I can't say enough good things about what I saw out of them. Every single one of them who got in played incredibly hard on both ends. All seem to be excellent defenders. Kudos to Mitchell for shutting down Rice for nearly the whole game. Reed and Conklin amazed me to no end. Both of them go after offensive rebounds like their lives depend on it. Conklin looks like he's magnetized to the ball. He's going to suffer some injuries to the face because of the way he chases it down and I hope he wears a mouth guard. Reed and his wingspan are going to be a headache for every guy he faces- his consecutive tip-ins were awesome. 8 offensive rebounds- just ridiculous for a freshman. I couldn't believe he didn't wind up with any defensive boards.

Mitchell looks like a natural born leader at point guard- completely solid on both ends and always in control. Cotto showed some flashes of brilliance and I know he'll gain confidence with experience and start having some huge offensive games. Thompson is going to be yet another solid player for us and I'm excited about how he'll develop after another year of strength and conditioning. He and Reed are perfect complements.

Lisch took over once again. I figured he was not feeling 100% based on his quiet first half, and surprisingly few minutes, but he was phenomenal down the stretch. What a winner. Tommie was off and still wound up with 9 and 9. Even though he still disappears at times, he showed that he can still do all the little things despite a poor shooting day.

I focused on the positives because I'm so excited about the future of this team. Of course I would have liked to see a better shooting day across the board, better officiating, and a sold out house but I'm thrilled with the arena, the team, and the win over BC.

[bauman]

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.

I would hate to describe it as a "man crush", but I must be KL's second strongest backer, just in line behind my Belleville friend, BROY. I think Billikan made a point at the top of this thread about this BC game being the most fun he has had at a game in years. I almost concur with that comment since we won the game, but my fondest memory of recent Billikan games is one we lost---X last year. Why that game? Because of KL. He had to have the best 5 minutes of basketball any Billikan has ever had, including LH.

Based on my season predictions and comments after the H-S game, I am a glass-half-full guy for this years team, however even with a hopefully great recruiting class coming in next year, I can't imagine how we can replace everything Kevin gives this team. W/O him this year would be 5-10 games worse in the W/L record. Can anyone imagine us winning the BC game w/o KL? Does anyone on this Board, who was at the game, recall wanting anyone other than KL taking shots and / or free throws in the last 5 minutes? I didn't think so. I love our Freshman class and the 09 class sounds great, BUT this team will go only as far as KL can bring them, and since college BB is a guard oriented game, I think KL and TL III will lead us to a post-season tourny, if only the NIT.

I willl add that I watched X beat Memphis last night and saw part of the X v. Mizzou game, and I believe we can stay with them. Too bad the game is at the beginning of the Conf schedule and at X. I think we could win a game against them later in the year at the Cha.

[Box and Won]

I also would have made the concourse a little 'louder' - maybe more action shots of past players, a little more color couldn't help. It just feels a little too sterile around there.

This is really my only issue with the place, and it's fairly minor. I would have liked to have seen more banners, pictures, etc. Even the display case is a little bland. That's okay though - this can all be remedied easily. Otherwise, I absolutely love the place.

[BIG BILL FAN]

I would hate to describe it as a "man crush", but I must be KL's second strongest backer, just in line behind my Belleville friend, BROY. I think Billikan made a point at the top of this thread about this BC game being the most fun he has had at a game in years. I almost concur with that comment since we won the game, but my fondest memory of recent Billikan games is one we lost---X last year. Why that game? Because of KL. He had to have the best 5 minutes of basketball any Billikan has ever had, including LH.

Based on my season predictions and comments after the H-S game, I am a glass-half-full guy for this years team, however even with a hopefully great recruiting class coming in next year, I can't imagine how we can replace everything Kevin gives this team. W/O him this year would be 5-10 games worse in the W/L record. Can anyone imagine us winning the BC game w/o KL? Does anyone on this Board, who was at the game, recall wanting anyone other than KL taking shots and / or free throws in the last 5 minutes? I didn't think so. I love our Freshman class and the 09 class sounds great, BUT this team will go only as far as KL can bring them, and since college BB is a guard oriented game, I think KL and TL III will lead us to a post-season tourny, if only the NIT.

I willl add that I watched X beat Memphis last night and saw part of the X v. Mizzou game, and I believe we can stay with them. Too bad the game is at the beginning of the Conf schedule and at X. I think we could win a game against them later in the year at the Cha.

Good points, I'm wondering who will be our "go to guy " next year. I think we will have scoring options next year, just not sure about a go to guy. Any thoughts?

[billiken_roy]

Good points, I'm wondering who will be our "go to guy " next year. I think we will have scoring options next year, just not sure about a go to guy. Any thoughts?

got to wait to see how the kids develop. that said, if i had to pick today someone other than lisch or liddell, i indeed would give the ball to mitchell.

[Legion1818]

Here are my observations:

1- Student section was phenomenal!

2- As my mother put it, "Now I know what home court advantage looks like!"

3- Very enthused by Lisch's play. His quick return from the bloodied moment kinda solidifies his "player FOR the fans" status. SLU Marketing & Communications... are you reading this?

4- Very, very disappointed the game did not sell out.

5- Also a little disappointed by Liddell's play. Thought he gave up the ball (passes; not turn overs) when he clearly could have taken it to the rim or gone for a 3.

Finally... what's the deal with that "Blue Crew Nation" flag done in the style of the old Japanese Empire flag? Kinda weird....

[Quality Is Job 1]

I am also guessing that 1 adn 2 on the upcoming road trip would be expected? Win at Detroit? Is that the break-even line on this trip?

I think that's pretty much it, but who knows what might happen at SIU. A 2-1 "trip" would be great.

[willie]

Here are my observations:

1- Student section was phenomenal!

2- As my mother put it, "Now I know what home court advantage looks like!"

3- Very enthused by Lisch's play. His quick return from the bloodied moment kinda solidifies his "player FOR the fans" status. SLU Marketing & Communications... are you reading this?

4- Very, very disappointed the game did not sell out.

5- Also a little disappointed by Liddell's play. Thought he gave up the ball (passes; not turn overs) when he clearly could have taken it to the rim or gone for a 3.

Finally... what's the deal with that "Blue Crew Nation" flag done in the style of the old Japanese Empire flag? Kinda weird....

We must have been watching a differnt game. I thought Tommie took it aggresively to the rim,he just couldn't finish.In fact Tommie has been very strong all year ,he just has not gotten his shot to fall. I thought he played great[yes roy better then kevin]. There is more to this game then who scores the most points.

[Box and Won]

Here are my observations:

1- Student section was phenomenal!

2- As my mother put it, "Now I know what home court advantage looks like!"

3- Very enthused by Lisch's play. His quick return from the bloodied moment kinda solidifies his "player FOR the fans" status. SLU Marketing & Communications... are you reading this?

4- Very, very disappointed the game did not sell out.

5- Also a little disappointed by Liddell's play. Thought he gave up the ball (passes; not turn overs) when he clearly could have taken it to the rim or gone for a 3.

Finally... what's the deal with that "Blue Crew Nation" flag done in the style of the old Japanese Empire flag? Kinda weird....

Does Legion 1818 ever come to the b-ball games, or are Legion and the BC totally separate?

[bauman]

We must have been watching a differnt game. I thought Tommie took it aggresively to the rim,he just couldn't finish.In fact Tommie has been very strong all year ,he just has not gotten his shot to fall. I thought he played great[yes roy better then kevin]. There is more to this game then who scores the most points.

Willie, I find myself agreeing with you on most items, but are you really sure you believe that TL had a better game than KL(I really don't want to get into a who's better between these two, since I like and appreciate what both of them give to the team).

I thought TL checked out for 2-3 minutes a couple of times. Hard to see how a player with a 23% (3 of 13) shooting average from the floor, no 3 pointers, no key baskets and 60% from the line could be considered having a better game than KL. The only fault I have with KL in this game, much like I remember in the KSU game, is he needs to look more aggressively for his shot earlier in the game-we have to come out looking to score more than 20/23 points in the first halfs. I'm not intending to cut TL's game down (his 9 rebounds were big) just that he did not contribute more than KL, or BC for that matter, but he still had an above average game-he just needs to shoot better and look to drive to the hoop when he is one-on-one with a defender. Hopefully, the coaches are or will be working with Tommie on these issues. I just don't get the sense of him taking over the leadership role on the floor when it's him and 3-4 Freshmen.

[willie]

Willie, I find myself agreeing with you on most items, but are you really sure you believe that TL had a better game than KL(I really don't want to get into a who's better between these two, since I like and appreciate what both of them give to the team).

I thought TL checked out for 2-3 minutes a couple of times. Hard to see how a player with a 23% (3 of 13) shooting average from the floor, no 3 pointers, no key baskets and 60% from the line could be considered having a better game than KL. The only fault I have with KL in this game, much like I remember in the KSU game, is he needs to look more aggressively for his shot earlier in the game-we have to come out looking to score more than 20/23 points in the first halfs. I'm not intending to cut TL's game down (his 9 rebounds were big) just that he did not contribute more than KL, or BC for that matter, but he still had an above average game-he just needs to shoot better and look to drive to the hoop when he is one-on-one with a defender. Hopefully, the coaches are or will be working with Tommie on these issues. I just don't get the sense of him taking over the leadership role on the floor when it's him and 3-4 Freshmen.

I also don't want to get into one is better than the other[ilove them both},but yes I thought Tommie had a better game. I thought Kevin had a very mediocre game untill the last 5 min. when Skinner went away from his game plan and left Kevin wide open for a couple of 3's. Kevin was a non factor untill then. With about 10 min. to go Kevin had about 7 points. In my opinion that was not one of Kevins better games he just came up huge at the end thanks to Al Skinner and a couple of good feeds.

[slufanskip]

I also don't want to get into one is better than the other[ilove them both},but yes I thought Tommie had a better game. I thought Kevin had a very mediocre game untill the last 5 min. when Skinner went away from his game plan and left Kevin wide open for a couple of 3's. Kevin was a non factor untill then. With about 10 min. to go Kevin had about 7 points. In my opinion that was not one of Kevins better games he just came up huge at the end thanks to Al Skinner and a couple of good feeds.

I believe he had about 2 pts with 10 minutes to go. I also think Tommie had a much better game than his stats show. I believe 2 of the assists on Kevin's field goals came from Tommie. One as he cut to the free throw stripe and another when he was posted up for the 3. Kevin is our best free throw shooter so we got the ball to him down the stretch when they had to foul and he did a great job of converting. I would say they both had good games, that was a good team we were playing. Tommie had a good all around game and Kevin closed the door, kudos to both.

[Basketbill]

I believe he had about 2 pts with 10 minutes to go. I also think Tommie had a much better game than his stats show. I believe 2 of the assists on Kevin's field goals came from Tommie. One as he cut to the free throw stripe and another when he was posted up for the 3. Kevin is our best free throw shooter so we got the ball to him down the stretch when they had to foul and he did a great job of converting. I would say they both had good games, that was a good team we were playing. Tommie had a good all around game and Kevin closed the door, kudos to both.

I thought also tommie fed KL for his fst break lay-up thought it was tommie but I may be wrong. If it was him did he not get credited with an assist?

[billikenfan05]

Legion 1818 and Blue Crew are totally different

[Basketbill]

I thought also tommie fed KL for his fst break lay-up thought it was tommie but I may be wrong. If it was him did he not get credited with an assist?

He got the rebound just prior to KL's lay-up and it was a nice pass, not sure why there was no assist on that play.

[billiken_roy]

He got the rebound just prior to KL's lay-up and it was a nice pass, not sure why there was no assist on that play.

i believe lisch dribbled in. the dribbles would have negated any assist.

[Cowboy]

i believe lisch dribbled in. the dribbles would have negated any assist.

-dribbles do not negate the potential of an assist being awarded