Tonka Posted March 5, 2004 Share Posted March 5, 2004 TF's absence was certainly not the reason for the loss last night. Sure, Tom may have changed things slightly, but nothing could have helped this team last night. It was by far the most disappointed I have been in this team all year. There was no desire to win. Bob Ramsey said it best on his show a little while ago - this team played like they were intimidated, lack of heart, zero desire to win, and just flat. I thought I was watching the Bad News Bills. Fundamentally we were weak as well. We looked lazy and like we didn't want to be there. Louisville played tough and looked good, be we laid down for them. I'm glad I am not Brad, as I don't think I could handle my myself when addressing the team after the game. Louisville putting on the full court press most of the game exposed our weakness of lacking a true point guard. But my question is, this is nothing new! We haven't had one all year. Our center position was out hurt, it's not like we lost our point guard for this game - we never really had one! I saw very few effective adjustments either. We made some slight adjustments inbounding the ball, but it didn't appear to be much different. If this is all a team needs to do against us, of course we're screwed. My point is, it's been a season long problem. Ramsey pointed out on his show, that he normally would get on fans for leaving early, but that last night he kind of expected them to. I agree, if the team isn't going to show up, don't criticize lack of fan support in the future. I left with 2 minutes left and I simply couldn't handle anymore, as my stomach was in knots. I'm not going to give kudos to anybody last night. It's a team game and the team came out flat from the beginning. I'll never know why either. This is a game on our home court against a team we've had success against, a team that was relatively vulnerable, and at a crucial time in the season! Let's get it together guys! The good news is that we took a beating from Cincy a few years ago like this and then went on to win the conference tourney - let's do it again. I hope the fans show up tomorrow night to support our seniors and thank them. Prayers go out to Reggie and his family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 5, 2004 Share Posted March 5, 2004 if we dont have a point guard now, then i guess we havent had a point guard in about 15 seasons as the one we have masquarading as a point guard now is going to be first in career billiken assists, second in career billiken steals, shoot over 80% from the foul line this year, and and average double figures in points for the season. josh has commanded the team to two seasons where our team turnovers have been well below most other recent billiken seasons. but if that isnt good enough. you have apparently solved the riddle to why we havent won a national championship over the last 15 seasons. we have never had a point guard. josh fisher may not have come to college as a point guard, but he is leaving as one of the best billiken point guards in team history. if your point is he is no h waldman or jameer nelson, well those dont come along very often. to dump last night on josh is a little over the top imo. i felt josh was about the only bright spot we saw last night effortwise. the rest seemed to take the night off. something tells me that jameer nelson or h waldman couldnt have fared much better last night with the teamates that josh had last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted March 5, 2004 Share Posted March 5, 2004 I think the team, as a whole and more so with certain individuals, is physically beat up and spent. If this team has one thing it has always been desire. The heart is willing but the bodies are spent. If I were Brad, I wouldn't even practice today. Rest is what they really need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted March 5, 2004 Share Posted March 5, 2004 I don't think anyone is pitting last night's loss solely on Frericks' injury. He is definitely an important component to any success that we may have in the future though. I honestly thought that we would come out fired up and ready to play last night, but just like you said, they looked like they were intimidated. I was hoping that we would exhibit some confidence considering our recent domination over the Cardinals at the Savvis Center. It was extremely painful to watch, and kind of disheartening, especially after our impressive win against Tulane the other night. I always try to treat each game individually, and not let one loss effect my outlook for the team in the future, but I think that the Louisville loss really illustrated some glaring weaknesses. I sure hope Tommie qualifies for next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted March 5, 2004 Share Posted March 5, 2004 With Frericks out already, I pretty much figured we were hosed as of that play. Sloan takes a vicious charge (before ball left shooters' hand), both players crash to floor. No call. It's certainly up to the players to reach down deep and adjust to the style set by the officials, but I can also see Sloan and others having something stick in their minds thereafter. That said, I think that if Izik and especially Ian (and Bryce) are in town this summer, Brad needs to make sure their dental coverage is up to date and they need to participate in the Bonner league. It would also be pleasing if the NCAA would issue a consistent policy regarding the hopscotch move, but the game was already way out of reach by the time those came into play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted March 5, 2004 Author Share Posted March 5, 2004 Roy, if there's even a small angle for you to argue about something -you'll do it. I guess that's why you have the most posts on the board. We can argue all you want that JF is not a true point guard and that argument has been made on this board. Yes, Josh fell into the position and looking back over the past 4 years he has done well. I did not dump last night's loss on JF and I believe I said in the post that we lost as a team, but if you took that in, the substance of your post would have been lost. JF came to this team with maturity to be able to play four full seasons effectively. The last few years we lacked a true PG, and the timing of JF to SLU combined with that, and his maturity level has contributed a lot to those stats you are talking about. Thank gosh, JF did come along and hats off to him for doing as well as he has. Without him this season could have been even worse. Not many can switch positions and handle it as effectively as JF did, and I'm thankful for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted March 5, 2004 Share Posted March 5, 2004 Without Frericks we have no one who can rebound effectively against true big men. We have no inside game on offense. Louisville could pressure the outside because they knew there was no inside capable of taking a shot outside of Izik. Izik has to ahve basically isolation plays for him to take it into the post so he really is not a true post man on offense. I don't think I saw one legit entry pass last night. Without an inside threat our offense is extremely weak. We really had no chance against Louisville. We need better players and more of em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 5, 2004 Share Posted March 5, 2004 most of my "arguments" are about defending the billikens when it appears they have been wronged. i took your post as a slam on josh. sorry if you actually believe him to be a good point guard and i just misunderstood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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