Mo State observations

[Majerus Magic]

I think JJ stepped it up. 15 points, 5 assists, 1 TO, 8-10 from the FT line. Those stats are much better than his averages. Sure he didn't shoot well from the field (3-9) or from 3 (1-5), but I'll take that over Cassity's 0-1 in 34 mintues.

JJ also had the worst +/- on the team. His defense left something to be desired. He was burned multiple times.

I was a Kyle supporter, but his confidence is gone. Shot. Kaput. Nothing. It doesn't even look like he remembers how to shoot a basketball anymore.

[drkelsey55]

How many shots did MSU have last night that hung on the rim or bounced on it and then went in? Same thing on a lot of their free throws.

You would have tought hey brought their favorite rims with them from Springfield. We did not get very many breaks in this game.

[RUBillsFan]

JJ also had the worst +/- on the team. His defense left something to be desired. He was burned multiple times.

I was a Kyle supporter, but his confidence is gone. Shot. Kaput. Nothing. It doesn't even look like he remembers how to shoot a basketball anymore.

I know Timmerman likes the +/- stat, but I'm not sure how much value it has. There are too many things that are completely out a player's control that go into it. It is an interesting stat, but I think it has to be taken with a grain of salt.

JJ might not have been good on D, but he hasn't been good all year. He stepped up his offense and played the same poor D, so he "stepped up" his game overall. Cassity played about the same or worst overall game he has played all year. Only taking 1 shot in 34 minutes is absolutely awful. He is afraid to shoot plain and simple. There is that cliche saying that "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take." Cassity "missed" quite a few last night.

[RUBillsFan]

How many shots did MSU have last night that hung on the rim or bounced on it and then went in? Same thing on a lot of their free throws.

You would have tought hey brought their favorite rims with them from Springfield. We did not get very many breaks in this game.

Yeah it seemed like MO State got quite a few friendly bounces on shots that didn't look like they were going in. Then SLU missed some layups early in the 2nd half which bounce around and fall off. Tough game.

[jimbofive]

SMS beat us at home. we missed KM but that wasn't SMS's fault. we had our team, they had theirs. refs were extremely fair, i thought. they had the correct and obvious gameplan, try to take willie out of the equation as much as possible. they stretched our defense so that willie couldn't change shots. the few times he had an opportunity to do something on defense, he did. (i.e. when JJ got CROSSED by ahearn's afterbirth and willie swatted his layup and then blocked another shot right after that) and on offense he was consistently triple-teamed, yet still put up 19 points and 8 boards on 8-12 shooting. exceptional game from willie, can't say enough.

however, my heart was broken that every time OUR team made a run in the second half, and looked to the fans to get fired up, they received silence instead. willie had that big dunk, yelled at everyone under the basket, and received polite applause. christian hit a couple big threes to bring us right back in it, received polite applause. i don't remember exactly, but twice we got it down to a four point deficit and the lead immediately ballooned again. i'm not saying if everyone was on their feet that we would have won, but we'll never know because we weren't on our feet for our undermanned, leaderless team that was still playing their hearts out out there.

the administration should be ashamed of what they let happen in the student section. billikenfan05 came to grab our group from the complete opposite side of the arena and bring us down to the student section. we were a bit confused, but agreed to go down there anyway. when we got to the floor, we took up our places behind FOUR BLUE CREW MEMBERS There were maybe 10-15 other SLU people there, and most of them were probably alumni.

i have to applaud billikenfan05. i promise you he was the loudest fan in the place last night. storming around the perimeter of the arena, yelling at anyone in maroon. high fiving anyone in blue. he got taken under the stands twice by security for being so loud towards the opposing team. must commend MO state as well, they had their heads in the game. we yelled some really nasty stuff at them and they didn't flinch. because there weren't enough fans.

if you want to just say you like a team and revel in the results, that's fine. lot of great BCS schools out there to bandwagon jump. but if you want to help YOUR team win, act like it. you paid for a ticket to be a part of something. the administration let their fans down w/ that BS promotion, and the fans let themselves down by not fighting back in a great rivalry game. the ultimate loser was that team that played their hearts out when they had no reason to do so. all they could hear when they needed THEIR fans was a bunch of loud, albeit lame SMS cheers. i'm surprised and proud that they played as hard as they did.

there's a reason RM didn't thank the fans in that postgame conference.

be a fan. GO BILLS.

[RUBillsFan]

JJ might not have been good on D, but he hasn't been good all year. He stepped up his offense and played the same poor D, so he "stepped up" his game overall.

Wow RickMa puts me in my place. Looks like I am wrong with regards to the above statement.

Asked if Jordan stepped up in the game, Majerus swatted the suggestion away like he was Cory Remekun. “If you call making baskets stepping up,” Majerus said, “but he was a nightmare defensively. You win defensively. He’s back to his high school ways of trying to outscore people.”

[joe_davola]

SMS beat us at home. we missed KM but that wasn't SMS's fault. we had our team, they had theirs. refs were extremely fair, i thought. they had the correct and obvious gameplan, try to take willie out of the equation as much as possible. they stretched our defense so that willie couldn't change shots. the few times he had an opportunity to do something on defense, he did. (i.e. when JJ got CROSSED by ahearn's afterbirth and willie swatted his layup and then blocked another shot right after that) and on offense he was consistently triple-teamed, yet still put up 19 points and 8 boards on 8-12 shooting. exceptional game from willie, can't say enough.

however, my heart was broken that every time OUR team made a run in the second half, and looked to the fans to get fired up, they received silence instead. willie had that big dunk, yelled at everyone under the basket, and received polite applause. christian hit a couple big threes to bring us right back in it, received polite applause. i don't remember exactly, but twice we got it down to a four point deficit and the lead immediately ballooned again. i'm not saying if everyone was on their feet that we would have won, but we'll never know because we weren't on our feet for our undermanned, leaderless team that was still playing their hearts out out there.

the administration should be ashamed of what they let happen in the student section. billikenfan05 came to grab our group from the complete opposite side of the arena and bring us down to the student section. we were a bit confused, but agreed to go down there anyway. when we got to the floor, we took up our places behind FOUR BLUE CREW MEMBERS There were maybe 10-15 other SLU people there, and most of them were probably alumni.

i have to applaud billikenfan05. i promise you he was the loudest fan in the place last night. storming around the perimeter of the arena, yelling at anyone in maroon. high fiving anyone in blue. he got taken under the stands twice by security for being so loud towards the opposing team. must commend MO state as well, they had their heads in the game. we yelled some really nasty stuff at them and they didn't flinch. because there weren't enough fans.

if you want to just say you like a team and revel in the results, that's fine. lot of great BCS schools out there to bandwagon jump. but if you want to help YOUR team win, act like it. you paid for a ticket to be a part of something. the administration let their fans down w/ that BS promotion, and the fans let themselves down by not fighting back in a great rivalry game. the ultimate loser was that team that played their hearts out when they had no reason to do so. all they could hear when they needed THEIR fans was a bunch of loud, albeit lame SMS cheers. i'm surprised and proud that they played as hard as they did.

there's a reason RM didn't thank the fans in that postgame conference.

be a fan. GO BILLS.

Great observations Jim. I agree with everyone on here ripping the students and the administration...but the rest of the crowd was sleepy and pathetic. I guess the students usually get the rest of the crowd fired up so maybe that had something to do with it...but that is no excuse. Like Jim said, Willie had that monster dunk and we were standing ready to make noise as we went back on D and I looked around and people were staring onto the court like nothing happened. There is blame to go all around for that pathetic atmosphere last night.

You were also right on about '05. The guy was an animal last night. He lost 5 pounds before the first TV timeout from sweating so much.

[eastsidejoe]

SMS beat us at home. we missed KM but that wasn't SMS's fault. we had our team, they had theirs. refs were extremely fair, i thought. they had the correct and obvious gameplan, try to take willie out of the equation as much as possible. they stretched our defense so that willie couldn't change shots. the few times he had an opportunity to do something on defense, he did. (i.e. when JJ got CROSSED by ahearn's afterbirth and willie swatted his layup and then blocked another shot right after that) and on offense he was consistently triple-teamed, yet still put up 19 points and 8 boards on 8-12 shooting. exceptional game from willie, can't say enough.

however, my heart was broken that every time OUR team made a run in the second half, and looked to the fans to get fired up, they received silence instead. willie had that big dunk, yelled at everyone under the basket, and received polite applause. christian hit a couple big threes to bring us right back in it, received polite applause. i don't remember exactly, but twice we got it down to a four point deficit and the lead immediately ballooned again. i'm not saying if everyone was on their feet that we would have won, but we'll never know because we weren't on our feet for our undermanned, leaderless team that was still playing their hearts out out there.

the administration should be ashamed of what they let happen in the student section. billikenfan05 came to grab our group from the complete opposite side of the arena and bring us down to the student section. we were a bit confused, but agreed to go down there anyway. when we got to the floor, we took up our places behind FOUR BLUE CREW MEMBERS There were maybe 10-15 other SLU people there, and most of them were probably alumni.

i have to applaud billikenfan05. i promise you he was the loudest fan in the place last night. storming around the perimeter of the arena, yelling at anyone in maroon. high fiving anyone in blue. he got taken under the stands twice by security for being so loud towards the opposing team. must commend MO state as well, they had their heads in the game. we yelled some really nasty stuff at them and they didn't flinch. because there weren't enough fans.

if you want to just say you like a team and revel in the results, that's fine. lot of great BCS schools out there to bandwagon jump. but if you want to help YOUR team win, act like it. you paid for a ticket to be a part of something. the administration let their fans down w/ that BS promotion, and the fans let themselves down by not fighting back in a great rivalry game. the ultimate loser was that team that played their hearts out when they had no reason to do so. all they could hear when they needed THEIR fans was a bunch of loud, albeit lame SMS cheers. i'm surprised and proud that they played as hard as they did.

there's a reason RM didn't thank the fans in that postgame conference.

be a fan. GO BILLS.

Jimbo, for once i understand one of your posts, but you are not being hard enough on the fair weather students who didn't show.

[AlumniFan]

Great observations Jim. I agree with everyone on here ripping the students and the administration...but the rest of the crowd was sleepy and pathetic. I guess the students usually get the rest of the crowd fired up so maybe that had something to do with it...but that is no excuse. Like Jim said, Willie had that monster dunk and we were standing ready to make noise as we went back on D and I looked around and people were staring onto the court like nothing happened. There is blame to go all around for that pathetic atmosphere last night.

You were also right on about '05. The guy was an animal last night. He lost 5 pounds before the first TV timeout from sweating so much.

I am not sure about everyone else, but in section 114 a core group of us get pretty loud. I think that it takes a few people to stand up and get the people around them into the game. That being said, I am fairly certain there are several people around me who are annoyed at my yelling and screaming. Maybe I need to join the Blue Crew where I can yell and scream and jump up and down without bothering anyone.

[joe_davola]

I am not sure about everyone else, but in section 114 a core group of us get pretty loud. I think that it takes a few people to stand up and get the people around them into the game. That being said, I am fairly certain there are several people around me who are annoyed at my yelling and screaming. Maybe I need to join the Blue Crew where I can yell and scream and jump up and down without bothering anyone.

Yeah, you could definitely tell there we pockets of fans that wanted to get into it...I'm sure you guys were one of those groups, along with ours and the Shoes...usually those pockets of fans can get the rest of the crowd into the game, but it was like a endless struggle last night to get anyone off their ass. It was frustrating as hell. We've had smaller crowds even this year that were a lot louder than the one last night.

[GOSLU68]

Jimbo, for once i understand one of your posts, but you are not being hard enough on the fair weather students who didn't show.

It would have taken a perfect game to beat MSU last night. Conklin was pulled out of positioin because he helped protect against any signs of trapping

bringing the ball down and played ok in spite of our being outmanned 3 to 2 on bigs all night. Their team is solid but not a flashy star. anywhere, at least not the way we defended them. If CR and JS were a year or two more developed we would have had the help necessary but that is not the case

they are both young, freshmen with potential.

Their guards were solid ball handlers and the whole team stuck to their game plan. Our obvious problems are the same ones we had last year we still have to rely on 3 point shots to get the breaks we need. If they don't falll for us we can't compete.

We find ourselves rooting for CS to shoot the three-because he makes a few. JJ tried from too far out and he has no length in arms or body and so

he has to find a way to make a layout not layup or lay in from a bad angle too far from the basket.

JJ and CS were willing to penetrate but neither could pull up for a jump shot as the neared the wall of three bigs screening the basket.

KC needs a play that calls for him to shoot; he denies himself the shot because he takes time to calculate his release into the equation. He looks as if

he feels he will get blocked. The kid needs to catch and shoot. He is the one guard who could elevate, handle the ball and go to the basket for a layup

on the floor for us last night but he didn't and he could have been the mismatch with their shorter guards; he continues to look like he needs permission.

RM needs to find someway to identify who is going to get the junk put back or short jumper on a quick pass-this team lacks that. We have improved on

steal attempts from the first few games but we still need to be more agressive. Lack of depth took much from us and i was surprised the free throws were as high a percentage as they were.

I wanted us to win but just like the team my foredrawn conclusion said at best we would make it close.

We need an offensive board rebounder and Conklin and Femi-John were outclassed in that category. I think both can hit the quick short jumper but

fatigue shows up when you need those reflexive movements.

If I was RM I would make plays for KC to shoot with no alternative. I would give CR and JS more time even if it means closer games in the pre-conference schedule and I would get FJ and JJ to use their feet instead of pulling jerseys for defence. They lead the team in fouls per minute played.

I would also put more 10 foot jump shots into the game if our guys could drive and get separation by pulling back for the jumper. Some of our players

can only drive to the basket to get repelled by a flat footed opponent standing in the way. We get way too many charge fouls.

Without analyzing the stats from last night's game I would say upperclassmen poise beat us. It was a sound team if they don't win the valley it won't be

because they don't feel confident. CM has made this 11-17 team from last year feel better about themselves. I can't wait until RM starts giving our team

the message that they are finally good enough to compete. Maybe then we will start notching our belts with games we won when the line showed us as

underdogs.

[jimbofive]

Jimbo, for once i understand one of your posts, but you are not being hard enough on the fair weather students who didn't show.

Absolutely. I put the onus on them as well. There were honestly just so few actual undergrads there that I forgot about them altogether. Every time I heard SMS's cheers my shoulders literally slumped and I felt depressed. Imagine what our players felt like...

[billiken_roy]

It would have taken a perfect game to beat MSU last night. Conklin was pulled out of positioin because he helped protect against any signs of trapping

bringing the ball down and played ok in spite of our being outmanned 3 to 2 on bigs all night. Their team is solid but not a flashy star. anywhere, at least not the way we defended them. If CR and JS were a year or two more developed we would have had the help necessary but that is not the case

they are both young, freshmen with potential.

Their guards were solid ball handlers and the whole team stuck to their game plan. Our obvious problems are the same ones we had last year we still have to rely on 3 point shots to get the breaks we need. If they don't falll for us we can't compete.

We find ourselves rooting for CS to shoot the three-because he makes a few. JJ tried from too far out and he has no length in arms or body and so

he has to find a way to make a layout from a bad angle too far from the basket.

JJ and CS were willing to drive but neither could pull up for a jump shot as the neared the wall of three bigs screening the basket.

KC needs a play that calls for him to shoot; he denies himself the shot because he takes time to calculate his release into the equation. He looks as if

he feels he will get blocked. The kid needs to catch and shoot. He is the one guard who could elevate, handle the ball and go to the basket for a layup

on the floor for us last night but he looks like he needs permission.

RM needs to find someway to identify who is going to get the junk put back or short jumper on a quick pass-this team lacks that. We have improved on

steal attempts from the first few games but we still need to be more agressive.

I wanted us to win but just like the team my foredrawn conclusion said at best we would make it close.

We need an offensive board rebounder and Conklin and Femi-John were outclassed in that category. I think both can hit the quick short jumper but

fatigue shows up when you need those reflexive movements.

If I was RM I would make plays for KC to shoot with no alternative. I would give CR and JS more time even if it means closer games in the pre-conference schedule and I would get FJ and JJ to use their feet instead of pulling jerseys for defence.

I would also put more 10 foot jump shots into the game if our guys could drive and get separation by pulling back for the jumper. Some of our players

can only drive to the basket to get repelled by a flat footed opponent standing in the way. We get way too many charge fouls.

Without analyzing the stats from last night's game I would say upperclassmen poise beat us. It was a sound team if they don't win the valley it won't be

because they don't feel confidant. CM has made this 11-17 team from last year feel better about themselves. I can't wait until RM starts giving our team

the message that they are finally good enough to compete.

68, i would bet the majority of the game, southwest missouri state played with only one true big. never did they play three bigs at one time.

as to the experience excuse, southwest only senior that played extensive minutes was point guard fuehrmeyer. three of the four bigs that got time were only sophomores. i.e. no huge experience gap imo.

i do agree with the inference that rickma needs to junk this away from the basket pick and rolls by the bigs. last year that was different because you had lisch, liddell and mitchell with solid ball skills and strength to take that pick and make something of it. this group of guards (besides mitchell) typically just go out to the half line with the pick. total waste of time and effort for the talent we have on this roster besides mitchell. we would be much better using picks away from the ball to try to free the likes of salecich, cassity, jordan and john imo. they arent going to consistently produce with ball skill moves. just isnt going to happen.

[billiken_roy]

Absolutely. I put the onus on them as well. There were honestly just so few actual undergrads there that I forgot about them altogether. Every time I heard SMS's cheers my shoulders literally slumped and I felt depressed. Imagine what our players felt like...

the true topper dagger for the night was as the players finished shaking hands, the southwest missouri players turned and pointed to OUR student section and the students jammed in the seats there went crazy. that makes my top ten lowest emotional points of my fandom of billiken basketball.

[Billikan]

first, to be making cassity the scapegoat is b.s. other than reed and to a degree salacich, no one stepped up. we were outplayed in all the rest of the matchups.

second, rickma is not exempt. martin owned him. my gosh, reed was defending guards most of the game and southwest would just spread the floor and eventually get the right matchup to score. on the other end, it didnt matter who was running the point, as salecich and jordan were out there as much as cassity. every possession we would play around out by the half line and then eventually just try to one on one our way into a spot we could jack up something. absolutely the worst offensive night of the year that i have seen. i credit martin for challenging our guards to try to beat us on the dribble they were so in our face i dont think we made our first three pointer until about the 4 minutes left mark.

bottom line imo, outside of willie and kwamain, we dont have a player that is good enough to start for southwest missouri state. so if kwamain isnt dressed, we should lose that game. now that might hurt some feelings of the folks that are convinced we are going to win the national championship in 2011 and 2012 because we have so much talent. but if we indeed had that much talent, it would have been able to get that belly button man to man to back off with a few drives to the basket for scores. i didnt see much of that.

We all need a big time reality check, particularly you Roy. With KM out, Ellis not here, Reid out so we have even more limited players for practice, did anyone really think we were going to beat Mo. State -- an undefeated team that rolled over Oklahoma State. Take the best player--a real star, the most experienced player, the heady point guard and the leading scorer off of any team and they are going to have a difficult time playing a great game, particularly in the first game without the star. If we had KM, Ellis and Reid and the rest of this team I believe we would have won this game. Even if we had only KM, the dynamics of this game would have been much different. Not one person I talked to before the game thought that we were going to win. The fact that we gutted it out on a terrible shooting night and closed to within 4 points late in the game is a tribute to the guts of this team and the ability of the coaching staff to keep the team focused.

[billiken_roy]

We all need a big time reality check, particularly you Roy. With KM out, Ellis not here, Reid out so we have even more limited players for practice, did anyone really think we were going to beat Mo. State -- an undefeated team that rolled over Oklahoma State. Take the best player--a real star, the most experienced player, the heady point guard and the leading scorer off of any team and they are going to have a difficult time playing a great game, particularly in the first game without the star. If we had KM, Ellis and Reid and the rest of this team I believe we would have won this game. Even if we had only KM, the dynamics of this game would have been much different. Not one person I talked to before the game thought that we were going to win. The fact that we gutted it out on a terrible shooting night and closed to within 4 points late in the game is a tribute to the guts of this team and the ability of the coaching staff to keep the team focused.

you got your opinion of "reality check" i got mine. amazingly mine is quite a bit different. i am no the one that gets all geeked up after winning the f'ing gimmee buy games and gushes about the future. in fact if i remember correctly i cautioned before the trip to chicago, to wait and see.

i am not the one blaming refs for players losing their heads. i was the one that said, conklin should have not put himself in that position.

i am not the one thinking there is some big ncaa conspiracy to keep ellis from going to college. i am the one that pointed out that if the ncaa was just dragging their feet and it wasnt a true matter of academic deficiency, ellis wouldnt be taking the test again multiple times. yet many of you keep thinking, "well when ellis gets here..." here's a news flash, it doesnt look like that is going to happen. REALITY is that we are probably going to play this season without ellis so quit using him as an excuse.

now that we just got beat by a better team you want me to be easy on the team. from my reality standpoint seems to me you want it both ways. i am trying to be realistic. maybe you need a little reality.

[Billikan]

you got your opinion of "reality check" i got mine. amazingly mine is quite a bit different. i am no the one that gets all geeked up after winning the f'ing gimmee buy games and gushes about the future. in fact if i remember correctly i cautioned before the trip to chicago, to wait and see.

i am not the one blaming refs for players losing their heads. i was the one that said, conklin should have not put himself in that position.

i am not the one thinking there is some big ncaa conspiracy to keep ellis from going to college. i am the one that pointed out that if the ncaa was just dragging their feet and it wasnt a true matter of academic deficiency, ellis wouldnt be taking the test again multiple times. yet many of you keep thinking, "well when ellis gets here..." here's a news flash, it doesnt look like that is going to happen. REALITY is that we are probably going to play this season without ellis so quit using him as an excuse.

now that we just got beat by a better team you want me to be easy on the team. from my reality standpoint seems to me you want it both ways. i am trying to be realistic. maybe you need a little reality.

Nowhere in your "reality" post do you even acknowledge that our best player was hurt and out of the game. I like Cassity but he did nothing on offense to make up for the loss of KM and I must agree with others that he appears to have regressed.

I was a few feet away from the Conklin incident and the call was a joke. He was hit in the face poked in the eye and then pushed after the whistle. He reacted a little, not a lot, and he got the technical.

Somehow, a bunch of players from Africa or other countries with limited academic structure who have virtually no "grades" and came to the US for one year at a prep school basketball factory and then the NCAA somehow says they are eligible in the Big East and elsewhere. This whole situation with Ellis is a joke. If they changed one grade from pass/fail he would be here. Because he comes from a country with a real academic system he cannot get eligible.

You and I were big fans of and were accused of being apologists for Coach Soderberg. Well, the 40 point blowouts to mediocre teams with our whole team intact under Brad were a whole lot more frustrating than a game against a good team without our star point guard that was close until the last few minutes.

[TheA_Bomb]

I really hate losing to SMS for so many reasons.

With KM I thought this game would be a tough one for SLU without KM I thought it would be really hard to win this game. For some reason these guys have had our number most years and this year was not different in that respect. The difference this year is that SLU is all underclassmen and definitely rebuilding. In years past we were getting beat like this with quite a few seniors and juniors. I'm getting tired of waiting but I see a difference. Ellis can't be an excuse for this year just can't allow that kind of thinking.

As to Martin spreading the floor and owning Majerus, what was Majerus supposed to do take out Reed? Majerus was in a tough position of course Martin would try to take our best player out of the game by spreading it out. Majerus couldn't respond by taking out Reed because then we would've been at an even greater disadvantage. On the offensive end it gives SLU an advantage to have him in there and he scored 19 pts.

[GOSLU68]

I really hate losing to SMS for so many reasons.

With KM I thought this game would be a tough one for SLU without KM I thought it would be really hard to win this game. For some reason these guys have had our number most years and this year was not different in that respect. The difference this year is that SLU is all underclassmen and definitely rebuilding. In years past we were getting beat like this with quite a few seniors and juniors. I'm getting tired of waiting but I see a difference. Ellis can't be an excuse for this year just can't allow that kind of thinking.

As to Martin spreading the floor and owning Majerus, what was Majerus supposed to do take out Reed? Majerus was in a tough position of course Martin would try to take our best player out of the game by spreading it out. Majerus couldn't respond by taking out Reed because then we would've been at an even greater disadvantage. On the offensive end it gives SLU an advantage to have him in there and he scored 19 pts.

Same problem with Conklin assisting to bring the ball up and playing out to guard a perimeter shooter; Willie goes unprotected or we get trapped and

turn the ball over before crossing halfcourt.

When you are outmanned you are outgunned, outcoached. Not RN fault; but we sure will be glad when we get a Loe or Ellis and more shooters we will get better; you can see why RM is not pressuring the guys he has-he shows lots of patience in not threatening or preaching to the choir-so much for the

theory that RM was brutal with his players-he seems downright, grandfatherly in front of the fans

[billiken_roy]

Nowhere in your "reality" post do you even acknowledge that our best player was hurt and out of the game. I like Cassity but he did nothing on offense to make up for the loss of KM and I must agree with others that he appears to have regressed.

I was a few feet away from the Conklin incident and the call was a joke. He was hit in the face poked in the eye and then pushed after the whistle. He reacted a little, not a lot, and he got the technical.

Somehow, a bunch of players from Africa or other countries with limited academic structure who have virtually no "grades" and came to the US for one year at a prep school basketball factory and then the NCAA somehow says they are eligible in the Big East and elsewhere. This whole situation with Ellis is a joke. If they changed one grade from pass/fail he would be here. Because he comes from a country with a real academic system he cannot get eligible.

You and I were big fans of and were accused of being apologists for Coach Soderberg. Well, the 40 point blowouts to mediocre teams with our whole team intact under Brad were a whole lot more frustrating than a game against a good team without our star point guard that was close until the last few minutes.

better go back and read my posts from the end of the belmont game until present. i probably talked about the reality of mitchell being out and our guards not having the point guard ability to set in more than anyone on the board over that time period and was told by a number of posters again i was being too hard on the team.

[billiken_roy]

I really hate losing to SMS for so many reasons.

With KM I thought this game would be a tough one for SLU without KM I thought it would be really hard to win this game. For some reason these guys have had our number most years and this year was not different in that respect. The difference this year is that SLU is all underclassmen and definitely rebuilding. In years past we were getting beat like this with quite a few seniors and juniors. I'm getting tired of waiting but I see a difference. Ellis can't be an excuse for this year just can't allow that kind of thinking.

As to Martin spreading the floor and owning Majerus, what was Majerus supposed to do take out Reed? Majerus was in a tough position of course Martin would try to take our best player out of the game by spreading it out. Majerus couldn't respond by taking out Reed because then we would've been at an even greater disadvantage. On the offensive end it gives SLU an advantage to have him in there and he scored 19 pts.

for one, i wouldnt have put reed on a guard. even if he was the better suited of conklin or reed to guard a smaller player, i wouldnt have risked reed getting into foul trouble. luckily reed didnt reach or grab and get fouls. i would have scrificed conklin, remekun and smith together guarding the smaller player.

no way i would have taken reed out. imo, reed's number one goal for the summer should be to build up strength and endurance so he can play whole games instead of 3 minute blasts.

the even better thought would have been to go to a match up zone or put away the denial man to man and play more of a protect the basket man to deny the drive. sure we might have given up some open three pointer looks, but as the box score indicates, southwest missouri wasnt shooting from the arc with a crap anyway (3-16) so why give up the drives?

instead we continued to play denial and got beat for easy looks or fouled. the one thing southwest really did well last night was shoot free throws and layups.

[bonwich]

I think Kyle might benefit from a few sessions with a sports psychologist.

In, I believe, the Belmont game, the 3-pointer he hit was among the most unlikely shots that he took. I had hoped that might give him momentum into the MSU game, but it appears he took a total of one shot the entire game. I think we lost because JJ lapsed on defense and Cassity, Remekun and Jon Smith failed to contribute on offense.

I also disagree with the sentiment that goes with the statement that no one (Billikan talked to) believed we could win this game. Clearly, we're not to the Marque's-senior-year point where Billiken fans believe that we can pull just about anything out. But we could have won this game, especially if Kyle had contributed a couple of outside shots -- or at least attempted them. For whatever reason, he doesn't have that warrior instinct yet. I also think he shows some of the psychological weakness that Willie had last season (miss a couple, get a foul, make a turnover or get a bad break and lose a bunch of your edge).

I think the kid has it in him -- and I'm hoping the he, Remekun, Smith and to some extent Femi take away from this game that for questionable situations like this game, they're going to have a big effect on the outcome.

[Billikan]

I think Kyle might benefit from a few sessions with a sports psychologist.

In, I believe, the Belmont game, the 3-pointer he hit was among the most unlikely shots that he took. I had hoped that might give him momentum into the MSU game, but it appears he took a total of one shot the entire game. I think we lost because JJ lapsed on defense and Cassity, Remekun and Jon Smith failed to contribute on offense.

I also disagree with the sentiment that goes with the statement that no one (Billikan talked to) believed we could win this game. Clearly, we're not to the Marque's-senior-year point where Billiken fans believe that we can pull just about anything out. But we could have won this game, especially if Kyle had contributed a couple of outside shots -- or at least attempted them. For whatever reason, he doesn't have that warrior instinct yet. I also think he shows some of the psychological weakness that Willie had last season (miss a couple, get a foul, make a turnover or get a bad break and lose a bunch of your edge).

I think the kid has it in him -- and I'm hoping the he, Remekun, Smith and to some extent Femi take away from this game that for questionable situations like this game, they're going to have a big effect on the outcome.

If my post was unclear I will clarify--no one I talked to thought we WOULD win the game. Many, including myself, thought we COULD have won the game if we shot well from outside and played good defense. For a lot of the night the defense was good enough but they made some tough shots and got some incredible rolls off the rim. On offense we were very cold early and missed some shots that looked like they were going to go in. A win was possible but not probable. With KM I think we would have all been more confident.

[doowop]

I think Kyle might benefit from a few sessions with a sports psychologist.

In, I believe, the Belmont game, the 3-pointer he hit was among the most unlikely shots that he took. I had hoped that might give him momentum into the MSU game, but it appears he took a total of one shot the entire game. I think we lost because JJ lapsed on defense and Cassity, Remekun and Jon Smith failed to contribute on offense.

I also disagree with the sentiment that goes with the statement that no one (Billikan talked to) believed we could win this game. Clearly, we're not to the Marque's-senior-year point where Billiken fans believe that we can pull just about anything out. But we could have won this game, especially if Kyle had contributed a couple of outside shots -- or at least attempted them. For whatever reason, he doesn't have that warrior instinct yet. I also think he shows some of the psychological weakness that Willie had last season (miss a couple, get a foul, make a turnover or get a bad break and lose a bunch of your edge).

I think the kid has it in him -- and I'm hoping the he, Remekun, Smith and to some extent Femi take away from this game that for questionable situations like this game, they're going to have a big effect on the outcome.

Smith and Remekun have not provided much offense all year. Cassity, Conklin, and John needed to step up yesterday. When one of your more experienced guards attempts only one shot in a game we had to have points from our guards in, the most he could have scored is two points.

[troutangler]

Just an FYI...Fuehrmeyer isn't just the only senior who gets minutes, he is the only senior on the team. Hell, we recruited the JUCO national Player of the Year (Ricks, #2) to come here and play point guard and Fuehrmeyer is still playing more than he is. He doesn't really do much...usually gets 3-4 assists per game, 3-4 points, and turns it over a couple of times, all the while being poor defensively, but they still play him a ton.