Game Thoughts Austin Peay

[jbizzle09]

Let me direct my vitriol at Broy. If I have to read any more of his sanctimonious crap on this board before the next game I'm going to drink two red Sparks, two lemon stinger Sparks, have a couple of jumbo beers in the first half with some extra jalapeno nachos, and at halftime I'm going to track him down and shower him with a load of technicolor regurgitated goo. Who made him our moral compass? I'm sure I'll get some righteous indignation back in return, but I don't really care. And his constant supposition that Majerus could've done something to head this off is a gigantic load of B.S. They screwed him the hardest of all in this whole deal.

This made me laugh. Really, really hard. Glad someone said it.

[jbizzle09]

RL just proved what I said earlier about him in earlier posts, should not be out on the floor he is terrible, the offense did not run good with him in there, no matter what u guys say, he is a terrible defender and terrible rebounder/box out defender. He shot 2 air ball threes, We got an 8 point lead w/o him in there then they put him back in and bye bye lead.

Yes, it is all Loe's fault that we lost.

[dlarry]

MB73, since Roy hasn't responded yet to your post (but he has responded to others in this thread) I think its fair to say he can't be specific and thus will ignore you. Here's what his argument likely is.

1) He's got some inside info that he can't share that what the players did was "really" bad. Of course, anyone with a brain would question what inside info anyone could have unless it came directly from one of the 4 participants or the cops. He also seems to believe in guilt by association (i.e. the mere fact there was an accusation implies guilt).

2) He doesn't care that SLU broke their own rules during the hearing. As he said in the post you responded to, he believes the ends (the suspensions) justified the means. Apparently SLU really can change the rules as it goes.

1) But according to Roy premarital sex is really bad and reason enough for execution.

2) Roy doesnt care that SLU broke the rules because those juvenile delinquents may have been (gasp) drinking underage and having premarital sex. That right there is enough for the school to not only expel them but also fit them with chastity belts and hook them up to alcohol ankle monitors.

[JohnnyJumpUp]

One other thing that has bothered me about the situation. Where the heck has Dr. Chaifetz been throughout this ordeal? If he wants to play like he's "Mark Cuban," where was he to countereact the "donor" tearing down Willie and Kwamain? Where was he when Majerus needed money to go to Australia? Where was he on opening night of what will be a tough season? How can he be OK with this crap?

terrible post

[slu72]

Roy this thing should have been handled in May and you know it. It puts everybody in limbo until the day before practice starts. that's not fair to anybody including the present team that you have so much hope for. The admin handled this thing like a parking ticket at best. If they really had interest in a major basketball program they would have handled this in the spring, either found innocent or guilty. They don't give a crap about a "top fifty program". Why do they keep saying it. I'm surprised RM is still here frankly. SLU will be a mediocre program forever becuase they don't know what it takes to be a top 50 team, like spending money for additonal needs of the coach. etc> I'm just sayin.

I echo your sentiments totally, Eastside. I applaud Fr. B for building the arena and for bringing in RM. Yet, he still doesn't get it totally. He should look north to Marquette, X, and Gonzaga to see how success on the court translates to the overall success of the institution. We handled this matter like a Catholic girls high school, not like a respected mature University that prepares young adults for life in the real world. However, WR and KM did get two real world lessons in this case, 1.) that life ain't always fair and 2.) never mess with people whose relatives or friends have clout and deep pockets. Fr. B may also get a real world lesson as well if the losses start to pile up this season. Folks won't shell out their hard earned $ to watch mediocre basketball. Shame, because last season we'd started to build a strong base among students and started to generate some buzz with the general sports population in St. Louis. It will be interesting to watch how that momentum carries over into this season, ie the lost before we begin season.

[The Wiz]

We played like a young and inexperienced team...which we are. Turnovers, bad judgement, inconsistent are all hallmarks of a team that is still green. It wasn't supposed to be that way this year but it is what it is. Basketball as you all know is affected more by the addition or subtraction of a couple of players then any other team sport. I guarantee you that if you take away Duke or Kentucky's top 2 players they are no longer an elite team.

Is it the end of Bills basketball for decades. No. We have a good base of players to build on, a good coach, a good facility. Next year we will add a couple of players and we will be back in the mix. In addition, we will get better as this year goes on. Even in the AP game, I thought our defence improved in the 2nd half. We will just have to wait one more year. After all these years, what's one more year. I think we will be entertaining and competitive in most games this year with a couple of good wins. There will be other games we should win and will just fall short or blow the lead. It isn't easy being a Bills fan. Are you up to the challenge?

[billikenblue]

I echo your sentiments totally, Eastside. I applaud Fr. B for building the arena and for bringing in RM. Yet, he still doesn't get it totally. He should look north to Marquette, X, and Gonzaga to see how success on the court translates to the overall success of the institution. We handled this matter like a Catholic girls high school, not like a respected mature University that prepares young adults for life in the real world. However, WR and KM did get two real world lessons in this case, 1.) that life ain't always fair and 2.) never mess with people whose relatives or friends have clout and deep pockets. Fr. B may also get a real world lesson as well if the losses start to pile up this season. Folks won't shell out their hard earned $ to watch mediocre basketball. Shame, because last season we'd started to build a strong base among students and started to generate some buzz with the general sports population in St. Louis. It will be interesting to watch how that momentum carries over into this season, ie the lost before we begin season.

Very well said SLU 72--along with that Rick,Porter et al are very upset( even though they can not say that to the press etc) with the cards they have been dealt and may decide enough is enough--Spoon only left because of the same approach by SLU over them not getting it totally---even with the money being spent they still do not get IT--

[slu72]

Very well said SLU 72--along with that Rick,Porter et al are very upset( even though they can not say that to the press etc) with the cards they have been dealt and may decide enough is enough--Spoon only left because of the same approach by SLU over them not getting it totally---even with the money being spent they still do not get IT--

I don't think Fr. B has the foggiest of how a hoops program should be run. I'm convinced he knows the benefits of a program that draws national attention. Problem is he doesn't know how to put it in place and keep it there. He could have easily stepped in and had a meeting with all the concerned parties to draw them an overall picture of just what was at stake here, including the young lady and the young men, and likely come up with a better result than the verdict that came out of hanging Judge Bean's courthouse. The stakes were too high in this deal to leave it in the hands of 7 female professors and a handful of students. One could label the make up of this tribunal as biased bra burners and geeks who detest the fact that big $$ are being spent on a bunch of illiterate coaches and dumb jocks, but I won't do it here. Now it all depends on RM and Staff to salvage something from this shipwreck. Probably the most we can hope for is that eventually this team gets competitive and provides fans with at least a competitive season that, sigh, has all of us wishing next season would get here in a hurry. I sure hope coach K takes it easy on us at Cameron. That could get real ugly real quick and may have CBS switching away to show a rerun of Heidi yodeling to her grandfather.

[eastsidejoe]

I don't think Fr. B has the foggiest of how a hoops program should be run. I'm convinced he knows the benefits of a program that draws national attention. Problem is he doesn't know how to put it in place and keep it there. He could have easily stepped in and had a meeting with all the concerned parties to draw them an overall picture of just what was at stake here, including the young lady and the young men, and likely come up with a better result than the verdict that came out of hanging Judge Bean's courthouse. The stakes were too high in this deal to leave it in the hands of 7 female professors and a handful of students. One could label the make up of this tribunal as biased bra burners and geeks who detest the fact that big $$ are being spent on a bunch of illiterate coaches and dumb jocks, but I won't do it here. Now it all depends on RM and Staff to salvage something from this shipwreck. Probably the most we can hope for is that eventually this team gets competitive and provides fans with at least a competitive season that, sigh, has all of us wishing next season would get here in a hurry. I sure hope coach K takes it easy on us at Cameron. That could get real ugly real quick and may have CBS switching away to show a rerun of Heidi yodeling to her grandfather.

I agree. They had rules in place and could not even follow their own rules. Why should we be surprised. everytime Biondi dangles the carrot in front of us he coates it with turpentine. All I can say is that Spoon left for a lot lesser reasons but similar. I firmly believe that RM and Porter, etc. are in it for the remaining kids and if they stick with it they will at least salvage the season.

[Pistol]

Every season since 2000, we have had one loss where it hits me: "That's it, we have to win the conference tournament in order to make the NCAA Tournament."

This season, that game was Friday night.

I support the program to the best of my ability- Billiken Club, season tickets for a third straight year (and my first actually living in STL again), buying extra tickets for out-of-towners when they visit, and so forth. I'm even going to road games at Missouri State, Duke, and Xavier- maybe more, though I'm not expecting victories at any of them.

But the way things are going right now, this program has me down. My Seasonal Affective Disorder has nothing to do with the weather. Going into Friday night's game, I thought maybe what's left of our team could pull together and surprise some people; now I realize this is going to be a horrible year.

That is all.

[billiken_roy]

while it is depressing that we lose to austin peay, especially the way we lost (missed free throws, uncontested turnovers horrible three point shooting), it can also be said these are reasons we shouldnt be that bad.

i would bet rickma fixes the turnover issues. take away 4 of those just passes to nobody, we win friday night.

no way salacich misses that many free throws in a game again. he was far too solid of a free throw shooter to do that. he makes three more free throws we win. (no i am not saying we should expect christian to be 8-8 i think he missed a couple front ends of 1 and 1's as well)

loe, ellis and cassity were 2-10 from the 3 point line. they make 2 we win. i would bet the three of them together will average 40% from the 3 line this season.

the point is, while it seems dismal after a bad loss, i think there is a light to still look towards.

the two biggest issues imo are inside toughness and step up scorer. cassity acted like that scorer it in the second half. but we need that in two halves. and there is no reason that ellis wont do it as well. plus i hold out hope for one of the freshmen to step up as a top scorer yet.

the inside toughness might be hard to get. conklin desparately is trying, but i am not sure if he is good enough. same can probably be said for dwight(sic) evans.

the three that have to give a better (and smarter) effort under the basket are remeken ellis and loe. when they dont have the ball they have to be rebounding and defending. if they dont, we are going to be at a huge disadvantage that will put far too much pressure on making threes and steals. that isnt going to equal success.

[doowop]

Ill post more tomorrow.

But RL is not a good player RIGHT NOW. He will be in time im sure.

BC was a major letdown.

If BC and CR do not get it together, we wont go .500.

NH I agree. You can add CS along with BC and CR. CS has got to get better offensively.

[NashvilleBilliken]

while it is depressing that we lose to austin peay, especially the way we lost (missed free throws, uncontested turnovers horrible three point shooting), it can also be said these are reasons we shouldnt be that bad.

i would bet rickma fixes the turnover issues. take away 4 of those just passes to nobody, we win friday night.

no way salacich misses that many free throws in a game again. he was far too solid of a free throw shooter to do that. he makes three more free throws we win. (no i am not saying we should expect christian to be 8-8 i think he missed a couple front ends of 1 and 1's as well)

loe, ellis and cassity were 2-10 from the 3 point line. they make 2 we win. i would bet the three of them together will average 40% from the 3 line this season.

the point is, while it seems dismal after a bad loss, i think there is a light to still look towards.

the two biggest issues imo are inside toughness and step up scorer. cassity acted like that scorer it in the second half. but we need that in two halves. and there is no reason that ellis wont do it as well. plus i hold out hope for one of the freshmen to step up as a top scorer yet.

the inside toughness might be hard to get. conklin desparately is trying, but i am not sure if he is good enough. same can probably be said for dwight(sic) evans.

the three that have to give a better (and smarter) effort under the basket are remeken ellis and loe. when they dont have the ball they have to be rebounding and defending. if they dont, we are going to be at a huge disadvantage that will put far too much pressure on making threes and steals. that isnt going to equal success.

I agree with most of this. I was devastated after the loss and took the weekend off, but I'm feeling a little better about it now and Roy has put it into perspective. A few additional thoughts...

1) I disagree about CS. I hate to say it, but I think he's gone the route of Polk and has completely lost the mental game. I hope I am wrong, but I have a feeling he will continue to slide down the bench. His handling of the free throws led me to this conclusion more than the airballs.

2) Collectively, this teams needs to grow some balls. We have no edge...no attitude out there. We came out against an inferior team with no aggression. My hope is that this is because it's game 1 and the team is trying to figure out roles. The start of the second half was MUCH better and give me some hope.

3) JJ and MM give me hope at the point. I think RL will be a great player.

4) Ellis needs to step it up (see number 2 above). He has obviously not embraced the role of a go-to guy....or his 6'8 body.

5) We miss Willie more than Kwamain (as I predicted). Willie's out there and the game is a blowout, IMO.

[BillikenROAR]

Willie Showtimenwg Reed

Q:Will you be coming back to slu? A: I'd love to if I didn't have to do everything they tryna make me.. I love slu!

interesting twitter/facebook status..