New Zealand not doing well in Olympic Qualification warm-ups

[slu72]

I never saw AB play in person, but only in the NIT on TV. W/o a doubt the greatest PF Slu's ever had, and we can't find another one. Dobbs I saw play in person 3 times. For a 6'4" chubby guy, DD was great. But in all fairness to BC, DD had some great shooters from the perimieter. D's would tend to ignore him, until he started wreaking havoc. Yes, BC, had good outside shooters as well, but not like DD had. HIghmark, the Venice Menace, and H. I'll just bet that team would like that game against Wake back just one more time. That was the game where they just weren't on.

[thetorch]

I never saw AB play in person, but only in the NIT on TV. W/o a doubt the greatest PF Slu's ever had, and we can't find another one. Dobbs I saw play in person 3 times. For a 6'4" chubby guy, DD was great. But in all fairness to BC, DD had some great shooters from the perimieter. D's would tend to ignore him, until he started wreaking havoc. Yes, BC, had good outside shooters as well, but not like DD had. HIghmark, the Venice Menace, and H. I'll just bet that team would like that game against Wake back just one more time. That was the game where they just weren't on.

To Dobbs' credit he was an underrated passer, a very good inside out guy. He averaged over 2 assists a game, as a 4 or 5 only Sloan and Bonner come close to the assist numbers Dobbs managed to put up.

[ACE]

-in my book Conklin gets a big advancement in his worth as he played a significant role on a tourney team

Agreed. Also, while Conklin exceeded everyone's expectations last season, there were signs that he was capable of bigger things. As a sophomore, remember he got off to a hot start including that big game against Harongody, but then Conk got hurt. Majerus said that he played through much of his sophomore season in great pain. His junior season, BC was very under-rated. He had a nice season on a bad team. I think he was the second leading scorer and remember that he was playing most of the season surrounded by freshmen. He put up more than 20 at Xavier and was the leading scorer again when XU came to the Fetz. He was a warrior on a bad team. I was especially happy for him last year to get rewarded by being a key member of a winning team. People should stop comparing BC to Sloan and Meyer. I ask again, does anybody think those two would have cracked the 9-man rotation last year?

[billiken_roy]

sloan and meyer their senior seasons were better players than loe and remeken last year.

[ACE]

sloan and meyer their senior seasons were better players than loe and remeken last year.

No way were they better than Loe. They put up better numbers on less talented teams. Maybe Sloan could have taken some minutes away from Remekun. Neither would have been starting. Meyer would have been sitting alongside Barnett.

[slufanskip]

I can't see how anyone can put Jamaal Johnson ahead of Brian Conklin. For me 4 years counts for something,

I go

Bonner, Dobbs, Harris/Conklin as a tie for 3. I go back and forth on both and can come up with decent reasons why I'd put either one in front of the other

[Billiken Rich]

The Conklin pick ranks up there with the Jeffers dunk as one of the most memorable plays in Billiken history. Conklin > Johnson if only for that.......and for the three additional years.......

[davidnark]

No way were they better than Loe. They put up better numbers on less talented teams. Maybe Sloan could have taken some minutes away from Remekun. Neither would have been starting. Meyer would have been sitting alongside Barnett.

I am not sure if Sloan and Meyer would have even made the current team.

[Pistol]

I am not sure if Sloan and Meyer would have even made the current team.

I would take them on any SLU team, ever. They're both on my all-time "Non-Stat Sheet" team for SLU. Kenny Brown is another. Have to think about the other two. All sorely underrated.

But we're in a great place to be even considering having a talented enough roster to exclude the likes of Sloan and Meyer.

[Tonka]

I am not sure if Sloan and Meyer would have even made the current team.

Agreed

I think they would be on the team, but I doubt they would have any team. If they were on the team, who would they have replaced?

[Bobby Metzinger]

The Conklin pick ranks up there with the Jeffers dunk as one of the most memorable plays in Billiken history. Conklin > Johnson if only for that.......and for the three additional years.......

Does video exist of this Jeffers dunk? What was it, 2000 against Bona? Before my time at the U. Thanks!

[jbizzle09]

The Conklin pick ranks up there with the Jeffers dunk as one of the most memorable plays in Billiken history. Conklin > Johnson if only for that.......and for the three additional years.......

Maybe not as memorable to others as it was to me, but TL3's dunk over a GW player in his sophomore year is still the most memorable moment of any Billiken game I went to. I believe it is on YouTube somewhere. He literally teabags the GW defender on a putback dunk. I was sitting behind the basket that game so perhaps it was the vantage point I had that made it seem so amazing.

[Box and Won]

Does video exist of this Jeffers dunk? What was it, 2000 against Bona? Before my time at the U. Thanks!

I don't believe that game was televised. Any footage would have had to come either from WeldersTV or one of the local stations for highlights on the news.

[Box and Won]

Maybe not as memorable to others as it was to me, but TL3's dunk over a GW player in his sophomore year is still the most memorable moment of any Billiken game I went to. I believe it is on YouTube somewhere. He literally teabags the GW defender on a putback dunk. I was sittib behind the basket that game so perhaps it was the vantage point I had that made it seem so amazing.

[kshoe]

I don't believe that game was televised. Any footage would have had to come either from WeldersTV or one of the local stations for highlights on the news.

I'm pretty sure I have footage of it somewhere on an old VHS tape from the local news highlights but it would take hours to find....not going to happen.

[NashvilleBilliken]

I don't believe that game was televised. Any footage would have had to come either from WeldersTV or one of the local stations for highlights on the news.

There was also the time Jeffers made 2 plays on Sportscenter top 10. I'm thinking that might have been against Louisville though.

[billikenfan05]

I'm pretty sure I have footage of it somewhere on an old VHS tape from the local news highlights but it would take hours to find....not going to happen.

I got time....

[dlarry]

RL scored 13 points in a win vs Angola today.

If I remember correctly Angola was the first real game for the original (and IMO only) Dream Team. The players were more concerned about getting pictures and autographs than playing ball. It was pretty cool seeing how excited those guys were just to be on the court. Then, Sir Charles threw a big time elbow and the media jumped all over him. It also told everyone that the team was there to win.

1. bonner

2. dobbs

3. johnson

4. harris

5. dillard

6. conklin

in that order. first clarification, over a 20 something time frame, that is a hell of a list of very good players.

let's not forget that dobbs, harris, johnson and conklin played much higher level competition (cusa in the hayday) with a lesser supporting cast and still succeeded. as to inferring jeff harris wasnt the team leader that conklin was or thinking he wasnt as tough, my oh my. harris was the team his senior year imo. i still remember huggy bear saying he would take jeff harris in a second to start at pf for his bearcat team. harris was a lion.

it was a shame jamal johnson wasnt here his whole career. he was an amazing talent. he too had no supporting cast was mugged every time he touched the ball.

q dillard was just clutch. he didnt look like much but at the end of the game he has his near double double, was hitting threes from the corner, getting the put backs, and made the free throws down the stretch to go ahead and had the big rebound to end the game kind of a guy. i loved quentin

we dont have to discuss bonner and dobbs. they start and end the great list of billiken power forwards over the last 25 years. what dobbs accomplished with his physical shortcomings was nothing short of amazing. and bonner is the king of all time.

I like and agree with your list Roy. Im also positive that is an honest assessment. I always thought of Conklin as the ultimate BRoy player. Hard working, smart, can play, great rep of the school, wanted a degree. The only thing he was missing was a metro east side tie in.

[Duff Man]

Not sure why this battle is taking place in the New Zealand thread but in what effing universe is Brian Conklin ranked behind Quitman Dillard in anything?

How has no one else shot this down yet? And who is Quentin?

Brian Conklin just finished one of the most remarkable seasons in Billikens history, and does not deserve to have his accomplishments marginalized.

Obviously AB is the man. I'll take double D over Conk as well, but it's open to debate.

Jeff Harris can be successfully argued either way. Over the course of his 4 years, Harris was move valuable than Conklin over his 4. No problem with that.

Jamal Johnson is iffy. He played one year for a team that went 16-14. His best game was the first game of the season against LSU. If you stack Jamal Johnson's year against Conklin's senior year...

JJ 12.9 PPG 46.4 FG% 51.4 FT% 7.1 reb 1.6 ast .9 blk .5 stl

BK 13.9 PPG 52.1 FG% 80.0 FT% 5.7 reb 1.2 ast .7 blk .3 stl

Sure BK had a better supporting cast...he also LED HIS TEAM TO THE NCAAs and dominated Xavier...twice. No doubt JJ was more talented but what exactly are we trying to measure here? BK's Billiken career is clearly more distinguished than JJ.

Quitman Dillard was a good kid who played hard, but he was never more than a role player on a average dysfunctional team. He was never the kind of impact player that Conklin evolved into his senior year.

[billiken_roy]

If I remember correctly Angola was the first real game for the original (and IMO only) Dream Team. The players were more concerned about getting pictures and autographs than playing ball. It was pretty cool seeing how excited those guys were just to be on the court. Then, Sir Charles threw a big time elbow and the media jumped all over him. It also told everyone that the team was there to win.

I like and agree with your list Roy. Im also positive that is an honest assessment. I always thought of Conklin as the ultimate BRoy player. Hard working, smart, can play, great rep of the school, wanted a degree. The only thing he was missing was a metro east side tie in.

i do indeed love brian conklin as a player. he indeed exhibits all the traits i look for in any athlete. the fact i list him as the 6th best inside power forward since i went to slu in 1978 should be considered a compliment.

[brianstl]

Dillard led the team in scoring for two different seasons. He ranks 20th all time on SLU's career scoring average list. He was a lot more than a roll player.

[billiken_roy]

Dillard led the team in scoring for two different seasons. He ranks 20th all time on SLU's career scoring average list. He was a lot more than a roll player.

exactly. and like i wrote above his level of clutch was fantastic. always seemed to be the guy in the tough games. no doubt that team was worse than last year's team. it was the group that ultimately cost grawer his job. but dillard was definitely not one of them. he should get memory points for being one of the few bright spots.

[RiseAndGrind]

I am not sure if Sloan and Meyer would have even made the current team.

ET and JB were members of this team. Let's not get crazy here Nark.

[Duff Man]

Dillard led the team in scoring for two different seasons. He ranks 20th all time on SLU's career scoring average list. He was a lot more than a roll player.

You're cherry picking facts. While he led those 2 teams in scoring by a slim margin...he also led those teams in shots attempted by a huge margin.

Leuchtefeld was named 2nd team All-MCC. Dillard was not recognized at all (not even the newcomer of the year team). Footes was the star of the team, but was plagued by disciplinary issues (his suspension opened the door for

). It's not like opposing defenses were keying on Dillard. For the record this team averaged 78.7 points and allowed 79.1 - points came a lot easier back then relative to Conklin's era.

This team went 5-23 (0-11 in the loaded Great Midwest) and had many players quit or get kicked out of school mid-season. I remember Dillard hitting a big game tying 3 in a loss @DePaul, does that make him clutch? I guess technically speaking he was more than a role player...but when you lose 14 of your last 15 games, and shoot 38.8% from the field on the year, what difference does it make?

Again, I'm not trying to knock Dillard - he played hard, got the most out of his talent, and was a bright spot on troubled teams. Conklin was all those things too...but unlike Dillard, Conklin was first team all-conference for an NCAA team.

[brianstl]

I didn't cherry pick anything. Dillard wasn't a role player. I never tried to make a case for him being one of the greatest Billikens ever. He was a nice player.