BillikenButch Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecCenterRat Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 How about "None of the Above" .. I can't believe some(most) of you actually chose Soderberg???? 2 Seasons .. 2 Trips to the NIT .. and you guys are voting for him? Jeez .. this really tells you how sorry our basketball team has been over the last 25 years .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlumniFan Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 The question was about the best coach, not the best record. If Michael Jordan plays on a losing team would you say he is not a good player? I think Brad is a very good coach and over time I think his record will provide the evidence that you want. But, again, the questions is not about anyone's record, it is about who is the best coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 ...and my answer may be different. Brad Soderberg is very promising, and I think he'll be on top after a while, but his tenure of two years hasn't been enough for me to consider him the best Billiken coach of the last 16 years (I don't go back as a fan 25 years). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 I think RecCenterRat's response is quite appropriate. Ekker gets tossed for the way he left the program and Beane is tossed as well ... what, one or two games? Be real. Soderberg shows potential and gets that vote. Grawer saved the program but burned out and got overwhelmed. Do you sacrifice his vote becaue of that? And I never really felt he had it at the "coaching" end. Spoon seemed to always have the team in any game and ready to play, dspite the fact that other than Hughes, his success was predicated on Grawer's last recruiting class. I think based on all that, Spoon would get my vote by default. But to come back to the RecCenterRat, yes, the available coaches to vote for are indeed atrue indication of just how bad things have been over the last 25 years. I don't know how Beane and Ekker get in here and yet you choose to leave out Romar. Romar took a team to the NCAAs .... that is quite an accomplishment when you factor in the fact that over this coaching bloodline, we've been to the Dance three times! While I said Spoon, I also like what Brad seems to be doing. He has a plan and he's sticking to it. Short of Hughes (and all the buds that came with him Baniak/tatum/Heinrich/Redden) Spoon's recruiting was definitely a failing grade. The other positives (Love, Jeffers, Perry, Waldman, Dobbs) seem to easily get negated by the abject failures of Cranford, Adkins, Barantine, and the smoldering remains left in Hughes departure. For a time, Grawer's era was special .... resurrected the program, got Bonner/Gray/Douglas, the pit that was the old Keil was rocking and a majestic atmosphere to be in. But the overall lingering image of Grawer, to me, is him on the bench with no subs in his last year, head in his hands and that tight gaut face even more sullen and recessed. In a society that seems to run on a "what have you done for me lately?" mentality, his time was spent. But without him, we are not having this discussion IMHO. I guess I can't vote .... to me Ekker was the last in a long line of guys hurting the program, Grawer was the immediate savior, Spoon had to carry that spear and got extremely lucky with Hughes, and Romar was a caretaker on his way home to Washington. Soderberg the future. And the jury is still out on him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehms13 Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 No,I don't know the history of SLU coaches, No I can't compare who and what certain coaches did. I can only go on right now. The last 2 years, though Beane isn't the "head" coach; He's the coach who has done a majority of the leg work. You wouldn't have quite a few players on this team today if it were not for "Beane". I look at the coaching responsibilities as more than winning games. It's building positive relationships with the players, supporting the players, recruiting good players no matter what area of the US they're from and working with the players and their games. I see all of this in coach Beane. My choices were basically between him and Soderberg, I chose Beane for those reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 SLU has been to the NCAA Tourney four times (not three times) in the past 25 years. Also, what do you mean about leaving Romar out? He's included in the poll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aj_arete Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 There are many factors in considering who is the best coach. Just like voting for MVP, there are no one set of guidelines to choose from. In my opinion, I have to give the nod of best coach to Charlie Spoonhour based on longevity, winning record, and coaching acumen. The only problem with Spoon is that he listened to too many people who begged him to get size... Heinrich... instead of just focusing on building a strong backcourt. Brad Soderberg hasn't been around long enough to warrant the label yet. His record hasn't been much better than Romar, who had similar constraints. I do believe in three years or so that Brad will rate among the best, but I need to see something better than a NIT appearance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 .. I missed it. Four times is right also ... lost to Maryland in first round, lost to Wake in second, lost to Kentucky in second and lost to Utah in first. Still Spoon gets three of those visits and Romar one. Meaning in that context that Spoon could win and was the most successful coach in modern times at SLU. I guess the poll just goes to show how people make their calls on something so subjective. Brehms has an interesting take on it. In my book, Beane doesn't even get consideration. Not that anyone is right or wrong, just different ways of looking at things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 on the other hand, if brehms wants to give beane all the recruiting credit, does he get the credit for NOT bringing in a stud inside player as well? for the recruiting record, coach thorpe was the lead recruiter on both liddell and lisch. probably the two biggest recruits since larry legend at saint louis university. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 I think coach thorpe would be surprised to learn he was the lead recruiter for KL. But perhaps you weren't including the head coach in this classification. broy, who in your mind were the last two or three Billiken "stud inside players"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 good point. we havent had one since bonner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehms13 Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 I forgot that my post always come with such sarcasim and poplularity. I'm not saying that he makes all the recruiting decisions, what I said is and maybe i should re-phrase, he thinks outside of the box. He doesn't only recruit in the midwest, he goes anywhere to get a good player. That's very smart. I started to just keep reading and not post.........u live and learn. I wouldn't expect u to know anything about my comments of him getting along with all the players and being the most supporting coach on the staff right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Most of us do not see the contributions of the assistants so it is good to get us such positive comments about Coach Beane. Somebody has been beating the bushes far and wide to come up with the current players we have on our team (and under distressed conditions). If Coach Beane has made a large contribution in this regard, I salute him. We appreciate your comments brehms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 brehms, i am not doubting that coach beane is a hard worker. but my point by bringing up angres thorpe is that i believe that coach thorpe and coach grunk are out there working just as hard. it is my understanding that they all hit the trail and do their part. and of course NO ONE outworks our head coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Come on Brehms ... quit taking things so personal. I think we all appreciate your comments and your inside info. We are not always going to agree with you ... thats ok ... the board wouldn't be the same without your participation ... but don't get so defensive. Maybe I'm not reading your response right ... but do you seriously think Coach Beane is a better coach than Brad? If so I'd be interested in hearing why? Something besides he is a good recruiter who thinks outside the box and gets along with the players very well. Being a head coach takes a lot more than that. I'm not being sarcastic ... I enjoy your posts and think you generally have good insight ... so I am really curious about your thoughts on the subject ... Thanks Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Hey ... I'm entitled to my opinion!!! Just kidding ... wasn't me. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 u would think it was the slu cheerleader that ekker was "counseling" at the time he was coach that voted for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Married her, after dumping his wife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Ekker married Ginger,they are still married with a couple of kids. The ex Mrs. Ekker is a Billiken fan and comes to all of our games. By the way I voted for Grawer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Ginger...Wow! That sounds like one of the dancers ( and I am using that term very loosely) names at Mons Venus on Dale Mabry. LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUTGR Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 Ok, it was me. Just having a little fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kahok Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 I can't believe Rich Grawer is not a runaway. Think back a few years, the program was in the pits. We were in a conference that was basically a laughing stock. Ther first year we went to the NIT under Grawer we had the most wins in the country that year and still only made the NIT. The Uni's were really sad looking and we always looked like a second rate school. Grawer brought in the good local talent and at least made us respectable. We talk about playing Duke now, then we played the UMSL and SIUE and had problems with them. Grawer made it possible for SLU to get Spoon and Romar. Without the job that Grawer did we would not of had Spoon, Romar and would not of had Brad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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