random thoughts after the loss

[Basketbill]

Up by one with five minutes left, at home. We need someone to be Fischer this year. I do not think Reggie can be that guy, he is a go to guy for a jumper, he is not Marquee, I think Dwayne could do it but he seems afraid to shoot, he finally did and hit a three, only to be called out of bonds prior to the shot. I think this team lives and dies by Dwayne being able to run the offense in the last five miuntes.

This team must learn to emotionally get over mistakes...forget them and move on. Good teams and good players do this. Go back and look at the films from SLU-Lousiville game Marquee dribbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds with less than a minute left in the game....How would this team respond?? They would think about it the next two posetions and before you know it the game is out of reach.

[Billiken Rich]

You said it a hell of alot better than I did.

[billiken_roy]

our sid was asked just that question at the last billiken club meeting and he more or less admitted that brad is under no obligation to visit with the radio people after the game.

[billiken_roy]

your post reminds me of something i was thinking of during yesterday's game when 3 times we were called for being out of bounds (twice on received passes polk and bryant each once). i dont know about the rest of you, but that drives me crazy. my gosh, how the hell can this continue to happen? the rec'd passes is especially irratating. stay on the f'ing floor. i played basketball all the way thru high school and cant remember ever being out of bounds when i rec'd a pass or just dribbling out of bounds. i just cant fathom an acceptable excuse for it ever happening.

[billiken_roy]

slufanskip said,

"I agree that JJ needs some more minutes ... but lets not annoint him all-world just yet. He had 1 good not great game and 1 mediocre game. He was not a difference maker yesterday. He had 3 bords regardless of what you credit him with. Every player does things that don't show up in the stat sheet. He played good defense but was non existent offensively."

i think skip described johnson's biggest problem. i cant even describe my hope that the oakland game was a justin breakout game. one would think everything he has been through, he would have cherished that opportunity and just used it as a catalyst to never coming out. imo, we saw the old justin saturday. in the beginning of the second half, dayton began to double izik and johnson had opportunities to flash across the lane for the ball and easy scores. he basically stood and watched. he also was no where near as agressive going after rebounds saturday as he was on wednesday nite. i agree with skip. and if not for another nothing performance by newborne, he would probably be returning to his old place on the bench tuesday nite.

slufanskip said,

"I don't understand why we can't make offensive adjustments. You can't beat a zone if you casually pass the ball around the top with each player taking a couple of dribbles. The ball has to go in to the high post get kicked back at and rotated around quickly ... You have to make the defenders work and start scrambling ... Watching our offense against a zone there is no question as to why we cannot get an open look."

i dont know if anyone else caught it, but in the first half the first time that dayton went zone, brad was screaming at the top of his lungs to change the offense because of the zone. i watched polk and drejaj and couldnt see where they did anything different. we of course didnt score that trip and the look on brads face was one of someone kicking his puppy. the next break in action he was scolding the hell out of our guards. they need to recognize that themselves. and it isnt like they shouldnt be prepared for a zone. my gosh we cant shoot with a p!ss.

slufanskip said,

"I have been a DP supporter big time ... but if he is not going to break down the defense by penetrating and then finding the open man when the D collapses ... I'm not sure why he is in rather than AD. Hell I could stand around and swing the ball around the wings."

my bigger disappointment with polk yesterday was his inability to get the ball on the inbounds. time after time it ended up being bryant or drejaj bringing the ball up the floor against dayton's full court man to man. for those of you that have never played point guard, this is extremely tiring. it is actually the main reason teams defend as such. not to steal the ball, but to wear out the ball handler. the fact reggie had no legs late in the second half is probably as much for this reason as anything. with polk's speed and quickness, there is no reason he cant get the inbounds pass everytime.

slufanskip said,

"Anyone not happy with IO's overall play this year ... I'm confused again. What are you watching? He is averaging 10.8 ppg shooting .494 from the field and 70% from the line to go along with 6.9 rpg. Yes he needs to go stronger to the hole, and I'd like to see him dunk more and not put the ball on the floor as much on the perimiter, but overall he is having a good season."

i will be the first to admit that izik has exceeded my expectations. on the other hand, is it just me that seems to think he does all this in spurts and then disappears? where was he at the end of the game? he started the second half, i thought he was going to just take over the game, then he disappeared. i believe izik can do more.

slufanskip said,

"Our fans are DEAD ... they can't get excited during a close game even down the stretch ... but by god if you throw them some empty cups they get riled up."

while it was indeed a close game, it was a close game going the other way and to be honest, it is damn hard to get excited about stepping out of bounds, and fouling their players, and missing layups and open three pointers. btw, i think the whistle girls are terrible. hell they cant even blow the damn whistle and the empty cups are lame.

slufanskip said,

"Reggie needs to get back to catching and shooting ... he is heasitating and shooting off the dribble more often. He is at his best when he catches and shoots. Part of this I understand because with our slow motion offense he or anyone else rarely get an open look from 3."

claggett would have made those catch and shoots. skip is right on with this observation imo. reggie's greatest attribute is his ability to shoot the ball. not drive to the basket. occasionally he should try to drive, but it should be the exception. on the other hand, i watched the weak a$$ screens he was getting from our inside guys, he wasnt getting much of a look. but again, claggett could make that.

slufanskip said,

"If we are so good defensively ... than how come our opponents seem to get wide open looks from the 3, but teams that are not as good as we are defensively can prevent us from getting the same looks. Could it be that an 8 year old could stay7 with the ball as slow as we move it."

i believe it has as much to do with the fact that our inside players have no respect from our opposition. we play the pack man to man to help defend the lane. it is vital that we keep a foot in the pack zone until your man gets the ball then you have to explode out to get your man. a skip pass makes that pretty hard to do. you either have to cheat out to your man and leave the pack early, or you allow that occasional open three look.

now on our end, since our inside guys are shooting about 30% from the field, there is no need to help in the lane. therefore the defender can cheat out to his man and thus that skip pass is rarely there and reggie bryant never sees a wide open shot. nothing that cant be cured by our inside guys becoming the 2003-2004 version of tom frericks.

[billiken_roy]

skip said, "Neither Fish nor Sloan was consistently rock solid at crunch time ... they each had their moments both good and bad."

compared to this group of seniors they were magic johnson and michael jordan. i agree we have had better, but what is sad is that if our seniors would be playing just at the intensity level of fisher and sloan our record is probably reversed. you cant will yourself to be as talented as marque, justin love or mo jeffers, but you can make yourself be as mentally strong and consistent as chris sloan and josh fisher.

[cheeseman]

First of all you can not even pick the broadcast up when it is on KFNS so it is not like people are missing anything. I do admit that Brad not coming on after the game when he did the last two years and like all previous head Billiken coaches have does appear to be a little classless. But he is the coach and he will reap what he sows.

[cheeseman]

Agreed

[Quality Is Job 1]

...is that he doesn't provide what Coach Soderberg wants on defense. He's a sieve. He's even less effective on defense than Reggie Bryant. If he were more effective defensively, he'd be the answer.

[SLU_Nick]

I am a fan. I am just frustrated. I know that what I say has no impact on what our recruits (or future recruits) do. I tried to show a little optimism with the comment I made after. But let's be honest, we suck (right now). And unless Brad does a magic act or we find someone who will step up, nothin will change. I still watch every game and even follow gametracker for the duration when I cant see it on TV. While I know we are talented I am sick of our team being OUTEXECUTED (that's the right word). I dont know what it will take to get these guys back on track.

[davidnark]

Is that your opinion or is that based upon inside knowledge regarding coach's thoughts on the issue?

[Billikan]

Is this board working?

[Quality Is Job 1]

>Is that your opinion or is that based upon inside knowledge

>regarding coach's thoughts on the issue?

It's a mixture of the two. While I haven't picked Brad's brain on the issue, I have seen a few practices and heard Brad's remarks to the team. Nor have I seen Clarke play a whole lot, but when I have seen him play (or scrimmage), the other squad has tended to be able to put up quite a few points.

[Quality Is Job 1]

It does seem a little slow, but it is working.

[jjray]

>>Is that your opinion or is that based upon inside knowledge

>>regarding coach's thoughts on the issue?

>

>It's a mixture of the two. While I haven't picked Brad's

>brain on the issue, I have seen a few practices and heard

>Brad's remarks to the team. Nor have I seen Clarke play a

>whole lot, but when I have seen him play (or scrimmage), the

>other squad has tended to be able to put up quite a few

>points.

Clarke has played very little in game situations the last 2 years so you (and the coaching staff) must be basing the opinion that Clarke is a deficient defender on practice. Why again did we give Darren Clarke a scholarship? This kid was not a last minute get like D. Brown or Drejaj or Izik. He was supposedly evaluated and determined to be the type of all-around player Brad wanted. We passed on Blake Ahearn to take Clarke--why? Clarke was supposed to be a better defender! Now it turns out Clarke is so bad defensively in practice that he can't get game minutes despite the fact that he is supposed to be a shooter and our offense is crying out for a shooter.

I know you are just reporting your observations Thicks but it's disappointing news. This is most likely acedemic as Darren will fall further down in the depth charts when Liddell and Lisch arrive.

[davidnark]

I am not sure I agree with Thick's analysis that Darren't lack of p.t. is due to defensive problems.

[Mobile-iken]

"our sid was asked just that question at the last billiken club meeting and he more or less admitted that brad is under no obligation to visit with the radio people after the game."

That's fine, he's under no obligation...Then why the hell only show up after a W??? I think it has more to do with his not wanting to address the public than his need to immediately address the team.

[billiken_roy]

or maybe after a win there isnt the need to address the team immediately following the game either. especially during the midst of a long losing streak.

[Quality Is Job 1]

Then what do you suppose is the reason that Darren Clarke isn't playing? He isn't injured, apparently.

[Box and Won]

It takes a lot for our fans to cheer - they don't cheer when we make free throws, they don't cheer when we rebound or make steals. Usually, the only time you hear any real noise from the crowd is on a bad call by the officials.

The crowd never cheers proactively - when we're not scoring. There's no noise when we're defending or when the other team is shooting a free throw.

Maybe if we could have Drejaj run up and down the court holding a sandwich in his hand at all times, the crowd would get pumped up.

I think St. Louisans are too used to watching baseball, only cheering when something big happens.

[MICHAELSPAPPY]

>I've been desperately trying to think of a handful of

>basketball coaches who drastically changed their offensive

>approach after they got better athletes. Unfortunately, I

>haven't been successful.

Eddie Sutton's offensive approach in years past was very deliberate, but now OSU is very uptempo. He went with the talent he had. The constant is taking good shots and defense.

By the way I love your Oscar Robertson quote.

[brehms13]

All I can say about behind close doors, it's ugly. I couldn't believe some of the comments not to just Reg, I mean period. I can tell u it's discouraging...It's not what we read at all, it's not what I'm told by the coaching staff on the phone or in an email, I had to see and hear first hand.

I can understand motivation, and trying to get the guys pumped to play, but there's a fine line, between motivation and personal commments. As for me, I would have been suspended from the team, I will not be disrespected.

[brehms13]

Reg has to get the ball to catch and shoot and that's the problem, Polk doesn't look to give Reg the ball at all, I said that previously. He doesn't know his role on the team, watch for yourselves, how many times Reg is overlooked.

Reg's real game is the cut to the basket...He's a stop and pop shooter...the three jumper was added at NOVA. His game has been changed to much..I told him play his game.

I think Drejaj at the point is better, he hits the open man plus he's not afraid to shoot.

[brehms13]

So Reg plays like he doesn't care? He's not pumped? He's always encouraging the guys, he's always talking to them and cheering them on.

[slufanskip]

I agree partially ... Polk does not break the defense with his drive ... when he is in ... they seem to casually swing the ball around the perimiter ... that doesn't make it to tough for the opposition to defend the 3.

Whatever his game used to be adding the 3 with a very quick release IMO has become his greatest strength ... and a damn good one ... I just hope he gets more opportunities.

Very often I wish Drejaj was afraid to shoot more often.

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