Bay Area Billiken Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 These include Austin Peay, Eastern Michigan, ORU, Hawaii, UWM, and Dayton. Two were by a scant point, and another was in OT. The only 2 blowouts were at Gonzaga and at SIU. With a little luck, mojo, better play down the stretch, etc., this team would have a much better record than 2-8. Granted, SLU may not have won all of them, but the start to this season has been particularly dastardly. The bounces have to start going our way. Let's beat SEMO and go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 but should AP have been that close to us? Or ORU and EM at home? Shouldn't these have been cake walks sort of with what we had coming back? Face it, something's missing from this team; leadership, lack of talent, bad coaching, an I don't give a sh** attitude. From what the locals post it's take your pick of any of the above or some combo of them. No Billiken fan can find any good from the start of this season. It would be one thing if one of the young guys, say DP or IV, was playing great ball and it was the rest of the team letting them down, but we haven't even seen that glimmer of hope. The only light at the end of our tunnel has been another train. So far the only thing we've had to smile about is the seeming coming of age of JJ and that lasted only one game. This goes back to Nark's age old question "mediocrity should not be a level we aspire to or accept from this program." Hell, today mediocrity is looking pretty good. But I do think we all ought to accept the fact that we're a D1 program playing without a lot of D1 talent. When you see teams like Zaga and SIU lose a bunch of seniors and still come on strong I think it speaks volumes about the talent of our players. When you see the top teams pushing the ball down the court, hitting 3's with regularity, making jams on open inside shots, or making the drive and kicking it out, you don't of think of SLU basketball. And this is the kind of ball people like to watch, games where the scores are in the 70's not the 40's. That's boring basketball. Hopefully this will turn around with the recruitment of TL and KL. But they may very well suffer through the same kind of year next season. TL's playing in a fast paced program right now. What's he gonna think if he's got a chance at making a great play but it's a risk. Will he be scared if it goes awry he'll be screamed at and benched? Won't be long until he says "I'm outta here! Viva Las Vegas!" We need a force underneath, eg the elusive Anthony Bonner II under our Christmas tree. We need a couple of go to guys at crunch time (RB is one guy but he's no secret to our opponents who will maul him if he tries a game winner.) We need to have a FT % better than 65%, we need to get to the line more. Force the action. Screw all this passing that winds the shot clock down to 10 seconds and increases the chances for a turnover. Give DP his head let him run the court and get him some guys that will run with him. Bench IO until he learns he's a 4 not a 3. God, the list goes on and on and on and on. Posters who attend games say they are like going to the afternoon high tea at Famous Barr, well it's hard to get excited about passes. When was the last time the Billiken's saw a jam like Mo Jeffers against St. Bonaventure. Do more of that and you'll have the place rocking and a rolling. My frustration is showing because we all love Billiken basketball and want so much to see it move up the status ladder of NCAA hoops. I thought we were headed in that direction, but this year is proving our ladder doesn't even have rungs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 slu72 said, "When was the last time the Billiken's saw a jam like Mo Jeffers against St. Bonaventure?" ahhhhhhh thanks for the memory! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted December 23, 2004 Author Share Posted December 23, 2004 I cannot dispute your points. You are right. SLU seems to be in the midst of the old Billiken 2 step- one step forward and a big step back. I have been looking for any silver lining in the dark cloud. It has gotten to the point where I am afraid to look for the scores. I don't want all the gains SLU has made over the last 2 decades to be lost, and believe me, the gains have been truly tremendous. My 4 undergraduate years at SLU coincided with one Ron Ekker's presence as Coach. I personally sat in Ekker's office with my roommate our Senior year until he finally relented and let us restore the Billiken mascot. SLU should beat teams like Austin Peay and Eastern Michigan on a neutral court. SLU should beat teams like ORU, UWM, and even Hawaii and Dayton on the "home court." I hope the team is not giving up. Being 2,000 miles away and since SLU TV games were moved off Fox Sports Midwest to the local Charter cable, coupled with no longer being able to hear Billiken Bob Ramsey and Earl Austin, Jr. free over the internet, I have to rely on Stu Durando's accounts in the P-D and this fine messageboard. We are coming back for the Holidays and are planning to see SLU v. SEMO in person next week. I hope the Billikens put this bad start behind them and go all out next week. We want to see a winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 nothing is as bad as ekkerdays. we have more talent by far than any ekker team even with david burns on ekker's teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted December 23, 2004 Author Share Posted December 23, 2004 I was hoping it had not gotten to that point. However, couldn't this current Billiken team find a place for a Kelvin Henderson type? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 Some of those losses are to good teams ... UWM played Kansas close last night at Kansas ... Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 well yes. it has been my contention all year our inside is our weakest point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
former_d1 Posted December 24, 2004 Share Posted December 24, 2004 Hawaii and oru are both having great years. One loss between them. UWM is having a great year. We have been beat by some good teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Law Posted December 24, 2004 Share Posted December 24, 2004 Yes, but UWM also lost to a previously winless Valparasio team and has now lost 3 in a row since beating SLU and their previous wins, besides Air Force, were to bad teams (UIC just lost to DII UW-Parkside). Hawaii and ORU may be having "good seasons" but comeon, these are schools a program the level of SLU should beat, especially at home. There is no excuse for losing to teams of this level at home - this is Brad's team now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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