Tough Luck, Bad Coaching, or Something Else?

[davidnark]

From the most recent official SLU SID press release:

Saint Louis has lost 10 games in difficult fashion. The Bills dropped two one-point decisions in the last 15 seconds to both Oral Roberts and Hawaii. SLU has lost two overtime games by losing by seven to Austin Peay after the Governors tied the game with a long trey at the horn and by frittering away an eight-point lead in the last four minutes of a four-point, double-overtime loss to Marquette. The Billikens lost a three-point game to DePaul after leading by 10 in the first half. The Bills let a nine-point second half lead slip away in a three-point loss to Eastern Michigan, allowed a six-point second half lead to get away in an eight-point loss to Dayton, wasted a five-point second-half lead in a six-point loss at Charlotte, couldn't maintain a nine-point first half lead in a seven-point loss at East Carolina, and fell by 10 to UW-Milwaukee in a game that was tightly contested throughout.

Don't the good coaches find a way to win the close games? Last year Brad did and was universally considered a good coach.

[Billiken Rich]

Chris Sloan, Josh Fisher, Tom Frericks.

[AlumniFan]

David:

I am not sure if you are defending Brad or criticizing him. I look at this season and I see several close games early that went the wrong way which has possibly led to some bad chemistry, finger pointing, etc. If, after ther first 8 games, the Bills had been 6 and 2 because a few baskets fell, Austin Peay didn't hit the three at the buzzer, etc. then where would we be?

I am just trying to look at this logically. Has Brad changed from one year to the next? We have had poor shooting. Is it reasonable to blame the coach (I really don't know the answer)? Were Fish and Sloan really that good? Some answers we will NEVER know.....

[davidnark]

I am not really blaming or defending Brad, I am just raising the issue.

In reality, think this poor season is probably a combination of several factors. Losing quality leaders like Sloan and Fisher certainly didn't help. Losing Tom hurt a lot.

I think Brad shares some or much of the blame. He certainly hasn't had good success with most of his late game coaching decisions this season. More importantly, I think he has really struggled to find a way to make this group of guys gel together. This has been evidenced by Brad's juggling lineups and substitution patterns dating all the way back to the preseason tournament. I also think Brad has been way too willing to stick with players he "trusts," rather than going with players who are better suited to get the job done.

I think having a freshmen point guard who in many ways hasn't lived up to expectations has hurt a lot. I also think we are really hurt by the fact that our two best seniors--Izik and Reggie--are probably better suited to be major role players, not focal points.

The beauty of sports, and in particular college basketball, is that things can change in a hurry. Maybe all it takes is for Dwayne, Luke, and Danny to have a year of experience under their belt; or to bring in a fabulous athlete and versatile basketball player like Tommie; or to bring in a highly-skilled, athletic, and clutch player like Lisch.

[tseugnekillib]

In his first three years at the University of Washington, Coach Romar has gone 10-17 (2003), 19-12 (2004) and 19-3 thus far in 2005. Is Romar becoming a better coach or is he getting better players.

Have Gene Keady and Pete Gillen lost their coaching X & O skills in recent years, or has their talent base slipped.

Who shoots the free throws.....coaches or players?

[The Wiz]

I think part of the problem has been the schedule. Of the 10 "tough losses" 7 have been against winning teams. These teams all have at least 13 wins and a combined record of 104-37. In addition, 10 teams we play during the season may go to the "Big Dance". Even lowly East Carolina has the 14th toughest schedule making them look weaker than the are.

Next year when we move to the A-10 things will be better. The A-10 is a step down from CUSA. It is an easier conference. Even if we play at the same level as this year we will win more games and it will seem as though Brad is turning things around or that he is a "genius" again.

I think we will be better next year. Our current players will have another year under their belt. Other factors such as new players (known and unknown), better shooting (particularly within 5 feet) and another year for Brad to work his system can only lead to an improved record. Throw in the "softer" schedule and things are not all gloom and doom.

I think the A-10 move is the right conference at the right time. There was a lot of discussion earlier on about what conference to move to. A move to the Big East would have prolonged our agony in that they will be even tougher than CUSA. I think the style of play in the A-10 will be more of a match for us.

I think there will be additional pain this year (except for the Fort Wayne game) and things will improve next year.

[Sheltiedave]

David, I don't think anyone in their right mind would fault Dwayne much. He is a true freshman PG who has done an extremely solid job handling the ball and learning a new system. He also has been forced to deal with the loss of options #1 and #2 on offense for much of the season, and not really having option #3 materialize. He also did not make some early shots, and lost some confidence in himself.

I look at the season this way - take the average loss, and then look at the fact that we were dependant on two injured seniors, a third senior in his first true season as a PF, two freshman, and a sopomore center who gets beaten like a drum on this site by some. We have played some dominant defense, and the offense will come around with a year of playing together.

Next year we will have two dominant guards enter the system who fill slots that we really need. Kevin is a classic zonebuster who is an upgrade on EVERY level over AD...defense, jumping, floor sense, handle, shooting range and accuracy, and with solid PG skills. Tommie comes in as an effective sophomore, having spent a year at Hargrave learning how to be a true PG. He has the smarts, slashing ability, handle, defensive skill to be a second lockdown defensive player, and can elevate and finish from the wing or middle on a break.

We now have our primary set of guards to get out in transition, finish on the primary and secondary break, AND we have a good passing center to trigger the outlet to start the break! Brad may not be the outstanding coach I make him out to be, but he has turned water into wine in two of the three years I have seen him, and we will be sitting above .500 next year, and in the Dance for the four years following that.

[slu72]

TF's injuries probably hurt the most. He was never the player he was last year, so we in effect had no inside game which means teams really concentrate on our perimiter game which was RB, who played through injuries. Yes, we lost a lot of close games, but some to teams who shouldn't have been that close. Overall it's a combo of not having enough talent in the upper classmen and a bunch of new guys going thru OJT. More than UB's floor coaching, I think his problem lies in the second class he recruited. DC, a bust. TF injury prone, IV, a project, and BH, a redshirt project. Face it that crew is not a good class. Had he landed one legit ready to play D1 player things might be a whole lot different. Just wasn't meant to be this year.

[slufanskip]

I wouldn't label IV a project ... how many schools recruit 6'11" centers ready to start in their soph season. He isn't as good as he will be but he is by no means a project. Bryce is the same ... if we say we want to win with good experienced 4 year players than we have to give freshmen time to develop so they can become good players as Jr's and Sr's.

I will agree that DC is a puzzle and may turn out to be unsuccessful, but I don't see how someone can predict that a circus will come to Savvis and leave remnants of Hay and a player who did not realize he was allergic to hay will discover he is allergic to hay. Also I don't think you could predict that a player will have a problem with concussions. Yes results wise TF wasn't what we hoped for this year, but can you say we should have known and not recruited him. You also have to remmember that when we recruited this class UB had not had much time to develop relationships with players or families. So he got the best he could. I believe if Tom and Reggie were healthy, and AD made even slight improvement we would be a much different team this year.

We have many positives to look forward to especially DP and IV.

IV is far better than any sophmore center we have had at SLU in as long as I can remmember and DP is having a better freshman year than Marque did. They are just young. Add to the mix DB, LM, BH and our 2 incomming freshmen and we have the best group of young players I can remmember at SLU

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[Schasz]

Yes, the players do play the games; however, my memory isn't very clear on the last player who was fired when the team's record was horrible. Nothing will get a HC fired quicker than losing records. They are the ones making the fat 6 and in some cases 7 figure contracts...so they take the fall when things head south of the border regardless of the reasons for their dismissal. Hopefully, Coach Soderberg can stop the bleeding with only one poor season.

Sheltiedave, I do like your optimism in the face of this dismal season. If we can string 4 Big Dance trips in a row after next season then everyone here will be in 7th heaven. To ensure that happening then Coach Soderberg will need to hit on a few more recruits besides Tommie and Kevin.

I plan to get a first hand look at our team tonight at the USF game, and I am anxious to see what I think about some of our returning players. I expect this to be their last trip to Tampa...unless Brad and Woolard want to continue playing after each high tails it out of CUSA.

[Tonka]

How anyone can not give Brad at least most of the blame is beyond me? Does he deserve it all - hell no! But, he does get most of it. Why? Because look how many wins we have! It;s not like this will just be a losing season or just a losing record. We have a horrendous record, no matter what the circumstances! You can look at all the close games and say if we just would have done a few things different. Well, we didn't. You could look at all the close losses and say well, maybe we aren't as bad as our record. But, I think just the opposite. The fact that we only have as many wins as we do and the fact that we did lose so many close games makes Brad look that much worse in my opinion. You lose a close game, you make the proper adjustments. You lose a big lead, you make adjustments. You continue to lose close games and lose leads, well then you have to question what he is doing.

I'm okay with Brad having this horrendous season. He's a good man and a good coach in my opinion. Hopefully, he will learn from it, grow from it, and move into next season ready to win some games.

[billiken_roy]

it is brad's job to do the best job he can to put us in a position to win. however, he cant avoid injuries of players, shoot the free throws for the players, get the offensive rebounds for the players, get out on a shooter quicker for the players or protect the ball for the players.

he has tried many various combinations and positions on the floor. he has varied the tempo of play to a greater degree than the previous two seasons.

if there is a fault imo, it is the possibility he placed too much hope on upperclassmen stepping up into leadership roles when apparently they dont have the makeup to do so. it is the possibility he placed too much hope on certain underclassmen being ready to assume key roles when that wasnt reasonable.

all in all, he is the head coach and the buck has to stop somewhere, so i understand the blame he is getting, but i will give him a couple more seasons to get the players that are 100% his responsibility and then judge him accordingly.

[Billiphan]

If someone is going to get the blame it's of course going to be Brad but I don't think it's as bad as some make it out to be. If the Bills were losing every game by 30 pts I'd be much more worried but they're generally competitive. Start with the graduation of some solid players, throw in the loss of your best big man, add a freshman PG, toss in numerous head scratching missed lay ups and combine that with the fact that everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and you have your 04/05 Billikens.

I've questioned Brad this year at times to but I think this truely is a learning experience for him and he's fighting everyday to figure this out.

Lets hope this is our rock bottom and in three years we can look back and laugh.

[Tonka]

oh, this is rock bottom, but we'll climb out. we're on our backs right now, but since we can look up, we can get up! Hey, I like that!

[cheeseman]

Nark, hold on there - Polk has lived up to expecations. Anybody who thought he would do more was kidding themselves. He has delivered as well as any freshman pg we have had. Th loss of Sloan and Fisher hurt - missing TF's rebounding hurts. When you have nobody as your go to guy or consistent defenders to stop runs or shut a team down at the end then you get what we have - the short end of close games.

[billiken_roy]

while i agree as a freshmen, no one expected polk to be larry hughes, but i dont think it is too much to assume or have hoped that he would average a couple more points and 2-3 more assists per game. had he done that, this team would have probably won a few more games and who knows, that little bit extra might have taken some pressure off of others and the snowball effect could have been substantial. i recognize that polk has enormous physical talent, but i am disappointed with what he brought to the floor for the overall season. the good thing is that he has shown he isnt a quitter and i am betting he works his tail off to get better. polk will be a bigtime winner at slu.

[cheeseman]

Skip - I agree with what you have said - especially about IV. One question I have - of course hindsight is always 20/20 - if Brad had limited time to recruit and establish contacts then why did he turn down Ahern? It would seem he should have taken Ahern and used the year to recruit someone even better. DC is a real puzzler -but as I said - hindsight is 20/20.

[cheeseman]

I think Brad should still get a chance to keep coaching at SLU for now - in a year or two who knows - only time will tell. Tonka is right, Brad gets his share of the blame. A question I have is should we be paying Brad what we are paying him so he can get on-the-job training? - I assume he is cashing the checks from the new contract. He was given the new contract based on his ability to deliver.

[slufanskip]

I think at the time he thought DC could shoot as good as Ahearn and also brought more athleticism to the table ... I agree when I first saw them both I'd have taken Darren ... of course as we sit right now I'd have been wrong also

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[billiken_roy]

maybe not.

[slufanskip]

At the time I wrote that I'd have swapped Ahearn for Clark in a minute. Actually if the trade was offered to me today even after last night ... I would make the trade and take Ahearn

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[Schasz]

I have not seen Blake play in either HS or at Southwest; however, it is painfully obvious to me after watching the Bills VS Bulls that they need some player(s) that can knock down treys with average to above average accuracy. Last night I did not see any player step up and show me that he has that shot in his arsenal.

[cheeseman]

DC had a good game tonight but then so did Ahern. Unless DC can become better than the 6 guard on this team, Ahern will always look like a missed recruit.