Schasz Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Jeez Louise our boys only have 6 friggin wins on the season and they come to Tampa and win one when I am in attendance. I must fess up that I brought some St. Louis reinforcements with me to the game as my niece and her soon to be hubby from St. Louis went to the game with us. I asked them for the over/under of the Bills breaking 50 points and I hate to tell the folks on this website that the under was predicted prior to the game. Thank God the over prevailed in the game. Our guys hustled their rear ends off on defense the whole game but were really effective in the first half as USF shot what a whoppin 13% from the field and we thought that we had our problems on the O end of the basketball court. Our guys shot what 44% for the game which is a decent number for them considering that we have been offensively challenged from the git go this season. Anthony probably played one of his best overall games of the year. Clarke got a chance and played a damn nice game...based on this game alone, he needs to be given more minutes, but one must wonder where he was hiding until game no. 22 on the schedule??? As far as my observations on Ian...I liked what I saw as he battled hard tonight...had 8 boards...did not distinguish himself on the offensive end too much, but I liked that little baby hook that he showed a couple times. I think he has potential to be a decent player before his career is finished at SLU. We MUST develop some player(s) who can score FG's...the offense is like pulling teeth. I got to believe that Dwayne and Luke will be more of a factor on offense next year, and I got to believe that we have yet to see the best of Danny Brown. Our little crowd at this game was going nuts and cheering the team on the whole game and we went crazy as the team headed for the locker room...quite a few of the kids looked up at us and waved, as did Coach Soderberg when he went to the locker room. All in all it was a good night to be a Billiken fan in sunny Florida. Can you folks in St. Louis do your best to keep it going against Charlotte on Saturday??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyjibo Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 It was a good game. I heard your group cheering at the players at the end (I was all the way across at the time or I would have joined in). That was a nice touch. Despite people on this board projecting their frustrations on this team, I saw an amazingly together team (considering the record). This team plays very smart and solid defense. I do not understand why this isn't the most central impression of this team--it certainly is for people who play SLU. Didn't the Bulls just score 96? While Leather was sick with the flu, the big guys did a lot to contain him (Leather is a very physical guy--Newburne, Ian, and Izik all were pushing back). I liked Polk's block in the first half a lot. I was generally impressed with Dwayne. He got around on defense pretty good and did push the offense. Both he and Drejaj were real positive the whole game spurring their team on. From what I saw this team is not restrained by coaching but by finishers on the offensive end. Drejaj really provided leadership tonight. I liked Ian's start but he did miss some bunnies. Ian was really good at "showing" (making a good target for the pass) and if he develops some solid touch and back to the basket moves, he will be excellent. It was real obvious that the Bills are willing to bang a bit, when the refs decided to swallow their whistles for a good stretch in the second half--the Bills were really hampered by USF's grabbing and pushing. I can see why people want Meyer to play but never having seen this guy play before I need to ask about his shot. He seems like a solid and smart player. I just had to say his release is a problem. He is quick enough and seems to have a nice touch (although he missed two wide open shots early) but his release is a little low and far away from his body--he can be an effective spot up shooter but will be easier to defend). I could see why this team has struggled this year as they were susceptible to avoidable turnovers. 3 different guards had the ball taken away from them because they decided to put the ball out in front with a USF guy on them (they had several turnovers which consisted of a USF player just reaching out and taking the ball away). Anyway, the team I saw was not hanging their head. They seem that they still have a lot to prove to us and themselves. I hope the offense continues to improve. Let us hope the fans are big enough to see what is really going on. There is no way this team resembles a team whose coach "has totally lost control" as some posters here have claimed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 I have never really seen people on the board saying that Brad has lost control of the team - what they have said is that who is playing is confusing and wonder what the players are thinking. The fact that they are not getting blown out tells us that the players are still working hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 btw, schasz, what was the name of that restaurant we went to eat with you and the lovely mrs schasz? my wife asked me last night and i couldnt remember it for the life of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Another thing that stood out to me in last night's game was our passing. Besides Ian's tip pass, Clarke and Polk made some great passes. It was great to see DC step up last night - when USF looked like they were going to cut into our lead and Dennis hit a 3-pointer, DC hit a 3 of his own to answer. I can't remember the last time that's happened for us. Danny Brown seems to be regressing somewhat, missing easy shots, making mistakes and committing turnovers - I hope he's able to pull out of his funk soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyjibo Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 There were some "totally lost control" posts. But there also the "too much control" posts I have read (one person posts both sides quite illogically). I know there were a lot of discussions about rotations on this board but I do not think they are very fruitful. It is possible that the right person is not playing at the right time but that can be true of any team. I understand that a coach who substitutes too much or too much in reaction to players' mistakes (I do believe Grawer did this) deserves criticism. However, I saw little evidence that the team is timid because of possible yanks. There was a positive impact last night as the rotations kept people pretty fresh until the end. Only Danny Brown seemed to play with "coach eye" a little bit. Polk was taken out last night with the "2 foul in first half" rule but after some turnovers was put back in. He never seemed to be down or hesitant at all. The problem with the rotation criticism is that it is pretty clear that it is not responsible for the losses. The endless splitting of hairs about relative playing times of the guards (or even the bigs) seems pointless in the big picture because each player I saw had some strengths and weaknesses. We just do not have a player that is completely better than the rest. It is smart to make use of a lot different energies and looks by moving people in and out. This is not to say that the actual rotations we use are perfect, but the lack of offensive production is the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 I think Luke's sudden surge of confidence in his offense has a lot more to do with Danny's limited time the last couple of games than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 3Star - I have to somewhat disagree - I think Luke's increased time is also do to the fact that DB is not playing well right now - he went to Houston and got so hyped up that he is out of control. Missing lay ups and turning the ball over way too much. Interesting thing is as Luke plays more, DB gets worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Here's how we determine who's closer to the truth. If Luke's offense goes south in the next game then Danny should still see limited minutes, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 I don't remember the exact play, but about half way into the 2nd half Ian had a bad play (don't remember if it was on offensive or defensive end) and Coach Soderberg immediately yanked him and gave him a good dressing down as he passed him on the way to the bench. Later in the 2nd half the ref called a horrible foul on Ian on the offensive end and Coach jumped to his feet and said "You have got to be kidding me" to the Ref. The Ref went right over to Brad and he did not say too much more. USF went down the floor and we got an immediate make up call that was about as bad as the call against us. On Danny Brown...he did nothing to distinguish himself in this game, but he is only a Frosh and I believe that he will be a good player in due time. While he appears to be a decent athlete...he had an open court chance and did not get elevate quite high enough for the dunk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 3Star - I did not disagree completely with you. I agree that Luke's offense has gotten better but what I was trying to say is that Luke has gotten more minutes because DB's play has gotten worse and because Luke has gotten more minutes he has taken advantage of it by elevating his play both offensively and defensively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 That was a weird play by Brown - it struck me like he couldn't decide whether to dunk or lay it in since the defender was all over him. Had he committed one way or the other, I think he would have scored. There's no doubt in my mind that if he really wanted to dunk it, he could have easily done it - he's got hops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 Danny has been missing shots all year ... he has been aggressive and athletic ... but a very poor shooter and finisher at the basket Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 what's crazy about the playing time posts is that it's going to be the same issue every single season. Typical roster has seven perimeter guards and six post players. Your sixth guard is always going to be pressed for minutes. Your four and fifth post players are always going to be pressed for minutes. Most college coaches have 8-9 man rotations, especially late in the season. imo, this is a great reason to redshirt players when they are freshmen or sophmores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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