game thoughts

[billiken_roy]

charlotte just got away with murder all night. especially withers. i gotta believe vouyoukas back is sore tonite all the times withers crawled all over it. they shot 16 more free throws than us and made i think 15 more.

i wonder why polk disappeared. i thought he was playing fine. i know the other guards were playing fine as well, but why not rotate them in and out?

izik has fallen back to the izik of old imo. shot well to nite, but had some turnovers and wasnt rebounding like earlier in the year.

speaking of rebounding, luke meyer isnt afraid of anything. i love luke meyer's attitude.

that was the worst reffed game i have seen this year. no consistency to why the were calling or not calling stuff. there would be a withers wrestling match at one end under the basket, then they would call a touch foul on the other end. and it took luke meyer's 5 steps to the basket for them to ever call a traveling call. god forbid basten or withers get called for their 3 step versions.

is iti the most overated player ever? i would take ian over iti in a second.

i wasnt aware that if you fall in the lane, that you cant be called for three seconds while laying on the ground. i think maury paulvich or whatever that overated schlock's name is, did that at least 3x without a call.

i never realized lutz was such a baby. my gosh he was a spectacle. and what was with him yelling at the billiken bench the one time in the second half? that was real classy lootzy. soderberg was like in shock when he did it. if any one was over on that side of the court and could hear what that was about, i would like to know that.

i need to work on my coming out of the five spins with the dribble before i go to bed.

[SLUMS81]

SLU managed to shoot for a decent percentage and score a substantial number of points last night ( I could not get to the game). Are we a better offensive team when our leading scorer is not available and everyone else feels like they are now responsible for point production?

I have never coached or refereed players over 5 feet tall. However, it seem to me that if a player or a team establishes themselves as the aggressor in a game, the referees will tend to use that level of aggression as a baseline for calling fouls. If SLU is less aggressive, then on those occasions when we do attempt a kamikaze offensive or defensive play the refs will be more likely to call fouls. A guy like Withers (or Maxiel) can get away with maneuvers that less assertive players cannot.

[3star_recruit]

"i wonder why polk disappeared. i thought he was playing fine. i know the other guards were playing fine as well, but why not rotate them in and out?"

We've been complaining about Brad substituting just for the sake of substituting so I've got no problem with Polk leaving the game at the 12 minute mark and not coming back. Normally he would have come in the game at the last timeout and finished out the game but the kids were already making a run. And those same kids + Darren Clarke sent the game to overtime. Curtis Withers and the refs just weren't going to allow us to win this game.

[3star_recruit]

Our guys were aggressive from jump and we couldn't get to the line to save our lives. The refs protect the upper echelon of Conference USA from embarrasing losses to lower-rung teams. Its been that way in this wannabe elite conference for years.

[TheGoat]

I was at the game, and thought that overall that we played well. Loved the energy from the new lineup. However, the simple fact is that we played a close game against a great team that on any given night should beat us. A few less turnovers, and the game is over in regulation. Watching a game like that really makes you wonder what kind of inside presence we really need. I found myself wondering if Bikel (sp) wanted to come in after half to help out a little. Whatever happens the rest of this year happens. I think our players should get a good learning experience out of it, and the transition to the A-10 will be easier b/c in my opinion we are going to a lesser talented conference. HOWEVER, we really need to find a PF or JUCO transfer C just for lane clogging purposes if nothing else. Man, granted Withers is pretty friggin' good, but last night just showed how vunerable we are there.

[slufanskip]

I agree with alot of what was said ... 3 star said the same thing I've been saying for years ... CUSA wants to maximize it's tourney teams ... so it's like beating a champion in boxing you have to KO them ... you won't get the opportunity to win a fair decision. Yes I believe they have an agenda.

I also was curious about Dwayne ... but I thought he would have sat about 3-4 minutes and returned at the 8-9 min ute mark before we started any kind of real run ... but UB stayed with what he had and it worked through the end of regulation. Kudos to him he obviously knew what he was doing. Sweet shot by Clark at the end of regulation ... I'd like to see a replay ... should he have been shooting a free throw was he fouled after the shot?

Ian played poorly the entire game ... but a little better down the stretch. He has to hit free throws, especiallt the front end of 1-1's. When shooting 2 he almost always hits just 1.

I also love the energy Luke brings ... what I love most is his desire to attack the offensive glass and to take the ball at the basket.

Nice to see DB get back involved especially in a big game.

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[bauman]

Random thoughts:

DB looked great-very smooth and confident with a decent outside shot that should get better as he plays more;

Maybe AD's best game, BUT he cost us dearly with his turnover early in OT. It was nothing but carelessness and we needed to get a shot off every trip in OT;

I know many Bills took turns on Withers, but IV showed what many (some) have been saying for a while is true--he just has no footspeed or quickness as he often was left standing in place as CW just went by him in the post. I'm sure BH would have had the same difficulty staying with CW. Too bad Char. (& CW) goes to the A10 with us next year. This shows how badly we need an athletic, quick 6'7"-6'9" four man who could defend a guy like Withers;

Good game by LM, but he sure looks hesitant to shoot from outside. He just needs to get more confidence in his shot and learn how to shoot a jumper instead of a set shot. Sure like his defense and rebounding;

IO, please drop the dribble/spin move where you lost the ball twice and stick with what you are doing well-the 15-18 foot jumper;

Finally, I think BS must have a hint that DC is leaving, if not he is forcing him to make that decision. After his last game (USF) he should have come into the game long before he did last night and should have been allowed to make 2 mistakes w/o being relegated to the bench for the entire 2nd half (except the final 30 seconds when he tied the game for us). Shades of the Grawer era.

[cheeseman]

The only reason Withers made Ian look bad was that he was walking all over the place - how do you expect Ian to cover him when this guy is walking and you are trying to hold your position. I have no idea what Lutz was doing when he started yelling at SLU's bench - I was sitting about midcourt on that side but there was so much commotion, I really did not see it. Others I met up with after the game asked me about it - they were sitting on the other side. I guess I just missed it.

[TEE]

that man is a classless moron, he exchanged words with a gentlemen sitting in front of us, couple of rows behind the bench. his team is a reflection of his lack of class, he and his team ***** about every call. i just wish the officials would put a stop to coaches all over the court. with how obnoxious he is, i wonder what type of child he was?

nice rug bobby!

[Quickdraw]

I'm with you. The guy repeatedly took the bunny hop. It's 2 steps and it is, therefore, a walk. They never call it anymore. Withers did it twice in one play: 2 step hop, then 2 dribbles, then a 2 step hop, then a lay up. I was making myself hoarse screaming about it.

[Schasz]

If the Charlotte announcer was close to Lutz...he was yelling about the Bills coaches on the floor. According to the Charlotte announcer, even the Bills Assts. were allowed to be 4 or more steps on the court and apparently Lutz was pointing that out to the refs.

[Box and Won]

Hey, if they don't call it on Dave Laito, they can't call it on our coaches!

[davidlee]

I agree this was a tough time to have a turnover and thought he lost his focus, but I was watching him closely late in the game and he was physically whooped.

I thougth DP should have been in to give him a break.

[AB34]

Lutz was on the playing surface more than Drayton. He was at the three-point line when there was a jump ball late in regulation. Every time there was a foul, he was three steps on the court.

The reffing was horrible, for both teams. The walking was the worst I've ever seen.

As Rammer said on the postgame, the good thing abotu LM and DB is they aren't afraid to take it to the glass. Luke took it baseline a couple times, as did Danny. Haven't seen that in a while, since maybe Mo Jeffers.

I don't know about Polk sitting out. I guess the other guy had a height advantage; maybe BS wanted to get a taller player to try to prevent good looks at entry passes. Didn't matter though. Withers was a beast. I loved it in OT when Charlotte ran clear outs for him from the top of the key, and Ian was waving to everybody to pack it in. That was kind of funny, just begging for help. Funny because I'm about as fast as Ian and have done that many a time in pickup games.