BradFan Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 Interesting that with all of the high-flying teams playing last night, only one managed to score in the 70s (Michigan State). North Carolina's vaunted offense took a backseat last night. Despite the lack of "Tark the Shark" scoring attacks being on display, I still thought the games were pretty darn interesting. One more note about defense - back in the Bennett/Soderberg days at Wisconsin, the fans at Kohl Center went just as crazy when the defense would shut down opposing offenses as they did with a slam dunk on the offensive end. I remember games where opposing teams had the hardest time getting their first basket, and the crowd would be on its feet making noise when the opposing team had the ball. The simple fact is that even the best offense can struggle when challenged by a good defense. In those situations, it is important that they can put up a defense to match what they are up against. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 "The simple fact is that even the best offense can struggle when challenged by a good defense. In those situations, it is important that they can put up a defense to match what they are up against." No one ever said otherwise. But no amount of rationalizing is ever going to convince those of us that enjoy fluid basketball that 56-53 wars of attrition are entertaining to watch. Sometimes those kind of slugfests can't be avoided. But for that to be the goal? Yuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 I'd agree that the Nova UNC game was a very exciting game and you had to admire the heart that the undermaned Nova team exhibited in this game. Their defense did keep them in the whole ball game especially after their early offensive burst went south of the border and led them to grind it out the rest of the game. This game wasn't even close to some of the snoozeball contests that SLU fans have been subjected too as it was still played in the 60's. I'd be happy to see games played with the scores regularly registered by Spoon's Clags, Highmark, and H Bomb teams...now that was exciting SLU basketball, and it combined tough man to man defense with good offense...it can be done with better talent. Give me that kind of entertaining ball and I would be ecstatic!!! For the record I definitely thought that Nova was hosed big time on the walking call but I saw their press conference after the game and their kids had the class to say that it should not have come down to that play...unfortunately for their team it did and it ended up being HUGE in a 1 point loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iggy Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 Do you mean our friend Tom O'Neil blew another big call late in the game? I was just waiting for that to happen. He loves to decide the outcome of games instead of the players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradFan Posted March 26, 2005 Author Share Posted March 26, 2005 I'm in total agreement with those who say we don't want a team that offensively is mired in the low 50s. But in the low-to-mid 60s is more realistic, and combined with a good to great D, equals a lot of wins. With a couple of exceptions (such as AD tying up Novak in the Marquette game), what Brad lacked this year that he had the two previous years was a shutdown defensive player. I think that is critical to his style. Will KL be that guy in the future? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 how about tom o'neil making the big call last night in the villanova game? wont argue that it was probably traveling, but i was watching most of the game last night and cant remember o'neil calling a single violation all night and then he blows the whistle on the biggest play of the night. if it is traveling, it should be traveling all night. the guy is one of the most frustrating refs in the game. i bet he wont get elected mayor of philly anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 bradfan, unless brad has been lying to us, it isnt his intent to continue with playing bennet ball. he has told us time and time again once he gets better athletes he will pick up the pace. next year he has polk, brown, lisch, and liddell. we havent had 4 guards with that level of athleticism as long as i have been a billiken watcher, so it will now be time for soderberg to back up what he has been saying offensively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 Somehow I feel as though I have this discussion a million times...no not on here or this thread...but it is a topic of which is a pet peeve of mine. One of the MOST irksome phrases to me is "defense wins championships." uh...no....and neither does "offense." I wish these tv and radio dipshits would stop it. BALANCE wins championships. Balance doesn't necessarily mean 50-50 offense defense, but it could. Balance could also mean 75% offense and 25% defense etc...and so on.... Plenty of high powered offensive teams won high scoring games Thurs night. And one did Fri night. Lower scoring teams can win too. The NCAA tourney is about matchups. Do you really think Wisconsin is one of the country's 8 best teams? I don't. Matchups are everything, and they just play who is scheduled. Taking nothing away from their success. They are a good team. There are two topics going on here. Style of play, as it pertains to fan interest etc...and we all agreed, so I thought....that we didn't mean Vegas run and gun, nor did we mean walk it up style. somewhere in the middle.le The other topic seems to be "what style wins?" MANY different styles win. Take the STL Rams football when they won Superbowl...was there defense that good? No...they were ranked well because of run defense stats...well, those Rams team were usually up 7-0 or 14-0 out of the gate, and teams felt forced to throw. The Rams won with balance. They had a great offense, very good special teams, decent defense. Easier schedule helped win games early for confidence...etc...many reasons. In hoops...high scoring offensive machines win, grind it out low scoring defenses win, ......more times than not the teams that win are the ones that can play a game near 90 and also play a game near 50 and win them both. Take AZ off of the top of my head...they can go up and down high scoring and win...but I have also seen them grind out last minute road wins against tough opponent in a game in the 40's, 50. Those versaitle teams win most...but the high scoring and low scoring teams can win too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 I like O'Neal but there was no way that was walking. He missed on that call. How about everybody's favorite ref Pollard getting to do the game last night? Somehow he is considered one of the top 48 refs in the country? Now that is scary. Hopefully we never see him again in Billiken games cause he'll probably foul Lisch out in about 2 minutes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 COURTSIDE SAID, "Do you really think Wisconsin is one of the country's 8 best teams?" i think they are better than most people including apparently yourself courtside, give them credit for. they are a solid team that doesnt beat themselves with mistakes and always plays tough defense and rebounds. they are proof that it doesnt take a monster offense to be successful. are they truly a top 8 team? i dont know, but according to the ncaa tourney they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 would you admit that they aren't one of the top 4 teams in the country? Of course not. The NCAA tourney is a great many things but one thing it is not is a fair evaluator of the best teams in the country. I like Wisconsin and will be calling for them against UNC byt who knows if they would be where they are if they had to face Kansas and U Conn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 The "travel" call was a mistake. ....No, I don't think Wisconsin is one of top 8 teams. But I also said they are a good team. Doesn't mean they aren't top 25. The tourney is about matchups. They have gotten some good ones for themselves. Nothing wrong with that. I think they will play UNC tough for a little while and lose....but a very good post season for them. Obviously they will finish in the top 8 in the tourney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikenbooster Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 Thank you. I have long maintained the Pasta House promotion at Savvis should be for if we win and hold the other team under 70 points. That would have the crowd yelling more when our opponent has the ball, which is the idea. Cheer our team on defense! That wins games. mhg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 just ripped the walk call pretty good but said the official "is not darth vador." How funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 It is unfortunate that Raftery and Lunquist got the call wrong on CBS. IMO they have been the best duo in the tourney. Bilas is good. Not an Endberg guy. Gus Johnson is brutal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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