gister Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 The banquet was last night. Surely someone here went. If so, any comments about the affair? Also, shouldn't there be one more Billiken Club meet this month? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volfan Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 I was there and it went well. Nothing really was said. Good luck to Jim Braun and John garrison as they are moving on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gister Posted April 14, 2005 Author Share Posted April 14, 2005 I was not aware that they were leaving. Do you know where they are headed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 john is going into real estate investment in his home state of texas near san antonio i believe. i was unaware that jim braun was leaving. i too wish both luck in their future career choices. both are very good men that will do well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volfan Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Jim Braun is going to U of Colorado, where he will be with at a college that appreciates what he does, I do not think at SLU people really knew how hard of a job he had trying to raise money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 plus if my memory serves me correctly, jim is from the vegas area so going to colorado puts him closer to his roots. good for jim! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 here is the slu release at slubillikens.com http://slubillikens.collegesports.com/spor.../041305aaa.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 What was Garrison's job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New2SLU Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 >I was there and it went well. Nothing really was said. Good >luck to Jim Braun and John garrison as they are moving on. Nothing said?????...what about Soderbergs apology to the seniors for the way he acted throughout the season in a unprofessional mannor to the likes of Bobby Knight. Now that said, I am more impressed that Soderberg had the balls to accept that fact & responsibility that the seniors could not control the multitude of issues beyond their control. "Seniors should step up" as so many posters stated throughout the season. Goes to show how little everyone really knew what went on behind locker room doors. None the less, this basketball season will be the season that the seniors will try to forget, not for the win/loss aspect, not because of their fellow teammates or unwritten athletic dept policies but by the the way they were treated by a head coach that showed so little self confidence in his own ability to motivate people. Hopefully the seniors have learned a business lesson on human behavior..."you can get more out of people if you build them up versus constantly berating and tearing them down"! SLU only lost 3 players from last year so in effect there should not have been much difference in play. None the less the seniors could not control eye infections, family issues, multiple concussions and other physical injuries. I myself wish the very best to Tom, Reggie & Isazk on their efforts and contibutions as well as to their future career endeavors. Most of all to next years SLU basketball team! Brad, last nights apology said a lot about you as a man and coach. You may never know what it really meant to ALL the seniors to hear it. Thanks and good luch next year! New2SLU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 I was also at the banquet and thought it also went well. Brad snag the praises of his returning 8 core players. He promised that these players were good enough to produce a good season without talking about new recruits. He was very candid about the difficulties of the past year and how poorly he handled his first losing season. He sort of apologised to his seniors for being so hard on them and praised them for never giving up. I'll say one thing for Brad, he will never take losing easily. I'm looking for a much better year,maybe a very good year. This is for you Roy. Brad said that Ian worked so hard last year that he lost 30 lbs,and has 6 pact abs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlecat455 Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 I was there last night. I believe that you are writing a lot into that apology. Brad was not explicit as to what he was apologizing for. He simply said that he handled the situation poorly. I do not recall any reference to Bobby Knight of a lack of self confidence. I too applaude Coach for accepting responsibility for whatever it is that he feels he handled poorly. However, it wasn't clear to me what he meant by that. Coach did say that he felt that the "core" of the nine returning players would "be Good" and would be compete hard. All in all, a very pleasant evening and an optimistic atmosphere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 Thanks for posting ... I hope Tom knows we all wish him the best of luck. I was and am still very high and a big fan of Tom's ... in fact I had a pretty good argument with aj before the season about Tom's ability and I still believe had it not been for Tom's concussions we would have had a much different season despite the other injuries. Tom left it all on the floor each night and I think many of us admired him for that. Let us know how he is doing once in a while and if he is still playing please keep us up to date once in a while. Tell Tom he would have had to go to Cinci to get the Cash ... and good luck from the guy with the big mouth behind him at the games. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New2SLU Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 >I was there last night. I believe that you are writing a lot >into that apology. Brad was not explicit as to what he was >apologizing for. He simply said that he handled the >situation poorly. I do not recall any reference to Bobby >Knight of a lack of self confidence. I too applaude Coach >for accepting responsibility for whatever it is that he >feels he handled poorly. However, it wasn't clear to me what >he meant by that. >Coach did say that he felt that the "core" of the nine >returning players would "be Good" and would be compete hard. >All in all, a very pleasant evening and an optimistic >atmosphere. It was because the apology was specificly slated to the 3 seniors. You nor the vast majority of posters didn't have a clue what really went on this year behind the locker room doors! As for the Bobby Knight comment...paint a picture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 ... I'll admit it .. I didn't know and don't know. But given that you've referenced it twice, you do. Seeing as you are who you say you are, what you got? Having played for a coach described in some of the ways that seem to be describing Brad here, I agree that certain ways don't work on certain people ... in life, in games and in relationships. I prefer you not to decline specifics but am kind of expecting that you will. But I'm interpretting a raving lunatic spinning out of control as the season spun the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenButch Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 I hope that specifics are not addressed in this forum; be they perception or reality, they will only hurt the program if they are aired. I assume that Coach is a class guy and the public apology obviously meant something to at least one of the seniors, so it was appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 14, 2005 Share Posted April 14, 2005 i too want to thank tom for his efforts as a billiken. his injuries had to just be devastating to him considering it was his last hurrah as a college athlete. i became a huge fan of tom's his junior season and like skip, believe had tom been healthy all season it would have been a huge difference. good luck to tom and you and the rest of your family. i hope you continue to post here and remain a billiken fan despite the ending you wish never happened to tom's career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 It was a hard season all around, and a very confusing season as well to players and coaches. I was extremely confused by the start of the season, and was wondering first how the players could be so awful- then how the coaches could be so bad- then realized there had to be injuries that were decimating Tom and Reggie. Sadly, the injury situation DID come to light, and we lost two players for a major part of the season that I had tagged as all conference first and second teamers. Seasons like this are zero fun, but they also go to create winners two or three years later. Tom, Reggie, and Izak stuck with it, while getting repeatedly slammed by Brad for not leading, and will serve as models for future seasons that giving up is not part of the Saint Louis vocabulary. It is much, much harder to lead and plaY on a sinking ship than the frontrunner. I'm proud of this years' seniors and wish they could have gone out with another ten wins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 A few things - 1. no one really knew how hard it was for Jim Braun to raise funds at SLU - as the old saying goes, if it was easy they would have women and children doing it. That was his job and if it was tough for him sorry but he had the job not someone else. 2. None of us knew what went on in the locker room and we really should not. If Brad did not use good motivational strategies then shame on him - what I learned supervising people was that sometimes we can make a mistake but as the supervisor you have to be the one to recognize the problem and change - those working for you can not, they have no power only you. Besides, most workers want to do well. It is the rare one who wants to be a failure. Yes I know some can be lazy or whatever but as the supervisor/coach you have to figure out how to make them be successful - like the old saying above goes... 3. Tom's injuries were regrettable and he clearly has a pass for this year. As far as the other seniors go, who knows what was really happening - that is something only they and Brad will know - best left at that. 4. I do think it is not wrong for people to expect seniors to step up - some are better at it than others. As I said, as a supervisor, I had experienced employees who were fine when others took the lead but when those moved on to leadership positions, and they had to step up they simply were not comfortable doing so or could not deliver. When that happens, the organization spends some time spinning its wheels until some of the younger people finally realize that it is them that have to step up. This strikes me as what probably happened this year. 5. Now there was someone on this board who kept saying young players have to give respect to the older ones and can not expect the job to be handed to them - not a bad approach if everything else follows suit but when the younger players can produce more than the seniors then why should they not expect to be given a chance. All of this is old news and best put to bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 The banquet was the best $35 I spent this week. Mostly the same hard core Billiken faces that attend every function. No front-runners in the house. I have been attending banquets since the Ekker years and find Coach Soderberg the most interesting banquet speaker. Soderberg speaks from his heart. No doubt that every player knows where he stands with the head coach and what is expected of him as a student and player. In a few months this board will be buzzing with talk about next season's non-conference schedule.....surprises never end. Should have a women's bball coach in a few days. As mentioned above, Soderberg is very comfortable with his returning roster and the new group coming in. imo, Soderberg is taking a long term approach and is building a balanced roster, which takes time. Izik will graduated with two summer school courses and exactly three years after he first arrived in St. Louis. IO hopes to play pro-ball in Spain or his home country. Ian will represent Greece again this summer, as he works his way onto a future Greek Olympic team. Seniors were all winners. Good kids, who got their degrees. Injuries seriously limited Reggie and Tom in their last year. But if that is the worst thing that ever happens to Reg and Tom, they will have led a good life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehms13 Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 I'm glad for Izik..he deserves MVP and Drejaj was definitely the best defender on this team. As far as Coach's apology, I'm not surprised. That's the kind of man Coach is. I honestly believe he's a decent person and he wants the best for his players. Saying that, he has a lot to work on, but so do we all. As for me, I could tell u guys that a lot of the comments about the seniors last year were stated because everyone wasn't in the "know". So when we don't know, we "assume". Of course I wasn't getting into specifics about what may have been going on(eventhough I was accused of such), but I can tell you it got harder everyday to read comments about Reg, the speculation about him not being the player one thought he was, that he wasn't stepping up, that he's not a leader, that he may have an arrogant attitude,etc..even when it was known of his injuries he caught flack. I felt that Reg was the "glue" that kept the team together this year. No matter how much he got yelled at, or knocked down, injured, no matter how swollen his foot and ankle, or the pain he got right back up and always encouraged the rest of the team and played hard. He didn't get into public displays of disrespect or never said a bad word about his coach even when there were definite issues between the two. He would have interviews and still not divulge any discontent. I really think that stands for something in a day, where players are running the teams instead of the coaches, when players are getting benefits from illegal boosters, a day when players are just concerned about the game and not their education, their family. I'd definitely commend Reg for all that he has put up with and have gone thru. I'd commend Izik as well. He never gave up, when it was so easy for them to do so. To just say, we're not gonna even try anymore. They never stopped. I'm one who doesn't listen to rumors, I'm a see for yourself type of person, and based on what I saw is how I wrote my comments, I purposely played the opposer and brought up scenarios to stir up the board, but my intention was to get the board to look at the other side of a situation, not to turn posters against the Coach or Reg or whomever. Much of my comments were based on my conversations with Coach, reporters, and the rest of the coaching staff, which I've had many and my opinions of course. Someone said I wanted the board to believe I talked to the players after every game..of course not, but when I got an opportunity to see the guys and talk, you best believe I took advantage of it. To give them advice as to how I saw it, to encourage them, to ask questions. It's not beneath the Coach to apologize, as he has apologized before. It just comes a point, when the apologies are fine, but now lets see a change. Hopefully we'll see one with the upcoming season, the upcoming team. I pray the guys will not have to go through a season like this past one and that they use the experience to learn from it and rise above it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 brehms, i cant tell you how much i appreciate your feedback and input to the board. i also cant express enough how badly i feel for the way reggie's college career ended. to have so much going for him and be caught up in the injury thing like he was is just terrible. you are correct, looking back and now knowing what we didnt know then, it had to be terribly difficult for you and others close to reg and the rest of the seniors. we also now look back and appreciate what they were able to contribute be it in the plays they made on the floor or the support and input they provided this young team off the floor. reggie handled an almost impossible scenario with so much class and grace it is beyond belief. he is without a doubt a true general of his peers and a gentlemen that will succeed in life. i hope you continue to visit us brehms and give us some east coast feedback. and send us more reggie's. i for one will never forget that sweet stroke of reggie's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 I agree Roy ... though I don't think most posters were down on Reg. Most as was I were dissapointed that injuries made the real Reg and Tom unavailable to us. Of course though our dissapointment isn't anywhere close to the level of dissapointment they themselves had to be feeling. About coach apologizing ... that is something he could only decide for himself wether he needed to or not and clearly he felt he did. I hope he learns from whatever he feels his mistakes were and becomes a better coach ... even 30 year coaches can grow and learn. As far as yelling at players goes ... I would say that sometimes it is warrented and works ... sometimes it doesn't and can be taken too far ... there is a fine line and a coach needs to have a feel for where that line is with each individual player and know what his motivational buttons are ... for some any amount of yelling may be counterproductive ... for others you may be able to yell and scream all day and it may push them to do their very best. I also wish Reg, Tom and Izik the best of luck and hope they along with their family members will check in once in a while and let us know how they are doing. Brehms ... you are a Billiken friend ... stay that way and stay a fan. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted April 18, 2005 Share Posted April 18, 2005 Brehms, I always try to assess a person when they are under the worst stress, and going through the most difficult of times. Reggie showed what he was made of this season. Kudos to you, and your family, and I hope Reggie finds fair winds and following seas in the years to come. We are seeing better times because he attended Saint Louis! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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