Billikan Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 there are a few things to ponder about some of last years most negative posters as applied to this year-- Several posters said Brad would never have a running team, that all he knew was slow down and defense. Tonight this team ran and ran from the opening tip off. This offense is perfect for this team of fast athletic guards. Brad was actually screaming at the team to run more! If he had not pulled the starters and left Ian on the bench we would have scored 120 points. This team will run and run and run! Several posters predicted that Ian was a bust, etc. He showed tonight a glimpse of what I saw from the day he arrived. He is now stronger and more mobile. He is a great passer out of traffic and he can finish with dunks inside. And the good news is that he will get better! Many posters said that if Drejaj plays many minutes it will mean we will be a terrible team. Tonight he was absolutely terrific. He was strong with the ball and defended with gusto. He passed well and scored a bunch of points. Slaten got 10 points but only scored when he was wide open on a pass out. Drejaj ate him alive in the one on one battles when they were head up. By the way, in case no one knew it this young Slaten kid can shoot when he is open but the rest of his game is mediocre and he is almost worthless on defense. Last year many were saying the Polk was a bust and they questioned why all the hype. Tonight he was all we hoped for and more. He got banged up--I hope he is ok--but when he was in the game he was a dominant force pushing the ball and going hard to the basket. This style of ball will be perfect for him. Last year people said that Brad could not recruit--that we had no good athletic players, etc. Danny Brown, Kevin Lisch, Tommie Liddell, Dwane Polk, Ian, Bryce in addition to Drejaj all played well and showed that this team has fantastic potential for the future. Last year many posters said we just have to put JJ in the game and play him 25-30 minutes. Well, JJ seems to try hard when he is in the game but he is a 5-10 minutes a game player at most. He can fill in at times but he will never, in my opinion, ever be a significant contributor. Overall, this may be fools gold but I do not think it is. This team is perfect for a running style with all of the athletic and strong guards. Ian can dominate in the middle and he is running court hard. This was really an impressive performance. The only caveat is that tonight we hit a lot of open shots. If we can make open shots we will be able to compete with most of the teams on our schedule. We will definitely surprise some of the naysayers in the A-10! Go Bills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Brad brought the idea that he would not run no matter what he said on himself - he said it last year and the year before and the team never did it so it was only natural for posters to think he was not interested in running. I have heard him say now he has the horses and he will run - I saw it at the scrimmage Sat. and they did it tonight so he just might be creating a new image of his coaching style. As far as AD is concerned - his play previously is what I banked my concern on - if his shooting has improved and he stays within his game then I am willing to admit I might have been wrong but one exhibition game does not prove it yet. I hope he is very good because that means the Bills will be doing well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 100 points we should get free salad. DP did not look like the same player, especially going to the hole, so much more confidence and he went to the basket not wide and flipping at the basket. It is so hard to judge this because they are div 2 ... but we did what we are suppossed to do. I agree on Drejaj, he played well ... even though he is not that fast, the uptempo game fits his style. You can see the playground in him. How about 80% from the line. DB 9-9. Ian was just as he has looked in practice. Ian will be one of the top centers in the A-10 this year. He is so much more aggressive. If you cut ... the ball will come. Tomie and Kevin were ok ... some good things some bad. Jacks ... dominating the boards 3 rb's in 6 min. We need to get him in for at least 30 min pg he would be on pace for 15 rb's pg. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Billikan ... let's revisit this in a month. >>Slaten got 10 points but only scored when he was wide open on a pass out. Drejaj ate him alive ... .<< Yeah but it's Troy Slaten of UMSL. Question: can Drejaj contribute on the offensive end against Xavier? Can he guard the Xavier opposing 2 for 25 minutes? It will be some time before we have the answer to those questions. Obviously Brad is betting the answer is "yes" based upon past CUSA history and what he sees in practice. Personally, I really doubt it on the offensive end based upon the numbers he put up last year. The 4 guard worked great against UMSL. I'm very happy the way the guys shot the ball tonight. Impressive. I'll keep my fingers crossed and here's hoping that Billikan's enthusiasm translates into W's when conference play arrives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikenbooster Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 It can work if TL is the leading rebounder for the team each nite. That will be the key, of course. How will we handle the other team's 4. If we need to bring in VN or JJ, how will we look? Really won't know by playing UMSL and Maryville. mhg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted November 10, 2005 Author Share Posted November 10, 2005 Our group was talking about that tonight and it will be an interesting chess match at times because it will be almost impossible for a traditional 4 man to stay with Tommie or Danny when they go to the basket off the dribble. That could force the other team to go small to match up. If we can just hold our own on the defensive end it might work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewfinance Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 one thing that I noticed is that we did seem to lose players on the perimeter once in a while...it looked like some of our guys got lost after doubling or trapping and their man stepped up and dropped a long shot...this happened about 6 or 7 times, and if UMSL can do this... I think Brad alluded to the defense not being up to his standard is his post-game (slubillikens.com article)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 polk was fantastic. the dwayne polk we saw last nite deserves all the alcolades and time. same with drejaj. drejaj did whatever he wanted on both ends of the floor. and as to ian, of course he had no competition as he was playing against boys sizewise, but what impressed me was the fact he was getting up and down the floor, twice he filled the fast break lane, twice i saw him pick up loose balls on the run, he positioned himself on post ups, not to just get the ball, but to get the ball where the man was so deep, the rim was a screener for him. he dunked two rebounds. the man is in shape. he appears ready to be a star. danny brown came out with an attitude in the second half and just demolished the umsl team. and lisch and liddell were definitely up to the task of big minutes. another huge plus imo was that newborne showed well. this is important because in those games against teams with real inside PLAYERS, someone has to be able to step in if the opponent is able to control tempo. speaking of tempo, a huge key as coach soderberg commented is for this to work, it has to be 40 minutes of hell. no jogging, all out both directions. with 6 quality guards, and we have em, there should be no reason to coast. that was the most fun i have had at a billiken pre-season game ever i think. the difference imo between last night and previous 100 pt pre-season affairs, is imo until maybe mind 90's slu continued to play basketball. it didnt get into a ymca game. i dont know. it was an eye opener. who's house? .......... SLU'S HOUSE!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 UMSL had no shotblockers. Against high major teams, guards who beat their man often have a long-armed 6'9 player to contend with once they get the basket. Also, we outrebounded UMSL by 12 despite playing four guards much of the night. How will we do in a rebounding battle when Doellman and Thornton or Falker and Shaw are working the glass? I took last night for what it was: 1) a chance for Brad and the kids to see if their new offense was effective against somebody besides themselves and 2) to build some confidence right off the bat. So far so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 3 star as usual makes his good points. It only gets tougher. But let's look on the positive side; they get going up and down the court at a rapid pace, that's gotta take a toll on the bigs. UCLA won a national championship back in Pre Jabbar/Alcindor days '64 with a bunch of little guys, albeit a bunch of very good little guys. Nova played a lot of 4 guard last year and did ok. I think if the 4guard is the choice, against size teams we've got to run all the time plus knock down a boatload of 3's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 slu72 said, "UCLA won a national championship back in Pre Jabbar/Alcindor days '64 with a bunch of little guys, albeit a bunch of very good little guys." i see your point, but as much as ian has improved he isnt lew alcindor! the villanova comparison holds water though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 72 - The key word you said was keep hitting a boat load of 3s - that shot will be there but not always falling so we will eventually have to play half court offense down low and defend better. Also, it won't take long for other teams to figure that out and they will devise a plan that makes it harder for us to play like last night. That being said - we will be a more exciting team than the last 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Broy, Jabbar/Alcindor wasn't on that team...Walt Hazzard was the pg along with Goodrich and some other guys whose names I can't remember. I seem to recall their big man was about 6'8" and everyone else 6'2-6'5". Course times change. There's more athleticism today with the big guys. Probably stems from the fact that if you were +6'6" back in my day you were immediately cast as a center or forward. You didn't need to practice ball handling, just have a good layup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Some one said TL got a couple of 15 footers last night off a couple of good moves. I'm thinking if we're not getting 3's to fall or not getting the shot at all, we look for TL and DB to create their own. How did UMSL defense us last night in the half court, realize there wasn't a lot of it as we kept pushing the rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted November 11, 2005 Author Share Posted November 11, 2005 I think the reference was to the days before Kareem. That team won the national championship with no one taller than 6'5" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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