Schasz Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 OK they are hollow, but I loved the way our team hung in when they could have folded against the No 8 team in the nation. Wow!!! What can you not say about Reggie Bryant's fisrt home game as a Billiken. I have been following the program since the late 50's and it was one of the best debuts that I have seen. Too bad his foot was just on the line on that last 3. Way to go Bills, if we can play with that kind of heart throughout the rest of the year then we will win our share of games and will beat some of the tough team still left on our schedule. I was super proud of the efffort by our team today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 No excuses. When Georgia tech beats the hell out of us next week we'll be back to where I expect us to finish, .500. This one was very disappointing, especially with the remarkable play of Reggie Bryant. I hope we are not about to become a single person offense again with Reggie, followed by Sloan, Fish, Drejaj and a bunch of wannabees to pick up the trash. I could see throw-it-to-reg-itus afflicting our team in the future. Poor bastard. Do you think he'll ever again shoot a three without looking at his feet first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Law Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 Hoping to see the last 10 minutes of the game (final exam I had to leave for) but from what I saw we should have had this, we're too one-dimensional. We're lucky Reg and AD were on today, or else we never would have been in the game. Arizona only has one big player, we need someone to attack down low. Intead we were swinging it around the perimeter looking for only threes. Obviously it kept us close and deserved the victory based on coaching and effort, but we should have won if we go down low a little more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 With Frericks in foul trouble we have ZERO post opportunities. Do you want Varner or IO to get it under the basket? I don't either. Sloan can work it underneath but not as tall or strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 "When Georgia tech beats the hell out of us next week" If we shoot 45% from the field, we can play with anybody. I expect Sloan and Drejaj to shoot a little better than 3-9 and 4-13 respectively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcglotherirvin Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 i wouldn't say AD was on today. i don't have the stats in front of me. but if i had to guess, he was no better than 30% from beyond the arc. reggie was on - but i wouldn't call that luck. we are one dimensional but that's what happens when you don't have a true center or power forward. i would have liked to see the ball down low more but everyone was in foul trouble (at least everyone on our team). without frerick in the game, we don't have any true big man. sloan, ohanon, and johnson are all doing the best they can, but arizona is tough. you mentioned that zona only has one big guy - frye - but they are managing to outrebound everyone they play. let's also remember that frye is one of the 3 or 4 best centers in the land. it doesn't matter what kind of PF you've got if you have a center like frye. great game. tough loss. let's move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheA_Bomb Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 I think GT is better than just about anybody right now. They probably won't be overlooking us after this game. If we play well in that one we are looking at more than a .500 season. Remember we too are playing short handed Ian is gone that hurts our depth. Jimmy Dykes was raving about Sodeberg's Pack Defense the entire first half of the game. He pointed out the upgrade in our athleticism. He stated something like now SLU is getting all americans out of Indiana that is the type of player Sodeberg is bringing in. He mentioned the 3 local recruits at the very beginning of the game. From what my wife at the game told me and from past experience we need to get our fans energized when the visiting teams fans start cheers. This is our house we need to make that clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBand Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 I cant argue your points about GT. They've been on the tube this year and are REALLY impressive. Your comment about quelching the opposing crowd is quite accurate as well. The problem comes during timeouts which are all scripted. Several times this game we wanted to play but we had to get the sponsorship announcements in or whatever Jumbotron game was scheduled to happen at that exact moment. I dont know how to fix that except allowing a missed sponsor if the moment dictates. I dont know if that would work well with the sponsors though. Game management just doesnt allow for much deviation from the scripts. Its sad, but so many times over the years SLU goes on a run and the crowd gets into it and the energy is building and a timeout is called... perfect time for a cheer, a song, whatever....and then a scripted announcement comes on and just sucks the life out of the building. I was amazed by the number of AZ fans at the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 the tellall of this game was that when frye got in foul trouble and we not only couldnt turn that into an advantage we actually lost ground with them playing with basically 5 guards. the kid from springfield was the only thing close to an inside player and he is really a wing. still a few free throws and we win the game. the fouls were ridiculous. the way their guards turned up the pressure in the second half and did not get called for fouls showed we were without a doubt watching pac-10 refs. they sucked. still our guards proved they are not our problem. only 10 turnovers and all three in double figures scoring. our future lies in the hands of justin johnson and tom frericks imo. if those two can step up their games. especially from the standpoint of rebounding, defense, and putbacks, i like this team a lot. personally, i would throw justin johnson in and just ride him hard to get the effort. i am betting he came from a high school/aau situation where he was never pushed or disiplined about his play. probably allowed to do what he wanted and never asked to play defense or rebound because he was probably way bigger and athletic than his opponent each night and the perception was he was good enough. so a lifetime of bad work habits are hard to change. i have confidence that angres and brad can turn him around. he is definitely the inside player with the most upside. other gut checks have to come from izik. he just doesnt seem to want to get out on his man. i counted at least 4 easy shots he allowed. if the man is being contested and makes it that is one thing. but to give them a free look at the basket against a team loaded with athletes like arizona is inexcuseable. our margin of error was extremely small yesterday. we proved it. the shot clock debacle probably gave us a second chance. imo, we were dead and the extended break gave us new life. that said, come on mr laurie. what the hell are we paying you for? fix it. other thoughts: what was olsen thinking not recruiting another big? the walters kid he had on the bench doesnt look worthy to play for us let alone arizona. yet he has what 6 quality guards/wings? now that "jimmy johns" sandwich race is awesome. and the kid they had run it yesterday should be the example they use each game. he got to the sandwich with just a second left and then collapsed from exhaustion! that is a promotion. cant say the same for the "hardees thickburger" deal. what was that? chris sloan had a tough start, the third foul might have been the stupidest foul he has ever committed. dammit chris. you do us no good on the bench. that said, he came back like a champion down the stretch. i am sure glad chris sloan is a billiken. kevin lisch was in the stands. sat third row behind stu durando (bill-ken-r he sat right in front of you and to the right about 2 seats) i thought it was a nice sign he had on a billiken blue t-shirt. according to the father of the friend that went to the game with kevin, kevin was even in the lockerroom before the game listening in on the pre-game with brad and the team. reggie was spectacular. i can only imagine he will continue to improve. while he wasnt drejaj or fish like defensively, i thought he stepped up quite a bit. the five second call was great. fish needs to stay home on his man. 3x someone else got beat and he left ingoualoa (or whatever his name is) and came to help. all 3x ingoualaioan scored. the reason he is guarding that guy is because he is the opponent's best scorer. he has to stay home. i would take my chances on the other opponent converting before coming off the best scorer. we gotta go on to the next one. december is brutal, but it will either make them the best they can be or break them. we know we have four champion hearts in fisher, drejaj, sloan and bryant. so they wont break. maybe december let's us find our other 3 or 4 needed players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted December 7, 2003 Author Share Posted December 7, 2003 He looked good in the limited role that he played yesterday and I would be all for him getting more minutes right now especially considering that we won't have Ian for a few more games. Like I said before, being in Brad's doghouse early on may have done what Brad intended it to do...get this kids attention. He most definitely has tremendous upside especially compared to Varner and IO. Right now, IO should be the one in the doghouse as his early play has been less anoyones expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 like i said, it would be interesting to hear from someone that saw justin in high school and know what kind of an effort he was held to there. it really appears that justin is trying hard on most trips. but it will take awhile for the automatic "all-out mode" to kick in it appears. this kid is a player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUYMAN Posted December 7, 2003 Share Posted December 7, 2003 Sure, we could have won the game and we have weaknesses that were exposed (what team doesn't). But you have to take something positive away - I mean we almost beat a national powerhouse, and on ESPN. I don't like the term "moral victory" either, it wasn't a victory, but it was definitely something to build on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcoastballer45 Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 After watching the tape your correct fisher did leave his man at times and I believe that's because he feels like he has to help at times. I also noticed how reggie has a problem closing out on his man resulting in 5 three pointers for the wildcats. The offence looked pretty good to me at times but we are still having problems getting into our sets. Some of the guards when they get the ball take 3or4 dribbles in one direction and then go back the other way and it looks like it messes up our spacing. Does that sound correct to you? I think anthony is a good player but to streaky of a shooter to shoot as much as he does and please stop dribbling into 3 guys and put your back to the basket if you cant see anyone you cant pass to them. I thought sloan had a rough night but gets an A for hussle and energy and toughness. That dunk was awesome we came out of are seats at the bar.I think JJ is gonna get more time, coach already seems to be on the right path with him, will give quality mins. Izik I don't really know what to say yet. I think this is gonna be a good team. Big game on Sat lets go steal one from a good team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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