DO WE HAVE A LEADER?

[billikenmetz]

Gonzaga Game Notes:

1. Do we have a leader? It is clear that Voyukas is our heart and soul even when Drejaj is in the game...BUT w/o Drejaj, there is no emotion, no one to look to for leadership. Clearly, when we lose Drejaj, we lose ballgames.

2. WHAT THE HELL DEFENSE DO WE RUN? Is this some sort of Dick Bennett defensive scheme? Scott Norwood could have split our defense tonight. Rediculous. Giving Mallon wide open looks and that punk freshman from Chicago looks killed us. Yeah, they have "Jim" Morrison on the team who leads all Jesuit schools in scoring, but this is defense wants to make me curl up into a ball and cry. Unacceptable.

3. Bench. Did we really go to Danny Brown at ALL tonight? Lisch impressive again, but Husak? No. He needs to stay on the bench. Luke Meyer came in and did what he had to do, but he could contribute even more...

4. Liddell. On one game, off the next? What are we to expect from him? He's no Larry Hughes, but he's also no Jon Seyfert, so somethings gotta give. Defensively he needs to clamp down, but he pretty much had all of our offensive rebounds tonight.

Overall, the three by the dork from Gonzaga ended up to be not only a momentum shift for the Zags, but the final score of the game, so granted we did play a good game, but losing Drejaj was painful because it really showed what Saint Louis is lacking - a leader.

[rasrar]

I livew in Denver and couldn't watch the game. What happend to Drejaj, did he foul out?

[Bluecrewwebmaster]

I've seen us lose that same game time and time again over the last 4 yrs...thats a game you HAVE to win. I've never seen a team with such poor execution out of a timeout...grrr

[mws26]

In response to original post;

1. Brad is the leader. It is clear from the poise of the young players that there are many future leaders that can be an extension of him on the floor. So going forward we'll have more than just 1 Sr leader on the floor. For emotion, I was pleasantly surprised by JJ's play tonight.

2. If we tried to man up against Morrison or Raivio one or both would have killed us. I like Brad b/c he's willing to take his best shot and adjust his game plan each night to do so. I see a lot of Gonzaga games out here and Morrison was definitely slowed significantly by something the Billikens did. He doesn't just have an off night...i don't buy that.

3. What is the story with Brown? I liked Husak's effort tonight. Maybe I don't get to watch enough SLU games but Husak seemed very solid compared to what I expected.

4. Liddell is a Fr. Looks pretty darn good to me. Hasn't he earned 3 straight A10 Fr of the week so far? I hope he isn't like Larry. He'll help us build a program by being here for a few years.

Being out in Seattle I watched the Gonzaga broadcast. They were very complimentary of Brad as a coach, Ian and our freshman. Hopefully we'll get some good national press for this effort to help spring recruiting. Hope all of you in STL made it down to the game tonight!

[Box and Won]

I have the exact same feeling that I did when we lost the Arizona game a couple of years ago. When are we going to win one of these games?

[BillikenBurg]

Tommie's great athletic ability is what he has going for him, because he really has no game outside of 18 ft 4-12?? cmon couple shots and game is ours, he has to play better in these big games

[cheeseman]

You take 11 pts from TL at this time - the killer was nobody hit from the outside - we still do not have a consistent shooter (KL you have to be more consistent, 3 pts for the minutes played is not enough. Actually, I thought Husak played well enough filling in. JJ had the kind of game we need every night. The problem tonight was that Morrison hit 3 key shots at the worst possible time. That fall away 3pt shot was a killer. We had a few defensive lapses tonight but none bigger than at the end of the first half when their man was left wide open for a 3pt shot with .8 seconds left. We will a game like this just as soon as we figure out how to hit consistently from outside - I am sorry 2 of 11 from the 3pt line is not acceptable nor is shooting 38% from the field - it is that simple!

[Cowboy]

Metz, I think we watched two different games....

Leader, yeah, it is AD, 4 yr senior, and his being out really hurt esp on defense as he knew what was supposed to be happening, but the rest of the team is so damn young, what do you expect 10 games into the season??? But there will have to be some changes now with AD out for at least a while. Who takes the challenge???

That said, we held a team that averages 80 to 60.

We held a player that you either obviously don't think much of or you were trying to be cute with your comments that averages 28 to 18. I think you should take a step back and understand that Adam Morrison is one of if not the best player in the college game. Who would you take over him???

The matchup GU posed was handled very well from a scouting to more importantly an execution standpoint, imo. I don't know what you want/expect.

Husak unimpressive?? Try to watch a bit more carefully, did you see the shots he altered?? Did you see him draped on the GU players?? You have a big 7 footer pound on you and that allows IV a bit more room when he is in the game. I want him to get more minutes and I still want to see IV and BH in the game at the same time.

Danny Brown- looks like he has found the doghouse, if he can shoot from the outside I want him in the game. Dustin, there are minutes to be had if you can consistently make 3's, and we are doing something right on offense as it seems to me there are a bunch of open looks from the perimeter, but probably due to the fact we are not making therefore not being guarded out there.

Do you understand that TL has played 10 games in his SLU career?? Not sure your expectations of the young man, but from where I sit I am very impressed. If he starts making jump shots, we could have a whole lot of fun. And I thought this was a great team defense effort and TL was very much a part of that.

I come away from the game not happy about the loss, but I see much more to be positive about than negative, and I hope AD is back soon.

[billikenmetz]

Cowboy, I know we have a young team, but when Drejaj went down, did you see anyone grab four guys by the jersey, look them in the eyes and say "we're ridin' my back...get on?????" NO. I don't care whether it's Lisch, Liddell or even Bryce...someone needs to be vocal and say "hey, let's put this one on my shoulders. Win or lose, we're gonna play like we belong." I don't see anyone taking that kind of leadership role for the 2005-2006 Billikens.

[kshoe]

Off the top of my head, in the past 4 years we've had the following close wins over impressive (NCAA caliber) teams:

Louisville 03

Dayton 03

memphis 03

@ Cinci 03

@ Dayton 04

Charlotte 04

@ Depaul 04

[Billikan]

With respect, have you ever played any basketball on a team in your life?

Were you actually at this game against one of the most talented teams in the country?

The defense we played was brilliant genius--Gonzaga has scored in the 80s and 90s against supposedly excellent defensive teams like Washington, Michigan State and Virginia. We stayed in the game because we left those guys open. I would suggest you learn a little about the game of basketball before you go on a rant that has no sense to it!

We are very fortunate to have a real player at our backup center position. Of course he is not a polished finished product but Bryce played very well and he hustled his butt off. With Ian on the bench for long periods of time Husak was a lifesaver. He is only a sophomore and he will get better. Give him a break.

Your most ignorant comments are those you make about Tommie. You obviously have never played any organized ball or you would recognize that Tommie is our best all around player who makes his teammates better. He is our best passer and by far our best passer in traffic against the defense into the post. He breaks down the defense. He rebounds! He hustles on defense and he is a real competitor. He is all we could want as a freshman being thrown into the mix as a major contributor against big time talent on big time teams.

Your constant uninformed negative comments are a real drag. I have thought for some time that you are not really a Bills fan but are just someone who likes to try to stir up trouble. Your comments about this game show that I am 100% right.

[Bills_King_20]

I agree with most of what you said except that Gonzaga has actually been scoring in the 80-90 range against sub par defenses, Washington and for that matter most of the Pac-10 teams play very little defense and Michigan State is still living off its reputation as a strong defensive team. This year's version has been very average if not below on the defensive side of the ball.

Oh yea and Tommie is a stud, no one should be dogging on him because he is a playmaker who can create when the offense goes cold or stagnant(which for us is fairly often)

[BradFan]

I found this to be an utterly amazing thread, particularly how it started. TL and KL will grow to be very complementary leaders of this team, but it take a little time. I think the contributions they've made thus far cannot be questioned. We'd like them to be all-conference right out of the gate, but that rarely happens.

The leadership loss of AD is critical...they weren't ready for that, and you can't expect somebody in mid-game to suddenly grab the reins and take over, especially when you are looking primarily to Freshman and Sophomores. In reality, I think IV has taken on the leadership role.

The bottom line - slow down a bit. Yes, frustrating to lose this game, but this is a YOUNG, YOUNG, YOUNG, YOUNG, YOUNG team. The upside potential is tremendous. BRoy was right in starting the earlier thread, reminding us that the Bills have had a good start to the season. Let's rein in the short-term expectations just a little, but not the long-term enthusiasm.

[billikenmetz]

I played basketball at Peoria Notre Dame and was a reserve player, but we had a coach that instilled in all of the guys a sense of leadership. No one pulled rank. If a junior got in my face at practice and told me to quit slacking or finish a sprint hard, I would. It was a team effort all the way, and I know Soderberg knows that his players are young, but hey, if Lisch as a freshman can grab Drejaj and get in his face or get in the face of Voyukas and tell him to toughen up, then that is what we need. We need guys who can step up in the face of adversity. I bleed Billiken blue and if you ask anyone who graduated in 2005 who went to every single home game (christmas breaks not included since I live 3 hours away), they'll tell you I was one of those guys. I want to see our team play well and I think we're in for a great season, but when we get out on the court down by 3, I don't want to see scared eyes out there. I want to see a confident and almost cocky team out there. Where's the swagger? I know we don't have enough wins or the resume to act like we do, but we need 5 guys on the floor who don't take ###### from the likes of Gonzaga. When Morrison pushed Bryce in the early stages of the 1st half, Bryce threw his arms in the air like he was saying "you want a piece, 70's porn guy?" That is what I love about Bryce. No prisoner attitude. Now, if we can just get nasty and tough, we can be a team that can be physical and hang with the UNCs of the world. We aren't there yet, but I can tell that Tommie brings that attitude and I know Drejaj does, but we need the guys to bring some leadership, regardless of playing time, to the table.

[Sheltiedave]

Metz, you need to quit drinking or something. We don't have Michael Jordan to lead the team, and we have a senior guard out injured in the first half.

We end up with two freshman guards, and three sophomore guards, a sophomore center, two junior center/forwards, and a senior forward. Everyone stepped up to the plate on defense, and we stoned a great offensive team.

The team is well coached and didn't need a grandstand act to show leadership in this game. I think Kevin Lisch showed great leadership on the last play by willingly stepping right up and hiking the three. Most freshmen in the country would gladly have passed the ball to let another player put it all on the line.

Leadership is having Tommie win the first two Freshman of the Week awards in the conference, when he wasn't even recognized before the season started for the all freshman conference team. Heck, he is even on many teams for all freshmen nationwide. That is leadership.

Ian is stepping up and pushing a double double every game, while being a bull in the paint.

There are many ways to express disappointment we didn't win this close game, but positing we lack leadership is a large error in judgement.

[slufanskip]

Thank you KSHOE ... it's funny how people expect you to do it everytime and only remember the losses. Of course if you are in a tight game against a better team ... more times than not the better team will win.

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[ESTLALUMNI]

You talk about Liddell,on one game off the other,he is the second leading scorer on the team and he is a Freshman.If he was selfish he could score 25pts.What can you do?

[ESTLALUMNI]

Soderberg runs his offense through Ian,how could Liddell,Lisch take over when every play is ran for Ian?

[slufanskip]

you are responding to metz ... just let it go.

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[Billiphan]

Liddell doesn't strike me as the "rah rah" leader type. I could be wrong. That's not a knock on him it just doesn't seem to be his personality type. I'm not sure who will take over that role. I'm sure Dreja will be a good bench guy and do all he can. It might not be a bad idea for Polk to step into that floor leader role.