Coaching truly makes a difference!

[Billikan]

On Sat. I attended the Bills game and then watched the MU/Indiana game on television. What struck me after watching the two games is that coaching truly makes a difference in college bb.

For example, Brad made a brilliant strategic move from the beginning of the game--he had all 4 smaller players sprint to the other end as soon as we put up a shot. It left only our 5 man to offensive rebound but it completely shut down the Arizona fast break and made them play against our half court defense which is one of the best in the country. He also broke the mold, particularly in the first half, and he let the open man shoot the ball regardless of the time left on the shot clock. Reggie obviously has a green light and he hit some nice shots. Our defensive strategy and effort was truly magnificent. Reggie still need to get up on shooters--rogers hit several wide open threes when Reggie was guarding him and they switched Drejaj to guard him and He never got another open look. But overall it was a thing of beauty.

I will also give credit to Lute O.--he saw that his team was affected by our defense and their inability to get anything in transition so he went to a frantic run and jump defense that double or triple teamed the ball with tall athletic defenders. We did a nice job limiting the turnovers but we gave up a couple of layups off steals--the Varner giveaway was a killer-- and they seemed to get more energy from the whole situation.

Also, Lute and his staff do a great job working the refs. The biggest ref was basically greeting Lute and his players like long lost friends. At time outs he would go over and talk to the Arizona players like they were friends at a reuinion. That ref made numerous 50/50 calls and several that we not even that close aginst us and he clearly hates sloan who he glared at on several occasions. I sincerely doubt that coach Brad could have done anything to change that situation. I assume that Arizona had the right to select the refs under the contract. It does stink that we seem never to get any calls in our big games at home.

Then I watched the worst coaching exhibition I think I have ever seen in the MU/Indiana game. Missouri was unstoppable inside early but they threw up shot after shot from outside. They ignored their advantage and played into the hands of Indiana. Bracy Wright killed them with shot after shot from outside and the Hoosiers built a nice cushion.

That continued until late in the second half when MU finally located some big guys--and they hit 2 miracle three point shots. But Indiana's game plan down the stretch was an absolute joke. Somehow, Bracy Wright did not even touch the ball in the last five minutes. the other players on Indiana were basically ignoring him and throwing up prayers from deep like an AAU all star game where they wanted to get their points regardless of the effect on the team. On the whole, it was a terrrible game, with terrible coaching that was won by a few nice plays by great athletes at the end.

[SluSignGuy]

We will have our day in the sun... A very nice day in the sun...

Everyone has faith in Brad coaching. As his recruiting has been extremely good IMO. I mean:

Bryant - He showed us what he can do

Drejaj - Does anyone not like this guy?

Johnson - Young is Showing Potential

Clarke - Just needs to adapt to D1, he is a FRESHMAN

Izik - Probably the least lived up to potential so far, but there is time

Frericks - I love him, he is a beast, not perfect, and I am worried about injuries and fouls, but we need him

Ian - Yet to Be seen

We lost Morris, but I don't know if you can blame Brad?

Let's just pray for a Big man next year, and our team will be something VERY special (especially after Johnson hits that weight room). Could you just imagine if Sloan had 3 more inches on him? I think that would make a world of difference.

Brad needs a good Big Man this Spring, and I expect us to have a very fun year next year. I am just worried about the PG situation a bit.

I have never liked a coach as much as I do Brad, and him and I have probably talked the least of Spoon, Romar, and Brad. I love him. I am sorry, but when he was sweating more than the Arizona players yesterday, you had to see how hard this man works.

I cannot wait for the SLU Mizzou series to be reviatalized. I will come home any day of the week for that one. :+

Steve

[billiken_roy]

the point is not to be concerned with. drejaj returns, clarke will be a year older and both liddell and polk are looking like steals. we got the guards. it is the 5 spot we dont even have covered.

[Billikan]

Our recruits next year will include a point guard from Vashon--Polk ( who incidentially was 7 for 8 from three point range in a game against a chicago team this weekend)- and Liddell, who everyone says can play some point and is a great ballhandler and distrubitor. The next year, if we can convince the young Mr. Lisch to join ur Billikens, we should be in great shape. I heard an interesting comment by an announcer over the weekend--he said that any good D1 team needs at least 2 excellent point guards and possibly 3. the gist of his comments were that you can play two point guards at the same time and you need quality backup ballhandlers for late in the game when foul trouble or fatigue may affect those who have played big minutes.

[billiken_roy]

liddell is showing the world so far this year he is a credible point guard. i originally believed he would exclusively be a wing/sf, but ino longer have any qualms about liddell being the point. in fact, i am beginning to envision polk and lisch on the wings shooting the threes and tommie handling the ball and using that great slashing ability to get to the basket or when stopped flipping back to dwayne and kevin for shots.

[ACE]

Roy,

I think the 4 is more pressing than the 5. I think we can get by with a Frericks, Ian and Husak combo at center. I think we need a beefy rebounding 4 to go along with JJ.

[Quality Is Job 1]

I believe the most pressing concern for Brad Soderberg and the coaching staff is the power forward (4) spot. Brad's centers next season will be senior Tom Frericks, sophomore Ian Vouyoukas, and redshirt freshman Bryce Husak. The only power forward on the roster would be sophomore Justin Johnson, unless Brad signs a power forward this spring. Would Tom be able to play the four?

I'm still expecting SLU to be an NCAA Tournament team next year.

[billiken_roy]

thicks, first off, i think justin is going to be "it". at least i hope he is. it is easy to see he has the talent. at worst, izik can back him up and possibly ian as well. ian exhibited nice ball skills at the first look practice.

as to our center position, while we have bodies in frericks, husak and ian, not sure yet if any fill the bill on the level we need. i am now sold that at least frericks and ian have the tools to fill the bill, and my gosh, at 7' whatever" husak has the size, but we dont have as near of an answer at center as i think we already have at pf. i hope that by year's end, both ian and tom prove me way wrong.

[Billikan]

If you look at our roster for the next two years, and factor in our recruits, we should be fine at guard at wing and at center if Ian and Bryce can develop. I really expect Ian to be a factor next year and Bryce the year after if he can hit the weights. Practicing against Ian and Tom will make him better and tougher.

After watching a bunch of games over the weekend I came the conclusion that for our remaining scholarship we should find the biggest, toughest, meanest 6'8" enforcer 4 man that we can find. If you look at our roster it is the only thing missing. Unfortunately, there are not too many of those players out there--and even fewer that are ready to step right in against top competition. Let's hope that our coaches can find a diamond in the rough that the big boys don' appreciate!

[billiken_roy]

the proof we need a 5 is in our two losses thus far. sloan has done an acceptable job playing pf. i believe johnson has the body and skills to be a much better power forward than sloan by career's end. he just needs the intangibles. but our center position has been almost non-existent in our two losses. both games a decent center could have won the game, instead we have two losses. we got the bodies agreed, but are they going to do the job. why recruit over justin if he continues to improve as we hope he will, he will become a good pf. if there is a position begging to be rectruited over it is our center spot.

now maybe ian and husak will develop into that, but that might take 3 years. meanwhile, a juco center with all those skills already would be nice in the transition year or two.

[stchuckbilliken]

A great analysis of the SLU game. Varner's

TO at the 15 min mark of the second half was

a killer. What he was doing at the top of the

circle acting like a PG was a mystery.

He also had one at the 11 min mark

but for some reason it wasn't included in the

TO stats. HOw quick Brad works JJ into the

rotation and gives RV more pine time will determine

the success of this year.

[jjray]

One has to happy with Brad's coaching ... but I too was dismayed to see Ross Varner repeatedly standing at the top of the circle with the ball in his hands in the 2nd half. Yes, the Arizona D was pursuing our guards leaving Varner open but this guy is no use with the ball in his hands. The offense went into neutral when he started standing around at the top of the key. I thought Brad should have reacted quicker to the Arizona defense in the 2nd half and used Izik as the outlet at the top key to relieve the pressure on our guards. Izik is a big guy who can distribute the ball crisply from the top of the key and even put the ball on the floor for brief spurts should it become necessary.

[MUFAN2000]

I would totally agree that Mizzou's games have looked extraordinarily sloppy. It's a big concern. I personally am of the feeling that this might be somewhat intentional. Having been to 3 games thus far, I've noticed that Quin is more hands off early in the game. The players then follow their instincts rather than using structured sets. This never works however, and later in the game you start to see more and more them relying on Quin. It's just a theory of mine that he's showing them that yes, they do have the talent to beat anybody in the country, but they can't do it without him and his gameplan.

There's nothing to show that i'm right about this, but it sounds like a good idea to me if it's really what's going on. We have been careless though, but it looks like we're slowly improving. It doesn't help that paulding is still nursing an ankle sprain.

[billiken_roy]

i dont pretend to be an insider to brad's motion offense, but it would seem to me that after a big sets a pick, he is to either go set another pick or go to an open area to receive a pass for a possible shot. if our guards are currently on each wing and the other is running around a pick, i for one would want someone filling that open spot near the head of the key if for no other reason than floor balance and defensive safety precautions. granted we would rather that not be ross, but in the same sense, the shots ross has hit this year were typically from the head of the key area in this exact situation.

not trying to defend ross's ability at all, just searching for an explanation. besides, if he truly wasnt supposed to be there, brad has shown he will quickly make the necessary player moves to correct those errors. i.e. he would have come out of the game. my guess is ross was in the right place for that particular situation.

[billiken_roy]

let's not forget the motion offense brad plays really takes a traditional point guard standing at the head of the key pretty much out of the picture after the first pass or move has been made. after that it becomes guards and bigs no separate guard definitions or inside definitions either for that matter. however that said, it still becomes necessary against pressure defense to have those defined players and to effectively compete underneath to have those defined players as well.

[jwd456]

Explain 3 Missouri post players nearly getting double doubles then? They took the ball inside the whole game, they just missed a bunch of gimmes early and AJ was in foul trouble. Quin clearly made some nice adjustments defensively at the half. I wouldn't expect you guys to see that though.

[StlCardinal]

That's an interesting theory. Quin would have to be pretty bold/arrogant if it is true. Purposely letting his team give up a double digit lead on the road to a major conference team early in the year, just to prove a point to his players? He would have to think pretty highly of his coaching ability to assume that once he tells them what to do, they'll get right back in the game. If Mizzou's players don't trust what Quin tells them by this point, they're going have some problems this year. I highly doubt that this gameplan is true, but if it is, it would give me yet another reason to dislike good ol' mizzou. Of course we have no way of actually knowing what's going through Quin's mind, so I guess it's a moot point.

[MUFAN2000]

Those 3 all got 5 offensive rebounds, mostly from shots not taken from the post. I'm gonna have to disagree with you here- they didn't go inside NEARLY enough. That game should not have been close.

[MUFAN2000]

I don't think he ever intended to purposely give up a double-digit lead, but you can tell that this team loves and respects their coach. They know they need him, which is good because they could have a lot of egos.

And you would hate Mizzou regardless of what they did.

[jwd456]

He claims they were shooting outside shot after outside shot. They shot 10 3's the entire game just FYI.

[MUFAN2000]

That doesn't mean they weren't taking way too many jumpers, because they definitely were.

[Billikan]

Did you watch this game? Making the strategy in the first half even worse in the modern era is that those gunned up shots were not even three point shots. Most coaches emphasize that you should take 3s or get the ball inside. MU took many intermediate shots while ignoring the inside guys. The reason they got so many rebounds is because they were massively bigger than anyone Indiana had on the court. With Leach out with an injurt MU had no one that could even contest a shot. The bottom line is that MU won because they had some great athletes and some widebody inside players who made some great plays down the stretch and their 2 big men made miracle three pointers. This win had nothing to do with any coaching adjustments. I apologize to the rest of the Bills followers for using MU as an example on this board. Next time I will use someone else so we can eliminate MU debates.

[MUFAN2000]

I wouldn't describe them as "miracle" three pointers. They were definitely important, but those two are two of our better shooters.

[jwd456]

The reason the game was close was pathetic perimeter defense in the first half. They switched to a zone and really threw Indiana off in the second half. I thought they established the inside game early. The shots just weren't falling. We'll just have to disagree on this one.

[Billikan]

The two beefs--Kleiza and Bryant hit those shots! Are they really two of the better 3 point shooters?