End of homestand random thoughts, the good/bad/ugly

[bauman]

Good:

Ian is what many of you (not me) thought he was going to be even though he has not shot particularly well the last 2 games (Iowa & St. B.). Clutch free throws last game were big. He's better than I thought he would be because he is 25 lbs. lighter, which allows him to run the floor better. Unfortunately he still can't get more than a couple inches off the floor. Two things to improve on--learn to take a charge and, most importantly, develop hand strength or intensity so as to hold on to the ball and not have small guards knock it away from him. Overall, great job by the big man and keep up the good work at the line.

JJ--where would we be w/o him? Encouraging not only for the rest of this season, but next year when he teams with Obi. Very good jumper from 18' in, BUT needs to learn a move to the basket as they come out to guard his jumper. Like his intensity on the boards! Even with a small sample ya gotta love his 91% FT shooting.

KL's defense-great for a Fr. Floor game very good for a Fr. Unhurried shooting is excellent, but if he is rushed to get the shot off he has been WAY off. I'd like to see him shoot more since he is one of our best---often he seems reluctant to let it fly (see his passing up a shot in the 1st half of the STB game as the shot clock wound down under 5 sec. and he passed the ball to IV at the head of the key where Ian had to shoot a 20' jumper-not IV's shot).

TL rebounding is outstanding for a Fr guard as is his overall game when he decides to really put forth an effort (Best example is the first 5 minutes of the Iowa game) Needs to concentrate more as he often makes careless plays. Like his FT shooting even though his 64% isn't what he is capable of, but needs to be aware he is just about ready to get called for taking too long at the line. Needs to be more aggressive in penetrating and shooting. We can't afford anymore games where he doesn't score for the 1st 27 minutes. Smooth and smart, but really needs to work on dribbling with his right hand (I don't think he can do it) and going to his right and shooting from 17 feet out. If he can't shoot better than 15% from 3-pt land this year then stop shooting 3's and work hard on it in the off season.

AD, man how we miss him-hurry up and get well-we need your leadership and shot (but not some of your out-of-control drives into the lane)

DB, the STB version ONLY. Let's hope he can keep it up. Danny, at the end of a game don't leave your man, especially if he is the other team's top scorer! While it might be said that DB won the game against the Bonnies for us with his outside shooting, he almost negated all the good that night with one bonehead play on defense.

In general, our team defense, but we have had quite a few individual laspes.

The Band! It is really good and provides most of the excitement during the games.

Bad:

DP's outside shot--what happened? Now 14% on 3 pt shots. Can't have this from a 5' 9" guard. Needs to stop passing up 15-18 foot jump shots to drive to the basket when the lane is filled with big men. Needs to concentrate on his "D" when guarding a good outside shooter (See STB game where he gave up 2 open looks from 22' and his man--#10--nailed them both). FT shooting looks better this year.

LM-when, if ever, will his shot return. Smart player, and only one on team who really knows how to take a charge, BUT he won't play unless he starts making some shots.

VN-really a disappointment for a senior who came here with the rep of being a good rebounder. Completely checks out on "D". Has regressed since last year.

Student section??? Where are they??? The few that are there do a good job but the numbers are pathetic. I know it's the winter break, but thousands of SLU students live in St. Louis, and even when school is in session the numbers attending are poor. You students and young fans better stop complaining about the old folks not standing up because w/o the old folks you could just about play in my namesake's gym-Bauman-Eberhardt or West Pine-no need for a new facility. Let's go student body-get your @$$e$ to the games and make some noise.

Ugly:

Beginning of games and 2nd halves. More often than not we score at 1 point per minute for the first 5 minutes of each half-we run about 30 sec off the clock passing the ball around the outside, ignoring open shots, often turning the ball or w/o anything to show for it. I have no idea what they are trying to do, but then I'm not sure any of the players know either. One game where it seemed we made a conscious effort to get a quick start was the Iowa (Idiots Out Wandering Around) game and I think we led 12 to 4 b/4 going into our patented pass the ball aroung the outside offense. What happened to the motion and our "fastbreak" offense. We now look to be running the same offense as last year with the exception of trying to (sometimes) force the ball into IV.

End of half/game with the lead. How often are we going to run the 35 sec clock down to 7-8 sec b/4 STARTING a play and NOT get a decent (or any) shot off?

5-10 minutes periods w/o scoring-why do we seem to have one of these every game? Something has to change.

At least one turnover per game throwing the ball in from out of bounds. We can't afford these giveaways. Sometimes it seems we don't have a basic play set up, sometimes the throw in is so soft it is intercepted and a few times it has been carelessness e.g. the DB (I think) to KL stepping out of bounds play last game--this shouldn't happen in jr. high let alone in Div. 1!

I know we are "young", but it is time to cut out some of the sloppy playing. In spite of a post elsewhere on this Board, I hardly think we have turned the corner. We have had 3 bad home games in a row, Ch. St., Iowa and STB. What is most disconcerting is that those game have followed the Gonzaga outstanding game when we showed what we are capable of. Whatever we have lost since the 'Zags game (besides AD) we need to find. The good news is that we have shown that we can be a VERY good team and we are young. The bad news is we have shown we have the potential to play very badly for extended periods, both within a game and over a series of games.

This young team needs to pick up the pace or quality of play or attendance will continue to decline. Watching some of the games (most recently Ch. St. and STB) has been like sitting in a dentist's chair.

Let's go guys and Coaches. Let's fulfill our potential and get the fans back. This can be a fun year!

[nostatic]

Focusing only on the comment of playing poorly in last 3 games -- that same comment last year would show up in the record as 0-3. This year those 3 games ended with SLU at 2-1. HUGE DIFFERENCE.

We have high expectations for this team -- that's OK. Playing poorly and winning is a huge improvement over last year. But we have to be patient. Mistakes will continue to be made, but look at the effort. This is not a team that will quit. They have been in every game.

One last point: many posters have asked why can't we defend the 3 point shot. Think about the biggest concern going into the season -- keeping IV out of foul trouble. Without the depth in the front court, you almost have to pick your poison. Protect the lane and help IV, or give up a few open looks on the perimeter. I don't think you can have your cake and eat it too with this team -- maybe next year it will be a different story.

We sure miss AD -- hope he doesn't come back too soon -- rather have him for the rest of the season than just the next game or two

[slu72]

Would agree with Baumann on just about every point. But we have to expect the ups and downs given the age and experience of this team. So you can't knock them too hard for having some bad games. These young guys have been tossed right into the fire. The excessive travel, the glare of the national spotlight (UNC game), playing against 3 top 20 teams and 3 others with dance experience. All this in about 45 days and not a lot of core leadership to guide them. It's a lot to grasp. Hopefully this little respite before the GW game will allow them time to collect their thoughts, absorb what they've learned, and grow a little more. I'm thinking an NIT might be in the offing for this team, which is a whole lot more than I expected when the season began.

[p diddy]

Good breakdown. But the struggles for the past three games have coincided with drejaj's departure from the lineup. not only is a senior with tons experience and toughness, but he was playing perhaps the best basketball of his career. He's shooting nearly 50 percent from the three. who in the world would have thought that?

you saw how much better iowa was with horner back in the lineup. a four-year starter at point guard made the difference.

here's another point. do people realize that the non-conference schedule was a beast.

I would like someone who has the time to check the current records of our nonconference teams, especially the ones that we lost to. the "buy" games are probably not very good, but check gonzaga, iowa, north carolina, ole miss, milwaukee, hawaii, southern illinois and oakland for me. I'm looking forward to see those records. i don't think southern Ill. has lost since we played them and they are currently in first in the valley. we gave them a solid whipping without our A-game.

we're still a very young team that is a work in progress. we were 3-10 last year at this point with a less-challenging schedule. (Remember a 20-point home loss to a 2-6 SEMO team). it's going to be a lot more growing pains this year, but you can already see the difference in the mental toughness and competitiveness of this team. even during tough times, they are finding ways to win games. We still need another solid recruiting class to reach our full potential as A-10 contenders, but that's up to Brad and his staff to make that happen. things are going in the right direction. our guys just need to keep it that way.

word on the street is that lance stemler was at the st. bonnie game and we are actively recruiting him. can any of our ill-side posters give a little more insight on mr. stemler and give us his current stats from the season.

bad boyz for life

[DoctorB]

drejaj's departure from the lineup. not

>only is a senior with tons experience and toughness, but he

>was playing perhaps the best basketball of his career. He's

>shooting nearly 50 percent from the three. who in the world

>would have thought that?

Well, I hate to say I told you so. . . .

I was saying back in summer that AD was the key player and getting nothing but grief from folks on this list. I never understood the harsh criticisms os SD and thought they were pretty lame. Especially the case given what I was seeing on a regular basis during pick-up scrimmages all summer in Pine Gym.

Once again, how about a little love for Anthony? I said that in summer and got laughed off the list, practically; now everyone is lamenting the loss of our senior leader. HA!

[slu72]

As one of AD's detractors, I gladly accept the crow dinner special. But you've got to admit we didn't have a whole hell of a lot of positives to go on....but you're right we miss him.

[waterboy]

Diddy-

Here are the RPIs and records vs. D1 of some of our opponents. Our best victory is obviously SIU....the next best victory is Jackson St. according to RPI.

This is from Ken Pomeroy's site.

Gonzaga RPI = 4 10-3

Iowa RPI = 16 11-4

Wis. Mil. RPI = 20 9-3

N. Carolina RPI = 31 8-2

S. Illinois RPI = 36 10-2

Hawai'i RPI = 84 8-4 nice OT win vs. Nevada last night

Mississippi RPI = 141 10-3

Oakland RPI = 228 3-9 losing a bunch lately

[Billikan]

I agree with some and disagree with others of your comments but I do really disagree with your comment about Ian's jumping ability. He has shown on several occasions with dunks and blocks that he is very athletic and he can really jump. Obviously, when he has a couple of guys hanging on his arms in the low post he can't get up like he can when he is free but he really has impressed me with his jumping ability.

[billiken_roy]

billikan. there is no doubt that ian is jumping much better than in past years. the one block he had in the st bonnies game his hand was at the top of the square on the back board. he isnt going to be winning any clyde drexler contests anytime soon, but i do agree he has substantially increased his jumping ability and one would think his greatly increased blocks per game also backs that up.

[Box and Won]

I agree - His dunk against St. Bonaventure might have been the best we've seen since Mo Jeffers jumped over that big Euro a few years back (also against St. Bonaventure).

[kshoe]

where he got the ball near the 3 point line, took one dribble and slammed a one handed facial on his defender. For whatever reason I can't remember any great dunks against St. B.

The Mo Jeffers dunk a few years ago was unreal.

You know, people always seem to compare TL to Hughes but the guy I see him being a lot like is Mo Jeffers. Athletic with great hops, and the ability to get a bunch of rebounds. TL probably has better handle than MO but MO could really get to the basket and blow by his man which Tommie is still working on. MO wasn't much of an outside shooter his first (junior) year with us but with a lot of hard work became a pretty good 3-point shooter by the time he graduated. I hope for the same from Tommie.

Anybody know where MO is playing these days. He was drafted by Sacramento late in the 2nd round but an injury that summer made it nearly impossible for him to make the team.

[billiken_roy]

the mo jeffers dunk over the st bonnies kid is imo the greatest billiken dunk of all time.

i believe the name of the st bonnie player was last name "messiah". i still remember ramsey's play of the game as i was leaving the parking lot and ramsey was playing back the dunk. ramsey screaming, "WHERE'S YOUR MESSIAH NOW!!!!!????"

[SluSignGuy]

Today is Drejaj's 22nd B-Day

[billiken_roy]

jeffers was far more intense in his play than tommie is, plus, imo, tommie has far better handles than jeffers.

i felt jeffers exceeded primarily on his sheer speed, jumping ability and hard work, where tommie is more of a trickster and smooth guy like hughes.

[jjray]

Here is a link to a prior thread on Stemler wherein the east side guys give their views (BRoy and Guest are not enthused over the prospect of us signing Stemler):

http://www.billikens.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/d...orum=DCForumID3

[Box and Won]

That's right, it was Iowa. My mistake.

Mo was fun to watch and was a great defender too. Since we never got to see Mo as a freshman or sophomore, maybe Tommie is further along as a freshman than Mo was at the same point. Mo certainly wasn't much of a scorer until his senior year.

[jjray]

>>I was saying back in summer that AD was the key player and getting nothing but grief from folks on this list.<<

OK, I'll fess up. I was one of the guys preseason arguing that AD should have his minutes cut and not start. I wanted to go with Lisch and use Drejaj as a defensive replacement ala John Redden from years past. That was predicated on Anthony's shooting woes of the last 2 seasons. It's rare for a player to substantially improve his shot going into his senior year but Anthony has certainly done that and deserves props. Lisch has been tentative with his shot since entering the starting lineup. Agree to eat humble pie and admit our team sorely misses AD right now.

[davidnark]

I disagree. Jeffers had few, if any, moves with the ball. He was pretty much a straight slasher and leaper on offense. By his senior year, Mo had downright explosive leaping ability with ability to finish strong.

Liddell, by contrast, has a wondeful handle and the best crossover move since Larry. He uses his crossover all of the time to get in the lane. Liddell still needs to add strength so that he can finish with more consistency when he gets there.

[billiken_roy]

jjray, my reluctance is based on the condition that we are signing powerforwards and centers only. imo, if you asked me who would rather have as a wing/sniper between stemler and maguire i would take stemler in a second.

[jjray]

>>imo, if you asked me who would rather have as a wing/sniper between stemler and maguire i would take stemler in a second. <<

Very interesting comment. I know you view Stemler more as a wing and, if this assessment is correct, then one has to wonder about signing Maguire and Stemler in the same class ... they have the same game.

[billiken_roy]

but stemler is taller and since he has been out of high school for 3 years is likely strongeri havent seen him in 2 years so i dont know how he is currently physically built. thus, maybe our coaches view him as THE ANSWER for a power forward. i just dont think we need to go the chris sloan route to satisfy power forward needs. i want bonner II and i doubt he has significantly put on the muscle to be more like bonner than sloan.

but he can shoot and score.

[tseugnekillib]

Stemler is not a traditional power forward. He is a good perimeter 3-pt guy with a nice jump hook in the low block area. He is not a strong rebounder, nor is he a strong low-post defender, nor is he a strong wing defender. I watched him play Wednesday night against Mineral Area College. SWIC plays at 3pm on Saturday in Belleville against Southeastern Illinois College. Southeastern is pretty good....it will be a good test for Stemler and SWIC.

I have seem Stemler play four times this season....very good from the perimeter.....but it ends there!

[tseugnekillib]

didn't jeffers have a limiting wrist injury his junior year?

[jjray]

>>He is not a strong rebounder, nor is he a strong

low-post defender, nor is he a strong wing defender.) The only thought I have on it is this. We should be OK next year with JJ/Obi at PF. The local 2006 class is weak at PF but the 2007 class is better. If we think we can grab a solid PF out of the 2007 class, then Stemler just represents depth for 2 years and a big who can come in for limited minutes and score from the perimeter. Not a bad thing to have. Not the answer to our dreams at PF but a role player who can bridge the gap until the 2007 class gets here and integrated into Brad's system.

[willie]

I would agree that may have been the greatest Billiken dunk of all time but the greatest Billiken dunker of all time was Monroe Douglas. I think he scored half his points on lobs for dunks. Every few years I will pull out a tape the athletic dept. produced called "Sit in on a Jam Session"It was the 86-87 season. Man could we dunk in those days.