davidnark Posted January 27, 2006 Author Share Posted January 27, 2006 I believe that we only lost three players last year: Clarke, Frericks, and Bryant. Unless I am forgetting someone, last year's team consisted of only Brad's recruits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 alumni fan brings up a good point. "lied to" is pretty strong. what i think is more likely the case is that it became apparent to coach soderberg that the pieces needed to allow any sort of consistent winning team that would utilize a fast break all the time were not there. at the same time, it became very apparent that ian vouyoukas had improved at a level they never dreamed he would be at this soon. thus any good coach would take what he had and adjust to what he felt would result in the best chance to win. that said, i think that has in turn held back lisch and liddell from becoming more sooner. are we further ahead or behind? i predicted a season where we would win two more games than we would lose, so imo, coach soderberg is getting to the ending regardless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted January 27, 2006 Author Share Posted January 27, 2006 I didn't think we would win a national championship in four years; however, if that is Brad's stated goal, an NCAA appearance during the first four years should be the expectation. IMO, our biggest weakness is not the power forward position. Except for the Ole Miss and Hawaii games, that hasn't been the glaring weakness we all anticipated. Our biggest weaknees is the lack of reliable outside shooters. Having Bonner on the roster Wednesday night wouldn't have made a difference; having Claggett, Highmark, Justin Love, or a healthy Reggie Bryant would have. I will be thrilled if we sign Stemler because we need a reliable zone buster. A tight zone defense can take away much of the offense of Liddell and Ian. A couple of zone busters will open things up in a hurry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 slu72 said, "Zo deserves some of the blame here. When he left UB was faced with a very depleted roster." he left us with marque perry, josh fisher, chris sloan. three good players to build around that this current billiken team would love to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted January 27, 2006 Author Share Posted January 27, 2006 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 i have heard brad give the "why cant saint louis win championships" speech many times. i have never heard him put a date on that championship though. and i would bet he didnt mean 2006. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 tsueg has told me many times in private discussions that in his opinion by waiting until spring with scholarships in hand, a coach has the opportunity to see if needs change due to unexpected developments or not that happen in the season. for example, the recent coming to light that coach soderberg is apparently chasing lance stemler, who is a pure shooter, instead of the promised center and power forward shows he realizes that he needs another outside wing. it might also indicate (i dont know this but making conversation) that obi is coming along great in his rehab. that all said, it has always driven me a little crazy in the soderberg reign that we virtually know nothing about recruiting. it seemed that romar's time at slu we always had an idea of the players that were being pursued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 his first four year player, drejaj, graduates this year. i.e. he has now had a full four years of his players playing his system and philosophy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 >slu72 said, "Zo deserves some of the blame here. When he >left UB was faced with a very depleted roster." > >he left us with marque perry, josh fisher, chris sloan. >three good players to build around that this current >billiken team would love to have. Marque really was a Spoon recruit. Yes, Romar had to solidify the committment, but Spoon really got Marque. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 I think Roy is correct. Brad never built on those core players (Perry, Sloan and Fisher) that gave us 2 NIT invites. Anyway, I think the issue should be "why is so hard to recruit at St Louis?" I think it frustrated to no end Spoon, Romer and now Brad. Romer can obviously recruit in what he doing at Washington. I like what SLU 72 said that Romer was 3rd choice. This says to me that SLU can be a career killer. He was lucky he was a alum and they liked him. Tarheel. "If life were fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted January 27, 2006 Author Share Posted January 27, 2006 ...Brad is coaching Stemler in lieu of a power forward or center? I believe that we have up to three scholarships to give this spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 a couple of thoughts.... -i really don't care if i know who we are chasing but the kids that end up wearing the jersey better be able to play, if ub is taking the secretive approach and his reason is to avoid any chance of ncca sanctions, then i say keep going at it this way, but the kids better be able to play -does having fans know who is being recruited in any way help the process? b/c getting the player is what recruiting is about, imo -i do think performances where the offense is horrible work against you recruiting more than help you, ok mizzou got o;liney the one yr, but i could see where this hurts as most kids want to score, imo, so i think it becomes necessary for ub to find a way to score some points, it also puts butts in the seats but so does winning and i would think the entire athletic program could use the $$$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 Players are expected to develop into better players by the time they are seniors. That is why senior-junior laden squads usually do well in the NCAA and compete against the schools with top recruits. You look back at UB's tenure and what major development/progress have we seen? IV, definitely but how much is due to him playing two summers against the best 19-21 year olds in the world? AD....better than last year, which ain't saying a whole lot. VN...nothing. JJ, 4 years at SLU, and still only occassional glimpses of what might have been possible. DP has regressed. LM the injury might have hampered him. Not sure he's up to the level he was last year. DB, I think he's progressed, but not enough. BH, who knows? Recruiting is the key that opens the door, but development of those recruits is the key to closing the deal. With few exceptions over the last 8-9 years we haven't seen a lot of our players become noticeably better players while at SLU. There's something definitely wrong there and this is a problem shared by our last 3 coaches. The ones that come to mind who have improved: MO, MP, Fish, Sloan, IV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 he has said on more than one occassion he will only use 2 more and i havent heard him take that back. if not from people i know at swic that swear he is all over stemler, i would still not believe he is recruiting stemler. but i have heard it from more than one swic person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 cowboy said, "does having fans know who is being recruited in any way help the process? b/c getting the player is what recruiting is about, imo" i think the whole CIA like approach that coach soderberg works under only tends to make the fandom nervous. then when things dont go all peachy on the floor, the fan base is screaming for heads to roll. this board the last 2 weeks is proof of that. however, if there is evidence of light at the end of the tunnel, it is much easier for the boosterworld to be patient. and with patience comes good media, comes donations, comes fans, etc. instead, chicken little rears it's head and expect the opposite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 i heard ramsey use "fandom" yesterday on his show. i have never ever seen that mock psuedo word used anywhere but this message board before. while ramsey claims he isnt an internet user, i suspect that bullet bob indeed reads billikens.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 i think husak has improved quite a bit. he made a few catches on difficult passes as of late that he never would have caught last year. he obviously has gotten stronger (no where near where he needs to be yet though) and imo, he knows what and where he is supposed to be doing and be on the floor. he seems to have a pretty good touch on his shot. i guess, what i am saying, i now believe husak might become something. i want him to play more. and i now believe that he and ian could co-exist on the floor together in at least certain situations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 he (rammer) said the other day that there were people on boards that wanted him removed from his job, where else but here (and a lot by broy) would that be discussed? what would he gain by admitting he reads this board? what does he lose by not admitting he reads this board? i'm not sure the answer to either qustion b/c it doesn't matter to me if he reads this or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 it doesnt matter to me if he reads or even posts as well imo. in fact, he ought to post as bob ramsey and join in the fracus. it would be fun. i know when i see nate's posts, or when stu would post, those posts carry extra weight because of the insiderness they possess. i just want bob ramsey to be a billiken spokesman and defender 24/7, not just for the 3 hours that he covers a game. i like the way ramsey calls a game. i think it is good entertainment and he paints a good picture as to what is going on. it is his off game stuff about slu i dont like. while i understand a need to be unbiased as a talk show host, surely he can be unbiased about the other 4,000 subjects and topics but when it comes to the billikens he starts singing "when the saints come marching in", puts on his anthony bonner jersey and bleeds blue. i dont think the sports world turns him off for that reason. in fact, the billiken detractors probably call in more to fight. look at the tiger fandom that call in to fight slaten since slaten has become a mi$$ouri detractor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 Broy maybe it makes you nervous, we wnet through this earlier-you do not speak for the entirety of slu fans (or fandom if you wish) but it does not make me nervous. isn't there enough recruiting news coming from the recruits and their families and the services as opposed to ub telling rammer/earl he is recruiting john smith and let everyone know this?? and with patience comes good media, donations, fans etc?? no, imo with winning those things come Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 we disagree on this, and that is fine, but if the trash needs to be taken out, do it and by this i mean i have no problem with him being objective, or perhaps put another way, fair on his broadcast of games or as a talk show host Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 it does not make you nervous that we have three unspoken for scholarships to give with obvious roster holes that must be filled and we havent heard any news to speak of? especially considering that in the last three recruiting season, there have been recruiting mistakes and misses galore that could not be filled in the spring signing season? you are right i dont speak for the entire fandom. but the way this board has been as of late, i think i am closer than you are for speaking for the fandom on that issue. if we had a track record with coach soderberg of hitting the jackpot in the spring, or the program didnt have a few obvious vital missing pieces, maybe everyone would be content to wait it out with no news or teaser previews to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 but news or teasers don't matter, it is getting the players do we get every player about whom we get news or a teaser? i don't know do we get some players about whom we did not know we were recruiting? i don't know yes i am certainly concerned about how ub is filling or not filling his roster, but this is how ub wants it - could this be his undoing? possibly but not if he is getting good student/athletes would i like to know everything going on? sure, but that is not going to happen do other schools have a different policy? seem to but getting anxious/nervous/concerned won't change the outcome and i can't do anything to change the outcome so i am not going to lose sleep over it and it does feed the mill and keep the board going at times most of us on the board are dying for success from slu (not all as there are some trollers) i just hope we get there and stay there and quickly arrive there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 of course us knowing a little information doesnt matter what is really happening recruitingwise, however, it might take some of the pressure off of the program from the media and from boosters and casual fans. it seems that it is a domino effect. lose a few games, qeustions start getting asked, no answers or even worse silence, panic ensues, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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