billikenman Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 I'm wondering what everyone is thinking about Coach. As a head coach he is basically .500. He had a few good years in Wisconsin but that was half way through a season and with none of his players. At SLU, he failed to use Marque to his full ability and last year was a joke. I'm not sure how well he connects with his players. Last year was bad but the years before (expect the second NIT year) were basically .500 years. Do we look for a new coach or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 our recruiting is not up to snuff, then yep, bye-bye Brad. However I don't see that occuring. I see us an NCAA bound team next year, whether JJ can get his stuff together or not. Losing AD and VN will hopefully more than be offset by Obi and Dustin (and everyone else being a year further along) We aren't that far off now. I think a recruiting class to rival Lisch and Liddell would be just what the doctor ordered to put this kind of thread and sentiment to rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikenbooster Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 OBI? appeared to me and my son that Obi was limping significantly walking on the court Sat nite. Anyone else notice? Really hope he will be a contributor, but we will have to see. mhg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 DOn't you read the board? How about Brad stays ... You GO Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Billikenman, in what sense did Brad not fully utilize Marques? Brad squeezed everything possible out of that team, and then some. Every team in the country will have three or four horrendous losses a year, games where balls soar out of bounds, balls get dribbled off knees and feet, and dunks pop out of the basket and fly to half court. We are no different. Brad is winning the recruiting wars now. We have three linchpins, all of whom have been exclusively recruited by Brad and his staff, that will win many games for the coming years. Ian, Tommie, and Kevin are starting to gel. We have role players that are learning when and how they are supposed to contribute. Good coaching is going to allow them to develop, and one or more of these players will develop into a sound starter for the rest of their Billiken career. We have recovered from a horrendous season, are poised to double our win total, and appear to be playing at a level that will drive us into the top third echelon of a highly rated conference, in a year we were picked to finish one slot above dead last. If we were a senior-laden team, I would be vexxed at this season's progress. We are led by freshmen, however, and the inconsistency and disappearing production(in our down moments) are exactly what many people expected. We have played Iowa, Gonzaga, North Carolina, GW, and Xavier and given them all they cared to get in our "up" games, so we can see where the program is headed. I don't understand why you would voice such an ambivalent question at this point in the season, especially regarding Brad's recruiting results. You never want to cash out on a good investment, especially just before maturity, unless you like the penalty. I don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 please explain to me the comment that coach soderberg did not use marque perry to his fullest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 coming after arguably the best half of Billiken ball I've heard in the last 3 years. Pushing the ball, hitting outside shots, IV taking it to his man. Dunks, speed, D...you name it it had it. Hopefully, this Fordham game will be the turning point for this team. I think KL had the best quote: "hey we were having fun." That's when you play your best, relaxed and confident. Hopefully they'll play that way. Let's hold off on the UB talk until after next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 I've always felt it was Brad's fault that he didn't do a showstopping 360 degree tomahawk dunk to finish the Louisville game. Brad could have worked more with Marque on his hops and his ability to finish tomahawk dunks not to mention acrobatic spin moves while in the air. We had a chance at that time to see the best Billiken dunk ever and Brad blew it. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewprez Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 I think you answered your own question about recruiting when you said two things: Tommie Liddell & Kevin Lisch. Nuff said... The players themselves say, "And they wonder how he knows us so well." He must be doing something right, especially if the players are still around and not transferring out. If he has the players' trust, he should have ours too. In Coach We Trust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Certainly you are getting way ahead of yourself on this topic. Brad came into a disasterous situation when Lorenzo left. The fact that he kept the team together and respectable with our pitiful talent level was amazing. We were 9-21 last year but I partially attribute that to the prior administration. He just had the best recruiting year I can remember at SLU in many years: Liddell, Lisch and Obi. Granted, Brad has thrown some strange lineups out on the floor in situations that leave you scratching your head ... but Brad's a smart guy and he has now shortened the bench bringing consistency to the lineup. I, along with alot of others on this board, predicted a 500 team this year. We rely heavily on freshmen and sophmores. Brad is still figuring out how to use these people. He has holes in his roster ... i.e., permiter shooting and PF. Do we get better next year? Does Brad adapt the team's style to fit the rising talent level? It looks like Brad is addressing the perimeter shooting. Does Obi recover to help us at PF? Do we get Knollmeyer (would be huge)? There is more talent to be had in the local recruiting class for 2007. Do we get Powell? How about Tyus? We could be 2 years away from having a very deep and talented basketball program in a rising conference. Then again, we could stagnate as a 500 team. Much too early to tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 jjray said, "We were 9-21 last year but I partially attribute that to the prior administration." i blame the fact that bryant and frericks had more or less season ending injuries. show me the team that loses it's two best players ability to perform at the top of their game that did still play up to our beyond expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB Scout Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 I like Brad as a coach. His true coaching ability will be tested over the next two years. He will have to put up or get out by then. These will have been with all of his recruits. UB- let the guys play and you will become a excellent coaching prospect for one of the bigtime programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUDrew Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 As much as I disagree with some of his tactics from time to time, we would be short-sighted to throw in the towel on him at this time. I think he gets at least next year and the year after that. He got Tommie and Kevin to come here, so barring this team completely falling apart, he deserves a chance to develop them. I would like to see another strong recruiting class. Next year's is suspect at best, so he needs another strong class going into the 2007-2008 season. If after 07-08, we haven't been two the NCAA tourney and we haven't seen improved recruiting, I think it will be time to look elsewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 >jjray said, > >"We were 9-21 last year but I partially attribute that to >the prior administration." > >i blame the fact that bryant and frericks had more or less >season ending injuries. show me the team that loses it's >two best players ability to perform at the top of their game >that did still play up to our beyond expectations. Good point on Bryant and Frericks injuries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p diddy Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Marque was first team All-CUSA pick as a senior, the one year he played under Brad. UB turned him loose and he became one of the nation's top clutch performers during his senior year. Reggie was a second team All-CUSA pick as a junior during the one healthy year at SLU. Ian is on course to be a first or second team All A-10 selection. Tommie seems to be the runaway choice for A-10 Freshman of the Year. Kevin should be a lock for A-10 All Freshman team along with Tommie. last year's trainwreck came about because of reggie and tom's injuries. the continued development of our nucleus is quite important. and as stated above, Brad MUST have another solid recru iting year to back up Tommie and Kevin. He cannot waste any more scholarships on marginal players. Those early recruiting mistakes are still hurting him now, but he is one the road to recovery, however, If he wiffs on this upcoming class, then he will have some serious problems. He does need to take thims up a notch in the next few years while he has some showcase players in the program. bad boyz for life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenman Posted January 30, 2006 Author Share Posted January 30, 2006 Skip, you are an idiot. Brad has been here more then 3 years and we have nothing to show for it but .500 seasons and one good year of 18-12 and last year where he failed to connect with his seniors and basiaclly killed the season before it began. By now we should be something. Look at Xavier. We should be them. They are better then us, who cares if we beat them once. Marque was great only after Brad let him go. We sucked the first half of the season and only went on a run after Brad took of his restrictions. Defense first is boring and won't fill seats. Look at last year...we sucked but hey if we play defense first it shouldn't matter if we score less then 60 points right? Brad is not doing a good job recruting....Lisch, Lidell, Luke, and Polk all came to SLU because they wanted to stay close to home. SLU has not gotten one recruit over another school. We haven't out recruited MIZZOU or anyone even decent. We get players cause they want to stay in Saint Louis, not because they want to come to SLU. Name one good recruit the last 4 years not from some tiny town or who was recruited by better schools. We don't get players for the team, we get players cause they live here and don't want to leave. Brad doesn't have an effect on that. He doesn't generate interest in the players. All he has to do is not ###### it up and he'll get the players to stay. Also, Obi is slow and crap and has a horrible knee....great pick up brad. Also, you guys are too nice to the Blue Crew. Who cares if 50 students show up with shirts on. Give me drunken, loud students. Blue Crew is crap. They never cheer or get the crowd going. Congrats Bluecrewprez, you made lots of mirror things and a big spinning thing...best fans ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 please give us the program that after 15-16, (switched coaches) 19-14, 17-14, and 15-16 (then switched coaches again), and then by the middle of 4th year of the third coach was substantially better than what we are now. couple in that our academic restraints (juco transfer rule) and one of the worst practice and training facilities in divison one basketball. again, please give us the program to really compare to. xavier or gonzaga are the programs to aspire to, but they too didnt accomplisch that overnite. btw, both xu and gonzaga have new arena's to practice and play at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 i think i clicked the wrong message, this is not a reply to Broy but to the dude above, billikenman or something broy addressed some of your post, i'll take part the current blue crew compared to duke is nothing, but that is not the measuring stick first, slu is slu, not duke, we don't have the tradition of final 4 and national championships so second, compare to what was here before, these folks leading the blue crew deserve nothing but accolades imo when you look at where they have brought student interest blue crew, don't let those that don't know take any wind from your sails, keep up the great work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 You don't have a good grip on facts. Fact One... Illinois was recruiting both Lisch and Liddell at a high level. Meyer had an offer in hand from Stanford. Other programs were also chasing various players. At this point, we are not picking up rejects, retreads, and poor quality. Fact Two... The current Blew Crew has driven student attendance to its highest level since the Highmark/Claggett era, kudos earned with more work needed. Fact Three... People who manage to spew acid and bile often need to look at their own shortcomings first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 did mommy forget to feed you today. Section 105 row C seats 10 and 11 ... come on over and let me know what you think. I'll get you some cotton candy. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paperbag Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Thanks for your logical thoughts billikenman. It is quite obvious that you don’t know much about this program and that you do not know Brad Soderberg. My friend is friends with Brad and he is very intelligent and has a great desire to win. So next time, make sure you do some research before you start ripping on people. People like me who go to every game can see the improvement in the team. Also, we can thank the Blue Crew for driving attendance and getting the crowd into the game. Sometimes the fans in attendance need a little extra kick which the Blue Crew always delivers on. Brad has done an outstanding job so far and will continue his dominance into the upcoming years. So pretty much: billikenman = billikenidiot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 I say this with zero hesitation despite having been critical of him in recent weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SShoe Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Right, it's Blue Crew's fault that student attendance sucks. Let's blame the only students who do show up. None of the blame should fall on the 6400 other undergraduates who never go. No, it's Blue Crew's fault, you're right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Shoe, what in the world does your reply have to do with my post? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 the latest idiot to invade the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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