Regarding Brad

[davidnark]

I am starting a new string on the topic because the string below had split into too many threads, and I didn't want to duplicate replies.

Should Brad's Future Be Questioned?. I am not advocating firing Brad. Brad should definitely be given at least one more year. If, however, this team fails to make the NCAAs again, I would hope that the administrators consider the issue.

How good is Brad's Recruiting? A lot of posters keep reverting back to Brad's great recruiting inroads. By my count, in four plus years of recruiting he had signed a total of three impact players (Ian, Kevin, and Tommie). There is not doubt Brad deserves big credit for landing these kids (although he stumbled into some calculated luck with Ian); however, he deserves equal or greater blame for all of the recruiting debacles. If you watched the MVC finals, you would have noticed three players--Falkner, Shaw, and Tatum--from within 100 miles of St. Louis who all expressed an interest in SLU. Two were completely ignored in favor of "busts" and the other was largely ignored in favor of MU's bust. Falkner and Shaw are athletic, skilled big men who can play the three and four spots. Meanwhile, Brad was hyping Newborne and playing guards at the power forward spot.

What is the Measure of Success? I do not have any expectation of a final four. That is Brad's standard, not mine. IMO, this program will be successful if it makes the NCAA more often than it does not. I would also like to see the team have a cup of coffee in the top 25 every now and then. This is the level Xavier has achieved, and SLU will have similar or better resources going forward. Simple goal -- make the tournament and take your chances in the crapshoot. Oh yeah, I also expect that we score more than 40 points every game!

Are the old guys right? Billikan, Tseugneikllib, and some of the other veteran fans around here know there stuff. I love to read their posts when they discuss player evaluation, recruit analysis, etc. However, 40+ years of following Billiken basketball does not entitle anyone on this board to tell others whether they are or are not a fan. College basketball coaches are well-paid public figures who should be challenged by their fan base. Questioning Brad's coaching decisions--particularly in light of the choke job that took place in the last ten days--does not void one's status as a fan of the program.

[Billiphan]

>I am starting a new string on the topic because the string

>below had split into too many threads, and I didn't want to

>duplicate replies.

>

>Should Brad's Future Be Questioned?. I am not

>advocating firing Brad. Brad should definitely be given at

>least one more year. If, however, this team fails to make

>the NCAAs again, I would hope that the administrators

>consider the issue.

>

>How good is Brad's Recruiting? A lot of posters keep

>reverting back to Brad's great recruiting inroads. By my

>count, in four plus years of recruiting he had signed a

>total of three impact players (Ian, Kevin, and Tommie).

>There is not doubt Brad deserves big credit for landing

>these kids (although he stumbled into some calculated luck

>with Ian); however, he deserves equal or greater blame for

>all of the recruiting debacles. If you watched the MVC

>finals, you would have noticed three players--Falkner, Shaw,

>and Tatum--from within 100 miles of St. Louis who all

>expressed an interest in SLU. Two were completely ignored

>in favor of "busts" and the other was largely ignored in

>favor of MU's bust. Falkner and Shaw are athletic, skilled

>big men who can play the three and four spots. Meanwhile,

>Brad was hyping Newborne and playing guards at the power

>forward spot.

>

>What is the Measure of Success? I do not have any

>expectation of a final four. That is Brad's standard, not

>mine. IMO, this program will be successful if it makes the

>NCAA more often than it does not. I would also like to see

>the team have a cup of coffee in the top 25 every now and

>then. This is the level Xavier has achieved, and SLU will

>have similar or better resources going forward. Simple goal

>-- make the tournament and take your chances in the

>crapshoot. Oh yeah, I also expect that we score more than

>40 points every game!

>

>Are the old guys right? Billikan, Tseugneikllib, and

>some of the other veteran fans around here know there stuff.

> I love to read their posts when they discuss player

>evaluation, recruit analysis, etc. However, 40+ years of

>following Billiken basketball does not entitle anyone on

>this board to tell others whether they are or are not a fan.

> College basketball coaches are well-paid public figures who

>should be challenged by their fan base. Questioning Brad's

>coaching decisions--particularly in light of the choke job

>that took place in the last ten days--does not void one's

>status as a fan of the program.

Question 1 - Absolutely. He should not get a free pass because he is a "good guy" which is what I think happens. He was brought here to win. He wouldn't be the first college coach to fail. We need to make a decision at some point if he is the answer or not.

Question 2 - If those are his best three recruits in 4 years I would say he is a poor recruiter. Recruiting is the lifeblood of college ball. That was Romars problem as well. SLU isn't the easiest place to recruit to but it needs to get done. He has not succeeded. The biggest evidence of this is his failure to follow up on the TL AND KL class with anything substantial. That's a killer.

Question 3 - I think what you've brought up is a reasonable expectation.

Question 4 - AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!

[BillsWin]

Brad deserves 3 more years. Romar left SLU in a shambles. The first year, or really 2, we were just trying to tread water! Now we are beginning to see the benefits of Brad's recruiting. DB, LM, DP are 3 solid players. KL and TL are wonderful. OI maybe a diamond in the rough.... But they're all YOUNG!!!! Give them and Brad some time.

[GOSLU68]

he is straight forward and honest; he learns and admits his teams problems; right now we have the trhee best players we have had in quite some time; we may need an enforcer if we are going to have everyone emulate St. Joe's pulling jerseys and guys tangling Ian from front and back; we can not play finesse

ball against these teams. We had better recruit Anthony Bonner

Jeff Harris Carlos Skinner types to go with the shooters; I remember when we played Illinois and their guard would run his

chest into our guards who were dribbling after a few times they would escape him and were no longer intimidating; This league does not play by MVC or MCC rules; it is going to be a like 5 or 6

Cincinnatis and guess what Xavier beat Cincy more often than

not. Yes there are some weak sisters in the league and they need to get their acts together; I am happy we did not finish 13 th

our first year; remember when we started in Conference USA people were saying we could not be competitive. I said the only

chance we had against Kenyon Martins' team was if they all got

knocked out at the jump ball- and that is what almost happen except we ran the table and won the tournament. Okay this year our luck ran out. We peaked and we crashed; but we are the only

team in the league with 2 rookie of the year and one first teamer coming back; check street and smith in fall; we will be picked 4 th or higher and next's seniors will be saying I want to play in New York and Philly not road trips to Omaha and someplace in

Northern Iowa. Even better if we get a win in the NIT

[davidnark]

Bernie wrote the exact same thing I did (right down to referencing Falkner, Shaw, and Tatum), albeit much more eloquently.

See http://tinyurl.com/ehh8g

[cheeseman]

Bernie - is absolutely right in his article and anybody who gets upset with him simply plays into his hands. Brad is on a short leash for two reasons - 1. he has miss evaluated local talent initially and did not make quick enough corrections. Clarke over Ahern has continued to dog him. Whether he was too late on Shaw or was Painter so deep on him that nothing Brad did would have changed the kid's mind - who knows but he has to be held responsible for letting Painter out manuever him. As far as Faulkner is concerned, many have said that we did not have the major he wanted and truthfully, I would be disappointed in any kid that did not factor that element into his decision. He missed on Luke and Dwayne thinking that both would make the adjustment to D1 better. I give him a little slack on Dwayne given his h.s. #s and career but still you have to darn sure about a 5'9 guard at D1 ball - I know some make it but most do not. As far as Luke is concerned, he had flaws that were easily pointed out by many who saw his play - why did not Brad see them also? I give him a pass on JJ because he was grasping for bodies back then and had little choice. VN was another miss and Morris, well Brad should have known better. 2. For some reason his team - while I don't think they quit on him, I do think they did not develop a sense of urgency - why, I am not sure but as the coach he is the one being paid to know why and to make sure it does not happen again. Some have said it was because of their youth but actually, I thought it was AD's disappearance from shooting that set the stage. This spring signing period will be a big test for Brad and then the fall signing period is an even bigger one.

[willie]

I'm sure some people will be upset by Bernie but I think he is good for our program. He continually prods us to be better ,to acheive Larrys promise of being a top 50 program. His bit comments about the arena may have helped push Larry to go ahead and bite the bullet and set a date. We need to have high expectations. I don't think anyone wants a coaching change but Brad must give us improved results. If he is the long term answer things must get better. Bernie and Gordon and the media as a whole would love to jump and stay on our bandwagon. In the meantime I'm glad they are out there asking hard questions,putting pressure on program to do better.

[Basketbill]

For instance in this article.......He says Brooks was recruited by Lowery wrong, or perhaps if he did it was for another school!

Not sure what he said is true about shaw and Falkner either. I will say however I am not sure.....

However then he uses those incorrect facts to say Brad needs to be more like chris lowery the man who did not do the things that he is doing. Half the article was OK. But some of his key points are based on wrong facts.

As for Brad and recruiting......the jury is still out. Lisch and Liddell year was his first year when he could be in deep early, ie two or three years before they commit. This year he has DM, we wait to hear about the others.....

He has struck out on Juco transfers. thus far...........Frericks with injuries and VN just did not produce. DP,DB,BH i think the jury is still out on.

Actually like the comment about the A-10 haughtiness....

[BradFan]

"I don't think anyone wants a coaching change but Brad must give us improved results. If he is the long term answer things must get better," states Willie.

I believe results this year were improved. Suddenly, everyone is up in arms cause we're not dancing, but who thought we would be before the season started? It is a long range rebuilding. Should be more improvement next year, and NCAA is a reasonable hope. Totally agree that if more bodies aren't on board to supplement what's already here, the program won't keep moving in the right direction. That's up to UB, of course. All we can do now is wait and see.

[Billikan]

>I am starting a new string on the topic because the string

>below had split into too many threads, and I didn't want to

>duplicate replies.

>

>Should Brad's Future Be Questioned?. I am not

>advocating firing Brad. Brad should definitely be given at

>least one more year. If, however, this team fails to make

>the NCAAs again, I would hope that the administrators

>consider the issue.

CONTRARY TO MANY ON THIS BOARD I THINK THIS YEAR WAS A SUCCESS. THE FINISH TO THE SEASON LEFT A SOUR TASTE BUT THIS TEAM SHOWED US A LOT IN TERMS OF TENACITY AND A REFUSAL TO QUIT WHEN DOWN. WE PLAYED THREE OF THE VERY TOP TEAMS IN THE COUNTRY IN GONZAGA, IOWA AND NORTH CAROLINA AND AT NO TIME DID WE LOOK LIKE WE DID NOT BELONG ON THE COURT WITH THOSE TEAMS. ALSO CONTRARY TO MANY WHO POST ON THIS BOARD, BRAD MADE MANY ADJUSTMENTS OVER THE YEAR. SOME WERE VERY SUCCESSFUL AND OTHERS WERE DISMAL FAILURES. YET THE TEAM WAS 16-13 WITH TWO FRESHMEN PLAYING MAJOR ROLES. WE SHOULD BE VERY HAPPY TO HAVE BRAD AS A COACH. IF THE TEAM HAD BEEN 5-22 THEN WE COULD SERIOUSLY ASK THIS QUESTION.

>

>How good is Brad's Recruiting? A lot of posters keep

>reverting back to Brad's great recruiting inroads. By my

>count, in four plus years of recruiting he had signed a

>total of three impact players (Ian, Kevin, and Tommie).

>There is not doubt Brad deserves big credit for landing

>these kids (although he stumbled into some calculated luck

>with Ian); however, he deserves equal or greater blame for

>all of the recruiting debacles. If you watched the MVC

>finals, you would have noticed three players--Falkner, Shaw,

>and Tatum--from within 100 miles of St. Louis who all

>expressed an interest in SLU. Two were completely ignored

>in favor of "busts" and the other was largely ignored in

>favor of MU's bust. Falkner and Shaw are athletic, skilled

>big men who can play the three and four spots. Meanwhile,

>Brad was hyping Newborne and playing guards at the power

>forward spot.

THE FACT THAT BRAD AND STAFF SUCCESSFULLY LANDED TOMMIE AND KEVIN IN ONE YEAR IS A TRIBUTE TO THEIR RECRUITING ABILITY. I HAVE ANALYZED THE PAST RECRUITING CLASSES AND I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE EVER RECRUITED TWO MORE HIGHLY REGARDED LOCAL PLAYERS AT ONE TIME WHO WERE SO SUCCESSFUL THEIR FIRST YEAR. OBVIOUSLY HUGHES WAS BETTER AND MORE HIGHLY RATED BUT HE WAS ONE PLAYER AND BEYOND LARRY I CANNOT REMEMBER TWO FRESHMEN WHO HAD MORE IMPACT ON THE TEAM IN THEIR FIRST SEASON THAN THESE TWO RECRUITS. FOR THAT REASON ALONE I WOULD RATE THE RECRUITING AS VERY GOOD. BRAD DID HAVE A LITTLE LORENZO ROMAR IN HIM IN CHASING GRIMES AND IF WE LOST SHAW BECAUSE OF THAT THEN HE MADE A MISTAKE. YET THE SAME ATTITUDE IN CHASING THE BIG TIME RECRUIT IN GRIMES IS WHAT HE USED TO GO AFTER TOMMIE AND KEVIN. WE ARE NEVER GOING TO GET EVERY BLUE CHIP PLAYER FROM THE AREA AND NO COACH CAN FIND ALL OF THE DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH. LET'S SEE HOW IT GOES FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS. IF HE CAN LAND A COUPLE OF REALLY GOOD PLAYERS THIS YEAR OR NEXT YEAR TO PLAY WITH TOMMIE AND KEVIN THEN I THINK WE COULD BE A REALLY GOOD TEAM.

>

>What is the Measure of Success? I do not have any

>expectation of a final four. That is Brad's standard, not

>mine. IMO, this program will be successful if it makes the

>NCAA more often than it does not. I would also like to see

>the team have a cup of coffee in the top 25 every now and

>then. This is the level Xavier has achieved, and SLU will

>have similar or better resources going forward. Simple goal

>-- make the tournament and take your chances in the

>crapshoot. Oh yeah, I also expect that we score more than

>40 points every game!

THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS SHOULD BE A WINNING TEAM UNLESS THERE ARE DEVASTATING INJURIES LIKE THOSE SUFFERED BY LAST YEARS TEAM. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US GET TO THE POST SEASON AT LEAST 2 OUT OF EVERY 4 YEARS AND IF WE CAN CONSISTANTLY BE IN THE TOP 50 TO 75 IN THE RPI WITH AN EXCITING RUN ON THE TOP 25 OR HIGHER FROM TIME TO TIME THEN THAT WOULD BE GREAT. I KNOW THAT BRAD HAS HIGHER HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS AND THAT IS GREAT BUT WE ALL NEED TO BE REALISTIC. I DO THINK THAT THIS TEAM, WITH SOME ADDITIONAL RECRUITS AND MORE SEASONING HAS A CHANCE TO NOT ONLY GO TO THE BIG DANCE BUT IT COULD WIN AT LEAST A GAME OR TWO DEPENDING ON THE SEED. MAKING THE FINAL FOUR WOULD BE FANTASTIC BUT THAT IS NOT MY MEASURE OF SUCCESS. IF THAT WERE THE MEASURE THEN ONLY A HANDFUL OF COACHES IN THE ENTIRE COUTRY COULD BE VIEWED AS A SUCCESS!

>

>Are the old guys right? Billikan, Tseugneikllib, and

>some of the other veteran fans around here know there stuff.

> I love to read their posts when they discuss player

>evaluation, recruit analysis, etc. However, 40+ years of

>following Billiken basketball does not entitle anyone on

>this board to tell others whether they are or are not a fan.

> College basketball coaches are well-paid public figures who

>should be challenged by their fan base. Questioning Brad's

>coaching decisions--particularly in light of the choke job

>that took place in the last ten days--does not void one's

>status as a fan of the program.

EVERYONE HAS A RIGHT TO THEIR OPINION. BUT LACK OF PERSPECTIVE OR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE SCHOOL OR THE PROGRAM DOES NOT GIVE THEM A FREE RIDE TO RIP THE COACH. THE FACT THAT YOU REFER TO THE END OF THE SEASON AS A "CHOKE JOB" IS RIDUCULOUS. THESE ARE YOUNG MEN WHO HAVE FAMILIES. THEY TRIED HARD AND FAILED. THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS IN LIFE WHEN YOU REALLY PUT IT ON THE LINE. NO ONE SUCCEEDS ALL THE TIME, PARTICULARLY IN THEIR FIRST ATTEMPT. THESE YOUNG FRESHMEN, AND IAN WHO WAS IN HIS FIRST FULL YEAR AS A STARTER AND A GO TO GUY, PLAYED HARD AND PUSHED SOME GOOD TEAMS TO THE LIMIT. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT THE INSULTING WAY THAT SOME HERE REFER TO THE COACH MAKES ME SICK. WE CAN TALK STRATEGY TILL THE COWS COME HOME AND I DO NOT AGREE WITH EVERYTHING THAT BRAD DOES BUT HE DESERVES RESPECT!!!!!!

NOW A NEW QUESTION:

IF THE BILLIKENS HIRED BOB HUGGINS AND HE CHANGED NOTHING ABOUT THE WAY THAT HE DOES THINGS, SO WE WOULD BE VIEWED AS A OUTLAW TEAM THAT HAD PLAYERS WITH QUESTIONABLE ACADEMIC AND CRIMINAL BACKGROUNDS, BUT WE WERE IN THE NCAA EVERY YEAR AND WE OFTEN WON AT LEAST ONE GAME, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BE WILLING TO PUT UP WITH IN ORDER TO HAVE WHAT IS VIEWED AS A "SUCCESSFUL" TEAM?

[kshoe]

if you aren't Bernie himself!?!? Just kidding.

Bernie's article is 100% correct. I plan on e-mailing him to tell him just that so when the few Billiken fans that do disagree with him e-mail him the nastygrams he won't feel that all SLU fans feel that way.

[kshoe]

that if next year we aren't dancing we did not make any significant improvement? Going from a bubble NIT team like we are this year to even a solid NIT team next year is not significant improvement in my opinion. I want to dance and if we aren't dancing next year then questions should be raised.

[MusicCityBilliken]

At least those two years we made the NIT. We did not make it last year (because of our terrible record)and we probably won't make it this year.

Romer's number 1 assistant was Brad that last year. It was not like he came into the program cold and behind the learning curve on the strenghts and weaknesses of Billiken basketball. Also, that tranfer of coaching duties from Romer to Brad was probably the most smooth as any of the coaching transfers in Billiken basketball history. I go back to Brehmer to Polk, Polk to Albrecht, Albrecht to Colman, Colman to Ekker, Ekker to Grawer, Grawer to Spoon and Spoon to Romer. Most of those turned out to be very ugly.

Romer resurrected Brad's career. What was Brad doing when Romer picked him up? As I recall, when Romer got the Washington job offer, Bondi tried to match $ with no success. I would bet, Romer, at that point, probably highly recommended Brad on his departure. I think you can safely guess, if was not for Romer both hiring and recommending him as his successor, we would probably be singing praises or dissing Brian Gregory right now. To my knowledge, Romer and Brad remain good friends. I recall either this last summer or the summer before Brad took the family on vacation to the Northwest and he made it a point to stop in to see both his old mentor Bennett and Romer.

Also, I believe the program was not in shambles but left the program with a nice nucleus of players. Players like Josh Fisher, Kenny Brown and Chris Sloan. And, lets not forget, both pre-season and post season all-conference performer Marque Perry. To date, Brad has not had anyone that could literally take over a game like Marque did in his senior year. IV, TL and KL all have that potential and I think at least two out of the three can equal or surpass Marque's senior year performance but not yet.

Also, yea we have a winning record and we improved from last year, but I believe moving to the A10 this year greatly 'lowered the bar' for us from the old CUSA. How well do you think this team would have done with some of those great Cincy or Louisville teams. A Diener and Wade lead Marquette team. Or '40 minutes of hell' from UAB. I don't know if our record would have been as pretty.

I am really disappointed we did not make it this year. Every team in the A10 this year was very beatable. What worries me is that I believe the A10 will improve next year with SJU, XU and UMASS. I just hope Brad can keep pace. Let's see how does this spring and fall recruiting and how the team performs next season.

[davidnark]

Why are you YELLING?

Why do you keep implying that posters want to bring in Bob Huggins? I have yet to read one post on this board suggest that we take shortcuts or stretch the rules to win games. No one else has even mentioned Huggins name. It is important that Brad plays by the rules and runs a clean program. That doesn't provide an excuse for on the court failure.

The "choke job" I referred to was not a criticism of the players, all of whom played hard. It was a reference to Brad, who was outcoached down the stretch. It is also a fact. Going 0-3 during the most important stretch of the season is a choke job; there is no reason to sugarcoat it. I would bet Brad and the players agree.

[davidnark]

Good post with very well-stated facts. Expect quick criticisms from the Brad loyalists.

[Schasz]

Billikan,

You know as well as I do that the current Admin at SLU would NEVER hire a Bobby Huggins type as HC. The answer to that is a resounding no.

I also respect David's opinions and really enjoy reading his posts, as he will always be one of the first ones I will read. Having said that and acknowleding David has his own opinion that he is entitled to...I think calling the last 3 games a "choke job" may be a little harsh. We were in the Dayton game and only lsot the darn game by 2 in OT. I did not hear the LaSalle game so the final score may not be indicative of how we played, but it was still what a 10 point loss. The St. Joe's game would be the only one in that group of games that would be disappointing to me. We just did not come to play from the very start, and what would alarm me the most was, that we did not appear to learn any lessons from the first meeting where we were also schooled by the Hawks.

I have gone on record as saying next year is a key year for the Billikens, so let's see what it brings and hopefully we will all be proud of the team's accomplishments.

[davidnark]

Bernie is obviously keen to the ways of message boards. I suspect that he visits Billikens.com to gauge the pulse of the Billiken fans. He already knows what criticism is coming.

[Cowboy]

slu68 said ...he learns and admits his teams problems ------ i agree he will point out the problems of his team, him being an honest him, it is who is he is, not sure he learns though and point for that is that we play 1 defense - ub himself commented on his radio show that charlotte is a difficult opponent b/c they throw so many things at you, we have one

cheese said...He missed on Luke and Dwayne thinking that both would make the adjustment to D1 better. I give him a little slack on Dwayne given his h.s. #s and career but still you have to darn sure about a 5'9 guard at D1 ball - I know some make it but most do not ------ to continue to use his radio show as a source, ub said they are going to rework tl's shot this summer, let's hope that experiment works better than it did for dp

bradfan said... Totally agree that if more bodies aren't on board to supplement what's already here, the program won't keep moving in the right direction. That's up to UB, of course. All we can do now is wait and see. -------- agree, but like tom petty said the waiting is the hardest part, but perhaps more difficult than waitning is getting quality players in the spring, but we'll see

billikan said...WE PLAYED THREE OF THE VERY TOP TEAMS IN THE COUNTRY IN GONZAGA, IOWA AND NORTH CAROLINA AND AT NO TIME DID WE LOOK LIKE WE DID NOT BELONG ON THE COURT WITH THOSE TEAMS.----- but we did not look like we belonged on the floor with stj's twice. easy to 'get up' for the marque games, but also realize we did not win any of those

billikan said....THE FACT THAT BRAD AND STAFF SUCCESSFULLY LANDED TOMMIE AND KEVIN IN ONE YEAR IS A TRIBUTE TO THEIR RECRUITING ABILITY. I HAVE ANALYZED THE PAST RECRUITING CLASSES AND I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE EVER RECRUITED TWO MORE HIGHLY REGARDED LOCAL PLAYERS AT ONE TIME WHO WERE SO SUCCESSFUL THEIR FIRST YEAR. OBVIOUSLY HUGHES WAS BETTER AND MORE HIGHLY RATED BUT HE WAS ONE PLAYER AND BEYOND LARRY I CANNOT REMEMBER TWO FRESHMEN WHO HAD MORE IMPACT ON THE TEAM IN THEIR FIRST SEASON THAN THESE TWO RECRUITS. FOR THAT REASON ALONE I WOULD RATE THE RECRUITING AS VERY GOOD. BRAD DID HAVE A LITTLE LORENZO ROMAR IN HIM IN CHASING GRIMES AND IF WE LOST SHAW BECAUSE OF THAT THEN HE MADE A MISTAKE. YET THE SAME ATTITUDE IN CHASING THE BIG TIME RECRUIT IN GRIMES IS WHAT HE USED TO GO AFTER TOMMIE AND KEVIN. WE ARE NEVER GOING TO GET EVERY BLUE CHIP PLAYER FROM THE AREA AND NO COACH CAN FIND ALL OF THE DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH. LET'S SEE HOW IT GOES FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS. IF HE CAN LAND A COUPLE OF REALLY GOOD PLAYERS THIS YEAR OR NEXT YEAR TO PLAY WITH TOMMIE AND KEVIN THEN I THINK WE COULD BE A REALLY GOOD TEAM.-----this one kinda has me stumbled, i agree getting tl and kl was great, but then you point what some beleive was spoon's biggest failure and so far ub is doing it also - great class but not followed up with a great class, this can change, but this spring is sooo big-

biilikan said....THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS SHOULD BE A WINNING TEAM UNLESS THERE ARE DEVASTATING INJURIES LIKE THOSE SUFFERED BY LAST YEARS TEAM. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US GET TO THE POST SEASON AT LEAST 2 OUT OF EVERY 4 YEARS AND IF WE CAN CONSISTANTLY BE IN THE TOP 50 TO 75 IN THE RPI WITH AN EXCITING RUN ON THE TOP 25 OR HIGHER FROM TIME TO TIME THEN THAT WOULD BE GREAT. I KNOW THAT BRAD HAS HIGHER HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS AND THAT IS GREAT BUT WE ALL NEED TO BE REALISTIC. I DO THINK THAT THIS TEAM, WITH SOME ADDITIONAL RECRUITS AND MORE SEASONING HAS A CHANCE TO NOT ONLY GO TO THE BIG DANCE BUT IT COULD WIN AT LEAST A GAME OR TWO DEPENDING ON THE SEED. MAKING THE FINAL FOUR WOULD BE FANTASTIC BUT THAT IS NOT MY MEASURE OF SUCCESS. IF THAT WERE THE MEASURE THEN ONLY A HANDFUL OF COACHES IN THE ENTIRE COUTRY COULD BE VIEWED AS A SUCCESS!------frankly, my expectations are at least a bit higher than yours esp if by post season you include the nit - nit would be great for this yr, but not for next

billikan asked....IF THE BILLIKENS HIRED BOB HUGGINS AND HE CHANGED NOTHING ABOUT THE WAY THAT HE DOES THINGS, SO WE WOULD BE VIEWED AS A OUTLAW TEAM THAT HAD PLAYERS WITH QUESTIONABLE ACADEMIC AND CRIMINAL BACKGROUNDS, BUT WE WERE IN THE NCAA EVERY YEAR AND WE OFTEN WON AT LEAST ONE GAME, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BE WILLING TO PUT UP WITH IN ORDER TO HAVE WHAT IS VIEWED AS A "SUCCESSFUL" TEAM?-----i don't think we have to worry about this scenario happening, but i think you can have success on the floor, in the classroom, on campus and in society with players that slu could get, the problem is getting them all at the right time

-for me ub is not perfect, he has good and bad points about him

-this spring and next fall recruting periods are HUGE, as is success (ncaa) next yr

[davidnark]

Schasz, I refer to it as a choke job because we had a shot at making the NCAA tournament, but to do so we had to end the season on a winning streak. I TIVO'd the last two games and therefore had the luxury of replaying and analyzing parts. Brad was outcoached in both games.

[Billikenbooster]

Compared to what was here when Romar arrived, the stockpile of players was definitely lower when Lorenzo left. Not that there weren't good players on the roster at that time, but the top recruits all left with him. When LR arrived, the first thing he did was to go to Chicago to be sure Perry and to Arkansas, to be sure the JUCO player both came and they did. There was no way Rollins was coming here from CA once Romar left.

UB needs the three years to continue what he has started. He is an adequate floor coach, uses his assistants well, and needs to make sure the nucleus of this team comes back in the fall better than they are now in the spring. The key to this season has been that IV was better this fall than he was last spring. BH, LM, OI the down the bench guys need to improve. I have never been a JJ fan, and think the less he plays the better the team will be.

Things are never as bad as they seem after a loss, and never as good as they seem after a win. We have lost three in a row, and our 'dobbers' are down right now.

Time for us to rally and support, not tear down. Look critically, see where we can improve...not see the cup as half empty.

mhg

[Schasz]

David,

I will have to give you those points and not even question you or anyone else on the St. Joe's game as scoring only 37 points is embarassing especailly to a team that did the same thing to our kids earlier in the year. I also posted on this website before the last 3 games that the NCAA was their for the taking.

I am glad that you do not prescribe to the let's fire Coach right now. I agree that making the kind of money SLU pays him Coach Soderberg does need to be held accountable. I am holding out hope that he adds another 3 point sharp shooter along with someone that can play the 4 to next year's mix. With the further development of our top 3 players then it is not that much of a reach to expect us to Dance next year.

[Basketbill]

When you email mail just point out that he needs to check his facts on who recruited who... besides that and the GW comments, I have no problem with the main premise of the article " We need to getter better and that is the Responsibility of Coach Soderberg."

[Billikan]

I was not yelling. I just want to make sure that my comments were distinguished from yours.

I have no idea how much you have coached but I would ask this question--Does the performance of the players ever come into the mix in your mind? We lost to St. Joes because our players played poorly and the matchups were just horrible in terms of size. They shot the ball brilliantly and we missed many layups. We played poorly, plain and simple. But to suggest that the coach choked is ridiculous. He played JJ to no avail. He tried different lineups. His stars had an off game on the offensive end. We could not shoot from outside. There are explanations and they involve the whole team and the coach. Maybe he could have done a better job in some things but we were not going to beat St. Joes on that day the way they were playing. It is a slap in the face insult to the coach to say he "choked". This relates to the respect issue. I am not in the camp that believes that if a person takes a coaching job then he no longer needs to be respected or treated fairly like other people in other jobs and professions.

[Billiphan]

NOW A NEW QUESTION:

IF THE BILLIKENS HIRED BOB HUGGINS AND HE CHANGED NOTHING ABOUT THE WAY THAT HE DOES THINGS, SO WE WOULD BE VIEWED AS A OUTLAW TEAM THAT HAD PLAYERS WITH QUESTIONABLE ACADEMIC AND CRIMINAL BACKGROUNDS, BUT WE WERE IN THE NCAA EVERY YEAR AND WE OFTEN WON AT LEAST ONE GAME, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BE WILLING TO PUT UP WITH IN ORDER TO HAVE WHAT IS VIEWED AS A "SUCCESSFUL" TEAM?

Congratulations! THis is exactly what Bernie was referring to when he said there are Bills fans out there who "act as if theirs is the only university that doesn't cheat or stresses academics."

No body on here is advocating that we hire Huggins. It's possible to win and be clean.