SLU 05-06 season review and grades

[thetorch]

SLU 05-06 Season Review and Grades

The 05-06 season was the roller coaster ride that SLU fans have to expect over the years. The season went up and down, up and down, as the Billikens set the record for alternating wins and losses in any known team sport. There were times early in the season where the young Billikens seemed poised to break the streak, a hard fought game @ then ranked #23 North Carolina, a nail biter at home against top ten Gonzaga, and the overtime disappointment @ A-10 Champion and top ten team George Washington. Unfortunately the ignominious streak continued, befuddling Billiken fans. The high of defeating UMass at the Buzzer with a 15 foot off balance jumper by budding star Tommie Liddell becomes the low of losing at Richmond to a team fielding barely half a dozen scholarship players. Another huge victory and more momentum gained, this time over a poised to be ranked Xavier team on the road, just as quickly momentum lost as St Josephs blows out a deflated Bills squad @ home. Finally the streak was broken with wins in game 19 against Fordham and game 20 @ Rhode Island, no doubt due to the emergence of freshman phenom Kevin Lisch as a viable scoring threat. He went for 18 in both games and averaged over 14 ppg throughout the conference season. The Billikens went on to win 7 of their next 8 games being led by Lidell’s double doubles, Lisch’s clutch shooting and Ian Vouyoukas’ prodigious post play. Then with hopes of NCAA dancing on the horizon the Billikens fall to lowly Dayton at home on senior night on a last second phantom foul call on Lisch. SLU went on to lose their final two games of the sesaon, @ LaSalle and another blowout at the hands of St. Josephs, this time eliminating us in the first round of the A-10 tourney.

Despite the late season meltdown there is still many positives that can be taken away from this season and looking toward next year. The announcement of the ground breaking for the long awaited SLU on campus arena will hopefully propel the program into a new and lasting strata and make SLU attractive to recruits, fans, students, and other NCAA conferences as the conference shakeups continue. In the short term, we only lose 2 seniors. Anthony Drejaj will be missed, not only for his much improved play on the court but his leadership off it. Vashun Newborne on the other hand... SLU will have First team All A-10 Ian Vouyoukas, A-10 FOY Tommie Liddell, and All A-10 Freshman team member Kevin Lisch back for next year.Rest assured those 3 will sneak up on no one in the A-10 next year and expectations for the team will be much higher for next year. It has been 6 years since SLU went dancing. Let’s hope with all the practice this team got trying to break streaks it will be able to break that one.

Grades

Ian Vouyoukas - 14 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game and 2 blocks per game - B+

Ian led the team in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, and minutes played and was second in FG% and third in FT%. He also had 6 double doubles, a team high. Voted to First team All A-10

I have to commend Ian for his work in the off season. He was in superior shape this year and that coupled with his great offensive skills around the basket made him one of the better big men in the country this season. While his play on the offensive side gets most of the attention, his defense and rebounding was also much improved. He was a force on defense in the post with his shot blocking and ability to bang down against the best of them. Ian regularly racked up games of 18 points and near double figures in rebounds. In the middle of the season he hit a lull and his scoring and rebounding numbers decreased dramatically, most likely due to the double and triple teams he faced and SLU’s lack outside scoring punch. He took a beating inside all year and I hope he uses the off season to recuperate rather than traveling with the Greek team. Who knows though, European style ball could be a vacation compared to the clutching, shoving and gouging he sees in the states. He will have high expectations placed on him next year, surely he will be considered among the top 5 or 10 big men in the country pre season. Still he has lived up to Coach Soderberg’s billing as one of the best big men in Billiken history.

Tommie Liddell - 10.3 points per game, 6.9 rebounds per game, 2.7 assists per game - B+

The most highly touted freshman to enter Saint Louis’ Basketball program since Larry Hughes did not disappoint. Leading the team in assists, Tommie played the point for a great deal of the year as a freshman. His tremendous athleticism and an uncanny nose for the ball helped him get nearly 7 rebounds a game, a tremendous stat for a 6'4 freshman guard. Tommie was a 6 time A-10 freshman of the week in the A-10, along with being named to a couple Freshman All America teams and winning the A-10 Rookie of the Year Award. Tommie also pulled off 5 double doubles on the season. His scoring was up and down throughout the year, his high of 22 coming in a loss on the road against Wis-Milwaukee, he also put a few games of sub 5 point scoring efforts. His ability to fill up the stat sheet usually made up for his scoring shortcomings. While working hard on the boards he had more than a few lapses on defense especially early in the season. His 3 point shooting was almost non-existent but his mid range game and ability to finish near the basket was better than expected and he proved himself to be a clutch performer handling the ball and making big shots at the end of games. Tommie’s freshman campaign has to rank as one of the all time best of any Billiken. With improvement on his shooting he will quickly have real NBA prospects and will be leading SLU into the Tourney for the next 3 years.

Anthony Drejaj - 7.8 points per game, 2.2 assists per game, 1.2 steal per game - B

The scrappy senior leader ended his career in fine fashion. Coming in as an unheralded, late qualifying recruit he became a central part of Billiken basketball the past 4 years with his leadership, tenacious defense and clutch shooting. He led the Billikens in steals and 3 point FG% and was second in assists and 3 point field goals. Drejaj suffered injuries this year that kept him out of a couple games and left him at under 100% for several more which leaves his final stats a little less than they should be. Known as an at best streaky shooter throughout his first 3 years with the Billikens, Anthony unbelievably became the best shooter on the team this year. Drejaj has always been a clutch player though and that showed in his performances especially at North Carolina where he scored 16 points on 4-5 3 point shooting. What may be missed most about Anthony may be his leadership on the court. He was a coach on the court and was able to motivate his teammates better than anyone else. While reviled for his athletic shortcomings thorughout his career, Anthony turned into a very good ball player and he will be missed by our young guys next year.

Kevin Lisch - 11.1 points per game, 41.4 3 point FG%, 2.4 rebounds per game - B

The other half of SLU’s two headed freshman monster Kevin Lisch while starting out slow proved by the end of the season to be a true D-1 shooter and the best outside scoring threat on the team. While Kevin took awhile to adapt to the college game offensively he was an outstanding defender from day one, usurping Drejaj as the best defender on the team. He routinely guarded the best opposing perimeter player and shut down some of the best the A-10 had to offer. His on ball defense is the best seen by a Billiken since Carlos Macauley. He did struggle from the field in the non conference season but as he was inserted into the starting lineup 9 games into the season he began to improve and his game tying 3 against St Bonaventure put him over the top and Lisch became our most consistent scoring threat during conference play. He garnered 2 Rookie of the Week awards in the A-10 and was named to the First Team All Rookie Team in the A-10. He was also the second leading scorer for the Billikens and set the all time record for most 3 pointers by a freshman by a Billiken. Like his classmate, Liddell, Lisch had one of the better Freshman campaigns in Billiken history and gives great hope to the program for the next 3 season.

Danny Brown - 4.7 points per game, 2 rebounds per game, 33.8% 3 point FG% - C

Danny Brown had an up and down year, kind of a microcosm of the team as a whole. A couple games he was scoring at will and playing tough defense, most others he was glued to the pine. He had some of the best scoring performances on the team, 16 against Eastern Illinois and St Bonaventure and a game high 23 @ George Washington. Brown started 9 games for the Billikens, mostly in the early season before being displaced in favor of Lisch and Meyer. When Drejaj went out for a couple games and before Lisch found his stroke, Brown was our lone consistent outside threat and filled the role nicely. Late in the season as his minutes dwindled his shooting percentages did as well. It also doesn’t help that Brown is at his best running the floor with abandon and with Liddell, Lisch, or Drejaj manning the point SLU rarely ran up and down the court. His defensive efforts were mediocre at best. He still takes too many chances on steals, doesn’t fight through picks and loses interest if his offensive game is not coming on. Still is one of the better athletes on the team and should have a larger role next year if we can get out and run the floor more often.

Luke Meyer - 3.9 points per game, 2.4 rebounds per game - C

Meyer began the season coming off a foot injury, but after recovering he garnered several starts as the teams last resort at power forward. Although undersized, outmuscled, and outquicked by his opponents he managed to hold his own at the 4 during the second half of the season. Some of his poor defensive performances were not his fault, he just was outmatched. Meyer is a smart player and similar to Liddell has a nose for the ball, he routinely comes up with loose balls or errant rebounds. Definitely not afraid to mix it up despite his size disadvantages, he still is a step slow and good defenders adjust to his moves to the basket. He has proven to be a serviceable mid range shooter if he can get the shot off, but he has still not found the range on his 3 point shot. Until he can find a consistent outside shot he will be at best fighting for role player minutes with Danny Brown as the 7th or 8th man off the bench.

Bryce Husak - 1.3 points per game, 1.1 rebounds per game, 7 blocks in 130 minutes - C

Bryce, despite playing two seasons now, still can be looked upon as an incomplete. He just has not received the minutes necessary to truly evaluate his ability or potential. We probably won’t know after next year either with Voyoukaus still commanding big minutes in the post unless we see more Twin Tower schemes by Coach Soderberg. Husak still is developing his post game but he has made some strides in his footwork on offense. He really needs to push himself and transform his body like Ian did to maximize his potential. Despite being nearly 7'2 Husak rarely out jumps opponents who give up several inches to him. His hands are decent, but his shooting touch is lacking, with more jumping ability he would be able to dunk more and shoot less. He is more than serviceable on defense, and I think is better on offense than shows on the court. He works hard for position, but rarely gets the ball. At some point Soderberg will have to throw him into the fire to see if he is capable of replacing in two years.

Dwayne Polk - 3.6 points per game, 1.8 assists - C-

Dwayne really had a disappointing season. After starting every game of his career he was benched about 10 games into the season mostly due to struggles with his shot. His shooting from all areas of the floor needs to be revamped, he was poor at every aspect, 66% from the line, just 17% from 3 even with a late spurt of 2 makes in the final couple games, and 32% overall. In the end Brad just couldn’t afford to have Polk and Lidell on the floor at the same time because of thier poor shooting. He made a choice and that was to bench Polk. Dwayne played sparingly until the late stages of the season where he was inserted as a kind of sparkplug off the bench, pushing the ball up the floor when his teammates refused to. Despite his offensive struggles his on ball defense was nearly as good as Lisch’s and he made it very hard for the opposing teams ball handler to get up the court. Like Brown, Polk is better in a running game and unfortunately SLU’s running game rarely materialized this season. Hopefully it will be emphasized next year to play to some of Polk’s strengths. I still believe he can contribute at this level, despite his size, if he can correct his shot, even just getting his 3 point FG up to 30% and his overall in the high 30s he can be an effective point in the A-10.

Justin Johnson - 2.9 points per game, 2.7 rebounds per game, 85.2 FT% - D+

JJ continues to be an enigma to Billiken fans and was a tenant of Soderberg’s doghouse most of the season. Entering the year JJ fit all the criteria for our most glaring need, a PF to do the dirty stuff next to Ian. He was able to fulfill those needs for all of 3 contests this year. JJ is high energy on the floor, he also seems to think too much, gets lost on defense and loses his pots in the offense all the time. He has showed significant promise in his 3 years here, most notably with his performances against Gonzaga (10 points 8 Boards), Chicago St(9 and 8), and St. Bonaventure (12 points, 6 boards, 4 dimes) this year. Most of the other games he spent on the bench and when he did get in the game he refused to follow orders, putting up ill advised shots, missing defensive assignments and not blocking out. His one saving grace at times was his FT% which led the team. How ironic that the most inconsistent player on the team can lead in FT%. That is JJ for you. The search for a Billiken power forward continues, anytime your ready to take the job it is yours though JJ. Let’s hope he puts it all together in his final campaign at SLU.

Vash’un Newborne - 2.8 points per game, 2.1 rebounds per game - D-

Newborne proved to be exactly what we didn’t need, through no fault of his own. Wait he does get some fault. He was out of shape, dreadfully out of shape this year. The excuse was he packed on pounds to better butt heads with other power forwards. It might have, if he would have been able to get up and down the court at all. The fact that a 6'5 200 lb sophomore wing player with a bum foot beat him out for playing time at the 4 should say all you need to know about Newborne’s season. Porous defense, pathetic box outs, ill advised shot after ill advised shot, and errant passes were the hallmarks of Newborne’s play this year. He did try hard in practice though, and was consistent(ly bad), enough for him Brad to throw him out there for 10 minutes a game.

Coach Brad Soderberg - 16-13 record, finished tied for 3rd in inaugural A-10 season - B

We all got our hopes up at the end of the season. The young Billikens got on a roll and were in line for postseason play and dare I say a possible NCAA berth. Those hopes were dashed with the team’s late season break down after a hard fought last minute loss to Dayton, Soderberg was unable to get the Bills back together to make a run in the A-10 tourney. Still that should not take away from the achievements made earlier in the season. A team picked for 13th in the A-10 finishes in the top 3. A 9 win team last year gains 7 wins on the strength of mostly freshman players. Soderberg still can be perplexing with his inability to adjust in game and game to game, but then again he didn’t get this far in his career by waffling. What we see is what we get with Soderberg and I am pretty happy with it. He still promises to push the tempo more, but we haven’t really seen it yet. I think we will need to in order to get the best out of our current talent. Of course the real season starts now for Brad as he must sign 2 more players, hopefully at least one outside shooter who can step in and play next year to at least replace Drejaj’s output and take the pressure off of Lisch, and the ever present need of a power forward. I am not too disheartened by not being in the postseason this year, I am nearly elated that we finished above .500 but I think expectations will rise exponentially for next season and Soderberg knows it. Anything less than an NCAA berth next season will be a dissapointment and Soderberg must now get the players who can help take us there from here.

[TheGoat]

Good Stuff, thanks for the summary. Something I found on the statistics part of the web site--

STATISTICS

We beat opponents, for the year mind you in the following categories:

Total points scored

Avg. points scored

Field Goal %

3pt %

Free Throw %

Offensive AND Defensive rebounds

Rebounds per game obviously

Assists

Blocks

We were outdone in the following categories:

Turnovers

Steals

Amazing to think that could be true, and even better if it is to think of the potential impact that those numbers should have had on our W-L total. Crazy stuff.

[willie]

Torch that was a very good post,but I think you are being a little generous to Dreja. Please this is not a Dreja bashing post but his numbers were not high enough or consistent enough to rate a B. To nit-pick I would give him a C+ based more on effort and leadership then actual basketball productivity.

[thetorch]

I may have been a little generous with drejaj. I thought he deserved. He had to have put in a ton of hours on his shot to get it where it is now. At the beginning of the season could you have imagined he would be shooting over 40% from 3 point range? No way not even close. At times he was our lone threat from outside and at other he provided a key alternative to Lisch. He deserves that grade for the work he obviously did to make himself a better player.

[billiken_roy]

drejaj was the heart and soul of the billikens for 4 years. he may not have been an all american, but looking back, i am thrilled he was here. if someone said they could guarantee that every year forever we could have an anthony drejaj on the billikens roster i'd take it in a heartbeat. how many players have we seen stumble through billiken yore never coming close to realizing anywhere near the level of their full potential. cant say that about anthony.