Brad - status report

[cheeseman]

Earlier I posted that we would have several check points before the start of next season to see how Brad is doing. The first check point is the Spring Signing period - how has Brad done? One recruit, 2 open schollies. His one recruit was a nice pick up - I know some have called him a mid major prospect but he had verballed to Missouri and Missouri was going to give him a schollie so he is a good pick up. However, the 2 open schollies leave us once again with a 1 step forward and 1 step back situation. Brad can not be given a plus nor can he be given a minus at this time for the Spring signing period. He gets a neutral rating which neither helps nor hurts his grade. Too many neutrals will eventually equal a minus. I know that the spring period is not over yet so technically his final rating has to wait. The second check point is this summer for transfers or late qualifiers and early oral committments. We simply will have to wait and see if he nets anything here but he certainly could benefit from a positive in this one. The third and final is the Fall signing period. Nothing more needs to be said about the importance of this check point. Before the season begins we will know if Brad is trending up or trending down.

[tseugnekillib]

I agree on the Spring, Summer, Fall timing dates.

[TheVanillaGorilla]

AK would have loved to go to Mizzou. But he did not turn into what Quin wanted to see so quin told him he had to go to prep school and then Mizzou would look at him. He doesnt really fit Andersons system so no change of heart from Mizzou sent him in need of a new school. SLU beat out UM - W congrats! He might actually turn into a decent player in a couple of year in the A10 conference.

I will be interesting the next few years to see if SLU and their 40 minutes of snore can recruit vs Anderson and his uptempo/smothering Defense style. Anderson will recruit more locally than Quin ever did. Suggs, Powell, Griffy, ect... Should be fun to watch.

[kevinfootes]

I'll measure Brad by wins and losses, during the season...not idle speculation.

[kevinfootes]

so you concede that Quin was a failure as a recruiter?

I have no qualms with Anderson, as of yet. I find it funny that you are pumped that Mizzou will be recruiting the same players as SLU. So much for being in some higher echelon. I guess that puts both programs at the same level. Perhaps Anderson will even have the guts to play SLU.

[slu72]

W's are the measuring stick, so far he's around .500. W's are the result of the talent you bring in and how you coach that talent. If he is close to .500 after next season and the talent he's recruited doesn't indicate it will get any better....then it's time to show him the door.

[Billikenbooster]

W's also come by lack of injuries, and when UB didn't win here, it was due to injuries. Take out the season of TF and RB senior year, and it's much better.

That year could really have been special, cause we had seen what TF could do inside, and Reggie was sooo special. Just couldn't get it done.

To fault UB, it did take a while for him to get IV starting, and the end of that year showed us the potential that he had. It made last year possible. That is why I wanted BH to get more PT last year.

mhg

[kevinfootes]

I've said all along that, barring injury or Ian's departure, this team should win 20 games next year. I think Brad needs at LEAST an NIT berth to keep his job.

[cheeseman]

Injuries are the monster under the bed for all coaches. To say that was why he had that bad season is true but as the coach he has the responsibility to figure something out. The real problem was that he took too long to figure out that what he was doing was not working. Had he changed earlier he might have won a few more games - who knows.

[slu72]

what I still can't figure out about the "lost" season...was the up and down movement of players, ie Clark, JJ, etc. Have a good game, then disappear, come back with a nice effort, disappear again .... something's not right about that.

[cheeseman]

Brad did that because he was tied to his upperclassmen and could simply not bring himself to realize that they for whatever the reason could not get it done. So, a young player showed promise and he conviced himself that it was a fluke. He finally came to the correct realization but there was only 5 games left in the season.

[kshoe]

but when 2 scholarships continually go unused EVERY year we are going to be hurt by them more than most teams. Our lack of depth should be a major concern for next years team. What happens if KL, TL or IV go down for a few games. Other NCAA caliber teams have solid options on the bench if that happens. Do we?

[Battlecat455]

What are you talking about? Are you suggesting that Brad missed something with Clarke and JJ? Both were inconsistent in their level of play on either end of the court. JJ still is. The constant negativity surrounding UB astounds me. The truth is, we have a nice team with players that represent the school in favorable light. The kids play hard and excell in their studies. We were competitive in the new conference and opened some eyes. There is absolutely no reason to believe that TL, KL, IV and DB won't improve their games and AK and DM are nice recruits that will contribute over time. We don't know much about OI, but he was highly recruited before his unfortunate injury his senior year. We have a chance to make some noise next year, although we probably won't accomplish every thing we would like.(i.e. Sweet 16). Romar left the cupboard bare and UB is rebuilding the program in his style. Progress IS being made, it's just not as fast as many would like. You simply can't wake up one morning and decide " Okay. Now we will go be Duke!" or Xavier, for that matter. Calm down, it will alright.

[billikenman]

You can't just throw out the 9-21 season. Players got hurt but Brad failied to connect with this team. He spent more time at games yelling at players and throwing stuff then he did trying to talk to players and understand what he had. DC was a good player if coach did anything with him. Brad doesn't understand talent and is too scared to try anything new. Dick Bennette did it this way so that means coach has to do whatever Dick did at Wisconsin. Look at Ian and Luke. Ian didn't play till Tom got hurt and Luke didn't play until JJ and V failed horribly. Polk couldn't hit a shot to save him life so he waits until the season is half over before he moves Tommie to the point. Everything that Coach does is a reaction, he never doesn anything new to try and bring energy or a new look. Why do you think he is here and not Wisconsin?

[cheeseman]

I actually do think he missed it with Clarke and with JJ he has not reached him - why, who knows sometimes that happens. Clarke had plenty of upside but coach's approach did not work with him. What I am referencing is his lack of willing to start playing Danny and Luke until the end of the season. He got lucky that TF got hurt or else IV would have languished on the bench also. Brad has to be willing to abandon what is not working rather than simply continue digging the hole deeper. This is a mark of a good leader. Brad is showing signs of growth but time may very well run out on him unless he picks it up. He has to win next year - NCAA or NIT - one of the two for sure and if it is the NIT instead of the NCAA then he has to have a good fall signing class. Another neutral class costs him.

[slu72]

In the DC Ahern debate some prominent posters argued that DC was the better choice for SLU. Ok, results to date seem to prove otherwise, ie DC gone to El Paso, Ahern a semi star at Missouri State. Now, DC plays next year for El Paso, let's assume he shines..... what does that tell us about UB? You guys who go to all lengths to defend UB by saying DC was the better choice are going to be up a creek if DC pans out nicely for El Paso, because it begs the question, why didn't it happen here? A DC type wing hitting 3's would look awfully good in our starting lineup next year.

[cheeseman]

I am not sure that DC was a better choice than Ahern but that still does not mean that Brad did not handle DC correctly. The point I was making was that DC had good stats in h.s. and if Brad preferred him for whatever the reason then fine but to get nothing out him tells me that something was wrong - either Brad's evaluation of him or his handling. Either way it is a moot issue.

[Sheltiedave]

Wrong, Luke didn't play because Luke was injured. His playing time ramped up as he rounded into game shape, and once Luke was healthy JJ rarely saw the court. If you are going to do some judging, at least get the scene and the facts correct.

[slu72]

Cheesey, not if DC goes on to have a banner year at UTEP. The UB haters will come here screaming how UB mishandled the kid and cite it as another reason he's got to go....bet on it.

[Hardball]

BS made a mistake on Ahern, Shaw and Stemler. As far as Ahern being a semi-star at MSU he was first team All Conference and lead the MVC in scoring which landed four teams in the NCAA tournament. The way I see it is that BS has made a major recruiting mistake in three out of the four years he has been a head coach.

Where would SLU be today if they would have landed the three missed recruits from above? Not that all of them would have been big-time stars at SLU but our team and depth would be 100% better. Shaw at the four would have looked a lot better than LM or VN the last two years. Sure would be nice to have a shooter of Ahern's caliber coming off the bench when we saw the zone defenses the last two years. And if we could have plugged Stemler into next years starting line-up I think the conversation would be not making the tournament but how far could we advance.

I think there is a hitch with BS that no one seems to talk about. You are who you are and BS is a direct disciple of Dick Bennett. The connection between the two has been mentioned many times. Dick Bennett would not run an up-tempo, push the ball offense under any circumstances. He could not stomach the turnovers or the ill-timed shots that come along with this style of play. He essentially is a control tempo coach. Where did BS get his coaching style? That's right Dick Bennett. BS is essentially the same style coach as DB. BS is a control tempo coach. BS emotionally can't handle the turnovers and ill-time shots that come along with the up-tempo, push the ball style of play. Consequently why would he recruit a player like DP, who is perfect for this style of play, and then play a control tempo game. That's a problem and a failure in judgment on what your team needs. BS says SLU will run at the beginning of every year and then we end up playing games in the 30's, 40’s, and 50’s the whole second half of the year. It is this constant pressure of playing mistake free basketball (which is unrealistic) that turns good players into struggling players.

[cheeseman]

Brad must be careful that he does not become the "little boy who cried wolf". Every time he says we are going to uptempo and it does not happen then he looses a little crediability. Whether DC becomes a star at UTEP or not is not the point, the point is while he was here he did not flourish under Brad - period. Whose fault is that - well a supervisor is suppose to be held accountable for his staff that underperforms so Brad is accountable for DC's lack of production. He also is accountable for his evaluations of recruits - Ahern and whoever. Brad's problem is he is at best 50 50 on both these topics. This is not baseball where 1-3 makes you a star. If I missed on 50% of my decisions and implementations I would have lost my job.

[GOSLU68]

Ahearne and his family begged for a chance for the kid to go to

SLU; he would have been the best free throw shooter on the team and the best ball hawk since the tenacious Scott Highmark

and that would have been fun to watch with DP, AJ, etc. Darren Clarke was intimidated by D1 opposition, he only looked good when left unguarded; he had no toughness. Our coach is tough on himself but not brutal with his players like Spoon or Grawer;

remember how Spoon made Virgil Cobbins play with such a bad

ankle? We definitely need some more intimidating players. They

need to qualify academically and not come out of prison but some multisport types or banger rebounders wouldn't hurt us. Carlos Skinner played his heart out for Grawer and was rewarded with minutes for rebounding not shooting; we need a rebounder; we can not count on a guard to be our second best

rebounder

[moytoy12]

A mistake is further compounded if you get a recruit who, while obviously a very good high school player, doesn't fit into your system.

Don't know if that made sense, but if brad is going to stick to his slow tempo ball (do we have reason to think otherwise?), then you better damn well recruit the players that fit that system. I agree, why recruit DP if you are not going to utilize that person's skills?

[billiken_roy]

i disagree with the assertion that coach soderberg is not tough on the players. i have sat through practices and had very uncomfortable minutes while he took it to the players for what they had did (or rather didnt do) in a scrimmage or drill.

if you mean benching clarke and johnson rather than playing them is not tough. they got their share of tough love at a practice i can assure you. there is no one to blame for johnson and clarke's lack of playing time than johnson and clarke themselves. johnson has one year to snap out of it and use that potential and darren has two. it will be interesting to see if they ever live up to the billings. however, i have always believed the extent of heart and guts is the hardest attribute to judge when recruiting and yet is probably the most important.