Schasz Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 BRoy or anybody else who attended, I was wondering what was discussed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 -They hope to land a fourth recruit this spring. They are in contact with potential recruits at all five postions. -Izik's ability to excel at the wing may be the key to the season. Izik's has added a lot of upper body strength and has completed his transition to American basketball. He should create a matchup problem every game. -Ian must sit out 10 games this season. He is not likely to redshirt. Brad will work hard to coach his defense. He is barely 18, 260lbs, tall, and big. Brad believes that he will be the most skilled 6'11" player ever to play for SLU. -JJ has increased his weight from 208 to 228. He may be a key contributor this season. He has excelled at practice, but Brad is anxiously awaiting how it will convert into games. -Fisher and Drejaj will man the point, with Clarke as their backup. All five guards (including Clarke and Hunt) should see minutes this season. -Brad has high hopes for Husak (who is over 7 feet tall without shoes on), but he will need more time. He will probably redshirt. -Starters will probably be Fisher, Bryant, Izik, Sloan, and Frericks. -Sloan is shooting better than he was a year ago. They are working with him on finishing over bigger, stronger players. -Frericks will be a big strong defender and rebounder like Kenny, but initially they won't rely upon his one on one post defense as much as they did with Kenny. -Brad is really, really, really excited about the arena project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted October 15, 2003 Author Share Posted October 15, 2003 David, Thanks a lot and great report. I assume questions are asked. If so, did anyone ask about where Coach might envision the Bills when dust settles in conferencegate??? A-10 would be my thoughts/hope right now. Sorry MVC! By the way, I can feel Coach's excitement for this upcoming year loud and clear all the way here in Palm Harbor, FL. If he is as excited as I think he is, then I expect a highlight filled Billiken season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gister Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Publicly, he wants to keep Conference USA together. Privately, he wants the best for the program. I did not hear him mention any one conference. He did say he wanted what was best for basketball, regardless of how Dan Donnigan felt. That would imply the A-10 since they have terrible soccer while the MVC has decent soccer. I wish something could be worked out for soccer so that it can continue to be the powerhouse it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 He was asked about the conference shuffle and stated with an obvious sarcastic tone that his "public" opinion is that he is excited about the future of CUSA. He then acknowledged that CUSA will soon implode and stated that he desired to be in the conference that gave the basketball team the best chance of competing for a national championship. (He apologized to Dan Donnigan and the soccer bills.) I have heard through the grapevine that Brad is excited about the A-10 opportunity. Brad did state that Woolard is working night and day to put SLU in the best basketball conference. He said that Doug is regularly working the phones with other AD's, commissioners, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 The soccer program will be tops in the country regardless of conference affiliation. The program's, reputation, facilities, coaching staff, and non-conference schedule will ensure their success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 david pretty much hit all the high points. not much to add. we did not find out anything about the first public opportunity to see the team. the practice will be closed to the public for a week. i will say this. last year i never felt brad confidently talk about any player except marque. brad loves this team. i think he stressed there are a lot of questions to be answered yet. but there are no doubt some intriguing aspects that he pointed out tonite. izik playing wing, a center that will shoot good free throws, chris sloan on a mission to prove he is more than a role player, an extremely athletic power forward in justin johnson, brad stating again that ian will end up being the BEST inside player st louis has ever had by the time he graduates, comparing reggie bryant the shooter to kirk penney, etc. he is excited. there is no denying that. and i think we have grown to see that brad soderberg is an honest man that doesnt blow smoke. if brad's excited, that's good enough for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CentFLBilliken Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 The Atlantic 10 is having a very good year in soccer. Dayton has come from nowhere to be ranked #8 in the latest poll and Duquesne moved into the top 25 as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 You know why Brad is so excited? Because last year he was forced to coach a team that consisted of a group of another coach's players who, in the words of Brad, were routinely overmatched athletically. This year, Brad will coach a team that will only have two significant contributors--Sloan and Fisher--who were not brought in by Brad. Plus, Sloan and Fisher are smart, hardworking defenders who understand Brad's system. The excitement we hear in Brad's voice and see in his mannerisms results from the significantly upgraded talent he has assembled in only one year. On an unrelated note, I found myself pleased to hear that Brad thinks Marqutte won't be anywhere near as good this season. I would LOVE to beat them twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Majerus Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 I really think we need to beat them the 3rd time in the CUSA tournament... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 You are assuming that Marquette will qualify for the conference tournament. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 and that they win on the first day to be able to play us the second day. j/k ;-) law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gister Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 It's great to hear you a little more upbeat about this team!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Majerus Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 My bad... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheA_Bomb Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 We got very excited a few years ago when Romar was very upbeat at the beginning of the season. That season didn't turn out so well. Some of you may have noticed Brad is not Romar. I think he is more of a Bill Parcell's type. You know the team may do well but he will always point out room for improvement. So for him to get excited it is a good sign. The A10 is not a better conf. than CUSA but it has more of a basketball focus which is good for us. It is also exciting to mix it up a bit with some different teams X, St. Joes, Temple. If we join the A-10 it is possible to be in another conf. for Soccer (possibly) the MVC Soccer League has very differnt membership than the rest of the sports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gister Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 That's good to hear. I haven't paid attention to how the A-10 is doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 A-10 soccer is improving and with the addition of us and Charlotte it will be a good league ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobo Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 I think the ACC will be ok for soccer, but we could go independent also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyjibo Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Doesn't Richmond and GW usually have good teams? With them having off years it is a good sign other teams pick up the slack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gister Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Brad brought up a topic to be discussed today at the coaches meeting. And that is thed 5/8 rule. He was hopeful that the rule whould be shelved. I don't know what the odds are, but it is one of the main non-ethics topics mentioned in and ESPN article about the meeting. Apparently quite a few coaches don't see the reason for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 gister, imo the 5/8 rule in theory was a good rule. it prevented teams from stealing and disposing of players and treating them like property. however, i guess they didnt forsee the roster shortages it would cause. now i dont think they know how to react to fix it. is it a one way or the other type of thing? i dont know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gister Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 It will be interesting to see if anything substantive comes out of the meeting. With the ethics issues and only a 3 hour meeting, I doubt that anything will be settled in regards to the 5/8 rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 I am curious that Brad would have said he does not think that Marquette will be as good this year - sounds like bulletin board material. Of course I guess all he could have meant was that it is hard to say a team will be final 4 material again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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