Danny Brown

[Billikenbooster]

Don't you guys remember how great DB played in the early games last year, only to be heard of sparingly the rest of the year because his defense was lackluster after that?

Let's wait a few games before putting Danny in the starting lineup. He has shown tremendous offensive abilities against the two weaklings. I will gladly take off my hat to him in a month if he keeps this up, and yes it would be soooo sweet to have another offensive weapon on the floor with the big three. Let's just wait til we sanctify him yet.

mhg

[NH]

Everyone knows danny has been streaky in the past, but I think he should be in the starting lineup, I think another thing with Danny is confidence if his shots are falling he is gonna really believe in himself and i think then he could be a star, I think we should go with:

TL

KL

DB

OI/HD

IV

[GOSLU68]

that gives us the best offense however is OBi or DB going to move their feet or DB is he going to worry about anything other than standing on his spot waiting for the assist; DM runs the floor much like the new associate coach at Valpo-Drew? who used to battle out from under the basket to post up at the key? That is DM's best move

not as a DB stand still wing shooter; seems like the kind of player that shoots better when moving and adjusts his balance automatically

and looks a bit awkward when he has too much time to shoot-boy do we have choices-not like the OI senior season where played a 3-4 as a 5 and it kind of worked but everyone stood around and watched

[Risky1]

I feel that we have line-up options this year that have not been available for a long time: If ever.

The normal starting line-up (assuming JJ is ready to play) might be

IV, TL, KL, LM, JJ. The second line, and very interchangable to meet match-up situations, would be BH, DP, DM, DB, OBI/HD/AK. You don't give up much with the subs and this could keep everyone fresh. Not too many teams in the country have depth potential like this.

I am excited about this season. It is going to be fun.

[Hardball]

This is where BS is going to have to grow as a coach. There is no question DB has the potential to have great offensive year but he does have defensive lapses. So what! BS can't get so worked up over a bad defensive sequence. DB starting going downhill last year when BS started riding him about his defense and he lost all confidence in his offensive game. If you are going to be committed to the running game you will have more bad shots taken, more turnovers and more defensive lapses. This doesn't mean you are playing poorly it is just the by-products of the running game. There is nothing wrong with beating teams with offense. Can BS be happy beating teams with offense as opposed to defense? Great question IMO. We will know if BS is committed to the running game when we play a good team who tries to slow our pace of the game. Will he revert to his old ways or keep pushing the ball. Only time will tell.

[bauman]

A couple of things:

I hope BS cuts DB some slack on "D", but DB doesn't get a free pass-he has to work on eliminating the mental laspes that he displayed last year, often having absolutely no clue where his man was.

Are you Jim Rome? Your "Great question IMO" seems like his objective analysis of his own shows, "Great show, today."

Brad is more committed to winning than he is to satisfying posters on this Board who only want him to run, run, run. I think anyone who has been to the two games and/or been to any practices KNOWS that he wants them to move quickly up/down the court. HOWEVER, if it takes a different tactic to win a game, based on how an opponent is playing, I would hope he adjusts his gameplan even at the risk of offending some Board posters.

[slu72]

Face it not every player on the court is KL or LM or DP when it comes to defense. Coaches have to know whether they're gaining or losing when it comes to whose on the floor. If DB's scores twenty but his man puts in 30 he's got to sit. But if vice versa, he's got to play. Now it ain't gonna be pretty if DB's man is laying 20 on him, fans would be going "man he can't play a lick of D", but if he outscores his guy by 5, or 7, or 10 ppt's, he's helping us. Now if UB sits him to make a point about D, he hurts the team by reducing our offense. I think Hardball's suggesting that UB uses a shorter lease with some players...and it costs us on offense. I can't say whether this is the case or not, at times it appears he has done this. DB is clearly the third or fourth best offensive playmaker we have on this team, I hope he gets a fair shot at proving himself worthy of starting or at least getting 25mpg.

[tseugnekillib]

Hardball....

DB has all of the physical tools to be one of the best defenders on the team, if not THE best SLU defender. Why should we expect less of DB on the defensive end than we do TL, KL, DP, LM, etc. DB simply has to add a little more heart, a little more mental toughness, a little more smarts, and a little more respect for his teammates' defensive effort. When DB doesn't play good defense it is simply because he doesn't want to! What else would make him different than his teammates? What else?

If SLU is going to maximize its potential in the 2006-7 season, SLU must become a consistently strong defensive team. To win on the road at Loyola, SIU-C, Houston, Pacific, and in the A-10, SLU must be strong defensively because on some nights your shooting percentage is going to be below average.

I like our offense, particularly the consistency that IV, TL and KL bring....but don't bank on SLU outscoring every road opponent.

St. Bonnie scored 95 points and lost. To give up 98 points means you played crap defensively. (btw, the Bonnies were only 22 for 41 from the FT line)

I agree that a faster paced SLU offense will lead to a few bad shots and a few more turnovers. However, there is absolutely no relationship between the running game and one player unwilling to give an all-out effort on defense. Please NO EXCUSES for an excellent athlete like DB not playing good defense. It's Danny that has to change and not the coach.

[Hardball]

TG who said anything about DB not giving proper effort. I am not as close to the coaching staff as you appear by your comments. I will just say that I was never left with the impression that DB was not giving full effort. What I did notice was a player tearing it up at the the begining of the year in 05 and then after some defensive lapses or stupid plays, whatever you want to call it, DB started playing afraid. BS has a little of Rich Grawer in him for some players and I don't happen to think that is very good way to coach. Every player will not be able to play defense like KL or be as smart as KL so you can't expect players to do something they are not capable of doing. Now you can suggest DB is capable but I would suggest KL is unigue in his appraoch that no other player imitates. If this team is going to win we will need more offense not more defense. The focus was on defense last year and you see what happened. My emphasis would be on offense this year since because I think we play better than average defense.

And to suggest again that our success in 06-07 will be directly tied to defense is ridiculous and the kind of thinking that killed us in '05. That's Dick Bennett's way of thinking. How how was our defense against St.Joes,Gonzaga,Iowa,Dayton,Xavier,Richmond? You can talk all you want about defense but our season was a failure last year becasue we couldn't score. And for that reason I say you give DB some slack. and hope that with some leeway DB will gain some confidence and the ability to help this team score.

[Scoop]

If DB goes 6-8 he can stand and wait for the assist all game. I will trade a couple mistakes for the ability for someone to consistantly knock down the outside jumper. Ian probably thinks so too.

[slufanskip]

Of course our success will be directly related to our defense. What I would like to see though is a better balance, and if Danny can provide us that than I want him in. So far it is only 2 games, so we will see. I like the way he knows to get down the floor and get set at the line. If he continues to hit 3's at a decent rate he will open up the middle as we push the ball. Defenders will have to spread out more. One of the reasons we couldn't convert in transition is the opponent only had to get 2 guys back and stop the middle.

Ask Bruce Weber, Chris Lowry, Kelvin Sampson, Rick Barnes, Ben Howlett(sp?) .... I could go on forever if you have to play great D to win, everyone of them will tell you yes and will probably tell you it is at least as important as offense if not more. The trick is to find a balance and to be able to take advantage of the opportunities to run when they come. I like Danny in the game, but he has to play D and I think he has and will continue.

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[AlumniFan]

Is this the same Dick Bennett that took Wisconsin to the Final Four? Yeah, I would hate for his "way of thinking" to lead us to the Final Four......

"A strong man stands up for himself; a stronger man stands up for others." - Ben

[slu72]

as in UB"s first fout years. Due to the LO0T PRINCIPLE (lack of offensive talent), UB's teams had to play exceptional D to have any shot at winning games. We simply could not afford to get in shootouts with anyone. This does not appear to be the case this year. We have three starters who averaged double figures last year. And hopefully all of them have improved their offensive skills over the summer. TL's outside shooting, IV more moves and the green light to step out, KL's 3 getting better. This gives UB a luxury he hasn't had in the past, so maybe he can play a guy who may or may not have the defensive skills or intensity he'd prefer. This thread on DB is really about UB's coaching philosophy and his willingness to changing it. His game has always been conservative. Now he's got the tools to play it a little looser and open it up. We should have a pretty good indication after the Tx A&M tournament which way he's going to do it.