an in-person assessment of Saturday

[Billiken Law]

First off I have to ask, why do Bills fans not travel to games? MU is only a 6 hour drive and on a Saturday night it's an easy drive up for what almost always turns out to be a great game. There were maybe 20 Bills fans in attendance out of 18,500 people. This team deserves more support than that. I know SLU has a good Milwaukee alumni presence, where were they?

As for the game, wow, what a barnburner. Typical tough SLU D and everyone in my crew was coming up to me afterwards and saying "man, you were right about Bryant." Maybe this was Izik's coming out game too? He looked really good. He finally started penetrating more, taking advantage of his size. His outside shot looks so awkward, he's much better on the penetration.

Bad officiating for stretches. Welmer is one of the best but the other 2 - they were bad on both sides. I saw some complaints about the 5 second call. It occured right in front of Soderberg and he did not complain one bit about it. I actually thought they got Fish for a push-off as he was leading with his forearm. It wasn't until after the game that I learned it was a 5 second call.

B-Roy was almost correct in saying that the winner would be who got more out of the Merritt/Novak or Frericks/Izik combos. What B-Roy didn't know (nor did I until Saturday night) was that Novak was sick and that Sanders and Mason would step up like they did. I said 3's and FT's made would be the difference - MU made 1 more 3 and 1 more FT.

SLU showed major guts coming back in the last 5 minutes. MU, when they were up 7, made the mistake of taking the air out of the ball and that led to bad shots and turnovers - SLU made them pay. But in the end, is there anyone else you'd want with the ball than Travis Diener. I'm sure he called Dwyane Wade and said "did you see what I did to Fisher??" By the way, did Brad mention his use of TO's in his post game comments? He was out of them by the 9 minute mark. Could have used one down the stretch.

One observation on SLU's offense - they seem to go too one-dimensional at times. Reggie is going to wear down as he spends the entire game running through picks to get open. Too often it seemed that SLU's offense reverted to "get the ball to Reggie." They set very good picks to get him open - many double screens, but sometimes MU was getting through the screens and keeping Reg from the ball.

Post-game my crew and I were all in agreement - SLU wins down here.

Next 3 at home against lower-level teams. USM is better than expected but the others, well, SLU should be 4-1 in conference after this stretch.

[slufanskip]

Leading with a forearm ... that sounds like a nice way to say the 5 sec call was wrong but he should have been called for leading with a forearm ... that is a joke ... there was no contact and there was no leading with a forearm.

Yes Bryant is our leading scorer and they look to him ... but it is much different than last year when ev eryone stood around waiting for Marque.

IO is improving ... but he is more effective when he receives the ball about 4-6 ft from the basket ... not penetrating ... he turns it over too much with his dribble.

The fouls were even ... but it is not always how many you call it is who they are called on and when ... Tom was taken out of that game.

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[tseugnekillib]

On his radio show Sunday night, Coach Soderberg stated that he didn't agree with the call, but that the ball was put back into play immediately and he didn't have the time to stand and argue with the ref. He also thought when the call was made too late and that JF shoulders were even with his defenders shoulders, thus no five second call was possible, according to his recall of the rule.

[Schasz]

Of whether, or not, Coach Soderberg appeared to argue the 5 Sec call...it was a bullspit homer call that did impact what was a damn good ballgame.

[slufanskip]

When I first saw the play ... I stated Brad should be getting tossed over this call. ... but he could not take the chance of a quick technical either ... if the guy made that call to take the ball out of our hands how quick would he go for the win with a T call.

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[Basketbill]

I looked it up last night, after watching the game for the firtst time. "Closely guarded player" in the front court may not control the ball for five seconds" There is no mention of movement toward the basket, pass attempt or what closely guarded means....

seems to be a rule put in to assure an officials discretion.

[Box and Won]

I'm sure there would have been more SLU fans in Milwaukee had the Rams not been playing on Saturday afternoon. I certainly would have been there.

Is anyone else heading to Chicago in February for the DePaul game? Unfortunately, it's the same weekend as Mardi Gras.

[BleedBlue]

fans do travel...

There were more Billiken fans at the TCU game than Frogs. The Blue Crew was out in force and were definitely louder than the cheerleaders!

[kshoe]

I sat with about 5 other SLU fans way up high. Were we included in the estimate of 20? Seriously, you are right that we don't travel well. Probably has something to do with the average age of our fan base but who knows. There is no reason Billiken fans, in particular people on this board that care enough to read posts, can't make some of these trips. SMS, Depaul and Memphis are all reasonable. I will be going to the Depaul and Memphis games? Who else plans on going?

I watched the tape last night of the 5 second call. Marquette called a timeout immediately after the play and you could see Brad yelling at the refs. He was not happy.

As for the timeouts he took 2 early in an attempt to stop the run and Sloan took the final one as he was falling down. I'm not sure on what possession having another timeout would have made a difference. Seems to me Marquette took all the timeouts we would have wanted anyway.

[billiken_roy]

travel well? you mean billiken law, the 12 or so of us that annually go to the conference tourney isnt considered well? my point is, if our fans wont travel to the final games in the all important tourney, what would make you think that would change for an individual game to milwaukee?

[Basketbill]

he did turn in the direction of the official and mouth something which I read as a sarcastic "good call" ......sometimes words are not as effective as stairs. Bjorn Borg raely argued a call but when he stared at a lineman for minutes, everyone in the stadium new what was going on.

moreover down by a point, with 40 seconds left is not the time to get a T

[nostatic]

Took my family to the game -- half of us were at the top of sec. 403 and the other half was down low near the floor. Talked to Brad afterward; he definitely said "Good call" (sarcastically) to the ref after the five second call. A couple of observations:

1) We may have seen what this team will turn into in the first half -- consistent effort to try to get the ball to TF, IO and RB. This gives you great balance by getting the ball to your best inside player, your best midrange player, and your best perimeter player. 2 things happened in the second half -- TF picked up some fouls, which forced him out of the game. And Crean came out in the 2nd half and went small. When MU made their run, the guy IO was guarding went around him twice like he was standing still for easy buckets. So then AD came in (we go small to match MU) -- it helps defensively a little, but we lose our flow on offense.

2) MU gets the 8 point lead, and goes box and 1 on RB. That backfires because SLU has some other people step up.

3) We still look for RB too much at times, but at least we are not standing around watching. We are moving and screening.

4) Brad used his timeouts to try to stop the runs MU was making; the last one was used to try to avoid a turnover (can't blame the player). He talked more with the players during dead balls and the TV timeouts were used well. Don't think this cost us anything.

5) Can't comment on the 5 second call -- that came out of the blue. Only 1 person was even thinking about that possibility.

This will be a nice team to continue to watch. I'll be down at DePaul.

Don't take these next 3 home games for granted.

[Billiken Law]

I hear you, B-Roy. It's a shame because this is a team that deserves support. Last year Louisville had a ton of people at MU for a weekend game and MU always brings a good number to SLU. Road trips are a great part of the college experience.

A saturday night game is PERFECT for a road-trip. You can drive in that morning, hit the bars for a few hours before the game then retreat to your hotel afterwards. Seeing other schools is a lot of fun as well.

[bonwich]

...to *encourage* fans to accompany the team on the road?

[AlumniFan]

I posted a plea to get a group together to go to the Memphis game and there were only one or two responses. I would love to go, especially to Memphis, because it is suppose to be a fun town and is a relatively short drive.

Consequently, I ask again: "Does anyone want plan a trip to the Memphis game?"

P.S. I would be up for the DePaul game possibly as well.

[kshoe]

and nobody went. People always want to blame the atheltic department/marketing team but until the individuals (in particular the people on this board) start going to these games than who is really to blame?

[Box and Won]

Might be a good initiative for the Blue Crew to start up. Maybe collaborate with representatives from our ticket office to see if they could procure a block of tickets for SLU students in the other team's arena. Perhaps the students could all hit the road at the same time, decorate their cars and form a "Billiken Caravan."

It was great to see our fans on tv at the TCU game. Definitely looked like we had a good showing!

[jjray]

>>1) We may have seen what this team will turn into in the first half -- consistent effort to try to get the ball to TF, IO and RB. This gives you great balance by getting the ball to your best inside player, your best midrange player, and your best perimeter player. 2 things happened in the second half -- TF picked up some fouls, which forced him out of the game. And Crean came out in the 2nd half and went small. When MU made their run, the guy IO was guarding went around him twice like he was standing still for easy buckets. So then AD came in (we go small to match MU) -- it helps defensively a little, but we lose our flow on offense.<<

Drejaj is very streaky as a shooter. When his shot leaves him ... man, it's gone. I think I remember him throwing up a air ball on a 3 attempt in the 2nd half Saturday (which is better than the air ball he posted on a freethrow attempt about 5 games ago on the road). This is one of the reasons not getting Morris really hurts. We desperately need another outside shooter 1 through 3. Next year we should have that problem solved (it's always "next year" when you are a Billikens fan).

[kshoe]

but I'm probably just going to drive down on my own with my fiance and another couple or two. We should, however, think about a place to meet after the game on Beale Street. I would think a Saturday night down there with some good barbeque and jazz would interest a lot of people.

Also the Tulane game is on a Saturday night. I'm sure even the wives would love to go on a trip to New Orleans for the weekend.

[3star_recruit]

For which remaining games is a bus provided? I'd look to do a road game this year.

[bonwich]

Hey, I'm getting old, maybe I just don't remember it. But I sure don't recall getting a mailing or any other form of communication (about the SMS bus trip) as a season ticket holder. Is there an e-mail Billiken newsletter? Does the athletic department ever solicit on this board?

I note in passing that there was an ad for Billiken basketball in the Sunday paper -- promoting the Saturday women's game. Forgive my blatant defiance of Title IX and EEO, but when there's a men's game on Tuesday, that's just plain stupid.

It's all very well to invoke personal responsibility, but we're not the ones being paid to elicit the maximum amount of attention for the program.

[billiken_roy]

beale street on weekends, especially after a game, is nuts. dont think you can just say, "meet you at the rum boogie cafe a half an hour after the game and expect to get much of a group in let alone together." that said, i probably enjoy beale street more than any other entertainment center that i have visited in america.

[billiken_roy]

the sms game was a poor choice to organize a trip imo. first off too close to xmas, second, not the greatest of rides to take or destinations. plus it was not an overniter. if i recall, drive down, watch and drive back. that sounded like work not relaxation to me.

memphis would be a lot more fun same with chicago.

[billiken_roy]

i believe it was organized and publicized within the billiken club. if you are not a member, there would have been no way you would have known.

[billiken_roy]

jjray, dont you get the feeling that the "next year" is truly different this time? our recruits are ones that we have all truly seen as opposed to just reading press clippings or going by coach's account. i am probably more excited about "next year" than i have been since the eve of the legend's class.