Game Observations

[Billinikens]

1. We have an unhealthy trend of starting slow. We may get away with that against some teams, but in conference play on the road that is a dangerous habit that we need to break.

2. Luke Meyer was the key to this basketball game. Brad said on the postgame show with Rammer that he is the leader in the locker room and it translated to the court to start the second half.

3. Continuing with Luke, it seemed that putting him at the high post where he can penetrate, dump down to Ian, or kick to one of the shooters on the wings was effective today. I love his work on the baseline, but I'd like to see this look a bit more often.

4. Our bench is worse than mediocre. I wouldn't be suprised if we lose an A10 game that we shouldn't because IV gets into early foul trouble. JJ is absolutely lost and a walking turnover and BH is just too slow to be effective. Tommie made two very nice passes to him today that he blew, one b/c he didn't catch the ball and the other b/c he took so long getting the ball up that he got blocked (although he was probably fouled and it wasn't called, but if he's quicker it's a non-issue). To me, just give AK the minutes to build experience. He's at least as good as the other two. Tell him not to be nervous, just go put a body on someone and get rebounds.

5. DP was huge on the boards today, particularly late. Great to see him contributing any way possible, but it also highlights our lack of an effective big to help IV.

6. It seems to me that TL can get to the rim whenever he wants so I'd like to see him get more assertive doing so. Players like that tend to keep long scoring droughts from taking place.

7. Back to the bench, DB has regressed quite a bit. I really am only comfortable with the starting five out there. I think our depth is what it is on the inside, but DB is the key to any postseason run we hope to make. If he can get back to the point where he makes his open three's and can get to the rim on occasion, that would add valuable mintues/contributions from the bench that aren't happening right now.

Overall, a great second half. If we play that kind of basketball all the time, we'll win this conference. However, it will take two halves like the second one today to beat Xavier. Let's hope BS can continue to eek just enough out of the bench to keep the starters fresh.

[Box and Won]

That had to be the worst officiating crew we've had all year - absolutely terrible job by the zebras.

[SShoe]

They were a joke. Who were those guys? I've never seen any of those officials before. My guess is they were SEC refs. What is it with refs these days that they let teams mug players on the inside, but want to make statement calls with weak crap on the perimeter?

Kevin certainly had the best stats today, but Luke was our game MVP as he brought us back to life in the first five of the second half. The more I watch him, the more I like.

The blocked shot on Tommie by the Ole Miss forward was probably the best blocked shot I've seen in person, ever. Tommie was all ready for some show time. Miss' bigs were some beefy boys.

[SLUMS81]

SLU got away with some fouls of their own. IV fouled the Ole Miss point guard on his final last second three point prayer right in front of one of the refs, but no foul was called. 3 free throws to tie the game would have been a disaster.

[Billikan]

I have not seen a replay but I watched that last play closely live and Ian was standing with arms up and the guy just jumped into him hoping that the refs would bail him out so I do not think that was a bad call.

[cheeseman]

First, I had my doubts at the end of the first half but they came roaring back. I agree heroics like that will be hard to sustain all season. Second, the refs were very inconsistent today and hard to figure out what they wanted. Third, I was suprised by how close the rebounding was for both teams. I would have sworn that they out rebounded us by a bunch. Fourth, Luke played almost a flawless second half. He was the key to the victory although the entire team really stepped up their defense in the second half. Luke shot very well from the perimeter and without him stepping up on offense early in the second half we would not have won. Fifth, Polk, while he only had two points they came at a big time. He misses any of those free throws and who knows how the game turns out. His defense and rebounding in the second half was outstanding and a big factor in us winning. Sixth, no ref is going to call a foul at the end of the game like that to decide the outcome unless the player was mugged. He was so out of control that who knows what happened on the play - maybe it was charge. Either way, the refs made the right call by not calling anything. Finally, this was a must win game for us and the team came through. I do agree, our bench is very weak and seems to be regressing. Bryce would drop a handshake and he needs to leave an hour early to catch the bus to the game he is so slow and deliberate. I also agree that Adam should be playing more to get his feet wet.

[jjray]

>>To me, just give AK the minutes to build experience.<<

Agree that AK should be our backup center but most of the matchups in conference are not going to be favorable for Adam at PF. Ian and Adam would be too slow as a tandem. JJ hit a jumper and got a crucial offensive rebound today in the 2nd half. For me, he does enough to earn his 10 minutes per. I'd take Bryce's minutes and give them to AK but leave JJ as is.

[bonwich]

I wondered about that final play and watched it on Channel 5. The angle is inconclusive, but I couldn't see a foul.

[huzzah]

Our 2 guard was DP, @ 5'7" and TL is the pg. Why? I think DP makes bad decisions and cannot drive to the basket and score. TL's drive to the hoop in the 2nd half w/ a slam dunk was very exciting. However, I wonder how many teams win w/ our guard set up. This is a credit to Soderburg because DP brings things to the floor including speed and incredible jumping ability and Brad has figured out how best to utilize his talents. Our defense in the first half was a tad below horrible. However, I give credit to Soderburg for turning things around in the second half. We not only began defending the perimiter, but we passed to the open man, LM, when IV was double teamed. Mississippi did not react to this quick enough and as a consequence we got back into the game. Husak needs to get into the weight room. He looks as weak as I am. IV also needs conditioning work. He does not seem as well conditioned as last year and may be too slow for the NBA.

JJ needs to stay on the bench. While the refs were poor I thought it was honest incompetency and evened itself out. I was hoping for a bigger crowd as Mississippi was 11-2. Brad indicated he is recruiting primarily STL, but I nociticed Mississippi had a player from CHI. I think Miss. is in Oxford. If they can recruit CHI, so can we. CHI is more of a bb hotbed than STL. I wish Brad would play zone once in a while. IV's hook shot is fun to watch. Happy New Year.

[SLUMS81]

BH looks like he has very little upper body strength and definition. He needs to spend every spare minute in the weight room. Granted, we have not seen him play enough to formulate detailed opinions, but it seems to me that his lack of physical strength influences his entire game.

Ian needs to stop defending shots with a 'tomahawk chop'- he would probably avoid a foul or two per game.

JJ - love his energy but cringe every time he touches the ball.

DP - his rebounds were a key to the game today.

LM's jumper at the first half buzzer provided a real lift. As much as he has trouble matching-up with opposing bigs, they have trouble matching-up with him.

[dewey33]

Tracy Dildy....Pat Kennedy's recruiter...was an assistant at Ole Miss under Barnes, hence the Chi-town connection

[billiken_roy]

cheeseman said,

"Luke shot very well from the perimeter and without him stepping up on offense early in the second half we would not have won."

he actually posted that.

[Sheltiedave]

Tracy Dildy is as corrupt as a recruiting coach can possibly be. While the Chicago-recruited player may be talented, most every player Dildy has touched has character issues that would be insurmountable at SLU.

[SLUDrew]

There is no way we win that game without the spark Luke Meyer gave us early in the second half. After the game as we were driving home listening to the post-game show, Coach Soderberg came on and said Luke was very vocal in the locker room at halftime as well.

We also should not ignore the efforts by Tommie and Kevin. They are so special that at times I think they are taken for granted as we focus on everyone around them who stepped up during a particular game.

That second half kept our post-season hopes alive. Short of winning the conference tourney, we may still need to go 13-3/12-4 but at least the opportunity is there.