StLU Billikens may get better -- sometime

[gundun]

St. Louis University coach Rick Majerus is making change for the better at Chaifetz ArenaBy Bryan Burwell ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 11/23/2008

There was no need to squint anymore. It was Saturday afternoon inside Chaifetz Arena, and the pep band was blaring, the rowdy Blue Crew spilled out into the aisles behind one basket, and St. Louis University basketball's new home felt like the kind of place that could become one of those roof-rattling, ear-splitting hoop havens.

Now you could see it. The promise. The future. The belief.

The Billikens are starting to play basketball the way it's supposed to be played. It doesn't look ugly anymore. It doesn't look awkward or tortured or unbearable.

It looks, well, entertaining.

Yeah, imagine that. Entertaining. On Saturday, the Billikens won their second game of this three-game-old season 53-50 over a previously unbeaten Boston College team that had trounced them by 22 points a year ago. On Wednesday, SLU lost an overtime thriller to a Kent State team that crushed them by 41 points last season.

"I can tell you that's not the same team we played last year," Kent State guard Al Fisher said. "They're tougher, more athletic, more competitive than those guys we beat up last year. They have a lot of guys who can make plays now."

Last year was an eyesore. This year is dramatically better. No one is making travel plans for March Madness just yet. But in ways both tangible and intangible, Rick Majerus's baby Bills are so clearly better than last year. They are loaded with freshmen, but these kids can play, and make the perfect complimentary contributions to aid the all-conference senior guard tandem of Kevin Lisch and Tommie Liddell.

A year ago, when Majerus came to SLU and gutted the Billikens basketball program, it took true vision — or optimism — to imagine he'd ever get the plumbing to work again. He didn't like most of the players he was stuck with, and they probably weren't all that tickled about him either.

Majerus was here to indoctrinate the soon-to-be-seniors such as Lisch, Liddell and Barry Eberhardt in the Majerus Way, so they could be his voice on the court and in the locker room to the first generation of his own recruits.

"I think we know exactly what he's looking for now," said Lisch, who scored 13 of SLU's final 15 points, finding scoring opportunities in the coach's motion offense. "You're doing it his way and you're going to do it right."

They're still trying to learn, but after suffering through last season, you can see the improvements. The kids Majerus brought in are more athletic than the players they replaced. Lanky Willie Reed is a 6-foot-9 pogo stick who blocks and misdirects shots (1 block, at least three harassments), grabs rebounds (8) and is active around the hoop (8 points off the bench). Stocky power forward Brian Conklin (11 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal) is aggressive, bangs bodies and drops in mid-range jumpers. Kwamain Mitchell is a starting point guard who knows how to finish a play around the basket and defend the ball (He held All-ACC guard Tyrese Rice to two-for-14 shooting and 5 points.)

And they all blend with Lisch and Liddell (9 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists), who both had off-nights but still made big plays when it mattered.

A year ago, Majerus would face the media after games and his post-game comments were painful and blunt. Now, he finds love for Liddell and Lisch and carefully doles out praise to the young kids. It's the sort of progress that Majerus has been aching for.

"I like these guys. I like coming to practice every day," Majerus said

He is nowhere near where he wants to be, but after a season of misery, Majerus can see how much he is changing Billikens basketball. He knows he has started the kind of talent pipeline that can get him there in the next few seasons. It begins with the players. And now you can see that with kids such as Conklin, Mitchell, Reed, Brett Thompson and Ruben Cotto, there is some promise. These kids may not be future first-round draft picks, but they know how to play ball. They know how to roll off picks. They know how to get in front of a point guard and keep him from cutting into the lane.

Wrap that around this noisy new building with its bells and whistles, and a place for a fan base to grow, and there's no telling what life inside Chaifetz could become on cold winter nights. When he was asked what he liked most about the changing culture of Billikens basketball, Majerus gave a simple answer that said it all for a program that has been stuck in a rut for decades.

"I like that it's changing," he said.

[muskieman]

"I like these guys. I like coming to practice every day," Majerus said

They like wierd dirty old coach?

http://colonialhoops.blogspot.com/2008/ ... naked.html

[10-20-30]

the new areana is really nice, lots of brick and glass on the outside and a large bowl inside, gonna be a shot in the arm to slu for sure

a muskie living in stl , I am bummed we don't play there this year, and so are slu fans