It’s showtime for the Bills
The Billikens’ Monday night 51-50 win over Barry Hinson’s Missouri State Bears looked like the movie The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Ian Vouyoukas last second tip-in gave the Billikens a win that will send them into tomorrow night’s game with North Carolina with a chance to be on the national stage with some momentum towards big-time basketball.
THE GOOD: Dwayne Polk and Kevin Lisch were spectacular against the Bears. Polk was 4-8 from the field and finished with nine 9 pts. His floor game on Monday night might have proved to be the difference.
He knew when to push the ball when his team needed him to just like the old days at Vashon under legendary coach Floyd Irons. His floor game was just what the Billikens needed at a time when Tommie Liddell wasn’t having his best night as a Billiken.
Kevin Lisch: What can one say? He’s from the East Side and proved that he was worth the price of admission. Kevin reminds me of his dad Rusty Lisch, so competitive, assertive and confident.
Taped like a mummy on the arm. Lisch was spectacular, going to the hole, driving between defenders, and holding the Bears’ sharp-shooting Tyler Chaney to 2-7 from the field.
Ian Vouyoukas & Luke Meyer: Both played like the players they are capable of being. Cool hand Luke only had 6 points, but his overall game was spectacular grabbing 9 rebounds sharing the team lead with teammate Tommie Liddell.
Vouyoukas finally woke up and played like the star player his coaches prepared for him to be.
The BAD: SLU committed 22 turnovers against the Bears and shot 14% beyond the arc. The 22 turnovers looked more like the Billikens of old at times, hitting some of the old Billiken fans located in the lower levels in the head, arms, buttocks, were ever they could throw the ball and find someone without a white jersey on.
The Ugly: The lack of depth at Saint Louis University is starting to show against real basketball teams. Against the Missouri State bunch, they didn’t have a player on their roster that didn’t start that could match up with Devin Mitchell who finished with 15 pts. for Missouri State. Mitchell was a nightmare for the Billikens all night off the bench.
This leads me up to tomorrow night’s match-up against the Tar Heels.
Saint Louis University basketball team not only will be on display against the national ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, its total basketball program will be on display.
If Saint Louis University wants to make the fans believe that it has arrived as a basketball program, we will see Friday night. Head coach Brad Soderburg and his staff has 3 scholarships to give this year.
A good showing by the Billikens tomorrow night in front of an ESPN audience, who knows? Santa might bring that power forward that’s been missing from this roster, or that spot-up shooter they need.
But if the Billikens resort to their old ways, then Monday night means nothing.
Maybe Cheryl Levick staff might want to go on a retreat to an ACC game to see how to do the things I mentioned, especially in the BLACK community. We buy tickets too.
This community has wanted the Billikens to do well for so long. It makes us want to see Roland Gray and Monroe Douglas in those small shorts again.