You are right I am a smartass but what are your expectations for this program?
To be better than it is right now for sure. I love Mullins, but i am beginning to lose faith in him being the answer here. I am beginning to beleive there may be some serious coaching deficiencies. I honestly can't look at any of our guys right now and say they have improved much since they got here. Even Domask, Jones etc aren't much improved over their freshman seasons in my opinion. I just don't see the improvement from game to game or season to season i expected from any of the guys. And its not just those two, i don't see much if any improvement over the years in Brown, D'Amico, or Banks either. I can't honestly say that any of those guys has gotten much better than they were when they got here. To me, that has got to be coaching. Im starting to lose faith.
You are right I am a smartass but what are your expectations for this program?
To be better than it is right now for sure. I love Mullins, but i am beginning to lose faith in him being the answer here. I am beginning to beleive there may be some serious coaching deficiencies. I honestly can't look at any of our guys right now and say they have improved much since they got here. Even Domask, Jones etc aren't much improved over their freshman seasons in my opinion. I just don't see the improvement from game to game or season to season i expected from any of the guys. And its not just those two, i don't see much if any improvement over the years in Brown, D'Amico, or Banks either. I can't honestly say that any of those guys has gotten much better than they were when they got here. To me, that has got to be coaching. Im starting to lose faith.
I hate to blame the staff or want anyone to lose their jobs but this is the problem with not having any experience on the staff.
And yeah, there's been no real development from any of your recruits with the exception of Domask and Jones.
Since year 1, the in-game coaching has been noticeably terrible too, especially in late-game situations. You had the Drake game last year where Domask held the ball down 2 for some reason and didn't even get a shot off. What they did without Domask in 2020-21 wasn't really encouraging either.
I wanted Mullins and had high hopes after year 1 but my hope is really dwindling now. This team is going to be an absolute mess in my opinion whenever Domask is gone. He hides so many of this teams flaws.
no, it is not just you reSaluki, trust me. Some people need a new dead horse for Christmas.Maybe it's just me, and I'm sure it is, but your countless sarcastic comments aren't very funny and are getting quite old...Oh yes Illinois would want no part of us right now . They would look at our performance in our last four games over those opponents and shutter. No Illinois wants no part of SIU right now. Maybe we will get lucky and face them in the NCAA tournament IF they make it.
We all know SIU has struggled to play complete games in their last 4 wins, yet they are indeed wins. Please get a new schtick.
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
@salukiworld and Quartros Saluki I agree with your assessment’s. The Valley schedule will tell all soon, and yes I am going to keep beating the dead horse that this program needs to make a postseason appearance after 15 Years without one. It is going to take a run in St Louis for a NCAA berth and a Valley regular title for the NIT.
I along with most SIU fans really like and respect Mullins, and would love nothing more than for him to lead us back to the postseason. I hope it happens.
Sarcasm is like a bikini on a pretty woman, a little bit goes a long way.
I really want this program to excel so I am going to hope for the best this upcoming Valley season. This IS the SEASON that we are suppose to compete for the Valley title. Mullins was brought in to lead us back to the NCAA so the time is now his 4th year. Hopefully he learned some things in the NonConference part of our schedule. Go Dawgs
I too want to see the Dawgs compete again in the dance. I really like B. Mullins, and hope he can improve the program. He is still young and learning. That being said, they appear to need something added to the mix.
Lots of good posts here. It does seem to me that there's an ingredient or two missing that's keeping our Salukis from reaching that next level.
I'd spent some time thinking about it after watching us kinda muddle through the easiest portion of our schedule, and what I've come up with as a prime offender for what's holding us back is particularly troublesome because we have such a veteran group; collectively, SIU does not play high IQ basketball.
I think the blame for this is shared from the coaches on down to the upperclassmen getting heavier minutes. A large part of the issue may very well be because we have no true veteran leadership on the coaching staff.
Looking back to when SIU was at its peak, I think a very underrated reason for why we were able to maintain such a high level through multiple coaching changes in the 2000's was because we had Rodney Watson on our staff. When listening to SIU games its clear the guy is oozing basketball knowledge.
I hope this is something that's considered by SIU after the season, particularly if we underachieve and finish the year with no post-season birth in a down MVC.
--Insert something witty here--
I agree, Rodney's insights seem to be spot on. He makes a great color man, especially with Reis, but he would make an even greater assistant coach (again)~!
I believe Rodney is comfortable as an announcer and probably gives BMull advice already if Brian wants it
I really want this program to excel so I am going to hope for the best this upcoming Valley season. This IS the SEASON that we are suppose to compete for the Valley title. Mullins was brought in to lead us back to the NCAA so the time is now his 4th year. Hopefully he learned some things in the NonConference part of our schedule. Go Dawgs
Between SIU being one of the most veteran teams in the league, the MVC having shown itself to be fairly weak overall throughout the non-conference, and the Salukis going into the heart of league play in pretty solid health (especially if Ebube returns), SIU should be one of the four teams to earn a Thursday bye at Arch Madness. That should be the bare-minimum goal for the regular season at this point, recognizing that they haven't done enough in the non-conference to merit NCAA or NIT consideration without snagging an automatic berth.
I think Southern can finish in the top four, but dropping a home game already to Indiana State doesn't help, and it's probably going to require pulling out a bunch of close games, as the team hasn't shown itself capable of dominating many opponents outside of tomato cans like Evansville or Lincoln.
So, I'm hopeful for the rest of the season but not brimming with confidence. Domask is having a very strong season and I feel pretty good about the rotation at the 5, but it's the guardplay that I worry about holding the team back.
We need better players. Mullins isn't bringing in enough talented kids. It hurts to say that, but that's what I see. I'm watching virtually all of the games on the net and it's incredibly frustrating to see the constant turnovers and poor play every game. I don't see us beating Murray State down there.
I should clarify and say I'm not advocating for Rodney directly to be a part of the coaching staff, but I do think Bryan would benefit by having someone highly experienced sitting next to him.
--Insert something witty here--
