GDT: @ Washington

[waldo027]

The bad news is this might be the best we look for the next 2 years. No CE, no KM, no CR and we get a 6'5" guy that only bumblefuok U was recruiting.

Step off the ledge. You don't even know who the coach is going to be next year.

[bgtholt88]

This team has no character. We don't have a great scorer or intimidating inside presence. We don't play smothering defense.

Could this be the worst of both worlds? We are playing Soderberg pass around offense without playing Soderberg defense. Is every team we play this year going to have a player hit career numbers? We made N'Diaye look really good too.

Sure seems like it. I'm too tired to pull up box scores (or remember off the top of my head), but in the last couple of seasons, how often did one or two players dominate us to the point that they looked like they were a top 5 nba draft pick.

[slufan13]

Two last thoughts before I go to bed.

1. Won't win many games when your opponent shoots 64% in the 2nd half. Great shooting by Wilcox but some bad defense all around.

2. Is anyone else tired of DE leading the team in turnovers?

[wgstl]

f this im going to sleep, maybe when I wake up we have a 6-0 season.

[JettFlight5]

f this im going to sleep, maybe when I wake up we have a 6-0 season.

Nope, Jim Crews will still be around. Unless you can sleep for quite a while.

[moytoy12]

Step off the ledge. You don't even know who the coach is going to be next year.

True, probably a little over the top . but based on what I know now, next year doesn't look pretty.

[ucan2]

I had hopes after the first half. But a very disappointing second half, to be kind.

I at least hope that a Billiken fan won the Power Ball. 2 winners - one in AZ & one in MO. I really hope one of my really, really good friends on this board is the winner!

[jbizzle09]

Are we watching the same game? That was horrible all the way around. What did you see that I didn't?

A 'huge step backwards' that sets your program back 2 years is not losing to a power-conference team on the road that is expected to win 20+ games by 5 points. Especially when you go into that game without your best player and the rest of the team banged up.

You say there are absolutely no positives to be had from this 'effort'. Well, I saw at least some glimmers of hope:

-Loe scored 13 points, with 8 of them coming by way of the interior. He also grabbed 5 boards and seemed to be concentrating on scoring down low. That is a positive.

-McCall finished 3-5 from behind the 3-point line and is shooting well over 50% from three for the season. He also had 6 assists to 2 turnovers. That is a positive.

-Jett shot 5-8 from the field, including hitting his only trey, and added 6 assists and 4 rebounds. That is a positive.

-Ellis was able to get a LOT of wide open looks in this offense. He didn't hit as much as I would have liked, but he still went 4-12 from three. The fact that he was able to get that many attempts, with most of them wide open, is a positive.

There are tons of negatives to find in this game. but this wasn't a blowout loss to a team in the SWAC. The most frustrating thing from this game is that there were multiple opportunities to take the lead and put the game away, and the team let it slip away. That is mostly, if not entirely, on the coach. Another thing was that Evans had a poor effort and game, but that usually is not going to be the case with him. But I don't see this as some kind of backbreaking loss that the program can't recover from. If you think that, then you are completely overreacting and letting your emotions get the better of you.

[JettFlight5]

A 'huge step backwards' that sets your program back 2 years is not losing to a power-conference team on the road that is expected to win 20+ games by 5 points. Especially when you go into that game without your best player and the rest of the team banged up.

You say there are absolutely no positives to be had from this 'effort'. Well, I saw at least some glimmers of hope:

-Loe scored 13 points, with 8 of them coming by way of the interior. He also grabbed 5 boards and seemed to be concentrating on scoring down low. That is a positive.

-McCall finished 3-5 from behind the 3-point line and is shooting well over 50% from three for the season. He also had 6 assists to 2 turnovers. That is a positive.

-Jett shot 5-8 from the field, including hitting his only trey, and added 6 assists and 4 rebounds. That is a positive.

-Ellis was able to get a LOT of wide open looks in this offense. He didn't hit as much as I would have liked, but he still went 4-12 from three. The fact that he was able to get that many attempts, with most of them wide open, is a positive.

There are tons of negatives to find in this game. but this wasn't a blowout loss to a team in the SWAC. The most frustrating thing from this game is that there were multiple opportunities to take the lead and put the game away, and the team let it slip away. That is mostly, if not entirely, on the coach. Another thing was that Evans had a poor effort and game, but that usually is not going to be the case with him. But I don't see this as some kind of backbreaking loss that the program can't recover from. If you think that, then you are completely overreacting and letting your emotions get the better of you.

What I meant by the 2 years comment is that was what we saw 2 years ago. Dwayne just didn't have "it" tonight. The program can certainly recover from one bad "effort" on the road. This isn't a set the program back, just a lot of bad memories of 2 years ago. They're better than this...a whole hell of a lot better.

[waldo027]

They're better than this...a whole hell of a lot better.

I'm one of the more optimistic posters, and I disagree with this. They're not much better than this. What you just saw is our team as of right now. I'm hoping it can get better when KM comes back.

[JettFlight5]

I'm one of the more optimistic posters, and I disagree with this. They're not much better than this. What you just saw is our team as of right now. I'm hoping it can get better when KM comes back.

I'm one of the least optimistic posters, but I think this team is much better than tonight. Jim Crews is not the answer.

[ARon]

A 'huge step backwards' that sets your program back 2 years is not losing to a power-conference team on the road that is expected to win 20+ games by 5 points.

You are correct this game was not a huge step backwards.

But I'm afraid it is a sign of things to come.

[Billboy1]

The defense has sucked so far and that is on the coach. No excuse to have the teams we've played shoot over 50%. Did they forget how they played last year-often looks like a Chinese fire drill.

[Bay Area Billiken]

Crews is too slow to call timeouts. Last night's early second half UW run screamed for a SLU timeout, or two. Crews eventually called timeout, but by that time the water was already out of Lake Washington and on its way into Puget Sound. This reticence to call timeout was not limited to just last night's game.

UW's big run was fueled by only 2 players, who scored 22 straight UW points. UW had only 3 scoring threats the whole game, Wilcox, Gaddy, and the big guy at Center.

I did not expect SLU to win in Seattle. But a winnable game got away last night.

The real problem, the black mark, is the Santa Clara home debacle. Last night would have made up for Santa Clara.

SLU is 3-3. My expectation is that SLU would be 4-2 at this point. SLU needs to steal a road win somewhere to mitigate against the Santa Clara home loss.

[Cowboy]

-we don't play smart bball, stupid fouls, trying to make impossible passes or making passes to give our guy a charge

-not sure what our shooting % was and may be this works itself out, but some of our misses are misses by a wide margin

-KM, don't come back until you are ready

-i hope Chris May is making a list......

[ACE]

Crews is too slow to call timeouts. Last night's early second half UW run screamed for a SLU timeout, or two. Crews eventually called timeout, but by that time the water was already out of Lake Washington and on its way into Puget Sound. This reticence to call timeout was not limited to just last night's game.

UW's big run was fueled by only 2 players, who scored 22 straight UW points. UW had only 3 scoring threats the whole game, Wilcox, Gaddy, and the big guy at Center.

I did not expect SLU to win in Seattle. But a winnable game got away last night.

The real problem, the black mark, is the Santa Clara home debacle. Last night would have made up for Santa Clara.

SLU is 3-3. My expectation is that SLU would be 4-2 at this point. SLU needs to steal a road win somewhere to mitigate against the Santa Clara home loss.

+1

Last night was night too surprising. Washington is not great, but they are coming off two losses and they had revenge on their mind. Last year we destroyed them. The first half was the best half I had ever seen a Billiken team play. It was an RM masterpiece. Kwamain ran circles around Gaddy. Conklin destroyed Wilcox with that bone-crushing pick and the undersized Conklin took it to Aziz. Well, last night those three Washington guys who were humiliated last year, came to play.

We gotta win all the remaining non-conference home games now. Do-able, but we will have to play much better. Put on the big boy pants and get ready for Valpo - it will not be easy.

[JMM28]

Crews is too slow to call timeouts. Last night's early second half UW run screamed for a SLU timeout, or two. Crews eventually called timeout, but by that time the water was already out of Lake Washington and on its way into Puget Sound. This reticence to call timeout was not limited to just last night's game.

Lets not give him too much credit here. If I am thinking of the same stretch, Crews waited until the media timeout and didn't actually call a time out of his own.

Possible reasons:

He gets bonused for every unused timeout.

He gets bonused for shorter games.

He is a dolt.

He isn't a good head coach.

[moytoy12]

We looked pretty good for the first 10 minutes and I thought our player rotation was good. It didn't help thy CR and JM picked up some BS fouls. Everything started going downhill once Washington switched to zone. Sure, CE hit some threes, but it derailed our offense that was running so smooth up to that point.

Majerus' teams weren't great against the zone and it appears Crews' teams will he just as bad, if not worse. I'm not sure why our opponents would play something other than a 2-3 zone against us.

[Box and Won]

I never thought we'd be saying, "Oh shite, we gotta play Valpo now," but it's apparently come to that. What a great season.

[BACKHANDtheRICAN]

I never thought we'd be saying, "Oh shite, we gotta play Valpo now," but it's apparently come to that. What a great season.

Backhand is revising his 35-1 pre-season prediction to 3-25.

[The Wiz]

I don't know what Crews is but he is no RM. This is a RM team that is not playing RM ball. If RM was looking at the box score the one thing that would cause him to flip out (and to fix) would be opponents 3 pt shooting %. His goal was to keep it below 35% ....last night 60%....or an extra 9 pts...or a win for the Bills by 4. As long as we let opponents shoot more than 35% from the 3 we will continue to struggle.

[SoftMrSofty]

^{Crews is not the one missing shots. Crews is not the one defending. Crews is not the one turning the ball over. Crews has logged 0 minutes on the year. Its all his fault though, you guys are right.}

[Bay Area Billiken]

Lets not give him too much credit here. If I am thinking of the same stretch, Crews waited until the media timeout and didn't actually call a time out of his own.

You are absolutely correct, thanks.

Looking at the Play by Play on Gamecast, SLU took an early 31-29 second half lead. Then UW went on a 10-2 run, that lasted all the way to the media timeout at 15:14, with no timeout called by Crews. Ballgame.

I thought then and am thinking now about the wise musing of the late Al McGuire, namely that games are won and lost at the beginning of the 2nd Half. So true, and from watching him at SLU and from his early days under McGuire, I'm sure Rick Majerus would have called a timeout in there. UW had the momentum and won the game in that 1st quarter of the second half.

I also agree with moytoy that Coach Romar and UW cooled the SLU offensive flow by switching to that 2-3 zone in the first half. Eventually, Cody Ellis busted that zone with 3's, but there were a few lost possessions, and this game ended in a 5 point deficit. Every possession is important.

[BACKHANDtheRICAN]

^{Crews is not the one missing shots. Crews is not the one defending. Crews is not the one turning the ball over. Crews has logged 0 minutes on the year. Its all his fault though, you guys are right.}

Glad you agree, Mr Softy. I pummel stiffs like you.

[ACE]

I don't know what Crews is but he is no RM. This is a RM team that is not playing RM ball. If RM was looking at the box score the one thing that would cause him to flip out (and to fix) would be opponents 3 pt shooting %. His goal was to keep it below 35% ....last night 60%....or an extra 9 pts...or a win for the Bills by 4. As long as we let opponents shoot more than 35% from the 3 we will continue to struggle.

Yep, to me the defense is the biggest problem. Even RM teams without a lot of talent defended the three and played tough defense without fouling. We are taking more dumb fouls. Also, mobile 3's are killing us. DE is not quick enough to guard guys like Wilcox/Relephorde. They give us match-up problems. Jett can do it in small doses, but is not tall enough and not 100%. Temple will likely hurt us like they did last year because of this. I always go back to a guy like Femi and how he would have really filled a nice niche on this team. I think he would be a senior right now. Hopefully, Drew with his wingspan and athletic ability can develop into the type of player who can cover athletic 3s.