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Is Coach Crews The Answer?


mrjoelabs

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All the folks crying about our struggles so far need to revisit that season. Ian, Tommie, and Lisch all at the height of their powers and we lose our first two conference games to teams that finished 7-22 and 10-19.

Interesting you bring up that season. It is the season that got Brad fired.

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I'm guilty with a post I made yesterday about possible transfers, but transfer speculation should be tabled until the end of the season. We'll have a much clearer picture by then. We're a quarter of the season in and a lot can happen w/ 22 games left.

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I'm all for wanting to evaluate a coach as soon as possible, but there simply isn't a reasonable metric by which to judge Crews right now. We are suffering from back-to-back awful recruiting classes that have left us with almost no experience. The '10-'11 comparison seems a pretty good comparison, given that the returning experience and the acclaim of the respective recruiting classes are similar. However even then we got KM back the next year as someone pointed out. So even next year will be a tough gauge.

My general expectations for this year are around 15 wins. Then I think next year we should expect to be hovering around 20, hopefully more if the guys develop. If we fall short of those, I think we will need to start seriously addressing the coaching situation.

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Hello all, I have been a Billiken fan since diapers and I was pleased to find you guys here. Hard to find places to talk our only local D1 Hoops team. I really appreciate the streams in the media information posts.

Now, to my topic. I understand it is a young team and that we are rebuilding. However, I don't even remember blowouts like this, even in the Soderberg era. (gulp)... Even when our teams had offensive issues, they always played defense. Games like the Miss St. and Wich St . game I don't even remember seeing. Even when our young team played Duke etc it was not like that. Looking back, Crews record at Evansville was nothing to smile about. Do you think he really can build a program? The last 2 years the guys kind of coached themselves. I don't mind some losses and tough games (have to reasonable) but looking like a team that the big boys schedule is a patsy is unacceptable.

True..and a useless senior in Manning...

"Is Coach Crews the Answer"?

Get your useless cowardly ass off this board, jerk.

First post? Billiken fan?

The internet is magic. I guess when you got cut from all of the freshman teams in high school you never dreamed you could post pathetic messages like this on the internet and get "even" in your mind.

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Reasonable objectives for JC.

1.) how this squad develops thru this season, ie are we competitive in the A10 by late Jan. Don't necessarily mean by number of Ws but we are competing in most games. The FR class all stay and are eligible.

2.) the quality of next year's incoming recruits and finishing at least in the top half of the A10. An NIT appearance would be a plus.

3.) the quality of the 2016 class, and this doesn't include landing JT. That would be a game changer. We're back to the dance in '16-17.

Reaching the above would mean the program's on solid footing and JC would remain thru at least '18. Leaving after that would be pretty much his decision.

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Crews just coming off 2 consecutive A10 COY and we are now just entering December with a team laden with freshmen.

I think this tread is a little premature.

Agree that this thread is a little premature. And agree that talk about transfers, etc. is also premature. And agree that JC is not fully responsible for the lack of experience on this year's team. With said, however, JC does not deserve a free pass now, this year and next year. I still support JC but the following are a few undisputed facts:

1. JC was our interim coach 2 years ago and has been our full time head coach for since the Spring of 2013. JC was somehow able to recruit to SLU to our interim coach in the Fall of 2012 by signing Crawford and was then able to recruit Tanner and Reggie in the Spring of 2013. If these 3 recruits of JC were producing well for us to date, we would not be having this discussion.

2. Either JC deserves some blame for not developing/playing our current Sophs last year or his decision to not play them much last year was proper (b/c they were not ready/good enough) or JC deserves some blame for recruiting kids (this year's Sophs) to help replace last year's Seniors who will take a longer time to develop and therefore leave us with not much of a backup plan than turning to our freshmen.

3. JC deserves some eyebrow looks, if not some questioning, for the lack of development of JM and GG whom he has previously coached for 2 full seasons. JC knows better than us that if they were not good enough to produce for us this and carry some of the load for us in this their Senior year despite 1 year of coaching by RM and 2 more years by JC (yes GG is injured but his ability to truly help remains highly suspect even if healthy), then they should not still be here. Few criticized RM for cutting players he did not recruit and few also criticized him for cutting those he did recruit. At some point, RM's recruits have become JC's recruits -- no more excuses.

4. There is no doubt that Ash was considered to be the guy to lead us this year. With all that talent, with a full year under JC last year and practicing with last year's Seniors, Ash should be leading our team -- not McBroom, MR or any of the other freshmen. JC recruited and has coached Ash to lead us this year -- and thru the first quarter of the year, it has not been the case. If Ash was carrying the load and leading us this year, again, we would not be having this discussion.

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Reasonable objectives for JC.

1.) how this squad develops thru this season, ie are we competitive in the A10 by late Jan. Don't necessarily mean by number of Ws but we are competing in most games. The FR class all stay and are eligible.

2.) the quality of next year's incoming recruits and finishing at least in the top half of the A10. An NIT appearance would be a plus.

3.) the quality of the 2016 class, and this doesn't include landing JT. That would be a game changer. We're back to the dance in '16-17.

Reaching the above would mean the program's on solid footing and JC would remain thru at least '18. Leaving after that would be pretty much his decision.

Really? Why the low expectations? NIT would be a plus next year? What are you expecting regarding next year's incoming recruits? 2 young big men with potential? Why would Welmer be any better than Jolly -- both played prep school. And Neufeld looks great -- but he will beat out and be noticeably better than RA and TL as Juniors and AG and BJ as Sophs? Sorry, but next year's team will largely be this year's team.

Sorry, but we should be around 18 wins this year, we should be hovering around for a post-season tourney this year, we would probably get a post-season tourney this year if at all close b/c of our last 3 years of success and our "name" and then next year we should be back in the Tourney.

Sorry, but both JC and our veterans (Ash,JM, McBroom and our Sophs) simply can and need to do better now.

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Crews just coming off 2 consecutive A10 COY and we are now just entering December with a team laden with freshmen.

I think this tread is a little premature.

Finally...a voice of reason.

Personally, I'm choosing to look at this season as nothing more than monthly benchmarks for individual development and team cohesiveness. If things come together sooner and we rattle off a few good wins that's a bonus but as we've seen, it can go the other way too.

I fully expect to see improvement across the board from everyone as the season progresses (some more than others - I'm looking at you JM). There are just too many new faces and lack of experience, maturity and familiarity to the system to realistically expect anything else.

Come the first week in March, I think we'll be around .500 and have a pretty good idea of what type of players/talent we'll have on our hands next year.

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Personally I probably think it's too hard to call either way. I'm not willing to give him a ton of credit for last year and I'm not willing to fault him a ton this year. Do I think Crews can carry the momentum that Majerus brought? I'm skeptical, but I do believe so. I'm not sure he can lead us to an even higher point, but develop these players and land Tatum and then you're looking at a top 10 team so we'll see.

Why do you not give Crews credit for last year? Did the seniors coach themselves throughout the season? I highly doubt that.

Interesting you bring up that season. It is the season that got Brad fired.

So what you're saying is Crews should be fired if the team doesn't perform this season or next? Not attacking your post, just inquiring.

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Has Crews does anything that would warrant losing his job right now? Absolutely not.

Is he the long term answer? I think that's a legitimate question. That remains to be seen. The amount of progress we make between now and the end of the season, and between this season and next season, should give us a better clue.

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Reasonable objectives for JC.

1.) how this squad develops thru this season, ie are we competitive in the A10 by late Jan. Don't necessarily mean by number of Ws but we are competing in most games. The FR class all stay and are eligible.

2.) the quality of next year's incoming recruits and finishing at least in the top half of the A10. An NIT appearance would be a plus.

3.) the quality of the 2016 class, and this doesn't include landing JT. That would be a game changer. We're back to the dance in '16-17.

Reaching the above would mean the program's on solid footing and JC would remain thru at least '18. Leaving after that would be pretty much his decision.

If Crews can accomplish all of that by 2018, then I will be happy because it will essentially mean that he leaves our program in excellent shape to whomever coaches after that. Preferably though, we make the tourney next year AND 2016-2017. Whether it is Crews or someone else, it won't matter as long as the team's defensive and offensive philosophies remain consistent.

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Why do you not give Crews credit for last year? Did the seniors coach themselves throughout the season? I highly doubt that.

So what you're saying is Crews should be fired if the team doesn't perform this season or next? Not attacking your post, just inquiring.

I don't think he should be fired at this point. I was only expecting at most 17-18 wins this season. I just am extremely bothered by the regression of players that have been in the program and some other things so far this season.

I am just shocked at the fact that so many people seem to be willing to give Crews a pass especially when in the prediction thread they expected far more out of this team than I did going into the season.

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I am not a troll. It was a real point. I just joined new... of course I only have 2 posts. Its just upsetting as a fan who hasn't missed a game in probably 10 years either with radio, tv, or being there.

I attended 10 games last year. The trolls are over on the stltodayforum.. thats why i came over here. You guys seem to know what you are talking about. The VLC streams are amazing.

Hey jackass- meet me in section 108 next home game.

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Hello all, I have been a Billiken fan since diapers and I was pleased to find you guys here. Hard to find places to talk our only local D1 Hoops team. I really appreciate the streams in the media information posts.

Now, to my topic. I understand it is a young team and that we are rebuilding. However, I don't even remember blowouts like this, even in the Soderberg era. (gulp)... Even when our teams had offensive issues, they always played defense. Games like the Miss St. and Wich St . game I don't even remember seeing. Even when our young team played Duke etc it was not like that. Looking back, Crews record at Evansville was nothing to smile about. Do you think he really can build a program? The last 2 years the guys kind of coached themselves. I don't mind some losses and tough games (have to reasonable) but looking like a team that the big boys schedule is a patsy is unacceptable.

Hey guys, long-time listener, first time caller... Even though I'm a life-long Billiken fan (because I've said so) I was nowhere to be found on this board during the greatest three-year run in the modern era of Billiken basketball. I didn't share in the conference championships, the NCAA Tournament victories, the 19 game winning streak, the national rankings with the rest of the board. I feel compelled now to make my first post with the provocative headline "Is Coach Crews the Answer?" I wasn't around on the board to raise these questions when Crews was winning National Coach of the Year awards. No, I wait until a few bad performances to raise this question. I'm not just here to stir up trouble, I'm genuinely concerned about this. I wear diapers. I just don't remember blowouts like this, even though I have been a Billiken fan my whole life. Man, this is even worse than the Soderberg era. I don't remember games like this back then (must have been pooping in his diapers when Sodie's squad got dominated by SEMO) It's just all falling apart guys. It's really difficult to find a place to talk SLU hoops. The sky is falling. Looking like a patsy.

This question may be fair to ask at some point, but not less than 10 games into the season, and most definitely not asked by somebody's who starts a thread like this with their first post. Don't take the bait.

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To Clock, I think making the dance next year's a stretch, and a trip to the NIT is a reasonable expectation. You can't compare this squad to the 11-12 squad just because we think this year's FR are similar to the class of DE, JJ, MM, et al. Remember, they had KM come back to go along w/ a well developed Conk and CE, Now if AY makes strides, RA comes on like Conk, and the other two Sophs suddenly show us a lot more... maybe. And that assumes the FR all develop nicely. There will also be a learning curve in their for Neufeld and Wellmer as well. Too many ifs in there for me to say a dance invite is in the cards for '15-16.

The real metric for JC, which should translate to W's, is how good his recruiting is thru the class of '17. Hopefully, Neufeld and Wellmer show they can contribute like this year's FR have. The 16 class, leaving out JT, will have to be solid as well, because we don't want anymore gap years where we have to rebuild like we're doing this season. The 16 class would be Sophs when our current crop of FR are Seniors who should be a dance team if all goes as forecast. We'd then have a succession plan, which we didn't have going into this year. We're stuttering now because the upperclassmen aren't playing as well as expected. Give JC a pass on the SO class because he wasn't leading the program until late September. At the time we didn't know what to make of MC, thought TL might be a good get, and were all very high on RA and AY (transfer). So far these are the guys that have yet to step up, but it's still to early to just write them off as busts.

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Really? Why the low expectations? NIT would be a plus next year? What are you expecting regarding next year's incoming recruits? 2 young big men with potential? Why would Welmer be any better than Jolly -- both played prep school. And Neufeld looks great -- but he will beat out and be noticeably better than RA and TL as Juniors and AG and BJ as Sophs? Sorry, but next year's team will largely be this year's team.

Sorry, but we should be around 18 wins this year, we should be hovering around for a post-season tourney this year, we would probably get a post-season tourney this year if at all close b/c of our last 3 years of success and our "name" and then next year we should be back in the Tourney.

Sorry, but both JC and our veterans (Ash,JM, McBroom and our Sophs) simply can and need to do better now.

I had high expectations when Majerus took over. I and everyone else gave Rick the benefit of the doubt through several horrid years. We still have a 20 point game watch thread for a game coached by Majerus.

Replace Manning and Glaze with Lisch and Liddell and tell me how dissappointed you are with Crews. Our offense was not great during alot of Rick's time here. When we had a similiar experience level It sucked just as bad or worse than it does now. Our defense sucked as well although maybe not as bad.

Seriously, we are getting crazed about the number 8 team in the country dismembering us. The only game I'd have picked us to win that we did in fact lose was TAMUCC.......

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What is with you guys? ACE? I didn't know this board existed in those days and enjoyed every minute of the last 3 years. I found out about the board because someone on STLTODAY said that this is where all the homers were... At that point I tried to make an ID and apparently I had one so at one time I guess I did know this was here but never posted. That was it. What is with the venom from you people. I just don't like seeing our guys getting blown off the floor, and I questioned crews a little last year especially in last years WSU game which he sort've botched.

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What is with you guys? ACE? I didn't know this board existed in those days and enjoyed every minute of the last 3 years. I found out about the board because someone on STLTODAY said that this is where all the homers were... At that point I tried to make an ID and apparently I had one so at one time I guess I did know this was here but never posted. That was it. What is with the venom from you people. I just don't like seeing our guys getting blown off the floor, and I questioned crews a little last year especially in last years WSU game which he sort've botched.

You + Me in section 108, pal

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What is your deal man? I have no quarrel with anyone here. Chill out. And I don't usually sit that low generally up top. School teachers get paid crap unfortunately. Last time I sat down there was the CBI against VCU when they pretty much were giving tickets away. I think I was 4 off the floor it was great.

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