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At the end of the day, coaches are going to coach what they are comfortable. Coach Ford has had high level athletes at other places and he didn't do much pressing there either. His history tells us that he will continue to play as if we had a point guard and good perimeter shooting even when we don't. That's part of why he had disappointing records at Oklahoma State even when he had talent -- he wasn't comfortable changing up his strategy to fit his personnel. Ford's best records, including at UMass, was when had shooters on his roster. Guys have to knock down perimeter shots or his offense just doesn't work. Since I don't see a point guard emerging any time this year, I'm going to pray for improved perimeter shooting. We can talk about alternate strategies -- like our center shooting three pointers, or pressing on a regular basis -- but we've got Ford's 21 year coaching record that tells us that most likely isn't going to happen. You're just giving yourself ulcers unneccesarily. The odds are a lot better that Isabell or a healthy Wiley or maybe even one of the freshman catches fire sometime during the conference season.

Graves and Henriquez

Again, why the lack of faith in Travis Ford? This is not Ford's first year as a head coach. Also, PG was his position as a player. Ford doesn't need us to remind him of the benefits of a strong PG. Reminder: Ford also recruited and landed Ty Graves and we had Jermaine Bishop (both would be Juniors this year) and both would be PG options this year. As to hitting the outside shot to stretch the defense, that was what Adonys Henriquez was for. Thanks to SLU's Title iX staff - we lost all three - and this year are still experiencing the impact of Title IX. Was Ford too stupid to realize he had lost 3 guards? No plan B? Asleep at the switch? I suggest no. In response to the bad news which broke last year on or about February 13th, Coach Ford signed and landed Isabell, Wiley and Thor. Unfortunately, to date, Isabell's results have been mixed but I am glad Ford took the risk with this 1 year commitment. As to Wiley, unfortunately, he has been injured. How was he before the injury? Adjusting. And as to Thor, didn't we read post after post on this Board about him redshirting this year? should redshirt this year? just not quite ready this year? Our prior recruits of Gordon and Thatch were never going to be the outside shooters to stretch the defense -- so why place this expectation on them now - their Freshman year? Let them develop into the roles they are best at. Apparently, Coach has given the greed light to Gordon to shoot a 3 pointer if open -- but that is not, and should not, be our offense. Does this mean we do nothing? No adjustments? Give up? I like Roy's thoughts. Maybe a higher tempo will help. In the long term, good opponents and NCAA Tourney teams are able to stop the fast paced, higher tempo games -- but we won't make the Tourney at the rate we are going. And every hour we spend practicing and implementing a full court press/recover defense we also spend one less hour on our traditional offense. At some point, we need to implement our offense. Not willing to assume the weave, current offense we have seen is what Coach wants. I would suggest we are seeing mistakes in execution (timing, rotation, ball speed, etc) is more to blame.

In all seriousness, believe most should go back and read their own posts (not everyone elses), take a breath, check in to rehab if necessary (the blue kool-aid and pre-season expectations is very addictive and can cause delusions) and look at the glass mostly full and not mostly empty. The Wiz has documented us as being a grade "B" team -- and he is probably right. Way, way better than the grade of "D" these past years. And no, it is waste of time to compare J Good in the same sentence as Hines (though thank you for your past efforts). And no, Welmer is not the answer - and never has been. And no, a center who steps out and shoots 1 to 2 3-pointers a game does not open up the offense -- instead, it probably makes us worse. And no, not all tall, skinny white guys who shoot 3-pointers should be compared to Rob Loe. RM ran a completely different offense designed for a perimeter shooting 4 or 5 - most other coaches don't. And yes, there is a good reason why Majerus never liked to go with the "quick fix" of JUCO's, transfer or now 5th year Seniors like Isabell. Go back and look our transfers, JUCO, etc. and you will see that over half were not very helpful and/or took half the year/whole first year to acclimate. The fact that Coach Ford is still our coach - after the embarrassing Situation II last year -- and has brought in another great Freshman class is incredible. To those who keep questioning Ford, relax, detox and wait until the end of next season - when Ford will finally have his players not only enroll but also be coached up and play. We would sure be a different team this year without losing Henriquez and the others who were kicked out of school (not by Coach Ford). The help (this year) is simply not here yet (Thor and Wiley due to maturity and injury), Thatch is coming along just fine, Gordon is doing well. We are young - and time is needed even though Bess is a Senior. Can adjustments be made ? Probably. Would a faster tempo help? Possibly. But we cannot ignore the original game plan of Coach Ford and scrap everything to date - and risk even lower confidence - all for possible short-term gain. Clearly, our shooting (perimeter and FT) has been insufficient. Patience. Our guys will either improve or be replaced/supplement with next. year. Maybe early season expectations were simply too high... but I do like the direction of this program and do again enjoy watching our Bills play.

He's a versatile player.

Several reasons - he could have just set a pick. He's also a pretty good passer, so it might be a way to clear out space in the middle if French has a mismatch and Gordon can dump it down to him in the paint and it could also be an opportunity for Gordon to beat a less mobile big off the dribble - Ford seems to like our bigs doing exactly that when given the opportunity.

NBA players have highly paid shooting coaches whose job it is to make the team's $10-$20 million investment into a decent perimeter shooter. And even with those coaches, it takes 3-4 years as a professional before an Anthony Davis or a Julius Randle is a threat from out there. Evolution means years, not weeks.

For those that seem to be so against the idea of Gordon taking 3 pointers, please understand that no one advocating for it is suggesting that his is made a part of our game plan. We're just suggesting, and I think 05 said this, that there are times when our regular movement of the ball puts the ball in his hands at the three point line. When this happens, his defender is usually backing off of him, clogging the lane and taking away passes inside. When that happens, why not take a shot at it. So far, that's given us 6 points in five shot attempts. That's much better than the average of what has happened when he doesn't take that shot. If he makes it or he doesn't (once, maybe twice a game), then at least the guy guarding him has to think about the possibility of him taking a three the next time he's in the same spot.

Anthony Davis only made 3 of 20 3-point attempts during his college career. Last year in the NBA, he shot 162 -3-pointers and made 55 of them. The point is, players can evolve - the really good ones usually do. If CG wants any kind of basketball future, that shot will need to be part of his game.

with jacobs athleticism, he would be great on pressure defense and streaking down a sideline on a fast break.

Henriquez and Johnson. I still think Jalen bailed too soon. He would have got minutes. Might not have started, but that's for HS anyways. He likely would be logging somewhere between 15-20+ mpg right now. More if his 3 ppg % was at 40%. If he's reading the board, Jalen, you should have stayed at SLU. if your reason was based on anticipated playing time. However, if you missed the Bayou State, well, you made the right move and we wish you well in your career as a Rajun Cajun.

welmer and henriquez

yes

Highmark has said on telecasts that he hits them at practice. I think i also remember Ford saying it. I would think you will see him shoot more in games.

Gordon didn't take many 3s in HS, but I don't think we have the data from HS to say that he isn't a 3 pt shooter. Here are the stats: 2014-15 Vianney 0-1 0% 2015-16 Vianney 2-4 50% 2016-17 Webster 0-0 n/a% 2017-18 Webster 0-6 0% Total 2 - 11 18% Just like you're not willing to say Gordon is a decent shooter because he is 2-5 so far, I'm not willing to write him off after a 2-11 performance over 4 years in HS. These sample sizes are too small and spread over too many years to matter at all. He likely didn't shoot at all in HS because he didn't have to. His size / athleticism in HS allowed him to dominate the paint in a way that going outside didn't make sense. I'm not sure we can say the same in college (yet). His HS teams also perhaps had better shooters around him to space the floor and/or spacing the floor isn't as important in HS. Further, we don't know what kind of work Gordon put in on his outside shot between his senior year and now. This is a secondary concern for sure, but if Gordon is going to have any kind of NBA career he is going to have to be able to knock down 3 pointers at a decent rate. He's undersized as an inside player by NBA standards and won't have the athleticism advantage he enjoys in college. Therefore, he should be working on his shot for the sake of his professional future. That's not to say I want freshman year Gordon jacking up a bunch of 3s every game. However, if he has worked or continues to work on his shot and can make them at a decent clip, then why not. We need to be able to space the floor better than we currently do. Gordon (if he can can knock down 3s at even a slightly below average rate) with the current SLU team is a little bit like Joel Embiid with the 76ers. Emiid's bread and butter isn't shooting 3s, but the 76ers need him to pop those open 3s in order to space the floor because he is surrounded by other non-shooters like Ben Simmons.

i continue to blame our offensive plan for our offensive problems. if you want the offense to run one specific way, then you better darn well recruit players that fit that plan. granted losing henriquez kind of knocked that out of focus, however when that happened, our coaching staff did not regroup and change the plan. instead we still walk it down the floor, we still run the stupid weave, we still end up with gordon or french or goodwin with the ball 25 feet from the basket with the shot clock running down and then everyone knows that guy is going to throw up a prayer. unfortunately goodwin isnt larry hughes. he isnt the senior jordair jett. he isnt even the seniors justin love or marquee perry. i.e. that prayer "opportunity" doesnt have much of a chance. the fact that french and gordon and foreman arent guards with outside skills their "opportunity" isnt a high percentage bet either. it is time to put the blame where it belongs. our coaching staff has done a poor job of molding the offense around the players we have and considering their skills. the best this team has looked this year occurred during what ford labelled as desparate times and we sped up the pace, exerted full court pressure and pushed the ball. that is what goodwin played in high school when he was first team all state and won a state championship and a second place finish. that is who we recruited. we did not recruit a walk it down the floor and direct an offense with only one ok outside shooter (bess). let's pick up the pace. the rest of the season we will likely be the biggest and most athletic team on the floor. there is no reason to play hoosier ball any longer. let's go.

Two things. Ford has stated more than once on the radio that Isabell came to SLU, at least in part, to learn the PG position. I, and everyone else, have no idea if there ever talk of the NBA between Ford and Isabell, but perhaps just playing at the pay level next year as a PG. Goodwin started off at the PG last season. It was during the VCU game that Roby and Hines took over. Ford has stated this. What was interesting was that this was following Goodwin's three game stretch of 11 assists against GMason, 10 assists versus Duquesne followed by 8 assists v UMass. Likely Ford felt Roby could get the team into the offense better than Goodwin.

my question is "why is he even in a spot to receive the ball 20+ feet from the basket?"

The fact that Graves, Henriquez and Bishop aren't at SLU is their fault and no one else's. They made an extremely poor decision and paid the appropriate price.

Isn't it interesting all three left because of a Title IX investigation. If they were truly wronged, wouldn't they sue the school? Many said on this site that lawsuits would be forthcoming, where are they if they are truly innocent of no wrongdoing and they left school for no reason?

Possible I guess. Wouldn't think likely. So SLU suspended two of the players and expelled one of them and paid them off at the same time? Then said players left? Why bother with the lengthy Title IX process then? If SLU knew they were wrong just end the investigation. Possible not likely. So SLU admits they were wrong to the players by paying them off but wants people to think they were right? Again, possible not likely. I wouldn't think SLU would be THAT eager to part with their money. Players Attorney: We are going to sue the school. SLU Attorney: Don't do it we will write your client a check. I don't believe it was that easy at all. Keep thinking that though.

Or they received legal advice they didn't have a chance in the case. Why suspend or expel and then pay off?

Not exactly in the spirit of the season.

Losing Jalen Johnson was a major blow to this team. Without his deep threat we have to rely on an oft-injured player and a second player who may never play again. A third, a frosh, who was hopefully his replacement can’t get off the bench.