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in my mind this is the season tomorrow. A win and you're in every conversation going forward... a loss and its middle of the standings A10 lost in the shuffle. lose your F-ing voice tomorrow fan boys, we need this one

Among his other coaching attributes, we all need to remember that Coach Ford is the greatest promoter of our program as a head coach that we've ever had.

Has will never be forgotten by Billiken fans.

I thought it would be interesting to contrast the progress of this season of Jason Jitoboh vs Jimmy Bell. You may recall that Jitoboh is a 6, 11 300 pound center who took a visit to Saint Louis prior to Jimmy. And ultimately decided to go to UF, in the SEC. He did what many recruits do, take the offer of the best performing school that offers. As recruits on ESPN, Jimmy a 3 star, scout grade of 79. Jason, 4 star scout grade of 80. These are remarkably similar recruits. So how are they doing so far: Jitoboh - 11 games played. Ave. 4.4 min, 1.5 Pts. .7 Reb. Bell - 17 games played, Ave. 13.5 min, 4.2 Pts, 3.1 Reb. Bell's numbers are climbing, as he PLAYS for the Billikens. Jitoboh's numbers are going no where this year as he SITS for the Gators. Who knows if he will play more next year. Jimmy is getting valuable experience, and it should be a lesson for other recruits. There is no way to predict how good these 2 players will be when they finish their college careers, but right now, I would say Jimmy is ahead.

https://archbaroncup.com/

French broke SLU's freshman blocks record by 8, was second in total rebounds, sixth in rebound average, eighth in FG%, started all 32 games, and played more than 30 MPG. He hasn't slowed down since. I agree that Bell has a bright future and will show a more significant improvement trajectory, but no one will come on. Not fair to compare the two.

One thing of note i found interesting was how much Ford likes the talent in stl. Sounds like he’s really really recruiting stl and making some good in roads. Referenced high school coaches telling him SLU hasn’t been to “x” school in forever.

we're down to about 100 tickets with just around 30 hours till tip. This place will be a madhouse.

Then why have the rankings at all just go with quality wins. The committee obviously doesn’t trust the NET rankings if they are putting more emphasis on who teams beat. The problem is there is no consistency to how they select teams. The committee moves the goal posts depending on the team. Maybe it wasn’t the case this time but the committee obviously puts a lot of stock into name recognition and location and that’s crap.

I don't think you're wrong, the net rating, just like all the rating systems for college basketball favors the Power 5 conferences. Case in point, Maryland has lost 3 conference games including two in a row to unranked opponents. How many spots did they fall in the NET after their last loss to unranked Wisconsin? 2 from 19 to 17. There is no team in the A10 (including Dayton) that could lose 2 conference games in a row and only drop 2 spots after the second loss. Why did Maryland only fall 2 spots? The conference they play in. Of the Big 12s 14 teams, 12 have a net of 41 or better which means teams are guaranteed to only fall so far after a loss unless they lose to one of the two bottom teams. By contrast, Richmond loses to us and drops 17 spots, that drop is less about the teams and more about the way the conference is perceived. Right? Because if we just swap spots with them the NET is saying in essence: "There is only room for one of your kind in the top 50 after a conference loss" So that illustrates how difficult it is for a non Power 5 school to get an at large bid. Right now 12 Big 12 teams have a higher NET than we do. Not impossible for SLU to get an at large bid but the margin for error is very small.

I'm going to say there is more than just smoke here. Who's with me?

What a great win at Richmond....check out the Richmond spread thread to see my post game analysis ....not only to see the how and why of the win but also important is that the win is relevant to the Dayton game...We need to do a lot of the same things in this game as we did in the Rich game and at the same pace or better. Rich was a great offensive team....Dayton is Rich on steroids. We remain as a B team....unchanged since the SIU game however we are trending at A-,...Unfortunately, Day is not only an A+ team but they are also trending at A+...The trending spread, however is only 3 pts in favor of Day....so this game is winnable. Let's check the report card to see what we are up against.... ..............................SLU...........................Day.................................................................SLU...............................Day ................................................OFF.....................................................................................................DEF............... PPG.........................C+...............................A+...6th ITN..............................................B......................................B FG%.........................C+...............................A+...1st ITN........................................... ..B+.......................................C+ 3Pt%........................D+..............................A-................................................................C-.......................................C- FT%.........................F-. 2nd worst ITN.......B... ............................................................................................... Reb.........................A..................................C-.................................................................C.......................................A OFF Rebs = total rebs...DEF rebs = opp reb Bills Offensive reb....A+....10th ITN....Down Change from last game (UP means improvement ...Down means worse)....UP ....PPG....FG%...3P% def........... DOWN....3P% Top 100 ITN Stls....Goodwin ...29th.....up Assts...Collins....34th.....up Rebs...Goodwin..15th.....French...21th....down and down Blks.....French....16th...up PPG....Toppin....33rd Assts...Crutcher...52nd FG%...Toppin....34th 3P%....Watson...46th Of note...offense continues a gradual improvement but 3P shooting is fading away.....Meanwhile the defense is strengthening ...lead by 3P defense. Injury report.... Thatch...G...1/8/20...out indefinitely...He is sidelined with myalgia in his lower leg muscles.There is currently no time table for his return. C. Johnson...F...1/10 /20...out for season...medically withdrawn ...PCS....post concussion syndrome and Mono Sissoko...C...11/11/19...out for season...redshirt year. WWN2D2W.....Stop the Top...easier said then done...however, we don't need to shut him down...just slow him down a bit...if this is a close game, trimming just a few pts from his scoring could be a difference maker....Hold Toppin to 15 pts and under 50% shooting...Win the rebound battle by 6...Stop Watson from the arc ...he is a great 3pt shooter when left alone...let's bother him and keep him under 40%....TO differential at least 2 ...Like the Rich game we need to contain their offense ...slow things down...Hold them to 52 shots...their slash...46/31/70....Hold them to 67 pts ...the lower their score the better chance we have to win...And finally the Bills need to make some shots...at least four 3PM...slash...48/33/60 Bottom line...Most odds makers will give this game to Dayton by 6...However the trend line shows this as a close game...that falls in line with our style of play...we play to the competition...which is a good thing in this case...avoid TOs...stay around 11 and avoid the cold spell ...stay around the projected slash...and we could be looking at a W.

I feel like Soderberg did an ok job recruiting St. Louis. He certainly brought in a number of local guys (Polk, Meyer, Lisch, Liddell, Dustin Mcguire). His problem was moreso that he just wasn't a great recruiter. It seemed like he did a good job of putting in the time seeing local kids. Through a combination of health- and style- reasons, Rick Majerus wasn't really the type of coach who was going to be going to open gyms at Vashon or Chaminade. Then you combine that with a staff which included Harriman (who spent a lot of time recruiting in Australia, New Zealand and the west coast) and Alex Jensen (someone who we know did not enjoy the recruiting aspect), and you can start to see how that staff didn't get to local schools that often. Crews' staff of Platt, Cheaney and Bronson had no local roots and seemed more focused on their contacts in other parts of the midwest (I'll admit to not following recruiting quite as closely during this era, just given how dreary everything was). Ford made local recruiting a big priority early with the hiring of Tate away from Mizzou. Then you add the fact that his son was playing local high school basketball, and you can see how the pieces start to add up for a more significant local recruiting presence.

It is still on my DVR I cannot let go

@blackburnreview @sullymygoodname Both good follows for the whole season imo

Dayton and their fans are worse than ISIS.

Can't wait to see our guys holding the cup above their heads at mid court surrounded by students.

I think it is more likely that next season we are saying that Bell and Has are one of the best big man combos in SLU history. With Bell having more experience and better agility and Has playing the 4 where he will get better looks and an easier defensive assignment. Look out.

Singles available only on the Billikens website

The largest margin of victory was 94-95. Billikens took home the Cup with a 82-39 victory at UD arena. Billikens swept UD that year 3-0. Erwin Claggett received the Harewood Horse MVP trophy.

If I remember correctly FT man handled Toppin last year. Not having his defense this year scares me the most.

true, but hes turned up the aggressiveness around the rim in recent games.

this would be great radio without the context that Bernie couldn’t actually give a about Billiken basketball

Let's f--king go.

It is looking like seven teams fighting for the four bye slots in the A10. Well, perhaps 6 fighting for 3 slots; I'll grant that Dayton is highly likely to be one of the four. CURRENT STANDINGS Duquesne 5-0 Dayton 4-0 St. Bonaventure 4-0 Saint Louis 3-1 Richmond 3-1 Rhode Island 3-1 VCU 2-2 George Mason 1-3 La Salle 1-3 Davidson 1-3 Massachusetts 1-3 George Washington 1-3 Fordham 0-4 Saint Joseph’s 0-5

Agree and disagree. Agree that getting a big in the Spring is ALWAYS tough. Limited supply and extra demand results in guys going to "higher" level programs than they should. Great for these kids in the short run - and even better for their AAU and high school coaches to take credit for sending their player to such a high/bigger name program - but often not so good for the recruit himself. But if a recruit is a looking for an opportunity - and an opportunity both at a team that will be good/win AND which has room for both immediate and future playing time, the presence of French (who will be a Senior and who doesn't play at the end of close games) and of Bell (a Sophomore near 7 footer/center only type player) who is playing only 10-15 minutes per game, and seeing that our only other recruit is a guy who plays the 2-3 positions - I would say that SLU would be an ideal fit for a young big.

This whole NET and Q 1/Q2/and so on has enough wholes to drive an 18 wheeler through. Has the NCAA ever explained if there is any difference between Q1 wins or do they all fall in the same Q1 wins bucket? For example does beating the NET # 1 team mean more than beating the NET 34 team? Who knows? It's just the NCAA's little game to keep the big boys in and the non-P5/6 out. Let's assume that S Hall lost tonight and fell to #34 in the next days NET ranking. Or on the other hand let's take the fact that they won against Butler (NET top 5 coming into the game). Does either result have any effect on the Billikens' NET? In any reasonable system it would have to but not if you are just counting Q1 wins. Screw the NCAA and it stacked Selection Committee. Let's just win the A 10 tournament and not give them a chance to screw us!

I could be wrong, but I don't believe the rankings place greater emphasis on quality wins over non-quality wins so there needs to be some way to account for a team that actually beats other good teams. Just take a scenario where one team plays and beats the 150th and 151st ranked teams while the other beats the #1 and #300 teams. Both teams are 2-0 and, on average, have the same strength of schedule. I'm old enough to remember Missouri State not getting in the tourney back in the mid 2000s despite an RPI in the 20s. Part of the reason it was so high was that they had avoided playing many, if any, games against teams ranked worse than 200 and just racked up wins on teams ranked from about 100-200 (good strategy, btw). I think the biggest issue is how you treat the power conference team with like a 3-10 record vs. Q1 opponents vs. a non-power conference team with a 2-3 record vs. Q1 opponents. The Jay Bilases of the world would probably say the power conference team won 3(!) Q1 games and should be in since the other school only had 2. I look at those opposing records and see a school that just had a ton of opportunities for quality wins and was lucky enough to win a few.

A small problem I have with the selection criteria: We have this seemingly complex NET rating that the committee says they take seriously. I would assume Q1 record would be factored into that NET rating. So it bothers me when the committee will take a team with a NET rating of 73 over a NET rating of 30 something with less Q1 wins. Seemingly that would have already been accounted for and the NET 37 is still a more impressive resume. Also, using arbitrary cut offs (1-75 is Q1 road win for example) doesn't make any sense. A road win vs 75th ranked team by 2 is not better than a road win over the 76th ranked team by 10. NET rating would seemingly account for this....just looking at Q1 records wouldn't. My point is, committee, if you are going to have a NET rating, trust it. Or adjust the rating to value quality wins more. The quadrant system just doesn't make sense given the amount of data they have access to.

I want SPUMAC to get their @$$es kicked everytime they take the court! That rule trumps all others.

Letterkenny. Great show.

Adding to this - turn your phones on silent.

Jimmy Bell is a freshmen folks... let that sink in

I will say this. I know his Dad prefers he stays close to home and that Rio has a good relationship with Yuri and Hargrove. If he can accept his role (he came off the bench his 1st two years at Vashon) I think he fits the type of player Ford is looking for. He is a little feisty tho . And Roby isn't the only one telling him to come home.