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OP I am a lurker here, but have posted some throughout the years. I wouldn’t consider this site toxic or to have any impact on free thought. It’s actually probably the best space online to find the most accurate and updated billiken info you can. It has its flaws.. but it’s a FAN site. You just don’t like the ideology of the majority of the posters here. Or maybe they don’t like yours. It doesn’t mean you’re wrong. It just means most people here view the team and program differently than you do. but I would say it’s far from free thought oppression or toxic.. if you don’t like it, I would recommend finding a new site or even start a new site if you don’t like the culture. Personally, I don’t disagree with talking MVC. I think it’s a fun topic. But some of the heavy posters here aren’t going to listen to it because it’s been discussed here 1000 times... I do think somebody telling you to kill yourself is stupid. Even if jest or intended as a bar scene insult.. (Which it was.. and you know it..) But for liability reasons in today’s environment, it should be deleted. And shouldn’t be said. Unfortunately there are people who might take it serious, that might be struggling with mental illness and suggesting this to anyone you don’t know even as a joke is pretty ignorant. But you seem intelligent enough to realize he was just being an ass hole and didn’t want you to kill yourself over a suggestion on which conference a basketball team should play in.

Loss sucks... it hurts. Season over and a disappointing one in that. But all I can say is major thank you and kudos to all the student athletes and specifically thank you those with the most scrutiny - our men’s basketball program. All of these kids have been kept from going home, poked and prodded daily for tests, and haven’t been able to be normal college kids. Every parent I know who sent their kid to college this year said their kid got covid within the first week or so. I see photos of their kids out on the town and enjoying their lives, as they should. Our boys were locked up and focused on basketball. Easy to judge and blame but also, if you give a little grace, easy to understand all these crazy results (the Ohio state losing to an old Robert’s that lost to Mizzou by 30, Purdue crumble, 20 point comebacks, Louisville losing by 50 to UNC, etc.). These guys ran out of gas, and I can’t blame them. I understand pointing fingers at the coaches who are PAID, but I think this season was hard on them too. We’ve already seen a “great coach” in Izzo underperform, and I’m sure we will see many examples of “great coaches” have teams that falter this March. Hard to coach players that have had their lives flipped upside down for a year. I for one can’t wait for next year’s season. So thank you to our men’s team for putting up with media BS and thank you to every SLU athlete making a sacrifice to perform at the highest level and entertain us fans.

I think we’ll be surprised how good we are next year. As much as French and Goodwin were needed to revitalize the culture of the program and overall competitiveness, there were significant gaps, particularly on offense that both of them caused. Neither had a true position which caused confusion for opponents when we were on or when we had a matchup advantage but when we faced a good defense or shooting was off, we had no offensive structure to fall back to. Bully ball was needed after the time but I think we saw that it had it’s ceiling. We have a lot of experience coming back, I’m looking forward to see Yuri and Perkins leading with Hargrove’s athleticism and energy, Okoro’s true big man skillset, and some actual plays to get GJ open once he gets his mojo back.

Joelabs could be a troll, but that wasn’t a troll post. Ford being the answer all depends on what your expectations are. I wasn’t in favor of hiring Crews or Ford because I feared the results we got. While I wanted Crews fired, I don’t think I want Ford to leave. I don’t have faith in SLU not hiring the wrong guy like they did the last two times. Keeping Ford is far preferable to another Crews hire. Ford will at least get us to the tournament on what for SLU would be a semi regular basis. SLU totally screwed up when they hired Crews when they had a program that had better options willing to consider taking the job than at any other point in my lifetime. It was the only time ever SLU will have a ready made top 20 program to offer a potential coach and from that position of power they hired Crews. Total SLU move.

Sometimes I think Ford is a more sufferable Brian Gregory

Are we actually bringing up Brad Soderberg? What’re we doing here? I am very disappointed in tonight’s outcome but Ford has had 3 teams that were better than any Soderberg team. This year sucked, and I do not give Ford a pass for the outcome, but at least were now back in a position where an NCAA tourney is the goal. Soderberg had one team that felt like it could make the tourney, and he couldn’t even get that team into a 32 team NIT. I’n frustrated and bummed, but the broad negativity and revisionist history is not clicking with me. Our program is in a better position than it has been since 2014. That is progress, despite the hurdles and disappointments.

I'm rooting for Porter to stay at Loyola. If it becomes the hip thing for quality mid major coaches to stay, that would go a long way to increasing parity throughout college basketball. Taking over a million dollars a year to coach in relatively low pressure situations really is a great job.

Kudos to Loyola and clearly it appears I was on the wrong side of that argument. I had them about where they were seeded. Brian and some others had them as better. I would stand by their seeding as I don’t believe their resume supported better. However, I think this makes it clear they are a top 20 team at a minimum.

Sorry. I am likely in the small minority here but PG remains a huge problem for us. Goodwin’s unique skills and leadership helped at PG this year when Yuri needed a break or was injured, but JGood is/was not a PG. And while the offense flows better with Yuri, and while Yuri is an asset to this team, we will have similar issues and again struggle against better teams next year if Yuri plays more than 20 mpg. Perkins yes. Okoro I assume. Not only does Yuri need to improve offensively (I give him the benefit of the doubt) but his decision making has been poor these past few weeks (not sure that can improve) and his height will not improve (easy to shoot over). Again, MIss State did not even guard him in the second half but doubled on Perkins. And Yuri bothers the other PG dribbling but otherwise plays little defense. This team has other issues too (not all blame on Yuri) but perimeter defense will not improve with Yuri who even got posted up and burned bad by their equally small PG, Iverson Molinar, yesterday. And poor defense and turnovers place even more pressure on the offense.

Someone should check to see if her house is on the market.

Porter taking Underwood to school right now. Underwood might be the most overrated game coach around. The Illini should get back into this game because they have so much more talent, but Loyola has put on a clinic so far.

Gotta love this board. Last week everyone was worried he was leaving because his house was on the market. Now. “He can’t coach” Is this year a disappointment? Sure. Travis’s problem was he raised expectations. I for one am excited about next year, but I have been saying that for 50 years. We will have some transfers. We will have some new players. Maybe 2022 will be the year.

Joelabs, Brighton and Bonner. Troll so hard universit

The most talented Billiken roster of my lifetime delivered the most disappointing season compared to what should have happened ever. I really don’t know how describe what I am feeling now. Not anger, just the sad realization this is probably as good as it gets. Seasons where we either meet expectations or slightly exceed when they aren’t very high, mixed with soul crushing disappointment when expectations are anything beyond a first round victory

I'm watching the game now. 26 min in. I've said it before but it is amazing how many corners Abbie Miller gets her head on. She's 5'8" so a little tall but not tall enough to account for how many she gets on. She's like a rebounder in basketball that just seems to have that knack for knowing where to be. Watch her on this goal. (She's the initial header) she's gets in a bit too far, bodies the other girl moving her out of the way to get her head on the ball and the shot to goal. Emily gets the goal but this one like many really belongs to the one making the assist 9 games in 5 players with 2+ goals, 4 out of those 5 are 2 frosh and 2 sophs. The leading goal scorer is Emily Groark a Jr with 5. 10 different players have scored. 2 players with 4+ assists. Sr Hannah Friedrich with 7 and Soph Anna Walsh with 4 (also 2 goals) 20 goals scored 6 allowed 1-1 vs top 20 teams. The Billiken women have had some good teams lately but this looks to be the best so far with the future looking still better

I’m surprised the committee didn’t have Loyola vs Houston 1st round

i prefer to beleive that loyola and other mid majors that are winning are better than the snob media want to say.

Watching this Porter coached Team right now... I don’t watch a bunch of other teams throughout the year and this is the first Ive seen Loyola play. Two takeaways. Krutwig is a physical anomaly! And Porter truly is a Majerus lite.

Gut wrenching season but I am all in on Ford. Guy has been dealt some bad hands. Remember how loaded we were gonna be in just our 2nd year after a complete rebuild? Then situation 2 happened. We had Henriquez and our all freshman team Bishop ready to join Bess, DJ, Has & JGood. Didn’t happen. We were gonna loaded the next year with Santos and our local Gordon. Santos gets roped into Situation 2 which was worse than the late call in the VCU game this year and Gordon turns out to be a complete knucklehead. We still make the tourney. Last year we were playing well then we have the 1st pandemic in 100 years. Then we get Covid crushed again this year. Yes, it is hard being a Bills fan but not much Ford could do about these scenarios. That being said, I hope everyone returns and is on board with team blue and kicks some ass. JGood should consider a proper send off in a packed Chaifetz while breaking every Billiken record. I need a mental break and a full season of Cards baseball to reset the batteries. Go Bills.

We did see a good spurt in the 2nd half when the full court press worked. I thought inserting Terrence Hargrove in the starting 2nd half lineup was a big reason it worked as he was a real menace. The head scratcher for me was he was taken out for Thatch then Miss State gained control again. I'm fine if TH got a breather not like he's ever played big minutes any time this season, but the damage was done after he was put back in.

Victory has many fathers, defeat is an orphan. This is a quote from Napoleonic times, not sure if it was from Napoleon or one of his generals. We lost last night, period. There were as many reasons for this loss as anyone may think. From my point of view the 34 day pause imposed by SLU (and St. Louis) Covid restrictions threw a monkey wrench into what should have been a steady progress of improvement in the way we played. I believe Miss State played most if not all of its scheduled games and did go through the process of improvement through frequent playing and constant practice. We did not have this. A lot of teams had less strict restrictions and therefore had an advantage over us. This is my opinion, agree or disagree with me as you wish.

You can add billiesby40 to the list. Showed up on the thread after the game was over to give us his educated opinion of coach Ford. He flatters himself. I look forward to next season with Coach Ford at the helm. I am even more excited to attend games again.

Love the Valley but that would be a step down for SLU.

It wasn’t a game plan. It was relentless implementation of fundamentals in practice which allowed them to execute their game plan and beat a team with far superior athletic ability

“She”? You should choose your words more carefully. Now we can all surmise that Porter Moser was driven away by Situation I. Du duh duhhhh!!!

actually he just goes negative on chris may. i dont recall other billiken negatives.

What a surprise Billy Ken shows up. 433 posts all negative

Dance Masters have really screwed up with this round's game times. Look forward to 1/2 hour of nothing coming up then 5 games starting from 4:15-8:40 on 4 channels most of time will be 3 games @ once.

Underwood’s coaching took a bit of a hit there. My god they weren’t prepared and made no adjustments.

Their resume wasn’t pretty but what you saw today was pretty much what they were doing all year. That’s why I knew they could do it. honestly still wish they would’ve not been seeded an 8/9 but hey they got the path now to make another final four appearance if they play like they did today!

Bullseye. The RM influence. System comes first then fill in the positions. When you have the whole Chicago population and Jesuit credibility seems like good situation to be in. It ain't Spokane.

I’m sure Marquette’s AD is getting pestered by boosters about Porter every 20 seconds or so.

Loyola makes mistakes, but the effort is never in doubt. Quick story about the history... SLU thought that Washington University kept them out of the MVC in 1907. Later, Washington University thought that SLU kept them from playing the conference teams when the Bears left the Valley in 1942.

The Illini will try to run that play to Cockburn three or four more times unsuccessfully coming out of the half before Underwood figures out Porter has adjusted his defense for it. Same thing would happen when teams matched up with Majerus.

Watching Loyola makes me miss not just coach Majerus but Majerus-ball here. Ford has had some solid defenses sure. But rarely have the kind of games anymore where we are holding good teams without a FG for 5-8 minutes at a time.

Last night while discussing conference realignment I was graphically told to kill myself by esteemed board member @Billiken Rich because I dared to offer a scenario where heading to the MVC might be ideal for SLU. The post was promptly liked by @AGB91. A personal attack of this magnitude is an unacceptable and disgusting way to express disagreement, and cannot go unchecked. @SluSignGuy I tagged you in a response and while I can understand you may have bigger fish to fry in life, this board is incredibly transparent and I can see you've already spent some time on here today. Allowing this post to stay on your site makes you just as culpable as the folks that posted and liked it. You have no idea in impact words like that can have on a person, and a mob of message board morons telling another poster to end their life is unacceptable content to be left up. What if that were the final straw that pushed someone to actually take their own life? I talk sports on a lot of different sites and nowhere else would allow garbage like this to stay viewable. You're an employee of the university. Get rid of it, Steve. If you REALLY want to do the right thing, @Billiken Rich should be put in the Metz Club. This is the exact type of behavior the the club's namesake would partake in. This message board is unwelcoming, hostile, and toxic. It's that way because you allow it to be, Steve. I'm not the first person to bring this up and I'll certainly not the be last. New posters that do not conform to the boards hive mind are regularly chased away by a select few and no one sticks up for new posters for fear of being chased away themselves. Think about all the good discussions that are being stifled because people are afraid of being attacked for their opinions. You've made a nice site, Steve, but it needs to be a community where people free to openly express their thoughts on Billiken basketball. Where being critical of your alma mater is not a crime. A place where telling someone to "Please make sure you get your entire head in front of the shot gun," is not tolerated.

What the sensitive creator of this thread has no clue of that there are people on this message board that have lived through the tragedy of suicide of a friend or family member and were not offended by Rich’s post. I am one of those people. This board can be pretty tough at times I have also experienced that and in spite of that I love this board and it’s posters. The creator of the thread has something I consider really special that I do not have and that is a degree from SLU. Stop being so stubborn with your right fighting you lost your self righteous moral high ground 3 pages ago.

The SLU season ends in the NIT. The Billikens had their chances vs. Miss. State, but could not hit the big shot to put them over the hump. SLU finishes 14-7, 7-1 before the Covid outbreak and quarantine, 7-6 after it. The team was nationally ranked for 4 weeks, never recovered in '21. The 7-1 pre-quarantine record included wins over Power 5’s LSU and NC State, both of whom are still playing in the NCAA and NIT, respectively.

I see where it is heading. The 2022 final four. Honestly, you don’t know where it is heading. Early in the season we played great basketball with a style different then anything Ford has done at SLU. Covid pause. Then, nothing really worked. Tried to go back to his regular style, with more Bell and Linssen inside, and we were pretty good, but not good enough. Just a weird year. If I have one nit with Ford this season, it is that we switched to his original style in the last 1/6 of the season. There isn’t really an explanation, other than an injury to Jacobs, and a decline in Jimerson’s play. It seemed like a good move, but also a tough move to make. We had to replace the 16-18 points they were scoring, and we didn’t. I am sure there was a logic to it all, but we don’t really see all if the information.

I’m not going indict Ford off of this season. This wasn’t the same team after the pause.

This is where we see the stark contrast between the coaches like Majerus, who did more with less, and Ford. The recruiting trail victories mean very little when the team falls flat in the first round of the NIT. Defense may win championships, but we suffered too many mental lapses to hang a W on the right side of the ledger today.

This is Travis's 5th year and honestly one has to ask the question - is he capable of getting us over the hump. So far not so sure about him. Two weeks or so ago I said I was tired of listening to the Covid excuses - I am now really done listening to it. I know for some Yuri can do no harm but the second half of the season he was not the player we had hoped for. French - I know he wanted to win but as a senior you can not make that dumb play with the over and back. Problem was he had no business bringing the ball up. He had two guards waiting for the ball but he insisted on dribbling it up and he created the turning part of the game. Tied and our ball with the momentum pushing us. That play took the wind out of our sails. It was much like when he fouled the VCU player on that 3 pt shot that he did not need to do - that costs us that game. I am not meaning to blame the players so much as wondering why it kept happening. At some point the coach has to be held accountable.

Go look at the posting history of @TaLBErtand @Brighton. I have absolutely no problem running off posters like that. Sorry, not sorry.

Trolls standing up for trolls. Gotta love the solidarity.

Maybe you can call Chris May and let him know. Maybe get him banned from Chaifitz Arena. Trolls are sad people, such boring lives that they actually find trolling message boards to be a good use of their time. I agree Steve needs to get rid of someone. You

Liddell wasn’t the reason they lost the game, he was the reason why they didn’t lose by double digits in regulation.

"The individual is asymptomatic, according to Pastner. No other members of the team were deemed close contacts through contact tracing." Hahah, this is just a farce at this point. Just stop talking about Covid if there is actually no way to be disqualified unless it is self-elimination. No team is going to self-eliminate. Kansas, Georgia Tech and UVA should all be out if the NCAA followed through with the plan they said.

The fact that Loyola of Chicago is ranked 17, but seeded 8 tells you all you need to know about the NCAA Tourney power conference prejudice. They want the likes of them out of the Tourney .... the quicker the better