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Coach Ford appreciated the crowd. 9,125 in attendance. Coach had a lot of ticket requests "off the chart". That is his indicator of how large the crowd will be. Played 35 minutes really well, 5 to 7 minutes weren't very good. Guys in foul trouble and Linssen getting foul trouble didn't help. When the student section is overflowing there is 'heat in the building'. Courtney's three - it was an omen for the game. Crowd was paying attention and knew the situation, giving him a standing O. TJ's jam - VCU presses 94 feet. You have to make quick decisions if you are patient. Patience was what lead to TJ's jam. VCU tries to speed you up to make quick, bad shots. That is the same as a turnover. Need to make good decisions while playing aggressive (up tempo). Quality of shot is the key. Jimerson's 3 from Linssen assist. Team was moving the ball quickly. We did a good job of finding the open shooters. Get two guys to play you and then find the open guy. Jimerson was in the groove in the first half. Collins was putting the ball right into his shooting pattern, allowing Jimerson to go straight into the shot rather than cocking the shot. He is doing better in getting his shot in the flow of the offense. Jimerson can take a more difficult shot than others on the team. Extended the lead in the second half, with Okoro keeping the Bills run going. Rams made a run to come back. They play in spurts. We needed to keep scoring and we went into a drought. We were shooting bad shots allowing VCU back into the game. For about 5 minutes we fed into their defensive pressure. Collins shot - he had the guts to take it inside. Then an unbelievable defensive stop by Thatch on Williams. Thatch forced him into a very tough shot. League's unbalance schedule makes the upcoming tourney up for grabs, as some of the top teams have only played each other once. Not a whole lot separating the top tier. Senior Day - two emotional moments. Courtney mentioning Ford Stuen was special. Jones didn't have family members present, so the entire Team Blue stepped up for him. That was special because he had only been here 7 to 8 months. Players got off yesterday and today. Team needs to recharge their batteries. Team will prepare tomorrow here and Wednesday in DC - at Georgetown. We have to play better than we have played yet this year to win 4 games. No idea who to pick in the StJoe / LaSalle game. Staff will be at the game with both teams scouted. Whoever had StJ earlier will get them again. This will be unique is that the coach will be in the stands which they usually aren't. "But we know everything they do and they both know us." They might throw something new out there they have been saving, like a new inbound play. The Wed practice will be after this game is over. For the Bills the Fred Thatch force is 'new' for the Bills. Ford suggests he should be Most Improved Player in A10. Thatch never made excuses when he was ill and when he wasn't starting. Talked about the Tourney in Atlantic City. Rammer liked the big ole barn in Atlantic City, Ford didn't. Ford likes playing in NBA arenas. Both liked the previous tourney in DC. Hotels were right near the Arena before-you could walk, but aren't this year. They will have to bus into the arena. Ford has been asked a lot about the league, and is it being disrespected? 'The league didn't really do a lot in OOC. A few good wins, but not enough. Right now A10 has teams playing high level. All A10 Teams. No question Collins is first team. "Should be Player of the Year". Staff voted this morning on the various teams, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Defense. Staff used a white board and had more names than slots on the teams. This is probably the most quality Ford has seen in the A10. Jimerson should be All Conference since every team focuses on stopping him. Fred has to be First Team All D. Osunniyi likely Defensive Player of the Year. Gilyard was only 2nd in the A10 in steals behind Baldwin in conference games. Collins should be All D. You cannot vote for your own players. "The entire Dayton team could be Freshman of the Year". Came back to talk about Linssen on Senior Day. Family hadn't seen him since his freshman year at Valpo. Parents flew into DC, rented a car and drove here, and now are driving back to DC for the Tourney. He had a heck of a game. Had to get stitches in a crucial part of the game. Coach wanted him in the lineup but he was getting stitched up. Entire family is tall. How did we recover from losing Perkins, what changes were made. Season was 'there' and we didn't have much time to react. Staff met the next day. Goals didn't change. Had to change course, losing 20-22 points per game. Expected Jimerson and Collins to pick some of that up. Focus on getting to the Line more. Needed not to be sorry but how do you bring more. Early tourney was a legit win against SFA. Played horrific at Memphis, but we learned a lot. Iona was a special win. Stumbling at UMass was tough. We weren't locked in. We have to put 40 min together, back to back.

Last year at this time, I thought Jimerson might transfer. It seemed like he and Ford were having issues. Then nothing. Earlier this season, it looked like Thatch was angry every game, but nothing. The only difference here is that Hargrove’s Dad is on Twitter. I know very little about Hargrove, but no one should worry about his Dad’s opinion, it is obvious that his Mom is the dominant person in that family. If she wants a change, then TJ will move on. If she wants him to stay and double down, then he probably will. In either case, he is a good kid and people should stop speculating.

TJ has twice as many turnovers as he does assists. 37 TOs to 18 assists. Truly awful stat. According to this, he is the absolute last player we want dribbling the ball or making plays. The quick yank comes when he tries to do so. The numbers don’t lie. Ford knows what he is and TJ does not. He’s an athletic rim runner who can make an occasional 3. The key to TJ reclaiming minutes is to have the self-awareness to realize these strengths and accept that role

If you are an A10 program looking for a coach and Archie Miller isn't one of your targets you either aren't doing your job or you don't have the commitment necessary to be a consistent winning program.

Is is possible for Guy Phillips to not be awkward in moments like these? The sentiment was already out there about being hopeful that Perkins would be back. It was clear that Perkins wasn't going to make a big announcement either way, although it certainly seemed at one point, briefly, that he wanted to. The moment happened, it passed, Perkins handed the microphone off, and then Gus Phelps, "correction, Guy Phillips," launches into a very odd "HE WILL BE BACK, stronger than ever" thing that he repeated like five times. I guarantee it was something that Phillips prepared ahead of time, because he thought it would be cute and people would be talking about how witty he was. I also am rather sure that no one in the Athletic Department or the coaching staff knew that Phillips was going to do that or approved it. It thought he took a very genuine moment that was happening, that everyone who was paying attention understood, and made it very strange and cringeworthy.

I think it's wonderful that Fred seems to be taking a realistic view of his future and will take advantage of today's situation and rules to prepare himself for life after basketball. Fred continues to rise up my ladder of favorite Billikens for all the right reasons.

Oh no, I was literally just asking. Ive only seen 2 clips of Parker, and he was handling the ball in both. Im wondering is Parker- Fred-nesbitt can all rotate on back up PG. Im sure Thames will get a chance, don't like to rely on frosh tho.

Oduro only played 13 conference games and his team came in 9th. I can’t buy him as player of the year when other players had a much more significant impact

This episode is brought to you by Wheelhouse Bicycle Shop in Creve Coeur. Whether you’re looking for a triathlon bike like I recently was or your kids first bike go see Nathan Levanthal first at 770 N New Ballas Rd in Creve Couer or online at wheelhousebicycle.com MBB: Rhode Island and VCU Reviews. MBB: A10 Championship Preview WBB: George Mason Review Baseball: Northern Colorado series recap Softball: Ole Miss Tournament Recap Soccer Update View the full article

Links bump.

Worth noting that the preseason poll was done BEFORE Perkins went down.

For me, all of the Top 4 are tough teams. We don't have a distinct advantage over any of them, and none of them have a distinct advantage over us. Sure, there are personal preferences, but bottom line, all of those 4 present a tough game. We have to play 3 of them to win it all. Just bring 'um on.

First Four Out,- Dayton, VCU, BYU , and SLU Next Four Out- St. Bonaventure

#1. SLU is a good team that is peaking at the right time. #2. we do not want to play the Billikens. (ever again) Good bye. ACE " I'm not sure how any Bonawelding fan can be happy with the regular season that they've had ". Ace why do still TROLL the welding thing? Very childish on your part. And as for the season the Covid thing took its toll on the Team, the University and the Greater Olean Community. Then. before the resent VCU game, the Flu went through the team and VCU won. Stand for Ukrainian Freedom

Better news for Thatch. He has a solid plan for his future.

Sean will probably be hired by a "bigger" program who can more easily extend the middle finger to the NCAA.

Not a huge sample size but in their last game he definitely played off ball most of the time (much more similar to Gibson). Most possessions the PG would break press and bring ball up, he would be out at the wing waiting for a kick out for his shot or to drive. A few times he got the ball from handoffs and then looked to attack.

Not knocking Kramer, but I think people forget GJ was the 4th most efficient scorer in all of EYBL his final year.

Agree to disagree. When a player begins to publicly show up the head coach, which is something I can’t recall the other players you mentioned ever doing, then I don’t see a problem with speculation.

Agreed. Maybe Rhode Island could be a fit?

Williams hasn't shown anything this season to tell me he'd be relied on as a backup PG. I'd put Thatch in the mix. He seems like our 3rd option right now behind Yuri & Jones.

-wow, I guess Patrick has a great agent

We'll be there. Usually evident by the "79" Billiken hockey jerseys.

TJ is the future glue player on this team if he wants to wait his turn. He's an athletic tweener -- glue player is about as good as it gets for a player like that at this level. But he will have to wait. Thatch is on a mission right now.

I think the Thatch improvement has led to fewer TJ minutes. Against VCU, it was DJ’s increased minutes for ball security.

LOL Nope, his hair is now totally under control.

That was a crazy, highly entertaining game, bring on the rest of the madness!!!!

I wish he would have worked out. Always expected more than what we got from him. But seemed like a good dude.

-for me COY is Neptune, to do that at Fordham and without who was their best player, or at least a top 2 player as Ohams is really good, for a long stretch and miss the PIG is amazing, I hope he can keep who he has and add good players - but I agree McKillop will get it -I would vote Oduro as POY -I think it is top 6 and see Loyer, OO and Oduro as 3, the rest will fill in, I hope Yuri or GibJim make it but can see them being voted to second team

I'm not sure how any Bonawelding fan can be happy with the regular season that they've had. They started early in the season with a Top 25 ranking, but by late December, were out and never had a realistic sniff of making the Dance. Even SLU had some bubble chatter as late as early Feb. At this point, the team projected to win the league with all of that experience should have been a lock for an at-large bid. Instead, a 4th place finish and a NET sitting at 84, which is 22 spots behind SLU - who many on this board view as having a very disappointing season, even though SLU lost one of the leading POY candidates right before the season. Schmidt didn't face that type of adversity - not even close. Compare Schmidt's experienced team this year to the Majerus teams - all three of RM's Tourney teams had already locked up an at-large bid at this stage of the season. Meanwhile, right now Schmidt is scrambling along with SLU and a handful of other teams who have a shot at winning the Conference Tourney. Sure, Schmidt can salvage things with a good weekend, but this was not a great job during the regular season.

I’m going. I booked my plane tickets when we were on that winning streak and looking like a solid shot for a top 4 spot, meaning that my flight is Thursday afternoon. I’d like to see us make a run to at least Saturday, but frankly I’m just hoping that we don’t get eliminated before I board the plane at Lambert on Thursday afternoon.

PG Fred Payne, yet another Texas recruit we've been following for some time, thinks we're close to offering. Payne is a 6-2 scoring point guard, who is a threat from all three levels. https://www.on3.com/news/23-fred-payne-gets-acc-offer-talks-visit-and-other-schools/

I've seen many a 4 star recruit put up Nesbitt-type numbers or worse because of a fundamental flaw in their game. When given the option to take a few dribbles and shoot a 15 footer or drive and get his shot blocked, Nesbitt chooses the latter 99% of the time. If he develops any semblance of a mid-range game over the summer, this league is in trouble.

Yes. The last time he said "HE WILL BE BACK.....stronger than ever," he had a long pause, longer then the other times, between the first part and the second part. A portion of the crowd started cheering as if Phillips was announcing that Perkins was coming back. Very, very strange choice, by a guy who makes a lot of strange choices when doing this gig. I have to think that when the portion of the crowd started cheering, Phillips probably smiled and thought he had done something good.

Any player who loses their minutes to another player has only themselves to blame.

Too many chefs spoil the broth? Pee Wee, Perkins, TJ, JNez. Sounds like it’s time for Travis to hold a come to Jesus meeting. For what it’s worth the VCU game might have been Travis’ best coaching job this year, and it was because he recognized the importance of playing Jones and Yurimania together for so many minutes. Against VCU you need to minimize the TO’s to win and having your 2 best ball handlers and most experienced on the court was a good move.

If we are going to judge being a successful program by SLU’s last 50 years, we just might as well join the Valley. If that is how we are going to say someone is doing well we shouldn’t have built Chaifetz and pumped all the other money we have into the program the past 20 years. When your program has the facilities and funding to rival any other non football school in the country, you need to raise the bar when it comes to what you consider doing well.

Other observations: 1) Video replays on the Jumbotrons are terrible. Maybe there is a reason they don’t show the questionable calls/bang-bang plays, but they simply don’t. There were 2 in particular - one where it looked like a goaltend on a potential and-1 for us and one on a blatant missed charge that Yuri drew (maybe in restricted area). They show replays on Billiken baskets, so I know they have the capabilities. Show what actually took place. That was pretty maddening I thought. Cardinals do the same thing. 2) Though we didn’t get much from Javonte himself, Ford all but confirmed he’ll be back next season imo. “He came in and proved he’s the best player on the team, now it’s time to prove he’s the best in America”. Don’t do that by forgoing his last year. My brother made an interesting point from a scholarship perspective. I may be wrong but Perkins return puts us over the scholarship limit with all players in tact. May be a game of chess they’re playing waiting for transfers out before announcing return. 3) We could not find pizza anywhere. Maybe 2 stands in the whole place that sell it? Oh well. 4) Brought the wife to her first SLU game. We are both Mizzou grads. She made a comment “these are way better than Mizzou games”. Music to my ears haha. All in all - fun game and great turnout

Phillip Russell named 2nd team all OVC

Francis shot 47% on FTs (100 attempts) while at Oregon. Credit to him and the coaches for such a vast improvement. I feel confident when he steps to the line.