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Coach liked the way Yuri managed the game at Davidson. There were several swings during the game, so he showed good patience. It was a sellout at Davidson. They were coming off a road win. Students are right by the bench. They do some crazy stuff. Very intense game, don't know if you could feel it through the TV. Coach said they saw some things on film that they exploited early, until Davidson made adjustments. "We scored our first eight shots, but we were still only up by one. We weren't guarding anyone on the other end." We got into extreme foul trouble, we are studying this on tape to see how to fix this. Played the last part of the first half without starters, and we were only down four. Okoro could have had 20, but we couldn't keep him out of foul trouble. Fordham coming up. "This isn't the Fordham we all know. Not even close. They have won 4 in a row, 3 on the road. That says enough right there. Their Georgia Tech PF transfer is a big physical presence who scored 30 last game. They will play all kinds of gimmick defenses. They will have "tandem and three", guarding our three best shooters and the other two in a zone. Big kid from Ukraine at the 5." Team will be focused on Fordham and will not be looking ahead at VCU. (VCU needs to be a sell out.) Ackerman stated he was on the Coach's show this past Monday with Tate and Tate told of their initial "are you with me" meeting. Ford remembers that meeting and gave him great credit for what he has done. If you want to know how to build relationships, study Corey Tate. Tate really cares about relationships, and he has a great mind for the game. About the woman's win last night over Fordham, impressed with what Rebecca is doing. First year's are never easy. Fordham has had a strong team for quite a while.

Terrance was easy to spot at Billikens functions. He almost always wore the old Billikens.com shirt to preseason practices and the like. I was fortunate enough to know him a great deal. We sat together at many functions over the years. A billikens fan through and through but he was also a deeply spiritual man and if he wasn't at Kiel or chaifetz he was usually at his church. We connected both being from North County. He lived in Berkeley mostly and I lived a short distance away in Ferguson. We met up at several HS games to scout future Billikens from the Romar days till the Crews era. As a moderator he made Billikens.com stronger. He didn't make personal decisions, he did what was best for the board. I believe his moderation has allowed this board to grow and maintain its strength and quality while so many others across the college basketball landscape fell off. My only regret is I lost touch with the man over the years but it appears he found love and stability in his life away from St. Louis. A true Billikens fans if there ever was one. RIP brother, I will see you on the other side in Billikens Blue.

General Outlook We look up at the standings today and see SLU at the top of the heap in 1st place...It is a good place to be. There were those who said after the SIU-e and UMass losses that the season was over. The computer in the preconference look said we would be favored in the 1st 11 games....We are 7-1 ...pretty much on track and still favored in the next 3. But this is not a time to rest on our laurels. There is much work to be done to get an auto bid or an at large bid (yes it is possible.) In the preconference forecast on Xmas day, I wrote the most likely outcome was a 15-3 record which would give us a chance at an NCAA bid. I ran the simulations today and the computer is still showing us at 15-3 substituting the loss at UMass for a win at Rich. Then I ran a series of simulations to determine our best/easiest path to a Dance bid. The answer is to finish as one of the top 4 teams in conference and then finish 2nd in the A10 tourney. Those 25 wins along with a strong finish should give us an at large bid. Of course if we win the tourney this all becomes moot. But that is where we stand today. I would not worry too much about the NET. We have to win games...a lot of games BUT the computer says we will...There is not much margin for error ...either in number of games to win or in the individual game spreads...many games will be very close...a TO or bad call or a missed FT could be the deciding factor. Buckle up ...Mr. Toad will be driving. Game Outlook We come into this game still at B+...where we started the season. Meanwhile we are going to visit a 17-4 team that plays in a cracker box. Should we be worried? No. Should we be concerned? Yes. Fordham despite their lofty record (weak SOS) is sporting an overall grade of C+. This is essentially a 2 man team...Quissenberry and Moore...stop them and you win. The computer is not worried because it knows we are capable of stopping them...However it is concerned as to ..will we stop them. Let's look at a couple of recent games in the A10....When Dav played Fham they held the 2 players to 8 pts...Fham wound up with only 43pts as a team...GW used a different strategy . They decided we won't focus on those two guys... let's just play our game. Results ...the 2 Fham players scored 52pts and the Rams wound up with 80 pts. I vote for the Dav model. There are a few other twists to this team ..Charlton will steal the ball if given a chance and Tsimbila can block some shots also if given the chance. Fham has an above average defense and some serious weaknesses on offense...as in they can't shoot with the exception of FTs. But the bottom line formula is ...Stop Quiz + Moore=Win Report Card.... 2 categories up ...none down. Another clean Card (no Ds or Fs)...as long as we have a "clean Card " we will be favored in most of the rest of the games. While opponent PPG has improved, it is still the weakest part of the Card. I think this is the most important stat on the sheet for the rest of the season. Further, if we can raise that grade from C- to C ...I would then say not only will we be favored for most of the rest of the games BUT we would actually win most of the rest of the games. What would it take to get to C....giving up less than 70 pts a game. We have to play with a purpose...not just trying to outscore them or keep them from getting open shots...We need the discipline to hold them under 70...What I mean by that is ...if we are leading with just a few min left in the game by say 85 -68...instead of trying to get to 90 or stalling the game out...we need to keep them from getting 70...the mind set / discipline /focus to always be playing defense with a specific number in mind. Let's look at the report card... ...................SLU......................Ford........................SLU.............................Ford .................................OFF..........................................................DEF............. PPG...............B+.....................C+............................C-..................................B- FG%...............B+.....................D-..............................A-.................................B+ 3P%...............C+.....................D+............................C+.................................B- FT%...............B-......................A-.................................................................. Reb...............A+..11th ITN......B...............................C+....................................C+ OFF Rebs = total rebs...DEF Rebs = opp reb Opp TOs...unfortunately this is back because we have fallen to F- again in this category...17th WITH...at this level it can have an affect on the game...this stat will disappear when we move above F-. UP...............Off....FG%....Def.....Rebs Down.........Off.......none....Def....none Top 100 In The Nation SLU Assts...Collins... 1st...unch......49th all time D1 list Assts/TO ratio...Collins...24th...up Reb...Okoro...49th...unch Blks...Okoro ...60th...dn Off Reb...Okoro...29th ...dn Dou Dou...Collins...43rd...dn Ford None Injury /Illness report and misc The Bills....1/27...Thames....Questionable...undisclosed......unspecified issue makes it uncertain if he will be able to play on Tues Ford...none Keys to the game.... If you have been reading to this point ...you should know the key is to stop Q & M WWN2D2W...Make the slash...46/35/75...Hold their Quiz and Moore to a combined 25pts which should allow us to keep them around 65pts....Match them on TOs...Beat them on the boards by 4....Don't give them free pts by fouling Quiz...Beat their bench by 12 pts Bottom line....Play like we have been playing and this game is ours.

When capacity at your arena is just over 1500 fans is it ever really a sellout? I don't care if Fordham wins out the rest of the season. They are a step below the MAAC and should never be in the A10. Also after seeing the visiting locker rooms at Belk, which would be substandard for a HS freshman football team, Davidson needs to be told to get a donation from the Currys and upgrade their facilities past the 1940s or they can also kick rocks.

I met thicks early in the billikens.com lifetime before a game at the old Savvis. I found out later it was his first game in person to watch our Billikens. I was surprised when I met him at how reserved he was in person but I came to realize that he was always pretty much in control of his emotions and passion. What we got on the board was exactly what Mr Hicks was in person. "Thicks" was the perfect choice for Steve to "hire" as our board monitor and he took the duty serious. Many (including myself) initially didn't like his seriousness doing the job. But in hindsight, I am not sure any of the rest of us had the demeanor he did to do what he did, let alone taking all the personal written shots from anonomous hacks since all of us are hiding behind a moniker and typing words that many times were/are quite venemous. Without his early actions on our community messageboard with his guideance and rule, who knows what this board might have evolved. I am always amazed when I peek at other messageboards how usually,their discourse is much worse as compared to billikens.com. We truly are a family of mbm's that are special and I think we owe a lot of what billikens.com became to Terrence. When he got the opportunity to move out of the St Louis area for a better job, I was happy for Terrence but I had come to love and greatly appreciate his passion for the board and the professional way he handled his assigned tasks for monitoring billikens.com. I feared the tone of the board might actually change for the worse. As is the case of when many of our friends and relatives pass on, I wish I had taken the time to get to know him personally better. Obviously that ship has now sailed and I regret never taken the small effort to get to know him better in person. He was a good person and will be missed not only by our little community but also his circle of personal friends and relatives. Thanks "thicks" for all you did for our little sandbox of all things Billikens. May you rest in peace. So Mote It Be. Roy Mueller aka billiken_roy

sorry…per thicks…have taken, not have took… I will stop after today mhg

I would hope so. I think we’d enter the tournament at 25-6, 17-1 in conference and finish 27-7 if we lost in the A10 finals but I agree with you it would be hard to keep us out. My only concern is that the A10 is so weak this year and we’ve dug ourselves a hole with our current NET rankling, and there’s a strong possibility it doesn’t improve much even with that record. To make the decision easier on the committee (i.e. improve our net to bubble territory and pass the eye test) we need to blow some teams out, wins from our non-con opponents/losses from the teams ahead of us, and lose to either Dayton or VCU in the finals. I agree with others that A10 ends up with 2 teams. I hope we’re one of them. Curious what the lowest NET ranking to receive an at-large is. St. John’s received one (first 4) a few years back with a NET of 73. But the Big East also ranked as the 4th best conference by NET that year and the Red Storm had 10 Q1 and 2 wins.

Nah!!! We’re Billiken MBM’s!!!! Hope springs eternal. We have been hit with so much bad sh!!t that we don’t know which way to turn sometimes. We need to just keep digging and scratching and clawing to get the job done. That’s how the guys have got it done this year, after losing their first conference game. It’s not gonna be easy .But it’s doable. You are correct, we need sustained success. That’s right what I mean by becoming the Gonzaga of the A10. It starts next game! And the game after that! One by one! Go Bills! Go SLU! Man, I’m pumped now. mhg

If we went to Brooklyn 26-5 and 17-1 in conference, and lose in the A-10 ship (finishing 28-6) there’s no way they keep us out

it worked

Bottom line....Play like we have been playing and this game is ours. There it is. Play our game (even if we are playing in a broom closet this game) and take the win. No looking ahead to VCU, concentrate on taking care of business. As always, compliments to the Wiz and his computer

Providence 70 @Villanova 65 - Final.

We need to become the Gonzaga of the A10. Get that kind of respect. Yes, just win, baby. Recruit to be the best….in the Big East. Win recruiting wars with X, Marquette, etc. We beat Providence, Memphis. Need Yuri and GJ to stay another year. Get the best HANDS big man in the portal, someone anxious to receive Yuri zingers. To me, the wild card is Brock Vice, the freshman. Im seeing BZ more as an outside guy, just from the few videos we’ve seen. How ready will they be? Will they be ahead of MoMo? Can MoMo add 15 lbs this off season? It is attitude, boys. Let’s whip up on FU, then attack the rest of the season.

Think bigger. 17-1. Bank it.

Technically no but we could do what Creighton did - lobby. No percentages is just sitting around waiting for some one to ask us to the prom.

Don't want to go back through all 16 pages, but for the poster who mentioned Jimerson only shooting one FT for the Tech, but showing up as missing one on the initial game stats, that has been corrected. You can go to the SLU website game stats. Good catch. I guess in today's world, we should say, "First announced by XYZ." But I don't recall who XYZ is.

The random guy moving the magnets on the whiteboard is The Committee. The NET is the tip sheet sold by a seedy guy outside the Track.

The NET is just a random guy moving team magnets around on a large whiteboard.

The A10 will get 2 bids... win the regular season boyz

I’d rather be playing an 18-5 VCU team on Friday with 1st place on the line.

Ewwwww the most famous maybe but even in his prime he was nothing more than a gimmicky sideshow. Shaq tells the story how he was so honored to meet Vitale at McD AA game. Vitale barely knew who the #1 recruit in the country was. Told Shaq that he was the kid that played against small schools, told him the competition would be too tough. Shaq blocked the first shot of the game took the ball the length of the court taking off from just inside the Free throw dunking on two guys and stared down Vitale.

Bonnie’s win 61-58 over VCU at VCU.

RIP Thicks. Miss our conversations and your ability to keep me grounded. You were one of the good ones.

Jimmy Bell with 15 points and 7 rebounds in WVU’s 3 point win over Auburn.

6 in a row, something is being taught.

RIP Thicks. I always thought in my mind that something happened to you, that you wouldn't have just left this community because you had moved. It is like a big somewhat functional family . Much love to you.