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I feel like I am too busy to be The Wiz.

I would argue that SLU has at least one very important advantage over DePaul as it relates to Moser. He knows you can win here. He was part of the staff under RM that built a top 10 team. It has been done at SLU in recent history (how far we have fallen). DePaul hasn't been relevant since when, the 1980's? Although, DePaul is the answer to an important trivia question...who was SLU's first win in the Great Midwest.

I’ll take 25k a year, use the rest on NIL, and take all suggestions from MBM on what to do in game by reading the GD threads on the sideline

It's imperative that we fix this mess now. Things change fast with conferences realigning. The next good conference opportunity may be our last and we can't be a bad team and think anything good will happen. Today's game allows for fast recovery with the right coach, vision and some NIL money. We have everything else.

Porter is leaving Oklahoma. He hates it there. A prominent SLU booster has reached out to Porter. He is in the top3 for DePaul too, but still who takes the DePaul job over the SLU job.

The fit with OU was always a strange one. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him look at DePaul hard.

i agree with this completely. but i got 45 years invested in the billikens. long ago the billikens became my passion only exceeded by my family and job. that said somewhere along the line i became all in for the Shriners and the greatest philanthropy in the world. so i guess my billikens "itch" isnt as important to me any longer. and when they make the half in decision (my guess dont know how they will treat the need but betting they wont play all in like the big boys) i expect, and we become more and more insignificant, it wont hurt as badly. my wardrobe already is becoming more Shriner deep red instead of billiken blue. life is ever changing and goes on no matter what us insignificants want. btw, i believe by monday night harriman might be the interim. last night had a strange feeling of desparation imo. and why would doc C show up for UMass? he's only been to one game all year and now out of the blue he shows up for that? just my feeling, no one has told me anything but maybe the team owner was in town to make "the move"? regardless cant happen soon enough.

Dr and Ford convo after the game..

They could have called 10 more.

I'm thinking there's still some SERIOUS dissention in the ranks. Those of you that didn't watch the broadcast, as they were cutting back in from the crash in the last timeout, they showed the Billiken huddle and one of the guys started punching the side of his head. Then he looked to get even more pissed, turned around and sat down before the huddle broke, looking supremely pissed off... that player was none other than one Mr. Parker. This isn't a team... it's a group THINKING they're a team. I just don't know anymore...

Terrible game, but at least I got Dr J’s autograph

He's been interim-head coach Travis Ford for 2 years now in my mind. But I can't see them making a mid-season change unless Chaifetz just can't stand it anymore. FWIW immediately after the game ended May and Chaifetz were huddled in the corner of the court and it didn't appear to be a pleasant conversation.

With Alexa and Scott, it’s like there are 2 color announcers and no one doing play by play

I knew there was something familiar about Martin…

I’m pretty sure that’s Dr J sitting behind the UMass bench.

SLU's defensive woes compounded by inability to force turnovers Stu Durando Jan 26, 2024 On Jan 26 at 851AM I put up the UMass spread thread on this board. My lead topic as always was "General Outlook" where I discuss things going on with the Bills team that need extra emphasis. In that post , I explained the problem of TO spreads particularly are inability to force opponent TOs. Later in that same day the above headline appeared in the St L Post Dispatch. Either great minds think a like or it was just a coincidence. In any case, Stu brings this up to Ford ...and Ford agrees that this is part of the defensive problem that needs to be fixed. This is good because in order to fix a problem you first have to acknowledge it. Of course those who are regular readers of my posts know that I have been harping on this stat for weeks. TOs are always in my forecast because they are an important stat. But I only harp on a stat when it consistently affects our ability to win over time. And this stat does that this year. After the UMass game, we are now 14th worst ITN for the season and 4th WITN in the last 3 games in opponent TOs. This issue is about TO spreads...the difference between your TOs and the opposing team's TOs. Usually, the problem is a team is not protecting the ball or being careless with passes and their own TO count is high. But in this case, the issue is we don't force TOs which is creating a negative spread. The problem came to the forefront against La Tech when you had a black swan event(a black swan event is a term used in statistics meaning an extremely rare event or anomaly) . In that game Tech had NO TOs ...something that might happen once in a decade or so. From there on we have just continued to trend down. How does this affect the game? TO spreads affect point spreads. This is different from the stat that is labeled points off TOs whereby you take possession of the ball and you score on a TO. The magic number in a TO spread is 2.25 pts. This calculation takes into account not just points that could be scored on a TO but the lost opportunity from the team that turned it over. The rough breakdown is the the opponent gets 1.25pts for the TO and the team that lost the ball loses an "opportunity point". The numbers are based on the teams shooting percentages and generally vary between 2 and 2.4 pts. But generally it gravitates to around 2.25. So how does this work? Let's look at the UMass game. In that game, we had 12 TOs and UM had 7....TO spread= 5....TO spread factor...2.25.... 5x 2.25pts =11pts....the exact difference in the game. Coincidentally, UMass points off TOs was 11pts...that number doesn't take into account points Bills scored off of TOs or lost opportunities on the 12 Bills TOs. So the TO spread is a better indicator of game outcome. How does this affect games... When the Bills lose the TO spread...there is an 82% chance of a loss. Conversely, when they win the TO spread they win 55% of the time. This means when you lose the spread it is almost a sure loss ...if you win the spread you have a chance to win. In other words, winning the spread you still have work to do (like making the slash) but it gives you a chance....Losing the TO spread is almost a certain loss regardless of what else you do. At this point I pushed the computer and asked ...what would it take to win the game in a losing spread? The answer for the Bills would be to shoot 54%+ from the 3P line....Not likely very often. Bottom line....Close the TO spread...win games.

That would be a Commodore 64...with a souped up 8 bits

So we’ve solved the riddle, Stu Durando is The Wiz!! I used to think The Wiz was Jeff Sagarin but not the case after all.

NIL, not even close. Salesman crap doesn't work like it used to, to CTFs endless frustration. I'd rather have a Frank Martin and NIL money.

That makes sense. Every AD wants “their guy.” Get out before that happens to you.

I think he is actually DePaul’s top choice. People in and around SLU definitely know what’s up and it is why the limited language from some has changed dramatically over the past couple of weeks. Moser is a guy that could get all of the biggest donors on the same page.

Porter wants out of OU. You are free not to believe, but people know this.

I like Stef Van B's aggressive nature. He should be a brute. He acknowledged in an earlier interview that he knew his role as a back-up to be physical and not worry about fouls. He stated if he got more minutes, he would play more foul conscious. He actually boxes out and hustles non stop unlike Ezeriro (takes plays off) and Zhang (weaker on the boards). Do you remember how slow Ian Vouyoukas was fresh and soph years?? Way slower. I like the Euro kids and Zhang. I don't know how Magassa is ineligible. Doesn't his sister play at Rhode Island? Did they not have similar academic whatever in France? Where Ford struck out was not so much freshmen, but portal. Dalger -gone. Ezeriro - adds some but a liability on D and not as strong on boards as should be. Meadows - so-so, not aggressive enough.

The sooner they name his successor the better for recruiting. Only one fall recruit signed,…surprising if any of the foreign guys Harry recruited return.

3 spots higher than SIUE, go Bills!

I would bet a big amount that May has already abandoned Ford - he is the type who would throw anybody under the bus to save his own skin. He probably has already removed Ford's number from his auto dial. I am sure X didn't have anything to do with getting Chafietz to the game - he knew what was going on - I am sure May has him on the auto dial.

Porter isn’t leaving OU for SLU. If he did I would have to question his sanity and intelligence. There’s no way that is happening.

I mentioned in the opening post in this thread that we aren't bad in TOs (C+)...but we are horrific (F- 16th worst ITN) in opponent TOs. It is the extremely low total (again 16th worst ITN) that is causing the TO spreads / differences that are putting us in an impossible situation to win. When we lose the TO spread the computer estimates our only chance to win is to shoot 54%+ from the arc. That won't happen very often.

And he’s made somewhere between $20 - $30M at a minimum over the years as a coach. So, I have NO sympathy for him in this current situation. It’s time to be more than the little engine that could, and move on.

Called it

Deleted.

The offensive rebounds was the difference. Most of those turn into putbacks. The lack of fundamentals and consistent effort in this team is horrible. What exactly do they practice?

Anyone who watches this team can see they are so undisciplined. too many times we need to make 1 extra pass and instead throw up a prayer. it's like the kid on the Y team who's parents paid him for points

Yeah that's when he sounded like the was going to cry. "We'll see you in Chicago"-Rammer "yeah 3 games close and it doesn't get any easier"-Ford

Emperor Chaifetius the opulent

Doing it now. Sounds defeated. "We just can't guard anybody." "It's just grasping at straws at this point" "at some point you have to man up, mano e mano" -Ford

Scott trying to sell this as some kind of moral victory? Jeesh, gimme a break.

Does he get to do the firing? Just line up May and Ford and do the throat cut motion

back when my only option to follow the game was KMOX from hundreds of miles away it drove me crazy when Rammer would call "ballgame" as SLU lost. Like Frank Martin level rage

I'm told only playing in games gets you physically ready to play in games. so he's probably tired

Where’s Curcic?

Ya Know I don't mind that foul by SVB. He's going for it

Bruce and Cian are giving us nothing, got to keep them on the bench. Curcic is a legit three point threat, he’s got to play. Van Bussell is a warrior, play the guy.

Me neither. Michigan State has done it for years. When you push the limit with physicality, the refs tend to give more leeway on contact plays.

Sweet 3 by LHJ!!

We force a turnover!!

I’m all aglow. Excited for a big Billiken victory. Oh when the Saints go marching in how I want to be in that number when the Saints go marching in…..

Some posters just aren't smart enough to make a cogent argument so they play the race card. I was hard on Yuri. In retrospect too hard. He walked away from HIS team and HIS city. Then came crawling back. His defense his Sr season took a massive drop. I thought he dominated the ball too much. He played too slow even though we were built to run, so he could run his two man game. I blamed him too much because had to be the alpha dog on that team and he wasn't built for that. His point production just couldn't hold up for that. He needed another star to play off and his final two years he didn't have it. He's a better player than Jimerson though so I expect more but he was a victim of Ford's lack of recruiting and Perkins injury. On the other hand if you are going to dominate the ball as much as Yuri did you can't expect many 1 on 1 players who can get their own shot to want to play with you. You have to score then and Yuri tried and couldn't. Jimerson's shooting has stunk lately. His defense has sank to freshman levels. He is a real weapon on offense though. On almost any other team that we've had I would have begged for him to be the 3rd option. Imagine Jimerson replacing Barnett on the Majerus teams. Jimerson's strengths are playing off ball, vs Yuri's playing on ball so its comparing apples to oranges. Jimerson can't get his own shot, he's never tried to be that guy. If the scheme can't get him looks than he either doesn't take any shots or he takes really bad shots. For Jimerson to be a #1 guy the rest of the team has to buy all in on getting him open. His teammates don't care and his coaches don't either. One of the few things they have in common is lack of postseason play and really high, ultimately useless counting stats. Collins is in the conversation for best Billikens PG. Jimerson is not in the conversation for best Billikens anything.

I can see that but it was also a common sense decision at the time. Play for the Billikens for free Play for Tennessee for a reported 6 figures. I put more blame on the Athletic department than Yuri. They should have had a plan to keep him before the offers came in. When things became closer to equal he remained loyal.