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Trilly Donovan reporting on his discord channel that the top candidates for the SLU job are Mack and Schertz.

The 11 points in 28 seconds is an all time highlight.

Not that I'm anybody but last year I advocated to the AD to hire a consultant (like those on the Bama' football staff, former respected coach) to help SLU see itself. They needed to assess how they do business, practice, recruit, everything. Nothing happened besides one assistant left. The time for change was after last year. He failed on the recruiting front and now the team is one of the worst defenses in D1. A consultant helping to assess and maybe making an impact is cheaper than $10mil. But as Maria likes to point out, I don't write big checks so they're not listening to me. Too late now to salvage anything as the fanbase has no confidence. So they won't be able to bring in quality staff without paying a premium. They won't be able to bring in transfers without paying a premium. There's no hope with the current regime.

Ford comes off like a b*tch when he gets desperate.

While he could be frustrating at times he would rank in my top 10 of alltime favorite players. Not for talent but for style.

What P6 players have transferred down to the A10? P6 schools/players in bold face. Richmond: Quinn (Lafayette), Hunt (Wagner) and King (East Tennessee State), and Harris (East Carolina). Loyola: Adelekun (Dartmouth), Alston (D2), Mwamba (Oral Roberts), and Watson (Davidson). Dayton: Santos (Pitt), Cheeks (Robert Morris), Jack (Buffalo), and Bennett (Merrimack). VCU: Kuany (Cal), Bamisile (Oklahoma), Jackson (Michigan), Nelson (Richmond) and do you count Shulga and Bairstow who followed Odom from Utah State? Umass: Cohen (St. Francis (PA)), Cross (Louisville), Hankins-Sanford (South Carolina),and Diggins (Uconn). Bonaventure: Venning (Morgan State), Banks (St. Peters), Pride (Bryant), Adams-Woods (Cincinnati), Luc (Holy Cross), and Flowers (Hartford). Duquesne: Grant (Miami of Ohio), Clark (VCU), the Drame twins (La Salle), Mahorcic (NC State), Savrasov (Georgia Southern), and Williams (Indiana State). St. Joes: Coleman (East Carolina) and Greer (Dayton). Fordham: Akuwovo (Binghampton), Rivera (Lafayette), and Medor (Texas-San Antonio). La Salle: None. Rhode Island: Bilau (Wichita State), House (High Point), Kortright (Quinnipiac), Montgomery (Bradley), and Weston (Seton Hall). Davidson: Skogman (Buffalo), Brizzi (Villanova), Cochera (William & Mary), and Moss (Stanford). George Washington: Harvey (Charleston), Bishop (LSU), Smith (Evansville), Akingbola (Auburn), and Schroder (Oklahoma). Saint Louis: Ezewiro (Georgetown), Meadows (Portland) and Dalger (Tulsa). So 55 players on current rosters with 15 (27%) coming down from P6 schools. Of those 15, only Santos, Bamisile, Jackson, Cross, Diggins and Bishop are really major contributors at their new schools and you can throw Ezewiro in there for good measure. Interesting that the top two school sin the league have no P6 contributors yet they lead the league in terms of the standings.

I wanted to write this piece to point out the differences between my model and The NET. It is true my model is based on The Net but I was using a NET type model before the NCAA was(while they were still using RPI). It can be argued that they too have always used a NET model type vehicle(RPI plus other factors) but just didn't call it that. In any case, the purpose of the NCAA process in the past was to obscure what they were doing....cloak it in a shroud of mystery. The NET makes things more transparent...it reveals more than the RPI BUT the NCAA is quick to point out that the T in NET stands for Tool ...that The NET is not the final decision maker ...it is part of the process ...thus creating a cloud again. A side note here...there is just something right about using the word Tool in the same sentence as NCAA. Back on topic... takes us to the "fudge factor". This is the area (about 15-20% of the the teams in the gray area ) where the NCAA gets to over rule the technology and "fix" its mistakes. The chance to "make things right". Let's look at some examples of how this works. First, let's take a look at the MVC. Not only because it is good example of how things work but because we have added interest due to their coaches and possible portal players. The big 3 in the MVC right now are Ind St , Drake and Bradley. ISU has a 29 NET...Drake a 48 and Bradley a 60. Now let's go back a couple of weeks....ISU in the low 30s ...Drake around 45 and Bradley around 50. At that time, I had ISU as a 55% chance to Dance and Drake and Bradley as NIT players at 76% and Bradley at 64%. Now for comparison let's add 1 more team...St. John's at 44 NET a couple of weeks ago...right there in the mix of the MVC teams. Yet, I had them 61% chance to Dance (they are currently at 70% today) even though they had the worst record (just above 500) when compared to the 3 MVC schools. But when we move into the NCAA Twilight Zone here is what happens. Location....MVC...Des Moines. Terre Haute and Peoria....St. John's...NYC....winner St. J Conf......MVC....Big East....winner BE/ St. J Coaches....MVC ....up and coming bright stars....St. J...HOF legend...winner St. J TV market....this is a bit different than location...it is more about live bodies ...TV is about virtual bodies...again the winner is St. J Power 6 vs everyone else....St. J again. This part of the selection committee is run by Juan Bid. There are other factors besides the above but you get the idea. This is how the committee "fixes" things to make them "right". A Drake and Bradley may wind up in the "so sorry" area. You MVC teams have done well...you have a good record...you probably should make it ...but we are.... "so sorry". Btw, you can substitute the A10 or any other non P6 conference or teams where ever I have used MVC or MVC teams. So there are 2 main differences between my computer and The NET. The NET is just a current model. It assumes that every day it posts is Selection Sunday. The first difference between my computer and NET is that mine is based on the real Selection Sunday and all that goes on between now and then. To quote Wayne Gretsky...I don't go where the puck is...I go where it is going to be. Difference 2.....My computer figures in the Fudge Factor on Selection Sunday. Obviously, this is subjective, but even so, many of these factors are known and figuring out how humans think is one thing the computer is getting better at. And as we all know , this is the NCAA ....so there is no deep thinking...just follow the money. One more observation...When the NET starts in Dec every year , my computer and The NET are not close. But as the year goes along, we start to come together. We are much closer now and will be closer on Selection Sunday as the NCAA finally starts to get near the puck.

You can't out train a bad diet and you can't outscore a bad defense. The full picture is that this defense is so bad that even with 2 all conference scorers we are in damn near last place. The full picture is that if Travis Ford would have held on to a Cisse, Traore or Bell and/or brought in any sort of rim protection in the portal he might not be begging for his job. Using NIL as an excuse for this is nonsense. No doubt you could have gone out and found some D2 player willing to get a full ride good enough to park his ass in the paint, protect the rim and not foul.

He has a very good track record. https://theathletic.com/4765841/2023/08/15/trilly-donovan-college-basketball-twitter/

I love TJ, he's such a nice dude and he always gives 100%.

For what it's worth, the latest from Trilly Donovan: "The buyout is large, but it sounds like Saint Louis will have the money. Does Chris May go too?"

Maybe two people on the board were worried about losing Travis. Most people realized Travis had to win games in multiple NCAA tournaments before he was going to get offered a lower P5 job, much less Kentucky. Travis had a stench of NCAA tournament failure on him when he was fired at OSU. Just making the NCAA tournament wasn't going to get rid of that stench for big budget athletic departments.

Yes...It thinks it would help if he is wearing jersey #6 when he is taunting the Day coach.

I see him at the broadcast table or studio analyst as his next move. No tears as he is set for life. Overall a mediocre coaching career of missed expectations. Last season put his career on life support. This year all the ventilators were shut down.

He’s not going to find a better paying head coaching job, that’s for sure. Maybe SEMO, if they had an opening, or someone like that, would take him on at about 1/10th his current salary. But Travis would be better off just raking in the buyout money and getting a TV or radio job somewhere.

If I was getting paid 2.5 million dollars, I’d be pretty desperate to save my job too.

Has he offered to donate his salary to SLU's NIL fund to help turn things around?

“I have a plan! Trust me!” -Travis Ford

You’re correct, I misunderstood listening to it initially. It’s still a dumb idea. You can pay a much better coach less than $2 million and have more NIL funds at your disposal.

That still doesn’t make the situation even remotely better for us as fans. That’s like the Army Corps of Engineers using “new and improved” duct tape to fix a levee in New Orleans before the next hurricane.

Can't stand Frank anymore. If I have to hear him talk about bad breaks one more time I'm going to lose it. Stu was honest but I couldn't finish because hearing Frank talk about how if everything breaks right blah blah blah.

I apologize for the lack of detail, but I’ll let others provide more details on this if they wish to potentially implicate themselves. Anyway, earlier this season Trilly reported on something SLU related that, as I understand it, may have required his source to be in the building in order for him to know it.

Could it be Maria Reynolds?

I can totally see SLU citing Mooney at Richmond as a reason why Ford gets another shot, when in reality they just do not want to fund the buyout. There is way too much certainty in MBM circles that Ford is indeed gone. based on nothing other than I am embracing for pain....I think he is back.

Julia Martinez is A10 Women’s player of the week on the strength of 2 triple doubles in 2 games. Peaking at the right time. https://atlantic10.com/news/2024/3/4/martinez-named-a-10-womens-basketball-player-of-the-week-melious-earns-rookie-nod.aspx

One might argue Bennett and Cheeks are major contributors at Dayton but my counter would be no, they are merely role players in Grant's system that makes the whole Dayton team run through Holmes. Holmes is the hero .... all others can contribute when the defense collapses on Holmes and given their record, they usually do.

Mods, can you please check to see if Shane hacked Hoosier’s handle?

It would be a big stain. It would mean that Day would have to win the A10 tourney. ...which to answer your question would probably knock them out of an at large bid. But as I answered in a different thread (just sayin' thread) ...It depends on who Day is up against...this is a computer prediction based on data.... The NCAA has the right to over rule the computers ( my computer or The NET). If Day is up against Long Beach St then they are in....if they are going against St. John's then they are out. You are kind of in no man's land. So I pushed the computer...I told it to think like the Committee...what would they do with a 2 losses in March Dayton team? (this assumes that the final loss is in the conference final...an earlier loss in the tourney combined with a loss to SLU and they are toast) The answer was... it would give Dayton a play in bid as a first 4 team to be played in Dayton. Ah, you've got to like a machine doing dumb things. It ain't easy being the Committee.

Yeah, saying we were worried about that is rather extreme. Maybe a couple of folks on here posted that, but I assume they were quickly shot down for having Ford remotely on Kentucky's radar to replace Calipari.

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It would make it close. Prob have to lose to us, and right away in the A10 tourney . A lose to them would put them on the unfavorable side of the seeding

And it was just a few years ago that we were worried about losing TF to UK.

One is D-....so there is still time.

I think if you read through my post ....I spend a bit of time on injuries mentioning that Parker and Ezewiro could be missing. But at this point, they are not listed as MIA. I also say to check back for injury updates....Right now , we are only officially missing Meadows and Curcic. Over the season we have 2 others that are gone ....Dalgar and Magassa...I think given that we lost by 5 in Dayton...9 is a good number at this point. While I don't have a program that tracks injuries...I can give you some injury highlights.... Mizzou fans would be happy to tell you about their 5 injuries...8-21...0-16 SEC Portland ( the team that calls us the Pelicans) I think wins the prize...6 players out....11-20...5-11 Neb...5 players out ...21-9...11-8...4th in the B10.... Hou....where every injury is big ....3 players out (playing 10-18 mpg)...26-3 ...13-3 1st in B12...1st overall in The Net In the A10...GW and Mason both with 4 injuries. A side note ...one of the 3 missing players in Mem is Dandridge...Ineligible ...I think he did us a favor by not selecting us. Bottom line....It is not always about who has the most injuries...It is about depth and who on your team is hurt. Can you imagine Dayton missing Holmes....They would be a mid level 500 A-10 team without him.

Thanks as always. Does your computer though consider whether or not Jordair will attend this game?

Very good explanation. Thanks.

Agree. There are 17 conferences which don’t have anyone ranked in the top 68, but automatically get someone in the tournament, which means if you went strictly by NET rankings, you’d need to be somewhere around 51 to mathematically make it in. Obviously they do not simply go by NET, but what would be the case to pull them in over around 20 other teams? They have only won 1 Quad 1 game all year, and only play A10 teams the rest of the year. There are 12 teams between where Richmond is (and St Bonaventure is for that matter) and where the math says you need to be who have multiple Quad 1 wins, 4 of them with 5 Quad 1 wins. What’s the logic in selecting Richmond over any of them, and replacing one of the even higher ranked teams in the top 50 with Richmond? I’m not sure the committee gets drunk enough to do that.

If he gets canned I don’t see where he’s a desireable hire unless it’s a low mid major. Fired by OKS and SLU is not exactly what you’d call a resume builder. So yeah you can see why he’d be scrambling to save his job. If indeed he’s bending the knee then we should broach the idea of a renegotiation. The last place coach shouldn’t be the highest paid coach in the conference. And we need NIL $$’s.

Didn't see him there but May was for awhile. There were probably more than 82 ppl there... not a whole lot of open space in the main stands. Aside from the wind it was beautiful again today... lots of people out walking around the sports complexes. The little hut and side table where the scoreboard operator and announcer sit are sad jokes for a D1 program expected to compete for an NCAA tournament bid. The volunteer students who man the pathetic tools they're given to help run the games are definitely appreciated though.

Agree. Richmond sitting at a NET 71. Yikes.

If they go down that path, they are going to lose a lot of season ticket holders. It will be a death knell to the program. I don’t discount SLU’s ability to royally F things up. They basically have a lame duck president and an AD staying in the shadows while things deteriorate.

Sounds like Travis is worried about going the way of Crean, Gregory, Cuonzo, et al. No good prospects. So he’s scrambling for another shot. But what big donors are gonna risk pouring $$’s into an NIL fund to toss him a life line? Last season is haunting him. He had a talented roster that went nowhere. This season has proved we have to move on or move down.

I have no doubt that Coach Ford can grab a couple of pieces to restore the defense to a level to which we've grown accustomed. But that just gets us back to 18-20 win territory. I don't see a path to an NIT bid next year, never mind an NCAA bid.

Nothing you have posted is surprising to read. SLU will be making a mistake to keep him, he has no plan to turn this around. It’s time for him to go.

Right now , RICH is closing in on a second A-10 bid...Richmond is currently at 87% for an NIT bid...If it reaches 95% it will switch over to a Dance chance. Here is how the computer sees a best chance possible for a 2 bid A-10....RICH wins the next 2 to close out the season then meets Day in the A10 final of the tourney.....At that point BOTH, teams make it. Loy has an outside chance at this point for a ticket....but there will be no 3rd bid

The teams in the A10 have won a total of 12 Quad 1 games this year. The Big East teams have won a total of 51 Quad 1 games this year, the Mountain West Conference teams have won a total of 28 Quad 1 games this year. Just sayin…

Strangest game day thread ever? No, but it’s up there.

Parker's shoulder popped out yesterday. They put it back in. He is sore today. TBD for Dayton. Coach Ford, Sports on A Sunday Morning.

OK...It's time to get out The Wiz's Manual For Winning.... You need to get to page 5 to win. Page 1....Win the TO battle...check...12-5 Bills Page 2 ..Win one of the next 2 categories Page 3....Rebounds...no check ....35-28 RI ...go to next page Page 4...FG%....check...54.1% to 51.8%..The Bills...go to next page Page 5....BILLS WIN Let's look at the original post...bolded phrases from the 1st post above.... What would you say if I told you we had a chance to play a team that had a bad defense...as bad or worse than ours. Welcome to RI. I would say we are looking at a high scoring game....Looks about right Of course, as in previous games , this one will hinge on TOs. The computer thinks we will (or should) win the TO matchup because they are worse than us in turning the ball over. (C- to D) On opponent TOs ...even our lowly F+ beats their F- (14th WITN)... This too looks good Their main 2 guys are Green (outside) and House (closer in). We need to stop them ...This was a split decision...We stopped House ...He shot only 25% from the field but not Green 54% Injuries will play a factor in this game...This proved true in more ways than one....Fuch is questionable ...if he doesn't play they lose a chunk of their inside game. For us Parker is still questionable. He would be a valuable asset given their weak shooting defense...They both played and about the same minutes. Fuch 18...Parker 16....but Parker was a difference maker...16 pts (a point / min) vs 8 pts for Fuch. Target slash--47/38/75...Actual slash 54/52/81 ...a 187 slash...usually 180+ is a win Bottom line...A lot of players stepped up when the going got tough and it brought us a win

We all want the Billikens to succeed. You are just witnessing the deserved frustration of fans during an awful season that was preceded by multiple disappointing seasons. Be glad we still have a bunch of fans that still care enough to be frustrated