Taj79

Irrespective of the personnel issues (real or not) at Geedubya, I am not surprised at the turnout for such a Senior Night. I mean, think about it, what connection does have fan base have in the future with one-year mercenaries? Bishop did transfer in and did spend three years there so he is above that norm but would we have stood and cheered the likes of Mike Meadows and Tim Dalger if they had made it through a SLU Senior Night? Yes, we can reward and revel in the accomplishments of Hargrove and Jimerson for their five-year commitments and we can even honor a Javon Bess or Francis Okoro for theirs. But with NIL, the portal, open transfers and grad student transfers, I would think the obligatory Senior Night is on the list of endangered species.

La Salle should lose at Loyola and Fordham should beat Rhodey. Doubt we see Fordham.

We had 7 points at half in that infamous 49 to 20 game. I was there with SLU Nick. Bryce Husak was our leading scorer with 5 for the game. The slash was 14/5/50.

She went to the locker room before the final buzzer. If that means anything. Geedubya had more offensive rebounds than defensive ones.

They seem to practice with the men's team when it comes to defensive rebounding. Geedubya's #2 was a punk but her ejection seemed contrived.

The whole NIL question also needs to be evaluated in a supply-versus-demand atmosphere. Maybe we do have the supply but the demand is missing. If you are a kid looking to play major college ball and advance your dream to the next level, what incentives are there for you to come to SLU? Do facilities matter? There is no tradition of winning. There is no pipeline of players moving upward. Game time atmosphere is weak. Major TV appearances are weak. The A10 is no draw. The coach has no history of sustained success. If we gave a cool half million to Caleb Love or Ryan Kalbrener, would that even our playing field against Arizona and Creighton? I doubt it. Was our evaluation of Meadows, Dalger and Ezewiro sound? Again, huge doubts.

3star hit the nail on the head ..... Mooney's adherance to the Princeton offense in general. Every game you watch of Richmond every announcer gushes about Pete Carrill and the Princeton system. Mooney played under Carrill. No other team really runs it in the A10 so each Richmond game is a stand alone event on just about everyone's schedule. How many backdoor-cuts-for-layups did they get against us? Plus he plays a relatively soft center who initiates the plays (Golden, Grace, now Quinn). from the top of the key with great spacing. You add in one guy (Burton, Francis, Gilyard, King) who runs a decent PG show and is a scorer. He has a serviceable four (Cato, Bigelow) who rebounds and scores as an addition. He essentially plays five guys and prays for limited help from the bench. In each case, the sum is greater than the individual parts. Team ball ---- in direct contrast to hero ball. He used the OCC to hone these five into a cohesive unit. The OCC included a few decent P6 schools (Boston College, Colorado, UNLV, Wichita State, Florida, Charlotte) who were okay but not great in their respective leagues. Of those mentioned, he lost to all but Charlotte. This served as a decent prep for a weaker A10. His only losses were at VCU and to Umass in the A10. He got Loyola early and then beat Dayton at home. His double games were against VCU, Davidson, Geedubya and Mason. I'd say it was a perfect storm for the Spiders. They went 8 and 5 in their OOC schedule. Plus they have avoided injuries because, much like Dayton, they are a five-man team.

The fact that Ezewiro, Zhang and SVB had ZERO rebounds at half should tell you all you need to know about our rebounding issues. And our rim defense. In the first half, there was a rebound where we had four guys and they had Holmes and Holmes rebounded and got the putback. Hughes was one of two on dunks. DUNKS. CBS spent a good deal of time on Larry Senior when II missed that first one. Medley could not stay with Elvis. Plus three points and two assists do not bode well with a starting point guard. Hughes is down right awful on defense: once, he left Brea to follow another player cutting to the basket and Brea got and hit an open three. Another time, he went under a Holmes screen and Elvis hit the three. Then, Cheeks blew right by him for a highlight reel dunk. Sure, he had 12 points but most were inconsequential in terms of the progress of the game at that point. SVB and Zhang cannot hold on to the ball on rebounds. Ezewiro ended with three rebounds, Zhang and SVB were shutout. Only THJ exudes confidence when he grabs one. Our bigs are truly lacking and non-existant. Hughes with four of our seven TOs. Medley with four fouls. Kudos to Grant for having Holmes bring the ball up second half --- Ezewiro wasn't going to apply any pressure on that ballhandler. Even Uhl and Padegimas hit threes. If the school does the unthinkable and falls for Ford's promise of a plan and a resurrection next year, then they are the real fools. As many have note (including this poster) the talent on this roster is low-level D1. And who recruited that roster? Who doesn't seem to understand roster construction? Who doesn't seem to get teaching defense? Last night's color guy Walker said Ford's teams are built on defense. How can you lose it all in one year? With the current roster construction and Ford's admission that he didn't understand NIL, how can anyone trust him to reload the team for next year? Without Parker (hero) his offensive scheme is lost. Right now, with a loss at Bonaventure, we will finish 11 and 20 and the current lineup in the A10 shows us playing La Salle in the PIG at 4:30 EDT on Tuesday. I doubt Fordham drops lowers than 10th (and then the PIG becomes a Fordham home game if you play them). We could move up to 13 if Rhodey loses out and we somehow beat the Bonnies. Tuesday should be the death knell for this season. Then we will see if all hell breaks loose.

Bennett? In or out?

Javon Bennett missed the entire second half of the Loyola game Friday with what was described as a thumb injury. With Smith out for the year, Bennett is their only point guard. Kobe Elvis cannot do it. Kobe Brea is just a pure three point shooter. Any news on the Bennett injury Wiz?

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.

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.

Is it just me or does anyone else see the second coming of TJ Hargrove Jr. in Kellen Thames?

said attendance was listed at 7239.

I think it might be easier to list the five biggest disappointments under CTF. Situation 2. Last year's failure to launch. Carte'are Gordon. This year's recruiting. Burnergate.

Note to self: Bishop is left handed. HE GOES TO HIS LEFT, YOUR RIGHT! We get killed if the two Geedubya starters had played.

@Murse15: no. I’m referring to the four man stack in front of Ford and bench where Parker was at the back coming to the baseline where he put both hands into Grant’s chest and just shoved him. Got an offensive foul there.

I am just dumbfounded and at a loss for words on what I see in these fiascos. Parker again fouling a three-point shooter. Ezewiro letting a righthanded player drive to his right with three seconds to go in the half for a layup. Force a jumper will ya. Hughes' usual lone three when the game doesn't matter. Parker's two-handed shove on an inbound play right in front of the refs. Medley's inability to be offensive in any way. (easy on the jokes there). The expanded hero ball not only from Parker but then Hargrove and Ezewiro late. Jimmy Clark shut Parker down I guess. Not only were the announcers spot on, but even the Duquesne players were laughing and yukking it up DURING the game. For those of us around long enough, the current season is approaching Ekker-esque numbers and similarities. Weak talent. Weak fundamentals. No defense. With games against Richmond and Dsayton upcoming, plus a trip to Olean, we have all but locked up the PIG for sure and likely as the #15 seed.

@Soderball: good points all. No arguments from me. However, how about we eliminate college athletic scholarships completely. Tell a kid "hey, you're getting $250k annually, you can afford to pay your own way to our $60k annually school and still be $190k in the black." Of course, that likely won't work for the Djorde Curcic's of the world. That would be funny. Moreso now than ever I agree that they are mercenaries. It is likely the final nail in my college viewership coffin. As I noted in a previous thread, I am caught between rooting for the guys to win and for CTF to lose. Now, it seems I just don't care one way or the other. New coach? Again, really don't care. I've come to the realization that the root cause of the problem is the school itself. No matter what the situation is that presents itself, Saint Louis University will always go the wrong way. The names may change but the reality and plight never does. I used to be an avid spectator. I am fast becoming an occasional spectator. And the same can be said for all of college basketball ---- I used to believe A10 viewing, Uconn/Marquette viewing, Ohio State/Michigan State viewing were all sacred and needed to be seen. Even the one-and-doners seem to be gone ... off to the G League right away. Now the NBA minor leagues following the Pay For Play initiatives. Good thing golf season is cranking up.

I don't know what is being spent, can't even speculate. I spoke directly to Troy in Brooklyn last year on Pay for Play and I didn't think he had a good handle on it all. I didn't think SLU had a good handle on it. But again, I'm just a MBM moron and don't know anything. I have long questioned a number of things: offensive scheme, roster construction, and talent evaluation. I finally figured out our offensive scheme is hero ball. It goes back to Marcus Smart. One stud. Bess. Isabell. Goodwin. Perkins. Collins. Now Parker. Okay, I now get that. What else can it be? As for roster construction, we've never had a true five player. Ezewiro is at best a serviceable four. Last year, we should have had a PG in waiting to learn behind Collins. Maybe Medley is a year late. Medley spelling Collins would have been better than Andre Jones. Mike Meadows ain't it. Our bigs are all projects and frankly not very good. Besides, who on our coaching staff is educating Zhang and van Bussel? Mostof the rest, including Jimerson and Hargrove are role players. Finally, talent evaluation. Meadows. Dalger. Ezewiro. And the foreign imports. From Ford's interview, it sounds like we struck out all the way into August. And then there is Pay for Play. Who is evaluating Jimerson getting $250k? Collins getting $200 k (if the numbers are correct)? Did we give PFP money to Dalger, Medaows and Ezewiro? Did we give anything to Thames and Hughes? If the answers to the PFP questions are correct, do we trust whomever evaluated these guys and identified a salary for them? I think it was billiken05 who questioned why a full ride, with room and board, and all the ancillary things that come with that all of a sudden isn't enough? Okay, maybe add a monthly stipend for incidentals is now a good thing but that horse has left the barn. Given what I've seen I too would be reluctant to throw money out for this group. Now CTF says he has a plan. Don't know what it is ither than "trust me." I am about 80% sure that is NOT the answer going forward.

Frankly this sounds a lot like us right now.

DePaul and Ohio State with the early jump on coaching replacements. We will scratch our collective asses until the rest of the college universe passes us by. More will be coming and we’ll screw ourselves once again. Either we don’t have the talent, or we don’t have the fundamentals, or we don’t have the coaching. I suspect it’s the perfect storm of all three.

In all seriousness, how many institutions or similar entities were built way back when and could be argued in today's legal wasteland along these same lines? If the Jesuits owned slaves, didn't all the Jesuits somewhere along the line? Georgetown for example? What about places in the deep South like Duke and Tulane? Did Chinese slaves build the Trans Continetal Railroad? Pendleton, Oregon, has a whole "underground" museum devoted to the plight of the Chinese when they were building. Seems they couldn't walk the streets and actually had to go literally 'underground' after hours. It's a tourist item now. Maybe the Golden Gate Bridge? Or the Empire State Building. Better yet, how about the New York Stock Exchange. Git yerself a little sumthin.

What's yer point? The day I die, you'll still be a Punk Ass Kid.

Punk Ass Kid.