jjray

Any see ESPN sports center about 15 minutes ago? 1/2 the segment on the SLU v. MSU game was a replay of the post game SLU press conference with Conklin losing it then Rick tearing up.

Go X! I only hate X when we play X. Now we are brothers.

We're a much more athletic team than Wisconsin. Just wish we had the shooters they do. Out of all the analysts, only Giminski seemed to give us props in that department (i.e., athleticism). Hell, the lead columnist for our paper in STL seems clueless to the level of athleticism our team possesses (Bernie, not Timmerman). Thanks for the tip of the hat and congrats to MSU. Many of your players were completely frustrated in the second half ... except Green. We had no answer for Draymond Green. Great player.

Thanks for the love from Snipe. Agree with Abomb except to quibble about whether Izzo will be prepared for our bigs shooting the 3. It seems clear that this secret is out of the bag in the NCAA tourney. Memphis got up on Ellis and Loe from behind the arc. If Memphis was prepared for our bigs from the perimeter, I'm rather certain Izzo will be. But can Nix guard Loe or Ellis on the perimeter? Both Loe and Ellis can put the ball on the floor when a big presses them away from the basket. Awesome hoop early in the Memphis game where Loe drove all the way from the near the 3 point line and laid it in with the left hand. We need more of that. We need scoring from Loe and Ellis to win.

Yeah, very cool with the latin plural form.

NM.

Should be an interesting matchup but we play two point guards at all times. Mike McCall is just as quick off the dribble as Mitchell but just doesn't play with the same swagger yet. We need McCall to come up big tomorrow. Others have to pick up on the offensive end tomorrow. I am sure from your standpoint focus on containing Mitchell and see if the other Billikens can beat you. Can't argue with the strategy.

Draymond Green ... does anybody really think Conk can check Green? I don't see how he can guard Green away from the basket. Then again, Conk has proved me wrong in the past. Crazy thought--Box & 1 with Evans on Green.

The Memphis fans were totally ignorant as to what they were facing in SLU. I was hoping to receive the same treatment from the MSU fans as well but so far you guys have been very reasonable. I expect a half-court battle. Can't wait for the game.

We'll it is an impossible hypothetical (i.e., SLU game planning to run on MSU) but I think you will find that we have plenty of speed at guard. It's not how we play but the impression that SLU doesn't have the athletes to run is misplaced. I think the game comes down to scoring in the paint. How will SLU defend in the post against MSU? We need to force you to live and die on jump shots to win. If MSU is able to enforce its will in the post then the game is pretty much lost. Our bigs have defended the post well all year but I don't think we have faced the meat MSU brings to the table. It should be a war in the paint tomorrow.

If you watched the Memphis game, you will see that the Billikens only run when they get a turnover and find themselves with numbers. It's opportunistic but not part of our stock in trade. Your bulldozers inside are the weapon we need to concern ourselves with.

SLU article @ the WashPo http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/kwamain-mitchell-scores-22-and-defensive-minded-saint-louis-shuts-down-memphis-61-54/2012/03/16/gIQAZIgXHS_story.html

Very cool that our girls got some pub too.

Good point. Rick has given our program a gift.

It's always a good sign when fans from other schools show up on our board and tell us about their future NBA draft picks. One can only hope some Spartan cazzo show up saying we don't belong on the same court with Michigan State.

Tom Timmermann said in his article today that a pic of Conklin was included on the cover of SI. Is that Conk in the upper left-hand corner? http://i.cdn.turner....12/0319_mid.jpg

Well played.

"a team whose third-best player is some dude named Cody Ellis" Cody has been disrespected. He'll go for 20 tomorrow.

I agree with your UW comparison Brian but a Memphis poster said Josh would have his team prepare to play patient on the offensive end. Lorenzo did not have his team so prepared and paid the price. If you look at Memphis' stats, they don't appear to be a team that jacks 3's with wild abandon. In fact, we attempt more 3's per game than Memphis ... substantially more. http://statsheet.com...ouis&t2=memphis I expect a hard fought game.

Are you familiar with the A10 conference? Have you seen Temple play? This is Rick's 5th year at SLU playing in the A10. In those 5 years, I am aware of SLU going zone only once for about 5 minutes in one game because former asst. Porter Moser pestered Rick to show zone just that one time. I think that was fall semester of 2010. I hope the Memphis players are as confident as you and the posters on your message board in the fact that there is no way in hell the slow, plodding SLU players can manage to keep up with the Memphis thoroughbreds in man. It's actually laughable to me given the quality of the schedule we have played and our very good results against quality opponents. You may well win but the game will be a battle. Buckle up.

Guaranty you SLU plays man the entire game. Our lack of athleticism has been greatly exaggerated. You have the better athletes no doubt. My only caveat on this is Dwayne Evans, by far our best rebounder. He needs to play 30 minutes in this game. If he gets in foul trouble early we really don't have anyone on the bench who brings his size and athleticism to the SF position. We usually go 3 guard when Dwayne is out.

Then that bodes well for your team against us, if that is in fact how Memphis approaches the game. It's going to be a half-court game. The press is not going to bother us. Our guards are quick and skilled. We play 3 natural point guards in our rotation (and start two of them). Many teams that like to play up tempo get frustrated when they get forced into a half-court game by the Billikens. We are a good rebounding team but not a great rebounding team. A patient team with athletic bigs could be trouble. Rob Loe only averages 16 minutes and when he is out we get smaller. Remekun is a solid defender and rebounder off the bench but Rick prefers to go with Ellis and Conklin when Loe is out ... and those two (as a tandem) may have trouble rebound against Memphis. It will be interesting. What SLU team shows up? Is Conklin effective in the offensive paint? Will our bigs knocking down 3's? I really don't know how it will play out other than to say I'm confident we'll play solid defense and not turn the ball over against the press.

Motion offense with picks by the bigs. Two of our bigs (Loe and Ellis) roll off the screens back to the 3 point line to shoot, which throws off teams accustomed to bigs rolling to the basket off screens. Loe and especially Ellis are streaky from 3. If Ellis gets hot from 3, we are different team. Not much on back cuts ala Princeton. Conklin is the main post player, undersized but very physical. On defense, strictly man. We rarely press but do pick up at half-court and pressure the ball. Jett is the best on ball defender (made conference all defensive team even though he comes off the bench). Guards are very quick and adept at getting a hand in the lane leading to turnovers. When the guards get a turnover, we run ... which teams don't expect from the Billikens. Temple gave us trouble with their big, physical guards. I see that Memphis has size at guard and but not much inside. The game may come down to whether we can score inside and contain your guards.

This won't tell you much but here a few offensive highlights from recent games http://www.slubillikens.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?catid=30221&id=850634 http://www.slubillikens.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?catid=30221&id=848090

It's hard not to like Josh Pastner.