thetorch
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Posts
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Posts posted by thetorch
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Adman, SLUMedBilliken15, TheChosenOne and 1 other like this
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5 hours ago, Lord Elrond said:
From Rhodey, a guy who’s never wrong:
Player: Allen III, RayBall, JimmyBilau, JosaphatBrown, TysonDubsky, ConnorEstevez, CamFoumena, Jeremy Fuchs, DavidGreen, DavidHouse, JadenKortright, LuisMontgomery, ZekSmith, JamesonStewart, RoryWeston, BrandonWright, Always Go
5Always Wright-
- Position
- Guard
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- Height
- 6-3
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- Weight
- 178
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- Class
- Sophomore
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- Hometown
- Carthage, Mo.
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- High School
- Joplin (NE Oklahoma A&M)
He has a younger brother, All Wright. Also a standout hooper.
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9 hours ago, BJK said:
Dalger is absolutely one of our best, if not our best, defenders. That is a fact. Do you not watch the games? Like actually watch what is going on off the ball? He often has the toughest assignment. Gets steals (not last night) and is consistently a physical presence that disrupts the other team’s offense in many ways. I get upset sometimes at his inability and lack of desire to pass outside when he he gets triple teamed in the lane but his defense keeps him in the lineup and any offense that he produces is a bonus. If he could improve his court vision and calm down on offense while looking to pass more we would benefit greatly.
I don't like dogging on players. I typically don't. I won't let other posters make players into something they aren't.
Many posters have said Dalger is TO prone, loose with the ball, sloppy. His TO rate is one of the best in the NATION. He may take ill advised shots but he's not sloppy and he doesn't turn the ball over. He could stand to have some better shot discipline but he gets to the line and converts on offense. As a 3rd option on the court he's not bad.
Meanwhile his defensive clout has been extremely exaggerated. There is no defensive metric that Dalger stands out at on the team. He's at best behind 2 or 3 other rotation players and at worse at the bottom of the rotation. SLU is a very bad defensive team, we are not in the top 300 teams in the country. Historically bad. With Dalger on the floor vs off, we are 0.001 better defensively. He is not a difference maker on defense no matter how many times you say it. Still this season we have a limited amount of games, and he's been playing out of position. Last season at Tulsa Dalger was one of the worst defensive players in the NATION. You don't go from that to a good defensive player in one season, despite Highmark calling him an All A10 performer on defense on the call (BTW according to the metrics Dalger is not a top 50 defensive player in the conference much less top 5). Again I welcome if anybody has a metric where Dalger is excelling at or a stats website that shows different numbers than what I'm seeing from Kenpom, synergy, and sbunfurled I'd love to see it.
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56 minutes ago, billikenbill said:
Here’s what happened:
The Billikens won a hard-fought and generally well-played game. The other team has good players and they got hot from the floor. The also took excellent care of the ball.Our two prime defenders, Eze and Dalger got into foul trouble and missed important mins. As a result, rhe other team’s star players excelled in the second half.
Basketball is a game of runs. They had theirs, TJ had his.
End of story.
Oh, and save the whining for your podcast, which I’m losing interest in very quickly.
If your basketball IQ tells you Dalger is one of our prime defenders than most of the podcast goes well over your head. Better off not listening.
I can suggest a couple books you could read about defensive theory that may enlighten you. DM me.
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Jimerson foul was genius. Perfect play.
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On 12/14/2023 at 9:10 AM, HoosierPal said:
Gil Beckemeier, in his first ever start, filled in for C Gary Garrison. Beckemeier had 28 points on 10-17 shooting along with 6 blocks. He went on to lead the Billikens in scoring that season leading them to a 13-12 record. This win led them on a 7 game winning streak, culminating a #15 Coaches Poll ranking. They went 4-9 down the stretch, and struggled in the tough Missouri Valley conference.
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3 hours ago, Billikenswin said:
More important is to see how the team players if Parker returns and I’d healthy enough to ply at his full potential-hopefully with Larry II and Meadows
Forget about May or Ford. No changes will be made for the better until this guy is gone. How do you get the President of the BOT fired?
slufan13 likes this -
9 hours ago, cheeseman said:
If memories serves me right - after the Upchurch fiasco the school changed its approach to athletes.
Not really no.
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Ezehiro will not be eligible this season. We've known this for weeks.
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1 hour ago, TheChosenOne said:
Like I said, I’d be interested in seeing whether that is actually the case. I have some doubts, but love the kid, so I would be happy to be proven wrong.
Jimerson should be an All A10 player easily and a POY candidate. Ford has no clue how to scheme for him as a #1 option. Most coaches would find a way to get 20 open shots for him every game.
Ford doesn't dictate action or force his will. He takes what the defense gives him. All defenses double Gibson, run him through multiple defenders and mug him on his routes. There is no adjustment. A coach that imposes his teams will would make Gibson a 20 ppg scorer. Jimerson will go down as one of the biggest wastes of talent SLU has ever had, through really no fault of his own.
slu72, slufan13, MusicCityBilliken and 1 other like this -
9 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:
I am somewhat curious what level programs would have interest in Jimerson? He has limitations that are the reason he began his career at this level. Definitely a heck of a shooter though.
Jimerson could start on 90% of teams in the country. As a 3rd option he'd be amazing.
willie likes this -
The computers are fighting back...
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On 12/2/2023 at 1:20 PM, courtside said:
This happened Wednesday night.
I also won’t be publicly naming the 3 SLU Men’s Soccer players who won’t be returning.
Some of us are here for very different reasons.
THE SOURCE for Womens Soccer news thinks its not worth it to cover roster turnover? Then throws in the scoop that 3 mens players aren't returning. Guess I have to slide into your DMs for their names.
What a numb nut.
TheA_Bomb likes this -
2 hours ago, AnkielBreakers said:
How many years is there left on Ford’s contract.
Depending on sources 2 or 3. I can't quite pin down the last time his contract was greenlit. His contract is "evergreen" meaning after every season he is extended automatically to extend his contract out 4 years. The AD has to notify him if the contract isn't going to be renewed. We hope he wasn't renewed 2 years ago, probably he was. Last year certainly he wasn't. So
2021-22 renewed for a fourth year
2022-23 year 1
2023-24 year 2
2024-25 year 3
2025-26 year 4
So we have at least 2 seasons to buy out. That is unless his contract called for 5 year out extensions, which I've also heard. Which would mean 3 years.
IMO after last season, we didn't have enough donor support to buy him out but.....we also had an AD that didn't want to admit that they needed to fire a coach that they just gave an extension to the previous season.
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1 minute ago, slu92 said:
Before I make my point please hear me out. What should fans/donors expect to move program forward that is realistic?
Look at the picture of Travis begging for NIL dollars…look at that half empty room, same old donors (thank you seriously) in the brand new champions center. Picture sums up where we are now perfectly. While CC is very nice, it’s basically mbb, wbb, soccer offices, a cafeteria really just for mbb/wbb and that’s it! Not saying it isn’t awesome, but was it essential? No. Chris May knew about NIL before one shove went into the ground for the CC. Instead of asking donors to put millions into NIL he sold them on office buildings and a cafeteria basically. Zero strategy, zero vision. Chris May paid this coach $2.5 million convinced donors to invest. Year 8 now. Travis couldn’t get hired at Chaminade now if it was open. More waste and more stupidity. Look at that picture. Travis looks like he’s speaking about time shares at Branson to the Ladue rotary club. My wish is get an AD that will run department more like a business than a parish rectory. A person that has vision, is charismatic, is optimistic and makes people want to be a part of something special and fun. It’s not hard. Current AD inspires me to buy Tinactin spray.
Again this isn’t a knock to any donors or the group running the BVF. Jordan Belfort couldn’t raise money for this program currently. Easier job would be selling LA Rams season tix in St. Louis than trust May and Ford to change. It’s over. Start fresh. Time to embrace NIL and get creative asap. Not wait 10/15 years and copy Xavier or Dayton like SLU did with CC. Money goes to NIL team wins, then build something. Very short sighted.
But the President of the Board of Trustees said that picture only showed half the room and that it was for high money donors only.
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4 hours ago, AGB91 said:
Do you remember the two Rons, Coleman and Ekker?
They were far worse.
Ron may have been prematurely fired. He pissed off the Billiken Club and some big donors. Otherwise he would have stayed. The program was in shambles. He needed more time to bring in his guys.
Ekker was terrible but again he started with nothing. His off the court nonsense doesn't help his cause, neither does the dumping of the mascot for Billy Lou and the Strutters. Crews was gifted a top 10 squad. He was known as a good coach who never got the right opportunity. It was his for the taking. He could have kept the momentum going and went out a huge winner. Instead, he wasted it all, brought in some of the worst recruits in decades and was removed in disgrace. He's the worst. Even Ford is better, for the time being.
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4 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:
He's my #1 target but I also asked the same question today. Genuinely interested in understanding more.
Kim was old. Lifelong Asst, then went to D-2. It took him a while to grow his program. He won once. He has good teams at Pittsburgh St now, but NWMO St kicks his butt every year. When he was at Mizzou as an Asst no one was trying to hire him as a HC. He tried to get the job at SLU multiple times. The only reason he got considered at Mizzou was because he was friends with boosters and he was a long time asst and player. He'd never sniff a D-1 job without that.
McCollum has no D-1 connections. Played and coached only at D-2 schools. First coached for Doug Moe's son, a lot of his offense is based on that lineage. Shaka Smart offered him the moon to be his Asst at Marquette. He has gotten offers from Valpo, Evansville, Detroit, UWGB, UW-MIl, Buffalo, Dakota St, among others the past few season and turned them all down. There is a stigma against hiring a D-2 coach but there are dozens of current D-1 coaches who consult with him. Grant Macasland has stolen his entire offense from him. Once he started adding things from McCollum his teams efficiency went from high 100s into the 30s nationally. I firmly believe the first school who can get this guy has themselves set as NCAA tourney team for 2 decades or more.
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Crews deserves no apologies. He is the worst coach in program history. I hope someone reminds him of that everyday of the week.
billiken_roy, JMM28, 2010andBeyond and 1 other like this -
I watched McCollum tear apart UMSL at Maryville the other night. I'd only heard about him and never watched his teams play.
His offense is the beautiful game. No set plays, everything is based on reads. He has a precise system he runs and his players execute but they have the freedom to do anything they want. Except shoot mid range. Everything is paint or 3s. Tandem ball screens are his bread and butter. They get the best shot each possession whether it takes one or 15 passes. His offenses are the most efficient not just in D2 but at any level. His measurables are off the charts.
Figure out how to get this guy and he retires in 25-30 years with 900 wins.
drkelsey55 and TheA_Bomb like this -
11 hours ago, Soderball said:
3 mill per year in NIL funds.
McCollum is a different breed. He's as close to Majerus as we can get. Throwing money at him won't just get him.
In all of his videos and stories about him he genuinely wants to make a difference in an area. He loves NW MO St and he has put them on the map. He wants to the same thing in a larger locale.
This is a no brainer to me. This guy wants to develop a regional team and be the guy in a city. St. Louis is it. We have been searching for this for decades. Hire him, let him feel his way around D-1 a bit. He may lose at first but he won't lose for long. He recruits at a D-1 level at NW and he develops players and has a fool proof system. His 2nd best player went to Creighton the other season and averaged 14 ppg. His best player is arguably the best D-2 player of all time, scored nearly 3,000 points. He's had no issues with the portal, his players don't leave. He only brings in guys who buy in for 4 years.
This is the guy A merge of Majerus and Spoon who's only 42 years old. We'll suck for two years and they we'll run off 20 years of 25 wins a season. He won't cost an arm and a leg at first.
DeSmetBilliken, aj_arete, gabriel and 2 others like this -
4 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:
We paid Crews what $400k or $500k? We're paying so much more for the same results now. 6x to lose. The person funding that check can't be happy.
Crews was paid a ghastly 890k-950k per year. I thought paying that man a million a year was horrible at the time, but hey we paid for an old Hoosiers retirement.
Ford somehow has a worse contract.
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How do we lure Ben McCollum away from NWMO St? He's turned down multiple D-1 schools every year since 2019.
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Bell only had academic issues because he took off after the season was over his sophomore year.
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2 hours ago, Cowboy II said:
-I'm not feeling particularly creative this afternoon so perhaps there are thoughts around Rothstein's suggestions that are out there that I'm not seeing
-scheduling for SLU is already difficult so increasing the number of non-con games increases the difficulty
-#2 is frankly, #2 - does "innovative" mean all road games? does he think A10 teams are turning down home and homes with P5/6 teams?
-is there a way to resurrect the A10/Mtn West Challenge?
-for #3, Sunday mornings?
Increasing the Non con would be great for SLU. We struggle to find games because we only want series with P6 schools. Lowering the number of conference games allows us to P6 road games in non con. Make them pay us. We will be able to buy out OFrd's contract faster.
#2 would be the A10 spearheading series with another conference. Also rewarding teams for playing outside their comfort zone. They need to encourage the east coast members to drop at least some of their local "rivalry" games that are just glorified buy games.
#3 The A10 tried to copy the P6 schools, ie if we play when they do, then we will be considered one of them. We shoudn't play on the same night as the Big East. We shouldn't play our conference tournament games on the same days as the P6 does.
BenFred Article 12/23
in Billikens.com Main Board
Posted
McCollum hasn't received any P6 offers. Most of his offers are from MVC and MAC schools like Buffalo & Evansville.