slu72

Travis couldn’t carry Rick or Spoon’s jock when it comes to coaching or teaching the game. 

So says Captain Obvious. 😎

I just want to see some kind of offensive scheme to get guys open. And on D see shooters challenged on 3’s and on drives to the hole. It’s not on the players, although we may not have top 50 talent, but it’s on how they are used. There is no discipline on either side of tha ball. We play helter skelter. While everyone else is playing Chess. He’s a recruiter but not a teacher/coach. 

Pretty solid. You should start an NIL fund, Steverino. 

The Beast is our best option. The issue is are we their best option? 

General outlook
The outlook  for the A-10 is parity as it is with  D-1 schools overall.  Parity means a move to the middle ...good schools aren't as good and bad schools aren't as bad....with differences between good and bad narrowing.   You can see that in the A-10....only 1 good team and 1 bad team (no not us).  Parity in the A-10 today means 10 of the 15 teams are around grade B  ...ie little difference between them.   There will be a number of "upsets" in conference play this year.  While teams and fans will be surprised, part of what will be happening will be parity at work.     The reasons for parity increasing  is the NIL and easier transferring.  This is a trend that not only will continue but will become more pronounced as NIL monies increase and transferring becomes even easier.  The word "rebuild"  has new meaning.  Ten years ago,  rebuild was a process of 3-4 years of adding players and developing them into a winning team.  Now that can be done in a year using NIL and transfer.  One only has to look at the current NET to see the difference...Fla Atl...6th in NET....Indiana St...23rd  and ahead of NC and KY...James Madison ...30th and ahead of Nova and Mich St and even Liberty  at 48th is ahead of 12-0 Ole Miss.  If The Bills step up their NIL game they could take a big step up ...fast.
A-10 outlook
In this year's A-10 forecast ,  I have changed from a regular report card  ...to a super report card.  Besides showing my own program , I have also included 3 other important and popular  ranking services for comparisons....The NET, Vegas and KenPom.   I will assume that all readers here know what the NET and KenPom are.  The Vegas ranking is a compilation of all the sports books in Vegas using their Base.  The Base is what the true ranking of a team is before any betting is done...the Base that Vegas uses as a starting point...once betting starts the numbers skew.   
As you all know , I like to use grades on everything....not only because it is more college like but it helps deal with parity.    Grades put teams that are similar in the the same category.   For instance when you see a team that is #225 vs #168 you say big difference.  Yet to me, it is a C- vs a C...a minor difference ...Or a #35 team vs a #17 team...you might think not much difference there  but it is an A- vs an A+... a bigger difference between those teams than the 225 vs 168 ones.
So then, to make this all work for comparisons sake, I have converted all the different rankings...KenPom, Vegas and The NET to a grade system to evaluate the upcoming A-10 conference. 
The Super Report Card.....Enjoy....We will discuss afterwards...
...................The Wiz...........The NET...........KenPom.....Vegas
1. Day..............A......................A......................A-................B+
2. St. J............B+....................B+....................B+................B
3. GM..............B+....................B+.....................B................B-
4. Duq.............B+.....................B+....................B................B+
5. VCU.............B.......................B......................B.................B
6. St. B.............B......................B+....................B+...............B
7. Rich..............B.......................B......................B.................B-
8. UMass.........B.......................B......................B.................B-
9. GW...............B-.....................B-.....................C+..............C+
10. Dav.............B-.....................B-.....................B-...............B-
11. Loy..............B-......................C+....................C+.............B
12. LaS............C+......................C+.....................C..............C
13. SLU............C........................C-......................C-............C+
14. Fham.........C-.......................D+......................C-...........C+
15. RI................D+......................D+.......................D+.........C
 
It is interesting to note that of the 3 rankings , I am the closest to the NET...The Wiz... 10 matches (including 9 0f the top 10)....KenPom ...9 matches ...Vegas 3 matches...Of course, Vegas just uses their rankings as a starting point before betting.   While the A-10 is a small sample size , it seems to hold on the larger D1 model....The Wiz 251 matches....KP....222....Vegas 72.  The NET itself is setup as though every day is selection Sunday...no forecasting ...let's just pick teams today.
It is not an accident that my model is close to the NET...that's the way I planned it.  I would argue that I had the NET before the NCAA.  In those days when the NCAA used  the RPI ...strange things use to happen to get teams Dancing.  So I modified the RPI into an adjusted RPI to forecast not only games but the NCAA picks.  The NCAA  then came up with a new system...The NET...which looked a lot like my adjusted RPI...I made some further adjustments and have a model that can forecast games and Dance bids.....It will never be exact ....there is a purposeful 15-20%  fudge factor in the NET....that factor  is the human /subjective factor.....You know in case you need to get a favorite team in (Power 5).  
As for the super report card,  there is good news and bad news.....The bad news is we are showing as a PIG team right now.   The good news is that with Parker coming back and Ezewiro playing a larger part of the 2nd half of the season that even a small boost would be huge in parity A-10.  In addition, since we are the underdog in most games going forward... wins and beating the spreads will help us make up ground.   Do you remember all those years when we were winning games and people said it was hard to  move up in the rankings because the A10 teams weren't that good .....Not true this year...win and we make up ground.
Keys to the conference...The computer doesn't see us winning the A10 but it does see us with a chance to make it to 4th which gives us a chance to Dance. Assuming the normal... we win some we weren't supposed to and lose some we should have won and those games even out ....I asked the computer how do we get to 4th place?  First, we need to get to a grade of B which the computer thinks is doable.  It thinks  that 4th place will be taken by a B team.  It sees 4 key games for The Bills.... Win GM away (Jan 6)....win Duq away (Feb 20) and then at least split with St. J starting with a win on Jan 10 at home....So the  next 3 games are important....The Loy game to get ourselves together and then the GM and St. J which are key matchups.
Bottom line....If we can stay healthy and avoid shooting 8% from the arc with no 10 TO differential games,  we can do some damage in the A10 and give ourselves a chance to Dance.......
Protect the ball
And make some 3s
Get a rebound 
And we'll  win with ease.

If Travis cuts Bruce’s mpg, I think he’ll tick off a whole bunch of fans. I believe he will cut them in an attempt to save his arse. He should keep Bruce as the starter for at least the rest of the OC schedule. My fear is we’ll lose Bruce to the portal if his minutes get slashed. You can see Bruce making progress game to game. He shouldn’t squelch it. 

I refuse to knock TJ. He plays balls out all the time. 

YES! BRUCE. A keeper for sure. Keep him out of the portal. He was a difference maker. 

YES! BRUCE. A keeper for sure. Keep him out of the portal. He was a difference maker. 

I refuse to knock TJ. He plays balls out all the time. 

This is a team with flashes of talent but nothing consistent and not enough coaching 

I refuse to knock TJ. He plays balls out all the time. 

I refuse to knock TJ. He plays balls out all the time. 

I have a hard time criticizing anyone who tried to get around Covid restrictions that were mostly draconian and unconstitutional, and two years after the fact is a bit of a stretch.   It also makes me uncomfortable pushing to fire people while the season is going on.   Those kids busted their asses against Drake, and could have won.    I feel like some people on the board are hoping we get blown out by Hofstra and not win a conference game so everyone gets fired.  Not saying Travis should get another year, but I can’t do that.  

You really have to admire how hard the Bills played last night. They simply ran out of gas. But Ford can be faulted for messing up the rotations. When Drake started to claw its way back, we were playing with the short lineup. Also, Curic played well in the first half then played minimally in the second half. We buult our lead with him on the floor. Then his minutes get cut? 

Not that it means much but the announcers are really good. 

Don’t mess with a Serb. 

I hope we are seeing the breakout game for Bruce tonight. He could be trouble in the A10. Also Curcic. I liked him at the Beach. 

Not that it means much but the announcers are really good. 

I really like Curcic. 

I really like Curcic. 

It seems college football is the biggest factor screwing everything up for college basketball and other sports - conference shuffling nears the top of the list.
College football should just break into a totally different category - it's ridiculous that conference rivalries are torn apart in all sports just because of money grabs in football.

Whatever happened to Ford’s rallying cry, Team Blue! 
Travis for most of his career  has had the luxury of recruiting talent that covers up his coaching deficiencies. It’s why he gets his teams only so far and then they flop. With the advent of NIL, and him not having access to a pool of $$’s, his world has been crushed. Virtually no chance of him taking so so talent and inexperienced players to 10 Ws this year. 

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.