ACE

Traore has 3.3 rebounds in just 7.8 mpg. Yes, he has played sparingly, but those rebounding numbers speak to some potential. Also, the eye test tells me this kid has the chance to develop into a very good rebounder. A nose for the ball, aggressive, decent hops and quick to the ball.

Traore has greatly exceeded my expectations. A very late signing with little recruiting pedigree or track record, I was expecting more Madani Diarra. A lot to still work on of course, but I'm excited about this kid's potential - sure he makes some mistakes, but he's athletic, aggressive and plays with confidence. What's not to like.

With the way things are now with free agency, Russell could return for his senior season after developing his game at SEMO.

That's a good one - the second player can practically bearhug the player with the ball and the refs will still call a jump ball.

Liberty University!!!

I gotta say.. when I saw the title of this thread, a part of me thought it might be S3

Why did they have a game against a couple of CYC schools - Sacred Heart v. Pine Manor at the top of the list? The real record is 22, so close for Yuri. Imagine how many assists he would have if Perk were playing this year.

CBFan, enjoy your posts as well, but frankly I'm surprised at the response to a very mild jab taken at that place. it's not like I had the audacity to take a shot at Jerry Falwell Jr. I had no idea so many folks on a SLU message board felt so passionately about Liberty University. With the amount of hypocrisy and corruption there, not sure why anyone would want to defend that place regardless of your political affiliation. For example, there are quality conservative schools like Wheaton College that I wouldn't take shots at. And regarding keeping things you deem "political" off this board, if you are going to go down that road, be consistent. If you truly believe that, call it out when it is going the other direction too. We've seen plenty anti-political talk crusaders on this board go silent when there are political posts that align with their view. Happy Friday to you as well!

What does it say about Mizzou that they would even schedule a game at that "school." No self-respecting quality program would do that. Getting dominated in that game was an appropriate result.

And important to remember we're doing this without Perkins, who figured to get to the line a lot and make about 80% of them.

A wise man in an offseason thread predicted that free throw shooting was going to be a strength this year The free throw struggles of the past weren't so much team wide previously - it was mainly attributed to French and Goodwin, who took a big chunk of the Free throw attempts. New additions Nesbitt and Jones are plus free throw shooters, the weak link figured to be Okoro, but he has been a pleasant surprise so far at the line. As for the result last night, I thought this was a likely loss when the schedule came out. A true road game and traveling way west, which is unusual for this program. And to get off to such a terrible start, it looked like it was over 5 minutes in. Ugly at times, but who cares, it's the result that matters. Definitely a character win. Find a way when you are not playing your best. Ford was really fired up in the postgame interview, about the most excited I've ever heard him after a game. Tough stretch ahead and hopefully we start gaining a little more consistency. Yuri needs to clean up the turnovers. Our combination of Linnsen & Okoro have been very good for the most part and I think Franco can trend up as the season moves along after sitting out all of last year and coming back from an injury. I also expect Nesbitt to become more consistent as the season goes along, as he gains more experience. I recall Kwamain really making big strides over the second half of his freshman season and I hope JN makes the same progression as he gains experience. Fred has stepped up and been a solid role player and Jones has been a key contributor. BIG stretch of five games coming up - not an easy one in the bunch but four at home and one neutral site game - great opportunity to build up the resume. Last night was a VERY important first step.

Didn't we have a guy used to post streaming links - ah, the good old days.

Richmond lets down the league yet again - close losses this year to Drake, Maryland and Miss State. Thanks Richmond!

His production has not been great, but he has been starting and playing 24 mpg so it's not like he's been buried on the bench. It's still so early in the season, one or two big games and the overall stat line can all of the sudden look much better.

I also recall two really good looking 3s from Hargrove that just rattled out - those were frustrating, halfway down.

Strangely, even though we had a lead very early, that's the past of the game I was most disappointed about. We missed so many chances to open up a significant lead early. Missed five free throws and so many chances at the rim. We looked tight and tentative. Even if we execute better at that point, there's a good chance that the talent Memphis has eventually wears us down. But I had a bad feeling after we failed to take advantage of a lot of those good scoring opportunities. A better start would have allowed us to gain some confidence and at least stay in the game longer. That's the part that was most disappointing for me - how quickly it got away.

I wonder if Belmont can quickly get out of their Valley deal. Perhaps spend one year there and then bolt for the A-10 too for a 16-team league.

Great for SLU! Awesome. Chicago has always been an important recruiting area for us and this will only help.

I had no doubt Majerus was going to beat that guy. Checkers against chess.

to be more specific https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2899150-bill-russell-fans-called-me-baboon-coon-n-word-during-celtics-games

YC, JP, JN and FO seem very likely - I think the 5th spot will fluctuate throughout the season based on recent performances and match-ups with four viable candidates - TH, FT, GJ and RW (who I don't think is getting talked about enough as a potential valuable contributor).

I guess you didn't look at the betting odds - virtually every site had him as the clear favorite.

We definitely seem to be auditioning for the Big East.

Well that certainly doesn't seem like "a side note"...

Certainly don't disagree - whatever number of teams they land on my main point is that expansion has seemed inevitable. The question remains how many and when.