SShoe

In order, my favorite topics are: conference affiliation, player initials, mizzou game, freshmen in the starting lineup, and Title IX investigations.

Solid stuff. No arguments on any of this except the Goodwin projection may be a little aggressive. If he, and the team as a whole, hits 35%, we'll be A-OK. Hopefully we'll also see better percentages from Goodwin and Bess simply because they won't have to play 38 mpg and will have fresher legs.

Also surprised nobody has mentioned the pizza at U.R.B.

Not sure if there is one close to you, but I always really liked Mio's.

They're both bad pizzas.

I don't necessarily either, but I was offering a possible reason for why a longer run might not be beneficial in regards to long-term stability. I'm of the mindset that Ford will/should realize he can do plenty of winning here and does not need to go a "major" program. He's also got kids at a good age for staying put. That said, I think the risk of Ford receiving a very attractive offer goes up substantially if he can take this program on a run that extends into the second weekend.

The only thing I'd offer is that a long run in the tourney could lead to big-money job offers for Ford.

In Manning's senior year, he average 2 pts per game in about 15 mpg for an awful team. 2 pts! Husak, on the other hand, put up 5.5 ppg., for a .500 team.

I'd take Husak over Manning. At least by his senior year, Husak could hit the 3.

The worst 4-year big man to play at SLU in my 30+ years of SLU fandom

you're probably right, but not starting doesn't mean he'll ride the pine and this is more of a testament to the quality of the other two bigs.

The only possible change I see is Gordon coming off the bench and either Santos or Foreman getting the nod. Otherwise, right on the money and scary good.

Love the kool-aid. 25-5 (or better) with this schedule would be quite an achievement and I'd think would result in a higher seed than 6.

Christmas in the Keys this year?

1

Agreed and hopefully French can make big improvements there. Could net him an extra 3 or 4 points a game just at the line. That said, fortunately Santos and Gordon appear to be decent free throw shooters. Gordon was a 66% shooter last year, while Santos is a career 72% FT shooter. If French and Foreman can't move their percentages up, we may be leaning on these two down the stretch.

I often defend the French, but having 12-year old kids, particularly ones who are already 6'9", play on 8' rims is indefensible. https://deadspin.com/gigantic-basketball-tween-takes-on-tiny-opponents-and-8-1826828391

I don't know about better, but I don't necessarily see much drop off due to natural progression of high ceiling players like French and Gordon.

I fully expect JG to play tons of minutes, but does anybody know whether Isabell can slide over and play the point when Goodwin isn't in the game?

47% was FGs. He shot 34% from 3.

We really do live in a special place and time.

Key part of willie's statement is that he will be a 4-year player. There's a greater risk that some of our incoming class will not be.

1.) fantastic post 2.) see point 1 3.) Thatch will be a very good player for us and one that we're gonna love having as a Billiken - a potential Academic All-American type.

I agree with a lot of this. I wasn't sure where JJ fit moving forward. Thought he'd have some role with a need for an outside shooter, but my hope is that Pearson is an upgrade, at least in terms of ceiling. Best of luck to him. He's the type of player that's easy to cheer for.