GOSLU68

Blake Ahearne was another missed opportunity kid went to Desmet and couldn’t beg on- now assistant coach at Memphis Grizzlies. Craig Upchurch actually took summer school classes at SLU after high school and was judged by faculty not capable in spite of passing grades. His morals were never part of the conversation but years later “the situation” might be viewed as an “open door” that could well have been prevented if social and psychological background and culture mix qualification was applied - I don’t know, but you do have a community of naive freshman that you are affecting by introducing highly driven athletes- someone has to say take a chance on someone like CG or not. I was in line at a chicken place just North on Grand and Mel Robinson was telling Craig Upchurch that studying was more important. Mel Robinson got in and struggled.

We certainly would have a place to play unless the local politicians hold us up

Find a good Dominican school that still has a rack from the Spanish Inquisition days

I liked Coach Stone but since Covid WBB and WVB both lost my following just as MBB diminished by fewer visits to campus. it is done now kind of like national politics once the decision is made most of us move on.

I have watched basketball a long time; players come and go; some contribute beyond what was predicted; some never seem to get permission to play all out; and some are so athletic you dream their greatness will translate to team wins. If a player is new to a system it would seem good defense and passing to the open man will lead to group acceptance. We were not at Memphis. We were only watching him at SLU. If JN is judged only by team and player stats he may have felt pressure to prove his game rather than do what is needed for a team win. I am not saying he did I am saying so many points, so many rebounds and coming off a 20 plus win team is all he has to sell. With Perkins gone we needed someone beside Jimmerson for opponents to guard and be careful of. I hope he comes back I would like Ford to have a dozen running shooters- the slow down games of Grawer, Majerus and others where it never seemed possible to get 59 points to win by one or two are not thrilling. if JN can stay at SLU he should

NBA advice or Ford should make Yuri aware that he had too many occasions where a trailing guard caused him to lose the ball because he could not keep track of everyone or he slowed his momentum and defense caught him from behind.

Nesbit and Traore both could be major contributors for SLU if they developed. We have had players in past happy to remain as they were as freshmen. It takes a lot of work. Hopefully, there are two bigs for us in the portal that rebound and block shots and do as well as our remaining Francis Okoro has

Nesbit should come back he and Hargrove gave us good minutes a some exciting plays. If he practices he may improve his shooting and passing. He could be a top assist man if he widens his field of perception about what defenders are capable of. This can be a real distraction for classroom habits- he will have to take care and put himself in a position where he can come back

The Javonte Perkins knee blowout killed my enthusiasm for this team. Hopefully, it wasn’t too bad and surgery mended the problem. He is the team player and step up finisher we lacked. I hope the three recruits and whoever Coach Ford chooses can get this team back to the pre injury level of expectation we need to support the team financially. We need some deep pockets and lots of generous ones. We have some work to do as boosters. Our on the floor miked cheerleader needs a microphone that works with or without a Covid mask

TF has been a great closer; let me join those who have pointed out A Big (who rebounds and controls paint- I like okoro but we need 2 of 3 sold players. A ball handler who doesn’t get the ball stolen or throw cross court passes to the stands and a rebounding 4 who can go to the hole on offense

If we could compete with Belmont, Murray State, Creighton Marquette and the Cincinnati, Xavier, Loyola Chicago and Dayton teams I would be happy and I still believe Ford is a great not good fit for us. His most significant coaching was as Umass. As a city and and alumni we are not driven or a good traveling team and he was on the path to giving us something to be excited about. The campus and arena jewels for kids that like city schools and don’t want to walk four miles of cow pasture between classes

Mark hi did us a favor- only 8-9 players can compete the rest sit through the games. Okoro was a nice surprise after not really doing much in Oregon- yes, good enough to start but last half of this year he had more points snd rebounds than expected. Jimmerson also stepped it up and Collins was better. If we get Perkins and Parker and Jimmerson in a game I do not believe we will be running the clock before we shoot. I felt we did not steal the ball enough and we had too many cross court passes or passes int the stands. I hope Jordan Nesbit learns he has other options than him dribbling in to shoot. Hargroves three point shooting was a plus but I expected more rebounding from Hargrove and Nesbit. I would not say this was a great year for Ford but he has continually started each season with better and better players than we had under previous coaches. I do think we are weak in recruiting compared to year past but I think it takes a few years for recruiters to bring in top players that are good students and citizens

The thought of Jimmerson and Perkins playing together would be as good as the Roland Gray- Monroe Douglas days. It excites the whole program. Both of these players will be better if there are multiple options on offense. We also need a better back up for URI. Perhaps the SLUH kid can learn to play D1 defense

There is no I in Team

I would give Hargrove more of Nesbits minutes unless he starts to rebound. JNes tries hard but like some freshen players not much works out

This is a poor topic:

Jimmerson’s legs are gone- he had a great first half last game he kept them close; after half he was spent. Anyone wonder if he is hurt? His biggest problem is we have no other offensive threat other than Okoro in the paint. He was our best player first half and no we can’t get 5 minutes back from the previous 15 games

If the soccer team does well maybe we could support an NBA team but definitely no NFL here- that ship sailed and the politician’s will hide the settlement

We need a total of three bigs: all would get minutes; FO had an an injury history himself. We did not do well with Martin out even though Traore was surprisingly solid. the bigs we have seem to play better all out with a max of 20 minutes-

Not a Grawer fan- the way he actually prioritized talent on the floor was extremely old school. He really works at a better level for himself now. I enjoyed those games where he got a bonus when people went to the games and the old Kiel was an ideal place to play. I don’t see him in the community as a SLU booster.

I always figured Monroe Douglas got yanked so Roland Gray would surpass him as total points leader- Rich Grawer would often yank Kevin Footes for getting rebound dribbling length of floor and dunking ball- Grawer missed his calling when girls had to pass after three dribbles

Actually I am in Sint Maarten and score would help

Score please

Tracis will have this team ready to win A-10 tournament and some will say. Again he only wins when we score well

I though Thatch was going to be or steals leader; I remember Spoons Southwest Mo team that had two guards from Saint Louis area that looked as juiced as a Kentucky derby winner; coming here and tearing us up but they could only keep that pace for 10 minutes. If Thatch can’t shoot any better I think we need he and another long armed, quick guard to play all out. It seems they are cautioning Thatch and if we get mediocre play from him he is not a starter in my book.