SLU_Nick

Great win last night. Our guys looked like they belonged, did not play scared for the most part, and I get the sense that they are not satisfied with just one win. There is a footnote that I havent seen mentioned (didnt check GDT) because we are all flying high. That is, Conklin might have played his worst game of the season last night outside of the FTs at the end. He had at least 8 turnovers himself and missed multiple bunnies. He has got to be stronger with the ball and not try to dribble from the top of the key into the paint. That said, he played great D and really hit some big FTs down the stretch. He should have the "bright-light" jitters out now. He needs to play inside-out tomorrow because he will not be able to bull his way to the basket and he will NOT get the calls from the officials if he tries. I was happy to see we threw that high/low play out of the playbook last night because that is just a turnover waiting to happen with the length of these teams. Pastner is just simply not a good Xs and Os coach...how hard is it to see that the big man switching on the screen (to ulimately try to stay in front of KM) was not working. If you would have told me pregame and KM would have 4 or 5 open lay-ups at the rim I would have thought you were crazy. I didnt want to say this pregame because I was nervous of their athletes but when Pastner said in his pregame interview something to the effect of "you really cant coach at this point in the season, you are who you are, its up to the players now"...I knew he was not going to keep up mentally with Majerus. So now onto MSU. They will be very comfortable playing in the halfcourt and will pound the ball down low. I really do not know how we are supposed to defend this. We havent regularly doubled in the post all year, but does RM really expect RL and CE to defend the post one on one against their Offensive Tackles? I will be very curious to see what the maestro has in mind. We need to not be afraid of running at little bit as well, our guys play much smoother and loose when they get a few easy buckets. DE could provide match up problems for them just as he has teams all season. Will Draymond Green guard him? I think DE is too quick for him. One last thing will be key. Cody needs to step up and be the man. He normally catches fire every 4th game and I think it has been about 3 straight subpar performances. I mean what was the Airball on the open 3 from the top of the key, thats not Cody. And I hate to say this....but if we can somehow pull this off. The bracket opens up... -Nick

In honor on Jimbo -- To KM from Jimbo HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE

Is lawyerbilliken a troll too, I dont think so. I would want this thread locked and deleted if this is the only place on the internet that is saying KM is injured. I dont want someone whispering in Joe Jackson's ear before tip off...KM's ankle might be hurt. Obviously the SLU regime didnt want it to get out if true. Sincerely, Paranoid

Dickey misses lay up...ugh

Dickey the only one on his team not playing well

Yea..it is a brutal wait. Definitely have not been this nervous about a game in my life. I talk so much trash to my friends and family even when we are bad so you can probably imagine how much they have been hearing it lately. We have such a tough draw to the sweet 16. After that, it's easy haha. DO NOT want this ride to end.

An open practice the day before the game? That is NCAA mandated or something right? Anybody want to bet me that the players dont take off their warm ups, lol.

I also saw on Scout the Jett was recruited by Memphis but did not receive an offer. He might have a little extra incentive to show them what they are missing out on...

Just because the other thread turned into bad (good?) schtick. I really looked at the guard positions as I think that is where games are won and lost. I will be very interested to see who matches up with Joe Jackson from Memphis. He looks to be a faster/quicker version of Mike McCall (5 stars for those who care). He is a true sophomore and I am hoping that he gets matched up with Kwamain. KM is still our best, most experienced player overall and I want the pseudo senior against the sophomore. This is a game where we need to really lean on KM to hit big shots and make star plays. I expect DE to match up with Barton who by most indications is there best player (5 star). I want RickMa to look DE in the eye and say..I do not care if you score a single point, I want you giving 110% on D. DE is going to be huge for us this game as he is one of the few players we have who can combat their athleticism. Cody needs to keep his stroke and we need to run the offense patiently like we did in Anaheim and against teams who we played for the first time. The A10 teams scouted us incessantly and I think X in the 3rd game had truly seen nearly all of the wrinkles our offense had to offer. That is when KM sometimes just said, F this, I am shooting the three (without running much offense). The slips, rolls, and kicks that give us open shots SHOULD be available as I do not think Memphis will concentrate on where we are going but just emphasize pressure and creating turnovers. This might be a time when we pull the Soderberg vs Arizona (2003) strategy where 4 players run back on defense after the shot goes up. Of course on the other hand, Memphis is supposedly a bad rebounding team so maybe we think we can grab offensive rebounds and get some put backs. If we can handle the pressure, I am talking less than 15 Turnovers, I think we can win. The more "exciting" the game is, the more it favors the tigers. I did about 10 mins of looking stuff up, so please dont crucify me if these thoughts are off base. Bottomline, in RM I trust. -Nick

Conklin's ankle? huh? Do they just make stuff up?

Dwayne MIGHT have been a little under the weather today. A couple of times he Asked to come out of the game bc of fatigue. I thought Jett was playing well enough to warrant the PT down the stretch.

After watching Dayton/X I am predicting emotions getting the better of X and them trying to fight us.

I dont know but we need to win tomorrow for me to feel comfortable... I am starting to think we get screwed if we stumble against LaSalle.

I'll be there!

Nice work delpha--those videos are VTIME-esque. Carter looks very very good.

Lunardi must have read my post in an earlier thread that said we need to play 2 seed MO in the 2nd round if we are a 10 seed. hahaha

If the commitee were looking for intriguing match ups. They should seriously consider giving us a 7 or 10. With Mi$$ouri waiting for us in the round of 32. The commitee is still charged with making the tournament as exciting as possible while still making sure that seeding is fair. If we end up a 7 or 10 seed...it would just be dumb to put us in the same bracket as a 2 seed Oh St/MichSt/UNC when we could easily just be placed with SPUMAC.

He is a nightmare for teams trying to play 3 guards against us. He is just too big for a 6' guard to cover. Matchups will dictate when DE goes off like he did today.

LaSalle is beating the Welders and Xavier won. Who has the tiebreaker between them? (i.e. who will be the 3 seed and potentially face us in the Semis). I want the Bonnies not X

Mike McCall's Defense. He is playing Josh Fisher type defense right now. He absolutely shut down Tu on Tuesday and McConnell today. If we face an awesome guard in the tournament who is accustomed to carrying his team, I like our chances with MM locking him down. I do not know who is better right now KM or MM, but I am glad both are in Billiken blue. A couple other random thoughts. -Saw on Twitter that Rammer predicted 24-6. Props to the Billiken Deity. -JB better really work on his game in the offseason if he wants to see any floor time with our awesome guards

I like Cassity in the game right now...settling things down...Harriman is coaching very well IMO

"a bull in a china closet" riiiiiiiight

Mad hateful KM.

According to Twitter, Majerus took the wrong medication and is at the hospital for precautionary reasons. Nothing serious.

I am AC bound too. Staying in the trump. Shots on me Backhand...at the blackjack table...bring your weights.