Pistol
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Posts
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Days Won
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Posts posted by Pistol
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3 hours ago, Box and Won said:
I was just a young pup then, a freshman. Not a care in the world. Totally oblivious to the hellish, tortuous emotional roller coaster this program would put me/us through.
3 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:When you're driving down Vandeventer in a convertible Mazda Miata the world is your oyster
2 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:I love the mid to late 90s era of Billiken basketball. I wish we could go back there. But I don't think it's useful to rehash what happened 30 years ago in a very different social environment. We had strong crowds even in a down year during that period. That would not happen today. Bandwagon culture is a lot more ruthless now. There were a lot more families attending sporting events back then as well.
Box and Won and cgeldmacher like this -
4 minutes ago, ARon said:
I'll be concerned if it is not announced that Ford won't be back before Tuesday's game.
1 minute ago, ACE said:I believe Crews was fired immediately after the conference tournament loss - that would be my expectation. If it doesn't happen and he's the coach the next day, then you can begin the worrying.
Crews was informed about his firing before the conference tournament game and the postgame press conference was when it was announced publicly.
I would expect the same pattern this time.
ACE likes this -
15 minutes ago, JettFlight5 said:
Agree with this all the way. I'm really not sure how many D1 guys we have.
They're all D-I guys. D-I is vast - over 4,700 scholarship players.
13 minutes ago, JettFlight5 said:Now they see things from our perspective. Defense is so much about effort and communication. Let's just say those two elements are lacking a bit.
This is absolutely true (although not the only things missing on the defensive end).
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Just now, Dr Bird said:
By the end of the game, the TV announcers were stunned by the futility of our defense.
It's amazing. The same pattern plays out every game. In the first few minutes, they dump their pregame notes ("This team has dealt with so many injuries, bad luck, blah blah blah"). Then midway through the second half, they're completely exasperated by how bad the defense is. Duquesne's crew was the funniest: "They can't get in front of anybody!"
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1 hour ago, SLUMS81 said:
I’m sure the guys work their tails off in practice. We have been competitive against teams with our level of talent.
We held our own (and then some) for the first 10 minutes. Dayton then woke up and methodically dismantled us - basically better than we are at every position. And unless I am wrong, Dayton didn’t have a single Senior on the court.Our coaching staff has not forgotten that defense is important. We simply do not have an adequate inside presence at this time. The only way for our younger bigs to genuinely improve is by giving them lots of meaningful game playing time - something that TF has never done and which has produced the results we are seeing.
I don't see any evidence of hard work in practice. They're not just bad on defense, they're lazy and unprepared. Holmes sliced through the paint and instead of moving their feet, guys move their arms and reach in on him. Brea coasted down the floor in transition without a defender within 25 feet. There are just basic defensive principles and scouting notes that either aren't being taught or are being completely ignored, because they certainly aren't evident in the game.
The coaches and players deserve no excuses for what we're seeing. This is easily the worst defensive SLU team in my lifetime and I would be shocked if there were a worse defensive unit in SLU MBB history.
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1 hour ago, billiken_roy said:
you are watching different games than me. the fundamental and mental mistakes we consistently make game after game tells me either or both 1. we dont practive defense 2. our players dont understand defense.
both of those choices reinforce my belief ford is a horrible practice and development coach. there is no excuse.
for those of you saying our players are not athletic enough, i ask, "is kevin lisch a better athlete than larry hughes II? is kevin lisch a better athlete than kellen thames? what about medley, meadows, parker? the answer is no. yet kevin was game after game one of the best defenders the billikens ever had. defense is fundamentals, focus and effort. imo it appears the players just dont care about defense and our coaching staff sure as hell doesnt care. i am sure they give lip service, and insist in huddles play defense. but what is being done in practice to learn the technical aspects of defense and change the mindset of the players on defense? time to fire ford. he is a fail. recruiting no longer is a priority for coaching. Coaching is what matters. fire ford.
Lisch is a way better athlete than most of those guys. I guess maybe Thames and Parker could beat him in some specific measurables but he still has better body control and strength than either of them, and I'm sure depending on which other categories you included, there would be more. I'm not sure how to measure it wholistically - I do know that he would be by far the best player on this team and he's an outstanding all-around athlete. Medley and Meadows aren't even close in terms of athleticism.
Gremio14 likes this -
1 hour ago, JMM28 said:
Great point.
I'd also add that you can't have a team in the bottom 25 of defensive rankings in the country and live to coach another season.
There are many reasons to move forward with the firing. Last night served to highlight a big one, though.
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The ref talking to Stu is Tony Chiazza. He SUCKS.
thatskablamo likes this -
Ford is now 5-12 against Dayton. He allowed them to score 100 at SLU on Senior Night.
In college sports, when you can't beat your rival, you get fired.
There is no ambiguity here.
Anyone who disagrees can go away. Anyone uncomfortable with this fact (and the conversation around it) should probably take a break for the next few weeks.
Zink, Lord Elrond, billikenblue and 6 others like this -
2 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:
Game on CBS ap.
Is it? There are two different windows showing this game listed and they both take you to the UNCW-Towson game.
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You guys haven't heard of Hard Knox? Their teams are called the Prairie Fire.
They were bounced from their conference tournament last Saturday. Finished 19-8 on the season but I don't think they have any postseason options.
Glad SLU is doing something to make sure they get a senior day. I just hope everyone stays healthy.
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By the way, I have to hand it to this league. It has really gotten stronger this season. The top 4 teams are all 14-3 or better and 3 of them have 25 overall wins on the season (the fourth has 23). Unfortunately, they're all in the 55-70 range in the NET rankings currently, so getting multiple bids is an uphill climb, but they should stack the NIT, with Davidson (82) and Rhode Island (86) also having a shot to play in the postseason. SLU has to win the conference tournament again.
The crazy thing is that URI and SLU were supposed to be top-3 teams in the league. I don't think anyone realized how much better the whole top ten would be, though.
Lord Elrond likes this -
Wow. I knew they had canceled a recent game but figured they'd return to play.
The standings have been updated. SLU finishes 9-9 on the season. Their seed in the A10 Tournament will depend on what URI, Loyola, and Fordham do this weekend.
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That photo is from tipoff, so it's pretty misleading. The other 4,500 people needed time to get their sodas and get down to their seats.
gabriel likes this -
1 minute ago, brianstl said:
Jimmerson has only played 10 more career games than Jimmerson.
Than Claggett, yes.
Saying Jimerson needed 5 years to do this is pretty misleading. He had a season-ending injury in his 10th game as a freshman. He only got 21 games as a sophomore because it was shortened by COVID. So by the end of this season, he will have played pretty close to what a 4-year player would play in this era (arguably shorter due to lack of postseason success).
The only difference is they played fewer games overall when Claggett was playing.
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Comfortable win after they ran away with the second quarter. Julia Martinez had her second career triple-double. Could be the fact that their A10 schedule was front-loaded but this team is playing better down the home stretch, just in time for another A10 Tournament run.
billikenbill and CenHudDude like this -
6 hours ago, brianstl said:
It is the standard among private universities, but it probably isn't the best way to operate. Huge boards tend to dilute accountability, make needed changes harder and give oversized roles to a limited number of members that decide to be more engaged. I understand why it is the standard. You are trying to keep so many different groups and donors both happy and involved, but it is damn near impossible to have board that offers true and effective oversight and leadership when it is that big.
3 hours ago, cgeldmacher said:I'm sure it is. I just think that when you have that many board members, whatever school it is, and maybe its all schools, that means that the board isn't really running anything. For most decisions, a board of that size has to be just rubber stamping. I wasn't aware that schools like SLU and others had boards that big that really must not have all that much control over anything. Now I know.
I have no idea what the ideal board size is for a private university.
I only know that the size and makeup of the board are not impediments to basketball success.
brianstl likes this -
50 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:
The fact that there are 38 members of the BoT tells me its a joke and that the members have no real power other than to rubber stamp decisions. Normal boards have, what, like 9 members? 38 is just ridiculous and highlights the idea that Pesty probably has no real oversight.
Marquette currently has a lean board of 30 trustees and Butler is at 32 members. Xavier, Creighton, DePaul, and Wash U. all have over 40 members.
The size of SLU's board is not a reflection of a lack of institutional control, nor an indictment on the president's oversight. It's industry standard.
TheA_Bomb likes this -
22 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:
ive never been with an organization where a board of directors ONLY concerns themselves with showing up 4x a year to address concerns, ideas, and progress. an effective BOD will be actively involved quite frequently and be instrumental in the development and well being of that particular organization. so i guess i am going to throw that back at you, How do you think "a board of directors works?" maybe you are thinking of giant corporations and organizations where i am thinking a billion dollar or less asset sized organization.
In my world, corporate boards meet 4 times a year, maybe more if there are special circumstances. SLU - a multi-billion-dollar organization - states explicitly that they meet 4 times a year.
I'm not sure how many times I can say the same thing but this contract discussion was a single item in a quarterly meeting. It may have been voted on between things like whether or not to sell the hospital and which departments might need cuts.
As SLU sports fans, we want everyone in any position of power to care about the minutiae of the athletic department the way we do, but that's just not how it works. We need to keep it in perspective.
willie, Lord Elrond, gabriel and 1 other like this -
1 hour ago, billiken_roy said:
a bomb, if they are too busy then maybe they shouldnt have accepted the responsibility. not only our athletic department, but the school as a whole deserves more attention and focus than what i am seeing for results.
I'm just so curious as to how you think a board of directors works.
In the link above your post, it says "The board meets four times a year". Look at the titles next to their names. This isn't the only thing these people do with their lives.
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11 minutes ago, BLIKNS said:
Was tongue and cheek... I think Dooley's name was also mentioned when Crews as named Coach
It was mostly when we were speculating on who would replace Crews. He had won 21+ games in 3 seasons at FGCU and just taken them back to the NCAA Tournament in 2016 when Crews was fired. I've never really been a fan, and he's been bad at ECU.
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2 hours ago, thetorch said:
Why have the candidates for the SLU job that the local media has mentioned (fed by SLU officials or boosters) all been awful? Crean, Weber and now Ahearn?
To be fair, the local media has also mentioned other names, like DeVries and Schertz. They're not only putting those names out there.
slu92 likes this -
7 minutes ago, slu92 said:
Why would he leave NBA for SLU? Answer that one. And yes I think guy has something extra based on spurs plucking him out of high school to coach their G League team. Those jobs aren’t easy to get. I’m sorry I’ll take RC Buford and Pop’s opinions over Chris May in evaluating coaching talent. Do you think the Spurs don’t have options??? Hired him because he went to DeSmet? I went to high school with him? Uh really? That’s a new one too. And his name was brought up by Frank, who I think is a dope. He lost all credibility after last year defending Ford in my book. But the nonstop bashing a guy who from what I understand has no interest coaching in college and SLU in particular is weird. Like let it go. We get you don’t like him, he must of cut you from DeSmet freshman team, didn’t sign your camp T-shirt, whatever the reason we get it. I like idea of a Tatum or Ahearn being from stl and wanting to build something longterm, wanting to be at slu, like a Mark Few type, that’s all! Wow.
More money, higher profile job, more autonomy, and located in hometown. There are probably more but those are the easy ones.
His agent has major clout in the coaching carousel every year. It's possible he's pushing Blake's name out there to gain leverage for the Missouri State job. But he has enough supporters within SLU's donor base that he could be a candidate that fans need to take seriously. And by the way, those fans are all entitled to their own opinions on Ahearn as a candidate, and all the opinions are entirely valid because we truly don't know how good he'd be at this job.
TaLBErt likes this -
Yeah, May completely fumbled the baseball gift. Plus the actual surface of the field this year, that's inexcusable.
And yet, this team has started 8-0 for the first time since 1966, they lead the nation in runs, and they broke the program record for home runs in a game.
They have a legit shot to start 11-0 with a 2-5 Le Moyne team coming to town this weekend. Everybody needs to get out to The House That May Didn't Build on Friday or Saturday or Sunday (or all of the above) and watch these guys mash.
MusicCityBilliken, billikenbill, OkieBilliken and 1 other like this
Womens Basketball 2023-2024
in Billikens.com Main Board
Posted
Oh no. Didn't realize that. I was following the live stats but was going to flip over to the broadcast when the MBB game is over.