Clock_Tower

I found the figure of nearly $5 million of our $7.5 million as being salary to be rather high. Or higher than I expected in that I assume Coach Ford is making around $2 million or so? Even $3 million? Who makes the other $2 million? And yes,figures can fluctuate from year to year and some programs will include expenses which others do not but we are spending nearly double that of the highest spending program from the Valley which is closer to Duquesne than us. Davidson had their nice run in the tourney as did George Mason and recently Loyola, we waited 50 years for the Blues to win the Stanley Cup and may have to wait awhile longer for our Billikens but I would rather compare ourselves to Marquette and the $11.8 million they are spending. https://marquettewire.org/3992372/tv/increased-mens-basketball-spending-a-product-of-travel-lease-agreements/

Thanks. Close to what I had thought. $7.4 million for SLU 4.3 million for Loyola 2.1 million for Indiana State And I just looked up, Duquesne spends $3.9 million Obviously, the figures will fluctuate over time but here are some figures for the A10 by comparison https://richmond.com/sports/college/numbers-game-check-out-di-men-s-basketball-budgets-around/article_d5934091-cf4e-5cce-acbe-ef8d373db4ad.html

Apples to apples... how much do we at SLU spend on basketball?

If ticky tacks fouls is the norm, Yuri is bumped every series

Tre still have 3 fouls then?

Terrible call. Why play defense?

Noon Central time, right.? Short delay you say?

If we were to play Evansville, I know he won’t appear in person, but would someone make a cardboard cut out of Jim Crews and make sure he is wearing Evansville purple and not Billiken Blue!

Tarheel Wish I could solve and end the contested debate once and for all but I cannot. Here's what we know: 1. RM had 2 older, former head coaches on his staff in Crews and Whitells 2. RM thought highly of both 3. Some key Billiken insiders have reported that RM gave his preference for Crews over Whitesell (and I believe this story though not all do) 4. AD May chose Crews as Interim HC over Whitesell and Whitesell left Now to me, assuming the above preference of Crews over Whitesell was made, what did the preference mean? RM wanted Crews as the caretaker and public face of the program until RM returned or that RM wanted Crews as our full-time next, permanent head coach. I believe the former and your article supports my theory. RM was not some long-time Billiken loyalist or separated from the program. Should a non-head coach loyalist like Dr. C give his wishes on his death bed, that's one thing. But RM already was the head coach and most likely did not think he would die "so quickly" even though he had been dying for years and years with heart disease. To me, even as bad as it was for him then, and no doubt RM knew things were bad and that his disease became worse and the doctors' option became fewer each time, RM always survived I believe he thought he would would somehow survive yet again. And the article is typcial RM: praise for those around him... but to me, the key is that he found Whitesell to be a balance to him. He stopped reading Whitesell's reports until RM watched them first and RM made his one determination. RM did not delegate. It was not in his DNA. RM did everything himself - he was a perfectionist. Those who wanted responsibility delegated to them either left RM to get it elsewhere or never coached with him to start. RM's coaching tree legacy is not much -- b/c IMO RM hired guys not to replace him but to complement him - to be a balance. And Crews was no different. IMO, RM clearly knew that neither could or should replace him but both were key balances to him. As I (and several others) said at the time, neither Crews nor Whitesell were good enough to be our next head coach. We had hired sucessful veterans in Spoon and RM and then we took a chance on an up and coming young coach in Romar ... but hiring older guys who previously failed in the Valley/MCC (Loyola, Evansville), Indiana State (Porter) and average years at SD State and Loras (Brad) is not the way for us to go.

Monday morning quarterback implies I was silent and said nothing on Sunday. Wrong. And I have proved it several times and not interested in yet again. Ask BRoy - he said the same. And ask Thinks and Steve - they both recall me proving old posts by posting new on old posts and upsetting the Board. Not doing that again. Several others all said the same thing. Nothing all that unusual. Surprised you were not one of them.

JGood’s first year was part of our complete rebuild before SLU suspended him for the balance of the year. JGood’s second year ended w NCAA Tournament JGood’s third year also to be an NCAA Tournament bid until COVID shut the Tournament down for everyone JGood’s fourth year is not over and we are still in the running for another NCAA bid despite COVID. And if things don’t turn out that way, and if the Tournament is important to JGood, then he can join Perkins next year for a COVID free normal year

We were in the MCC and came in second nearly every year to Xavier. We have been in the A10 and haven’t won in the A10 like we should have.

Did not intend for another Jim Crews discussion. Instead, I am curious to hear from the rest of you who truly do follow 1 or more of our non- revenue sports as to how long we stick with same coaches. Paying the bills, keeping the lights on, offering scholarships, good GPAs and not bringing negative attention to the University are noble goals ... but shouldn’t SLU try to win as well??

Good leaders lead and bad leaders get led or don’t lead at all. Often times they do nothing. That was the case with Chris May and Jim Crews. Waiting until Jim Crews won the national coach of the year was too late. From the beginning, Chris may should have controlled the narrative, said he would not be hiring any of our assistant coaches, said our new coach would a younger coach.... None of our assistants were up to the job. AD May knew what he had: an out of touch fossil - who I would have taken in the 1980’s - but not following RM in 2010’s. The game passed him by. You don’t think the players liked him and related to him as an assistant coach and that things suddenly changed once he became the head coach do you? And you know how he (and Jim Platt) were run out of Westpoint bc of his personality and how he treated even the most accepting of his old school discipline, right? What indication did he show while on Frost campus that he was up for our head coaching job? Hints could have been dropped the whole year. A coach could have been indirectly and secretly contacted and all but hired behind the scenes.

After watching Donigan, what did Chris may see to make him want to extend his contract? Same question with McGinty and Kent Miller. I get hires which don’t turn out well but extensions after they work for you for years? Within 6 months, everyone saw what Bob Warming, Kordes, Majerus, Ford, Hendrickson, Kalisch did and was doing. And yes, no one knew Jim Crews better than AD May and I would have fired him for that hire alone.

AD May makes mistakes like other Athletic directors. In fact, his track record of making mistakes may be greater than other athletic directors but he also lacks the funds to fix his mistakes. Making a bad hire is understandable. Making a bad extension is not. I would clean house and look for a new AD

SLU made a great hire and retention for baseball and recently for soccer with Kalisch. Before that Donegan and McGinty were both bad and should have been let go. Neither were fired and both were extended. Why?? Whose decision other than AD May is it to extend head coaches like them and Kent Miller? What coach has AD May and SLU bought out? SLU didn’t care about soccer anymore either? Or SLU lacked the money and balls to rectify its mistakes? Thank God for soccer that Kalisch is the real deal. And if not for Dr C writing another check to Jim Crews, would the B of T stepped in and bought Crews out for the good of the basketball program? I say hell no. Even Crews would have finished his contract.

I agree. New blood is needed. Somehow SLU hired Nolan and she made us a Top 10 program. She fell in our lap like Majerus did. Once in a lifetime. She was a HOF coach at the end of her career. Kordes made us us Top 25 and relevant and should be the model. With all the local talent, and hot spots in Kansas City and Indianapolis, we should be hiring young energetic coaches like Kordes and be a successful stepping stone for the same budget. AD May retaining him was a mistake. Then again, AD May has made alot of mistake and no repercussions.

What team are you talking about? st Joe from the A10 who is 2-9? A nightmare?

My daughter is a high school Junior and select volleyball player who has the skills to play D1. She has reached her limit though, is backing off and no longer wishes to play competitive volleyball or college volleyball. With that said, DOC is absolutely correct. St. Louis is a huge hotbed for volleyball. A top 25 team could be reached every year with St. Louis girls alone. The better girls go to the Big Ten and SEC and are not interested in playing for SLU in the A10. Last year, though, we lost to SEMO which had landed a very good Libero from St Joseph Academy. SEMO over SLU? And 05 is also correct. Kent Miller must go. What has he done? Either assistant coach would be an improvement. Major failure by SLU and AD May. Either Chris May is incompetent or his hands are financially tied. I go with the latter. With all that said, no one has answered Roy’s question. Why is Kent Miller still here? Third or fourth place in the A10 is good enough for SLU now? OK, we are in the top tier of volleyball budgets for the A10 - why is Roy wrong about the B of T not wanting to pay two salaries? Can we not be in the top tier of the A10 and also refuse to pay two salaries? Other than Dr C and Novelly, is there anyone else at SLU who gives a damn about SLU athletics?

Another good game by French who is looking more like he did last year. Improved health makes a difference for Yuri. Love the first half game plan and execution. A definite and concerted effort to pound the ball inside. And guess what, it worked. And no, I don’t expect the Travis Ford haters to notice it much less mention it. No shooting opportunities for our best outside shooter Still work to be done and improvement More poor defense by Perkins, Hargrove and Thatch but Fred redeemed that and his missed shots with a huge 3 pointer after being left alone in the corner. Game should not have been so close ... .but we are back on a roll Big game Monday !!

I mentioned in another thread about point guards the name Larry Hughes. We all know Larry Hughes was not a point guard for the Billikens; however, I included him because when the game was on the line or when a point was needed at a crucial time of any game, and often even at a non-crucial time, Larry had the ball out top and in my opinion was the point guard. He was not looking to be a playmaker and was not a pass first guy but instead to shoot, drive and do whatever it took to score. If this included a pass to an open big or teammate - he did it. Against VCU, French and Linssen had already fouled out and the ball was NOT in Yuri’s hands. The Seniors - JGood and Perkins - had the ball. Our best 2 players but they are not Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller. Often this is the case - the offense not being run. I am sure the non-Seniors can and would get them the ball - but I see too much 1 against 5 and not enough running of the offense. And I will withhold judgment on why the offense is not being run even with Yuri in the game. If, as some indicate, it is solely because Yuri is injured (as he was last year and this year) as opposed to Covid, or game planning by the other side, or the need to be less predictable, then even more and so the need to bring in another quality PG next year.

Because it’s easier and apparently more fun to sit on the sidelines and speculate. Our coach is a bad in game game coach, he may leave, his house wasnon the market, players may transfer, players will be unhappy, how long will good players will sit on the bench, playing eight does not work, playing 10 does not work so playing even more will work. Some topics and players are off limits and others are free to be trashed. And note: no one has suggested who sits - just who should play. And is Jacob‘s really injured or is he still suffering from Covid? Now if you’re referring to Jacob‘s injuries as a freshman, I suggest that they prevented him from learning how to play college basketball - far different from today. He now knows how to play college basketball, he has played well in the past, and yes, something is preventing him from having success now. Maybe our head coach does know more than the rest of us. As I have said all along,, our roster is full of guys who are very good and talented but who are excellent at this but not very good at that. And yet when their weaknesses are exposed, whether due to good scouting/play of our opponents, Covid sickness or injury, there is no recognition of them and their limitations towards their struggles, blame has to go elsewhere. As to further details, maybe after the season. We have a Tourney to win now.

I remember a time, long long ago, when players earned their playing time. When matchups mattered. Now, it appears to be a coaching style to play eight, 10 or whatever regardless of what the players do. And VCU on the road is a good time to see what Strickland can do? Hargrove git minutes last game and went 3 of 9. No, we can’t just lose a tough game on the road with bad reffinging calls and unlucky breaks but we also must tear down our players, our coach and then invent rumors of transfers and coaching changes. SLU’s medical school should open the doors and hand out valium to many on this Board.

You mean - COULD have ramped up pressure. Maybe. Or maybe not if conditioning was still a problem, if Yuri’s ankle was not up to it, and if foul problems did not exist. I believe all 3 were an issue last night.