Clock_Tower

Very True. I think we have the best chance to win the A10 Tournament

Excellent point.

Appreciate your insight. Good post.

Roy. I totally agree with you. I am not giving Dayton very much credit. Most of our outside shots were wide open. All the ones in the lane were extremely contested. All the bunnies were also very much contested. Easy and open shots by our wings (those playing the 2, 3 and 4 positions) in the lane were not allowed. That’s normal for league play on the road. But I recall JGood pulling up and attempting a high percentage, wide-open 10 footer from the baseline and simply missing it. I recall wide open three-pointers by Perkins and Jimerson which were simply missed. I recall a really bad turnover by Jacobs driving into the lane which led to a UD layup. I am not looking to play a slow down tempo where we drain the shot clock down to zero. What I am looking for is to pass up the easy outside shot, especially when it is not falling, and spend some effort running the offense to get a higher percentage shot, sometimes on the interior. Why did Jacobs shoot 6 times (2 of 6) in 16 minutes and Linssen shoot only 2 times (2 of 2) in 15 minutes? And while some feel I am too negative on Yuri, I get that he was injured, probably should not have played but did so because he is a warrior and knew he was needed against Dayton, am glad he is on our team, recognize that he only played 22 minutes before possibly re-injuring ankle and recognize that he only gets assists if the wings make their shots, but again ask the question, why are we not feeding the low post? And why are we not feeding the low post especially if the shooting by our wings is off? Run and gun, lazy, take the first open shot, selfish ball. Call it what you want but our PGs took only 5 shots in 24 minutes (Yuri was 1-4 in 22 minutes and Russell was 1-1 in 2 minutes) and our bigs took only 8 shots in 44 minutes which means our wings filling 3.5 positions for the game took the rest - 57 of 70 shots - and missed most of them.

That’s fine. I know you said Has’ actual production numbers weren’t bad (3 of 5) in response to his detractors. My point, and sorry that it came across directly to you (not my intent) is what he didn’t do and what neither he nor the other bigs were given the chance to do.

2 years ago, we took 50 shots in our close win against Dayton with Bully Ball Last year we took 61 shots in our OT loss to Dayton. Friday night we launched 70 shots and yet many on this Board wanted us to to increase the tempo. Why? Friday our 3 bigs played 44 minutes Has (18), Linssen (15) and Bell (11) which means we only had 2 bigs on the floor together for 4 minutes Two years later, we have more bigs, a deeper bench, we have a pass first point guard who is to run the offense and distribute to all, although not score (1-4 with no FTs for 3 points) and yet our bigs take only 8 of our 70 shots Has 3-5 and 0-1 FT with 6 points, Linssen 2-2 w 2 FTs for 6 points and Bell 0-1 with no FTs I cannot believe that Coach Ford‘s game plan is for the offense to ignore our bigs and have our wings take 85% of our shots. Bring back Bully Ball and you can take Selfish Ball or run and gun ball.

Not a bad game by Has? He takes only 5 shots and ends the game with 6 points while playing only 18 minutes? You do remember him carrying out team last year with 41 minutes in the OT loss to Dayton taking 16 shots (6 of 16) and going to FT line all night? I do. Here is the box score https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401170242 More time for Linssen would not have made a difference? Yes it would. How about we play him 32 minutes and feed him the ball? How about we feed the ball inside inside to Bell too and make points that way, and if/when fouled, we shoot FTs? Both Bell and Linssen can make their FTs. We didn’t even look at the low post much less try to feed the low post. Anthony Grant, the guy who failed at Alabama, is now some genius of a coach who shuts down Bully Ball? an interior wall ? they shut down Perkins and Goodwin? 3Star. Sorry. I didn’t see that either. Goodwin and Perkins shut themselves down. I saw them miss shot after shot - not bc of UD and Anthony Grant. Except for some very bright spots here and there, Perkins has not played well since the team’s return from Covid. In fact he was brutal in the LaSalle game, wasn't good for large stretches in our other wins and I don’t remember anyone giving credit to LaSalle and the other coaches for being basketball geniuses. And yes, when our Center or only big does not get the ball and our PG not only does not score but does not draw a defense, then yes, shutting down two of our remaining three players is certainly an effective strategy. I have sure heard a lot of people being held responsible for last night’s loss, and yes there is a lot of blame to go around, but the one name I have not heard has been Fred Thatch. Wasn’t he projected by many on this Board to be our defense of stopper? Well, our defense didn’t stop anyone. Wasn’t he going to dominate? Wasn't he going to lead us to our win over Dayton? I believe Fred played 13 minutes and had zero points.

Did we watch the same game last night? Smothering defense by UD? Sorry I didn’t see that. instead I saw a lot of missed wide-open shots and layups. UD is a better team than us? Last night, most definitely, but on the season? No way I also saw a lot of selfish play by our wings who missed alot of wide open shots, who then tried to drive and score in the paint but who failed and who then forced things and who then made alot of turnovers leading to easy buckets the other way. i watched our playmakers not make plays and, along with our wings, make almost zero attempts to get the ball inside to our bigs i also saw very few FT attempts by us - mostly our bigs Yes, I know the refs did not blow the whistle for us quite a bit, however, if the outside shooting is is not working, whether due to our own failures or the other team’s defense, why no pounding the ball inside? We attempted 70 shots but only 5 by Has (3-5 & who missed his only free-throw), 2 by Linsenn (2-2 & who made both of his free throws) and 1 by Bell (0-1 & who took no free throws) Bully Ball used to include Has and/ or bigs. Last night was not Bully ball. Last night was selfish ball I do not believe coach Ford was on the sidelines yelling “don’t run the offense”, “don’t work the ball inside for a high percentage shot”, “just launch another outside shot because you don’t want to work for something better” and “And if your shot doesn’t fall then put your head down and drive into the paint and it will go in.”

RU. Please don't use logic or point out stats which don't fit the agenda here. 10 rpg (rebounds per game), or even 8 rpg seems alot to me, a MBM, but I guess not to others. And being tall and standing out there is not working for Bell who has only 1.8 rpg, Linsenn (2.1 rpg) and French (7.1 rpg). And even though games are decided by who scores more than the other team, scoring is not expected from all of our players so surely this must be the case for other programs.

Not wanting a political discussion but who is making these decisions? UMass President? UMass is a public school so is their Governor involved? Does the NCAA have their version of medical experts recommending a campus wide shutdown. If similar numbers occurred at SLU, would this be a decision of Dr P and likely our Board of Trustees?

My point was that Hargrove saw the floor last year and again this year. Strickland not this year. And the position and skills of any transfer would matter too. But yes, the return of a guy like Perkins would limit minutes. Bell,Hargrove, Strickland ... have their work cut out for them to make sure Okoro and any new transfer don’t both take up 32 mpg

Yes but Hargrove would be a third year Junior. Juniors who don’t see the floor is not normal. Hargrove played last year, Is playing this year and I expect Hargrove to take many of JGood’s minutes next year. And barring an injury, I expect Strickland to play and see the floor next year. How much is up to him.

What is there to do or worry about? If they play hard in practice and prove they are worth the minutes, Coach Ford will play them. If they sit the bench next year then that indicates there may be a problem on their end.

Agree. He has been good. Hope you’re right about him being an Billiken HOF’er. And I hope 3Star is correct about his offensive abilities. Not sure exactly where his points came from his senior year in high school but High school is high school and it gets much harder to do that and be a scorer at the upper D1 college level against opponents who also are all D1 athletes, are taller... Still early to tell. Yuri gets a pass from me for his Freshman year. And this year, with the other scoring options, senior leadership, month-long shut down due to Covid and now injury, unfair to determine at this time and possibly this year.

Skip. Help me bc I am trying to figure out your point? Yuri is high quality pg but we have had better. I am not intending to dismiss all the good that Yuri brings to the team nor am I trying to dismiss former Billiken greats. Maybe we agree to disagree about how much a lock Yuri has on the team until he scores. This year, we have experienced scorers in Goodwin, Perkins to carry the scoring load but likely not next year. Even this year, how much better would our team be if scoring came from all positions? And unlike you, I would play Freshman KM over Yuri. Maybe you don't remember the points scored by Kwamain as a Freshman (11.0 ppg) and Sophomore (15.9 ppg) while still running the offense, playing great defense and having very good assist to turnover stats vs. Yuri last year (5.4 ppg) and this year's 12 games only split by COVID and now injured (5.7 ppg)

Yes. It’s easier to recruit better kids at better programs and in better conferences ... but then you have to play and go up against these other schools, players and coaches like Duke, Virginia, N Carolina, Wake Forest... not Drake, Indiana State and Bradley so you better have better players You seem like a huge Porter fan. I am not. Will be interesting to watch things play out.

Maybe Duke should get rid of Coach K as well and lock up Porter? Are you hearing he will be the next coach at Kentucky? Seriously though, you make some good arguments but Porter had a history before four years ago - he has been at Loyola for 10 years And no doubt he learned alot and is a better coach having learned directly from Rick Majerus. At the same time, he was not a very impressive head coach for Illinois State and when he failed in the Valley. Now he is back in the Valley - not the ACC. And he never struck me as a good x’s and o’s coach. And head caoch in the ACC is a huge step up from the Valley. And how good of a national recruiter is he? Notre Dame has traditionally recruited nationally.

Skip. The question was if we landed a a high-quality point guard ... Not my question... and I did not say Yuri was not high-quality. Yuri is a good player for us, is still young and hopefully will continue to improve and develop other parts of his game. With that said, is Yuri the best point guard in the A10? Until he is, until he scores, until he plays a more all around game .... I am looking to upgrade. I would take Crutcher and a healthy Fatts over Yuri. I would also take Kwamain, Josh Fisher, H Waldman, Marquee Perry, Jordair, Jett, Mike McCall and Larry Hughes and maybe others over Yuri.

Who is trying too hard? Russell or Yuri? I say both. If a high quality PG comes to SLU, he plays. End of story.

No offense, but ND can do alot better than Porter. And so can SLU should we have to have this conversation again

My sources are telling me that our own Taj is actually the face behind this PR blitz. Confirmation?

Agree about the no love lost between the two. As to whether Fr Biondi was going to renew his contract, Father Biondi most likely did not want to resign RM and while Fr Biondi did a lot of foolish things, he was no fool. And if Jim Crews did as well as he did with RM’s teams, does anyone think that RM would not have done even better? And if RM did as good or better would there not have been the huge public support with the fans, the boosters, the University, the city and Dr C to keep RM at all cost? Would not this public pressure which “forced” AD May to sign Jim Crews have also not forced Fr Biondi to extend RM? I believe RM would’ve stayed at SLU as long as RM wanted to be here. And with the broken promises and negative actions Fr Biondi, things were not looking good. But with all that said, I also do not believe RM was trying to sabotage and ruin the program. Were there some weak recruits on our team brought in by RM? Sure. Then again RM started with and also brought in a lot of weak recruits, most of whom, good or bad, he showed them the door as he reloaded and tried again.

Yes. And most likely Dick Bennett recommended his friend Brad Soderberg but Wisconsin chose Bo Ryan instead who successfully coached Wisconsin for over a decade. And when Romar left, the players all lobbied for and got Brad Soderberg but I suspect they would’ve been happy with a Rick Majerus or a Travis Ford. And yes there was pressure upon athletic director May after the National Coach of the Year though a one year extension tender to the formerly retired Interim coach following Jim Crews’ first year as interim coach would not have been out of line i said it then Roy said it then ...many others as well Does anyone think Jim Crews would have said no? Does anyone think we would have replaced him with a worse coach? But everyone knew of Jim Crews’ age, his inability to relate well with the players and his prior multiple failures as a head coach. Remember he had been retired, completely out of the game after having left to prior places because he could not relate with the younger players. These were unusual certain circumstances- the death of a Hall of Fame legend midseason, and a one-year extension would not have been unusual under these circumstances if AD May could not bring himself around to changing coaches and going in a different direction. Athletic directors are paid good money to make tough decisions, not go with flow and whims at the time. Add a minimum, the one year extension could have allowed the program to conduct a national search for a younger coach to take the Billikens in a direction for the next decade. No one thought Jim Crews could coach for a decade. And if Fr. Biondi equally disliked Rick Majerus why would he honor or factor in Rick Majerus’ alleged wishes in his hiring decision?

That’s fair. Everyone is free to have their own opinion. Just read more like a fact than an opinion. As to John Manning, without the injury, he becomes a very good player for us. With the injury not so much. As to the empty cupboard, I cannot agree with that. We had Manning and that promising PG who left bc of Crews. And while I am not, and was not a big Grandy Glaze fan, I do believe RM would have gotten more out of him than Jim Crews. And the whole Jordair Jett, class was only Juniors when RM stepped down and then died. We had alot of Juniors and Seniors and not that many empty scholarships. And I believe that anything RM had his name associated with he would either do his way and at 100% or not at all. When his contract was up, would he walk away? Maybe But I don’t buy into this theory that RM was getting even with Fr Biondi by slowly and intentionally ruining the basketball program which he spent years building. I believe RM would quit but would never do this to his players and coaches. Just din’t believe this was in his DNA. Again we can agree to disagree.