Duff Man

Xavier has the toughest road of anyone. "Bloodlines" might help if it comes down a coin flip with 1 other bubble team (provided that other bubble team isn't Kentucky), but otherwise it's irrelevant. I'm not saying this is likely*, but if you look at the current profiles, there's clearly a scenario where a 5th team (after VCU/Butler/Temple/SLU) beats up on the other top 100 non-NCAA teams. If you end up with 2 teams at 13-3, and 3 teams at 12-4 - all of those teams are probably in. Then if someone else wins the auto-bid you have 6. 1) VCU KenPom 11, RPI 30 2) Butler KenPom 43, RPI 15, 3) Temple KenPom 60, RPI 31, 4) SLU KenPom 48, RPI 50 La Salle KenPom 63, RPI 41 St Joes KenPom 67, RPI 66 UMass KenPom 123, RPI 49 Charlotte KenPom 79, RPI 60 Dayton KenPom 70, RPI 89 Xavier KenPom 95, RPI 92 *more likely is that they all beat up on each other and the 5th place team finishes 10-6

Matt Norlander continues his Billikens love (scroll down to Moving Pictures and Music) http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/21555908/wakeup-call-the-case-for-the-worst-team-in-college-hoops-history full disclosure: I did not send Matt the video but I know who did

Based on current form, it has to be Jordair Jett. He won the game against North Texas, and that reverse layup against UMass out of the half court set with the clock ticking down was the same type of play. His only drawback is the FT shooting - so maybe some combination of Jordair/Ellis that doesn't involve an abortion of a pass and a ball slowly bouncing out of bounds.

I think there's a scenario for 5 at-large bids plus a 6th if a dark horse runs the table in Brooklyn. La Salle, UMass, St Joes, Charlotte, even Xavier all could still play themselves into an at-large bid without necessarily dragging down Butler/VCU/Temple/SLU. More than likely though, those 2nd tier teams will beat up on each other, all finish with 1 or 2 too many blemishes and end up on the outside looking in. That's why it's so critical for SLU to stay out of that bunch.

No team is a lock for the dance if their only road wins all season are @Duq, @For, and @GW. Honestly, I can't understand how anyone would project SLU to lose all 3 games at Bonnies/Richmind/Xavier and then turn around and beat VCU at Chaifetz. That VCU game and then @Butler are the 2 toughest remaining matchups. 11-5 - provided it's a top 4 finish - plus a win against the 5 or 6 seed to advance to the A10 semis should be enough - but that's cutting it close. If 3 or 4 teams finish 11-5 and SLU is forced to play an extra game before heading to Brooklyn, at a minimum they need to win that A10 quarterfinal showdown against a team that's seeded higher than them. This is not a desirable scenario. Given how deep the conference is, they do not want to head to Brooklyn with 'work to do'. Butler and VCU are making the dance barring a disastrous turn of events. Temple is looking good. SLU needs to stay a cut above the mess of teams that finish 5-9 in the standings. That means beating those '2nd tier' teams head to head and avoiding road losses to bottom half teams. SLU has always stuggled in Olean, but this will be by far the best and most experienced Bills team that's made the trip facing the worst Bonnies team they've had in years. They have got to win that game. Richmond worries me, but again SLU is significantly better and they are significantly worse than the last time we made the trip. 13-3 or 12-4, with a Butler split, holding serve at home against the fringe NCAA contenders (Dayton, St Joes, La Salle, Charlotte?), and "quality losses" to VCU and/or @Xavier would put us in the field, no doubt.

Marque Perry is curiously missing from the career steals leaders quiz.

Can't believe this, but I am in complete agreement with you. Frankly, it kind of rubs me the wrong way that a bunch of grown ass men are passing wholesale judgment on the actions of a teenager. Yep, it's a bit embarrassing. This board has always held some kind of pretentious grudge against any player who commits here and transfers, or any player we recruit and chooses another school. It's not passing judgement, it's called analyzing the situation from all sides. His leaving in and of itself, doesn't make him a bad kid. Things didn't initially turn out the way he'd expected here and he choose to move on. The general sentiment on this board was "That sucks, but it's understandable" This being 2013 and given that we have a window into his psyche via Twitter, there is speculation that his decision was made in haste and he might have regrets. That speculation leads to more speculation about whether or not he could come back if he wanted to, and what circumstances would have to be met, and whether or not that's realistic. Put another way...on a personal level, Carter's actions are perfectly understandable and defensible in that he's just an 18-year-old kid trying to navigate his way through life. On a professional level however, the timing and circumstances of his departure were dubious, and must be taken into consideration when discussing his potential opportunity to re-join SLU.

RIP Kiel Auditorium

So Jimmy Chitwood, you wouldn't let him back. The whole goddam movie does not happen. WTF these are kids and the coach and the asst coach are gone and for that matter the conference is "in play". Right movie, wrong character http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/hoosiers/deleted-scene-second-chance

From my perspective as an outsider, that was all windowdressing and PR....like when you quit your job without giving notice and then in subsequent interviews you have some 1-sided story about why it didn't work out to tell the hiring manager Actions speak louder than words. He quit on his team mid-season.

Stupid question maybe, but can he come back here? Forgetting possible bridge burning, hurt feelings, teammates' attitudes etc., would it be possible legally per the NCAA? Has it ever been done? Willie Reed received his release then re-enrolled as a suspended scholarship player. Circumstances were different for sure, but if Willie could come back, I don't see why Keith Carter couldn't (unless rules have changed in the last 2 years). It's not going to happen, but if... 1) He wanted to come back 2) He first apologized to Crews for his leaving and demonstrated a complete change in attitude and commitment 3) He apologized to his teammates 4) The team was willing to accept him then Crews should allow him to return. That being said, Carter probably believes he's past the point of no return and it's doubtful that he has the stones to put himself on the line like that knowing he might get the door slammed on his balls.

Valpo is on our schedule next season. He could potentially be active for that game if it's scheduled after the end of the Fall Semester. When does the player officially become eligible? End of classes or end of exams? Vapo's 2013-14 calendar lists the exams for Dec 16-20. 75% of this season's non-conf schedule was over by 12/20 (with the Valpo game coming well before the cutoff), but there's at least a remote chance SLU could face him next year.

We can lose @Temple and still be in good shape for the tournament. Most analysts expect SLU to lose that game. It's not a deflating loss at all. If they win, then they've significantly boosted their chances. Losing to UMass at home is the game that will zap the momentum. SLU likely needs to go 11-5 in A10 play to get in, provided they don't shart the bed in Brooklyn. @Temple, @Butler, vs VCU are the 3 games that we're currently legitimate underdogs. (If it's a legitimate underdog, the coaching staff has ways to try to shut that whole thing down) vs Butler, vs St Joes, @Richmond, @Xavier, and you could even throw in vs UMass, vs Dayton, and vs LaSalle as individual games that we could afford to lose provided we still get to 11-5. That being said, there is no need to cut it that close. 11-5 is not the goal. 16-0 should be the goal. 13 or 14 wins with (even a shared) A10 title is realistic if things go our way.

D'marco Farr had a career high in sacks the year the Rams move to STL, he played on the 1999 SB winner, and by 1990s standards he was an articulate NFL player in the media. The sports culture has changed by leaps and bounds since then, yet D'Marco is still stuck in the 90s - where he's a Big Time personality who seemingly believe his ignorance of all things non-football is charming rather than a liability. and then there's Tony Softi - who makes D'Marco look like Bob Costas...why they insist on tainting the Miklasz show with segment after segment of Tony Softli is one of life's great mysteries

Jeff Withey gets secret service level protection from the zebras, it's :Jimbo Bad Language: ridiculous. KU has now played 12 games at either Allen Fieldhouse or the Sprint Center and he has yet to pick up a 3rd foul. In the first half today there were 2 blatant fouls that were not called 1) the Wyatt pump fake 3 where he got Withey in the air and induced contact (the announcers claimed it was a good no-call because Withey went straight up and down when he clearly was moving out towards the arc) and 2) the below push off that robbed Temple of an offensive rebound The second of the 2 fouls that were called on Withey was a very late whistle and probably wouldn't have been called if the basket had gone in. I remember it was the same story against SLU. It's a HUGE advantage for a shot blocking threat like Withey to be given multiple extra fouls each game. The worst call of the game was a first half steal by Wyatt that was ruled a kicked ball when it never hit anyone's foot. KU had ridiculous calls against them too, as one player got thrown to the floor on the baseline away from the ball after a defensive rebound (I believe Wyatt chucked/missed a quick 3 on the ensuing possession) and Releford's 5th foul was absurd, but he'd already put the game out of reach by that point.

College basketball as a whole is not as popular as it was 18 year ago. The regional economy is in far worse shape than it was 18 years ago. Those are far bigger factors in the attendance than the lack of cheerleaders in the local media.Media support or lack thereof is part of the equation, but there are others out there besides Cusamono who actively promote SLU. BJ Rains for example is firmly on the bandwagon. Tim McKernan is a Mizzou honk, but still keeps SLU in the discussion and generally seems bullish on the potential of SLU basketball. and I don't care how many local media guys you have in your corner, none of them are going to do you any good when they're not on the air for 3 days leading up to the game (as was the case for New Mexico). It's unfair to judge interim coach Crews on his media skills, but the man is a boring interview. Majerus may not have had Spoonhour's charisma, but he certainly was able to pull some casual fans in just by going on the air and talking about the upcoming games. Ideally our next coach can 1) recruit 2) develop talent 3) out-game-plan his peers 4) make in-game adjustments and 5) possess a charm that appeals to the local media and casual fans (note: media savvy is the least important of those 5 skills) Regarding local players... Of course having a team featuring local talent boosts attendance on some marginal level. This is an undeniable fact. The question is to what degree you factor that into your overall strategy. You don't want to waste scholarships on token locals just to fulfill some sort of quota. What seems to be overlooked [edit: well, until GOSLU68 raised this point in the previous post] is that many high school students - if given the choice - want to go somewhere else for college. This is human nature. If you're a highly touted basketball recruit from St Louis, and you have offers from programs with National Championship pedigree, what's it going to take for you to turn down that opportunity and stay in St Louis to play for SLU? Are you prepared to see SLU turn into a Calipari-style 1-and-done factory that will inevitably go on probation for recruiting violations? I'm all for recruiting more local players, but the pool of kids who 1) want to stay in St Louis 2) are good enough to fill a role NCAA caliber team 3) can cut it academically at SLU is not very deep.

To be fair, he did call UNM a great team - just not in the top 25 based on his computer algorithm - which factors in margin of victory, etc... Coaches' poll has the Lobos at 23. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaab/polls/

Creighton was 6th in attendance last year averaging 16,665. Dayton ranked 28th averaging 12,154. These programs dominate their smaller markets and don't have to compete against pro sports locally. They might not have the upside of bigger media markets, but they do offer stability and both are a safe bet to pull their weight when it comes to non-conference RPI, even in their rebuilding seasons. I know Brian Gregory is long gone - and this phenomenon was primarily true under his tenure - but what conference wouldn't want a program that consistently builds an NCAA caliber non-conference resume then under-performs in conference play?

If it's BE7+ X, Butler, Dayton, Creighton, and SLU, I would expect Marquette to be the 6th team in the East (i.e. 'traditional') division rather than the retro-MCC West. A major objective is to get as many nationally televised conferences games as possible, and the key element is highlighting traditional rivalries and establishing new ones. The 5 original BE programs surely prefer Marquette to Xavier or any other new addition. Marquette has the brand of a successful BIg East program and in selling the TV rights, you're going to want as many premium 'traditional' Big East matchups as possible. Additionally, you want to maximize the number of Xavier's match-ups against their natural rivals. They're not going to take Dayton and then split them up from Xavier.

http://saintlouis.scout.com/2/1251329.html "Since [Kwamain Mitchell] was hurt, we didn't have many guards," Carter said. "They were trying to do what was best for the team, and trying to do what was best for me. We just couldn't come to one decision." "I played better in practice but I knew I wasn't going to be right," Carter said. "I had absolutely no problems with the Coach [Jim] Crews or the coaching staff, this was just the best decision for me. I just need some time off." I'm not sure how to interpret these comments. The program would have every incentive to redshirt him if he was truly hurt. Kwamain was going to be back in time for the A10 season and surely Carter's impact in that extra year (2016-17) > anything he could have done this season (even without the injury). They certainly had to know he was always a threat to transfer and would be foolish to force him to play against his will.We were worried his lack of playing time would force him to transfer...and according to Carter the opposite was true Either Carter is being coy about his motivation or someone within the program ("nothing against the coaches"?!? Then who? May?) has royally ###### up.

empathy : the capacity to recognize feelings that are being experienced by another Staying with the dream date analogy - imagine it's the first date, and you traveled 5 hours to be there, and upon arrival you are informed your date can't make it because of a heart attack sustained months earlier. Again...I'm not saying it would have made any difference (and it's possible this was a complete non-factor), nor am I saying SLU acted in the wrong (no-win situation, really) - I'm just saying that if I'm in Carter's shoes I'd have found the timing of the announcement dubious.

From the kid's perspective, I don't think there's much difference.

I'm not sure it would have made any difference, but the program clearly had a gag order on Majerus health right up to the point where Carter was enrolled. I can't blame him for feeling like they pulled the wool over his eyes.

When the team is short-handed and Jett is forced into playing 35+ minutes and serving as the first option on the offensive end, that's going to take a toll on his defensive intensity. He has to conserve energy and temper his aggression in order to stay out of foul trouble. When the team is at full strength with Mitchell and Carter, Jett can have an even greater impact playing fewer minutes because he's able to rev up the defensive intensity knowing that he'll get a breather. As far as Jett starting or coming off the bench...I personally think it's preferable to have either Evans or Jett in the game at all times. With Carter and Kwamain coming back from injuries, Jett will probably continue to start for the foreseeable future, but at some point when Kwamain is back to full strength, it should revert back to Mitchell/McCall with Jett coming off the bench.

Why is everyone shitting on Rob Loe in a thread titled Corey Remekun? Thus far, Corey is most improved player from last season. His low post repertoire still leaves something to be desired, but he's clearly our best big man and he was dearly missed against Santa Clara. Even a game like Wednesday, his stat line isn't that impressive, but did well guarding Tony Mitchell in the 2nd half, had a brilliant hustle play where he forced a turnover in the backcourt, came up with a huge block late when SLU was up only 1, and then came up with a critical offensive rebound and putback to break a 59-59 tie with under 2 minutes to play. Corey is the unsung hero of this team.