slcute

Although I thought the Billikens were seeded a little low, I was actually delighted with the matchup with Memphis and the potential second round contest against the Spartans. For those of you that will remember SLU's last tournament appearance (against the Utah Utes), SLU played a Utah team that had two players with significant injuries sitting out. Utah found a way to get past the Billikens in the first round and then had to play the Spartans best team ever under Izzo (led by Mateen Cleaves). Everyone thought Utah would get blown out in that game, but Utah was either ahead or within a basket until 2 minutes left in the game when Cleaves hit a huge 3 pointer - a shot that propelled the Spartans to the National Championship. Anyway... how to play Memphis and win? Well, you play them the same way Southern Miss played Memphis. Larry Eustacy, Southern Miss's current coach, coached at Utah State while Majerus was at Utah (he then went on to Iowa State). He is a good coach (and had some very good teams at Utah State and Iowa State) and employs a similar philosophy as Majerus (although not quite in Majerus's league in terms of defense). He doesn't like to give up transition points, tends to make a team work hard defensively into the shot clock and plays the percentages and trys to force his team to take high percentage shots. This year, Southern Miss had a shot to win at Memphis and won at home against Memphis in close games. Southern Miss did that despite having much less talent than Memphis by refusing to give Memphis transition points and making them hit jumpers. Rick will do the same thing. Memphis is athletic and long, but they are not big and physical and their outside shooting comes and goes. I think Conklin and Loe should play well inside (as well as Evans), and we be able to dictate the tempo of this game. That will frustrate Memphis and give SLU a chance to win the game and move on to play a wonderful Michigan State team. SLU 69 Memphis 64 Go Billikens!

It's simple. If SLU beats Xavier on Tuesday it will have sole possession of second place in the A-10 with an RPI in the mid to high 30s (even with a loss at Duquesne and in the first game of the tournament). That would give SLU a 23-8 overall record, with sole possession of second place in the A-10 (with the first place team being a legitimate top 15 team). There is no way, with the A-10 being the sixth or seventh best conference in the country, that it gets one bid. And there is no way you can take Xavier, Dayton, or Saint Joe's over SLU when it will have finished two games ahead of each of those teams in the standings, swept Xavier, won at Saint Joe's and split with Dayton. Also, SLU will finish with at least a 12-5 record against the RPI top 150. When you compare that to the rest of the field, SLU is easily a ten seed (maybe lower). SLU's fans need to show up on Tuesday and make life hell of Xavier. You want to win the league, win tournament games, etc. you need to sell out the arena and make it impossible for teams to win there. Rick lost 13 times at home over almost 14 years at Utah, with half of those losses coming in one year when he went 14 and 14 because he lost his two best players to injuries and suspensions (sound familiar?). Oh yeah, after that year he went round of 32 (losing barely to Miss St. with Eric Dampier who went to the final four), round of 16 (losing to arguable Kentucky's best team ever), round of 8 (losing again to one of Kentucky's best teams) and championship game (losing, yet again, to Kentucky). Saturday was a bad loss. But it happens. Look at Florida State (at BC), New Mexico (neutral to Santa Clara), Gonzaga (at San Francisco) etc. Suck it up and come out to the game on Tuesday. The dumbass who blamed Rick for this loss ought to be shot. SLU came out strong, had a good game plan and had open look after open look in the second half and simply could not hit shots. They played solid defense (holding Rhode Island to 64 points at home). Conklin, Mitchell or someone else needs to take ownership of tight games down the stretch. This game was just like at Dayton - SLU had no business losing the game. I think SLU is trying to learn how to become a winning program. The difference between it and Temple this year is razor thin. Temple found a way to win one more close game (arguable, at LaSalle). That's the difference between being a 4th or 5th seed and being an 11th seed. Go Billikens!

A shout out from a huge Billikens fan living in Utah (ever since Rick got here). I must say, I love following the A-10. I always thought the league was underrated, having watched a lot of A-10 teams go deep into the tournament over the years. It's even deeper and better than I thought. I know St. Louis has only won a couple of tournament games and has only had 3 NCAA tournament appearances in the modern area, but that is going to quickly change. The way I see it, if the Billikens win only 2 more road games and win the rest of their home games, they would finish 11-5, with a home win over Dayton and two wins over Xavier - that would easily put them in the NCAA tournament given the strength of the A-10 and the Billikens' non-conference wins. Anything more than that is playing for seeding. Realistically, if you can steal one from UMASS on Saturday (remember, UMASS has had a week to prepare and the Billikens are coming off an emotional road win), and somehow split the road trip at St. Joe's and La Salle (or lose at UMASS and sweep this trip), and find a way to win at Duchesne at the end of the year, you may be as high as a 7 seed (with a win or two in the A-10 tournament). That would be great. Id' rather have a 10-12 seed than an 8-9 this year, which will give the Billikens a great chance to win a couple of games in the tournament. I can definitely see this team competing and winning against any of the teams on any given day other than the top 4-6 teams in the country. As a side note, I'm glad to see you guys get through some of the bad luck of last year. Majerus was right on schedule to take you to the tournament last year and to have a nice run this year. I keep thinking how good this team could have been with Reed down low on the other side of Conklin. Oh well, he is building the Billikens into a "program." He is the best coach I've ever seen. I mean it. Support him at home, fill the stands, be crazy and you'll have a 43 game home winning streak in conference like Xavier. Also, when he gets into the NCAA tournament, the recruiting will only improve. I see a great run forming for you guys...you are due! Good luck! I'll be rooting for the Billikens to keep winning and make a run!

Ha Ha. Everyone talks about the Van Horn's and Miller's and Doleac's under Majerus. Yes, he needed great players. But what makes the difference with Rick is what happens to guys like Conklin. The become the difference makers. You'll see.

You love him or hate him. There are many more who love him. The guy is a winner. Embrace him. Fill up the arena. You guys are gonna have a helluva run. I know it's hard waiting. But it will come. Winning doesn't happen overnight. But the Billikens will be on the map with RM at the helm.

Post Preview Hey, I'm a University of Utah fan. I know none of you probably care about what I have to say with respect to the Billikens but I can tell you this: RM is building a program here. And one that is going to win consistently. He is all about breaking players down and insisting that they play his way. And he'll sacrifice wins in the short term to do it. He doesn't give a ######. He has a system. It works and it wins. Yes, some players will not succeed in the system. But those who stick in it thrive. The billikids, including Conklin, Mitchell and Reed will be fabulous in two years. This year's team was bastardized. Essentially a three guard lineup without significant inside / outside play. It limited scoring in the motion offense and also limited man-to-man defense. Rick needs a 4 who can go inside /out and a five who can dominate the boards. He still needs a couple of pieces (which he seems to have landed). But Mitchell will be a star. Reed will be all league and Conklin will develop into a AJ type player. I've spoke with a lot of people about this year's class, and it's better than last years. It will continue to get better. And better and better. Rick could have signed a couple of JUCOs and won right away. That's not how he does it. He may do so here and there after his program is in place. But generally he'll avoid it. Looks like you may land a transfer this year too (good player). You'll see ups and downs next year. It's too hard to win on the road with so many young players. The year after that you'll win the A-10 and go dancing.... I hope you drill Xavier tomorrow. It's a large task because of the matchup problems. But not impossible. slcute