AnkielBreakers

Yeah. He could be heading to help out his brother like Reacher. It will take roughly a month in some small southern town. Say what you will about his basketball skills, but he looks like someone you don’t want to mess with.

Travis Ford would be a good hire for them. I honestly think he has a high Low Bar for success, but he also seems to have a low High Bar. As long as they are not focused on being exceptional.

Especially with the switch Defense that Ford has done such a great job implementing. A 5’10” pg is exactly who you want matched up with a 6’6” sg. Genius.

It will be an interesting end to the season. Say what you will, but playing at a ‘5 point loss at Dayton’ level should beat almost anyone else in the A10. There may be a run left in this team. If so, the haters will really be in for a mess.

I mean, SIUC hung a 40 point margin on us. Maybe tone down the hope.

The switch defense was intended to cut down on open three point shots. Our guys fail to properly switch almost every time, leading to wide open three point shots. Just infuriating.

0-5 is very possible. 1-4 is likely. 2-3 is hopeful. 3-2 is overly optimistic. I am surprised that is just a “welcome result.”

Counterpoint: He probably won’t face any better defenders at center than the last two teams. His biggest obstacle will probably be fouls.

I have a good juxtaposition. Let’s say that Willie Reed and Kawmain Mitchel were allowed to play halfway through the situation I year. How would conference have played out? They would not have finished first, but definitely a massive improvement. Parker and Ezewiro are definitely the best players on the team. I think they are stars. A couple of stars can really make a difference.

Arguably, this team has Ford’s best pair of pure scoring guards (Parker, Jimerson), and now maybe the best scoring big man (Ezewiro). It looked like they were getting better on D until the second half of NC State. If they get defense on track… .ugh… .sky is the limit.

Yeah. It feels like Ford has been a lot better than Soderberg. I mean, how many of his teams were ranked in the top 25? That said, Soderberg finished 3rd and 6th in the A10, and then was canned. Maybe they are closer than we think.

Ok. You make good points. I agree with these statements. I don’t think it is fair to throw a comparison with Spoonhour around. The reason he gets thrown in there is because of winning percentage and total wins. Ford is definitely divisive for the fans. I still don’t think it is fair to throw Crews in this mix. Personally, north of Grawer, before my time as a fan anyway, so I can’t really argue either way. So, maybe that is the best comparison. Soderberg is probably also a good comparison.

Good points. It is crazy to compare Ford to Crews. Ford is comparable to Spoonhour or Grawer. Maybe worse than one or both, but comparable. Crews is one of the only coaches, for a team I have followed, where I had to admit he was ‘objectively’ horrible.

A team that cannot break the press is a sign of bad coaching. Maybe I am wrong, but I did not see Meadows and Medley on the court at the same time. In the second half when they were struggling with the press, the obvious answer is to put both points guards on the court. It wasn’t in Ford’s game plan, and he did not adjust. In either case, it is a bad sign that the basic starters couldn’t handle the press.

If I was Travis Ford, I would be talking Ezewiro into playing and not even asking for approval. He needs to go for broke.

That can’t be right? If it is a lot, then May will be in trouble. That is a bummer for him.

How many years is there left on Ford’s contract.

Crazy prediction: Bruce Zhang will be the highest draft pick since Larry Hughes.

Has anyone considered that the last few years have probably been the hardest years to make the tournament in SLU’s history? 1. The A10 is a talented conference, but can only put in 1-2 teams. It would be easier to win a small conference than to win the league or finish second with Dayton, VCU, Davidson, et al. Just consider that the entire conference had NET ratings at or above 100 at the start of conference play. Watching the games, the conference was not that far down from other years. 2. The Mountain West has risen up and stolen bids, amongst others, WCC and CUSA. No one has explained why those conferences have gotten so good. Maybe the landscape has shifted for the long-term.

This is a great example of the problem. That is not what I said at all.

My biggest problem with the anti-Ford crowd is the timing. Almost nothing could have gotten Ford fired last season, but it didn’t stop the piling on. All it did was lead to this current malaise. That felt predictable. Sometimes you can’t really win, but you can always lose!

Sorry for placing this here, it feels relevant for the transfer discussion. Can anyone confirm that Thames really is at least 6’7”? How about 6’8”?

Am I the only person that wants Carteare and Nesbit. It would just be hilarious.

My main hopes this off season were that we would shake up the coaching staff, and get back to playing defense. Some players are going to leave when their favorite assistant leaves. That’s life. There is still enough talent to win. Talent has never been the problem under Ford. I expect Ford to get some good players in replacement. Honestly, where did you see Noland playing? I saw a future point forward, like Thatch or Goodwin. However, that strategy struggled with Gibson and Parker on the court together. So, he would not play this year. Maybe the year after, we will see.

I could not figure out how he would fit with this roster. Maybe he saw the same problem. That, and Ford left right after his commitment. Pretty rough. I cannot see how this affects next season at all.