Billsrmajic

I suppose it's too much to think that coaching might have played a part in Conklin's improvement (as well as the improvement of the other players). Nah, it's just hard work, attitude, smarts and effort. Wouldn't want to think Rick and his staff had anything to do with player development.

This is my favorite thread of the summer - funny on so many levels

That's still every bit as funny as the first time you used that line. Nice job, Roy.

My son will be going to camp Monday. Anyone else sending their son? I saw a different thread where folks were wondering which players were on campus. That should be answered tomorrow because the players are usually coaches/counselors at the camp.

Kids got a great shot, and I love his patience with the ball. Very nice.

Does anyone know what a coach in the D league makes? Was this really a raise for Alex? What do our assistants make?

Roy's just mad Rick didn't take the SMU cash. He probably had a whole "I told you he was a dick" post ready to go if the word came down that Rick signed with SMU.

We have a poster named David King.

An FYI that this type of stuff happened EVERY YEAR when Rick was at Utah. He doesn't do a good job of refuting rumors, so they tend to spread. This may be a salary plea, but Rick is smart enough to know he is much better off at SLU over the next five years than anywhere else. If money was that important, he would have left Utah, but he didn't. He also ultimately turned down USC for big money. He will be a Billiken next year.

I have five responses to Jimbo's post: 1. Loved it 2. You remain my favorite poster (by a long way) 3. I love that your avatar (or whatever the hell it's called) is back working. It was missed. 4. Definitely need to update to the 2012 sponsor of the Letter J 5. I hope to God I never piss you off

Agreed kshoe

Total bull****

How is Kentucky not at risk with their APR?

This is no surprise to me. Big Blue fans are obnoxious. I have no idea who to root for tomorrow night. My two least favorite college basketball teams are playing each other. Worst case scenario

I'm perplexed why you all are having a stupid argument about soccer when the above video is available to watch. Take a look. It's incredible! Jimbo, please add some of your finest pictures/videos to cleanse this thread of its awfulness. Thank you.

Oh my

Roy, have you seen Carter play? If so, what do you think?

Wiz, Nice job picking all four Final Four teams! Very impressive! I'm in the 81st percentile in the ESPN pool using your picks. Not bad. If Ohio St. wins it all, I'll finish 3rd in my office pool (and I'll owe you that drink).

It's not a matter of whether they have a scouting report on a team. I assume one of the assistants was assigned to work on Michigan State as the team was preparing for Memphis. Rick is a master at breaking down film and coming up with a game plan. I'm confident that while one of his assistants had the beginning of the game plan developed for Michigan St., Rick began flushing it out on Friday night after the Memphis game so he could present it to the team on Saturday. But that's not really the issue. The reason Rick is so good with a bunch of days to prepare is because of what he does with his players during the days leading up to a game. If the game plan is ready on Monday and the team has four days to prepare (both on the court and in the film room), they will have a deep understanding of what Rick wants them to do. They will understand exactly how to play each of their opponents, have a good understanding of how to handle team defensive responsibilities, and know which specific plays Rick thinks will work against the upcoming opponent. With Rick, these issues are very specific for each team and require time to understand. On the other hand, after the Memphis game I'm sure Rick understood the game plan perfectly well on Saturday morning. But then he only had one day (and probably 2 hours of court time) to show it to his players. Obviously, their understanding of the game plan will not be as thorough if they only have one day vs. four days. When you hire Rick Majerus as your coach, your biggest advantage is in game preparation. When preparation time is short, that advantage is decreased significantly. At that point, athleticism comes into play much more. There have been many on this board who have talked up the Billiken's athleticism recently, and it's true we have some very good athletes. However, compared to a typical BCS team, our athletes don't compare favorably. So when there is not much time to prepare, our chances of beating a team with better athletes is diminished. I would say, for example, that given five days to prepare for Michigan State, SLU would win half of those games. Given one day to prepare, I'd say we would win one out of five.

Beating Kansas in KC is going to be a *****. If the game comes the day after the A & M game, it will be much, much tougher. Self is totally correct that he didn't want to play the Billikens first because then Rick would have time to prepare, and thus a much greater chance of winning.

I'm really old, because I remember him at Notre Dame before OK St. (or do I have a bad memory?)

Yeah, Rick should bring an iPad with him to recruit's homes and play that - if he knew how to use an iPad

This is a great point. For example, see Utah post-Majerus. Rick's last year was 2004. The Utes made the tournament in 2005 with Andrew Bogut. They have made it once since. This year they were 6-25 overall, and 3-15 in conference.

Nice job, Wiz! I also like the Louisville pick based on positive EV. I did the same thing by picking against Mizzou in both of my brackets. Being from Columbia, you can understand that probably half of the entries had Mizzou winning it all. I thought it was a postive EV play to pick against them (and as it turns out I should have done it even earlier).

I just got goose bumps reading that! That's pretty heady stuff. May be a little optimistic (definitely could happen, but everything would have to go perfectly), but it's fun to think about.