cgeldmacher

Here are my thoughts regarding last night's game: * Walked away very scared. If that effort is what we get, we will be a .500 team again. This is considering the fact that UMSL played very poorly. There were at least six times they just threw passes straight out of bounds. * The Billikens were playing way too fast. The only calming forces were Bess and French. Everyone else was playing like their hair was on fire, at least on the offensive end. The coaches have to get these guys to be more calculated. French - He stood out, not just because of his scoring total. He was a force on offense and defense. He will take almost anyone one on one, and I think Ford trusts him to distribute the ball from near the basket if he gets double teamed. At one point in the second half, it seemed like Ford wanted to sit Hasahn for the rest of the game to see what the other guys could do without him. Then Ford had to throw him back in because he was so frustrated with the other guys. Hasahn is ready for the season. Bess - I think he may have been under instructions to not assert himself so much and to get other guys involved. This may account for his stats. I also think that he wasn't flying around on offense without a clue like most of our other players, and, as a consequence, did not get the ball in his hands as much. I think he'll be fine. Goodwin - Not his best game, and bad ending for him. Still, he put up stats. Had a few put backs or near put backs. Got his rebounds. He'll be fine. I hope Ford keeps him at the point and he continues his development of learning how to distribute the ball. I think we're our best team if he finishes his learning curve at point guard. Foreman - Not much of a factor. Didn't display that killer slash to the basket that we saw last year at times. He also was tiptoeing around like a baby deer like he did often last year. Don't know if that's just how he walks or if it is his old injury back again. Gordon - I was pleasantly surprised by his composure and willingness to play a simple big man game. He showed some flashes of brilliance in transition a few times, and should probably assert himself more when other guys try to break out. However, he also showed his inexperience on both ends at times. If he gets significant minutes, he will probably always be in foul trouble until he starts to understand the college game more. Isabelle - Clearly a pure scorer. Great shot. However, he is a one man show on the court. He likes to get his own assists if you know what I mean. Also, he's quite a liability on defense. Tremaine will drive Ford crazy. He'll probably score a little bit more than his poor defense gives up. Wiley - About as bad of a game as I've ever seen. Missed shot after missed shot. Turnover after turnover. He's got to be better than what he showed. Thatch - Didn't show me much. At times, played defense properly, and at times got lost. Didn't do much on the offensive end. Sorry, I know posters get upset when anyone has anything but praise for certain guys, but that's what I saw. Hankton - Missed his threes. Was hobbling almost everytime he was out there. I like that he was staying in despite being clearly injured, but worried about the injury and if that is affecting his play and his development. Gudmundsson - Didn't play much. When he was in, his missed his threes. Was okay defensively, but not exactly quick on his feet when defending. I know its just an exhibition with UMSL, but I am concerned. This is what Ford meant when he said "we're not close to where we were last year." Let's hope for a better effort next game.

How is it that we seem to look so good every year against ranked opponents in the non-conference schedule and then finish in the middle (this year 6th) in the A-10?

I want this guy, especially if Ford wants him, and then we'll let the strength and conditioning staff mold him, the coaching staff coach him up, and let him learn as much as possible by practicing with French. Even though he's only a sophomore, French seems to carry himself and conduct his business like a senior. Any new bigs that we get should be required to be near him a much as possible. Once he left the UCF visit without committing, I figured we have a good shot. Now Ford can work whatever magic he works and try to get him to commit this weekend.

I wonder if it's trolling SLU fans or actually fishing for clicks from Mizzou fans. I bet someone in the Post's sports department told the writers to put at least one reference to Mizzou in any article they can fit it into. The idea being that it will get the Mizzou fans to click on the article when they run a search for articles about Mizzou.

Poach Martin must be working furiously to flip before that happens. If it doesn't happen, then I'm sure they weren't really interested in him anyway.

We need to all agree to shame every blue hair that refuses to put the free t-shirts on. I'm tired of blue out and white out games where only upper bowl and ends looks like they are participating.

This stuff is gold. We should do a thread a month like this. Pick a famous movie and a Billiken topic and just go meme crazy.

I have mixed feelings about this. I like that it is a start. However, I am worried that this is a fake fix to satisfy opponents of the one and done rule. If a high school kid is worth a two million dollar signing bonus, because he's that good, why would he take $125,000 to go to the G League. I still see kids choosing free luxury accommodations and free meals at Duke, Kansas, or Kentucky over $125,000 to be staying in crappy hotels for a year in the G League.

To be clear, and I think I wasn't at first, when I said that it was very telling that ESPN wasn't covering this, I did not mean that to sound like I thought this wasn't a story. I meant that it was very telling about ESPN and the culture of covering this stuff up. Sports news agencies like ESPN and other are just as much a part of the problem as the schools and the coaches.

Very telling that this is not being reported anywhere by ESPN.

I agree that Europe's relegation systems helps with keeping the product competitive, but it only works with teams and a system that has been around for a very, very long time. Teams and cities buying into the MLS are not going to be okay with being relegated to the minor leagues if they have paid big expansion fees and invested a lot of money into stadiums. I just don't think it works with a new league.

The best comparable to St. Louis is Cincinnati. Major metro area with only two professional sports teams. The college basketball teams, Xavier and Cincinnati, thrive with two other only two major professional sports teams in town, but no NBA. Also, I think that Gonzaga's rise to prominence occurred right after the Supersonics left. Seems like we're in that same place now. Let's not ruin that with an NBA team. I'll just have to keep making trips to Indy to watch the Pacers when I want my NBA fix. Finally, everyone who says the NBA is no fun to watch because its all traveling, dunks, and no defense hasn't watched it in a while. The NBA game is certainly slower paced now than the college game. This is because of the amazing skill of the guys playing it. Nearly every shot is either contested, or if its not contested, that's because some unbelievable passing occurred to get a play an open shot. I went through my phase of declaring the NBA boring. That's not the case anymore.

I really think that most of the board is sleeping on Bess. I think that he will be the leading scorer and best all around player this year when adding in his defense and rebounding. I think the three leaders in playing time will be Bess, French, and Goodwin. If Thatch and CAG prove their worth early and Wellmer and Foreman come back strong from their injuries, it wouldn't surprise me if Isabelle and Wiley don't get as much playing time as many expect.

Quick question: What do Creighton, Gonzaga, Xavier, and Dayton all have in common besides great fan bases? ..... No NBA team to compete with. I personally would love having an NBA team. However, due to my loyalty to the Billikens, my preference would be for an MLS team.

Maybe he edited it, but the article I just read mentioned Yuri.

Anyone who plays with the defensive intensity that our team did last year will be able to mask some concerns about athleticism. If he buys in like the guys last year on the defensive side, he'll be fine. On a broader note, if this year's team buys in on the defensive end like last year's team, we will be fine as a program.

When you have the top business school in the country, where graduates choose from multiple job offers before graduating rather than having to go out and look for a job, then you should be able to attract some talent. Of course, that's the way it should be, not always the way that it is. I will never fault any kid who goes to an Ivy League school on his athletic talent.

Let's teach him to trip guys on the opposing teams, because he reminds me a lot, not just his name, of Grayson Allen. Common Ford, let's land this guy.

On every one of Jett's drives for a lay up on this video, our center is at the three point line. It's what RM wanted. Almost every game, the first offensive play was a pick and pop to Loe. Whether he made it or not, it forced his defender to come out to the three point line with him. This opened up the lane. This was just one of the ways that RM was a coaching genius.

I agree with what your are saying. I'd rather have Santos on the team and a healthy Welmer, but isn't what you just described what Majerus did with nearly every one of his teams. He had one big pounding the inside, and one big out by the three point line. The outside big opened up the middle of the court for the inside big and vice versa.

It's a tradition. The game gets both teams tons of press in the STL. It is great for both team's recruiting in the area.

I'm sorry, but I long for the days when someone could drop a big ass donation on a university and it gave him a little bit of pull with the dean. Doesn't anyone remember Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School? The donation to create the Thornton Melon's Tall and Fat School of Business got him into the university and onto the dive team. That's the way it's supposed to be. If it cost Rex an extra $35 million to the university's general fund to get his $15 million faculty position, then that was good negotiating on SLU's part.

By the way, kuddos to the folks that do scheduling. We've always had difficulties scheduling quality opponents. This year's schedule should leave no complaints in the selection committee's eyes.

McCauley and Bonner are easy. The problem with Majerus is the his impact on the program was submarined by his predecessor. Same problem with Hughes. His only being here one year didn't really result in the program being elevated. For my final two, I'll go Bob Ferry and ...... Travis Ford. I'm betting on him getting us to our first Sweet Sixteen in the next few years. This would immediately put him on the mountain. I'm also counting on him seeing that staying at a place like SLU and having job security while running a Villanova, Gonzaga, Xavier, St. Mary's, Wichita State type program is better than cashing in at a big state school and then getting fired after a few years.

I love having a coach that is so good at recruiting that he can back off of kids that he thinks may have off the court issues. Too many coaches out there have to take kids that could spell disaster. Ford doesn't have to and appears to avoid problem signings, for the most part.