cgeldmacher

I totally agree, which is why last season helped with my evaluation of Ford's coaching abilities. I'm hoping that he has figured out how to better coach and handle his talent after what he's experienced at other stops. I'm also encouraged by the intensity levels that are shown in videos of practices. I really think that our teams, in the next few years at least, are teams that other programs hate playing, win or lose.

I wish Thon Maker would have connected on one of his flying kicks on one of those little cheap shot artists. Nearly every punch taken by one of the Australia guys was a coward-ass blind punch by the Phillipines or someone on their crew.

I'm sure all would agree, but Ford is about at the top of his game as far as recruiting goes. We haven't had a winning season in three years and then last year we were one game over .500. Despite this, he is recruiting guys to SLU like we've been perched at the top of the A-10 the last several years. On top of this, the guys he's bringing in all have quotes about them like "hard worker," "intense rebounder," "good teammate." I love it. I know that many of you have beefs with Chris May, but May hired Ford at a time when many of us were looking at other guys. The hire was not an easy one for May to make, and he took some heat. Looking back, this hire may be one of the most important made at SLU. Whatever you think of Chris May, he deserves credit for pulling the trigger on Ford. His next job is going to be to convince Ford that staying here and turning SLU into a Villanova, Xavier, or Gonzaga type program is better than jumping to a Power 5 school and hitting the reset button on the hot seat.

Said every Mizzou fan ever when they lost a recruiting battle. Whoever put a troll vote on this one needs to learn about blue text.

Basketball recruiting is a world away from interviewing for and possibly accepting a job. Kids are recruited for years. They often have multiple options to consider, instead of someone in a position of accepting a job or not. A recruit will narrow his list down to just those offers he is truly interested in. Then they go get to visit the schools that they like. The kids consult with parents, friends, coaches. Then after this lengthy process they have to choose one school that is wanting them to make a commitment to. If the kid gets to the fall signing period and still is unsure of where he wants to commit, he can still put off his important decision until the spring. I'm not in favor of bashing 18 year old kids. I get it. But when you F-over Coach Ford and our coaching staff just because you think you are better SLU, then I have no problem with you receiving the rath of Old Guy on our fan board. I hope he gets a sick feeling in his stomach watching us in the tournament in March.

I love this site, but only on Billikens.com could an argument be started over this topic.

The fact that Ford is actively recruiting in the 2021 class already and that he is trying to get in on high level guys before everyone else makes me think that he is rather confident that we're going to be really good over the next few years, and that he will have a shot at these guys once we are.

I think that JG and CAG could develop into guys the NBA looks at after a few years. They definitely have the skills and size to make it, although CAG will have to show he has a shooting touch and can handle the ball. Bess and Isabelle both have the possibility to turn a few NBA heads if they light it up this year. French is probably my favorite player on the team, but I don't think he's ever sniffing the NBA. You have to have some sort of shooters touch to make it to the league. I just don't see that happening with him. I think he can be an outstanding player for us, but not necessarily NBA material unless he significantly improves his touch on shots, and how often does that happen.

I think Fox Sports One is doing a summer long documentary style show about the Cape Cod league. Might be able to catch those guys on that show.

On every shot, his shoulders were squared to the basket and he had a quick release. Someone taught him well.

I'd spend it on marketing to get more people in the seats. Then take the added ticket revenue and give it to TF to spend on stuff for the team as he sees fit.

I see a situation where every kid, every year, asks to be put on the database to gauge interest. If they don't like the interest they get, they just stay at their current school. Seems dangerous to me.

Wow. The write up was impressive. It says that Isabelle makes SLU "the clear frontrunner in the A-10," and that if the Billikens can shoot the ball competently "the sky's the limit for this talented squad."

The cost of converting Chaifetz into a hockey arena is the same as the cost to rebuild the whole thing. It was built around a basketball court. That is what we wanted and still want. The arenas that are build for hockey are terrible for basketball sitelines.

Based upon this video, the best parts of his game appear to be wide open dunks and then posing afterwards rather than getting back on defense. I'm still not sold on him. I hope he proves me wrong, but I think CG has the biggest potential to be a bust out of the new guys coming in.

I would also be sad to see any of the freshman recruits bow out for whatever reason. However, with the way that Ford and his staff are able to recruit, having extra openings next season, after recruits, hopefully, get to see us having a successful season, is not a bad thing at all.

Maybe the St. Louis Bradley Beal Eagles Elite Basketball Club of St. Louis. (SLOBBEEBCOS)

I'm guessing that a few complaints were received by people clearly not educated on the situation who think JG's involvement was more than it actually was given the overreaction by the administration, and then, as always happens in our society nowadays, those few complaints got prioritized over logic and sanity. Good job, Pesty. Now the program cannot even promote one of its best players.

I thought the name of the AAU team was officially changed to Bradley Beal Elite. The shirt Yuri is wearing in this video says St. Louis Eagles Basketball Club. Which is it?

This is going to be an oversimplification, but here goes. The $1 billion endowment is invested. It is not sitting in the basement of DuBourg. It is in an account with a private equity firm and a good chunk if it is invested in the stock market. The stock market is up 32% in the last two years (using the S&P, not the Dow). Even if only half of the endowment is invested in stocks, that means SLU has added $160 million dollars to its endowment just because the market is up. Again, I'm spitballing the details, but the concept is sound. If the market drops at some point, all that money goes with it. If the market sits pat for a while, so does that money. The only risk of pulling the money out is if the stock market continues to go up. I think most people who are experts in this area are predicting that the wild upturn of the last two years is not going to continue. Now is the time to invest this money in the University. Take advantage of this extra money sitting in the endowment. SLU's BofT could build a very nice baseball stadium, significantly upgrade Hermann, and build a few academic buildings if it wants, and still end the day with over a billion dollars in the coffers. What is the endowment for if not to improve the facilities when necessary? Come on BofT. Be smart and take advantage of the opportunity the stock market is giving you and use this extra money to do what the endowment is intended to do.

I think you're missing my point. We may agree more than you think. Ruth is one of the all time greats. He dominated his time. But, if you took him in his prime and threw him into today's game, he would not succeed. Back then, he smoked and drank and got fat during his playing days. He used a bat that modern players would consider a cave man club. He was able to do this, because he was much stronger than everyone else and was ahead of his time. If he could be transported back to age 15 and trained like the guys nowadays train, then I'm sure he'd turn himself into a great player. The point people were making is that Tatum is better than McCauley, because McCauley wouldn't be able to play against modern talent. That's an unfair assessment. You can't compare individuals against each other. You need to compare how a player performed in his own era.

Comparing Tatum's athleticism and talent to Easy Ed is a fool's errand. There is no doubt that modern athletes are more talented, better conditioned, and plan games faster and harder than in the past. They're bigger, faster, stronger, more powerful, quicker. Most of them train year round since 8th grade. They don't have part time jobs in the off season. Babe Ruth wouldn't be able to hit today's pitching. Wayne Gretzky would be a skinny kid with talent that wouldn't hold up the speed of the NHL today (watch a video of an NHL game from the 80's if you question this). Dan Dierdorf is in the NFL Hall of Fame and if he played today at his peak condition, he would be the smallest lineman in the league by far. McCauley was one of the best players of his time. Tatum might be that some day, but he's not there yet. He would have to match McCauley's accolades to be considered the best player to come out of St. Louis.

I really like JJ for what he gave Ford as an option. By this I mean that he wasn't a starter, but could come off the bench and really light it up if he was hot. He could carry the team for a stretch with his shooting if he was on. If he wasn't on, then it's no big deal, because he's coming off of the bench anyway. Just send someone else in. I think that coaches always want those types of guys on the bench. If JJ was hot, he was really hot. He was often good for 3-4 threes in a ten minute stretch of the game. Oh well. I hope he's making this decision for the right reasons. I wish him the best of luck.

I didn't even look at the argument you were having above to know what you were posting about. I still haven't looked at it, because I'm not interested. I just wanted to point out that all of your posts are exactly the same. You then responded to my post by denying that this is the case. Except in your response, you followed the exact same formula that you always use and that I predicted. The only difference is that when you got the name calling part, you called me a "coward" instead of an "idiot." If you want, I can draft up a response to this post. We all know what it will look like. You're a one trick pony.

Just summing up for everyone who misses arguing with him.