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cgeldmacher

Billikens.com Donor
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Posts posted by cgeldmacher

  1. Not sure why I looked this up, but I did.  Kwamain just wrapped up his 11th year of professional basketball in May.  He played 2023-24 for CSO Voluntari in the Romanian league.  He averaged 8.0 ppg and 4.2 apg.

    In his career, he has played in the Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia, France, Russia, Serbia, Switzerland, and Romania.  What a way to spend your 20s and 30s.

    EDIT:

    Wanted to add a current picture.  Like his age 30 something look...

     

  2. 2 hours ago, OkieBilliken said:

    Wow, that was a huge mistake 😃.  The fact that there are (at least) 7 tiers of a Danish football is startling.  I think they have less population than the state of Missouri.  

    I think many of their leagues are similar to local amateur leagues that used to exist in St. Louis decades ago.  I wish those sorts of leagues were still active.  I guess that's more of a societal change in how things operate in the US presently.

  3. I think going forward we can expect to retain something like 5 or 6 guys a year, we will sign 3 or 4 high school kids and supplement the rest with transfers, meaning 3 to 5 transfers.  This year was an anomaly with the number of transfers given the coaching change.

  4. 15 hours ago, Taj79 said:

    If paying $15 million per year makes sense for 10 ppg/4 rpg then count in the maniac's section.  If you want to measure success by contracts, be my guest.   Success to me is multiple NBA titles and inclusion in the Hall of Fame.  Toppin will likely get neither.  

    Taj, to put it in perspective, the Pacers signed Pascal Siakam to a four year contract totaling $189.5 million.  That's $47.375M per year.  He averaged 21.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game last season.  Toppin is contributing about half the points and half the rebounds of Siakam, but getting less than 1/3 of the his salary.  My point is only that the money is the NBA is crazy.  Only having to pay 15 players as opposed to 20 in the NHL, 26 in MLB, and 53 in the NFL, makes it easier to give out bigger contracts.

    Also, the NBA draft is much more of a crap shoot than most people think.  Lets look at the guys drafted in the Top 8 in 2020.

    1. Anthony Edwards - clearly a star and a great pick, averaged 25.9 ppg in 2024

    2. James Wiseman - averaged 7.1 ppg in 2024

    3. Lamello Ball - averaged 23.9 ppg in 2024

    4. Patrick Williams - averaged 10.0 ppg in 2024

    5. Isaac Okoro - averaged 9.4 ppg in 2024

    6. Onyeka Okongwu - averaged 10.2 ppg in 2024

    7. Killian Hayes - averaged 6.9 ppg in 2024

    8. Obi Toppin - averaged 10.3 ppg in 2024

    In 2024 Toppin had the 3rd best points per game of any of the guys drafted in the Top 8 draft picks in 2020.

     

     

  5. On 6/30/2024 at 9:29 AM, OkieBilliken said:

    New card alert, Simon plays for FC Horsens of Denmark. He had 3 goals in 14 appearances for his Danish club.

    IMG_0048.jpeg

    Good info, but I think you have his team confused.  I had to look it up.  He plays for AC Horsens, not FC Horsens.  AC Horsens plays in the 2nd tier Danish league (it's called Division 1, but it is below their Superligaen which is the top league).  FC Horsens plays in the 7th tier Danish league.

    He was transferred from the Vancouver Whitecaps to the AC Horsens in January.

  6. 6 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

    @slu72:  I was just there June 3 - 8.  And I'm still standing.  How are you supposed to do a run of Mai Tais, Mimosas, Mango Tangos, and Strawbeey Daiquiris without using their ice???????

    Yeah.  I've been to Cancun a few times and never had an issues.  Then again, I think I've developed a certain level of immunity over the years by eating a lot of expired foods.

  7. 46 minutes ago, SluSignGuy said:

    @billikenfan05 and @Pistol have arguably provided more unique content for Billiken fans than anyone else in the last 5 years  (also hat tip to Jack Godar and West Pine Bills). They interviewed Harriman right after he was hired, and in general how many outlets were doing non-puff interviews about the SLU basketball program in the last 9 months?

    Schertz has not been on the show yet (and I have no inside knowledge of this status), but I can see why. @Midtown Madness held the Athletic Department's feet to the fire.  I do not agree with every position they took, but they did help bring attention to shortcomings in the SLU program - which ultimately was good for the program.  Because of this, I can understand the AD not wanting to put Schertz on the program right away, especially (and no offense to @billikenfan05 or @Pistol) when he can get on mediums with larger audiences.  If someone is listening to Midtown Madness, Schertz going on the show is unlikely to sell another ticket.  And the questions may be tougher (but I expect most of them to be fair).  So what does the AD really have to gain by putting Schertz on?  Probably not a whole lot at the moment.  But I do think it would be a good interview.

    Forget, the issue of bringing back "bad post" or "troll" designations.  The real controversy is why we can't give the Moderator a "good post."  Great post.

  8. The following is from an article about the Celtics championship and explains how their the first NBA team to win using the "Five Out" or "3 and D" system.  If I were Schertz, I would use articles like this in recruiting.  Tell kids that the way we play is essentially an NBA style system.

    The Celtics didn’t win by having the game’s supreme player, which is the lesson here, because there is only one of those, and damn near impossible to acquire. Instead, the Celtics won by having the best team, one constructed with a certain modern-day vision of a five-out system. The 3-and-D player became en vogue in the 21st century, but this was the first 3-and-D team — a deep squad built to rain from downtown and defend at a high level. For now, 3-and-D was a better formula than M-V-P

    There’s a saying in basketball: live by the 3, die by the 3. The Boston Celtics don’t abide by that ethos. They seem to take on a different angle: live by the 3, thrive by the 3.

    The Celtics took more 3-pointers than any team in the NBA this regular season. A total of 3,482, to be exact. The second team on that leaderboard was the team they just beat in the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks. The Celtics’ proportion of field-goal attempts that were 3-pointers, 47.1 percent of all shots, set a record for an NBA champion. In the Finals, that percentage swelled to 49.6 percent, exemplifying how much they believed in the shot. To put it in perspective, the 2008 champion Celtics took 121 3-pointers in the Finals. This year’s Celtics just took 207 3-pointers — in one fewer game.

    The thing is, the Celtics didn’t even get particularly hot from downtown. Brown and Tatum shot 23.5 percent and 26.8 percent, respectively, from beyond the arc in the series. But overall, through sheer volume, the Celtics scored 66 more points from deep than the Mavericks did and routinely attacked the open driving lanes the 3-point spacing provided.

    It’s widely known the NBA is increasingly becoming a 3-point league. More 3-pointers are being taken every year. Rather than buck the trend, the Celtics leaned all the way in, playing a 3-point threat at all five positions — at all times. Did I mention that this was the best offense in NBA history? Yes, with the perimeter-oriented offense, they scored 122.2 points per 100 possessions, a blistering figure even in an offensively charged era.

  9. On 6/17/2024 at 3:27 PM, billikenfan05 said:

    You can. Baseball got a brand new hitting facility and softball did not. If a donor specifically donates something for baseball, softball is not entitle9 to the same. And vice versa.

    I get what you are saying, but I just don't think that SLU would be in a position to say that they're making a major upgrade to the baseball facility, but not to the softball facility without taking some major heat about gender inequity.

    There is plenty of space between the baseball field and Olive Compton/walkways. I don't think anyone is expecting any upgrade to extend even to the outer red line below. Mostly just sit in the exact footprint as now, just with real amenities. Hell you could even mix in some dual purpose infrastructure for gameday ops for soccer. 

    I mistyped my original statement.  I meant to say the softball field would have to be pushed east.  As far as the baseball field, in the picture you sent (good job, BTW, getting that picture) there would be several of the light standards that would have to be redone if you made big improvements to the stands.  Thus, it doesn't make sense to improve lights and then take them down to do the improvements.

    Why not? To avoid drumming up interest and/or donations? 

    Because its just the way its done.  We didn't know details about Chaifetz until the money was secured and the plans were all but done.  We didn't know about the O'Loughlin Center until the money was secured and the plans were done.  Same thing with the new soccer building.  No one is complaining about keeping the fans in the loop on any of those projects.  I just think that this is in the works.  All of those project were probably years in the making before they got to the point of a public reveal.  I'm not saying it will be next year or in the next three, but I think upgrading the baseball/softball facilities is coming soon.

     

  10. During the basketball season when everyone thought we weren't going to fire Ford, I suggested that guys calm down, because the powers that be were going to take care of the situation.  This was met with sneers and calls that we can't wait, the fans needs to rise up and make this happen.  In the end, it was correct that firing Ford was in the works and that a new, very popular coach was on the way.

    I have a new, similar, prediction to make about SLU Baseball.  I think that upgrades to the facilities are already in the works.  However, those upgrades are complicated by several factors.  For instance, in the times of Title 9 and equity for all, you cannot upgrade the baseball field without, at the same time, upgrading the softball field.  So, now we're talking about double the cost, double the planning, double the everything.  Also, the changes to the stands that people on this board want would require encroaching on the walk way that allows basketball fans to get to Chaifetz from the Olive Garage.  This means that the entire baseball field would have to be moved 15-20 yards east.  Again, this requires much more of an investment and not simply erecting some stands.  Moving the field a bit east now means that MSD approvals become involved since the area your encroaching on an area that I believe is considered a water run off area.  If the plans for the field involving having to move it east, this also means that the present lighting would no longer work where it is and would have to be moved or replaced.  It this is true, this would explain not allowing lights to be put into the existing standards that will have to come down anyway.  Also, the field hockey facility came up and this may have delayed a baseball/softball project further.

    Again, my point is that I believe that baseball/softball upgrades are already in the pipeline.  The athletic department will not and should not keep us apprised of every or any project that is in the planning stage.  Just be patient.

  11. I think that Steve has reasons for every decision he makes with regard to Billikens.com and doesn't need added pressures put on him with regard to how to run the board.  Some of the comments above are probably exactly why Steve got rid of the bad post designation in the first place.  It only serves to exacerbate dust-ups between board members rather than the opposite.  Then again, if Steve decides to bring those things back, I'd be fine with that too, because its his call.  I just don't think we should be telling him what to do.

  12. Just have a four team event every year and constantly rotate through with teams that are within driving distance for their fans.  Illinois, Mizzou, Arkansas, Kansas, Butler, Indiana, Memphis, Depaul, Kentucky, Louisville, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Iowa, Iowa State, Bradley, Missouri State, Purdue, Cincinnati, Xavier.  add the Billikens to that list and that makes 20 that makes for a fresh tournament every five years. That’s exactly what Kansas City’s been doing for decades.

  13. I've said it before, and I'm saying it again.  The St. Louis Sports Commission should have started the Gateway Classic MTE here in St. Louis years ago.  Not sure why it hasn't happened.  You're only taking two dates away from the Blues by hosting one of these things and, if you schedule it with regional teams, you can bring thousands into downtown St. Louis.

    Kansas City has been hosting one for years.  Why not St. Louis?

  14. On 6/6/2024 at 9:14 AM, billikenfan05 said:

    Dueling For Lincoln beat The Town 3-2 yesterday evening on an own goal in Target Score Time. They take on Borussia Dortmund at 1:30CT on TST website. Dortmunds roster, compared to Bayern, is actually filled with guys who have played professionally, including current and retired Dortmund guys. Weidenfeller is in goal for them, being the most notable. 

    I was able to open the website you linked, but could not get the rules pages to open up.  What is the size of the field, if you know, and how many players on the field at a time?

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