cgeldmacher

That's fine. That team went 12-19. Let's say this group is five wins better. That would make them 17-14, which I would say is a reasonable expectation. Saying that they are going to contend in the A-10 is something we can hope for, but not expect. Also, the experienced guys you are counting on include Perkins, who's only played JUCO, Weaver, who's only success was in the Ohio Valley, and then Goodwin, Thatch, and French. I don't think its that different. Conklin and Ellis could shoot. Goodwin, Thatch, and French have not shown they can consistently. We're hopeful, but they haven't shown it. These guys have some skills that Conklin and Ellis didn't have, but the comparison isn't that bad.

A lot of folks keep citing the incredible talent we have as a reason why we will or should compete for the A-10 this year. Let's compare this year to 2010-2011. That team's freshmen class had Jordair Jett, Mike McCall, Rob Loe, and Dwayne Evans. In retrospect, you could call this freshman class one of the most talented freshmen classes we've had. They were complimented by a quality inside big, Brian Conklin, and a big-man, outside shooter in Sophomore Cody Ellis. I know that Kwamain was out that year, but otherwise, things on that team seem rather similar to the young talent that we are excited about this year. This bunch was coached by RickMa. That group went 12-19. There are guys like myself who want to be careful about the expectations this year. Being careful/realistic about the chances this season does not mean that we aren't excited about the guys coming in. I was very excited about the 2010-2011 freshmen class as well. My excitement was rewarded two to three years later. If we had expected that group to contend (whatever that means to whomever is using the term) we would have been doing a great disservice to those freshmen and to Rick. We all are happy with this class. Be patient and give them time to develop.

If you remember, Ford talked a lot before last season about how bad they looked and how much work they had to do. His comments seem different this year. I still think we have an uphill climb this season to keep up with the top of the A-10, but I like what Ford thinks of his team so far.

How often do you think Gus would call him Cody Ellis?

It'll be interesting to see if Hazelwood Central can keep both of these kids all four years.

I find it funny when you point out to millennials that have "cut the cord" that they are actually paying more for less service when you add up all of the different sites they send money to.

They look like pajama tops, if anyone actually wears those anymore.

I agree that Goodwin dominated the offense boards against the point guards that were guarding him. It's a huge advantage that he has. I don't agree that doing so is the equivalent of dominating in his overall game. He's showing signs that he could become that player. He just hasn't done it yet.

You're right. We agree on a lot more than it appeared. I think all of the things you are saying could happen. I am hopeful that all those things happen. However, all of them would need to happen to make us better this season than last season. That's asking a lot. Here's to hoping.

https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/depaul-men-s-basketball-associate-head-coach-violated-ncaa-ethical-conduct-rules From the NCAA website. Nothing specifically connecting the situation to Gordon. In fact, one of the repercussions was that they vacate wins that occurred while this player was playing for the Blue Devils, which would make one think it is not Gordon.

I want the Billikens to get 20 wins. I promise you that I do. I hope that everything comes together and they do. But what you are doing is an every year thing by guys on this board. Go back and look. Every year guys come on and start making wild predictions that the team, as constructed, can't meet. Look at last year, the year before, the year before. It's unfair to the team for these same guys to go overboard about the expectations and then ***** and moan when their unreasonably set expectations aren't met. Goodwin hasn't dominated the past two years. Why do you think he's going to suddenly dominate now? I expect him to get better. I expect him to shoot better this year, based upon improvement that I saw last year. He averaged 10.5 points per game. I expect him to average, maybe, 14 points per game next year. That's reasonable. Also, all that does is replace Bess. So, now we replace Bess. We then have to find someone to replace Goodwin's 10.5 per game just to have the same production as last year. Thatch averaged 4.3 points per game last year. If he triples that, which he certainly could do, but maybe its unlikely, then he averages 13 points per game and still doesn't replace the 13.7 points per game that Isabell scored last year. French averaged 9.3 per game last year. If he bumps that to 13 points per game, we've added 4 points per game to the 29 points we are missing from Bess and Isabell. Then we're down to counting on new guys to come up with the rest, and we know how that's gone for us, and other teams for that matter, historically. It's real easy to pound your chest and say that this guy or the other is going to "DOM-IN-ATE this year!!!" But these guys are who they are. Will they all improve - Yes. Will they have vastly different numbers next year than they did this past season - probably not. I hope it all comes together and we end up better than last year. It's just unfair to start saying that we expect that. Don't do that to the guys on the team, the coaching staff, and yourselves.

I agree. Let's give them time to develop. Their skills give them all high ceilings, but let be sure to be patient to allow them time to get there.

I agree with you about tempering expectations. I few guys do this every year. They set unreasonable standards for the team and they whine and moan when they're not met. This team was 6th in the A10 and then lost a lot of contributors. We replaced what we lost with unproven freshman, a JUCO that's never faced D1 competition, and a grad transfer. I like this team a lot, but expecting them to improve on last year's 6th place finish in the A10 is foolish.

Also, is BenFred our new beatwriter now? I know that's not true, but why is he writing a bunch of SLU articles and Stu is writing none? I normally defend STU based upon the argument that I've heard that the guys in charge don't allow room for SLU articles, but if BenFred is writing them, then why hasn't Stu been able to?

Every year, I get excited about the incoming freshmen. Every year, they all end up disappointing me other than somewhere between 0 and 2 guys that end up standing out. I know I'm drinking the blue koolaid, but this year's class has me more excited than others. I just assumed that Bell and Diarra were both going to be stiffs early on that maybe turned into serviceable players by their Junior and Senior seasons. Early on, my enthusiasm has been directed at Yuri, Jimerson and Hargrove. Based upon the praise that Ford is throwing Bell's way, I have to add him now. Also, it's amazing that Ford is describing Hargrove as possibly being an elite defender. If that's true, and we throw a team out there of French, Hargrove, Goodwin, Thatch and let's say Yuri or Bell or whomever, the other teams are going to be worn out by the effort that will be required to score on us.

I have a case of Yurimania right now. I also am dealing with a nasty bout of Jimers-insanity.

I am very comfortable in saying that I don't expect both Bell and Diarra to spend all four years here. They're basically the same guy. Once will succeed more than the other, one will ride the bench more than the other, and one will ....... well you get the point.

Hargrove is definitely athletic, but he also seems to have skills and appears to be coachable. That all points to our staff being able to quickly be able to teach him how to play with his back to the basket. To me, the only concern early on is him putting on muscle to be able to handle the contact that comes with posting up.

If they're both going to be sophomores, then who cares. Whoever is best, plays. It creates competition. It gives us depth.

I think what CTA was saying is that it seem hard for that stat to be true. If Willie played 15 minutes and scored 12 points, then the other team would have had to score 26 points without anyone else on the Jazz scoring during those 15 minutes. It's possible, but rarely does a guy score 15 points in 12 minutes and end up -11. UPDATE: Just looked it up and that is the stat that is given on ESPN's box score. Interestingly, the box score also shows that a play for the Jazz (M. Oni) was -32 in 26 minutes of play. Ouch.

I agree with everything you said. My biggest problem with Crews is that the guy who was "happily retired" benefited big from the position he was put in when RickMa passed away. He parlayed that into a big contract from the Billikens. When it became clear that he was not cut out for the job of building his own team, the job for which he was ultimately hired and being paid handsomely, he could have returned to being "happily retired." Instead, he made the Billikens fire him and, from what I understand, held the Athletic Department to honoring his full contract. I don't fault Crews for his failure as a coach. I do fault him for taking advantage of a situation and then milking us for a whole lot of money. I realize that both parties signed a contract, and that he was entitled to enforce that contract. I just think he could have been a little more understanding of the situation that he and the Billikens were in when he signed his contract and worked out a deal to retire with a reasonable buyout. If I'm wrong about any of these facts, let me know.

A guy who plays in the English Premier League isn't a good long term solution for the USMNT?

Agree, but have to assume he would have showed up to camp a lot heavier and out of shape.

Porter signed a $15 million four year contract after playing 1.5 games of college basketball. He was paid his first year of pay without having to a play a single game. He also signed a multi year shoe endorsement contract with Puma. From the standpoint of him being a kid who has not been able to play the game that he loves, I feel sorry for him. From the standpoint of someone getting probably about $20 million dollars for not doing very much, I don't feel sorry for him at all.

Agree. There is more to the story. I think the writer of the story took advantage of the situation and created a very one sided account for purposes of an article that got clicks. If he is participating with the team and coaches at camps, it shows that the situation is not as depicted in the article, IMO.