cgeldmacher

Also the Yankees of the late 40s through early 60s. Ten championships in 20 years. 6 championships in 7 years in the middle.

This is the game with all the school kids, right? I hope they're not having to leave in the middle of overtime to get back to school.

I have heard this too from talking heads and others, and have no reason to disagree with them. However, it would seem to me that having 11 teams would be a scheduling nightmare. It works out nicely for having 20 round robin conference games, but not for who plays who when. Think about it. Let's say you have five of your conference's teams play another five of your conference's teams on a Saturday night. You've got one team each weekend that's idle. When can that team play again without their game being too close to the games played on Saturday. They'd have to have a game at the latest on Thursday or at the earliest Monday (who wants a game on a Monday night) or Tuesday. This will happen all season. You will have one team each week that is not allowed to play at the best time to get fans to the game, the weekend. I'm sure they'll work around it. Maybe tell teams to schedule a non-conference game during the conference season, if that's possible, during their "bye" weekend. It's just a consideration for them when figuring all this out.

If UConn wants back in, we have no shot for the next spot.

I agree with this. Sometimes, the national media wants to see certain players in the tournament more than certain teams. If Bess has NBA discussion around him, it can only help our chances.

Love the fact that his first game at DePaul, he got to watch them get thrashed by a team the Billikens handled earlier this season when he was with us. Here's hoping that Seton Hall destroys them next, and he wonders what they heck he was thinking.

Nice call Nostradamus.

I have a group that has gone to a road Billiken game for the past 8 seasons. Rose Hill was my favorite venue, even over Hinkle Field House. Because we qualified for "group sales," our tickets cost $5.00 and we were in the first row. The Fordham fans were great to hang out with, likely because they were just there to have fun and didn't expect much from their team. Before the game, some college kids and some old ladies set up the concessions. By this, I mean they put up a few folding tables on which they placed a hot dog roller, a nacho cheese machine, boxes of candy, etc. Drinks were in coolers behind the tables. It was awesome. Like watching some moms set up for a CYC game. Throughout the game, the Fordham fans kept coming up to us an asking us about our trip and commenting on how cool it was that we were traveling to watch our team. After the game, some Fordham fans approached our group outside. They mentioned that there was an old bar located under the gym and invited us to join them for their after game ritual. I really regret not canceling our dinner reservations that we were heading to and hanging out with those guys underneath Rose Hill in some dusty and probably amazing bar. If anyone gets the chance, I highly recommend a road trip to watch the Bills play at Fordham.

I will respectfully disagree with you about Isabelle. I was with you earlier in the season when his idea of the offense didn't mesh with everyone else's. Now he seems to be developing chemistry with the other guys. At this point, he's the only player we have that can consistently get himself into the lane on a drive. He's mostly using that to pass inside (see French's big dunk in the 2nd half) or to the three point line (good play that just didn't pan out due to a poor shooting night). Him driving to the lane to take a shot is now the minority, and his selectiveness about taking the shot himself is working out. The past few games, when he does drive and put it up himself, it's going in more often than not. I think that Isabelle's skills are crucial to our success this season, especially now that he's getting used to his teammates and their getting used to him.

I was at the game last night. We were hitting almost everything in the warmup before the game and at half. The guys can shoot. It's just a matter of doing it in the game when the pressure is on. Also, in both sets of warmups Ingvi was like 12 for 12 on shooting threes. Too bad there are probably other parts of his game preventing him from getting in.

I thought the same thing. If French fouls out with 3 or 4 minutes left, then we have Hankton guarding their biggest guy on the floor and we're screwed. UMass's coach clearly did not know what we had left on the bench after French.

Early in the season, almost every time he touched the ball, it was clear his mission was to create his own shot. You could see it mostly on Ford and Bess's faces that Isabelle wasn't running the offense that they were practicing. The past several games, he has bought much more into running their system. At the same time, I've been much more forgiving of the times he does his own thing, because he's been more unselfish when he does. When he drive's the lane, which he's very good at, he seems lately to be looking to pass first. The point of my post was to compliment him.

I get what you guys are saying about grad transfers, but I think we'd been in a bad spot this year if we traded out Isabelle for, let's say, another Jacobs. I've been critical of Isabelle, but he's really turned the corner on being a team player, IMO.

So, if I'm reading this thread correctly, we have a recruiting battle between North Carolina and SWIC?

I'd love to see them tour Australia and New Zealand. You'd have several guys that could act as tour guides at various stops.

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/f/st-louis-billikens-tailgating-accessories#bazaarRating:&facet:&productBeginIndex:0&orderBy:5&pageView:grid&minPrice:&maxPrice:&pageSize:&facetCategoryId:&fPrevCatId:& Don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but these Billiken bags sets are pretty awesome. Wish they weren't so expensive and that they had the current logo. Also, surprised it comes in three varieties.

I thought the same thing. When asked how the team handled the news there was an awkward pause and he grinned as if he was thinking to himself “I know the true answer, but I can’t tell the true answer to the media.” He then appears to settle in on the coach speak high road answer. I think the reality was the team was glad to have the distraction gone from practice, but Ford certainly couldn’t say that.

S2 last year. CG issues this year. It was poorly worded. I'll edit it.

I suggest that we are all standing (including the expensive seat folks) and being very loud for each player introduction on Sunday. Let's show the current guys how much we appreciate that they are here, that they are loyal and committed, that they have put up with everything they've put up with (including CG this season) these last two years, and that we want them to be warriors in conference play and earn that prize that they've worked so hard for, the Tournament. Be loud Billiken fans!!!

This team is experienced in dealing with adversity and shortages in the line-up. This may be an addition by subtraction situation. I will admit that, at best, the better team chemistry will only possibly approach making up for the loss of his talent, but I'm hoping that the team rallies around this situation and wins the A-10. Let's start by beating RI on Sunday and go from there.

I have been a Ford supporter and, honestly, feel he's done some good coaching, but this does reflect on him. The guys who we lost last year are on him too. I still think that Ford will be successful here, but it seems like he brings in some real character kids and them some who are just the opposite. There are so many guys in this team that I really admire that I was almost worried that they were having to deal with Gordon, given what's known about him. Here is to hoping that Coach Ford learns his lesson. Please be considerate of this if he passes on guys in the future and we're all wondering why.

So where does this leave us on the debate about whether or not Gordon should shoot more threes?

This sucks and is a blow to this year's team. However, like some have said, this is sadly expected. I was very cautious about being too excited about Gordon, because of what I have heard about him in high school from multiple sources. In my mind, he was always going to have something like this happen. It was either going to be his call or Ford's call, but at some point he would leave under bad terms. In the words of the great Dick Vermeil during similar bad times, "we will rally around (the other guys on the team) and we will play good (basketball)."

Thank you for your insight.

Did he just not go to class?