cgeldmacher

This is old news from yesterday, but still and interesting coming from the Illini perspective. http://www.thechampaignroom.com/2016/11/8/13570878/jeremiah-tilmon-rumors-illinois-fighting-illini-basketball-recruiting-news-st-louis-billikens

Also, I totally disagree with the idea that St. Louis not having a football team won't affect SLU attendance or general support in the community. One of my business partners had Rams season tickets the entire time that the Rams were here. He also has gone to every Mizzou-Illini bragging rights game for like the past 20 years. He has no connection with SLU other than living in St. Louis. He went out of state for undergrad and to Mizzou for graduate school. Obviously, his Rams tickets are done and that money is sitting in his pocket. He's also down on the Mizzou-Illinois game. How could you not be. He has approached me about possibly getting season tickets to the Billikens next season. He's heard the hype Ford has created. For what he paid for two Rams tickets, he could probably buy six or eight Billiken season tickets. There are currently a lot of St. Louisans in the same boat as him. They're not going to spend that extra money on a loser (had too much of that with the Rams). If SLU starts to win, those folks are going to start buying tickets at SLU. They have extra money and extra time now that the Rams are gone.

What you are describing above has occurred with the Cardinals every 3-5 years during the run of the past 15 years. They have always retooled in that fashion to stay in contention. Doesn't mean they will again, but don't call that rebuilding. Rebuilding is doing what the Astros did a few years ago. Retooling is what clubs that are already in contention do to stay in contention. Look at any of the Cardinal teams from 2000 to 2016 and you will see that sort of turnover 3-5 years later.

14 wins. That may be optimistic, but Ford has me feeling in an optimistic mood. Hopefully, we all remember by the end of the season that a total like 13, 14, 15 wins, if it happens, is actually a vast improvement over the last two seasons.

So, let me present a scenario. St. Louis loses a football team. A short time later, SLU hires a new coach that brings a lot of excitement to the program. He starts recruiting some top local kids and combines them with recruits from around the country. I'm not describing the Rams leaving and SLU hiring Ford, even though it sounds very familiar. I'm talking about the football Cardinals leaving and SLU hiring Charlie Spoonhour. To answer "SLU Let the Dogs Out's" question, here is what happened in the 1990s after the football Cardinals left in the late 80s. [the numbers given on the NCAA website only state attendance per year, not per season. Not sure what exactly that means] SLU 1992 average attendance - 7,697 (#64 in the nation) SLU 1993 average attendance - 8,591 (#51 in the nation) SLU 1994 average attendance - 13,008 (#24 in the nation) SLU 1995 average attendance - 17,714 (#7 in the nation) SLU 1996 average attendance - 16,986 (#7 in the nation) I've always been of the opinion that St. Louis has room to support the three teams. The Cardinals will always be one. Then there's always a team that catches St. Louis's attention for several years. The third team will typically get average support. Over the years, that second team that gets great support in addition to the baseball Cardinals has changed. It has been the Blues, the Rams, SLU Basketball, the Steamers. If Ford starts putting together winning seasons with local talent, SLU will be that second favorite team in STL.

Mizzou hasn't had to fire a basketball coach or football coach in years. They all left on their own.

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2016/11/02/2016-17-college-basketball-coaches-on-the-hot-seat/ This is an NBC Sports article about coaches on the "hot seat." Interestingly, they include: Kim Anderson, John Groce, Mike Anderson, Bruce Weber, and Lorenzo Romar. I mention this, because these are all guys that try to recruit heavily in the St. Louis area. If we start to take off and these guys all continue to struggle or get fired, we could dominate area recruiting for a while. Also interesting that Romar hired Michael Porter, Sr. in the offseason. Porter's primary coaching talent is that he has a five star son ('17) and a four star son ('18) that miraculously signed with Washington after Sr. was hired as an asst. coach. The family lives in Missouri and he was an asst. coach on Mizzou's women's team the past few years. I mention this, because if Romar gets fired in the offseason, perhaps we could find a spot on the staff for Porter Sr., if he needed a spot to land and wanted to return to the area.

I do three. When was the last time a SLU team was expected to out-duel its good opponents on the boards. Can't wait to see Goodwin and French get easy points off of offensive rebounds.

So, am I correct that Tillmon could not sign in November and wait to sign until the Spring signing period? If that is the case, and that is what he does, that would be a pretty strong statement on his part. I'd be doing a lot of cheering against the Illini this season if that happens.

Not even a goodbye to your former section mates. That's cold.

When Ford first got hired, and everyone calmed down about the fact that he wasn't Bryce Drew or Kevin Stallings, the reasonable folks said that he clearly could recruit. What he has done far exceeds what those guys were even talking about at the time. Getting two 4 stars and a 5 star to commit to an A-10 team coming off of two consecutive 11 win seasons before he ever coaches a game is not just good recruiting. It is the best recruiting that SLU has ever seen (name a better three month stretch of recruiting that SLU has ever had). It is also the best recruiting Ford has ever done when taking into account the situation he was in. So, what we thought we were getting recruiting wise has ended up being better than we expected or could have expected.

Remember when we would always hear that SLU and its coaches under Crews had a problem with not showing certain recruits enough love. The SI article says that Ford and his coaches were going to all of French's games. In Massachusetts. All of them. “They basically targeted Hasahn from the day they got the job,” said PSA Cardinals assistant coach Mark Carter. “Travis Ford or assistant coach Van Macon were at every one of our games this spring and summer. Also while most coaches were in Las Vegas at the end of July, Ford was in Kansas City watching all of our games. That just showed the commitment they had to Hasahn and how much they wanted him to be a part of program.” This is why Ford is winning the recruiting game. Seems like he just knows what the hell he is doing.

Should I drive into the lane where four defenders are waiting for me and try to score even though there is very little chance of success? Answer: Yes Should I take this stolen phone and activate it knowing that phones can be tracked and using it has very little chance of success? Answer: Yes Sounds like his issues with poor judgment extend to off the court as well. I hope he is able to find success in life someday off the court/out of the courts.

#13 on ESPN in the 2018 rankings is Javonte Smart. He's a point guard out of Baton Rouge. Anyone know whether or not he is related to Marcus Smart?

Interestingly, even though SLU is picked to win the A-10, they got no votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Duquesne and George Washington each got two votes. Looks like the only A-10 voter is someone from Richmond. I'm really looking forward to the women's team this season. I think Coach Stone, Sadie Stipanovich, and Jackie Kempf will have them in the NCAA tournament this year.

I will revise my prior statement about Coach Majerus's ceiling. I agree, after seen some of the comments made to my post, that we never got to see his true ceiling, if there was one. I am sticking to my guns, however, on the idea that the excitement level is greater right now, before Coach Ford has coached a game, than it was right before Coach Majerus coached a game.

May got bashed when he hired Coach Ford. He needs to have that flipped now and get the credit for making the right call.

For quite a while, when people go to ESPN to see what the top ten 2018 prospects are doing, they will only see "Saint Louis" on the commitment line next to a bunch of "Undecided."

So, is the future brighter now, before Coach Ford has coached a game, or was the future brighter prior to Coach Majerus coaching a game? On one hand you had a coach that couldn't recruit top talent, but could find diamonds in the rough and could outcoach any opposing coach. On the other hand you have a coach who can recruit top talent, but has been criticized before for not being the best in game coach. I have to think the future is brighter now, given what Coach Ford has done recruiting wise, even more so that when we had Coach Majerus. I say this, because I think the talent we have can get us to a level where we have never been (Sweet 16). Even Majerus's best teams never made it past the Round of 32. I think we saw the ceiling of what Coach Majerus was going to do here. I believe Coach Ford's ceiling is even higher. The fact that Ford has done this while the stench of Coach Crews's dumpster fire is still in the air is hard to comprehend. However, I don't think anything illegal is happening. I think local players have been waiting on a situation where SLU's prospects were looking up and where they could play for a players' coach like Ford. Despite all his positives, Coach Majerus didn't give off that players' coach feel. The players had to get to know him before truly respecting what he was doing for them. If Ford really does start to get the top talent in St. Louis to stay home on a regular basis, and supplements with good recruits from elsewhere, then we are going to be the next Gonzaga or Xavier.

Sorry. You're correct. I got the names confused.

Keep in mind that better teams tend to be more up-tempo anyway. It can be a chicken or egg type argument. Are they good because they play up-tempo or do they play up-tempo because they are good? I tend to think that better more talented teams naturally play the game faster. Often teams that are underdogs in games think their only chance is to slow the game down.

I find it interesting that the MLS wants to push downtown venues. The idea is fine in theory, but one of the best stadiums in the league (KC) is nowhere near downtown. It's basically in the parking lot of a fancy strip mall development. The stadium in Chicago is about as far out of the loop as SLU is from downtown St. Louis.

We'll be bad this year, but "Manos: Hands of Fate" bad? I'm hoping we won't be at that level. That's a pretty strong statement tucked inside of a really cool obscure reference.

It would be unfortunate to not capitalize on the momentum we had with the Goodwin signing. Hopefully, the "parlay" White Pelican mentioned is still in play.

I will go Bishop, Roby, Crawford, Agbeko, Gillman to start the season, assuming they are all healthy. Gillman finally looks like he added weight and muscle base on the team photo. I think that Ford will want to find out if Gillman can contribute or if he needs to utilize that senior graduate transfer rule. If Gillman has had a Conklin summer, he may contribute for the next two years. If not, I bet we stop seeing him much after the non-conference schedule and see a transfer after the season. I would bet that Ford eases Welmer, Johnson, and Moore into the rotation, letting them learn mostly from the bench at first. They'll get time, certainly, just based upon the numbers game. By conference schedule, whoever of those three earned more playing time will get it. Neufeld and Hines will play more than the new guys, but less than the starters. Neufeld getting more than Hines. Again, once guys show Ford if they can play or not, this all will change. I just think that Ford will start with the veterans and then go with whomever is playing the best down the stretch, because his competitive juices will cause him to want to be able to prove to everyone that he can get more out of the same guys that his predecessor did. I think he believes doing so, if it can be done, will build confidence in him inside the fan base.