Aquinas

Another good article from the Rams perspective: I can't wait for this game.... What a great time to be a Billiken fan! http://rvanews.com/sports/expect-vcu-slu/108993

http://www.midmajormadness.com/2014/2/14/5413104/preview-no-12-saint-louis-billikens-take-on-virginia-commonwealth

I now live in Florida and had the chance to go to a Gator game. We need to take our student section and fan participation up to a top 25 level: Noise until the first home basket. Student Section. The student motto is "Sitters are Quitters". The only time students sit is during time outs, otherwise they stand, cheer and chant. If a player puts up an air ball, for the rest of the game, the fans chant AIR BALL, AIR BALL every time the player has the ball. If the other team make a free throw, they chant, YOU STILL SUCK!One chant is for players who foul out. With every step to the bench, the crowd shouts LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT....... SIT DOWN! There are many other chants and it makes the game a lot of fun! The area where the Gator game failed to surpass or even come close to a Billiken game is their band. Much smaller and much less talented. Go Bills!!!

It remains to b seen which team is the best. At this moment the polls think we r better but the computer ratings liked last years team better at this point in time. Looking at the positions, 5, lowe is better this yr. +1, 4, with evans forced to play undersized -1, 3, Bennet -2, 1&2, jett, mcall n mcbroom +1. IT IS Debatable whether this years 3 guard combo is better than last yrs, but jett has become si dominant, and mcbroom such a nice shooter n continuing to improve. Since it is aparent, our 3, 4 positions r not likely to change or improve much. The question is how much better our gaurds n lowe can become, or how hot they get. Mccall has not played his best O. Somtimes teams n players find something special. Lowe could get hotter, evans could start hitting his outside shots, mcall could find his old stroke. The toughest tests r in front of us. What is really impressive is this teams pois.... they expect to win every game and never get rattled.

I've been a big fan of the Sagarin rating for many years. In part because it was the only place I could find a ranking of the Bills in those days. If I remember right (pre-internet) it appeared in the USA Today every Wednesday. This year we have spent a lot of time in the 26 to 31 range and I think that is who we are. We have not replaced Cadel at the 4 position. It is unfortunate that due to injuries and whatever else, Tanner and Agbeko have not progressed as quickly as Crawford. The net result is that we have had to play Dwayne at the 4 and his matchups are not nearly as favorable there. I don't think it is likely that we can stay in the top 25 if we have to keep playing Dwayne at the 4. The only way we can climb with Dwayne at the 4 is if the other players raise their game, especially at the 3 spot. If Crawford can get more minutes and become a significant scoring threat, that would help, but it is a lot to ask of a freshman.... I am still hoping one of our freshman forwards can start getting significant minutes, so Dwayne can get back to destroying the other team's 3.

Nice article by Fox Sports: http://msn.foxsports.com/midwest/story/mcneal-five-reasons-why-the-billikens-should-win-the-atlantic-10-title-012314

We are 19 in the AP poll!!! Umass is 13..... Great time to be a Billiken fan.

We still have a lot to learn about our freshmen. If they keep cutting into upperclassmen reserve time, that is great news this yr and next. If I had to forecast top players in each position at this point: 1. Austin, 2. Ash, 3. Crawford, 4. Abeko, 5. Manning. Tanner backs up 4 and 5 spot. Glaze backs up 3 and 4. The new big men take a yr to grow, and one or 2 of the fresmen gaurds will get significant playing time and be the biggest questionmarks going into next season

Our defence frustrating Dayton was also fun to watch.

Our defence frustrating Dayton was also fun to watch.

We offer the best opportunity for Cam to develop as a player and as a man. Conk, Evans and the team as a whole have developed well above their high shool projections. Crews is a high character coach and a man I would trust my son to. I can not say that about the Miz coach and if anything Miz has failed to bring players to their projected levels, let alone above. I wouldn't buy a car from the Miz coach.

Ash steels the ball at mid court. Dribbles to the circle.. alleyoop to Cam for the dunk.... CAAAAMAAAASH!!!

Looking at the Sagarin ratings, the A10 is suprisingly strong at the top. Nice recovery from the losses last season and obviously the right place for us to be for now.... Merry Christmas U Mass 13 Billikens 36 VCU 40 George Wash 53 Dayton 60 Richmond 86 St. Joes 88 St. Bon 114 La Sall 133 Fordham 159 George Mason 168 Rhode Island 209 Duquen 227

If he has not yet been granted his release, can other schools even talk to him?

Just arrived in St. Louis for Christmas from Florida with the family. 22 degrees and no Billiken games tis week. Bad timing, though I'm thankful for a good team and look forward to the new year with many good games and another trip to the big dance.

Thank you

Anybody have an online feed working?

Does Jet taking long shots early in the clock bother anybody?

I think austin will be fine. Hopefully jet won't shoot long shots so early in the clock n our gaurd play will be good. The problem we have is replacing cody. Glaze no matter how well he plays can not stretch the foor so if loe is on the bench or off his game the other team can cheat in and make life tough for evans. Our success against good teams may depend on tanners ability to play defence well enough to get into games n stretch the floor to open things up for evans inside. Abeko on the other hand is a better pairing with a stretch 3. That can b Evans if he starts hitting those 3s, or barnet or crawford. Though I think one freshman on the floor is the most we can handel. Irronically I think our ability to excell this year rests on Tanner.

A tough loss with soooooo many missed opportunities. Give Wisconsin their due, they are a very good team and play a tough inside defense. They forced us to alter shots and at times we looked rattled. Is it a game we could have won? Yes...... We need to learn and grow from it. We should not despair. I popped open the Sagarin ratings to see how much damage had been done. The answer. NONE. Sagarin still loves us, we are raked at 12. That serves as a reminder that we played a very very good team that isn't going to lose many games this year. I love the character of this Billiken team, our guys did not give up. Austin is a player and did not appear to get rattled. We need to get back on our horse and take it to Old Dominion. Beyond that we need beat Wichita State number 8 on Sagarin.

The latest Sagaren rating has us at 16 and Wisconsin at 17. The game should be a pickem. This is an awesome position to be in at this time of year. It should b a great game.

The Billikens are 19th on the latest Sagarin rating. They will b favored by aboutt 20 over BG. It is early to put too much stock in the computer ratings but that said, I love it. Computers showed us love first last year. It will take beating a good team to gain the recognition of coaches n the press.

Amen

Unless there is another story, it looks like Reggie is red shirting.

I'm not unhappy with Bush going elsewhere. He reminds me of an NFL draft prospect that looks awesome when measued at the combine, but whose playing stats don't match potential. In bush there arent any game stats to look at. With just 2 yrs of playing time there is a very small window of opportunity to develop the player n reap the benifits. I prefer to follow the wisdom of coach M, and invest in freshmen n transfers.