Old guy

Duke is not in the Ivy League Conference

I think the Bishop issue will become very clear over the next few weeks.

Well, fine then we end the year with at least a claim to be playing as a C- team. Who would have thunk?

Blli Ken is out of patience, wants no more waiting, wants the Bills basketball program to be equal to Vlillanova's NOW. I really do not think so. I think we should be happy that things are moving in the right direction. Even if we got Stone by pure luck and serendipity we have her and the WBB is strong this year. Ford looks good to me, and next year could be really a very good year for Bills BB. Chris May has a lot in his plate to deal with, and so does Pestello. I think the basic thinking of the administration is to fuel organic growth, primarily in the academic area, and then to maintain growth in the Athletic area. If they have to eliminate programs they will, or so they are saying. To put it all together, I see Pestello's administration as seeking consensus and speaking mildly about changes. I do not see it as weak in resolve or sense of direction. I believe they are indeed proclaiming a policy of strong academics with strong programs first, and then strong Athletics also with strong programs. This will take some time to do and a lot of internal jockeying among the principals who should be (and apparently are) scrambling for available funds and preference. I am happy with Pestello and see good things coming. From a corporate point of view I think they are doing the right things to tidy the ship after Biondi, even if they need to bring him out to help raise money. I think they are flexible enough to reach their goals and capable enough to formulate the right way to achieve them. I honestly think that we should look at the Bills basketball program in the context of the overall University needs, resources, and desired goals, not as an entity which is separate and semi independent from the University.

Billi Ken, if you have 50 years of waiting and watching SLU basketball, and feel frustrated by the lack of attention given to it by the administrations, this is something that I can fully agree upon. Moreover you sound like you are roughly my age so welcome to old age pardner. We live at an age (over 70) that gets people impatient and wishing for results now... I sympathize but there is nothing I can do about it. I do like Pestello's style and think he is likely to take us further than Fr. Biondi, but that is just my opinion. You should feel free to try to kick some sense into me.

DeSmetBilliken did you read the whole tweet from Rovell that you posted: Darren Rovell ✔@darrenrovell Best athlete bio in NCAA history. First, amazing name for a basketball player. Second, status of major... 9:14 AM - 10 Mar 2017 Amazing name for a basketball player is what he says. Maybe I am a bit sensitive but this sounds to me like another dig for no purpose except to dump on him. 1,619 likes

I supposed we pressed different links out of the Google search. Does it really matter? So Meyer makes more and the Ohio corporate CEOs make even more than either of them.

Thank you Wiz, despite the fact that the final report card reflects primarily the overall stats for the year, we did not end at the bottom and trending down. Now, the best thing to do about this season is to move forward and look at what the future holds for us.

If he is joking about Jett's name plus an uncorrected error in his SLU record reports, he is putting Jett down for his own internal reasons. This is plainly a pile of garbage, what could Jett have possibly done to get this slap on the face coming out of nowhere?

Hoppybeer. of course company CEOs are not paid by the State and equally of course the top paid CEOs have a much higher level of total compensation than coaches or State employees do. Tarheelbilliken Urban Meyer (football) makes about the same amount as Thad Matta. Suggest that you google around for this information. Only State salary information is readily available, to find out company information you probably have to go to the companies websites and check out their 10ks for the prior fiscal year, although CEO salaries may not be reported there in a clear manner.

This is nowhere close to Ohio's highest paid emplyee. Thad Matta the basketball coach at OSU, a State employee, was paid $5.8 M in 2016. And this does not include company employees, I would bet some Ohio CEOs make more than that in total compensation.

Hey Billi Ken, money does not grow in trees, and endowments are not there to provide spending money by draining the principal. SLU is in a bind, they will cut programs and faculty just as sure as they cut administrative staff. The question is how and how deep are they going to go in their cuts and how many semi marginal or low income programs are they going to keep. These are decisions that cannot be taken in a casual fashion and extensive future projections must be made before they get there. At least that is what I would do. This is a matter of planning necessity not foo fooness. The Athletic Department like all other departments of the University has its losers. We carry a number sports and teams that basically generate only losses. Basketball is not one of those and probably has the best potential for being a money maker. However the issue of cutting programs is coming straight at the Athletic Department as it is to all other departments, and the AD is faced with the same decisions that must be made by all other department heads. I think it is not unreasonable for the AD to try to maintain a few of the less profitable or even money losing programs alive when faced with that decision. IF (notice I said if) that is the case, which I think is most probable, there is or will be a relative scramble for funds within the department. In this case Ford should do what he can to assure Men's basketball's budget and finance are not cut too deeply. Ford has to play the game as all the other coaches are or will be doing, he has not choice. If you look at the forest (the Athletic Department budget and finances in the light of the financial situation of the University) instead of the trees (the prospects and needs of the men's basketball program) things will look different to you. Mind you, I do believe the men's basketball program future is looking extremely promising at this time and that they need the funds. The issue is how is Ford going to manage to get such funds ahead of the other coaches... I think he will do a great job about this.

I fully agree with one major exception. Our team was not only lacking in depth but it was also affected by injuries. Crawford managed to play reasonably well and for the whole season, but it appeared (at least to me) that his scoring was off for a good amount of time most likely due to being playing with multiple injuries. We all know that Bishop, one of the top scorers in the team and our PG was sidelined with a leg/foot injury for most of the year. We also know that Zeke Moore was also sidelined for a fairly significant amount of time during the season due to a foot injury (if my memory is correct). I hate to do this "if this then so" type of thing, but if Crawford, Bishop, and Moore had remained free of injuries (in Crawford's case prior injuries) our results for the year would, in all likelihood, have been better than what they were.

Let's hope that Ford has exorcised Crews's demons for good and concentrate in the future rather than in the past.

Predictions are for astrologers and soothsayers, predictions even when right do not show an ability to predict the future. Our predictions, the ones we made last year, achieved two things: 1. Establish the level of optimism/pessimism we had about the team and 2. Demonstrate how realistic we were about the abilities of the kids in the team. I did not do so bad this season, missed by 3 on the optimistic or rose colored glasses side, and probably will do the same for next season.

All that has been said about Hines has truth in it. Poor shot selection, no scoring since LaSalle, etc... It is equally true that without him we would have not made the 12 wins we got this year, more likely we would have made the 4 wins we were expected to make. As far as the game last night, we still had the chance to win until Reggie and the other GW guy went over the side chasing the ball. If that call had favored us we may have been able to tie it and go into over time. However, as I have said could / should / would never got anyone anywhere. The season is over, we won a lot more games than we were expected. And thank you very much to Hines, he was a great help this season and played a lot of minutes each single game for most of the season, we owe him recognition for his effort. That said, I would have liked to see Zeke Moore getting a lot more playing time.

Too bad, we lost, we had a 12 win season. The last game could have been won but just wasn't. And yes, GW did wake up. No need to cry over this we did a lot better than we were expected too. The season is over, it is time to start thinking about next year.

Well guys we are ahead by 12 points at the half, they are not over 20 yet. A very measured and slow tempo game that is favoring us. Wonderful stuff. Hope GW stays asleep for the 2nd half.

Of course, I want the Bills to beat GW and think they may still be hopped up from last night's victory. Let's hope for the best. Team Rankings shows a spread of 9 pts in favor of GW.

JohnnyJumpUp I have always tried hard to be myself and no one else. Blackman may have faked the blow but what I said about the strenght of the base of the cranium vs the frailty of the temporal bones is entirely true and correct.

I really think the subject matter regarding Ford is neithe Mizzou or Illini, but rather what can be done to make sure Ford stays at SLU and commits to develop its basketball program to a level of national prominence. Thai is what really concerns all of us. Of course, leaving to go somewhere else ends this opportunity for SLU In order keep Ford at SLU, we have to gain his commitment to the University and feed his conviction that THIS IS where he wants to be. The key person that will carry the responsibility to obtain this highly desirable outcome is, in my opinion, Chris May, who I have never met. Can he be successful in keeping Ford at SLU? I do not want to rain on anyone's party but a lot of the stuff that has been said about Chris May (consensus builder, not likely to take risks, a mild type of person) may not be what is needed to keep Ford at SLU to transform its basketball program into national prominence. That is, unless Ford himself for whatever reason decides SLU is the right place for him to make his mark upon College Basketball. Of course, this last option represents the optimal solution for SLU and for all of us because it comes from Ford himself and does not require a facilitating intermediary. How likely it is to happen, I have no idea.

You guys may be right, this may have been more of an attempt to fake than a real hit.

Glad the team had a split personality as you call it. But was it really a matter of split personality or just the result of playing a ton of minutes each game this season and learning a lot in the process?

HoosierPal, if you want a team that really lacks depth, that team is SLU. We have been playing our guys 30+ minutes a game; not because that is good, but because our bench is so bare. As a matter of fact, it there is a reason why Duquesne lost the game it is that they could not recover from the loss of Sanders and Lewis, the rest of their team could not keep up the pressure. We had a number of players with 4 fouls, including Roby, but they just kept on going right until the final seconds. I cannot but wonder what would have happened if we had had more of a bench and out players had been playing less minutes per game, would Roby have been out playing with 4 fouls?

Relax Glorydays, as I posted the value of rankings is at best relative, not absolute. I for one do not think you are a troll. As a matter of fact when I started posting on this board (remember the Mexican ice thing?) some people thought I was a troll. Well, I am not I was just a bit exuberant, as you probably are. Just relax, enjoy the ride and do not take numbers as seriously as you appear to be doing.