Crewsorlose

Next year should be make or break for Ford. There's a lot to complain about, some things to like, but Ford acts like he can't play certain guys who can play. We're never going to have a great big unless we develop one from within. Lassina Traore was raw, but no doubt he's better than Jake F this year. He averaged 13 and 10 on a decent Long Beach team. All we remember is that he got yelled at for dancing. Is Cisse destined to transfer? Is Zhang destined to transfer in a year because he gets no run because we play a transfer from Arkansas St. 30 mpg so Ford can win 16 instead of 14 games? Larry Hughes Jr. at the very least gave us a different look this year and showed he could be a disruptive force on defense. Why not play Yuri 30mpg and tell him to turn up the defense? Why not develop LHG? Likewise, why bury Parker game after game? There were 10 games he played less than 10 minutes. Like it or not, Sincere is probably your leading scorer next year. Give him confidence and reps. We may stumble into another Javon Bess but the quality of our transfers (I'm not counting JUCO transfers) has been pretty uneven over the last 10-15 years (Pickett, Forrester, D Jones, Rashad Williams, Okoro, Linssen, Tay Weaver, Dion Wiley). The strategy needs to be both/and, but we can't let guys who can clearly be part of winning teams (Traore, D Jacobs) just transfer because Ford buries them. Can he build a core to replace the French/Goodwin core of tough, winning players who play a style? We lost the toughness and just replaced it with shooting and fast break offense that was up and down.

Some A-10 stats through 18 games: Jimerson leading scorer at 15 ppg, 43% on 3s. 2nd with 2.7 3s/game. Very good conference season. Probably 2nd team Parker shoots 42% from 3; plays less than 5 mpg multiple times. Why? Has Ford seen the D the rest of the team plays? Yuri leads the league in TO but so prolific w/ the assists that he's still 2nd in A/T ratio Yuri and Jimerson 8th and 11th in mpg, both over 35 in A-10 play. Those are Ford's guys. margin of victory shows two teams were clearly the best: Dayton and VCU (9.8; 8.4). SLU is 4th at 3.3, just behind Duquesne (3.5). Not great at closing out and really bad at putting the foot on the throat. I imagine Yuri and Jimerson make 2nd team if there's 5 on a team. If they go with 7 or 8, Yuri makes 1st team. Okoro quietly a decent conference season (60%fg, 5th in blocks, 2nd in rebounds). Maybe that gets him 3rd team? Holmes, Oduro, and Burton are I imagine locks on 1st team. Maybe Baldwin too? (12.7 ppg, 5.4 APG). James Bishop led the league in ppg. Deep dive on Javonte: I thought the final total season stats would show a huge drop in 2-pt% from 20/21. During that year his splits were 47/38/86. This year he's 42/35/81. A bit of a drop. In 2021 he shot 51.4% on 2s. This year it's only down to 48.6%, but he's shot way more 3s. Rebounds down from 3.9 to 2.0. He's not the same athlete, which is what the eye test confirms. What a bummer. Absolutely loved watching him score every which way and miss his big rebounds and blocks. Will never forget him going toe-to-toe with Cam Thomas and co. and leading us to victory.

Honestly, who would want to watch a team that hasn't showed great effort all season play in a tournament they'd rather pass on? It's a colossally disappointing season. I imagine that George Mason wants to play more than we do and we struggle to match their energy. For a veteran team, we've been really bad on the road. Absolutely no composure.

SLU can win, mainly because VCU isn't very good. But that will involve playing well and playing tough against a team with much more of an identity. I hope Hughes and Parker play early and often.

Understandable read. I mean simply "winning players." Russell Westbrook, at this point, is still a good player but not a winning player. I don't just mean clutch. As I said, it's about basketball skill + grit + IQ. I think of those four as winning players. Our bigs can certainly help us win games, and have done so. But there's a struggle to understand down and distance.

Two notes on the game: The reason to fire Ford encapsulated in the decision to bury Parker in the 2nd half. He was fine in the first half, but didn't play at all. Why? Because Ford just likes seeing certain guys out there. The lead was 15 at half. The 5 who played most of the 2nd half weren't doing anything well; they were trading baskets with a sub-200 team on their own floor. But still Ford buries Parker. Because... . he forgot about him? Parker is a guy who's part of your future. The bigs can do nice things, but two plays just summarize everything. One is the play in the first half when a Loyola player was saving the ball. Okoro was about 5 feet off the baseline. The ball hit him in the ankles and rolled out of bounds. Loyola ball. The lack of "basketball instinct" was so apparent. The other was the Forrester play. Just a total lack of awareness, robbing a teammate of a basket and lowering his FG% in a came still in contention. Our bigs aren't winning players the way that Goodwin, Bess, Jordair, Conklin, and co. were winning players. I don't just mean good, I mean guys who know what to do and not do to win. It's not just effort. It's effort + IQ. There's no way that combination at the 5 can play well three games in a row in Brooklyn. We lose, at best, in the semis.

Yes of course Parker. Parker, Hughes, Medley seems like a decent A-10 backcourt with potential for more. Looking back on this season, it's been tough to stomach considering how much promise there was, and that they were right there with a chance of redemption against Auburn. After the 10 minute mark of the Auburn game, it seemed to go downhill and hasn't totally stopped. Looking back, Perkins just hasn't been that guy, other than a few flashes. I love JP, but Parker probably should have gotten a lot of those minutes and gotten up to speed with Division 1 basketball. The Thatch loss has hurt. Ford loved what Pickett could do and probably buried TJ prematurely and let Pickett play through bad stretches too frequently. At this point I'd take 13-5, capped by a win against Dayton at home, a trip to the A-10 finals. At the beginning of the season, I thought there was Sweet 16 potential. Now if they do somehow get to the Dance, it would most likely result in the 2019 showing versus V-Tech. Which again, I'd gladly take. The real issue is whether Ford can grab one transfer big who can be the difference between 8th and 3rd or 4th in the A-10. I fully expect Hargrove and Collins to leave. Jimerson might stay because he missed most of his freshman year.

Last night you could squint and see a core for next year if Gibby returns. Hughes as a defensive specialist who grows into a scorer. Gibby just continuing to evolve. Throw in Vice and Medley, with Cisse after another summer in the weight room and there's a core of interesting players.

I imagine the NET would be around 35. Those 10 games include 4 against VCU and Dayton. I think SLU probably dances if they go 16-2, regardless of what happens in the A-10 championship. I think something like 14-4 realistic, and perhaps if they beat VCU/DU in the semifinal and lose to the other in the final it could merit a bid. Both of these scenarios are a real long shot for a team that's been so inconsistent. SLU needs to start blowing teams out; it's not easy living trying to eek out one possession games with 4 minutes left.

Billikens deserved the win. 4 weeks ago this team would have folded. Yuri simply amazing down the stretch. Perkins was bad on the defensive end but the offense made up for it. Let's win at Fordham and then turn up the home cooking against VCU in 7 days.

I've had season tickets since 2018 I think. My kids' YOBs are '12, '15, and '17. If you carry a kid in, they don't charge you. We're in Section 210. $300 total for 3 season tickets. Very much worth it. We go to about 70% of home games.

It's way easier if you think that the circumstances are the same. Every coach in the BE is better than Ford. Almost every school has deeper pockets, longer tradition, more dedicated fans, etc... Sure, it would be great to be the 5th best team in the BE. They're all way better programs except St. Johns.

Again, I'd love to be in the Big East. This team isn't a tourney team in any conference unless it's winning a conference tourney. That's my only point.

Forgot that UConn joined. Wouldn't be surprised if one of those teams craters though. Point remains, if were the 6th team, we'd be moaning. BC hasn't danced since 2009. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to join the Big East. I just don't think it's easier to make the tourney as a power conference team. We've gone to the NCAAs in 4 of the past 10 years.

BC left the Big East in 2005. And how are Georgetown and St. John's doing with those "Big East" recruits. The Big East probably gets 3 bids this year. And if we were the 4th team we'd be moaning about how easy it would have been to win the MVC.

I never get the "mid major whining" about bids on here. How do you think SLU would do in the Big East? How many road games would they win? How about the Big 10? Does anyone remember the Maryland game? SLU had a large "margin for error" this season. That margin evaporated when they lost to SIU, Boise St. at home, blew the Auburn game because they missed 40 FT in a row, got blown out by Iona, and let a UMass team ranked 223rd ranked in offense drop 90 on them (UMass has only cracked 80 2x this year, against C Conn. and Albany). The margin also evaporated when the conference stank and Dayton turned out to be a massive disappointment. Here's SLU's margin: go 9-1 down the stretch and start blowing crappy teams out instead of letting them hang around for 30 minutes. SLU is ranked right around where they should be. Their defense is mediocre, their offense flashes elite but lacks rim finishers and consistent post scoring, and their coach has for most of the season buried Sincere Parker, who's the one guy who can get his offense going off the bounce and can't be worse on defense than our other scoring wings.

I have SLU going 4-1 in the next 5. The toughest games are VCU and @ Davidson. They have 5 days prep for Davidson and it's on national TV so I hope they bring their A game.

Meh, Richmond hasn't played any of the Big 3 and is 1-2 on the road. I can't see them getting past 11 wins.

5-1 start will do that for you, esp. with a 3-1 performance on the road. I have us at 12 wins. I still think a road stinker or two is in the cards. If we can split the 4 games with VCU and Dayton, probably 12 or 13 wins and a 2-4 seed. 3-1 makes a 1 seed possible. 14-4 may get us there. Gotta exercise those road demons @ Davidson and Richmond. So glad McKillop is gone.

Jimmy's problems off the court were a little more than grades although he seemed like a great young man. He helped a good team as a frosh, a team better than the current Billikens, so obviously he'd help us now. Speaking of bigs, was at a 5th grade game at the Boys Club on N. Grand last night and saw a huge big who played for SLU in the 90s. Couldn't recall the name. Where are old rosters.

Man Ford just tightens the bench in 2nd half. They should be fine, but why not let Sincere get a little run when everyone is clearly gassed except Hughes?

Ford needs to give Perkins a breather. Sincere hasn't played in 2nd half. Make a sub. We will have no energy to match GW if they make two shots.

This is so true. We give the players a lot of love but I'm sure they'll remember the one negative more than the ten positives. It's where we are as humanity and most of us are the same. TJ, I hope you're not reading this, but if you are, know that you and all of the players are loved.

They like the school, their teammates, the assistants, their girlfriends, their family, etc..

Point blank, this team doesn't try hard for Ford. They don't like playing for him. He coaches 23 year-olds like they're freshman. They all have one foot out the door psychologically. Ford screams like a maniac on the sidelines. He's not a hot-headed young coach. He's in his early 50s and he's going to blow a gasket if he doesn't learn to calm down. He constantly blames the players for not "getting things." I've never seen a core group in a program for 4 years look so clueless about how to play a zone. Ford is a good recruiter. I generally like the sets we run. Jimerson plays big minutes no matter what, despite being one-dimensional. Why? Why did it take forever to realize that Jimerson + Perkins = zero wing defense? Why has TJ been buried on the bench, getting half the minutes of Jimerson and being treated like a freshman who needs to watch and learn? TJ's career 3-point% is right where Jimerson is this year. They're likely all gone next year. Ford has no marquee recruits since the Yuri class. Cut bait in March after the Billikens bow out. There's two months left, but this season is over.