BillikenNorm
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Posts posted by BillikenNorm
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+1 The thing I am looking forward to the least about our upcoming coach search is the comments from the guys that think we can land just about anyone. Yes, we have great facilities, but we have zero momentum as a program right now. Our realistic get for our coaching vacancy is a top assistant or lower level (below Mo Valley) head coach. Understand that we are in worse shape, not better shape, than when Majerus agreed to come here.
I agree we cannot land anyone but IMO we are in MUCH better shape now than when Majerus was hired. Now we have the nicest facility in a great bball conference and a proven track record with the recent NCAA tourney wins. When Majerus was hired we were still at the scottrade center hadn't been relevant in over 10 years. Our team right now is undeniably dreadful, but the program overall is much more appealing now than it was when Majerus took the reigns.
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Good list and great idea. However, I have a sneaking suspicion Jim Crews will still be the Billikens' head coach in 2016-17. I just think the powers-that-be will buy the excuse that the team comprises mostly sophomores and freshmen and aren't gelling for that reason but could likely come together in the next two years. Inertia is difficult to overcome unless it's a situation like 2007 (when Biondi suddenly dumped Soderberg after a 20-win season to get Majerus).
I honestly think Crews will be gone. If we end up with 5, 6, 7 or 8 wins this season (and at this point it's hard to imagine winning more than 3 conference games), I think he will beg for a buyout. This is a guy who was content in retirement 4 years ago, who is about the record the two worst season for this program in the past 30 years, and who has padded his bank account with over $2.2 million from his SLU salary. Money should not be an issue for him and I think it is likely that he chooses the retirement option after this year v. Trying to grind out another season with the same team who already is devoid of talent and chemistry. I'm not sure Crews is overly intelligent but if he decides to come back to this team, he would have to be dumb and crazy.
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I think 5 wins is the most likely total for the 2015-2016 season...
We might luck into three or four more wins this year but it will nothing but luck. Worst college team I've ever seen.
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Needs to happen at semester to shake things up. Status quo will result in a winless conference season. A forced transfer would send a message and maybe make a couple wins possibleNeed to force a Jolly transfer so Crews will have done one thing right this year.
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It's totally sensible that in 8 days we went from looking so great against NF and 25 minutes of great play against LV to this garbage show.
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I honestly don't know what to think. I didn't believe all the locker room insiders about the players blaming Crews for the Louisville loss, but this is embarrassing and would somewhat explain this debacle. It also demonstrates how emotionally fragile this team is a loss to every team on the schedule is possible going forward.
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Agreed, I hope we don't see the complaints about PT when the losses come and I would love to see MY turn into a leader rather than a head hanger. He should be the one rallying the troops, instead when things get tough he is currently best suited on the bench collecting himself. Finally played like a team last night though and it was fun to watch!
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I won't shy away from my predictions.
I didn't see this much improvement from Ash and Reynolds. I'm still not sold on this team being able to replicate this play against A10 competition which I think my be the best top to bottom it has been since we've been in the conference.
This team is fragile emotionally. I want to see how they handle playing after they lose. Will they collapse like they did in conference last year or are they resillient?
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Good report. I really hope BJ and MR don't become problems in the locker room if they don't get the PT the expect this year. I also think Bishop is going to be a nice player. Hopefully MY buys in to the scheme as he has great upside if he gets his mind right
Full update tonight. Quick thoughts:
-Crawford can play. Very well rounded scorer and definitely a leader. Stronger and quicker but ideally he's not your best scorer.
-Roby is vocal and gets on guys for screwing up. Most well rounded player on the team. Definitely improved.
-Yacoubou is more under control and is a pure athlete but I think he's more of an athlete than a basketball player
-Yarbrough is a little more under control but he just doesn't get it. Crews had him running a lot. I think he needs to play the 4 just to limit him from screwing up too much. Most talented player
-Gillmann seems like the same player as last year
-Jolly just doesn't listen. Doesn't seem any better
-Reynolds was yelled at so much that it was almost uncomfortable. I just don't see a bright future.
-Neufeld is a player. Really good finisher and doesn't shy away from contact (although our post players are weak). Long way to go with playing within our system.
-Welmer could be solid eventually. Doesn't play scared but needs strength and experience. Solid shooter
-Bishop was eh. I think he's better than Reynolds.
-Hines didn't impress me
-Reggie and Bartley hurt
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Full update tonight. Quick thoughts:
-Crawford can play. Very well rounded scorer and definitely a leader. Stronger and quicker but ideally he's not your best scorer.
-Roby is vocal and gets on guys for screwing up. Most well rounded player on the team. Definitely improved.
-Yacoubou is more under control and is a pure athlete but I think he's more of an athlete than a basketball player
-Yarbrough is a little more under control but he just doesn't get it. Crews had him running a lot. I think he needs to play the 4 just to limit him from screwing up too much. Most talented player
-Gillmann seems like the same player as last year
-Jolly just doesn't listen. Doesn't seem any better
-Reynolds was yelled at so much that it was almost uncomfortable. I just don't see a bright future.
-Neufeld is a player. Really good finisher and doesn't shy away from contact (although our post players are weak). Long way to go with playing within our system.
-Welmer could be solid eventually. Doesn't play scared but needs strength and experience. Solid shooter
-Bishop was eh. I think he's better than Reynolds.
-Hines didn't impress me
-Reggie and Bartley hurt
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What the hell happened to MR?
MR can't shoot so can't have him in against the zone.
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I will say that they played much more in control tonight. Don't know the final turnover number, but the defense was much better and the turnovers although still too high were way less than 20 like we had during a stint earlier in the year. Eventhough MY had a really tough night, even he wasn't running the ball up the court out of control so eventhough they lost the final 2 games, at least they looked like they were playing more cohesively and hopefully that carries into next year
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I was worried about MY transferring, but man what happened to him???? I don't think he made a shot tonight. Missed 2 free throws and was 1 for like 10 from the floor with that 1 being a goal-tend. We were better all night without him on the floor. And, its a shame Gillman couldn't redshirt. He really could have used an extra year to get stronger as his careless passes and inability to blockout are really tough to overcome
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I'm blaming the slippery ball. Clearly hindered us multiple times throughout the game
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When I watched the game at GW I thought to myself, "these kids have swagger". I watch now and I see no swagger. I see two players who seem to be interested, Roby and Crawford. Everyone else seems totally complacent.
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One and ones have absolutely been brutal in meaningful games all season.
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Unreal, wow that was awful. Missed intential foul call, missed one and one, 5 point swing
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It's not the players that are bad, it's the coaches. Has TL showed promise? No. RA? Sort of. MC, sure. JM, 3 years and he has regressed. Plus the offensive system is a conundrum
Do you honestly believe that TL's lack of progress is due to bad coaching? TL is shooting under 10% from 3 for the season and 2 (of 3 including tonight) of his makes came against Rockhurst. I'm sure TL is a nice kid and he looks like he plays hard but his lack of progress is a talent and confidence issue, not a coaching issue. The players get better from their own effort. Coaching aids the effort, but they either have the confidence and self-motivation to improve both in and out of season or they don't. Our coaching staff is perfectly capable of developing motivated players. We will see who puts in the effort to get stronger over the offseason, because they all need to get stronger.
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Agreed, I think the LaSalle, Duquense, Mason, Bonnie stretch will be very telling about the future of this team from not only an attitude stand point but also to foreshadow next season. I just hope the sources your trust provide you with hope that there is potential to be somewhat optimistic!
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Last year Butler was 4-14 in what was a mediocre Big East. This year Butler is second in what appears to be a much stronger Big East. Last year Jones was out for the season and they had just lost their coach, but this year the roster is more or less the same (+Jones). This year 65% of Butler's minutes are played by seniors and juniors with another 27 mpg from a sophmore.
This year 51% of our minutes are coming from freshman, 55% if you look at conference games only. My point is that Butler's season-to-season improvement leads me to believe there is hope. The 2014-2015 Bills team is plagued by turnovers and rebounding, not lack of creativity on inbound plays or refusal to make rebounding attempts on offensive free throws. If the current starters stay the course and don't decide to transfer, if Reggie continues to imporve at the rate he is improving and if Neufeld provides a reasonable upgrade at the 5, I think we could make a similar leap next year. Maybe not a tournament team, but NIT.
It is almost impossible to evaluate this team with 20 turnovers per game. If that continues, then we are all going to be frustrated for a long time, but if we cut the TOs in half like I think we can next year, I don't see anyone in the league that we are incapable of beating.
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In thinking about next year, we've got a 6"10 Gillmann type (Neufeld) who looks to be a player and a 6"9 forward (Welmer) who is similar, but apparently is not as developed yet. So, we are basically looking at the same team from a shooting perspective. Lancona is supposed to be a shooter, but so far we haven't seen it (other than against Rockhurst and walk-ons). McBroom is a shooter but he is neutralized in conference by teams with reasonable coaching and who play average defense. Crawford is an average shooter. Bartley is an average shooter, as is Roby but none of those guys are real threats. Gillmann will hopefully be able to give us one or two threes per game like Rob did during his tenure, but I am very concerned we are at least 2 years away from having another chance at a shooter. Sooner or later teams are going to figure out how to neutralize Malik unless we have a way to spread things out and earn some respect with our perimeter shooting. I look at the kid from Milwaukee that Vandy had who made everything he threw up. I also look at this Davidson team and they have at least 4 guards/forwards who are all better than any shooter we have. We need someone who can put the ball in the basket from the perimeter. Am I missing something, or does this concern anyone else? Second comings of Highmark or Claggett please!
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TL seems to have lost all confidence. I'd go with MY, AY, AM, DR and JM with BJ, RA and MR off the bench until someone else proves up to task. JM's offense has been bad but his defense is miles ahead of AG and BJ
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I actually have looked into making these but its tough to manage the cost for an output of only 1,000 or so. I think you could unload 1,000 of them relatively easily, but beyond that demand would probably get sparse.
I also purchased one of the Billiken dolls from the bookstore and cut the legs off, and it worked great for my hybrid but if you are looking for one for a driver it is tough to make it work. If I grow the wild hair and decide to make some I'll make sure to post a link here so you can find them.
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Fellas, this is my first post on this board. I know very few people on here, but I follow a lot. I am responding to this post because I believe the original post has been blown horribly out of proportion. The original post stated the fact that Johnson was hurt, and that "it sucks". It did state karma is a b****, which was a less than ideal statement, but its not like he posted "ha ha, Johnhson was hurt". No one was (or is) wishing any of the VCU players ill-will, as we especially know how sensitive injuries are with Jordair going out temporarily in the Dayton game and Dwayne hobbilng around the last 5 games. Everyone move on, the real season starts tomorrow!
#FireJimCrews
in Billikens.com Main Board
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Can we fall another level? Our RPI will likely be +300 at seasons end and that is about as rock bottom as you can go...