NYBilliken

What did Ford do? Listening on the radio, so I did not see

Ramsay and Austin commenatary: Maryland is looking for the knockout blow now, outhustling Billikens on every play. Bills standing around on offense, just watching others go one-on-one and miss.

Listening on the radio. "What has happened to the Billiken offense," says Ramsay.

Murray State closing out the upset over Texas A&M (ranked #24) in Myrtle Beach.

About the Memphis strategy, the robot program that writes ESPN recaps noted that Billikens scored their last field goal (Collins three-pointer) with more than 7 minutes left in the game. The rest of our points were all from the foul line. Memphis evidently decided they would always foul instead of allowing any baskets. Good thing we shot well from the line during those final minutes! Anyhow, thanks to the robot for a good observation. Maybe we needed different approach to keep scoring despite that intense defensive challenge.

Yes, that's a good way to put it - but Goodwin is a good problem to have unlike their lottery pick, Johnny Davis, who is considered not ready to play at nba level despite 4.8 million dollar contract.

The Wizards fans are very enthused about Goodwin and the role he has played in this winning streak. The discussions on bulletsforever website make it clear that the fans intensely distrust the management of their team to make good decisions, so they are torn between giving them credit for finding Goodwin and saying why did it take so long to give him a chance. They are assuming Goodwin is not just on the team to stay, but he needs to stay part of the rotation when Beal returns. Incidentally, there is much dislike of Beal, who has been out on Covid protocol during the entire winning streak. Two-way contracts allow only 50 game appearances at NBA level, and no playoff games, so if Goodwin stays with the Wizards and keeps playing he will need to have his contract converted to full rookie contract by the spring. Wizards would need to trade or release one of the 15 players already with a guaranteed contract.

Wizards are on ESPN tonight, at home vs. 1-4 Pacers. Discussion here by fans that Goodwin will get playing time tonight instead of the first-round draft pick. https://www.bulletsforever.com/2022/10/27/23426984/delon-wright-washington-wizards-hamstring-injury-nba

Two points for Goodwin in Wizards win tonight. Two minutes, two points!

Thanks for the info. The change this year is great for Goodwin where the two-way player gets $508K per year, regardless of how much time they spend with the NBA or G League team. Previously the amount of pay depended on how much time the player actually spent with the NBA team. So even though the player can be cut any time, while they are on contract they earn about $3K per day, or $20K per week, regardless of whether playing that week for Wizards or Go-Go. It looks like no player can have more than two years on two-way contract with same team, which is why Winston was no longer a contender for Wizards two-way contract. Stat comparison in G League, Goodwin vs. Winston, from Go-Go last year is interesting. Winston is clearly better shooter (45.5% field goals, 39.4% three pointers, 88.9% free throws) than Goodwin (41.5%, 30.6%, 78.1%). Winston also has the edge in assists, as both players had 5.1 per game, but Winston in 19.7 MPG, Goodwin in 32.4 MPG. Goodwin had 16.0 ppg, Winston 13.4 ppg in those fewer minutes. Goodwin has the edge in size, rebounding (6.0 per game, including 2.3 offensive reb, vs. 2.9 and 0.4 for Winston), turnovers (1.8 vs. 2.5), steals (1.8 vs. 0.8), and propensity to foul (both at 2.3 fouls per game, with Goodwin playing 60% more minutes. Wizards gave up on Winston, who I guess added nothing unique at NBA level, and now giving opportunity to Goodwin, a much different type of player. Hopefully he will get in some games and show how he can help them win.

This is great news! Does qualifying offer to Goodwin and not Schakel mean that Wizards expect Goodwin to be on Wizards to start the season for at least 15 days - so that qualifying offer is needed to keep him a restricted free agent so that Wizards can match any other offer?

Take the Metro-North train from Grand Central to the Fordham station, not the subway. The entrance to train station is right next to campus. The train costs a few dollars more than the subway but it's a quicker ride and fewer stops.

This is crazy, great news! Has anything similar happened elsewhere - where star player announces transfer, then changes his mind and comes back? Some responses from VolNation board: "Ughhhhhhh" "Disaster" "What the hell happened? "Sounds like they raised some $$$ in a hurry for him over there with that Billiken Exchange thing"

Thanks for all the reactions to the Yuri departure. Key takeaway from the discussion is that college is now more like the pros: Every year you need to wait and see who will be on the roster. Some will leave, some will stay. Essentially all players are on one-year deal until their first transfer. It will still be good, just different. Player satisfaction becomes more important if coach wants to keep that player. Coaches who use deeper rotations like the St. Peters coach (now at Seton Hall), who get everyone involved and developing with in-game experience with 10-deep rotation, might be able to retain more. All players want to win, showcase their talent, develop their skills. Billikens of 2022-23 can still be NCAA tournament caliber, depending on who point guards will be. Ford should sign two rotation guards who can play the point, not one. Yuri has been great player but not perfect. Too many turnovers, and his dominance as playmaker may have kept others from developing in some ways and the team from playing cohesively without him on the floor (see Northern Iowa game). Billikens last year were very good but never quite found consistent balance as team.

A clueless stretch of basketball. "Searching for answers" as the announcer said.

Great win!!!

wow what a shot to win by Chattanooga! 40 foot off-balance three pointer at the buzzer

That was amazing play by Yuri Collins to score that final layup and prevent the loss

Refs are fired up for this game! The score is Refs 62, SLU 49, VCU 35

That three-pointer by Jones.... Jones had the ball, and the defender was caught between Jones and Jimerson. Instead of defending Jones, he refused to move away from Jimerson, and Jones makes the shot. Jimerson should get the assist!

The Billikens have been very good but not great. They look like textbook NIT team, as someone commented here a while back. They still have a shot at winning conference tournament if they change their strategy and shoot from outside more. They need to find out which outside shooters besides Jimerson can make enough to win games, from Collins, Nesbitt, Hargrove, Thatch, Jones, Williams. Everyone can see that our 3P% is high, but 3PA are low. Richmond game was a telling game in that it showed Billikens at their best (first half) and their worst (second half). What happened? Richmond responded and adjusted, and Saint Louis failed to adjust. More telling for the entire season is that balanced roster has backfired in some ways. The first half of Richmond game was great with balanced, brilliant attack, seven or eight players scoring. But then in second half it seemed like everyone was stopped, there was no star who could score despite Richmond's pressure. The question for Ford critics is, what is best way to forge a dominant team from a squad that plays hard and has seven very good players, but few consistent elite scorers. How do you beat good teams that are playing well? With balanced roster, in conference season Saint Louis has had seven players score in double figures, for a total of 50 times (including 11 games at 20+ points, and 2 at 30+) across 16 games. The totals per player have been Jimerson 12, Collins 10, Okoro 10, Thatch 9, Nesbitt 5, Hargrove 2, Linssen 2. Compare this to first-place Davidson with only the five starters scoring in double figures, for a total of 57 times (with 15 at 20+ points, 1 at 30+). The totals per player have been Loyer 14, Brajkovic 13, Lee 13, Jones 11, Mennenga 6). The scorers at Davidson need to score every game. There is no one coming off the bench to score. While at SLU there are different scorers every game, which is great in some ways but can lead to inconsistency and dry spells. Are Davidson players more talented than SLU players at scoring? Or have they been put in position by Davidson "system" to score more consistently? Hindsight is 20/20, but it seems part of the answer is you need to shoot more from outside. Unless a team has truly dominant post play there needs to be consistent scoring from outside. This means consistent three-point attempts, not just shooting percentage. For Davidson, the 3PA averages for double-figure scorers are Loyer 6.0, Lee 6.3, Brajkovic 2.6, Jones 4.9, Mennenga 0.6. For SLU, the 3PA averages are Collins 1.8, Jimerson 5.4, Nesbitt 3.3, Hargrove 2.9, Thatch 1.3, Okoro 0.0, Linssen 0.0. Multiplying 3PA by number of games in double figures for each player shows each team's reliability of scoring from outside. SLU scores 126.8 by this measure, Davidson more than doubles this at 258.5. This season at least, that is the difference between #1 and #5 teams. So, to get to NCAA tourney, Billikens need to rebalance their offense and shoot more from outside. If they don't, they will continue to be vulnerable to good teams that are capable of elevating their defense inside the arc.

Jones misses a shot, and Billikens make a layup!

Right now Billikens have more players shooting three-pointers with confidence than any time recently that I remember. Season averages are Jimerson 42%, Jones 38%, Collins and Thatch at 37%, Nesbitt 36% and Hargrove 35% -- plus Williams is due to shoot 43% for rest of the season to get back to his career average. That's seven players who need to be guarded outside and all shooting good shots, especially recently as noted. Opponents can no longer focus only on guarding Jimerson.

No points for Nesbitt on Friday vs. SBU was a turning point. Since then he has been different player with new role on the team.

Great response by Nesbitt to 0 points on Friday. 18 points on 6-11 shooting, 5-7 from three point range. Jimerson also a better game with 17 points.