NYBilliken

Bench scoring advantage to the Billikens 31-12. Great games for Thatch and Jones made the difference.

Let Hargrove take the shot this time.

Great play by Goodwin! Steals the inbound and gets the layup to cut lead to 1.

Hargrove got the start this half? Or was subbed in during first minute? To play pressure defense, that's the adjustment.

Covid happened is the obvious answer. But more than physical effects, which other teams had to recover from, and some recovered better - but it also disrupted how all of Ford's previous Billikens teams have slowly improved throughout a season, with lots of game time to build together as a team. This team seems out of sync more often than not. Hopefully in second half they will find what they have had a few times since the covid break - as in home game vs. St. Bonaventure.

Bad turnover by Collins - a fitting end to the half. Lucky to not be behind by 20. Need to come back for second half with a new plan.

Hargrove with the jam to retake lead 14-13 ... Says the radio.

Was one of these boxers supposed to take a dive to keep espn on schedule? Listening on radio now. Still 7-5 Billikens lead.

Comment was made by announcers at end of the game that, just from looking at final score, "you would never know how competitive this game was for 38 minutes." 80-69 indicates Saint Louis won fairly easily. But the opposite is also true. The score doesn't indicate how dominant Bills were during second half. From midway through the half to the final minute, they scored on 17 of their 22 possessions, vs. NC St scoring on 6 of their 21. During this lengthy 10-minute stretch Billikens were 17-5 on offense and 15-6 on defense, for a total possession W/L of 32-11. Against a good ACC team.

https://watchstadium.com/live/st-bonaventure-at-saint-louis/

The opposite is also true - Duquesne looked terrible, I can't believe we lost to them twice.

Great game and great win!!!! Bills are improving with every game.

Fordham takes the early 7-2 lead. An indicator of the A10's good year is that both of these 1-14 teams play hard, can be competitive at times. There have been three-point attempts already in first five minutes, only one made (by Fordham).

Good point, Jacobs contributed to the win despite scoring 0 points. Team had 19 assists total on 27 FG. Good game especially the second half. 20 wins!

If Crutcher missed that shot and Dambrot was still a Zip, we would be at least 20-5, looking good for March.

Also credit to Coach Ford for giving him enough minutes here and there so he was ready.

At Davidson no starter scored until end of first half. Perkins and Weaver were the only scorers. In this game four of five starters have points before first stoppage, including Bell, Jacobs and Collins. Good start, 10-0!

Great effort down the stretch... our team's response to the technical called on Ford won us the game. We outscored them 10-6 after that ...clutch buckets by Weaver, Goodwin, French and Collins. Collins the player of the game, and great contributions off the bench by Weaver, Hargrove and Perkins. Balanced and resilient team win, despite many areas still needing improvement.

Dayton dominated VT, this was not an overachieving upset, they looked like the better team by far. One interpretation is VT was tired after MSU game. The other interpretation is that Dayton will be in top 25 soon. Today they play Kansas on ESPN -- well timed after Bills game -- so we'll see if they can sustain that level -- which will be good for Bills ranking later in season.

I agree, and last night's game was great milestone for the defense as it helped French close out the game. Belmont took the lead 55-51 with 4:38 left and never scored again. Bills defense went into lockdown mode, inspired by French's performance. New players are making good progress on defense, and Belmont had nothing left. The game was won with willpower and toughness ... despite many mistakes. Great win for a team making progress.

Tonight's Pelicans game is on ESPN, hopefully Bess will get some playing time to show what he can contribute.

Bess to play for Sydney Kings, says this column: https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherdodson/2019/07/28/new-orleans-pelicans-player-plans-for-erie-bawhawks-roster-g-league-future/#72502e9b7ede

Shooters will adapt to the new distance: "When the line was moved before the 2008-09 season, the distance went from 19 feet, 9 inches to 20 feet, 9 inches. The percentage of 3-point shots made during that season compared with the previous season declined from 35.2% to 34.4%. The percentage of made 3-point field goals steadily increased back to 35.2% in Division I by the 2017-18 season." http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/men-s-basketball-3-point-line-extended-international-distance When distance changes by small amounts, the decisive factor is not the exact distance but the fact that 3 pt shots should be taken only when likelihood of making it is at least 2/3 of likelihood of making a 2 pt shot. 3 pt shooters must make at least 34% of 3 pt shots to achieve the equivalent of 51% shooting from 2 pt range. While no one is consciously calculating this during game, this is the subconscious logic driving decision whether to take the shot. If team makes less than 34% of its 3 pt attempts, the opponent does not need to guard 3 pt shooters as closely, so teams shooting low 3 pt percentage are probably even worse shooters than the percentages indicate, as they likely have more open shots, and they still miss them. Teams that shoot 34% or higher from 3pt range force opponents to extend defense, resulting in better shots from 2 pt range as well. In 2018-19, the 211 Div I teams that averaged 34% or higher 3 pt shooting shot 51.36% from 2 pt range. The 142 teams that averaged less than 34% from 3 pt range shot only 49.35% from 2 pt range. Bottom line, as others have commented, the main result of improving 3 pt shooting for Billikens will be to open up the floor for French, Goodwin and others closer to the basket. Billikens made the NCAA tournament last season despite ranking 286th in points per possession - the lowest rating among teams in the tournament. If Billikens can improve even to average 3pt shooting, they can contend for A10 title this year.

I agree, none of those things that you mention are unreasonable and Billikens can have a strong season. Adding true point guard, plus two centers to sometimes take the pressure off French, plus several potential scorers, adds up to potential for better offense. With reference to the 144 rating, it's probably better to be underrated - which probably Billikens are - than overrated which we were last year (see Gordon, Carte'are). Plus now there is no need to keep checking the 144 site every week during summer doldrums to see when we would show up. In general, I am optimistic as there is still good progression from year to year in Ford era. Three years ago, team overachieved on dismal expectations, getting the most from remnants of previous regime plus Jalen J. Two years ago, returned to a winning record with emergence of Team Blue despite (and maybe because of) the disaster of suspensions and expulsions. Last year, found a way back to tournament despite losses of Santos, Gordon and Welmer and sometimes awkward offense. This year, two proven stars are returning and looking to break through to their next level, plus we have three other returnees who can play and excellent group of recruits who look capable of scoring. Being underrated with moderate expectations, it will be great to see how this new roster works out. Also, free throw shooting can only improve.

Incredible second half - Ossuniyi made his jump shot at 16:49 to make it 33-41 for St. B, then neither team scored for four minutes. Then between 12:32 and 3:49 Billikens went on decisive, championship-winning 21-5 run to make it 54-46. Two baskets apiece by Isabel, Wiley, Bess and French during that stretch, plus one from Goodwin who also went 0-2 from the line. Stockard scored twice, otherwise nothing for Bonnies during that period. If we hadn't killed the ball and missed foul shots in the last 3:40 we might have won by 15.