MichaelC

Exactly. St Johns is 4-12 (with 2 of those wins against last place DePaul) in the Big East and has lost 6 of their last 8, yet they have a NET of 64. But in a league where the last place team has a NET of 81 and 5 of the teams have a NET of 25 or better, where would the bad losses come from?

Don't know if you have a general reading comprehension problem or if you're basketball illiterate. I suggested selective up tempo (not pressing full court or trying to fast break off made baskets) with a specific example, secondary breaks. Are secondary breaks something you do all of the time or when the other team has scored, uh no. And this is something plenty of teams that are 7-8 deep do, but thanks for the laugh. I missed the part where I said Ford was a bad coach I only see where I said he's done a good job. I also don't see where I said that if a coach is well paid and don't win they're a bad coach, in fact I don't say anything about winning in my post. If you to disagree with something I say, fine but at least read a post carefully and make sure you understand what is being said before you reply, then you won't sound like a complete and total idiot.

D1 coaches don't make millions of dollars to coach the team they assemble in November, they make millions to coach the team they end up with in January after injuries, mid-season transfers, flunks outs, suspensions and whatever other craziness besets their roster. While I don't disagree that Ford has done a good job I don't think he reshaped the team in any meaningful way (I would have liked to see them go more up tempo with a healthy dose of secondary breaks) and again those roster limitations are what these guys get paid a king's ransom to figure out. All that said, I don't have any major issues with how the coach has handled this team.

The projections I've seen today have VCU, SLU and a dozen or so other teams in the same spot, outside looking in. I think at this point both teams need the same things, a strong finish to the regular season, a decent tournament showing and few or no conference tournament upsets in leagues like the AAC and Mountain West.

Wow, Mason absolutely taking it to VCU at VCU, now up 56-41 with 7:28 left after going on a 14-0 run.

Yeah and more importantly in a game in which your starting point guard was thoroughly outplayed (IMO) and your starting 2 guard was a ghost, I would say the guys at the end of the bench was the least of the problems.

Thanks, do you know if these shows are archived somewhere?

Not a major mismatch but Russell is a potential major headache. Job #1 will be keeping him out of the paint, if we don''t do that it's going to be a long day.

VCU now down just 12 with a little over 8 minutes left, credit to them for getting back in this game.

As much as I would like to complain about how ugly the game was and how we should won in regulation, etc. etc. etc. I just can't do it. Bottom line: We won a conference game on the road with 2 Freshman and a Walk On playing the entire overtime period and accounting for 7 of the 10 points scored in the OT period. Usually when a team has control of a game in regulation and it ends of going to OT that team is stunned and doesn't recover mentally, this team did that and then some playing with great confidence and poise in OT. Did they make some mistakes? Sure, but they came together as a TEAM and found a way to win under trying circumstances. Hats off to the veteran leaders on this team and the coaching staff, you can't win a game like that unless without calm, cool leadership.

Come conference tournament time we'll also have to root for no upsets in what would be 1 bid conferences (SOCON, MVC, etc.) because the top teams in those leagues are going to get in anyway, the fewer "stolen" bids, the better.

Agree, unfortunately in most cases making a bunch of 3s is the only way bad teams have a chance to beat good teams.

Your question presupposes that the NCAAs primary concern is for the well being of student-athletes and that is absolutely not the case. The NCAA decides issues of eligibility however and whenever they want with little to no thought for how individual players are impacted. Remember this is an institution that up until about a year ago allowed coaches to block and/or dictate where a player transferring out of their program could or could not go.

I don't think this is as easy for French as it is for other "true" centers. At only 6'7" his vision is easily obstructed, especially by teams like Davidson that has big guards. I honestly don't believe that French can see over double teams to find divers (and keep in mind cutters will only be open for a split second), a couple of times against Davidson, Hargrove dove the rim and was wide open but I'm pretty sure that with a 6'10" player and two 6'5" players in his face French didn't see him.