I BILL-IEVE!

[slu72]

This team relies more on it's D than 93-94, which played pretty good D as well. Would love to have a sniper like Clagget, but CE does have his moments. But each stands on its own. You have to like the depth we have as we don't lose too much and RM can create some matchup problems.

[BBall Fan]

Disagree, we still looked better pre-xmas break. I think there is a lot to the RM boot camp theory.

Yes but like 09-10 the road wins in the A-10 seem to be a product of some hard work over the christmas break. They seem to have stronger legs than anyone we have played in the last 2 weeks. We have overcome some poor shooting with some big time lock down defense and we look as strong on the defensive end with 4 minutes to go as we did with 16 minutes left in he first half. I think there is some validity to the boot camp theory and it looks like it pays some dividends when it comes to toughness and endurance. That was a man sized win today where our desire and strength secured the win. Keep Going Bills!!!!!!!

[cheeseman]

Most teams hit some wall during the season and play poorly for a short stretch but then they get past it so ours in Jan. is not unusual. If the so called RM boot camp is a problem then why would our HOF coach keep doing it through out his coaching career - is he that dense? All I know is that some have been complaining about the LMU game scheduling and RM admitted that he would not do that again so gee he is capable of evaluating his practices. I do think Skip is right - you can tell you the RM haters are by their consistent nit piking.

[willie]

This boot camp theory has taken on a life of it,s own.because someone throws it out there it becomes gospel. Does anyone have any evidence that they were overworked over Christmas. any players say we practiced 8 hours a day and I,m fried. I have been told by coaches that Christmas is a hard time for basketball teams. I would think at a school like SLU it is very hard because everything shuts down . I agree with Cheese Rick is too smart to do it more than once,if at all.

[RiseAndGrind]

I don't know who is right, but Michael Decourcy from The Sporting News thinks the Bills are off the bubble and in:

tsnmike Michael DeCourcy

@

@pjeckelkamp Don't see how SLU could be a bubble team.

18 minutes ago

[Quality Is Job 1]

Most teams hit some wall during the season and play poorly for a short stretch but then they get past it so ours in Jan. is not unusual. If the so called RM boot camp is a problem then why would our HOF coach keep doing it through out his coaching career - is he that dense? All I know is that some have been complaining about the LMU game scheduling and RM admitted that he would not do that again so gee he is capable of evaluating his practices. I do think Skip is right - you can tell you the RM haters are by their consistent nit piking.

Making an observation is nitpicking? I didn't opine about it; I just made an observation. If it were a personal thing, I would have added a judgment, like, "He's wrong for that" or "I don't like that."

[cheeseman]

Making an observation is nitpicking? I didn't opine about it; I just made an observation. If it were a personal thing, I would have added a judgment, like, "He's wrong for that" or "I don't like that."

Mine was a general comment - if it does not apply to you then don't sweat it.

[68Alum]

Saw the St. Joe game on TV here and was at the game today. The team has really matured from a game I saw over Christmas in St. Louis. KM is the general. And MM has grown up a lot and takes some of the load off KM. DE plays much bigger than 6'5". Some of his bounds today were NBA quality. BC played well but in the second half they didn't allow him any low post-ups-they packed in everytime he got the ball. It's the best game I've seen CR play. Monster dunk toward the end of the first half and steady defense. KC never looked at the basket. CE never got an open shot-challenged every time.

Game was close all the way. Bills were up most of the time but only a bucket or two. Both sides played tenacious defense and set tight screens

.

Great game for the Bills and a real character builder. Much tougher than the score suggests. This team is coming into the end of the year much more poised and tournament ready. My only concern is that we will run into a really dominant big. I didn't see an answer for that today. Their leading scorer was on the verge of a break-out before he got hurt with about 4 minutes today. Otherwise this is a team that can play with anybody right now.

[thetorch]

I may be in the minority but this team could blow the 93-94 team out of the building.

Claggett and Co. were really gimmick teams. We controlled tempo and just poured in 3s. Dobbs was nice he could put up 15-20 but his man on the other team could do the same. Who on the 93-94 team matches up with Ellis or Loe? I'd love to see Evan Pederson trying to close out on them off pick and pops. Highmark would give us a game but I think we'd shut down Claggs.

I knew those Spoonball teams didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of advancing to the 2nd weekend. This years team might not advance that far, good chance they won't, but they have the makeup to do it.

[slufanskip]

This boot camp theory has taken on a life of it,s own.because someone throws it out there it becomes gospel. Does anyone have any evidence that they were overworked over Christmas. any players say we practiced 8 hours a day and I,m fried. I have been told by coaches that Christmas is a hard time for basketball teams. I would think at a school like SLU it is very hard because everything shuts down . I agree with Cheese Rick is too smart to do it more than once,if at all.

This.

Absurd, I was talking about you and Moy. I took your comment to be a jab, it's clear you didn't mean it that way ... my bad, sorry

[kmbilliken]

I'd have to give the edge to the 93/94 team just on the basis they had a tougher schedule and similar record.

[MB73]

Too early to tell for sure. We need to close out and get into the NCAA's first. Two great coaches for sure, both did more with less.

Ironically IMO Spoon was a pioneer in that he recognized the value of the 3 point shot before a lot of other coaches did, and ironically, RM focuses upon defending the 3 point shot as a key.

11/12 has superior depth on the front line, 93/94 obviously had the better shooters / scorers at guard, and 93/94 played a tougher schedule.

[AMDG]

Greg Anthony just refered to RM as having maybe the most underated coaching job this season on CBS College Basketball Today

[Taj79]

Toss up ----- depth and defense for this team; shooters and smart players for the H/Claggs team. Trending up with only half of February left. Bills have never made second weekend of Dance. That would seem to separate teams. If it came down to having the ball and a last second shot to win, I want the Claggs team.

[moytoy12]

This.

Absurd, I was talking about you and Moy. I took your comment to be a jab, it's clear you didn't mean it that way ... my bad, sorry

Not sure my comment was a jab at RM or that it shows that I don't like him. I like RM, but he has faults. Nothing new there. It's well documented that he admitted to working the guys too hard during a Christmas break a couple of seasons ago. It's possible he continues to do that.

I also think others make a good point that the tough xmas practices may hurt in the short-term, but we are better for it in the long term.

Either way, we're 20-5 and i'm f'ing enjoying it.

[billikenfan05]

Either way, we're 20-5 and i'm f'ing enjoying it.

Your GDT Contributions make it seem like you're standing on the ledge...

[moytoy12]

Your GDT Contributions make it seem like you're standing on the ledge...

Ha! You might be right, it makes the victories all the more enjoyable though.

[Cowboy]

I don't have to be able to be friends with the coach.

-very nice

[Deutschkind]

Either way, we're 20-5 and i'm f'ing enjoying it.

Round of Kool-Aid for everyone!

[ACE]

This boot camp theory has taken on a life of it,s own.because someone throws it out there it becomes gospel. Does anyone have any evidence that they were overworked over Christmas. any players say we practiced 8 hours a day and I,m fried. I have been told by coaches that Christmas is a hard time for basketball teams. I would think at a school like SLU it is very hard because everything shuts down . I agree with Cheese Rick is too smart to do it more than once,if at all.

+100

[moytoy12]

This boot camp theory has taken on a life of it,s own.because someone throws it out there it becomes gospel. Does anyone have any evidence that they were overworked over Christmas. any players say we practiced 8 hours a day and I,m fried. I have been told by coaches that Christmas is a hard time for basketball teams. I would think at a school like SLU it is very hard because everything shuts down . I agree with Cheese Rick is too smart to do it more than once,if at all.

I don't think that's quite right; I don't think people are just randomly throwing this theory out there. RM has at least stated in the past that he overworked his SLU team during the holidays. Now, whether that has occurred with this team, who knows. But RM did say it and at least with this year's team, they did not perform quite as well during the xmas holiday period (which also could be due to scheduling, travel, etc.).

Why would RM do it more than once? Well, he seems to be a perfectionist, is a self-admitted lover of practice, has fewer restrictions during the xmas break, and thinks he is doing the right thing in the long run. I'm not saying he isn't justified, but it's possibly a factor to help explain the 3 losses during the xmas break.

[ACE]

I don't think that's quite right; I don't think people are just randomly throwing this theory out there. RM has at least stated in the past that he overworked his SLU team during the holidays. Now, whether that has occurred with this team, who knows. But RM did say it and at least with this year's team, they did not perform quite as well during the xmas holiday period (which also could be due to scheduling, travel, etc.).

Why would RM do it more than once? Well, he seems to be a perfectionist, is a self-admitted lover of practice, has fewer restrictions during the xmas break, and thinks he is doing the right thing in the long run. I'm not saying he isn't justified, but it's possibly a factor to help explain the 3 losses during the xmas break.

It was one individual who has an obvious axe to grind who dredged up this "overworked during the holidays" theory. The funny thing is that RM was the first one to draw attention to it in his first year. He blamed himself (oops, another roymor dispelled) for practicing them too hard leading up the GW debacle. RM clearly shoulders a lot of the blame, but I also think he was clearly taking one for the team for the historically bad performance. Heck, I don't care if they ran a marathon prior to that game, scoring 20 points was pathetic and the players share that.

Anyway, regarding this year, what evidence is there that RM overworked them this year? Not likely. If RM believes he was guilty of it in the past, even his critics acknowledge that he is smart, so he wouldn't continue to do it. Besides, why is the loss at New Mexico blamed on this? Historically, that is one of the most difficult places in the country to play. I thought we played a pretty tough competitive game in that environment. And then the Dayton game... again, historically a tough building for road teams. I thought we played a strong game, until we lost our poise late, plus Dillard had an exceptional game. Even Xavier got blown out in that building. Those tough losses were nothing to be ashamed of, so why was the "overworked" theory dug up again? Oh yeah, we all remember who threw it out there.

[moytoy12]

It was one individual who has an obvious axe to grind who dredged up this "overworked during the holidays" theory. The funny thing is that RM was the first one to draw attention to it in his first year. He blamed himself (oops, another roymor dispelled) for practicing them too hard leading up the GW debacle. RM clearly shoulders a lot of the blame, but I also think he was clearly taking one for the team for the historically bad performance. Heck, I don't care if they ran a marathon prior to that game, scoring 20 points was pathetic and the players share that.

Anyway, regarding this year, what evidence is there that RM overworked them this year? Not likely. If RM believes he was guilty of it in the past, even his critics acknowledge that he is smart, so he wouldn't continue to do it. Besides, why is the loss at New Mexico blamed on this? Historically, that is one of the most difficult places in the country to play. I thought we played a pretty tough competitive game in that environment. And then the Dayton game... again, historically a tough building for road teams. I thought we played a strong game, until we lost our poise late, plus Dillard had an exceptional game. Even Xavier got blown out in that building. Those tough losses were nothing to be ashamed of, so why was the "overworked" theory dug up again? Oh yeah, we all remember who threw it out there.

I'm not going to dwell on it too much longer, but I don't think suggesting that we had some tired legs during xmas is completely without merit and one of the causes could have been tough practices during the xmas break. I don't use the theory to bash RM (not suggesting you were saying that), but to suggest it as one of the reasons for our tough stretch during the holiday break. Yes, RM is a damn good coach and I understand the argument that he wouldn't be so dense as to repeat some mistakes. However, RM is also a coach that has done things a certain way for many years. How easy to you think it is for him to change his stripes?

I guess i'm more frustrated with the general notion that if you criticize RM at all, then you're an RM hater.

[ACE]

I'm not going to dwell on it too much longer, but I don't think suggesting that we had some tired legs during xmas is completely without merit and one of the causes could have been tough practices during the xmas break. I don't use the theory to bash RM (not suggesting you were saying that), but to suggest it as one of the reasons for our tough stretch during the holiday break. Yes, RM is a damn good coach and I understand the argument that he wouldn't be so dense as to repeat some mistakes. However, RM is also a coach that has done things a certain way for many years. How easy to you think it is for him to change his stripes?

IMO, looking at things prior to the season, the UNM game followed by Dayton on the road jumped out at me as a tough part of the schedule. Going into the Pit was not going to be easy and Dayton was our first true road game. I don't think we played unusually bad in those games. I just haven't seen any evidence brought forward that we were overworked during the holidays. What was the practice schedule? Was it out of the norm from what other teams typically do? I'm going to need more than one individual with a personal agenda floating out the overworked theory before I believe it has any merit. I think successful coaches tend to stick with what works, but change from things that no longer work. The fact that RM called himself out for overworking them five years ago, leads me to believe that this is no longer an issue.

[Quality Is Job 1]

IMO, looking at things prior to the season, the UNM game followed by Dayton on the road jumped out at me as a tough part of the schedule. Going into the Pit was not going to be easy and Dayton was our first true road game. I don't think we played unusually bad in those games. I just haven't seen any evidence brought forward that we were overworked during the holidays. What was the practice schedule? Was it out of the norm from what other teams typically do? I'm going to need more than one individual with a personal agenda floating out the overworked theory before I believe it has any merit. I think successful coaches tend to stick with what works, but change from things that no longer work. The fact that RM called himself out for overworking them five years ago, leads me to believe that this is no longer an issue.

In my opinion, the Bills' performance against Temple, particularly defensively, suggested that their legs weren't quite there. Besides, the January lull has be apparent more than just Year 1 and this year.