MCMelton Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Valparaiso has 5 guards that get 22+ minutes per game. So that means we need more than McCall and Jett on the floor. Carter must make a return. Him dressing for Washington tells me he's ready, so hopefully we see him over Barnett on Sunday. Valpo may be very deep at guard, but their two best players are their PFs. That does not bode well for SLU. It's a bad combination for the Billikens -- a team that is very deep at PG/SG, but gets their scoring from the big men. Remekun must play 30 minutes. No foul trouble! Please read and comment on my full preview: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1423941-st-louis-university-billikens-vs-valparaiso-game-preview Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 It will be crucial for the Billikens to win nearly all of these games, if they want to continue building an NCAA tournament resume come March. No. It will be paramount for the Bills to win every single one of those nine consecutive home games to start building an at-large NCAA tournament résumé. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCMelton Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 Sure, winning all 9 is paramount. But I don't think the season is over if SLU goes 8-1. Hence, my use of "almost". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 No. It will be paramount for the Bills to win every single one of those nine consecutive home games to start building an at-large NCAA tournament résumé.Disagree ABF. It would help to win them all and they cannot choke against one of the cupcake games, but a loss to NM would not kill the season. A loss to Valpo and win the rest would also not kill the season. I think we will win 8 or 9 of the rest of the OOC games, but I agree with McMelton. A lot of weight will be put on our conference play and the committee will look at KM being out with a broken foot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Disagree ABF. It would help to win them all and they cannot choke against one of the cupcake games, but a loss to NM would not kill the season. A loss to Valpo and win the rest would also not kill the season. I think we will win 8 or 9 of the rest of the OOC games, but I agree with McMelton. A lot of weight will be put on our conference play and the committee will look at KM being out with a broken foot. I think any more losses at home would contribute heavily towards putting the Bills on the bubble in March. I don't think a solid at-large team loses home games to any team outside of a Final-Four caliber team. Well, it certainly has to be rare, but the Bills have already lost to Santa Clara. I feel they've already used up their get-out-of-jail-free card. If New Mexico is a Final-Four-caliber team, then it might not hurt the Bills' resume much to lose to them, but I rather doubt they're quite that good. And losing to Valpo is unacceptable, if the Bills are going to avoid being on the bubble or needing to win the A-10 Tournament (which I believe they can do, if Coach Crews is up to it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I don't think a solid at-large team loses home games to any team outside of a Final-Four caliber team. Wow, really? On another note, I generally agree with ABF. Our resume isn't going to impress many people even with a UNM win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettFlight5 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I don't think a solid at-large team loses home games to any team outside of a Final-Four caliber team. I actually agree with this. Kansas is elite. OK, that's fine. Washington was a neutral loss at best. Santa Clara is an abomination. I think 9-0 or 8-1 (L to UNM) and the chance is still there. Lose 2+, and it becomes Brooklyn or bust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I actually agree with this. Kansas is elite. OK, that's fine. Washington was a neutral loss at best. Santa Clara is an abomination. I think 9-0 or 8-1 (L to UNM) and the chance is still there. Lose 2+, and it becomes Brooklyn or bust.If the Bills have Mitchell back for the New Mexico game and lose — even if he's still getting in game shape — the powers-that-be on the selection committee will downgrade the Bills such that anything less than an outright A-10 regular-season title would put them on the bubble. It's one thing to say, "We were without our best player when we lost those early games," but if he's on the court for too many losses — particularly in the games the powers-that-be play close attention to — that "crutch" gets thrown out. I don't think the Bills can afford to lose another five games prior to the conference tournament. More than four more will make things dicey, in my opinion. A home loss to New Mexico (or anyone) will force them to be over .500 on the road in conference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCMelton Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 On Jan 10, when SLU opens conference play, an 11-4 Billiken team is really no different than a 10-5 team. What the Billikens missed with the non-conference schedule, was to run off with an insane record of 13-2 or 14-1. And then get their best player back. I think Mitchell's absence could only help the Billikens' standing now, because the losses the team gets now will be downgraded come selection time. What will matter more now, is how the team plays when Mitchell returns, how many road wins in the A-10 the team can pick up, and how they finish in the final 10 games. SLU is still a solid Top 50 team and will be throughout the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Do they have 15 non-conference games, or 14? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCMelton Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 Sorry, 14. Please adjust my records above accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I'm just not seeing it from this team. The lack of team defense. The lack of perimeter defense. Allowing certain players from the other teams to have career/season highs against us. Sorry, but this is NOT an NCAA Tourney team. Winning home games against no names means very little to me. I'm seeing this team only win half its conference games. 17 to 18 wins might be all this team has inside itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettFlight5 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Do they have 15 non-conference games, or 14? Are we counting Rockhurst? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 The SClara loss sticks out like a sore thumb. However, I do think the committee gives credence to how well a team is playing as the tourney nears, ie mid January into February. Getting KM back will be a big lift and having KC for some minutes will help as well. But neither solves the HC problem. I'm getting the impression JC thought he could just roll the ball onto the court and say have at it. These guys miss RM. Heck, we all miss RM, save for Broy and I think even he'd welcome him back with a bear hug at this point. Hate to sound pessimistic but am getting this sick feeling this is not going to be the dream season we were expecting. Getting thru the A-10 at 11-5 or better is going to be one tough task. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorB Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Valpo is definitely a losable game. They nearly beat Nebraska on the road, despite very bad shooting from 3-pt. line. They are frisky and I'd not be surprised if we lose; on the other hand a win against them would be great. Please do NOT assume this is an easy buy-game win. I'm pretty sure they are coming here to win the game. We'll get better, but right now we are clearly struggling and very beatable. We've also at times looked pretty weak against a zone and I'm sure Bryce Drew noticed the same thing.... Actually, I'm surprised and disappointed so far in our performance. I think we'll get better but our league is going to be very tough... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 The SClara loss sticks out like a sore thumb. However, I do think the committee gives credence to how well a team is playing as the tourney nears, ie mid January into February. Getting KM back will be a big lift and having KC for some minutes will help as well. But neither solves the HC problem. I'm getting the impression JC thought he could just roll the ball onto the court and say have at it. These guys miss RM. Heck, we all miss RM, save for Broy and I think even he'd welcome him back with a bear hug at this point. Hate to sound pessimistic but am getting this sick feeling this is not going to be the dream season we were expecting. Getting thru the A-10 at 11-5 or better is going to be one tough task. 72 Like you and the rest on this Board, I sure hope we can get it going, win at least 8 of the next 9 and go 11-5 in conference.... Realistically, though, what gives you or anyone else the impression that this team can do this. We know the players, when perfection is demanded and when being properly coached for the roles they were not only recruited for but have been groomed for, can play much better than we have seen this year. But if the whole team is playing below their benchmarks from last year under RM, then why do you and the others think KM will come back and play at last year's level and be the guy that brings the rest of the team to last year's levels. In fact, I recall the beginning of last season as a time when KM struggled after his absence from the team. If history teaches us anything, KM will struggle again when he eventually returns to the team. Just b/c our team is underperforming -- bigtime -- does not mean that we can/should place undue expectations on KM. To me, unfortunately, this season is over. The best year of Billiken basketball during my lifetime has now evaporated. This program is truly snakebitten. As a positive, though, I am willing to take our lumps this year and hope/expect that we land a really good coach for next year rather than have false hopes for Jim Crews by having him win with RM's team this year but then drive the program into the ground over the next five (5) years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billboy1 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Unless this team gets back to playing strong defense and the coach begins to actually caoch there will be no dancing in March. There is no reson for the defense to be lacking like it has and the coach is basically letting the players run around without control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 -not sure i would go to the level of clock at this point but i agree with a lot of what he says and mostly that this team has not looked like a tourney team -there is time to turn it around, but i see no arrows pointing in that direction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
For-DaLove Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I don't think a solid at-large team loses home games to any team outside of a Final-Four caliber team.This is a truly absurd comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 This is a truly absurd comment. In what way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbizzle09 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 In what way? Vanderbilt, who was a top 25 team in the polls last year, had home losses to Cleveland St., Xavier, Indiana St. and Mississippi St. I don't think anyone would qualify any of those 4 teams as Final-Four caliber. FSU, who finished 10th in the AP Poll, had a home loss to Princeton last season. These are just a couple of examples from last season. I am sure there are many more you can find from at-large teams over the past two seasons where they lost to non big-time, Final-Four level opponents. I understand your point, that home losses should only come against really strong opponents, but it is a little over-the-top to say that home losses should only come by way of teams like Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Sorry, 14. Please adjust my records above accordingly. We play 16 conference games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waldo027 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Last year: SLU lost to Temple at home Temple lost to Dayton at home Mizzou lost to K-State at home Duke lost to Miami at home Louisville lost to South Florida at home Cincinnati lost to Presbyterian, Marshall, and St Johns at home Wisconsin lost to Iowa at home And much much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billboy1 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Unfortunately those schools get a lot of love from the voters-we are still trying to get a date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 72 Like you and the rest on this Board, I sure hope we can get it going, win at least 8 of the next 9 and go 11-5 in conference.... Realistically, though, what gives you or anyone else the impression that this team can do this. We know the players, when perfection is demanded and when being properly coached for the roles they were not only recruited for but have been groomed for, can play much better than we have seen this year. But if the whole team is playing below their benchmarks from last year under RM, then why do you and the others think KM will come back and play at last year's level and be the guy that brings the rest of the team to last year's levels. In fact, I recall the beginning of last season as a time when KM struggled after his absence from the team. If history teaches us anything, KM will struggle again when he eventually returns to the team. Just b/c our team is underperforming -- bigtime -- does not mean that we can/should place undue expectations on KM. To me, unfortunately, this season is over. The best year of Billiken basketball during my lifetime has now evaporated. This program is truly snakebitten. As a positive, though, I am willing to take our lumps this year and hope/expect that we land a really good coach for next year rather than have false hopes for Jim Crews by having him win with RM's team this year but then drive the program into the ground over the next five (5) years. Really, Clock? It's a little early for that thought isn't it? I tend to usually be optimistic with the Billikens even during horrible seasons. However, I think still realistically this team can be very good. Like I said yesterday, this team just needs to clean things up. Corey has shown some flashes of what he can do. DE had one bad game and I expect he will be more consistently good. KM may struggle for a few games, but I still think he has something big to prove. This is his last shot and his intensity will be nuts. MM is shooting great and not in his normal position. KC could easily have a second half of his freshman season as KM did his freshman year. We are too experienced to just fall down. I also said yesterday and I believe it to be true - Crews will get better. Three years removed from being a HC and running the show left him rusty and he was thrown into this role. It's not like he had the offseason to prepare. We are still a tournament team - mark it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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