If Crews is retained I am done

[The Dude]

I just want a coach that can create some excitement, much the way RM did when his hire was announced. That may be wishful thinking but it is what this program needs. RM may have been irascible and quite the odd duck but he had charisma. I don't see these kids playing for Crews like they did for RM. As the A10 draws near we'll see how well this team jells. There are some disturbing signs. Loe has severely stepped back and is in a deep funk. Ellis is inconsistent and his best attribute is an uncanny ability to draw a charge. If only he could show the same toughness on the other side of the floor. Carter leaving may be the canary in the coal mine. Losing your top freshman is never good but especially bad when you have a dearth of frosh and sophomore talent. Let's hope KM steps up and has a big year. We're going to need it. He can make everyone on the floor better.

[JMM28]

I'm not terribly worried about the depth for two reasons.

1. Anytime a new coach comes in there is some turnover and a lag. Very rarely does a new coach come in and continue banging tournament appearances.

2. A new coach will view available scholarships as a plus. Some may even have recruits to bring in with them. At the very least they have guys they are in on.

[JettFlight5]

I said 2 bad losses. I stand by that.

The Carter thing I can't even blame on Crews. Hard to blame a guy for "not being Rick Majerus".

Just hope that Coach Crews has a good season (to the Tournament), and the new coach continues that success.

[moytoy12]

I'm tired of the "Crews didn't sign up for this" excuse. He accepted the offer to be interim head coach. No one had a gun to his head. He chose this position.

I'm sure he probably got a pay raise too.

He has been bad as HC. He doesn't deserve any personal insults (I'm likely guilty of this), but he does deserve to be criticized.

[Bobby Metzinger]

Our last "national search" for a head coach gave us the in-house wonder boy Soderberg. Every man, woman and child has a reason to worry about the next leader of the Billikens.

I just hope we don't have Doug Woolard 2.0 in Chris May.

[SLUDrew]

Our last "national search" for a head coach gave us the in-house wonder boy Soderberg. Every man, woman and child has a reason to worry about the next leader of the Billikens.

I just hope we don't have Doug Woolard 2.0 in Chris May.

Could not agree more! Why is everyone so confident that SLU will make a splash hire??

I have a sinking feeling Sodie ball (ie boring basketball with less than heralded recruits) is on its way back. The kid we signed, and I am not dogging the kid, was ranked #27 in his own state!! The regression has already begun.

Do some on here honestly believe that if we make the NIT and win a couple games that Crews won't at least be approached about staying on as head coach??

[slu72]

The only way he retains this job is if we get invited to the dance. The NIT ain't gonna cut it. And Fr. B has to finally understand how important it is we get the best available coach we can regardless of $$. He can't be a piker now with the possibility of realigning w/ the Catholic 7 at stake. However, his comment about a 20 team Super conference makes me wonder just how in touch he is w/ college athletics and what this new league is all about.

[RiseAndGrind]

Could not agree more! Why is everyone so confident that SLU will make a splash hire??

I have a sinking feeling Sodie ball (ie boring basketball with less than heralded recruits) is on its way back. The kid we signed, and I am not dogging the kid, was ranked #27 in his own state!! The regression has already begun.

Do some on here honestly believe that if we make the NIT and win a couple games that Crews won't at least be approached about staying on as head coach??

Do people just forget that Rick Majerus was the last coach that SLU hired? It wasn't Brad Soderberg. I guess it fits conveniently into the narrative that SLU is incapable of doing anything right, but you guys are leaving out a huge chunk of the story.

Things that have happened since Brad Soderberg was fired:

1) SLU opened Chaifetz Arena

2) Dr. Chaifetz has become an apparent superfan

3) SLU hired Rick Majerus

4) SLU made the NCAA tourney for the first time in 12 years

5) VCU and Butler were added to the A-10, giving SLU it's strongest conference in years.

Yes, the current situation sucks - but I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that SLU won't make a good hire.

Go Bills.

[waldo027]

I'm tired of the "Crews didn't sign up for this" excuse. He accepted the offer to be interim head coach. No one had a gun to his head. He chose this position.

I'm sure he probably got a pay raise too.

He has been bad as HC. He doesn't deserve any personal insults (I'm likely guilty of this), but he does deserve to be criticized.

Well I'm tired of hearing "he chose this." He chose to be an assistant, that's it. He didn't choose to have RM get sick and die, and have a team without a head coach. Someone has to coach the team this season. He accepted the offer out of necessity. If he was offered the position and didn't accept it, people would say he's a coward for not stepping up and taking charge.

Having said that, he has made plenty of bonehead decisions and we shouldn't even consider retaining him, regardless of what we do in March this year.

[For-DaLove]

Could not agree more! Why is everyone so confident that SLU will make a splash hire??

I have a sinking feeling Sodie ball (ie boring basketball with less than heralded recruits) is on its way back. The kid we signed, and I am not dogging the kid, was ranked #27 in his own state!! The regression has already begun.

Do some on here honestly believe that if we make the NIT and win a couple games that Crews won't at least be approached about staying on as head coach??

1.) Crews won't be retained

2.) We will make the NCAA tourney

3.) You're beginning to look foolish

[Bobby Metzinger]

Do people just forget that Rick Majerus was the last coach that SLU hired? It wasn't Brad Soderberg. I guess it fits conveniently into the narrative that SLU is incapable of doing anything right, but you guys are leaving out a huge chunk of the story.

Things that have happened since Brad Soderberg was fired:

1) SLU opened Chaifetz Arena

2) Dr. Chaifetz has become an apparent superfan

3) SLU hired Rick Majerus

4) SLU made the NCAA tourney for the first time in 12 years

5) VCU and Butler were added to the A-10, giving SLU it's strongest conference in years.

Yes, the current situation sucks - but I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that SLU won't make a good hire.

Go Bills.

The difference is that Rick called us. We called on a lot of people when Romar left and no one called back so we went with Brad Soderberg to set our program back a decade.

I don't see a lot of people calling about the opening. We would have known about something by now.

[SLUDrew]

1.) Crews won't be retained

2.) We will make the NCAA tourney

3.) You're beginning to look foolish

I always have respected your posts as you clearly have your finger on the pulse of the program, but what is foolish about what I said? Do you know for a fact Crews will not be retained? I think it is a very legitimate concern until it is confirmed that he will not be back.

The kid we sign was ranked #27 in his own state.

I hope you are right that we make the tourney but I am far from confident that we will. Anyone who has seen a game can see that Crews is not a leader of men. As veteran as this team is, they still need direction especially during big games in which they might get rattled. Crews isn't even sure about when to call a timeout much less stare into these guys eyes and tell them that everything will be alright.

What did I say that was so foolish?

[RiseAndGrind]

The difference is that Rick called us. We called on a lot of people when Romar left and no one called back so we went with Brad Soderberg to set our program back a decade.

I don't see a lot of people calling about the opening. We would have known about something by now.

Well, that's just not true. But Happy Holidays. People have no idea who is interested in the job.

Under your scenario Rick Majerus called Biondi, told him to fire Soderberg, and then they negotiated a contract for a couple of weeks after Brad was fired. Nevermind that a lot of other facts are missing from that analysis.

[cheeseman]

We had plenty of qualified applicants for the job when Romar left - the problem was Biondi choose to do it on the cheap and since you get what you paid for the rest is history. We absolutely could have had Randy Bennett - he had not yet been hired by St. Marys. How many on here would not have taken what he has done since then here - I for would. The key here is Biondi has his hands somewhat tied - May can make this happen now if he has the vision and guts to do so and I have no reason to believe that he does not. By the way, the Carter red shirt thing is a red herring - the kid was unhappy for who knows whay - see KM's quotes in the Post today - he claims the kid would get upset when the coaches were on him in practice so that could be the big reason - if he really thought Rm was going to be nicer he would not have lasted here anyway. Carter was asking for a red shirt to make himself more marketable to another school. He was leaving no matter what.

[moytoy12]

Well I'm tired of hearing "he chose this." He chose to be an assistant, that's it. He didn't choose to have RM get sick and die, and have a team without a head coach. Someone has to coach the team this season. He accepted the offer out of necessity. If he was offered the position and didn't accept it, people would say he's a coward for not stepping up and taking charge.

Having said that, he has made plenty of bonehead decisions and we shouldn't even consider retaining him, regardless of what we do in March this year.

To me, he chose to accept the HC position. He could have said, I'm not really up for it and by the way, Whitesell is the better candidate. Point is, he had other options and I don't believe it was necessary for him to take the gig.

That being said, I've probably been a bit too harsh on him.

[For-DaLove]

I always have respected your posts as you clearly have your finger on the pulse of the program, but what is foolish about what I said? Do you know for a fact Crews will not be retained? I think it is a very legitimate concern until it is confirmed that he will not be back.

The kid we sign was ranked #27 in his own state.

I hope you are right that we make the tourney but I am far from confident that we will. Anyone who has seen a game can see that Crews is not a leader of men. As veteran as this team is, they still need direction especially during big games in which they might get rattled. Crews isn't even sure about when to call a timeout much less stare into these guys eyes and tell them that everything will be alright.

What did I say that was so foolish?

Maybe foolish was unfair wording, and I apologize for that. I just think some of you guys are going a little overboard right now.

Yes, I have been told that Crews will not be our coach next season. And he knows that as well. Dr. Chaifetz is prepared to put forth a lot of money to lure in a good coach, and I believe it will happen.

I've also heard we're in good shape for the B7+ conference, which will help everything.

Crawford is a kid Majerus liked and I have no problem with the signing.

Sure, there's been some disappointments this season, but I think more of that has to do with Kwamain being out that anything else. We'll be fine. We have 2 big games coming up and hopefully we can grab a couple of wins. But it won't be the end of the world if we go 1-1.

[JettFlight5]

Maybe foolish was unfair wording, and I apologize for that. I just think some of you guys are going a little overboard right now.

Yes, I have been told that Crews will not be our coach next season. And he knows that as well. Dr. Chaifetz is prepared to put forth a lot of money to lure in a good coach, and I believe it will happen.

I've also heard we're in good shape for the B7+ conference, which will help everything.

Crawford is a kid Majerus liked and I have no problem with the signing.

Sure, there's been some disappointments this season, but I think more of that has to do with Kwamain being out that anything else. We'll be fine. We have 2 big games coming up and hopefully we can grab a couple of wins. But it won't be the end of the world if we go 1-1.

I think that's the gorilla in the living room. C7 will attract a much better coach than any other league. Just want it to happen.

[Quality Is Job 1]

We had plenty of qualified applicants for the job when Romar left - the problem was Biondi choose to do it on the cheap and since you get what you paid for the rest is history. We absolutely could have had Randy Bennett - he had not yet been hired by St. Marys. How many on here would not have taken what he has done since then here - I for would. The key here is Biondi has his hands somewhat tied - May can make this happen now if he has the vision and guts to do so and I have no reason to believe that he does not. By the way, the Carter red shirt thing is a red herring - the kid was unhappy for who knows whay - see KM's quotes in the Post today - he claims the kid would get upset when the coaches were on him in practice so that could be the big reason - if he really thought Rm was going to be nicer he would not have lasted here anyway. Carter was asking for a red shirt to make himself more marketable to another school. He was leaving no matter what.

Your memory has gone awry. Randy Bennett went to Saint Mary's a year before Romar left for Washington. It was because Bennett left that Romar brought Soderberg in. Besides, Bennett wouldn't have been a good hire for SLU, as he was a West-Coast guy, just like Romar.

[TheA_Bomb]

Why are we in such a terrible situation?

SLU just came off their best season in decades and may match their accomplishments this year. SLU has a great arena and may be invited to the best basketball focused conference in the country. If we aren't then we remain in a similar conference to what we are already in. Having a great coach pass was tragic but this job is attractive. I feel confident that AD May can make a good choice I respect his other hires. Look at Baseball (was that May), WBB so far and even Volleyball just picked up a HS All-American recruit. I have no reason to doubt him given his performance so far.

[billiken_roy]

Cheese randy bennett getting the head coaching job at st mary's was the reason romar hired brad as an asst. So you are wrong on that fact. If i remember correctly, slu asked bruce weber first he turned us down to stay at siu. It then came down to soderberg or brian gregory.

[moytoy12]

Maybe foolish was unfair wording, and I apologize for that. I just think some of you guys are going a little overboard right now.

Yes, I have been told that Crews will not be our coach next season. And he knows that as well. Dr. Chaifetz is prepared to put forth a lot of money to lure in a good coach, and I believe it will happen.

I've also heard we're in good shape for the B7+ conference, which will help everything.

Crawford is a kid Majerus liked and I have no problem with the signing.

Sure, there's been some disappointments this season, but I think more of that has to do with Kwamain being out that anything else. We'll be fine. We have 2 big games coming up and hopefully we can grab a couple of wins. But it won't be the end of the world if we go 1-1.

Good post and probably what we all needed to hear.

[grunky]

Wow. Talk about a knee-jerk reaction of a thread. Trust me, I am no blind fanboy of SLU hoops, but I think this is over the top. We currently stand at 8-3, and that is pretty damn good considering our HC passed away & our best player has been out. No, Crews will not be back. It's not even remotely possible. But, I think SLU can return to the Dark Ages if we get left out of the new conference. If we get in..... Coaches will be lining up to take the job.

[majerus mojo]

Maybe foolish was unfair wording, and I apologize for that. I just think some of you guys are going a little overboard right now.

Yes, I have been told that Crews will not be our coach next season. And he knows that as well. Dr. Chaifetz is prepared to put forth a lot of money to lure in a good coach, and I believe it will happen.

I've also heard we're in good shape for the B7+ conference, which will help everything.

Crawford is a kid Majerus liked and I have no problem with the signing.

Sure, there's been some disappointments this season, but I think more of that has to do with Kwamain being out that anything else. We'll be fine. We have 2 big games coming up and hopefully we can grab a couple of wins. But it won't be the end of the world if we go 1-1.

Best thing I've read in months

[Cowboy]

-was looking for a thread with cheerleader pics to bump to spice up this otherwise slow off-season day and came across this gem which I thought might be entertaining, although clearly in a different vein

[DoctorB]

MY my the shoe is on the other foot now!!

thanks for freshening up my afternoon, after a lousy Cards game. this is really precious stuff here. So great I even signed in to the board, to respond and say hahaha to all the ones making those cutthroat comments. Worst of all, in retrospect, was the timing. Most of those posts were from about 3 weeks after the death of Coach Majerus.

Really, chill pills for everyone! Boy was all that noise premature. And really, in my mind, pretty weak, given the timing. 3 whole weeks! Look at what Billiiken fans are saying about the National Coach of the Year!! .... Wow! That is some seriously funny stuff, thanks again for re-posting that thread!