Jump to content

'Raising the Bar at Saint Louis U.'


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 126
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

He has some valid points. I think it is time to raise the bar. I don't want to be the little engine that could, I want the program to be expected to make the 2nd weekend of the tournament and beyond every year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Different article: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/slu-has-ingredients-for-another-ncaa-trip/article_3594e273-8c41-53d4-bfeb-842f8dfee681.html

My favorite part:

When asked after the final regular-season game if the many millions he has put into the basketball program was money well spent, Dr. Richard Chaifetz said, “Absolutely. I’d do it tomorrow at twice the amount. All day. … It’s only up from here.”

Richard Chaifetz is the reason SLU is in good shape going forward no matter who the head coach is. He has raised the bar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why would this piss you off? Spot on in my book. You want to run with the big boys, you have to be a big boy. We got blown out by a lesser seed and had no answer for Dana Altman. I didn't see the crowd as anything special. I didn't see Majerus' death as anything special (not this late in the year). I also didn't see any halftime adjustments as anything special. As a four, we lost to a 12. End of (bad) story.

What I do have a problem with is that both us and Syracuse got sent to nowhere land while Kansas and Kansas State played in Kansas City; Michigan and Michigan State played in Auburn Hills; Georgetown went to Philly; Louisville and Butler went to Lexington; and Ohio State and Indiana split the difference and went to Dayton. And not to be outdone but a #7 seed Notre Dame also went to Dayton. Fixed? Plus the play-in games involved Middle Tennessee State, La Salle, Boise State and St. Mary's. I thought BCS schools were in play-in games and they number ZERO here. That's where I have problems.

Saint Louis University has to understand that paying lip service to being Top Fifty is not the same as paying to be Top Fifty. The biggest headache sits in the presidential throne room. Don't blame May if hands are tied.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really like McKernan and agree with his points in the article. Our team overcame a lot this season, but it was certainly not a success.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He's trying to have it both ways. He says on one hand that he's not trying to equate Oregon with Norfolk State, just trying to equate the "treatment" the '12 Tigers received with what the '13 Bills received. Well, the team you get the "treatment" from is pretty damned germane to the discussion. This incoherence of message pretty much renders the entire column meaningless, in my opinion. Yeah, everyone should've expected more than the Round of 32 from this team, and should expect more from the program going forward. No duh. We don't need little Timmy to tell us that. This level of "insight" is on par with a bleacherreport article.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't see any insight. I saw a discussion. The questions/points raised are the proverbial elephant in the room. It's a good jump off point. For me, I wanted a Sweet Sixteen spot. We fell one win short. To a "lesser" opponent. We failed. But like he says, if you had said that to me after the Rhode Island debacle, I might have accepted it. It's for discussion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ya know, I'm thinking maybe some of y'all should go re-read the Season Record thread that I bumped recently. Based on the predictions of the die-hard fan base, it's hard to argue that we underperformed this year.

We had one crappy game at the end. It happens. (To a whole lot of teams that make the tournament.)

Conference champs. Conference tourney champs. Top 15 end-of-season ranking. Most wins in school history.

Raise what bar?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He's trying to have it both ways. He says on one hand that he's not trying to equate Oregon with Norfolk State, just trying to equate the "treatment" the '12 Tigers received with what the '13 Bills received. Well, the team you get the "treatment" from is pretty damned germane to the discussion. This incoherence of message pretty much renders the entire column meaningless, in my opinion. Yeah, everyone should've expected more than the Round of 32 from this team, and should expect more from the program going forward. No duh. We don't need little Timmy to tell us that. This level of "insight" is on par with a bleacherreport article.

This is what I'm talking about. Comparing Oregon to Norfolk St. rubs me the wrong way. Oregon was a former top 10 team, the 12 next to their name didn't mean ###### come Sat. night. Norfolk St. was a ###### 15 seed. As he mentions, MU-Norfolk was a close game. MU hit 44% of their 3's and still lost as a HUGE favorite. Not 3.5 points in Pac-12 country playing a team that can't miss favorites. The former actually involves coaching. (Hey there, Mr. Haith!) Also he says numerous times that "these things happen, teams get hot, etc., etc." Well then what's your point? They do. We weren't winning that game. Of course we're all pissed and disappointed not to make the Sweet 16. That was the goal. But to paint the entire fan base as a bunch of happy-go-lucky, "We had a great ride!" types doesn't sit well with me either. It's embarrassing. Maybe the STL media who has always treated us like MIZ's little brother and 'the little engine that could' has a part in this, ya think?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't see any insight. I saw a discussion. The questions/points raised are the proverbial elephant in the room. It's a good jump off point. For me, I wanted a Sweet Sixteen spot. We fell one win short. To a "lesser" opponent. We failed. But like he says, if you had said that to me after the Rhode Island debacle, I might have accepted it. It's for discussion.

I agree with you. If we said in October that SLU would win the A-10 regular season and tournament, but only win one tournament game, would people be happy with that?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That article was completely spot on. Trying to blame Oregon's hot three point shooting as a statistical anomaly is a cop out and the team needs to realize they got completely outplayed and out coached.

If JJ, RL and DE are sitting at Vito's right now saying anything along the lines of 'we played our game, nothing we could do about Oregon's three point shooting, that will never happen again' then we have big problems for next year. That's not to put down all of the accomplishments they had this season, which were significant and they gave us a great run, but the fact remains they shrank from the moment on the biggest stage they've been on yet.

We have too many guys that completely disappear and check out as soon as things aren't going their way. That has to change, because this team can and should do better. We all believe in them, but improvement starts with being honest with yourself about why you lost and belaboring the "3-21" and "8-11" over and over is going to get you nowhere.

Kudos to the author. Couldn't have captured my sentiments any better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with his point, but comparing it to Mizzou is kind of silly. Mizzou is and has been in a major conference for decades. This was SLU's highest seed and probably best season in 50 years. There is absolutely no way the expectations should be the same. I agree we need to raise the bar, but couldn't we say the same things re Mizzou Journalism grads? What he's doing is pouting because SLU didn't get hammered and Mizzou did, it's really that simple.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with his point, but comparing it to Mizzou is kind of silly. Mizzou is and has been in a major conference for decades. This was SLU's highest seed and probably best season in 50 years. There is absolutely no way the expectations should be the same. I agree we need to raise the bar, but couldn't we say the same things re Mizzou Journalism grads? What he's doing is pouting because SLU didn't get hammered and Mizzou did, it's really that simple.

Your last sentence is spot on. Mizzou got crushed nationally (well-deserved) for getting beat by Norfolk St. Time will tell if SLU gets that same treatment.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't see any insight. I saw a discussion. The questions/points raised are the proverbial elephant in the room. It's a good jump off point. For me, I wanted a Sweet Sixteen spot. We fell one win short. To a "lesser" opponent. We failed. But like he says, if you had said that to me after the Rhode Island debacle, I might have accepted it. It's for discussion.

What is there to discuss? Yes, it was a disappointment. Yes, we should expect more going forward. Pointing out the brutally obvious hardly qualifies as a discussion-starter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are the expectations for SLU basketball be the same as the expectations for Mizzou? Should they be?

Comparing the 2 are silly.

SLU has raised the bar, we'll see if the powers to be want seasons like the one we just had to be a great season or a disapointing one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are the expectations for SLU basketball be the same as the expectations for Mizzou? Should they be?

Comparing the 2 are silly.

SLU has raised the bar, we'll see if the powers to be want seasons like the one we just had to be a great season or a disapointing one.

I don't get the question. I think the expectations here should be as high as those in Boone County.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ya know, I'm thinking maybe some of y'all should go re-read the Season Record thread that I bumped recently. Based on the predictions of the die-hard fan base, it's hard to argue that we underperformed this year.

We had one crappy game at the end. It happens. (To a whole lot of teams that make the tournament.)

Conference champs. Conference tourney champs. Top 15 end-of-season ranking. Most wins in school history.

Raise what bar?

How about securing a head coach that will ensure we can have seasons similar to this with at least some modicum of consistency, instead of going on a run once-per-decade, some decades?

I don't get the question. I think the expectations here should be as high as those in Boone County.

+1

Otherwise what's the point of even being a fan?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with his point, but comparing it to Mizzou is kind of silly. Mizzou is and has been in a major conference for decades. This was SLU's highest seed and probably best season in 50 years. There is absolutely no way the expectations should be the same. I agree we need to raise the bar, but couldn't we say the same things re Mizzou Journalism grads? What he's doing is pouting because SLU didn't get hammered and Mizzou did, it's really that simple.

Agreed. The idea that there is some sort of "discussion" to be started by making this passive-aggressive comparison to last year's Mizzou team is ridiculous. The 2012 Tigers were a major conference 2 seed (whose fans were all pissed off about not being a 1) who lost a tight game to a nobody 15 seed in the FIRST frigging round. The 2013 Billikens were a team riding the first conference championship in 40 years with the best NCAA seed (by far) in program history who blew out their first round opponent and then laid a huge egg against a major conference opponent everyone knew was underseeded in the NEXT round. Yes, it still sucks. Yes, it's still a disappointment. And those things are obvious. If he's mistaking SLU fans saying "it was still a great season" and thanking the seniors for a year to remember for them not being disappointed, he's just flat out wrong. And if he really thinks there's any sort of reasonable discussion to be had based on a bizarre non-comparison to Mizzou's own disappointment last year, he's absurdly wrong.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have too many guys that completely disappear and check out as soon as things aren't going their way. That has to change, because this team can and should do better. We all believe in them, but improvement starts with being honest with yourself about why you lost and belaboring the "3-21" and "8-11" over and over is going to get you nowhere.

Kudos to the author. Couldn't have captured my sentiments any better.

That first sentence is an absolute insult to every member of this team. They lost their coach. He died. They played without their best player and senior leader for half the season.

And you say they "checkout and disappear when things aren't going their way". That is pathetic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...