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moytoy12

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Yes but they also beat five Top 50 teams. 3 were against top 25, depending on which poll or rating system.

Do your homework.

NCAA likes teams that are, say, 5-3 versus, top 50 teams better than a team that has one win (Dayton?) versus a Top 50.

"Do your homework"??? Coming from a guy like you who has demonstrated his challenges with basic math is rich, really rich.

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Please check the Timmermann article "SLU - Dayton afterthoughts" available in this message board. He is expressing what I had posted before, quoting Sagarin this time, he figures there is no serious opposition to SLU until we reach the game against VCU, and gives his reasons for this. These reasons are very close to what I have been posting here, SLU being a defensive team is able to stop offensive minded teams, etc... See the article, at least he part until he starts the small talk about his trip to Dayton. Very interesting. Team Ranking gives us 4 out of 5 stars of confidence to win against St. Bonaventure at this time. If we win all of these games before the VCU game we will have a 16 win string going into the tough part of the schedule. Let's hope Lancona's knee is healed by then and that whatever is going on with Reggie has also been solved.

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@old guy --- what exactly are you expecting if "Lancona's knee is healed and whatever .. with Reggie .. is solved?" Other than occassional spot minutes or emergency fireman kind of appearance, are you expecting more?

With the improvement (apparently) in McBroom's defense, he has seen more floor time, even allowing Crews to go to a three guard lineup of Jett/McCall/McBroom. This takes Barnett out of the lineup mostly. With McBroom emerging as our go-to three point specilaist, Barnett's time slips even more. Crawford got 15 minutes at Dayton and did really well I thought, but that might be attributable to early foul trouble by Barnett. But that would be what I expect from Lancona and Agbeko -- or something similar.

I agree having them available would be better than not but having them for hostile road games at VCU and Umass? They likely won't see the floor without dire events taking place..

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So misleading...

Jake didn't start in their last loss vs WSU, but he played 28 minutes and his poor outside shooting was a huge factor in the loss.

Less minutes for Jake = less shots for Jake = he's fresh when he's in there = he's more likely to make the few shots he takes = the team is better when he plays fewer minutes.

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So misleading...

Jake didn't start in their last loss vs WSU, but he played 28 minutes and his poor outside shooting was a huge factor in the loss.

Less minutes for Jake = less shots for Jake = he's fresh when he's in there = he's more likely to make the few shots he takes = the team is better when he plays fewer minutes.

For proof of this, look at Jake's numbers from last year. His minutes went down in conference play, his 3pt attempts went down and his 3pt% jumped to 37.5%.

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I keep reading people praise Crawford's performance in the Dayton game and other games. And while I agree that he did some things well and I like how he drives to the hole and he does have a bright future, it seems like people are ignoring that since starting the season 5 for 5 (against SEMO, SIUE and Oral Roberts) he has gone 1 for 15 since. If he's going to stay in the rotation going forward, he's going to have to make some shots...

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@old guy --- what exactly are you expecting if "Lancona's knee is healed and whatever .. with Reggie .. is solved?" Other than occassional spot minutes or emergency fireman kind of appearance, are you expecting more?

Hello Taj79, two reasons why I would like to see both Lancona and Agbeko play before the end of the season: 1) If the trend in fouls continues, they may need to come in if Loe or Manning, or both, foul out, at least I would like to see them able to come in, as you say as firemen. 2) If these kids do not get more playing time we may well be in rough shape next year. I would much prefer seeing them in play, for at least a few minutes per game. I really do not expect miracles from Lancona or Agbeko but I believe we have enough strength to be able to spare them a few minutes per game for the sake of improving their play for next year, that is, if their injuries allow them to play safely.

In other words, I think we have superb defense, good but occasionally mediocre offense and enough depth to get us through most of the conference play schedule. Future conference wins depend upon SLU being able to shoot and score reasonably well, no more injuries, and minimizing having players fouling out of play. I do not think we need Lancona or Agbeko right now, but would like to see them getting close to their potential in play.

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Please check the Timmermann article "SLU - Dayton afterthoughts" available in this message board. He is expressing what I had posted before, quoting Sagarin this time, he figures there is no serious opposition to SLU until we reach the game against VCU, and gives his reasons for this. These reasons are very close to what I have been posting here, SLU being a defensive team is able to stop offensive minded teams, etc... See the article, at least he part until he starts the small talk about his trip to Dayton. Very interesting. Team Ranking gives us 4 out of 5 stars of confidence to win against St. Bonaventure at this time. If we win all of these games before the VCU game we will have a 16 win string going into the tough part of the schedule. Let's hope Lancona's knee is healed by then and that whatever is going on with Reggie has also been solved.

I actually disagree with TT's point about VCU being a tough matchup for us. While VCU's Havoc D is certainly difficult to play against, I believe the key to beating it is stopping them on defense and not allowing them to set up their press. Once the press is setup, they will turn you over and get easy buckets. We obviously are better than most at stopping teams from scoring.

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@ old guy -- thanks for the clarification. I have resolved to worry about next year next year. With 17 games played, 53% of the guaranteed schedule is in the books. Anything that comes from any of the three freshmen at this point is gravy. If foul trouble does indeed rear it's head, it will be a proverbial baptism by fire. I firmly believe the OOC schedule has been quite defining in who gets what. The fresmen will be three relative unknowns as far as sophomores are concerned.

@kshoe -- agree on Crawford. Sure, I would suspect it is easier to shoot too against the OOCers as Mike did but I was hearthened by his ability to play better defense, play heady basketball, and not be so much of a liability out there. In those areas, he did well. Which means he can relieve Barnett if needed (as was the case). If he scores, much like above, gravy.

@nark --- contributors "at some point." Let's hope so .... they've only completed about 13% of their career here and with nothing to show, the only way to go is up. That statement was open-ended and typical coach-speak. But I'm okay with it.

@sshoe -- you have nailed the key to beating Havoc, partially. The other half of that key is to also make them pay if they stay in it, which they will. They know no other way. La Salle destroyed them in Richmond last year because they pushed their attack to the basket even after broaching the half court line. If you stop because you "broke" the press, they will just reapply it into a half court press. If you take the break to the hole and make layups, you are making them pay the ultimate price because their halfcourt offensive game is weak. That's why we need four guys beating their press --- three heady guards to proceed up the court with a forward for relief, and then a continuation to the finish. The main difference between this year and last is we have to go play there for the first time and the Siegel Center is a tough place to play at any time. I think we can demolsih them at home. Plus, outside of Graham, I am not that impressed with the skills of anyone else. Melvin Johnson can get hot but the rest are just highly athletic but short on skills. You negate Weber by not letting him pressure the ballhanlder and you watch for his blindside sneak when the ballhandler is forced to one side of the court. Frankly, dribbling should be your leats-preferred option.

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I keep reading people praise Crawford's performance in the Dayton game and other games. And while I agree that he did some things well and I like how he drives to the hole and he does have a bright future, it seems like people are ignoring that since starting the season 5 for 5 (against SEMO, SIUE and Oral Roberts) he has gone 1 for 15 since. If he's going to stay in the rotation going forward, he's going to have to make some shots...

Agreed. He looks like he will develop into a good player, but his shots v Dayton were way off the mark.

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I think the goal for MC, RA & TL at this point is to give us some minutes / depth. Those few minutes that Crawford played helped give some of the players a breather. Near the end of the game Dayton was dragging....they looked gassed. One of the things that contributed to our success last year was depth. The more depth / minutes we have from bench players the better we will be. It ain't easy or restful playing defense.

Sometimes, we overlook the fact of how good we really are.

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Agreed. He looks like he will develop into a good player, but his shots v Dayton were way off the mark.

As I've watched the 3 frosh all year, I've reached the following conclusion regarding their offense (no comment on their defense). Reggie continues to be agressive on the boards and is willing to go to the basket for a shot.

Tanner and Mike have both lost confidence and need the staff to rebuild it. Both appear more reluctant to take a shot now than they did early in the season, therefore I think they are pressing when they do shoot. This same lack of confidence in perimeter shooting might also be McCall's problem.

I continue to believe that all 3 of them are good additions to the team, showing a lot of potential. Unlike Taj and a few others, I do think we should be keeping next year in mind as we go through the rest of our schedule given what we will be losing from this year's squad. I am NOT saying we should sacrifice any wins this year to get playing time for the 3 FR, but I am saying we need to judiciously insert them into the lineup whenever possible and I don't mean just in clean-up time with the walkons. All 3 have shown that they will not hurt the team when on the court and in fact I have seen more "freshman" type mistakes from Austin, Jake and Jordair than from the limited minutes of the freshmen.

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Agreed. He looks like he will develop into a good player, but his shots v Dayton were way off the mark.

Guess you didn't see the same game I saw, His 3 pt shoots where off the back and top of the rim. He was fouled on his drive to the basket and got too far under the basket for a good angle on the break. I would attribute this misses to his previous lack of playing time. The more time he gets he will correct these problems. His defense is no longer an excuse to keep him on the bench, his looked better than JB's. Plus JB hitr his shoots because he wasn't tired of riunning around like achicken with his head cut off trying to catch up to who ever he was defending.

JMHO

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As I've watched the 3 frosh all year, I've reached the following conclusion regarding their offense (no comment on their defense). Reggie continues to be agressive on the boards and is willing to go to the basket for a shot.

Tanner and Mike have both lost confidence and need the staff to rebuild it. Both appear more reluctant to take a shot now than they did early in the season, therefore I think they are pressing when they do shoot. This same lack of confidence in perimeter shooting might also be McCall's problem.

I continue to believe that all 3 of them are good additions to the team, showing a lot of potential. Unlike Taj and a few others, I do think we should be keeping next year in mind as we go through the rest of our schedule given what we will be losing from this year's squad. I am NOT saying we should sacrifice any wins this year to get playing time for the 3 FR, but I am saying we need to judiciously insert them into the lineup whenever possible and I don't mean just in clean-up time with the walkons. All 3 have shown that they will not hurt the team when on the court and in fact I have seen more "freshman" type mistakes from Austin, Jake and Jordair than from the limited minutes of the freshmen.

I could not disagree more with pretty much your entire assessment. We are in the heart of the conf season where every win in paramount and every game is magnified. This coaching staff has demonstrated an excellent ability to rotate players and keep them fresh. We are 15-2 and last game the coach played a 9 man rotation. That is as long a rotation as you can expect to see in the middle of the season. Crawford did not look at all scared to take shots--he put up two threes in the heat of action and they were just a little long. He also agressively drove to the basket and scored but got an offensive foul. You also have your head in the place where the sun don't shine if you are going to rip Jordair Jett. Sure he makes some mistakes as does every good player in the country but he is playing great all around basketball and Tanner or Reggie are not yet in the same universe as he is. They will be fine but it is ridiculous to say they should play now just to get them playing time. It looks like we may have a very special team--maybe the best in a generation but time will tell. But we should leave the coaching decisions regarding playing time to our great staff and head coach and cheer for the team.

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I could not disagree more with pretty much your entire assessment. We are in the heart of the conf season where every win in paramount and every game is magnified. This coaching staff has demonstrated an excellent ability to rotate players and keep them fresh. We are 15-2 and last game the coach played a 9 man rotation. That is as long a rotation as you can expect to see in the middle of the season. Crawford did not look at all scared to take shots--he put up two threes in the heat of action and they were just a little long. He also agressively drove to the basket and scored but got an offensive foul. You also have your head in the place where the sun don't shine if you are going to rip Jordair Jett. Sure he makes some mistakes as does every good player in the country but he is playing great all around basketball and Tanner or Reggie are not yet in the same universe as he is. They will be fine but it is ridiculous to say they should play now just to get them playing time. It looks like we may have a very special team--maybe the best in a generation but time will tell. But we should leave the coaching decisions regarding playing time to our great staff and head coach and cheer for the team.

+1

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I could not disagree more with pretty much your entire assessment. We are in the heart of the conf season where every win in paramount and every game is magnified. This coaching staff has demonstrated an excellent ability to rotate players and keep them fresh. We are 15-2 and last game the coach played a 9 man rotation. That is as long a rotation as you can expect to see in the middle of the season. Crawford did not look at all scared to take shots--he put up two threes in the heat of action and they were just a little long. He also agressively drove to the basket and scored but got an offensive foul. You also have your head in the place where the sun don't shine if you are going to rip Jordair Jett. Sure he makes some mistakes as does every good player in the country but he is playing great all around basketball and Tanner or Reggie are not yet in the same universe as he is. They will be fine but it is ridiculous to say they should play now just to get them playing time. It looks like we may have a very special team--maybe the best in a generation but time will tell. But we should leave the coaching decisions regarding playing time to our great staff and head coach and cheer for the team.

Pretty much agree with all of this.

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