b.hayes Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Yep. #12 and #13 play each other in the opening round game. Then 5-12, 6-11, 7-10, and 8-9 play and the winners play 1, 2, 3, & 4 in the 2nd round. They way things are going, if SLU finishes 1st and GMU last, then GMU would have to win 2 games before they would get a shot at SLU in the tournament. I'm not sure if it is good or bad that SLU plays both Mason and Duquesne again during the regular season. They really struggled against both teams and didn't seem to match up well. Therefore, the prospect of playing them again is frightening. On the other hand, the Billikens may be pissed about how the 1st games went and be looking for revenge. If the Billikens take care of business over the remaining 9 games the A10 tourney is going to be a nice exhibition. It would be good to repeat, but hopefully we've proven ourselves worthy of a good seed before it gets to that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUBillsFan Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 If the Billikens take care of business over the remaining 9 games the A10 tourney is going to be a nice exhibition. It would be good to repeat, but hopefully we've proven ourselves worthy of a good seed before it gets to that point. I'm with you on that one. I would love for the A10 tournament to not really matter for SLU. I think I saw something that showed tournament winners usually fare worse than expected in the NCAAs because they don't have as much time to rest. Can't remember where though, so I guess it could have just been BS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I'm with you on that one. I would love for the A10 tournament to not really matter for SLU. I think I saw something that showed tournament winners usually fare worse than expected in the NCAAs because they don't have as much time to rest. Can't remember where though, so I guess it could have just been BS. For that to work, though, it needs to be one win and then a loss in the semifinal. Reach the final, and you might as well win the dang-on thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiehardFan Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I felt like the amount of terrible shots that dropped in was reminiscent of the Santa Clara game. In the first half it seemed like they could do no wrong and the ball would clang in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b.hayes Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Though, watching the Duke - Cuse game going on right now, we need to get the best seed possible. We can't get matched up with Syracuse before the Sweet 16. We'd lose to them by 30+. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old guy Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I will also say that all the talk about the depth of the A-10 this year is spot on. I've seen every team play this year and there is no real dog in the bunch. Agree, GM was not riding on luck today. They did take advantage of some bad officiating calls, and they were hitting shots from everywhere, but not all they did was luck. I think they are a good team that just does not have what it takes to keep the level of play up into overtime. I think tonight's game shows how resilient and enduring we are. I am happy we won, 14 in a row now, and I am looking forward to next week in Philly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majerus mojo Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Def got the RI vibes all game.. at one point I asked when the last time GM missed a 3 was.. at least halfway through the 2nd half.. and they hadn't missed one at that point (5-5). No. 3 was killing us. They made some amazing lay-ups on top of that and whenever they DID miss a shot, they got the offensive rebound. Along with a couple brutal calls... extremely tough to watch. We do not win that game the last 5 seasons, talk about seniors gutting out a W. Loved every minute of it, never thought we were cooked when they could have easily ran away with it. Loved MM shooting 4 consecutive 3's even though only 1 of them fell, they were all in-and-out or right on. Keep shooting it, young fella. Every game you also get the feeling AM is going to have a BIG 3-ball when we desperately need it. What else can you say about RL after that? I had the feeling after the Richmond game he was turning it on, but wow, that was f'ing awesome. Onions. We needed him and MM because JJ had the worst 35 mins I've seen from him all season until the end of the game. Some really, really, horrible passes, a lot of them in transition off of big TOs. Didn't seem to drive at all until late either. Thought DE was also lacking his usual intensity, for some reason. Don't get me started on the defensive rebounding.. could not have been worse. W's a W though as they say. Jacked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettFlight5 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 The good thing about winning is it brings out the a-holes from a 10 loss team (former conference mate). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 No way we ever want to share a nickname with a team that never won anything while in town and made me into a Dallas Cowboy fan....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken class of 15 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 No disrespect to GM,but I'm personally not that worried about the next time we play them. It's kinda like the Duquesne game. Rather than getting me worried about the team, it just further proves to me that this team can win against anyone under any circumstances. We can beat anyone we play. This team will not be denied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmith19 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 A win's a win. I'll take about nine more of these if necessary as long as this is the result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyRican Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Though, watching the Duke - Cuse game going on right now, we need to get the best seed possible. We can't get matched up with Syracuse before the Sweet 16. We'd lose to them by 30+. Dumb. Watching that said game and I think we match up well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMDG Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Though, watching the Duke - Cuse game going on right now, we need to get the best seed possible. We can't get matched up with Syracuse before the Sweet 16. We'd lose to them by 30+. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 A couple of things: First, that was honestly some of the worst NCAA Division I officiating I have ever seen. Absolutely awful, those men should all be demoted to division III immediately. No scratch that, they're not even good enough for high school games. Second, George mason made some of the luckiest shots. Between making pretty much all of their threes (most being contested) and the ridiculous lobs that just dropped right in, I've never seen luckier shots. Lastly, this game showed just how resilient this Billikens team really is. They never gave up or backed down, even when the offense was sloppy or the refs ****ed us over on the defensive end. The next time we play GMU, I don't think all of those lucky shots will drop for them again. My thoughts exactly - they will not shoot 55% again - for most of the game they shot over 60% - un heard off. My only real complaint about the refs was that they did not know what a walk was when GMU had the ball. The must have scored 10-12 pts on walks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 we got some cheap calls our way. credit to GM, they played a great game and seemed to hit every shot. i still don't understand their strategy on the last possession of regulation. Drive the paint and put one up - they were dropping all day for them that way. Also, if you miss get the rebound and put it back - Bills were not blocking much at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b.hayes Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Dumb. Watching that said game and I think we match up well. With Syracuse?? I love the Bills, I live and die with them day in and day out. But between our struggles against zone defense and their players, I don't see us standing a chance at winning against them. You think Austin McBroom is going to match up with the Syracuse guards? I don't see that at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Agree, GM was not riding on luck today. They did take advantage of some bad officiating calls, and they were hitting shots from everywhere, but not all they did was luck. I think they are a good team that just does not have what it takes to keep the level of play up into overtime. I think tonight's game shows how resilient and enduring we are. I am happy we won, 14 in a row now, and I am looking forward to next week in Philly. Luck or not no team can shoot 55% in a game and hit 5 of 5 from three at one point and not be called lucky. They played hard and we rebounded like dirt today but you can not tell me that they did not get away with at least 5 walks that end up scores. Also, we did not play very good help defense today either. Where was the intensity we had with Richmond? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonwich Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 It may be lame to blame the refs, but if they'd called 4 or 5 steps as traveling, GMU would have lost 10-16 points. (Not to mention double-dribble did not appear to be a rule anymore for those clowns.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zink Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Luck or not no team can shoot 55% in a game and hit 5 of 5 from three at one point and not be called lucky. They played hard and we rebounded like dirt today but you can not tell me that they did not get away with at least 5 walks that end up scores. Also, we did not play very good help defense today either. Where was the intensity we had with Richmond?Something was definitely different than the Richmond game, but I would characterize it as "crispness" rather than intensity, particularly regarding defensive rotations. Too many times our helpside defense challenged shots that the primary defender already had covered (at least in the second half). This led to all of the second chance points, as the weakside defenders were out of position. And offensively we were almost too intense! Lots of big defensive plays were negated by bad passes/poor decisions on the ensuing possession. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Pine Jim Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Something was definitely different than the Richmond game, but I would characterize it as "crispness" rather than intensity, particularly regarding defensive rotations. Too many times our helpside defense challenged shots that the primary defender already had covered (at least in the second half). This led to all of the second chance points, as the weakside defenders were out of position. And offensively we were almost too intense! Lots of big defensive plays were negated by bad passes/poor decisions on the ensuing possession. That was a very solid analysis, Zink. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 They had some pretty open looks. Those go in pretty often. Sure they hit some lucky shots, but they also seemed to have a lot of shots right around the basket. I wouldn't call much of it luck. I do agree that they got away with a about 10 or 11 travels during this game. I was beside myself at how often those refs ignored the travels. Also, the rebounding in the last 3-4 minutes of that game made me realize that some people snap enough to kill somebody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I think 'Cuse goes all the way this year. Unless, we meet them in the championship game. That zone, with those long limbed guys, would give us fits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 GM is a good team. Their offensive rebounding almost did us in, which means they were pumped for this game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zink Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 That was a very solid analysis, Zink. +1Thank ya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GW Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Though, watching the Duke - Cuse game going on right now, we need to get the best seed possible. We can't get matched up with Syracuse before the Sweet 16. We'd lose to them by 30+. I feel the need to address this. Syracuse is obviously a great team. With Arizona's loss tonight, they will probably be ranked #1 on Monday. Sure, if they were to play SLU they would be favored in the game. But a "30+" point loss??? Even as great as Syracuse is, do you realize that their highest margin of victory on the season was 28 points at home versus the basketball power Binghamton (4W- 18L)? Next come 22 point victories against cornell and east michigan, a 21 point victory against high point and then a 20 point victory against Virginia tech. For comparison purposes, SLU's highest margin of victory is 27 points with a total of eight 20+ point victory margin games. The most impressive of any of these blowouts belongs to SLU vs Richmond. The only common opponent the two teams share is both played fordham at home- SLU won by 22, Syracuse won by 15. Am I saying SLU is the better team? No, but I am hopefully making it clear that expecting a 30+ point loss to Syracuse is terribly disrespectful to our team. Duke takes Syracuse to overtime at Syracuse. Duke is ranked #17 and SLU is ranked #19. So a team ranked 2 slots higher can go on the road and make a game of it, but SLU at a neutral site (you are implying a potential tournament matchup) is just going to crap its pants and lose by 30+? What kind of defeatist mentality is this? My personal expectation for this team is that they can compete with any other college team anytime anywhere and make a game of it. I would guess that the wiz's line on this game would be Syracuse by less than 10 points at a neutral site. For SLU to have an expected loss of 30+ would require a matchup versus a professional team. We are not some bottom feeder- we are the damn 19th (and rising) ranked team in the country!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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