Quality Is Job 1 Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 The 2014-15 Billikens haven't played up to their potential for a full 20 minutes — let alone 40! — a single time this season. Moreover, I'm not anticipating that they will against Rockhurst, either. If they don't play 40 minutes at their potential against Wichita State, they may get blown out by much worse than the 25-point Mississippi State whipping put on them (and even the Bills' best game would result in a 15- to 20-point loss at Wichita State unless the Shockers play poorly or completely overlook and disrespect the Bills). I hope, though, that the rest of the December games permit this squad to develop some confidence and chemistry in time for the conference season (plus Vandy), because if they don't play their best every game between January and March, it may be ugly. Even in 1992-93, Spoon's first season, the team had improved from the previous debacle of 5-23 to look decent during the non-conference portion of the season, only to go winless against Great Midwest rivals until the conference tourney game against Marquette. The conference season really ramps things up! It would really help for Ash Yacoubou to find his stride and play like a veteran leader. It also would really help for veterans to make sure the "system" is executed properly in practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikenboy Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Boys are playing better than you give them credit for. Sounds more like doom and gloom....kids are getting better with each game. Every game has to be approached with the best mentality to win whether or not the opponent is a walkover or not. These boys are capable of losing such a game like Rockhurst. We know that and I am sure they know that. Do you think these boys have no pride? You think Crews does not keep building on what happened yesterday vs Bradley. They may not win every one but they are learning just like the glorious WSU was 2-3 years ago. Today WSU is a good team today but they were a better team last year and will be worse next year. So do not get it twisted, on any given night anyone can win. I guarantee you Greg Marshall does not overlook the Bills because when you do that you can expect a dogfight. Once you let a young team feel it can be beat you...it will likely happen. The expectation is that we will lose and even Ash will have his hands full vet or no vet. As long as they compete and leave it all on the floor using the best defensive and offensive strategies provided by the coaching staff, I can live with the results. By the way, what team can play 40 minutes of dominant ball? Not even Kentucky. Basketball is a game of runs and whoever makes fewer mistakes gets the win...could be the Bills on any given night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeniceMenace Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Agree with Billikenboy...so far we own the MVC, now 3-0 vs. those teams...not saying we'll beat WSU, but not bad for a team of mostly underclassmen picked 9th/10th in the A10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwayne's_World Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Boys are playing better than you give them credit for. Sounds more like doom and gloom....kids are getting better with each game. Every game has to be approached with the best mentality to win whether or not the opponent is a walkover or not. These boys are capable of losing such a game like Rockhurst. We know that and I am sure they know that. Do you think these boys have no pride? You think Crews does not keep building on what happened yesterday vs Bradley. They may not win every one but they are learning just like the glorious WSU was 2-3 years ago. Today WSU is a good team today but they were a better team last year and will be worse next year. So do not get it twisted, on any given night anyone can win. I guarantee you Greg Marshall does not overlook the Bills because when you do that you can expect a dogfight. Once you let a young team feel it can be beat you...it will likely happen. The expectation is that we will lose and even Ash will have his hands full vet or no vet. As long as they compete and leave it all on the floor using the best defensive and offensive strategies provided by the coaching staff, I can live with the results. By the way, what team can play 40 minutes of dominant ball? Not even Kentucky. Basketball is a game of runs and whoever makes fewer mistakes gets the win...could be the Bills on any given night. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUfan_42 Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Still believe that this team can make a post season tournament, and I think that has to be the goal right now. That may be setting the bar a little low (compared to the last couple years), but postseason exposure would be awesome for the frosh to get accustomed to playing that late into the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 I'm not saying that this team's best ball will look like the best ball of last year's team. I'm just saying I think they can play a lot better for longer stretches than we've seen. If they do, then we may be pleasantly surprised how the season turns out. But the status quo suggests 15 to 17 wins. I'm with them, thick or thin, but I would like to see the pieces fall into place more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NH Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 I'm not going to make a prediction because I feel like we haven't seen enough of these players to know. All I will say is that if we win 15 to 17 as Thicks mentions, then that is a terrific building block moving forward. If we can win that many with a team that has practically no experience, individually and collectively, then we are going to be better in a few years than we ever have been in my Billiken fandom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizziken Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 With such a young team I've been focusing more on improvement rather than results. It's a little concerning that our offense has been so stagnant considering that it should, to some extent, come naturally and emphasize skills already learned. Perhaps the over-emphasis on defense in our system has been a detriment to our early offensive development. As the team plays together the kinks will hopefully work themselves out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BACKHANDtheRICAN Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 F We suck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 I'm not going to make a prediction because I feel like we haven't seen enough of these players to know. All I will say is that if we win 15 to 17 as Thicks mentions, then that is a terrific building block moving forward. If we can win that many with a team that has practically no experience, individually and collectively, then we are going to be better in a few years than we ever have been in my Billiken fandom. I agree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 With such a young team I've been focusing more on improvement rather than results. It's a little concerning that our offense has been so stagnant considering that it should, to some extent, come naturally and emphasize skills already learned. Perhaps the over-emphasis on defense in our system has been a detriment to our early offensive development. As the team plays together the kinks will hopefully work themselves out. +1 If the improvement comes, the results will follow. Just watch and enjoy, There will be bad play that makes you think this team can't win another game ever and great play that leaves you estatic for the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
For-DaLove Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 +1 If the improvement comes, the results will follow. Just watch and enjoy, There will be bad play that makes you think this team can't win another game ever and great play that leaves you estatic for the future. 50/50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 50/50 I feel certain it's 52/48 or 48/52 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 I'm not going to make a prediction because I feel like we haven't seen enough of these players to know. All I will say is that if we win 15 to 17 as Thicks mentions, then that is a terrific building block moving forward. If we can win that many with a team that has practically no experience, individually and collectively, then we are going to be better in a few years than we ever have been in my Billiken fandom. Yes. That is probably a realistic assessment based upon what we have seen to date. My pre-season prediction had been 18 wins and anything less would be disappointing. And yes, considering that our significant contributions, to date, have been largely from McBroom and the Freshmen, then this is a terrific building block moving forward. At the same time, I can and would be disappointed if we win less than 18 games. Don't get me wrong - I am not putting blame on Jim Crews, etc. At the same time, JM (RM's recruit) has been a disappointment to date (one might actually state for 3 1/2 years and counting), GG (RM's recruit) has provided nothing (and I am not expecting much even if he returns healthy), our Sophs (Jim Crews' guys) have NOT stepped up their games as we have needed and our transfer (Ash - Jim Crews guys) is good, is one of our better players, but is not living up to certain expectation and is certainly not coming close to the expectation one would have had of him coming out of high school. But for the Freshmen, we might have only 2 wins this year -- and yes -- I AM counting Rockhurst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stlhoops Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 It's trending this way but I don't see any reason JM should see the floor. Jolly and to an extent Gillman already look more competent. Crews understands this. You could argue JM gives you better D and a better presence inside but I'm not even sure that's true. He is such a terrible basketball player. Let these two Freshman play the vast majority and hopefully one of them steps up big time as a Sophmore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 It's trending this way but I don't see any reason JM should see the floor. Jolly and to an extent Gillman already look more competent. Crews understands this. You could argue JM gives you better D and a better presence inside but I'm not even sure that's true. He is such a terrible basketball player. Let these two Freshman play the vast majority and hopefully one of them steps up big time as a Sophmore. STL. Now that's an example of going to far. JM is NOT "a terrible basketball player" and there are reasons why he "should see the floor". Now, how much playing time should be receive compared to Jolly and Gillman? That's a fair question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stlhoops Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Name one thing JM does well on the floor. In all seriousness I can't think of one. I guess that doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't exist but I would love for someone to provide just one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BACKHANDtheRICAN Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 STL. Now that's an example of going to far. JM is NOT "a terrible basketball player" and there are reasons why he "should see the floor". Now, how much playing time should be receive compared to Jolly and Gillman? That's a fair question. JM is absolutely a terrible basketball player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmith19 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Manning was the best shot blocker on the team last year. He had almost as many blocks as Loe in about one third of the minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NextYearBill Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Manning was the best shot blocker on the team last year. He had almost as many blocks as Loe in about one third of the minutes. a broken watch is right twice a day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Manning isn't good enough that he should be taking any minutes from Jolly and Gillmann. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iggy Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Our whipping boy has been found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmith19 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Our whipping boy has been found. It's a shame Glaze has been injured, because I was looking forward to a battle for this role. Manning is going to have to take all the abuse by himself now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BACKHANDtheRICAN Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Crews' best lesson to the team might be that life isn't always fair and there is always a winner and a loser. Take away JMs a scholly before conference play starts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Crews' best lesson to the team might be that life isn't always fair and there is always a winner and a loser. Take away JMs a scholly before conference play starts. The the jury for the NH incident reach a verdict yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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