Taj79 Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Did the same thing to them as they did us at Rose Hill. If neither us nor them win another conference game all year, we'll finish 14 out of 14. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 From first to possibly DFL in one year. Oh my, no one said it's easy being a Billiken fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettFlight5 Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 From first to possibly DFL in one year. Oh my, no one said it's easy being a Billiken fan. Well, I guess the laws of basketball and the laws of gravity are pretty close. What goes up must come down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken class of 15 Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Well, I guess the laws of basketball and the laws of gravity are pretty close. What goes up must come down. A lot of posters on here like to compare us to Dayton and/or Xavier. Have either of those schools ever gone from first to worst over the span of one season? Obviously there's still plenty of season left, and plenty of time to emerge from the cellar, but this is still concerning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettFlight5 Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 A lot of posters on here like to compare us to Dayton and/or Xavier. Have either of those schools ever gone from first to worst over the span of one season? Obviously there's still plenty of season left, and plenty of time to emerge from the cellar, but this is still concerning. If the last guy was still on the sidelines, I'd be more confident of a turnaround happening. This year, the program is looking at a 14 seed in Brooklyn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 I'd be interested to see how many teams from a top 10 conference have gone from first to worst like this. Creighton might go from 2nd to worst in the BE. The're still ranked about 150 spots higher than us, but I wouldn't want to be a Creighton fan right now either. I still think we avoid finishing last but it's basically all the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samslu Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I was a huge fan of Majerus but we are in the position we are because his last two recruiting classes were way below where you need to be to compete in a conference like the A10. The fact that Crews wasn't appointed head coach until after the season really hurt recruiting that year. We were lucky to get Lancona, Agbeko, and Ash. Crews and staff did an outstanding job with our current freshman class and hopefully the two (or three) coming next will be as good. Majerus getting sick and then dying really put the program back. I am confident next year we will be back to where we all want the program to be. In the meantime I am going to enjoy watching the freshman and some sophomores growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenNorm Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Last year Butler was 4-14 in what was a mediocre Big East. This year Butler is second in what appears to be a much stronger Big East. Last year Jones was out for the season and they had just lost their coach, but this year the roster is more or less the same (+Jones). This year 65% of Butler's minutes are played by seniors and juniors with another 27 mpg from a sophmore. This year 51% of our minutes are coming from freshman, 55% if you look at conference games only. My point is that Butler's season-to-season improvement leads me to believe there is hope. The 2014-2015 Bills team is plagued by turnovers and rebounding, not lack of creativity on inbound plays or refusal to make rebounding attempts on offensive free throws. If the current starters stay the course and don't decide to transfer, if Reggie continues to imporve at the rate he is improving and if Neufeld provides a reasonable upgrade at the 5, I think we could make a similar leap next year. Maybe not a tournament team, but NIT. It is almost impossible to evaluate this team with 20 turnovers per game. If that continues, then we are all going to be frustrated for a long time, but if we cut the TOs in half like I think we can next year, I don't see anyone in the league that we are incapable of beating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmbilliken Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Last year Butler was 4-14 in what was a mediocre Big East. This year Butler is second in what appears to be a much stronger Big East. Last year Jones was out for the season and they had just lost their coach, but this year the roster is more or less the same (+Jones). This year 65% of Butler's minutes are played by seniors and juniors with another 27 mpg from a sophmore. This year 51% of our minutes are coming from freshman, 55% if you look at conference games only. My point is that Butler's season-to-season improvement leads me to believe there is hope. The 2014-2015 Bills team is plagued by turnovers and rebounding, not lack of creativity on inbound plays or refusal to make rebounding attempts on offensive free throws. If the current starters stay the course and don't decide to transfer, if Reggie continues to imporve at the rate he is improving and if Neufeld provides a reasonable upgrade at the 5, I think we could make a similar leap next year. Maybe not a tournament team, but NIT. It is almost impossible to evaluate this team with 20 turnovers per game. If that continues, then we are all going to be frustrated for a long time, but if we cut the TOs in half like I think we can next year, I don't see anyone in the league that we are incapable of beating. Our recruiting of big men is a concern. It's like we've got to bring in 4 projects to have a shot at having one serviceable big guy. That's a lot of scholarship capital spent on a position we are getting little or no return from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettFlight5 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Good point above. Maybe Neufeld or Welmer is the guy who breaks the cycle there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I'm not looking at any other team or even any prior Bills team to give me optimism or pessimism heading into next year. I gotta see good things on the court and hopefully hear good things over the summer. I listened to too much last summer but now I realize which sources to actually trust. I'm excited to see it play out over the last month and into next year. Anything can happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenNorm Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Agreed, I think the LaSalle, Duquense, Mason, Bonnie stretch will be very telling about the future of this team from not only an attitude stand point but also to foreshadow next season. I just hope the sources your trust provide you with hope that there is potential to be somewhat optimistic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samslu Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Wellmer is a skinny 6'8" kid so I wouldn't count on him to be a 5. I am hopefull on Neufeld but who knows. Gillmann is going to be good. He has great hands and and a good touch inside. He shoots the 3 well and has good instincts about where he needs to be. He also seems to have very good court vision which makes him a good passer. He has put on weight but still needs another 25 pounds. His main negative is his lateral foot speed. Until he improves that people will continue to drive right by him. Right now Jolly is all about effort. He plays hard but has very little to offer offensively at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmbilliken Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Wellmer is a skinny 6'8" kid so I wouldn't count on him to be a 5. I am hopefull on Neufeld but who knows. Gillmann is going to be good. He has great hands and and a good touch inside. He shoots the 3 well and has good instincts about where he needs to be. He also seems to have very good court vision which makes him a good passer. He has put on weight but still needs another 25 pounds. His main negative is his lateral foot speed. Until he improves that people will continue to drive right by him. Right now Jolly is all about effort. He plays hard but has very little to offer offensively at this point. Can you improve quickness or lateral foot speed? Maybe marginally, but how do you do that significantly unless the slowness is caused by excess weight? That's not the case here. What you can improve significantly is weight and strength, but it takes time. He supposedly has put on 15 pounds since he arrived. If he could do that again by next season that would be significant and would increase his confidence to get inside and be effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I still think we avoid finishing last but it's basically all the same. -I;m curious, how? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Can you improve quickness or lateral foot speed? Maybe marginally, but how do you do that significantly unless the slowness is caused by excess weight? That's not the case here. What you can improve significantly is weight and strength, but it takes time. He supposedly has put on 15 pounds since he arrived. If he could do that again by next season that would be significant and would increase his confidence to get inside and be effective. Absolutely. But it's not really raw lateral speed which need to be improved to prevent the offense from blowing by him as much as it proper footwork and technique, familiarity and reading/anticipation of what your opponent is going to do. BC made huge strides in his footwork and technique and therefore was able to have success against bigger, stronger and more athletic forwards. I still recall RM going on and on and on about angles, footwork, positioning, technique and percentages. The question is: Can Jim Crews or anyone else on his staff teach the same and develop the big men like they need. I hope so but getting older, bigger and stronger help but are not enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billboy1 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 AG is very slow-don't know how that improves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmith19 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Florida was undefeated in the SEC last year. I think they're currently tied for 10th place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmith19 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 -I;m curious, how? We still have games against Duquesne and George Mason left. Those are very winnable. Unfortunately, so does Fordham... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeniceMenace Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I was a huge fan of Majerus but we are in the position we are because his last two recruiting classes were way below where you need to be to compete in a conference like the A10. The fact that Crews wasn't appointed head coach until after the season really hurt recruiting that year. We were lucky to get Lancona, Agbeko, and Ash. Crews and staff did an outstanding job with our current freshman class and hopefully the two (or three) coming next will be as good. Majerus getting sick and then dying really put the program back. I am confident next year we will be back to where we all want the program to be. In the meantime I am going to enjoy watching the freshman and some sophomores growth. +1...the chances that we will be back to where we all want the program to be next year are 50/50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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