George Mason Post Game Press Conference

[Clock_Tower]

If Crews was such a desired choice for Rickma why did he not reach out to Crews when he hired Whitsell? When plenty of options were available, Rickma hired Whitsell without even talking to Crews.

RM was a shrewd man. RM knew exactly what he wanted, did not need much advice from anyone and did not need help breaking down film or with the X's and O's. Instead, he needed help recruiting and doing the legwork. To that end, RM hired assistant coaches who complemented him -- not who could take over the program in his absence/after would be gone. RM realized that he needed an assistant coach who could land kids from Chicago/Northern Illinois. From the beginning had this covered with Porter, When Porter left, Whitesell was an easy replacement.

[MB73]

Simpleton. Nice man, but average coach at best

You would have to be promoted upwards 5 times to be a in the category of simpleton.

This terrible loss is very disappointing to all of us, I am stunned, and there obviously is something wrong. I would guess some of the players are not on board with Crew's approach or something, perhaps they know they are not coming back. A few like that can really hurt a team. There is no way of us knowing at this point, maybe that is not the case, but losing this badly at home to a lousy team like George Mason means that some or all of the team quit.

But Crews is not a simpleton, show some respect, watch your mouth, simpleton minus 5.

[Old guy]

I heard what Crews had to say and did not like it. I do not think he is defeated, I think he is rejecting the team or large portions of it. I cannot guess where we may go from here on. Hope it gets better but cannot be in any way optimistic about it. Bad year, I think we may need new faces in the team.

[MB73]

I heard what Crews had to say and did not like it. I do not think he is defeated, I think he is rejecting the team or large portions of it. I cannot guess where we may go from here on. Hope it gets better but cannot be in any way optimistic about it. Bad year, I think we may need new faces in the team.

Yep.

[Clock_Tower]

I heard what Crews had to say and did not like it. I do not think he is defeated, I think he is rejecting the team or large portions of it. I cannot guess where we may go from here on. Hope it gets better but cannot be in any way optimistic about it. Bad year, I think we may need new faces in the team.

What did you not like about what Crews said? I watched the post game interview posted by Steve. Is that what you are referring to?

[Bay Area Billiken]

The one substantive point mentioned by Crews was the team could not guard anyone, as the opponent's players zipped by our players, and the team could not guard the ball screens.

Again, this screams, begs, for a zone defense alternative. And the lack of same, my brethren, is on the coach.

I am not advocating a zone defense as the primary base defense. I am advocating a zone defense as an alternative, for certain teams, like George Mason.

[VeniceMenace]

Agreed...that's what Troy Robertson said late in the first half well after Bay Area posted that thought on the GDT. Crews needs to check Bills.com during the game or have someone do it for him

[WestCoastBilliken]

I think we are going to see a huge transfer out this off season. My GUESS 3-4 of our frosh - juniors are gone. I have no inside info on this, but just from watching a few players Ive got a feeling...

[Clock_Tower]

The one substantive point mentioned by Crews was the team could not guard anyone, as the opponent's players zipped by our players, and the team could not guard the ball screens.

Again, this screams, begs, for a zone defense alternative. And the lack of same, my brethren, is on the coach.

I am not advocating a zone defense as the primary base defense. I am advocating a zone defense as an alternative, for certain teams, like George Mason.

No. Until this team learns the basics (man to man), no time to learn a completely different defense (zone). These past two years, I had been in favor of our teams learning and going to zone to change things up on opposing teams -- to throw them off. Playing a zone defense b/c our team has not yet figured out to properly play man to man defense is compromising our principles. Playing smart, yelling out that screens are coming, switching assignments and moving your feet is what is necessary -- not learning a different system.

[BigMouthBilliken]

I think we are going to see a huge transfer out this off season. My GUESS 3-4 of our frosh - juniors are gone. I have no inside info on this, but just from watching a few players Ive got a feeling...

I suppose, but they certainly can't complain about playing time

[RiseAndGrind]

I didn't read this thread. SLU is not good. There isn't much more to say.

[Old guy]

What is it that I did not like in Crew's post game interview?, well to start with, the mention that we are not solid, we are not prepared and that he is head coach and he is responsible for this. Whatever spin you may wish to give this statement, it is not positive. I do not think there is anything that you could really like about it. It means we as a team are C R A P in the eyes of the head coach. And as he said, it is the truth. Oh, and please remember that the coaches may train and teach but it is the players that do the playing and if they do not do what they are supposed to do and lose game after game, this is a problem.

Did you like Crews' statement in the post game interview Clock? What did you like about it? Do you disagree that we need new faces in the team?

What did you not like about what Crews said? I watched the post game interview posted by Steve. Is that what you are referring to?

[Clock_Tower]

Old Guy. I now understand what you meant. Thanks. Not disagreeing. Our guys are not playing team defense. And tonight, they sure looked like they quit on their coach. As to the post game comments, I appreciate hearing what Crews said and believe he is spot on. In that sense, I liked what he said -- he sees the problems and admits they exist. The fact that we are a bad team and he basically said that as well. I understand where you are coming from.

[Bay Area Billiken]

No. Until this team learns the basics (man to man), no time to learn a completely different defense (zone). These past two years, I had been in favor of our teams learning and going to zone to change things up on opposing teams -- to throw them off. Playing a zone defense b/c our team has not yet figured out to properly play man to man defense is compromising our principles. Playing smart, yelling out that screens are coming, switching assignments and moving your feet is what is necessary -- not learning a different system.

Yes. If this team is unable to play man to man, continuing to play it when the team cannot play it leads to results such as: George Mason 78 @SLU 50. The definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes over and over again and expecting different results.

The zone defense should have been put in the arsenal in preseason, as it should in every preseason, as an alternative defense needed for certain opponents, most especially those that rely on the dribble drive on offense.

This is St. Louis U. How many SLU teams are going to be have better athletes than the majority of their A10 opponents?

Even Fordham plays a zone at times. This is Basketball. A zone defense should not be such a foreign concept, as if it is a foreign language.

[Basketbill]

Crews and Majerus were very close friends. I talked to Jim right after he was hired at the open practice and he told me the only coach he would have come back for was Rick. He was not looking for a job when Rick called him. Crews is very well thought of in the coaching profession.

I drove an hour and a half both ways to see this mess tonight. I extremely disappointed with what I saw but some of you need to get a grip. Do you ever say anything positive about anyone or anything.[/quote

1+

[Bizziken]

I heard what Crews had to say and did not like it. I do not think he is defeated, I think he is rejecting the team or large portions of it. I cannot guess where we may go from here on. Hope it gets better but cannot be in any way optimistic about it. Bad year, I think we may need new faces in the team.

This is what scares me. These problems may go far deeper than merely poor on-court performance. Crews will have to fix this on the fly because we cannot afford another year like this one. This is perhaps the worst Billiken team of all-time numbers-wise, and that is saying something. We will see.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Grawer's last year was probably last time a Billiken team was this bad. That was 1/4 of a century ago. Did have outstanding freshmen but it took a new coach to develop them and fill in some blanks.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Majerus would have been extremely happy to be able to hire Crews no what the situation was. He worked with him on one of the national teams he coached. He was lucky he was available when Jensen quit.

I don't remember, who went first, Porter or Jensen? Seem to recall it was Jensen. Porter, if he stayed would have gotten HC job, he had the title of Associate Coach.

Your right about Whitsell. Lavin grabbed him out of the blue for a reason. His salary at St John's probably doubled.

[3star_recruit]

Yes. If this team is unable to play man to man, continuing to play it when the team cannot play it leads to results such as: George Mason 78 @SLU 50. The definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes over and over again and expecting different results.

The zone defense should have been put in the arsenal in preseason, as it should in every preseason, as an alternative defense needed for certain opponents, most especially those that rely on the dribble drive on offense.

This is St. Louis U. How many SLU teams are going to be have better athletes than the majority of their A10 opponents?

Even Fordham plays a zone at times. This is Basketball. A zone defense should not be such a foreign concept, as if it is a foreign language.

It isn't a foreign language to Crews. His Evansville teams played quite a bit of zone, as they didn't have the team speed to guard a lot of teams man to man. Reynolds is quick but is a total newbie to man to man. Bartley and Crawford are getting abused out there by faster players. And ball screens are the bane of this team's existence. I know Crews has better athletes than he did at Evansville but everyone else has better athletes too.

In light of your comments, I submit the following article:

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2014/12/08/hoop-thoughts-zone-defense-ohio-state-njit-michigan

Throughout most of his 15 years on the sidelines, Thad Matta has been one of the best teachers of man-to-man defense in college basketball. Yet, in recent years, he faced a recurring problem. “We had times when we needed scoring,” Matta says, “but when I wanted to put a player in, I’d think, 'Hey, who’s he going to guard?'"

So this past summer, Matta looked at his roster, which included more size and length than he has had in the recent past, and he made a big decision: He would play zone fulltime. It was a drastic shift, but the results are much the same. Ohio State is 6-1, and in that one loss they darn near came all the way back from a 17-point halftime deficit before succumbing at Louisville, 64-55. The Buckeyes’ success hasn’t come exclusively because of Matta’s new toy, but the early returns are encouraging. “I like the fact that I can put my best offensive players on the floor and not worry about who’s guarding who,” Matta says. “Plus, the game has become so reliant on pick-and-roll. In a zone, we don’t have our bigs hedging on ball screens 25 feet from the basket. It’s more of a guard-on-guard switch, which is easier.”

[Box and Won]

Grawer's last year was probably last time a Billiken team was this bad. That was 1/4 of a century ago. Did have outstanding freshmen but it took a new coach to develop them and fill in some blanks.

Can you imagine what it would've been like had the board been around back then?

[Bay Area Billiken]

Can you imagine what it would've been like had the board been around back then?

That season, '91-'92, was a difficult season. The fanbase was divided. Coach Grawer is the Moses of Billiken Basketball, resurrecting the team from Rock Bottom under Ekker, leading SLU out of the Wilderness, went 159-149 at SLU in 10 years, with 3 NIT appearances and 2 consecutive NIT runner-ups in Grawer years 7 and 8 ('89 and '90).

Grawer's last season was only 2 seasons removed from coaching the NIT Runner-up at SLU. He also was playing freshmen in his last year, having had a bumper recruiting year, the nucleus of which (Erwin Claggett and Scott Highmark) were key players in SLU's first NCAA Tournament team in 37 years, 2 years later ('93-'94) under his successor, Charlie Spoonhour.

[Bay Area Billiken]

It isn't a foreign language to Crews. His Evansville teams played quite a bit of zone, as they didn't have the team speed to guard a lot of teams man to man. Reynolds is quick but is a total newbie to man to man. Bartley and Crawford are getting abused out there by faster players. And ball screens are the bane of this team's existence. I know Crews has better athletes than he did at Evansville but everyone else has better athletes too.

In light of your comments, I submit the following article:

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2014/12/08/hoop-thoughts-zone-defense-ohio-state-njit-michigan

Thank you.

[samslu]

It isn't a foreign language to Crews. His Evansville teams played quite a bit of zone, as they didn't have the team speed to guard a lot of teams man to man. Reynolds is quick but is a total newbie to man to man. Bartley and Crawford are getting abused out there by faster players. And ball screens are the bane of this team's existence. I know Crews has better athletes than he did at Evansville but everyone else has better athletes too.

In light of your comments, I submit the following article:

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2014/12/08/hoop-thoughts-zone-defense-ohio-state-njit-michigan

To do it right you would have to put it in the preseason and fully commit to it like Matta did. Very interesting article.

[Taj79]

Moser went first, replacing Whitesell at Loyola-Chicago. Majerus then hired Whitesell to replace Moser. Essentially a trade if you ask me. Whitesell was on the staff when Jensen left and Majerus brought Crews in. Whitesell left when Crews got the interim tag over him.

I saw Jim Whitesell in Brooklyn the year we won it all. Spent some considerable amount of time talking to him. A class guy, he never said anything bad about the school, the team, Crews, May etc. He said he was there to see the kids he essentially helped recruit to SLU and follow them to the end of their line. He said he took the St. John's job because it was moving up and because his wife wanted to be more East Coast or return to it (and I don't know how true that is).

What would you have done if you were Whitesell? You are essentially the senior staff guy and the HC brings in a friend who the administration promotes over you even though you have more time in grade? Frankly, its sayonara for me too if I'm Whitesell --- the writing is on the wall.

[majerus mojo]

Crews and Majerus were very close friends. I talked to Jim right after he was hired at the open practice and he told me the only coach he would have come back for was Rick. He was not looking for a job when Rick called him. Crews is very well thought of in the coaching profession.

I drove an hour and a half both ways to see this mess tonight. I extremely disappointed with what I saw but some of you need to get a grip. Do you ever say anything positive about anyone or anything.

Just a thought, but if JC wasn't looking for a job, wouldn't come back for anyone but Rick, etc., well... so then does come back. Majerus dies, JC has to now take the reigns and become a HC... not exactly what he expected when he essentially had to be talked back into the profession as an assistant.

He did a helluva job that season considering the circumstances, he's offered an exten$$$ion that only a fool would turn down, can basically auto-pilot (no I don't mean that literally) with our seniors... Now that's over and he goes from nearly calling it a career at 60+ years old to back in the full swing of recruiting, coaching freshmen, etc. Tough spot with all the added expectations from where Majerus lead us.

Also, it doesn't get mentioned nearly enough how grisly our collapse was at the end of last season. Not even close. Burning ship bad.