Bills By 40 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Thats the key word in that statement - not much constructive criticism occurring here. That's all in the interpretation and application of the audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I think it's unfair for us fans to discount our hoops knowledge. No question, we don't know as much as the folks in the profession or even the players, but if you are more than just a casual observer of any sport by really watching the little things that win or lose games, you are probably as qualified to post your observations as a sportswriter. For a long time I had on my DVR the Anaheim tourney games back in 2011. To my unprofessional eye, that was probably some of the best college basketball I'd ever seen. That team was like watching a well choreographed dance. Screens and picks were crisp and well executed. They created good open looks. They played tenacious D. The team played like a team that showed great enthusiasm and confidence. The current Bills edition is so far removed from that standard of play it's like comparing a Ruth Chris' filet mignon to a White Castle slider. And the 2011 Billikens were a young team made up of primarily SOPHs and JRs. Granted we had a much improved Conk, but still it was a young team that had bought 100% into RMs systems and defense. It showed as we swept our way thru a very good field to the championship. Now while it's unfair to compare a team made up of 6 FR to that 2011 team, it's not unfair to ask why they seemingly have shown no grasp of the little details it takes to win ball games, or at the least, to be competitive? Especially so when you consider they are this late into the season. It appears like nothing has been learned over the past 7 months. Who does that fall on, the players or the staff is the issue? If it's the players we have big problems going forward. If it's the staff, they can, and should, do a thorough review this off season of what they're teaching and how they're presenting it to the players. Not being inside the locker room, who can really assign the blame on one or the other? Most likely, like most things in life, it's not cut and dried, and the fault most likely falls on both parties. So, the issue now becomes how do you fix the disconnect and that resolution clearly must come from the HC. Here's hoping he comes up with a solution this off season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 How many layups can a team miss in one game? Is it possible that a year of weight lifting will result in those being made in the next 3 years. How many rebounds can you get your hands on, and lose? Is it possible that a year of weight lifting will result in those not being lost in the next 3 years. Is this group of frosh enough, absolutely not. We need a PG that keep in front of the other team's pg and stop them from killing us with dribble penetration. Do we need a rebounder that can defend the paint and chip 6-10 garbage points a game? Yes., hopefully it's Neufeld or Jolly, but who knows. Last night the boys fought, (not like the GM game, where there was no real fight). They got out muscled by a mainly junior/senior team. We need a couple of players and we need to get stronger, physically and emotionally. Let's hope its a great summer for the team. If there was a turning point in the game [i'm not sure there was one] it was when Jolly missed a layup with no one around. That might be the most agitated I have seen Crew's all year. I felt sorry for Jolly. He wanted to go hide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmith19 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Got there almost 2 hours early yesterday and Crawford was the only one out there for about 30 minutes. Just putting up shot after shot. It's great to see the dedication even when things are going rough and I know guys have a routine for when they start warming up, but the guy just looked lonely out there. Jake Barnett was usually out there by himself taking shots a couple hours before the game too. Back when the team was winning, it didn't look much like loneliness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmith19 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I think it's unfair for us fans to discount our hoops knowledge. No question, we don't know as much as the folks in the profession or even the players, but if you are more than just a casual observer of any sport by really watching the little things that win or lose games, you are probably as qualified to post your observations as a sportswriter. That's a pretty low standard, but I agree. I think most of us are probably better qualified to have opinions than Joe Strauss, even if we don't share his God-given talent as a journalistic Tsunami in terms of expressing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB73 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Bad year. It's been an unfortunate combination of dynamics this year with one of the least experienced, youngest teams in the nation. There has been no junior or senior class leadership or consistent contributions, we had very young, inexperienced not-ready-for-prime-time bigs, a true PG did not emerge, some players who seemed to finally shine also made far too many mistakes, we could never find the right rotation, and now I speculate that there is an end of season letdown as some players are not on board at this point, thus hurting the team's morale and commitment to win as a team to point to next season. An indication of this is the great "D" we played against some very good teams whereas that "D" was not consistent, especially of late. Again, I believe we are much better than our record indicates, and we will be back at 20 wins or more next year with the talent we have, and no, our freshmen are not sophomores now, not until next November. Those who are panicking on this board and pointing fingers and smearing our coach and certain players are embarrassing, are not mature or knowledgeable at all in their approach as Billiken fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheChosenOne Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 One could also say that someone predicting 20+ wins next year is not mature and living in a childlike fantasy land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 If there was a turning point in the game [i'm not sure there was one] it was when Jolly missed a layup with no one around. That might be the most agitated I have seen Crew's all year. I felt sorry for Jolly. He wanted to go hide. I agree - the Jolly miss was unforgivable. It was a 4 pt swing in the score (his miss and their score from the rebound) in addition it got AY foul with him trying to recover the rebound that never should have happened ( good hustle on his part) and it put SB in the double bonus where they were shooting something like 80% or close to. If Jolly makes the shot we are down by single digits instead up down by 13. Not saying we would have won but the team was fighting back. Off season strength building will improve rebounding - you won't be pushed out of the way so easily and you will not have balls ripped from your grasp like we saw last night and other games. If I had to pick an area that we have improved of late it would be rebounding. We may not win every rebounding total per game but we are keeping it close. Getting stronger will also help with letting you get in a position to actually make the lap up without throwing up some off balance shot - see Jett. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 It's not just strength. Jolly is bad. He's slow, he's not gifted in any facet of the game. I have not once this season gotten the feeling that he has potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 It's not just strength. Jolly is bad. He's slow, he's not gifted in any facet of the game. I have not once this season gotten the feeling that he has potential. Agreed. I had my doubts when we signed him, but kept an open mind until I could see the kid play. My first instinct was correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills By 40 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Bad year. It's been an unfortunate combination of dynamics this year with one of the least experienced, youngest teams in the nation. There has been no junior or senior class leadership or consistent contributions, we had very young, inexperienced not-ready-for-prime-time bigs, a true PG did not emerge, some players who seemed to finally shine also made far too many mistakes, we could never find the right rotation, and now I speculate that there is an end of season letdown as some players are not on board at this point, thus hurting the team's morale and commitment to win as a team to point to next season. An indication of this is the great "D" we played against some very good teams whereas that "D" was not consistent, especially of late. Again, I believe we are much better than our record indicates, and we will be back at 20 wins or more next year with the talent we have, and no, our freshmen are not sophomores now, not until next November. Those who are panicking on this board and pointing fingers and smearing our coach and certain players are embarrassing, are not mature or knowledgeable at all in their approach as Billiken fans. Are you joking? Have we not been given legitimate reason to be angered at Crews with his questionable decision making and non-existent improvement? He doesn't make changes and insanity is defined as doing the same thing while expecting different results, and therefore I have legitimate reason to say that Jim Crews is insane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted March 5, 2015 Author Share Posted March 5, 2015 Come on guys. Encouragement and positive thread here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgeldmacher Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I enjoy coming on and reading and posting on this board. I love the Billikens and will continue to for the rest of my life despite this season. However, this thread could be used in a case study about people who post on message boards. The topic and initial post were a simple message to the team to keep their heads up and have fun the rest of the year, because, why not, we're not going anywhere anyway. It was intended to be a small acknowledgement of what they are going through and the work they are putting in admidst 10 other threads about how bad they have performed. After the initial post, several posters echoed the sentiment. Then the predictable, and apparently unavoidable, criticism took over. I'm not saying that there should not be criticism of the performance this year and last night. I have criticized the team and individual players on multiple occasions. I'm only questioning why folks don't seem to be capable of holding it in when the topic was what it was. Seriously, guys. Go drink some happy juice and let there be one thread free of finger pointing. BTW, I'll see everyone on the other threads to let them know who I think is responsible for this disappointing season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Bad year. It's been an unfortunate combination of dynamics this year with one of the least experienced, youngest teams in the nation. There has been no junior or senior class leadership or consistent contributions, we had very young, inexperienced not-ready-for-prime-time bigs, a true PG did not emerge, some players who seemed to finally shine also made far too many mistakes, we could never find the right rotation, and now I speculate that there is an end of season letdown as some players are not on board at this point, thus hurting the team's morale and commitment to win as a team to point to next season. An indication of this is the great "D" we played against some very good teams whereas that "D" was not consistent, especially of late. Again, I believe we are much better than our record indicates, and we will be back at 20 wins or more next year with the talent we have, and no, our freshmen are not sophomores now, not until next November. Those who are panicking on this board and pointing fingers and smearing our coach and certain players are embarrassing, are not mature or knowledgeable at all in their approach as Billiken fans. -what will be the make up of the roster on opening night? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Bad year. It's been an unfortunate combination of dynamics this year with one of the least experienced, youngest teams in the nation. There has been no junior or senior class leadership or consistent contributions, we had very young, inexperienced not-ready-for-prime-time bigs, a true PG did not emerge, some players who seemed to finally shine also made far too many mistakes, we could never find the right rotation, and now I speculate that there is an end of season letdown as some players are not on board at this point, thus hurting the team's morale and commitment to win as a team to point to next season. An indication of this is the great "D" we played against some very good teams whereas that "D" was not consistent, especially of late. Again, I believe we are much better than our record indicates, and we will be back at 20 wins or more next year with the talent we have, and no, our freshmen are not sophomores now, not until next November. Those who are panicking on this board and pointing fingers and smearing our coach and certain players are embarrassing, are not mature or knowledgeable at all in their approach as Billiken fans. The sloppy play and constant mental errors are hopefully a sign of fatigue as well. Out of six freshmen, four need mass and one is, to use a Majerusism, "fleshy." The season can be a grind for anyone, but especially physically immature freshmen who aren't yet prepared for the demands of the college game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 It's not just strength. Jolly is bad. He's slow, he's not gifted in any facet of the game. I have not once this season gotten the feeling that he has potential. One more thought, it was the prevailing wisdom that BJ would be more advanced than AG because he spent a year at prep school. That hasn't been the case at all. If BJ had much to offer, AG's minutes would have been limited. I still think on a better, more experienced roster, AG would have been a redshirt candidate. AG was thrown into the fire and often exposed on the defensive end because we had very few options among the bigs. Needless to say, we have to hit the recruiting trail hard this spring. JC does some things with this group that are difficult to understand, but the real issue is the lack of talent on the roster. Time to start building it up. We have a lot of potential playing time to sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenbill Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 billikenbill's mesage to the team: Stop sucking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David King Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 , but the real issue is the lack of talent on the roster. If that is how you feel, it's all the more reason to get rid of Crews now. After all, the Billikens just came off of three consecutive NCAA tournament seasons that were three of the best, if not THE best seasons in the modern Billiken era. It should have been prime time to score big in recruiting. My personal opinion is that the current Billiken talent is fairly decent; they just have a coach that is mediocre, at best, which is reflected in his 30 year record. If he remembered anything that the great Bobby Knight taught him about self respect,, he would have already resigned. Justin Tatum won't attend a Jim Crews coached Saint Louis University. Since many of the players read these posts, and value the wisdom of us sages, here is my advice: When the season ends, circulate a petition to be signed by the entire team, that calls for Coach Crews termination. Then, gather as a team, and deliver the petition to the AD. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlumniFan Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 If that is how you feel, it's all the more reason to get rid of Crews now. After all, the Billikens just came off of three consecutive NCAA tournament seasons that were three of the best, if not THE best seasons in the modern Billiken era. It should have been prime time to score big in recruiting. My personal opinion is that the current Billiken talent is fairly decent; they just have a coach that is mediocre, at best, which is reflected in his 30 year record. If he remembered anything that the great Bobby Knight taught him about self respect,, he would have already resigned. Justin Tatum won't attend a Jim Crews coached Saint Louis University. Since many of the players read these posts, and value the wisdom of us sages, here is my advice: When the season ends, circulate a petition to be signed by the entire team, that calls for Coach Crews termination. Then, gather as a team, and deliver the petition to the AD. Good Luck! Were you by any chance hanging out with a bunch of people around the Clock Tower last fall...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 Can't tell if the guys had fun tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeniceMenace Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeniceMenace Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 If that is how you feel, it's all the more reason to get rid of Crews now. After all, the Billikens just came off of three consecutive NCAA tournament seasons that were three of the best, if not THE best seasons in the modern Billiken era. It should have been prime time to score big in recruiting. My personal opinion is that the current Billiken talent is fairly decent; they just have a coach that is mediocre, at best, which is reflected in his 30 year record. If he remembered anything that the great Bobby Knight taught him about self respect,, he would have already resigned. Justin Tatum won't attend a Jim Crews coached Saint Louis University. Since many of the players read these posts, and value the wisdom of us sages, here is my advice: When the season ends, circulate a petition to be signed by the entire team, that calls for Coach Crews termination. Then, gather as a team, and deliver the petition to the AD. Good Luck! David King was far too busy promoting his Marxist-Leninist ideology to have time for clock tower protests last fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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