Worst team since?

[Duff Man]

Butler 2013

 

[Duff Man]

VCU 2013

[Duff Man]

La Salle 2013

[Duff Man]

VCU 2014

[hsmith19]

23 hours ago, tarheelbilliken said:

I recall coming in with a few of my old college friends during the Hughes year. Saw the Houston and UAB game at what was new then called new Kiel Center. The Kiel was packed for those games.

We all went to the Spoons restaurant for dinner and it was in the CWE section of St Louis. I recall spending about a 1/2 hour just looking at all the old Billiken memorabilia on the walls. Old clippings, pictures, jerseys, etc.. I wonder who has that stuff? I also recall Heinrich coming in and getting a large 'to go' bag. I had a pasta dish, so Tucci & Ferrara probably had something to do with the place. 

 

I remember going to both locations as a kid, but I thought they were open at the same time. The menu at the Union Station one was basically identical to a regular Pasta House.

[Cowboy]

-THANK YOU Duff Man, thank you very much

[David King]

On ‎1‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 9:10 PM, Pistol said:

 

Squint Hunter's SLU team went 0-14 in 1926-1927. I guess that technically has to be considered the worst season in SLU history.

Bu!! $hit!!! Squint could recruit and coach circles around Crews! In 1926, the Cardinals had just beaten Babe Ruth's Yankees in The World Series, and then Harry Houdini died! It's surprising that the Bills even fielded a team in 1926. Squint never had a chance, and the AD fired after one year. Two years later, 1928-29, the Bills finished 14-4, all with players that Squint recruited.

[MusicCityBilliken]

5 hours ago, David King said:

Bu!! $hit!!! Squint could recruit and coach circles around Crews! In 1926, the Cardinals had just beaten Babe Ruth's Yankees in The World Series, and then Harry Houdini died! It's surprising that the Bills even fielded a team in 1926. Squint never had a chance, and the AD fired after one year. Two years later, 1928-29, the Bills finished 14-4, all with players that Squint recruited.

Let's petition the Athletic Dept to get Squint into the Billiken Hall of Fame.

[kwyjibo]

On 1/6/2017 at 0:17 PM, Bay Area Billiken said:

Sidebar, on a Friday night, sometime during my SLU undergraduate days, word traveled down West Pine that the famed Los Angeles Lakers were practicing at West Pine Gym.  Again, we made the short trip.  And sure enough, there on our West Pine Gym floor was Showtime, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Jamaal Wilkes, et al.

 

I am not sure of what the connection was with the Lakers but they also practiced around '83 or '84 (NBA preseason) at West Pine with James Worthy.  I remember seeing Worthy but fuzzy on the rest.

[MusicCityBilliken]

48 minutes ago, kwyjibo said:

I am not sure of what the connection was with the Lakers but they also practiced around '83 or '84 (NBA preseason) at West Pine with James Worthy.  I remember seeing Worthy but fuzzy on the rest.

When I played pick-up and intramural bball games in the West Pine back in the early 70s, I recall the court had dead spots in the floor. Meaning when you dribbled on certain areas of the floor the ball would die. Most notably was right under the basket closest to the West Pine Blvd entrance. I am guessing, not sure when SLU initiated Women's Basketball, that would had to be fixed for the Lady Bills to have intercollegiate games.

[hoppybeer]

2 hours ago, kwyjibo said:

I am not sure of what the connection was with the Lakers but they also practiced around '83 or '84 (NBA preseason) at West Pine with James Worthy.  I remember seeing Worthy but fuzzy on the rest.

They also practiced there in the early 90's. They were in town for an exhibition game. 

[FromDaEastSide]

After seeing all of Duff Man's photos, we had a Chaifetz home record of 87-20, 81.3%, during the first six years. After the 2013/2014 season, due to Crewsplatt, the last 3 seasons we are currently  20-26, 43.5%. Next year can't come soon enough to reverse the trend. 

[Pistol]

I know a lot of people said that this team was our worst ever, or worst since Ekker, but can we now at least say we're above some of those Ekker teams and the 1991-1992 team that went 5-23 and winless in conference?

I will acknowledge the talent deficit and agree that we might be weaker there than we've been in the modern era, but from a results standpoint, a depleted roster with limited talent might just hit double-digit wins.

[hsmith19]

It would be nice if this team could pull out one more upset on par with the GW win last year, or even just take a team like Dayton to OT again.

[White Pelican]

8 minutes ago, Pistol said:

I know a lot of people said that this team was our worst ever, or worst since Ekker, but can we now at least say we're above some of those Ekker teams and the 1991-1992 team that went 5-23 and winless in conference?

I will acknowledge the talent deficit and agree that we might be weaker there than we've been in the modern era, but from a results standpoint, a depleted roster with limited talent might just hit double-digit wins.

Yeah, after I watched us in non-con, I thought we wouldn't win ANY conference games. Now we've won 3 using only a handful of players including a starting walk-on as the point guard. So, I don't know, less talent but maybe much better coaching I guess. Maybe Ford is a better game coach than he's gotten credit for.

[Pistol]

6 minutes ago, hsmith19 said:

It would be nice if this team could pull out one more upset on par with the GW win last year, or even just take a team like Dayton to OT again.

We certainly have the opportunity to do so left on the schedule.

However, I think the short roster is going to catch up with them soon in terms of fatigue. It's tough sledding after the NC A&T game.

[Pistol]

Just now, White Pelican said:

Yeah, after I watched us in non-con, I thought we wouldn't win ANY conference games. Now we've won 3 using only a handful of players including a starting walk-on as the point guard. So, I don't know, less talent but maybe much better coaching I guess. Maybe Ford is a better game coach than he's gotten credit for.

This season is so odd that it's really hard to make a judgment call here. There are times I've wondered what the game plan is, and certain things that have me scratching my head - not many, and I wonder whether who gets credit and blame for certain things. I've also been impressed by how he's shifted defenses and done made other adjustments to throw off opponents who come into games with us knowing they're better and we're short-rostered.

I think what's clear is that he has motivational skills that were not possessed by his predecessor. He's talked about changing the culture, and the trendline this season suggests that guys are buying into it. Sometimes I keep an eye on the transfers and injured players on the bench, and they're really getting into it lately. Positivity - just like negativity - is infectious.

We've also cut down on turnovers in a significant way lately, which signals that something from practice is sinking in. I know both Soderberg and Majerus emphasized low turnovers in practice, and their teams were often some of the best in the nation in terms of that stat. I'd really like to go tomorrow but can't, so I'm curious to see what people have to say about Ford as a practice coach (based on, I know, a small sample size and a situation where he's aware he's being watched).

[White Pelican]

Unless something unforeseen comes up, I'm planning on going tomorrow. But, like you said, he knows he's got a crowd watching, and more importantly the team is tired, injured and short-handed. I think this open practice may be more to keep the fan base interested and involved. I mainly want to see the transfers anyway.

Agree on the turnovers, it's been my main gripe all season. Suddenly, we're taking care of the ball however it's been accomplished.

[Cowboy]

-I won't be able to attend tomorrow, wish I could, but I think the guys not playing in games this season will be the ones 'on display' and were a big reason for the event being scheduled, this is my speculation

[billiken_roy]

45 minutes ago, Pistol said:

I know a lot of people said that this team was our worst ever, or worst since Ekker, but can we now at least say we're above some of those Ekker teams and the 1991-1992 team that went 5-23 and winless in conference?

I will acknowledge the talent deficit and agree that we might be weaker there than we've been in the modern era, but from a results standpoint, a depleted roster with limited talent might just hit double-digit wins.

Imo metro conference was stronger than the current A10.   Thus, no, imo, ekkertime is better than the ghost of crewsplatt 16-17.

[Bay Area Billiken]

As a fellow Ekker Era survivor, from witnessing the program since 1978, and to some extent since the early '70s, I agree with billiken_roy. 

I would definitely say the talent level was higher in the first 3 years of Ekker, and even his 4th and final year.  Kelvin Henderson was the Center on Ekker's first 2 SLU teams;  David Burns was a star guard in Ekker Years 2 and 3. The Metro Conference was rugged, likely a Top 5 league, much stronger than the current 8th in Conference RPI A10, and that is not a knock on the A10.  The Metro housed the National Champion, Louisville, one of those seasons, as well as Memphis State (now Memphis), Cincinnati, Florida State, even Virginia Tech.

My opinion is the talent level on Rich Grawer's last team in '91-'92 was higher than that on the current SLU team.  That team suffered from having 2 starters quit the team and from having to play a whole host of talented freshmen.  Also the short lived Great Midwest Conference, some of the old Metro sans Louisville, including Cincinnati, Memphis, plus Marquette, DePaul, UAB, along with Dayton and SLU from the MCC, was stronger than the current A10.

The only team that I think approaches this season in terms of talent level was Coach Grawer's first SLU team in '82-'83.  The MCC (now Horizon League) was not that tough of a league.  On the other hand, the MCC was tough enough for SLU in its time there.

When I saw this season's Billikens play Rhode Island on 12/30/16, I didn't think SLU would win a single A10 game, other than if the law of averages allowed one.  That this SLU team has won 3 A10 Conference games is a real testament to the coaching of Coach Travis Ford and the hard work of the players, with SLU last night reduced to playing 6 iron men in a 50 minute game.  Bravo and kudos go to the Billikens and the Coaching Staff.

SLU still has a shot, against all odds, of reaching double digits in Wins this season.

[Bobby Metzinger]

2 hours ago, Pistol said:

There are times I've wondered what the game plan is

 

It looks like Ford is trying to simplify the game, whereas with Crews at the helm, it was like a 2-yr old trying to make sense of a NORAD briefing. Just put the ball in the basket. Run a freelance offense. Confucius say, one with most points at end of game will win.

[TheChosenOne]

3 hours ago, Pistol said:

This season is so odd that it's really hard to make a judgment call here. There are times I've wondered what the game plan is, and certain things that have me scratching my head - not many, and I wonder whether who gets credit and blame for certain things. I've also been impressed by how he's shifted defenses and done made other adjustments to throw off opponents who come into games with us knowing they're better and we're short-rostered.

Maybe being in a position where we only have 6 guys playing is a good thing for this squad. Especially when that group of 6 includes guys who seem to play relatively sound basketball. I know Hines forces some bad shots, but he doesn't turn the ball over very frequently (39 TOs in 22 games). Plus he is a redshirt junior, Roby is a junior, and Crawford and Agbeko are seniors, so we are playing a fairly experienced group of players in addition to Welmer and Johnson. I know this group leaves a lot to be desired, but they do some things well as a group and slowing the game down limits the TOs and has allowed them to stay in games similar to the Soderberg days. Plus these kids are making some shots of late (Crawford 24 and Reggie 17 last night, Welmer 18 at GW, Hines 21 and Roby 17 against UMass, and Johnson 17 at Mason) and defending fairly soundly. And with this 6 we can create a bit of a mismatch with 4 guys who can play on the wing and none of these kids are big liabilities on offense as highlighted by the leading scorers in these games of late (each of the 6 can have games where they put up some points). It is tough to take away much from this season since we are now down to 6 bodies which includes 2 seniors and 1 walk-on. I do think it is easier for Ford to stay positive with this group since he didn't recruit these guys and has no pressure to win with this roster (plus he knows what he has coming in and lined up), but it does seem like this group is responding fairly well to him.

I know sports fans have short memories, but Crews did settle into a group that played well as a group for a short period of time in conference play last season as well and not surprisingly it came about by shortening the bench and primarily playing a group that presented some matchup problems (a group that included Hines, Crawford, and Reggie as well as Bishop). 

[almaman]

2 hours ago, Bobby Metzinger said:

 it was like a 2-yr old trying to make sense of a NORAD briefing. 

A Donald dig?

[Bobby Metzinger]

Just now, almaman said:

A Donald dig?

From me? Never, my friend