2018 NCAA Tournament Thread

[BillIkenFan_Dan]

The wiz I gotta hear the numbers on this one. 

[Bobby Metzinger]

12 minutes ago, DeSmetBilliken said:

Ok, I was just curious, because I don’t know you to have any background to dislike UVA.

That’s a moot point. Are you the dislike police? No offense, but this is a great day for college basketball. 

[ChangeOfPace]

56 minutes ago, Bobby Metzinger said:

That’s a moot point. Are you the dislike police? No offense, but this is a great day for college basketball. 

Rest assured that the authorities who are monitoring you will not be revealing themselves on Billikens.com.

[Bobby Metzinger]

5 hours ago, ChangeOfPace said:

Rest assured that the authorities who are monitoring you will not be revealing themselves on Billikens.com.

Lol this is rich. I know desmet billiken so can you be ok with some tongue and cheek? Just calm down. I’m sure whatever you do in our intelligence community is appreciated and we can all sleep safe and secure at night knowing the anti-UVA brigade has been silenced. Upsets! These are the things Thomas Jefferson and the Fathers wanted! This is why we watch! 

[cheeseman]

6 hours ago, thetorch said:

A 16 seed beats a 1.  I have more hope than ever that some team will only score 19 points in a game.

I actually was thinking the same thing - which is more embarrassing that title or being a 1 losing to a 16 for the first time ever?  I think I would rather be SLU.  Nobody remembers that but us but VA will be a a trivia question for years to come.

[CBFan]

7 hours ago, brianstl said:

Well, at least Mizzou fans will now have a decade straight of having their Saturdays and Sundays in March available for self enrichment. Nothing else has been happening on those days to distract them.

They will have time this March to tweet SLU players and commits to flip and come on our site to tell us who is flipping.

Coach Martin has plenty of time this month to practice his favorite recruiting tactic, poaching other teams players and commits.

[cheeseman]

31 minutes ago, CBFan said:

They will have time this March to tweet SLU players and commits to flip and come on our site to tell us who is flipping.

Coach Martin has plenty of time this month to practice his favorite recruiting tactic, poaching other teams players and commits.

So they had the number one recruit in the country - injured most of the season - but they decided to bring him back for the SEC and NCAA tourney and flopped in both.  This you would think make them a bit sheepish but I guess we know better.  Martin was getting all kinds of love to start with before the game but that stopped pretty quick into the game.  I felt a bit sorry for M. Porter because I am sure he really wanted to play but he may have done himself a bit of injustice for the draft.  No way he could have been up to game speed at this time of the year and it showed.

[billiken_roy]

19 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

So they had the number one recruit in the country - injured most of the season - but they decided to bring him back for the SEC and NCAA tourney and flopped in both.  This you would think make them a bit sheepish but I guess we know better.  Martin was getting all kinds of love to start with before the game but that stopped pretty quick into the game.  I felt a bit sorry for M. Porter because I am sure he really wanted to play but he may have done himself a bit of injustice for the draft.  No way he could have been up to game speed at this time of the year and it showed.

i am surprised porter jr came back to play he was about 50% at best of what he was in high school so obviously he isnt right yet.   in hindsight it wasnt worth risking the kids health imo.   

my 2 takeaways from the mi$$ouri game last night were this:

that robertson kid is something.  that is the graduate transfer we need to find for next year.   

and last, what a horrible job the staff has done with tillmon.   he hasnt improved a bit from high school and is still an undisciplined talent.  martin might be a recruiter, but he sure doesnt develop.   oh that's right he has one less assistant coach then the rest of the country to help him develop his talent.   

tillmon is being wasted at mi$$ouri imo.  what a horrible decision on tillmon's part imo to attend college there.   

[Bobby Metzinger]

1 hour ago, cheeseman said:

I actually was thinking the same thing - which is more embarrassing that title or being a 1 losing to a 16 for the first time ever?  I think I would rather be SLU.  Nobody remembers that but us but VA will be a a trivia question for years to come.

Don’t forget the Silver Swords of Chaminade, Ralph. I mean, to be affiliated with a school that has arguably suffered the two most unthinkable losses in NCAA basketball history?? Wow. 

Applachian State - Michigan types can and have happened in college football pretty much every season. Troy beat LSU in Baton Rouge this past season. 

This is simply unprecedented. It was interesting listening to Nance and Rafftery yesterday and their tone with UMBC. They went from pest to pedastal with each basket, especially in the second half. I think it would have been crazy had it been a buzzer beater, but the fact they destroyed the overall number one seed is just mind boggling. I hope they make a huge run and history is on their side - a 16 seed has NEVER lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament. 

[RUBillsFan]

40 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

Martin was getting all kinds of love to start with before the game but that stopped pretty quick into the game.  I felt a bit sorry for M. Porter because I am sure he really wanted to play but he may have done himself a bit of injustice for the draft.  No way he could have been up to game speed at this time of the year and it showed.

Martin's team put up a typical Martin season.  In 10 years as a HC, he has now made 3 NCAA tournaments, 4 NITs, and 1 CBI.  Only in 2014 during Tennessee's sweet sixteen run, when he got some very favorable match-ups (#14 Mercer knocked off #3 Duke) did he win any games in the NCAAs .  In the other appearances, his teams lost as the "favorite" by seed numbers (4 vs 13 and 8 vs 9).

When SLU hired Ford, it seemed like OSU fans were knocking him for having a similar track record.  I wonder how long Mizzou fans will be okay with being a bubble team and at best losing in the first round of the NCAAs.

[TheChosenOne]

1 hour ago, billiken_roy said:

i am surprised porter jr came back to play he was about 50% at best of what he was in high school so obviously he isnt right yet.   in hindsight it wasnt worth risking the kids health imo.   

my 2 takeaways from the mi$$ouri game last night were this:

that robertson kid is something.  that is the graduate transfer we need to find for next year.   

and last, what a horrible job the staff has done with tillmon.   he hasnt improved a bit from high school and is still an undisciplined talent.  martin might be a recruiter, but he sure doesnt develop.   oh that's right he has one less assistant coach then the rest of the country to help him develop his talent.   

tillmon is being wasted at mi$$ouri imo.  what a horrible decision on tillmon's part imo to attend college there.   

Weak take on Tilmon, but not unexpected. Kid has improved quite a bit this season. Unfortunately his basketball IQ is still incredibly low leading to dumb fouls that can take him out of some games and last night was one of those games. But if you watched Mizzou you would see the development, his offensive skill has improved a lot. He just needs to watch a ton of film to better understand how he needs to defend, its like he just can’t stop his body constantly just picks up soft fouls because he couldn’t pull back, like he’s overly aggressive while playing not to foul. His feet are incredible and he has developed a decent hook that he is starting to set up nicely, so he is definitely trending up, just needs a lot of work.

[RiseAndGrind]

1 minute ago, TheChosenOne said:

Weak take on Tilmon, but not unexpected. Kid has improved quite a bit this season. Unfortunately his basketball IQ is still incredibly low leading to dumb fouls that can take him out of some games and last night was one of those games. But if you watched Mizzou you would see the development, his offensive skill has improved a lot. He just needs to watch a ton of film to better understand how he needs to defend, its like he just can’t stop his body constantly just picks up soft fouls because he couldn’t pull back, like he’s overly aggressive while playing not to foul. His feet are incredible and he has developed a decent hook that he is starting to set up nicely, so he is definitely trending up, just needs a lot of work.

2 points 2 boards and 5 fouls.

i think he will be fine but he didn’t have a great season. 

[TheChosenOne]

7 minutes ago, RiseAndGrind said:

2 points 2 boards and 5 fouls.

i think he will be fine but he didn’t have a great season. 

I didnt say he had a good game or a great season (I know I have posted his stats are below what you would expect from a top 50 recruit), but I watch every Mizzou game and the kid has improved quite a bit throughout the season. I have never seen a kid with a lower basketball IQ, so it will take some time, but his offensive post skills have really developed. Now he needs to figure out how to defend without fouling so he can stay on the court. The kid has great natural ability though, should be playing in the League at some point over the next 2-3 years.

[RiseAndGrind]

5 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

I didnt say he had a good game or a great season (I know I have posted his stats are below what you would expect from a top 50 recruit), but I watch every Mizzou game and the kid has improved quite a bit throughout the season. I have never seen a kid with a lower basketball IQ, so it will take some time, but his offensive post skills have really developed. Now he needs to figure out how to defend without fouling so he can stay on the court.

I actually think he will do good next season if he has any sort of ability to “learn” basketball. He’s got soft hands, is tall, and seems to be a good dude. 

[brianstl]

36 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

Weak take on Tilmon, but not unexpected. Kid has improved quite a bit this season. Unfortunately his basketball IQ is still incredibly low leading to dumb fouls that can take him out of some games and last night was one of those games. But if you watched Mizzou you would see the development, his offensive skill has improved a lot. He just needs to watch a ton of film to better understand how he needs to defend, its like he just can’t stop his body constantly just picks up soft fouls because he couldn’t pull back, like he’s overly aggressive while playing not to foul. His feet are incredible and he has developed a decent hook that he is starting to set up nicely, so he is definitely trending up, just needs a lot of work.

In what measurable way did Tilmon improve as the season went along?  When you compare his OOC numbers to conference numbers his points per possession went down, his rebounds per possession went down, blocks per possession went down and his FG% went down dramatically. The only thing that went up was his foul rate.

[ACE]

12 hours ago, JMM28 said:

Soderberg gets a chance to be a part of history!

Was Sodie put in charge of the halftime speech?

[SLU_Lax]

So I did miss a lot of this I think because I was in college out-of-state during much of his era, but was Uncle Brad not likable?  I get the team was mediocre, but Drejaj and Lisch and Ian were all likable and/or entertaining to watch. Was I just not in the know?

[bauman]

3 minutes ago, ACE said:

Was Sodie put in charge of the halftime speech?

We have no reason to be down on Brad.  He did as well as could be expected with the lack of support and facilities he had.  No, he wasn't exciting, but he was a good person and in-game coach .  Didn't he win 20 games his last year as the Billiken coach?  Was he them guy to excite donors? No but that doesn't make him a bad coach or person.  I wish him well where ever he coaches

[RiseAndGrind]

Just now, SLU_Lax said:

So I did miss a lot of this I think because I was in college out-of-state during much of his era, but was Uncle Brad not likable?  I get the team was mediocre, but Drejaj and Lisch and Ian were all likable and/or entertaining to watch. Was I just not in the know?

He was just an average dude with a car dealership sponsorship. He wasn’t taking SLU anywhere 

[ACE]

12 hours ago, CBFan said:

Has Barnett ever played in the NCAA tournament?

If he hasn’t played bad move kid

That Barnett kid’s career ended in the most SPUMAC of ways.

[SLU_Lax]

Just now, RiseAndGrind said:

He was just an average dude with a car dealership sponsorship. He wasn’t taking SLU anywhere 

That I definitely agree with. I mean he was given comparatively a lot of support at Lindenwood when they were NAIA and never really made anything happen. I just always viewed him as likable, but just not able to win enough. 

[BourbanStreet]

So for Mizzou's "all-star freshman" class that brought them to the round of 64 (sorry it wasn't the elite 8 Jose), there will be only one left next year. Two transferred before conference play. Porters will be gone next year. Left with a guy who fell short of expectations this year. Wow.

[bauman]

1 hour ago, TheChosenOne said:

I didnt say he had a good game or a great season (I know I have posted his stats are below what you would expect from a top 50 recruit), but I watch every Mizzou game and the kid has improved quite a bit throughout the season. I have never seen a kid with a lower basketball IQ, so it will take some time, but his offensive post skills have really developed. Now he needs to figure out how to defend without fouling so he can stay on the court. The kid has great natural ability though, should be playing in the League at some point over the next 2-3 years.

Watching Tilmon this year makes me understand better why C Martin might still be trying to steal Gordon, who is clearly a much better player than Tilmon.  I understand the different levels involved, but  how ironic that Gordon would score 40 in the State Semis on the same weekend that Tilmon would light up the NCAA with 2 pts and 2 boards!

[slufan13]

Cuonzo should be bailing on Mizzou soon. Figure he only has 2 or 3 years left there of first round exits before he gets overhyped for another job 

[bauman]

3 minutes ago, BourbanStreet said:

So for Mizzou's "all-star freshman" class that brought them to the round of 64 (sorry it wasn't the elite 8 Jose), there will be only one left next year. Two transferred before conference play. Porters will be gone next year. Left with a guy who fell short of expectations this year. Wow.

Probably ain't going to happen but it wouldn't shock me if the two Porters came back for one year. Would it be stupid?  Probably, but MP Jr has to see his draft stock dropping significantly and might figure that getting back to the #1 draft spot (the following year) might be worth more than being a lower selection this year.  Also, I know the NBA drafts for potential which many seem to believe J P has, but his inconsistent production (2 pts in the last game) might drop him down to the low 1st round-upper 2nd round.

I don't see the above as anything more than a possibility, but it is possible.  Stupid for MP Jr?  Yes, but who knows.

Maybe SLU could convince SPUMAC to come to The Fetz next year as a buy game.  They could probably use the $$$ we would pay them to help with MP Sr.'s "well-earned"  highest-in-the-country Asst Coach contract.