Davidson from da' Couch ................

[Taj79]

.... draining.  Wiley great shot.  Goodwin dumb foul.  Goodwin saving grace putback.  Two bricks free throws.  

A10 title - gone.  March Madness - gone.  Top four finish - questionable.  Thats' my goal as someone said in the GDT --- top four finish and let the chips fall where they may.  

Oh, and McKillop danced coaching circles around our Little Travis.  No way a good team loses that at home.

[Schasz]

9 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

.... draining.  Wiley great shot.  Goodwin dumb foul.  Goodwin saving grace putback.  Two bricks free throws.  

A10 title - gone.  March Madness - gone.  Top four finish - questionable.  Thats' my goal as someone said in the GDT --- top four finish and let the chips fall where they may.  

Oh, and McKillop danced coaching circles around our Little Travis.  No way a good team loses that at home.

Definitely agree Travis was schooled by Davidson HC. 

[cheeseman]

What I can not figure out is was he out coached or was he the benefit of the Billikens shooting 26 or 30% from the field.  McKillop would have looked bad also if he did not have a couple of guys burying 3s - especially with 3 being hit on missed shots.  I did wonder why Travis did not change the offensive scheme at the half but if the players do not perform it really doesn't matter what scheme you are in.  Bottom line, Wiley hits only 1 3ptr the entire game - clutch time but really he could not hit one more before.  The lay ups have been talked about and once again this has been same story all year even with Gordon.

[billikenfan05]

17 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

What I can not figure out is was he out coached or was he the benefit of the Billikens shooting 26 or 30% from the field.  McKillop would have looked bad also if he did not have a couple of guys burying 3s - especially with 3 being hit on missed shots.  I did wonder why Travis did not change the offensive scheme at the half but if the players do not perform it really doesn't matter what scheme you are in.  Bottom line, Wiley hits only 1 3ptr the entire game - clutch time but really he could not hit one more before.  The lay ups have been talked about and once again this has been same story all year even with Gordon.

Great post Cheese!

[Cowboy]

6 hours ago, Taj79 said:

.... draining.  Wiley great shot.  Goodwin dumb foul.  Goodwin saving grace putback.  Two bricks free throws.  

A10 title - gone.  March Madness - gone.  Top four finish - questionable.  Thats' my goal as someone said in the GDT --- top four finish and let the chips fall where they may.  

Oh, and McKillop danced coaching circles around our Little Travis.  No way a good team loses that at home.

-what is this?

4 hours ago, cheeseman said:

What I can not figure out is was he out coached or was he the benefit of the Billikens shooting 26 or 30% from the field.  McKillop would have looked bad also if he did not have a couple of guys burying 3s - especially with 3 being hit on missed shots.  I did wonder why Travis did not change the offensive scheme at the half but if the players do not perform it really doesn't matter what scheme you are in.  Bottom line, Wiley hits only 1 3ptr the entire game - clutch time but really he could not hit one more before.  The lay ups have been talked about and once again this has been same story all year even with Gordon.

-I questioned as the second half was being played why are we keeping TI on Jonaxel and if I am thinking about it did none of our coaches think before the 38th minute to try something else?

[Taj79]

Little Travis ... a pun on my part.  Maybe a bad one.  He is short in stature, yes.  Big Bad Bob McKillop .. big and bad based on 30 years at Davidson.  Kind of like Belicheck.  That coach at the end against the Titans in "Remember the Titans."  My frustration staring to ooze out over doing the same things over and over again expecting different results.  A whole bunch of stuff.  I think jbizzle said it best in the GDT about a most gut-wrenching loss .... you miraculously take the lead, albeit a little early with 14.4 to go.  They call a time out, you call a time out.  And you set up a foul on a guy who has scored over half their points for the night.  I know that's insane, that was not the play called, but it sill happened.  This coming on a night when the brains on the bench could not see that Der Icelander was kicking Isabell's ass.  Go with Goodwin.  Insert Thatch earlier.  A two-man team and while you shut down one, the other tap danced all over us.  And any half-assed scouting report could have told you that.  (Speaking of half-asses, I think I did in the Wiz's gam spread). 

As for guys shooting 26 or 30% from the field .... who recruited them?  This staff did.  And that's on Travis.  I know, I know, he doesn't take the shots for them but if they can't get some in, replace them with someone who can.  Guess what?  A depleted bench and no one fits that employment bill anyway.  So now what?  Change the scheme.  I have said all along I'd zone this team from the get go.  Make them beat me with jump shots.  Because they can't.  Pass-pass-pass-pass-pass-expiring shot clock shot ... just does not work.  Any analyst worth his salt will tell you you break the zone by dribble-penetration to the middle or passes to the middle.  Yet our A10 logo area remains virgin-like and unviolated.  We don't dribble-drive because we have no one that can seem to do it.  Or if we do it with Isabell, he gets caught up in the air or off-kilter on his Euro step and is not a distributor to begin with. 

And yet, for all the crap that went down, we win that game with .4 seconds to go because the guy who fouled with 5.5 to go, get's fouled with .4 to go.  And then proceeds to throw up two of the heaviest bricks I have ever seen in SLU history.  Even at 55%, he makes one we take our chances in overtime.  Did that happen?  Nope.  That sequence right there sums up "it's hard to be a Billiken fan." 

I'll be the first to say that Travis inherited a brutal situation.  I'll second the notion that his snake oil salesman job in recruiting is the best we've ever seen.  But the whispers on his in-game abilities seem to be growing.  And I don't know what to make of his inability to maintain a full roster.  I am not blaming him for the crap he inherited and his eventual jettison of that flotsam.  I am not blaming him for S 2.0 because boys will be boys.  I am not blaming him for Luis Santos or Carte.'Are Gordon of Justin Johnson as transfers happen.  I really don't believe the [dead} exodus was his to bear however there I san ongoing trend, yes?  Sure, guys depart every program every year.  But I'd place our numbers up against anyone else ... we may be last in the nation in free throw % but first in players departing. 

Is my overall disappointment showing?  I try to temper it by waiting a day to comment but I still can't shake what jbizzle declared.  Opportunity lost.

 

[cheeseman]

9 hours ago, Cowboy said:

-what is this?

-I questioned as the second half was being played why are we keeping TI on Jonaxel and if I am thinking about it did none of our coaches think before the 38th minute to try something else?

Fair point but I wonder if they had switched earlier if some one else would have just gone off.  Goodwin fouling #3 shows that he had his own trouble with the guy.

[cheeseman]

14 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

Little Travis ... a pun on my part.  Maybe a bad one.  He is short in stature, yes.  Big Bad Bob McKillop .. big and bad based on 30 years at Davidson.  Kind of like Belicheck.  That coach at the end against the Titans in "Remember the Titans."  My frustration staring to ooze out over doing the same things over and over again expecting different results.  A whole bunch of stuff.  I think jbizzle said it best in the GDT about a most gut-wrenching loss .... you miraculously take the lead, albeit a little early with 14.4 to go.  They call a time out, you call a time out.  And you set up a foul on a guy who has scored over half their points for the night.  I know that's insane, that was not the play called, but it sill happened.  This coming on a night when the brains on the bench could not see that Der Icelander was kicking Isabell's ass.  Go with Goodwin.  Insert Thatch earlier.  A two-man team and while you shut down one, the other tap danced all over us.  And any half-assed scouting report could have told you that.  (Speaking of half-asses, I think I did in the Wiz's gam spread). 

As for guys shooting 26 or 30% from the field .... who recruited them?  This staff did.  And that's on Travis.  I know, I know, he doesn't take the shots for them but if they can't get some in, replace them with someone who can.  Guess what?  A depleted bench and no one fits that employment bill anyway.  So now what?  Change the scheme.  I have said all along I'd zone this team from the get go.  Make them beat me with jump shots.  Because they can't.  Pass-pass-pass-pass-pass-expiring shot clock shot ... just does not work.  Any analyst worth his salt will tell you you break the zone by dribble-penetration to the middle or passes to the middle.  Yet our A10 logo area remains virgin-like and unviolated.  We don't dribble-drive because we have no one that can seem to do it.  Or if we do it with Isabell, he gets caught up in the air or off-kilter on his Euro step and is not a distributor to begin with. 

And yet, for all the crap that went down, we win that game with .4 seconds to go because the guy who fouled with 5.5 to go, get's fouled with .4 to go.  And then proceeds to throw up two of the heaviest bricks I have ever seen in SLU history.  Even at 55%, he makes one we take our chances in overtime.  Did that happen?  Nope.  That sequence right there sums up "it's hard to be a Billiken fan." 

I'll be the first to say that Travis inherited a brutal situation.  I'll second the notion that his snake oil salesman job in recruiting is the best we've ever seen.  But the whispers on his in-game abilities seem to be growing.  And I don't know what to make of his inability to maintain a full roster.  I am not blaming him for the crap he inherited and his eventual jettison of that flotsam.  I am not blaming him for S 2.0 because boys will be boys.  I am not blaming him for Luis Santos or Carte.'Are Gordon of Justin Johnson as transfers happen.  I really don't believe the [dead} exodus was his to bear however there I san ongoing trend, yes?  Sure, guys depart every program every year.  But I'd place our numbers up against anyone else ... we may be last in the nation in free throw % but first in players departing. 

Is my overall disappointment showing?  I try to temper it by waiting a day to comment but I still can't shake what jbizzle declared.  Opportunity lost.

 

I feel your pain  and yet it was a bad pun.  Did you really think in 3 years that Travis could wash the stench off the program lefty by Crews?  I think we have to give him enough time to show if he can get it done.  Next year will be a big year for him - I know he has freshmen to deal with but that is life.  He is showing progress each year - realistically that is all we can actually expect.  Read the stats that Wiz posted on FT shooting broadly - once he missed the first one the second was statistically not in his favor.  In fact him hitting both only and a 3/8 chance of happening according to Wiz.

[RiseAndGrind]

1 minute ago, cheeseman said:

I feel your pain  and yet it was a bad pun.  Did you really think in 3 years that Travis could wash the stench off the program lefty by Crews?  I think we have to give him enough time to show if he can get it done.  Next year will be a big year for him - I know he has freshmen to deal with but that is life.  He is showing progress each year - realistically that is all we can actually expect.

It is yet to be determined if this year will be better than last year 

[cheeseman]

1 minute ago, RiseAndGrind said:

It is yet to be determined if this year will be better than last year 

Technically yes but it would take a complete wreck for him not win more games than last year.

[Taj79]

cheese -- agree.  On both the stench comment and next year.  All I'm saying is my complete faith in the Church of Travis is wavering right now.  There is time for a hallelujah and salvation, but cracks in the foundation are showing. 

[3star_recruit]

Coach Ford is loyal to a fault.  We need Goodwin and Isabell to click to have any chance of winning the conference tournament.   He trusted Isabell, the senior, to step up in the last 5 minutes.  He didn't get it done offensively and he got beaten badly defensively.  If Fred  plays the last five minutes against Gudmundsson we win that game.  
 

Logic dictates that Thatch takes Isabell's spot.  Isabell just isn't good enough.  We have 20 data points already.  The question is whether coach makes the switch now or 7 games from now.

[RiseAndGrind]

21 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

Technically yes but it would take a complete wreck for him not win more games than last year.

In terms of wins and losses you are certainly correct but this year has been a major disappointment.  I’m not ready to call this year an ““improvment” over last year 

[brianstl]

The record this year is very deceiving.  The schedule turned out to be very weak. One of the two or three weakest in 30 years.  The record’s overall feel is very similar to Brad's 20 win final season. 

[RiseAndGrind]

6 minutes ago, brianstl said:

The record this year is very deceiving.  The schedule turned out to be very weak. One of the two or three weakest in 30 years.  The record’s overall feel is very similar to Brad's 20 win final season. 

Yup. SLU has a guy who will likely be on an NBA roster next year and the team hasn’t won any “toss up” games and its lost games it should have won. There’s nothing really encouraging about this season if we are being honest. 

[The Wiz]

35 minutes ago, brianstl said:

The record this year is very deceiving.  The schedule turned out to be very weak. One of the two or three weakest in 30 years.  The record’s overall feel is very similar to Brad's 20 win final season. 

Last year's schedule was  rated as B-...so far  this year's schedule is a C+...It is too early to know where our SOS will grade out  but with the schedule toughening in the coming weeks...we have a chance to be at the same SOS grade as last  year. If in fact our schedule finishes at B- again , then 18 wins will be an improvement...If we stay at the C+ level then it will take 19 or 20 wins to be an improvement over last year....which is certainly doable.

[brianstl]

9 minutes ago, The Wiz said:

Last year's schedule was  rated as B-...so far  this year's schedule is a C+...It is too early to know where our SOS will grade out  but with the schedule toughening in the coming weeks...we have a chance to be at the same SOS grade as last  year. If in fact our schedule finishes at B- again , then 18 wins will be an improvement...If we stay at the C+ level then it will take 19 or 20 wins to be an improvement over last year....which is certainly doable.

Pomeroy currently has a schedule ranked at 180.  It was 180 heading into Davidson, too.  That is our lowest rated schedule from him since his ratings went up.  It is 25 spots below our previous lowest and 58 spots below are previous second lowest ranked schedule.  I don't really see how the schedule ranking improves from here on out.  We have two games left with the team ranked 67th and one game left with the team ranked 58th, but we have 4 games left with teams ranked 192 are lower.  

 

[The Wiz]

16 minutes ago, brianstl said:

Pomeroy currently has a schedule ranked at 180.  It was 180 heading into Davidson, too.  That is our lowest rated schedule from him since his ratings went up.  It is 25 spots below our previous lowest and 58 spots below are previous second lowest ranked schedule.  I don't really see how the schedule ranking improves from here on out.  We have two games left with the team ranked 67th and one game left with the team ranked 58th, but we have 4 games left with teams ranked 192 are lower.  

 

I guess it depends on whose data you look at....Sagarin has us currently at 150 and last year we finished at 100....I would say it looks like 20 wins would be an improvement  even with a weaker schedule....maybe 21.....depending on how the season  SOS plays out....but again still doable.

[Cowboy]

22 minutes ago, brianstl said:

Pomeroy currently has a schedule ranked at 180.  It was 180 heading into Davidson, too.  That is our lowest rated schedule from him since his ratings went up.  It is 25 spots below our previous lowest and 58 spots below are previous second lowest ranked schedule.  I don't really see how the schedule ranking improves from here on out.  We have two games left with the team ranked 67th and one game left with the team ranked 58th, but we have 4 games left with teams ranked 192 are lower.  

 

-how much of the decline in schedule rating is due to the A10 being down? we will play most of our games in conference

-speaking of our schedule, I watched a bit of 'Nova pummel SHall yesterday, won by 28, I didn't see the end of the game as it was out of reach but at one point in the second half 'Nova was 6 for 8 from three for the half

[slufan13]

We have a weaker schedule and our offensive efficiency is down almost 4 points from last year. The year obviously isn't over, but this roster is absolutely better than last year's. Having a worse offense is a concerning sign to me. 

[The Wiz]

19 minutes ago, Cowboy said:

-how much of the decline in schedule rating is due to the A10 being down? we will play most of our games in conference

-speaking of our schedule, I watched a bit of 'Nova pummel SHall yesterday, won by 28, I didn't see the end of the game as it was out of reach but at one point in the second half 'Nova was 6 for 8 from three for the half

Part of it is from a weaker A-10... part is from a weaker OOC schedule....Not only were a number of teams weak but  a bunch  of them haven't been doing so well since we played them. Our schedule doesn't need to get back where it was to show improvement....if we make up about 20 spots on SOS  then 20 wins will be an improvement....if not then 21 wins.

I share your concern  on offense..... can you imagine  if we were only an average offensive team (C)  We would be talking about seedings in the bracket now....

[Slu let the dogs out?]

17 hours ago, cheeseman said:

What I can not figure out is was he out coached or was he the benefit of the Billikens shooting 26 or 30% from the field.  McKillop would have looked bad also if he did not have a couple of guys burying 3s - especially with 3 being hit on missed shots.  I did wonder why Travis did not change the offensive scheme at the half but if the players do not perform it really doesn't matter what scheme you are in.  Bottom line, Wiley hits only 1 3ptr the entire game - clutch time but really he could not hit one more before.  The lay ups have been talked about and once again this has been same story all year even with Gordon.

I don't get how can one person (Foreman) can be that bad at making a freaking layup?! It's boggles the mind. Foreman under the basket with the ball reminds me of our family cat with his toy ball:  Doesn't really know what he wants to do with it and has no control over his own body once he starts moving.

Whenever Foreman gets the ball near the key, 1 of 3 things usually happens:

1) he drives to the basket, takes 14 steps, and is called for the travel

2) he drives to the basket, takes 14 steps, isn't called for a travel, and the ball clings off the side of the rim

3) he drives to the basket, takes 14 steps, isn't called for a travel, and the ball miraculously finds its way into the net on a shot that has about a 5% chance of going in

[3star_recruit]

Last year Jalen Johnson and Davell Roby shot 39% and 35% from 3. And they shot the bulk of our threes. This year we have one person shooting over 31%. It really is that simple. 

[Clock_Tower]

26 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Last year Jalen Johnson and Davell Roby shot 39% and 35% from 3. And they shot the bulk of our threes. This year we have one person shooting over 31%. It really is that simple. 

3star   =1

Just not seeing the major upgrade in talent from last year.  Sure read about it alot on this board.  And if said enough, guess it must be true.   And if we have such great talent, then it must be our dumb coach...  

Taj.   Don't get me wrong, we lost another tight game... at home.   Turnovers.   Mindless plays/foul at the end of the game -- essentially another turnover.   Maybe Coach Ford should have tried something different and you and 3Star suggested.   Then again, Davidson's coach watches his best/second best player knock down 2 pressure FT's to take the lead (win the game) and Ford watches one of his best players/second best players miss both of his FT's.   Goodwin has made 2 FT's before, had shot very well earlier in the game from the FT line and if Goodwin makes both, we win.  If he makes 1, we stand a very good chance to win in OT.  He missed both so that Ford is a bad "in game" coach.

Reminder:  no one had high expectations last year but most did this year.   Win the A-10 Conference.  NCAA Tourney team.   Me?   No.   I didn't let my expectations get the best of me this year - not because I am smarter than anyone else or was able to foresee the current situation (I did not) but just because I have seen this before - many times.   This year, I did not drink the blue kool aid but waited to see the guys play.   Very similar team to last year.  No Welmer last year or this year.  Yes, we no longer rely upon walk-on Aaron Hines as another poster correctly pointed out, but then he did not include the loss of both Jalen Johnson and Davell Roby which had been huge.  And by taking a chance on CG, we not only ended up losing him for the rest of this year, it will now be difficult to replace him with a big late in the game/this Spring (as opposed to the Fall) but we also lost Jalen Johnson who assumed he was recruited over and would not seem much time this year.  Now, with the loss of CG, the injuries/limited play of Jacobs and Hankton, all we have different is Thatch (looks very good for the future) and our two (2) Seniors (Isabell and Wiley).  And again, thank goodness we have Isabell and Wiley this year.  Not looking to trash either of them or Foreman, but what from these 3 guys makes anyone think we should be A10 Champs and/or an NCAA Tourney team?   We still need them and others to step up.   But maybe we start to go with Jacobs and Hankton to see what we really have before next year's guys arrive.  The production of Isabell and Wiley, along with an increase from Bess, appear to be offset by the loss of Roby and Johnson.  And to put things another way, here are last year and this year's stats:

Roster  2017-2018

• Glossary

Player	#	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	Hometown	High School	RSCI Top 100	Summary
Javon Bess	3	JR	G	6-5	205	Columbus, OH	Gahanna Lincoln HS		13.3 Pts, 7.4 Reb, 2.2 Ast
Davell Roby	5	SR	G	6-4	200	Memphis, TN	White Station HS		11.5 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 1.9 Ast
Jalen Johnson	20	SO	F	6-7	190	Baton Rouge, LA	Southern University Laboratory School		9.1 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 0.7 Ast
Jordan Goodwin	0	FR	G	6-3	215	CENTREVILLE, IL	Althoff Catholic High School	52 (2017)	11.5 Pts, 7.5 Reb, 4.0 Ast
Hasahn French	22	FR	F	6-7	235	Middletown, NY	Commonwealth School		9.3 Pts, 7.1 Reb, 1.5 Ast
D.J. Foreman	1	JR	F	6-8	230	Spring Valley, NY	Massanutten Military Academy		6.9 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Aaron Hines	24	SR	G	6-0	175	St. Louis, MO	Parkway North HS		6.1 Pts, 1.6 Reb, 1.6 Ast
Rashed Anthony	25	SR	C	6-9	235	Orangeburg, SC	Flora Macdonald Academy		0.8 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.2 Ast
Markos Psimitis	21	JR	G	6-5	195	Mytilene, Greece	Experimental HS		0.5 Pts, 0.1 Reb, 0.1 Ast

Avg. Height: 6-5 

 

Roster 2018-2019

 

 

• Glossary

Player	#	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	Hometown	High School	RSCI Top 100	Summary
Javon Bess	3	SR	G	6-5	205	Columbus, OH	Gahanna Lincoln HS		15.8 Pts, 7.1 Reb, 1.7 Ast
Tramaine Isabell	2	SR	G	6-0	180	Seattle, WA	Garfield HS		11.3 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 3.2 Ast
Jordan Goodwin	0	SO	G	6-3	215	CENTREVILLE, IL	Althoff Catholic High School	52 (2017)	10.1 Pts, 6.9 Reb, 3.6 Ast
Hasahn French	11	SO	F	6-7	235	Middletown, NY	Commonwealth School		8.9 Pts, 8.3 Reb, 1.6 Ast
Carte'Are Gordon	5	FR	F	6-9	230	St. Louis, MO		65 (2018)	8.9 Pts, 4.1 Reb, 1.2 Ast
D.J. Foreman	1	SR	F	6-8	230	Spring Valley, NY	Massanutten Military Academy		5.7 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 0.9 Ast
Fred Thatch Jr	20	FR	G	6-3	210	Sikeston, MO			4.4 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 0.7 Ast
Dion Wiley	4	SR	G	6-4	210	Oxon Hill, MD	Potomac HS	53 (2014)	5.8 Pts, 1.2 Reb, 0.6 Ast
KC Hankton	23	FR	F	6-7	205	Charlotte, NC			1.9 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.2 Ast
Demarius Jacobs	15	FR	G	6-2	175	Chicago, IL			0.5 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.4 Ast
Jack Raboin	31	JR	G	6-6	205	Mattoon, IL			5.0 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Brandon Courtney	12	FR	G	6-3	175	Tremont, IL			0.0 Pts, 0.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Ingvi Gudmundsson	24	FR	G	6-4	180	Grindavik, Iceland			0.0 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Elliott Welmer	33	SO	F	6-9	220	Columbus, IN	Bridgton Academy

Avg. Height: 6-5 
Avg. Years Exp: 1.7 
Averages are weighted by minutes played 

[billiken_roy]

clock, first no one expected, santos leaving, gordon being a bust (and leaving) and welmer being hurt.   reducing our inside game to that degree is going to be devastating. 

second, as to our grad transfers, isabell brought some nice credentials  to the table.   and we all bought that wiley was a true sniper.  

third, everyone expected french and goodwin to naturally up their games.   and who would have thought foreman would regress.  

my point is there was good justification in the fall for the fandom enthusiasm.   but alas, i think most have accepted that was a misread.