What An Opener

[mrjoelabs]

Sure, the 2nd half D let too many open 3s, but I don't remember a punishing like this in a long time.

We have our point guard, as everyone saw, and its not JG.  Yuri was a show every minute he was out there. Sure he made some freshman mistakes, but wow.  

Other observations

Bell looked like he needs a lot of work (which we knew) 4 fouls, no points.  But he was good clearing out and being a presence

Gibson hit the shots tonight, especially with Yuri dishing.

Jacobs and hankton looked bad to me.

Weaver and Perkins looked like exactly what we need them to be.

My starting 5 moving forward

Yuri

Goodwin

Thatch

French

Bell

 

If weaver/perkins continue to look good maybe drop Bell and play small with one of them starting.

Ready for Valpo

[wgstl]

6 minutes ago, mrjoelabs said:

Ready for Valpo

Speaking of, they beat a team who according to kenpom is ranked in the 80s

[Clocktoweraccords2004]

Meh lets just go with 4 guards

Yuri, Goodwin, Thatch, Gibson and French

[mrjoelabs]

4 minutes ago, Clocktoweraccords2004 said:

Meh lets just go with 4 guards

Yuri, Goodwin, Thatch, Gibson and French

You know, I can't really argue with that. But I feel like Gibson is better off the bench. Don't want him overexposed out there, although his defense looked good tonight.

[almaman]

I like Perkins off the bench too.

[RiseOfTheBillikens]

2 hours ago, Clocktoweraccords2004 said:

Meh lets just go with 4 guards

Yuri, Goodwin, Thatch, Gibson and French

Don't want Hasahn picking up any early fouls so Bell will get early minutes at the 5.

[David King]

7 hours ago, mrjoelabs said:

 

Jacobs and hankton looked bad to me.

 

Jacobs had, by far, his best game as a Billiken. It looks like he has stepped up his game at least a notch.

[slu72]

A lot to like about tonight. The play of JGood, Has, and Thatch was especially encouraging. I said it after the last game that Has looks a lot more fluid and skilled than last year. The OOP was especially sweet since the A came from you know who (a player I've been particularly high on). Both JGood and Thatch appear to have upped their games as well. Big thing is I don't think any one of them played more than 30 minutes. French only logged 23. So, hats off to the bench. If this team is going to play at this pace all year, they are going to need fresh legs come late Jan thru Feb. Last night the bench gave them the chance for some breathers, and we didn't miss a beat. 

I think Bell should continue to give us the opening minutes. As someone pointed out we don't want Has getting in early foul trouble and be forced to sit out a chunk of time. If teams start off probing the inside, ie taking it towards Has to take him out, let's let Jimmy take the early fouls. 

Could go on about each player but most know who did what so not necessary. Just a great overall team effort that seemed to so effortless for an opener. The only bad was the 3 pt defense, which was not good against KWU either. That's got to be fixed or else teams like Davidson and Richmond will kill us.

Again, recall last year's struggles against these pesky lower mids, it seemed we struggled against all of them and only put one of them away with the ease we handled FGCU tonight. Anybody break a sweat watching this game,  bite your fingernails, or empty the liquor cabinet tonight? 

[3star_recruit]

Having enough athletic bodies to press allows us to break games open against mediocre teams instead of sweating it out for the last 5 minutes.  Makes watching the average Billiken game a lot more enjoyable.  Doesn't tell us anything about how our guys are going to do against good teams but you have to think a blowout win is good for their confidence.

I know Hargove wants to get out there but these first three games are about preparing this team to take on Seton Hall.  November 17 will be here before you know it.  Think of this first month as a primer in team fundamentals that TJ didn't receive from the coaching carousel at East St. Louis.  

[slu72]

14 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Having enough athletic bodies to press allows us to break games open against mediocre teams instead of sweating it out for the last 5 minutes.  Makes watching the average Billiken game a lot more enjoyable.  Doesn't tell us anything about how our guys are going to do against good teams but you have to think a blowout win is good for their confidence.

I know Hargove wants to get out there but these first three games are about preparing this team to take on Seton Hall.  November 17 will be here before you know it.  Think of this first month as a primer in team fundamentals that TJ didn't receive from the coaching carousel at East St. Louis.  

I think the above is the case Ford has been making for Hargrove. He also add his attitude is great, so I don't expect he's gonna pull a Gordon. Sure, it's discouraging for a HS all everything to sit this out, but if he buys into the why, we'll be better off in the long run. 

[NextYearBill]

soooo Yuri drops 9 assists in his debut...... oooook then....

[dennis_w]

Outstanding opener, When the 3pt defense gets sorted out and it will, this team will be hard to beat, Bell wil  get better as he gets pt. and dont give up on hankton just yet. not many bigs on the roster and he will be needed down the line

[Coach314]

So the prevailing view is that Hargrove hasn't been coached well enough to be in the rotation of the defense and offense they were running last night?

[HoosierPal]

14 minutes ago, dennis_w said:

Outstanding opener, When the 3pt defense gets sorted out and it will, this team will be hard to beat, Bell wil  get better as he gets pt. and dont give up on hankton just yet. not many bigs on the roster and he will be needed down the line

Hankton is playing a position he likely never has played before as a 5.  We are definitely going to need him moving forward.

[Quality Is Job 1]

5 minutes ago, Coach314 said:

So the prevailing view is that Hargrove hasn't been coached well enough to be in the rotation of the defense and offense they were running last night?

You make it sound sinister.  I think the most likely explanation is that Hargrove hasn't mastered his spots on either end of the floor well enough in the coaching staff's judgment to warrant overexposing him.

[TheChosenOne]

What an awesome way to open the season, that was fun (I admit to losing focus in the 2nd half, but man that 1st half was dominating)!

I was sitting with a friend and we were trying to figure out comparables for what we were watching, we were thinking some of the Frank Martin teams he has had that are just on you from start to finish with guys who just have that toughness and find almost that next level of effort. We just completely sucked the energy out of FGCU with our tenacious defense and rebounding (when we were missing some shots early) and then we started hitting shots and it was a blowout quick. I would have to go back and watch it, but it felt like FGCU went minutes early where they just couldn't even get a shot because we were just flat out hounding them, we have some dogs.

I always thought this team would be fun to watch, but certainly did not expect that sort of dominating effort out of the gate. Great job players and coaches and to us posting on this message board because I think we also had a nice offseason and deserve some of the credit. Now lets get Chaifetz packed and jumping all season, spread the word!

[RUBillsFan]

13 minutes ago, Coach314 said:

So the prevailing view is that Hargrove hasn't been coached well enough to be in the rotation of the defense and offense they were running last night?

 

5 minutes ago, Quality Is Job 1 said:

You make it sound sinister.  I think the most likely explanation is that Hargrove hasn't mastered his spots on either end of the floor well enough in the coaching staff's judgment to warrant overexposing him.

It has also been pointed out that Ford is like his 4th coach in 5 years or something.  His previous coaches could have been John Wooden, Dean Smith, and Red Aurbach and it would still be understandable for him to be behind on learning another new scheme.

Hargrove was pumped up on the bench and seemed be be enjoying watching his teammates be successful last night.  I'm not worried about him at all.  Like Ford said his time will come.  I wonder if part of not playing him last night in the 2nd half when Hightower came in is to preserve a potential redshirt season.  

[Old guy]

While at the game last night, I saw Coach Tate walking laboriously using a pair of Canadian canes (the aluminum ones with big pistol grip handholds that brace on the back of your arms, not in the axilla). Does anyone know what is going on with him. Did he have an accident, surgery?

[HoosierPal]

2 minutes ago, Old guy said:

While at the game last night, I saw Coach Tate walking laboriously using a pair of Canadian canes (the aluminum ones with big pistol grip handholds that brace on the back of your arms, not in the axilla). Does anyone know what is going on with him. Did he have an accident, surgery?

As reported a week ago, he had surgery for an 'unspecified leg injury'.  He missed the exhibition game.

[Old guy]

I missed that,  thanks HoosierPal. I hope he is back in action soon, but looking at his size I have to wonder how fast the recovery will go.

[CBFan]

French, Collins, Jimerson, Goodwin, Thatch, Weaver were terrific last night.

Hankton, Perkins, Jacobs contributed.

Bell is work in progress and will be needed so playing him as much as they can without over exposing him is important.  Bell has trouble holding on to rebounds and is not looking to score and I think with time that will improve.

Jacobs is timid on taking shots and attacking the basket he looks like he is afraid to make a mistake.  When the game was in hand Jacobs relaxed and looked a lot better offensively.  I hope watching Thatch, Goodwin, Collins, and Weaver attacking he will learn and relax.  One of the reasons Jacobs is playing is that he is a long defender that is hard to shoot over.  When Collins and Weaver are not tall enough to guard tall guards then Jacobs is going to play.

Our team is so deep and talented at the guard position it is fun and that is why we can press and our team will improve on parameter defense.

Jimerson is a surprise defender and it is so fun to watch how hard Jimerson plays on both ends.

Perkins and Jimerson will make up for the loss of Bess and Isabell they have the scorers mentality and Jimerson will only get better defensively.

I was extremely disappointed that Hargrove was not allowed to play during the garbage time last minute of the game IMO there was no need for that.  When Hargrove came in on the exhibition game he got a loud cheer and I wonder why for the last minute what was the harm to play him, I would have stood and clapped.

Free throw shooting continues to be an issue 10-18 is poor.

The other numbers like 48 percent shooting is good, almost 41 percent for 3 point shots is terrific as is 41 to 28 rebounding.

Overall an excellent night I wish fans would have stayed to give our team a standing ovation at the end of the game and we need more fans at the game.

[Crewsorlose]

Man, this team looked electric from Section 208. When Collins is guarding the ball, and Goodwin and Thach are playing the passing lanes, the other team better have really strong ball handling. You could see in some of the 2nd half rotations that Ford wants the new guys to get used to playing without French or Goodwin on the floor. 

There will be touch stretches, but this core of players can challenge the top four of the A-10 this year in terms of talent and depth. And this core of players has all the makings of an A-10 champion in 2021. Collins and Jimmerson, and maybe more can provide the transition after French and Goodwin leave, and that's the existential question looming over the Billikens, esp. with no clear path to another top 50-type player. 

Ford and his program weathered Situation 2 and the loss of Gordon, highest-rated recruit since Hughes. That's enormous for a program like SLU. Honestly, get on the bandwagon before it's full. We're in for a super fun ride. 

One final note, crowd looked really good for an opening game on a Wednesday. 5000 maybe? I would expect 7K for Saturday.

[ACE]

1 hour ago, Coach314 said:

So the prevailing view is that Hargrove hasn't been coached well enough to be in the rotation of the defense and offense they were running last night?

Quit trying to stir up sh!t.

[RUBillsFan]

16 minutes ago, Crewsorlose said:

Collins and Jimmerson, and maybe more can provide the transition after French and Goodwin leave, and that's the existential question looming over the Billikens, esp. with no clear path to another top 50-type player. 

It will be essential to add or develop (Bell / Diarra) a big man who can play pick n roll with Collins while Jimerson looms for a corner 3 ball.  That 3 man offense is pretty difficult to stop.

[moytoy12]

2 hours ago, slu72 said:

 

Could go on about each player but most know who did what so not necessary. Just a great overall team effort that seemed to so effortless for an opener. The only bad was the 3 pt defense, which was not good against KWU either. That's got to be fixed or else teams like Davidson and Richmond will kill us.

I think our 3 point D or lack thereof in the second half is attributable to a couple of things. First, as 3star mentioned, Thatch makes a big difference defensively. Him not being out there impacted our defensive flow.  Second, our high pressure is going to lead to moments where we get out of sorts leading to breakdowns and open shots. We know #1 isn’t an issue as long as Thatch is healthy and #2 will improve.