Program's Decade in Review

[slu72]

Building off of Stu's article but Basketball centered: 

Ups Downs and all arounds seems to best describe the past 10 years. A phenomenal turn around began under the late great Rick Majerus. But not without some sputtering. 10-11 season began the decade with high hopes, but they were dashed in the spring by Sit 1. Kwamain and Willie forced to sit out. Most of us probably thought they were lost forever, but Kwamain hung tough and became a Billiken favorite for all time. Willie went to Applebees. The season was a bummer, but the future looked promising. 

Indeed it was.  11-12 and a dance invite. An exciting and fun filled weekend in Columbus where the Bills came within a hair of taking down the No 1 seed. Followed by an emotional press conference that  in hindsight may have prophesied  the bad/sad news to follow. Rick was really sick. Real sick. It almost seems like God enjoys teasing Bills fans.  

But the next two seasons proved how great a coach Majerus was. His boys basically coached themselves to 2 more invites. Alas, with the good comes the bad; Jim Crews is named full time HC. 

Two dark seasons quickly followed under Crews incompetent leadership. Two years of ugly ugly BB proving once again it's hard being a Billiken fan. 

Crews goes, thank God. Ford is hired. No one certain if he's the guy to fix this trainwreck. But his recruiting brings hope. A rough start with Crews leftovers. But next season with his recruits and transfers we just might be ok. BOOM it all blows up in our face. SIT 2 and the #me too movement wrecks a season of promise. Another kick in our collective groin. 

But another successful year of recruiting brings hope. Ford lands the area's prime big. Gets a highly sought after GT. We suddenly become the favorite in the A10. Damn this Ford guy is alright . Hold your horses because we're not out of the woods. Santos leaves. The team sputters a little with all the new faces, but Gordon looks like the real deal. Then another bolt of lightning... Gordon quits! Lord, what do you have against Billiken hoops? The conference is a struggle to get to 6th place. Then miracle of miracles. 4 wins in 4 days. We're dancing again for the 4th time in 9 years. Maybe God is a Billiken, although I think he really cheers for Nova and Zaga a lot harder. But no complaints. 

All in all not a bad 10 years. But it was a tough road to travel with the two Sits, the Crews fiasco, and the desertion by Gordon and Pearce. It just seems every time we think we've turned the corner for long term success we get hit by another bus. But I'll take the ups and downs and all arounds any day over the dark ages of the mid 70's thru late 80's, or worse a Fordham like program. 

 

[Compton]

Best decade since the 1950's. So odd that Crews oversaw its high and low water marks. 

Majerus - achieving excellence; Crews - returning to obsolescence; Ford - returning to excellence.

[RUBillsFan]

1 hour ago, slu72 said:

Building off of Stu's article but Basketball centered: 

To help you avoid @Pistol's wrath, here is a link to the article you're talking about: https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/decade-in-review-slu-sports/collection_51111aeb-dfa0-5383-be14-3495ef7151c7.html

When you reference an article, provide a link.  This is especially helpful because the one in the feed on the Billikens.com front page appears to be broken.

[Clocktoweraccords2004]

Lol Gordon didn’t quit

[slu72]

23 minutes ago, Clocktoweraccords2004 said:

Lol Gordon didn’t quit

What do u call it? He got kicked off? 

[RUBillsFan]

36 minutes ago, Compton said:

Best decade since the 1950's. So odd that Crews oversaw its high and low water marks. 

Majerus - achieving excellence; Crews - returning to obsolescence; Ford - returning to excellence.

I'm not sure where we're putting the cutoffs for decades, given this article and timing I guess we're cutting seasons in half in order to call the decade 1/1/2010 through 12/31/2019.  I'd argue you shouldn't lop seasons in half so this decade should either be the 2009-10 season through 2018-19 season or the 2010-11 season though the 2019-20 season.

Regardless of cutoffs, I think you can argue that the 1990s decade was just as good as this most recent one or at least very very close.  Since I don't know how to measure half seasons, I'm going to call the most recent decade 2009-10 through 2018-19 and the 1990s would then be 1989-90 through 1998-99.  This short changes the 90s by excluding an NCAA tournament season in 1999-2000, but adds an NIT finals run on the front end.

2009-10 season through 2018-19 season:

Overall record: 190 - 146 (.565)

Conference record: 88 - 82 (.518)

Winning seasons: 6

Losing seasons: 4

Conference tournament titles: 2

Conference regular season titles: 2

NCAAs: 4 (3 wins)

NITs: 0

CBI: 1 (runner up)

1989-90 season through 1998-99 season:

Overall record: 167 - 139

Conference record: 61 - 71

Winning seasons: 6

Losing seasons: 4

Conference tournament titles: 0

Conference regular season titles: 0

NCAAs: 3 (2 wins)

NITs: 2 (runner up in 90)

CBI: N/A

 

The 90s had a slightly worse winning % and conference winning %, but that can largely be attributed to playing in better conferences during the 90s compared to the 2010s.  Similarly no conference hardware in the 1990s due to the difficulty of the conferences.  Same # of winning and losing seasons.  I think the Majerus 3 year run topped anything in the 1990s, but the Crews 3 year slide that followed is also lower than anything in the 1990s.  4 NCAA trips in 2010s is better than 3 in the 1990s (pending cut off seasons), but the 1990s had 2 NIT appearances and an NIT finals run that are way better than the CBI finals run.  I'd argue postseason success is pretty close to even.  Where the is no comparison is the level of local excitement around the program.  In the 1990s SLU was setting attendance records and putting up top 20 overall attendance seasons.  I realize with different arenas the comparison is difficult, but 2010s didn't come close that level.  3 the top 5 scorers SLU's history including the all time leader played in the 1990s.  1990s also featured all time leader 3pts made, rebounds, and steals.  2010s has lot of guys high up on the lists and some are still TBD how high they'll climb, but 1990s is generally higher on the lists (some of that is admitted pace of play).

[Compton]

Definitely close, but I think the NCAA Tournament appearances, NCAA Tournament wins and conference titles/championships tip the scales. 

 

[slu72]

44 minutes ago, Compton said:

Definitely close, but I think the NCAA Tournament appearances, NCAA Tournament wins and conference titles/championships tip the scales. 

 

Agreed. 

[Clocktoweraccords2004]

2 hours ago, slu72 said:

What do u call it? He got kicked off? 

Absolutely. Did ya not see the recent stuff about the teammates calling him out for messing with team Chemistry 

[billikenfan05]

27 minutes ago, Clocktoweraccords2004 said:

Absolutely. Did ya not see the recent stuff about the teammates calling him out for messing with team Chemistry 

Not sure how you’re making the connection between that tweet and Gordon. It’s stretch of insane proportions 

[Clocktoweraccords2004]

1 hour ago, billikenfan05 said:

Not sure how you’re making the connection between that tweet and Gordon. It’s stretch of insane proportions 

That’s an over exaggeration. They all hated Gordon. Thought you were connected brah

[slu72]

1 hour ago, Clocktoweraccords2004 said:

That’s an over exaggeration. They all hated Gordon. Thought you were connected brah

I think he quit. I don't give a damn what u think. 

[Clocktoweraccords2004]

1 hour ago, slu72 said:

I think he quit. I don't give a damn what u think. 

I know you’re wrong. So....

you think he quit DePaul and the other Florida program too? 

[almaman]

18 minutes ago, Clocktoweraccords2004 said:

I know you’re wrong. So....

you think he quit DePaul and the other Florida program too? 

For some on here being a MB moron would be a big step up. 

[billikenfan05]

3 hours ago, Clocktoweraccords2004 said:

That’s an over exaggeration. They all hated Gordon. Thought you were connected brah

If they still care about Gordon I’m concerned for their mental state. 
 

mix in a water. 

[Clocktoweraccords2004]

42 minutes ago, almaman said:

For some on here being a MB moron would be a big step up. 

Gordon didn’t quit and if you think he did you’re the biggest moron on here 

[philliken]

18 hours ago, Compton said:

Majerus - achieving excellence; Crews - returning to obsolescence; Ford - returning to excellence.

It almost translates to:

Majerus - A New Hope; Crews - Dumpsterfire Strikes Back; and Ford - Return of the Billikens.

 

[Old guy]

To SLU72 and the rest of the MBMs. Captain Obvious reality check incoming. Life is not an easy road, it is chock full of disappointments, detours, falls, and mistakes. No one is exempt from these. There is no reason at all to imagine or hope that a basketball team would be free of the same ups and downs as everyone's individual lives. Kids are kids, and a basketball team has built in pitfalls including injuries, problems with players and between players, and unfortunate circumstances. Sometimes personalities just clash with one another and the clash cannot be fixed. You cannot expect a smooth glide from the pits we were at under Crews to our desired goal for the future. As it is, we are doing just fine. Keep the glass half full, not half empty. We need to stop looking at the past and projecting it into the future. The past is water under the bridge. We are moving forward which does not mean our path will glide smoothly from here on, but we can and will deal effectively with whatever happens as a team. This is basically Ford's message to Team Blue. It is my message to us, the fans. 

Merry Christmas to all, peace and joy. GO BILLS!

[slu72]

1 hour ago, Old guy said:

To SLU72 and the rest of the MBMs. Captain Obvious reality check incoming. Life is not an easy road, it is chock full of disappointments, detours, falls, and mistakes. No one is exempt from these. There is no reason at all to imagine or hope that a basketball team would be free of the same ups and downs as everyone's individual lives. Kids are kids, and a basketball team has built in pitfalls including injuries, problems with players and between players, and unfortunate circumstances. Sometimes personalities just clash with one another and the clash cannot be fixed. You cannot expect a smooth glide from the pits we were at under Crews to our desired goal for the future. As it is, we are doing just fine. Keep the glass half full, not half empty. We need to stop looking at the past and projecting it into the future. The past is water under the bridge. We are moving forward which does not mean our path will glide smoothly from here on, but we can and will deal effectively with whatever happens as a team. This is basically Ford's message to Team Blue. It is my message to us, the fans. 

Merry Christmas to all, peace and joy. GO BILLS!

I think u misunderstood my post. I think the decade was about as good as we could have expected. 4 NCAA's, conference titles, conference tourney winner twice, multiple players winning all conference awards. All in all a pretty good 10 years. In fact, given some of the hurdles the program had to overcome,  we're doing just fine, and the future looks promising. 

Yes, we all want the sustained success of a Zaga, an X, a Nova. I think if we can keep Ford around, we just might achieve it. 

[Clock_Tower]

23 hours ago, slu72 said:

Building off of Stu's article but Basketball centered: 

Ups Downs and all arounds seems to best describe the past 10 years. A phenomenal turn around began under the late great Rick Majerus. But not without some sputtering. 10-11 season began the decade with high hopes, but they were dashed in the spring by Sit 1. Kwamain and Willie forced to sit out. Most of us probably thought they were lost forever, but Kwamain hung tough and became a Billiken favorite for all time. Willie went to Applebees. The season was a bummer, but the future looked promising. 

Indeed it was.  11-12 and a dance invite. An exciting and fun filled weekend in Columbus where the Bills came within a hair of taking down the No 1 seed. Followed by an emotional press conference that  in hindsight may have prophesied  the bad/sad news to follow. Rick was really sick. Real sick. It almost seems like God enjoys teasing Bills fans.  

But the next two seasons proved how great a coach Majerus was. His boys basically coached themselves to 2 more invites. Alas, with the good comes the bad; Jim Crews is named full time HC. 

Two dark seasons quickly followed under Crews incompetent leadership. Two years of ugly ugly BB proving once again it's hard being a Billiken fan. 

Crews goes, thank God. Ford is hired. No one certain if he's the guy to fix this trainwreck. But his recruiting brings hope. A rough start with Crews leftovers. But next season with his recruits and transfers we just might be ok. BOOM it all blows up in our face. SIT 2 and the #me too movement wrecks a season of promise. Another kick in our collective groin. 

But another successful year of recruiting brings hope. Ford lands the area's prime big. Gets a highly sought after GT. We suddenly become the favorite in the A10. Damn this Ford guy is alright . Hold your horses because we're not out of the woods. Santos leaves. The team sputters a little with all the new faces, but Gordon looks like the real deal. Then another bolt of lightning... Gordon quits! Lord, what do you have against Billiken hoops? The conference is a struggle to get to 6th place. Then miracle of miracles. 4 wins in 4 days. We're dancing again for the 4th time in 9 years. Maybe God is a Billiken, although I think he really cheers for Nova and Zaga a lot harder. But no complaints. 

All in all not a bad 10 years. But it was a tough road to travel with the two Sits, the Crews fiasco, and the desertion by Gordon and Pearce. It just seems every time we think we've turned the corner for long term success we get hit by another bus. But I'll take the ups and downs and all arounds any day over the dark ages of the mid 70's thru late 80's, or worse a Fordham like program. 

 

All true.  And thorough... but need to add the friction casues by Fr Biondi towards Majerus, his refusal to do media spots in return along with RM’s silence, rumors that RM would not be returning or renewing his contract... our prior 3 best coaches (Grawer, Spoon and Majerus) and best ADs (Yow and Levick) left angry or unhappy.

The bright spot to me, though, has been Dr Chaifetz in this decade vs the 1990’s. Fr Biondi is now gone and Dr C is present. No  more refusals to reimburse ice cream bills, pay cell phone charges, pay team and recruiting travel expenses, pay assistant coach salaries (RM partially paid his assistants from his own salary?)  and chartered flights...  instead, our head coach and assistants are now well paid, our locker room and lounge are upgraded, the program and people within appear happy and the team is winning ...  

Merry Christmas and thank you Dr C!!

 

 

[Clock_Tower]

1 hour ago, slu72 said:

Yes, we all want the sustained success of a Zaga, an X, a Nova. I think if we can keep Ford around, we just might achieve it. 

Sustained success starts at the top. Addition by subtraction with Fr Biondi. I sure hope Coach Ford stays a long time... but our program is in good shape now. 

[slu72]

1 hour ago, Clock_Tower said:

All true.  And thorough... but need to add the friction casues by Fr Biondi towards Majerus, his refusal to do media spots in return along with RM’s silence, rumors that RM would not be returning or renewing his contract... our prior 3 best coaches (Grawer, Spoon and Majerus) and best ADs (Yow and Levick) left angry or unhappy.

The bright spot to me, though, has been Dr Chaifetz in this decade vs the 1990’s. Fr Biondi is now gone and Dr C is present. No  more refusals to reimburse ice cream bills, pay cell phone charges, pay team and recruiting travel expenses, pay assistant coach salaries (RM partially paid his assistants from his own salary?)  and chartered flights...  instead, our head coach and assistants are now well paid, our locker room and lounge are upgraded, the program and people within appear happy and the team is winning ...  

Merry Christmas and thank you Dr C!!

 

 

You're correct, Dr C was probably the most important part the program's resurgence. Should of mentioned him.  

[Clocktoweraccords2004]

20 hours ago, slu72 said:

I think he quit. I don't give a damn what u think. 

It’s not even a debate. He didn’t quit lol 

[billiken_roy]

1 hour ago, Clocktoweraccords2004 said:

It’s not even a debate. He didn’t quit lol 

Whats your point?  Would there be some sort of honor or glory that the biggest cancer on the program in history quit or got asked to leave.   He was a huge talent that had no head and not one player liked him.   

Recruiting him likely kept other bigs from coming to slu that would have actually helped the team.   Instead we got this egotistical cancer that believed he was too good and more important than anyone else.

He's now had the same scenario play out twice more.   I.e. 3 programs in less than a year.   He's a walking disaster that sure as hell doesnt deserve discussion here. 

[Clock_Tower]

42 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

Whats your point?  Would there be some sort of honor or glory that the biggest cancer on the program in history quit or got asked to leave.   He was a huge talent that had no head and not one player liked him.   

Recruiting him likely kept other bigs from coming to slu that would have actually helped the team.   Instead we got this egotistical cancer that believed he was too good and more important than anyone else.

He's now had the same scenario play out twice more.   I.e. 3 programs in less than a year.   He's a walking disaster that sure as hell doesnt deserve discussion here. 

+1

and on a related note, laws and contracts make little to no distinction as to an employee who quits or gets fired. Many are given the choice to resign and accept a benefit package or be fired. Either way, the writing is on the wall and employees either get forced out, made to feel so bad they quit...  why the relevance ?