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Kool-aid positives


DoctorB

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Gut-wrenching.  Heartbreaker. Crushing. We "should've" won. All ring true; &  I don't have all morning to read through the rants and learned observations, but I've read enough to get a feel for the pulse of this board.  But surprisingly 90% of what I have read, is focused on the wrenched guts, so here's some good news:  Whatever don't kill ya, can make you stronger...

--Perkins: he is showing up big-time in huge games, the way he has been showing up most of the time in practices.  This kid is making waves and looked great doing it.  How about some love for a true scorer, microwave style?

--Collins: true freshman, gutsy performance, even in OT running out of gas, sinking 2 FT's to put us ahead with 6 seconds.

--Bell:  mountain man hanging in there against an NBA lottery pick, solid performance and the sky is the limit.

--Fred Thatch: how we undersell his contributions; could check Crutcher and/or another 3-pt. shooter.

--amazingly, AGAIN: bench running a bit thin. Broken record over the entire Ford era -- & it shows at the end, and in OT.  a bit gassed.  But how about the HEARTS of champions??? I'm very proud of this team and I think if most people on here were honest, they did not think we would be this good this quickly.

--amazingly, tying score in regulation, down 5.  Goodwin scores!  WOW.  too bad he fouled out, but he is a champion.

Has with 17 boards and very tough defense: the new normal, we are so used to this that nobody even mentions it anymore.  Beast.

--FT shooting: duh.  But analytics only get you so far and all FT's are situational, and despite missing 17, we were in position to ****** a win.

--Now as for Coach Ford: it is surprising how pissy/ even hateful some of the comments have been on here about his "performance" or lack of "adjustments."  I say bravo, amazing crowd, strong performance, well done good and faithful coach and staff.  Can't wait because the future's so bright I need shades.  That is all...

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The game last night rought me more enjoyment han one human being should have.  How about the fact that we were down 5 with two minutes left and everybody in the building thought Dayton was going to run away from us, yet we sucked it up and came back.  There were so many moments that came back to bite us in the end, but that happens in every game.  Players make plays, and Crutcher was just cold blooded down the stretch.  Sometimes you just have to tip your cap, instead of bitching and moaning. 

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I’m a very optimistic person. I kept being positive we’d win  last night all week... but deep down didn’t everyone really feel it was more likely we’d lose that game? 
that game was amazing. We did a lot of things fantastically well. We had a handful of things that we did poorly. Every game there is give and take and there is always something that could be improved. 
it was a great game.

for those complaining, get real. Your expectations are too high. It is not ever going to happen that every category will be flawless. ... maybe if we were a top 20 team- but then how much did Dayton struggle with us all night?

no player is best at all categories... accept the flaws and support the boys in their strengths so they can have the confidence to always be improving. 
love my Billikens. Hell of a fight last night. 

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As disappointing as last night was, there is no quit in the men wearing the white and blue. Key teammates in street clothes, but those who put on the uniform give it all they can.

The attitude around this team is so much different than the Jim Crews reign of error. 

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I gotta also say:  if non-A 10 fans did tune in, they saw a helluva game and came away impressed with what a terrific pair of teams are sitting at the top of our league. Lunardi was saying either at halftime or somewhere else I saw, that our league might be good enough to have a final 4 team -- or maybe even 2!  at least I think it was him, or some other lifer...  Really a great game showcasing our program.

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There was just so many positives last night. How bout that reverse from Yuri on Toppin. How bout Perkins working in isolation when we needed a bucket. How bout Jimmy holding his own against one of the best in the country. How about Goodwin getting the bucket to send us into overtime. Has looked like a bit of his old self with some nice post moves. Jacobs playing with some fire.

I think if you were at the game you have 0 complaints because it was a hell of a fun time. You just tip your hat to Crutcher. If you watched from home I think you might harp on the negatives a bit more imo. 

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14 minutes ago, DoctorB said:

I gotta also say:  if non-A 10 fans did tune in, they saw a helluva game and came away impressed with what a terrific pair of teams are sitting at the top of our league. Lunardi was saying either at halftime or somewhere else I saw, that our league might be good enough to have a final 4 team -- or maybe even 2!  at least I think it was him, or some other lifer...  Really a great game showcasing our program.

Yeah, heard that.  Some moron said VCU could end up in the final four again.

Back to the Bills, damn proud of them.  Showed heart time and time gain.  Just gutted they couldn't pull it out.  You replay that game from 7 mins left 2nd half, we win 9 times out of 10.  Just caught the bad bounce.

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I’ve read too much about us missing 11 layups last night. That is misconstrued. Those shots weren’t bunnies. They were highly contested, through contact attempts that would have been great shots if made. We played a great game last night and Ford’s coaching is largely responsible for it. Games like that are why I’ve been coming to all the Bills games since 78. This is one of the most entertaining teams we’ve had. Tough, gritty, talented and balls to the wall.

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12 minutes ago, RiseOfTheBillikens said:

There was just so many positives last night. How bout that reverse from Yuri on Toppin. How bout Perkins working in isolation when we needed a bucket. How bout Jimmy holding his own against one of the best in the country. How about Goodwin getting the bucket to send us into overtime. Has looked like a bit of his old self with some nice post moves. Jacobs playing with some fire.

I think if you were at the game you have 0 complaints because it was a hell of a fun time. You just tip your hat to Crutcher. If you watched from home I think you might harp on the negatives a bit more imo. 

This is not a criticism of Ford. I thought he coached a good game but I would have preferred playing thru Perkins down the stretch instead of French. I know we were trying to foul out Obi but he then has to shoot fouls. Perkins in isolation is tough. 

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2 minutes ago, willie said:

This is not a criticism of Ford. I thought he coached a good game but I would have preferred playing thru Perkins down the stretch instead of French. I know we were trying to foul out Obi but he then has to shoot fouls. Perkins in isolation is tough. 

This.  Or hell, even Iso Hargrove against Obi.  Have Hargrove just drive to dunk every time.  Might make it to the rim and finish.  Might get fouled, put Obi out of the game and actually make the freebies.  Might get called for a charge or turn it over.  French is a better garbage man than a back to the basket post man and I mean that as a compliment.

Just wanted to see some different looks.  Everyone knew the ball was going to French and to just hack the bejeezus out of him.  French can be on the court all game rim protecting on D and cleaning up the junk on the offensive boards.  The best way to combat our atrocious FT shooting is to minimize the chances of our worst shooters having to take those shots.

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24 minutes ago, kmbilliken said:

I’ve read too much about us missing 11 layups last night. That is misconstrued. Those shots weren’t bunnies. They were highly contested, through contact attempts that would have been great shots if made. We played a great game last night and Ford’s coaching is largely responsible for it. Games like that are why I’ve been coming to all the Bills games since 78. This is one of the most entertaining teams we’ve had. Tough, gritty, talented and balls to the wall.

Yeah missing “layups” is ok when we’re driving straight at defenders and they’re fouling. I honestly only remember 3 “bunnies” that we missed. JBJ missed 2, and Goodwin missed an easy putback on one of JBJ’s 2 misses. 

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29 minutes ago, jimbofive said:

This.  Or hell, even Iso Hargrove against Obi.  Have Hargrove just drive to dunk every time.  Might make it to the rim and finish.  Might get fouled, put Obi out of the game and actually make the freebies.  Might get called for a charge or turn it over.  French is a better garbage man than a back to the basket post man and I mean that as a compliment.

Just wanted to see some different looks.  Everyone knew the ball was going to French and to just hack the bejeezus out of him.  French can be on the court all game rim protecting on D and cleaning up the junk on the offensive boards.  The best way to combat our atrocious FT shooting is to minimize the chances of our worst shooters having to take those shots.

I don’t know what to do with French at the end of games. It’s such a liability. He needs to see a sports psychologist or something 

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8 minutes ago, RiseAndGrind said:

I don’t know what to do with French at the end of games. It’s such a liability. He needs to see a sports psychologist or something 

No bullsh!t, he and Goodwin should absolutely see a sports psychologist this offseason.  Probably should have happened over winter break.  They're just missing so badly, their conscious thoughts are overriding muscle memory.  They're pushing it, they're tiptoeing, they've got the fuoking yips.  Goodwin is gotdamn money from 15-18 with his pull-up kid range jumper right now.  French has great touch w/ his baby hook.  They are skilled enough to be 55 (French) and 70 (Goodwin) percent shooters.  They are FUOKING UNSTOPPABLE if they can do that.  Reps won't help, leaving it alone won't help.  They need their headspace corrected.  It sickens me for them that those monster dub dubs they both posted last night, and the fearless leadership they provide go to waste behind those free throws.

Wouldn't trade French and Goodwin for anyone, but they're like top-shelf instinct-driven race car drivers that kick ass and take names 98% of the time, but sometimes they kill the engine trying to leave the starting line or just run over their pit crew.  It's inexplicable, and if they can even remotely fix it, we have one loss right now.  Proud of them and want them to take that final step to take their games to the next level.

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3 minutes ago, jimbofive said:

Wouldn't trade French and Goodwin for anyone, but they're like top-shelf instinct-driven race car drivers that kick ass and take names 98% of the time, but sometimes they kill the engine trying to leave the starting line or just run over their pit crew.

This is so accurate 

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People are saying the bench is thin but is it actually as thin as the complaints would indicate?  French, Goodwin, Bell, Collins and Perkins seem to get the bulk of the minutes with Jacobs in the mix.  That’s six guys with significant playing time.  Hargrove and Weaver are capable of giving minutes.  That’s 8 guys with Hightower getting a couple of minutes here and there for a honorable mention 9th body.  If you consider Jimmerson and Thatch healthy then you have 8 guys in rotation with 10 to pull from and Hightower as your 11th.  There aren’t a lot of teams that could sustain 2 huge contributors going down and not feel a little thin in their rotation.  This doesn’t even take into consideration Hankton who is sitting.  It’s hard to recruit 10-11 kids who are all capable of making a difference at a high mid-major level who are happy sitting on the bench.  This thin rotation is more because of injury/illness more than a reflection of the “Ford era”.

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Just remember this, Ford's teams get better in Feb and March. It's been his history at SLU. The best is yet to come. I'm hopeful this team is going to come out of last night's game feeling very confident. They took the Flyers to the brink. They don't have to hang their heads. It wouldn't shock me if we beat SVU in their place, whereas, I wouldn't have said that a month ago. 

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4 hours ago, RiseOfTheBillikens said:

I'm all for French shooting underhand now. Thought it would get better with experience. I was wrong. He'd be a national story if he turned it around shooting underhand.

I’m all for having him use the backboard. The only two times I recall him hitting the backboard then went in. I don’t know if he was aiming for it, but I think the square behind the backboard would be an easier target than putting it in the basket. I also think if he misses a longer rebound would result and give us a better chance to get it.

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14 minutes ago, kmbilliken said:

I’m all for having him use the backboard. The only two times I recall him hitting the backboard then went in. I don’t know if he was aiming for it, but I think the square behind the backboard would be an easier target than putting it in the basket. I also think if he misses a longer rebound would result and give us a better chance to get it.

You're asking Has to have some touch or finesse?

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7 hours ago, jimbofive said:

No bullsh!t, he and Goodwin should absolutely see a sports psychologist this offseason.  Probably should have happened over winter break.  They're just missing so badly, their conscious thoughts are overriding muscle memory.  They're pushing it, they're tiptoeing, they've got the fuoking yips.  Goodwin is gotdamn money from 15-18 with his pull-up kid range jumper right now.  French has great touch w/ his baby hook.  They are skilled enough to be 55 (French) and 70 (Goodwin) percent shooters.  They are FUOKING UNSTOPPABLE if they can do that.  Reps won't help, leaving it alone won't help.  They need their headspace corrected.  It sickens me for them that those monster dub dubs they both posted last night, and the fearless leadership they provide go to waste behind those free throws.

Wouldn't trade French and Goodwin for anyone, but they're like top-shelf instinct-driven race car drivers that kick ass and take names 98% of the time, but sometimes they kill the engine trying to leave the starting line or just run over their pit crew.  It's inexplicable, and if they can even remotely fix it, we have one loss right now.  Proud of them and want them to take that final step to take their games to the next level.

I have observed a hypnotist do things i never believed could be done, smoking cessation, weight loss and some other behaviors. I think it would be worth a try, for these guys.

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18 minutes ago, kmbilliken said:

No. The opposite. Throw it at the square. If he hits it he’ll have just as good of a chance going in as it does now. If it doesn’t go in, we’ll have a better chance at the long rebound.

As long as it touches the rim, right?

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2 hours ago, kmbilliken said:

No. The opposite. Throw it at the square. If he hits it he’ll have just as good of a chance going in as it does now. If it doesn’t go in, we’ll have a better chance at the long rebound.

I'm thinking that banking in a free throw may require more "touch" than shooting for the rim.  The rim's diameter is about twice the circumference of a basketball.  That means there's some wiggle room if the arc of the ball's flight brings it in contact with the inside of the rim.  The greater the arc, the greater the forgiveness.  Aiming for the square requires flattening out the arc and then introduces an additional variable of the carom.  But, you're right about the fact that there might be longer rebound — which could also just as well be an outlet for the opposing team's fastbreak.

Edit:  Another thing to consider is that while aiming for the square on a layup is the best practice, the ball is on an upward trajectory when in hits the backboard on a layup, but on a jumper it's on a downward trajectory when it hits the backboard, and the spin is different.  I don't think putting it in the square on a jumper "guides" the ball into the basket as much as it does on a layup.

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