The Wiz Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 The Bills did what they were supposed to do against Fham...check the spread thread for post game analysis... Finally, the Bills grade moves up to B+ after being stuck at B for 6-7 weeks......LaS which has struggled recently (C rated... C- trending ) will be a challenging opponent. Weak on offense but not as weak as Fham and good defense but not as good as Fham... Their strong suit is 3pt play...OFF and DEF...their weak spot is TOs. Let's see what the report card looks like.... ..............................SLU...........................LaS.................................................................SLU...............................LaS ................................................OFF.....................................................................................................DEF............... PPG.........................C...............................D.................................................................B+......................................C- FG%.........................C...............................D-.............................................................. ..A-...................................C+ 3Pt%........................D..............................C+................................................................C.....................................B+ FT%.........................F-. 2nd Worst ITN......D-... ....................................................................................................... Reb.........................A+..10th ITN...............C...............................................................C.......................................C- OFF Rebs = total rebs...DEF rebs = opp reb Bills Offensive reb....A+....11th ITN....down Change from last game (UP means improvement ...Down means worse)....UP ....Reb.....Def PPG.....Def FG%.....Def 3P%.......... DOWN......3P% Top 100 ITN Stls....Goodwin ...44th.....down Assts...Y Collins....34th.....up...tied for the Bills Freshman asst record for a season Rebs...Goodwin..10th.....French...11th.....up and up...French needs 1 extra rebound to virtually tie Goodwin Off Reb....French ...13th...Goodwin...47th...down and up Def reb...Goodwin ...16th...French...33rd...up & up Blks.....French....16th...up FG%....Croswell....64th Report card note...On Sat, we dropped to last in FT shooting after a "big"?? day by Army at the line (62%)...however we leap frogged them on Sun with a stronger 65%. Injury report...... Thatch...out indefinitely...no change Diagne...F...1/25/20....Questionable...missed last 2 games..lower body injury...it is unknown if he will play against the Bills...4gms @ 4 min/gm Kimbrough...F...1/25/20...Questionable...missed last 2 games...upper body injury...it is up in the air if he will play against the Bills...16 gms @ 12 min / gm Jack Clark...G...11/14/19...OFTS...knee WWN2D2W...Press them...this does 2 things...they are vulnerable to the TO...create more TOs and also they are short handed ...wear them down......since we have been trending down in 3P% and they have an excellent 3P D....limit 3P Att to 12....shoot 44/32/58... win the TO battle by 4...and the rebounds by 5....There scorer is Deas...hold him to single digits...They have a few 3P shooters...Deas, Spencer and Phiri...hold them to a combined 35%...Hold Croswell to less than 50% from inside the arc. Bottom line...Defense has been improving all season especially the last month. ...grades look nice. Even 3P D which has been a weak spot is now up to average....we will have to show off some of that 3P D against LaS. This game is not a gimme but we should win it. I would like to see us win by more than 5 as they have been trending down (C-) We don't have to play to the competition ...we can play better than the competition. Go Bills Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 While I go with The Wiz, FWIW, Sagarin has SLU by 3 at LaSalle, and at this point, SLU by 7 at St. Joseph's. We need 2 Wins on the upcoming trip to Philly, doable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 -I watched a bit of VCU @ LaSalle on Saturday and the Explorers were hanging around, handled the pressure, made some 3's, let's get this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Personnel: La Salle is 1 and 6 in league play, having dropped their last five in a row. They have only beaten Fordham at Rose Hill by 6. La Salle goes 8 deep with all eight getting nearly 20 minutes per game. Only Deas is averaging double digit ppg and seven of those eight guys are listed as guards. Freshman Ayinde Hikim is a Collins clone at 5'11"and 165. Leads team in assists. I have seen Saul Phiri, David Beatty and Deas all go off on a given night for 20+. It depends. Crosswell is thier only big with Kimbrough hurt. Freshman Brandon Stone is 6'11" but has average only 8 mpg in the last five games. Croswell is shooting at nearly 60% from the floor but only takes twos and is averaging about three shots per game. Not a volume guy. Phiri is 6'4"; Deas is 6'6" and Christian Ray is listed at 6'6" as well. Deas is a senior and there have been a few games this year where he was afflicted with senioritis or something ---- playing well outside the team game with Howard yanking him at times. He got only 12 minutes against VCU. Spencer, Phiri and Beatty all launch threes. Ditto Deas. All are near 100 attempts on the season. Howard is trying to instill a HAVOC-like, pressing defense and this can lead to a lot of easy baskets onthe offensive end as well as a lot of cherry picking with kick backs to open threes on their offensive end. Neither team should beat us in Philly but both have 'trap' games written all over them. La Salle has played a rather weak OOC schedule but they did win the Gulf Coast Showcase in November beating Murray State, Wright State and South Alabama in three consecutive nights. La Salle is a bona fide PIG candidate for Brooklyn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLU_Nick Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 I hate teams that are bad that just launch threes. If they get uncharacteristically hot, and there are limited possessions like the Fordham game, then we lose. I really think this is a game where we want a lot of possessions to let them turn the ball over and us to get run outs. billikenbill likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 And we need to not come out flat. How any team can get up to play in that piece of crap rec center, I have no idea. Tom Gola "Arena" is to basketball arenas what the K-State Wildcat is to mascots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelC Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 4 minutes ago, SLU_Nick said: I hate teams that are bad that just launch threes. If they get uncharacteristically hot, and there are limited possessions like the Fordham game, then we lose. I really think this is a game where we want a lot of possessions to let them turn the ball over and us to get run outs. Agree, unfortunately in most cases making a bunch of 3s is the only way bad teams have a chance to beat good teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Here are LaSalle details missing from previous posts: Yes, they are1-6 in conference play, but look at their schedule. They have played perhaps the toughest 1st half A10 schedule of any team. #1, Home loss to Dayton #2, beat Fordham in NY #3, lost by 8 at UMass. Road wins are tough in every league #4, Home loss to George Mason, who had Kier at the time. Yeah, should've, could've won this one at home. #5, lost at Rhode Island by 3. #6, lost at Richmond in a blow out #7, Home loss to VCU by 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 1 minute ago, Box and Won said: And we need to not come out flat. How any team can get up to play in that piece of crap rec center, I have no idea. Tom Gola "Arena" is to basketball arenas what the K-State Wildcat is to mascots. I will never get over my initial shock from when I saw that their arena opened in 1998. I assumed it was an old legacy facility from before they joined the A10 in 1995, but that year was basically when they started planning the thing. "We're big time now - better get started on this 3,400 seat gym to be housed on the third floor of our campus rec facility, two levels above the pool and one level above the AD offices." And somehow the league didn't go "Uh, maybe we can give some input here..." By the way, it's now Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center, the latter being the new name of their athletic center, named after a local credit union. Fun fact: La Salle is the only current A10 program to have won a national championship. Yeah, it's been a while and I know the NIT used to mean more, but come on. Gola isn't what former championship programs build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 59 minutes ago, Box and Won said: And we need to not come out flat. How any team can get up to play in that piece of crap rec center, I have no idea. Tom Gola "Arena" is to basketball arenas what the K-State Wildcat is to mascots. If Jacobs is dinged up, then maybe starting Perkins is the right move here to get us going early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgstl Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 (edited) 50 minutes ago, HoosierPal said: #1, Home loss to Dayton #4, Home loss to George Mason, who had Kier at the time. Yeah, should've, could've won this one at home. #7, Home loss to VCU by 11 so if we think we're a top 4 team we should win Edited January 28, 2020 by wgstl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenfan05 Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 2 young teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Pistol said: By the way, it's now Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center, the latter being the new name of their athletic center, named after a local credit union. Tom Gola's family is like, "Ahhhh, just call it TruMark Financial Center." Billiken Rich likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenbill Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 2 hours ago, Box and Won said: Tom Gola's family is like, "Ahhhh, just call it TruMark Financial Center." Seems like we never play well at what Rammer likes to refer to as “Tom Gola Arena and Pickleball Court.” Plus, the games produced there show replays of LaSalle buckets during game action. That gym and broadcasters are the worst ever. Got to find a way to emerge victorious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty Light Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 4 hours ago, Pistol said: Fun fact: La Salle is the only current A10 program to have won a national championship. Yeah, it's been a while and I know the NIT used to mean more, but come on. Gola isn't what former championship programs build. This tidbit reminded me of a fellow Jesuit university with a couple of National Championships. The San Francisco Dons won the title back-to-back in 1955 and 1956. They had some guy named Bill Russell. At the time they had no suitable facilities to play or even practice so they often used the St. Ignatius Prep School gym nearby. As demand for the program swelled, the university finally had the fundraising to build a brand spanking new campus arena, the War Memorial. They are still using the War Memorial today and it seats all of 3000 fans. It very much looks like a LaSalle game whenever I see them play on TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 3 minutes ago, Matty Light said: This tidbit reminded me of a fellow Jesuit university with a couple of National Championships. The San Francisco Dons won the title back-to-back in 1955 and 1956. They had some guy named Bill Russell. At the time they had no suitable facilities to play or even practice so they often used the St. Ignatius Prep School gym nearby. As demand for the program swelled, the university finally had the fundraising to build a brand spanking new campus arena, the War Memorial. They are still using the War Memorial today and it seats all of 3000 fans. It very much looks like a LaSalle game whenever I see them play on TV. Yeah, but it opened 40 years earlier. There's some history in that building. It didn't open in 1998. It also looks much cooler than Gola Arena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 1 hour ago, billikenbill said: Plus, the games produced there show replays of LaSalle buckets during game action. Aw crap, I totally forgot about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 28 minutes ago, Box and Won said: Aw crap, I totally forgot about that. -and isn't their dance team typically, well, sort of, shall we say thick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 14 minutes ago, Cowboy said: -and isn't their dance team typically, well, sort of, shall we say thick? That sounds about right. I think my subconscious may have suppressed that memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyJumpUp Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 2 hours ago, Cowboy said: -and isn't their dance team typically, well, sort of, shall we say thick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Tonight's Opponent: the LaSalle Explorers, whose Explorers nickname reportedly derives from a sportswriter's mistake. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Salle_Explorers LaSalle won the 1954 NCAA Tournament and the 1952 NIT, when the NIT was still considered on par with the NCAA Tournament. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty Light Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 2 hours ago, Bay Area Billiken said: Tonight's Opponent: the LaSalle Explorers, whose Explorers nickname reportedly derives from a sportswriter's mistake. Wow! I always assumed the school was named after the explorer LaSalle and not the Christian Brothers LaSalle. Maybe they should change their names to the Maestros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old guy Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 We should win this one. Go Bills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 On 1/28/2020 at 12:12 PM, Matty Light said: This tidbit reminded me of a fellow Jesuit university with a couple of National Championships. The San Francisco Dons won the title back-to-back in 1955 and 1956. They had some guy named Bill Russell. At the time they had no suitable facilities to play or even practice so they often used the St. Ignatius Prep School gym nearby. As demand for the program swelled, the university finally had the fundraising to build a brand spanking new campus arena, the War Memorial. They are still using the War Memorial today and it seats all of 3000 fans. It very much looks like a LaSalle game whenever I see them play on TV. USF-CA's War Memorial Gym, a double decked rectangle, once sat 5,300. USF converted the south upper deck, about 10 rows of bleachers spanning the baseline, into a fan lounge complete with couches. I once sat in those bleachers and saw USF, post-program resurrection, upset Coach Digger Phelps' Notre Dame Fighting Irish with LaPhonso Ellis. In the post-game line, Phelps told then USF Coach Jim Brovelli that he would never be back to this "CYO gym." USF has closed the upper deck on the west side and is building luxury boxes, with the area under construction for the second successive season. Hence, capacity has been temporarily reduced to 3,006. It is still a good place to watch a game. In the glory days of Bill Russell, USF played games at Kezar Pavilion in Golden Gate Park. Those old enough to have watched Roller Derby might remember that the San Francisco Bay Area Bombers of Charlie O'Connell and Joanie Weston fame, skated at Kezar Pavilion, which still stands. Kezar Pavilion has a bouncy basketball floor. The Bay Area Pro-Am Summer Hoops League still plays there. St. Mary's formerly named McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, which seats 3,500, reminds me more of LaSalle's Tom Gola Arena, as St. Mary's has the wall at one end, whereas LaSalle has walls at both ends. Are the walls a Christian Brothers thing? I've never been to a game at LaSalle, only have seen games there on TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty Light Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 9 hours ago, Bay Area Billiken said: USF-CA's War Memorial Gym, a double decked rectangle, once sat 5,300. USF converted the south upper deck, about 10 rows of bleachers spanning the baseline, into a fan lounge complete with couches. I once sat in those bleachers and saw USF, post-program resurrection, upset Coach Digger Phelps' Notre Dame Fighting Irish with LaPhonso Ellis. In the post-game line, Phelps told then USF Coach Jim Brovelli that he would never be back to this "CYO gym." USF has closed the upper deck on the west side and is building luxury boxes, with the area under construction for the second successive season. Hence, capacity has been temporarily reduced to 3,006. It is still a good place to watch a game. In the glory days of Bill Russell, USF played games at Kezar Pavilion in Golden Gate Park. Those old enough to have watched Roller Derby might remember that the San Francisco Bay Area Bombers of Charlie O'Connell and Joanie Weston fame, skated at Kezar Pavilion, which still stands. Kezar Pavilion has a bouncy basketball floor. The Bay Area Pro-Am Summer Hoops League still plays there. St. Mary's formerly named McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, which seats 3,500, reminds me more of LaSalle's Tom Gola Arena, as St. Mary's has the wall at one end, whereas LaSalle has walls at both ends. Are the walls a Christian Brothers thing? I've never been to a game at LaSalle, only have seen games there on TV. Pavilion in the park? That's fascinating. You'd think with Bill Russell they could have got the Cow Palace. I don't think it is all Christian Brothers. The Manhattan Jaspers have high school bleachers at each end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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