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GDT: Beat the Bonnies and win the bye contest


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My turn and I know it is late. Back from Chaifetz and the Senior ceremony, a really wonderful game and evening for anyone who follows the Bills. Of course we won the game, it was not close, as a matter of fact I think this was the largest point difference we had the whole year in a win, 72-49. The Bonnies were just outclassed. They tried and tried hard. They made some advances by playing really rough but had to quit because of the fouls. We won decisively, no wishy washy couple of points thing, we won by 23 pts. I will just quote what ford Said during the Senior ceremony, he said this was the best defense he had ever seen. Let's leave it at that and hope it continues.

A few points I want to make, the arena was close to full, they said it was over 9700 people in there. It was LOUD, Andre was at his crowd handling best. The band started with 3 tubas and ended with 4, one of them played by a girl. She looked small and slim wrapped in that big pile of brass piping, and I wondered how she could carry the weight. But carry she did smoothly and with no problems, good for her, she was obviously every bit as strong as the others.

Jimerson and Thatch were there with the team, both dressed in black civvies. Jacobs was also there with the team, he had black pants and a white Tshirt on top which made it hard to identifiy him, but he was there all the time seated with the team. There appeared to be no animosity between him and Ford or the other coaches. Look at him in the  picture posted by HoosierPal, he is  between Hargrove and Raboin in his white T shirt. Thatch was at the end of the row when the starters were named (and the flames where shooting up from the two gas towers) and looked very happy and very animated. Jimerson appeared a bit more distant. One event that worried me during the event was when Hassahn was fouled, pushed really, under the basket and fell on his back. I could hear his head going THWACK from the nosebleed seats we have. He did not appear to be hurt of dazed during the rest of the  game, so it probably was OK, but that was one hard fall.

As we all know by now, Rhode Island beat UMass by a single point tonight, so we get the double bye and the 4th seed. We will play again next Friday.

This was an excellent season for the Bills, we probably did better than anyone could have expected given the injuries and diseases that sidelined two of our top players. Our actual win loss record before the A10 tournament is 23-8, wonderful. We have done a great job this year. Now onto the next one. Go Bills.

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2 hours ago, JettFlight5 said:

I know we give announcers a lot of heat on here, but I thought Dr. John Giannini was absolutely awesome on commentary. Stadium puts on a good broadcast. 

I thought both announcers were excellent and fair to both teams.  My only somewhat minor issue with the Dr. is that he described the excellent freshman recruiting class twice, the first time I have heard that commented on during games, but left off Jimerson (one M please) both times.  I guess for non-local announcers we need to cut him some slack.  These guys were better than most of the talking heads on ESPN.

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Excellent job by the coaching staff in getting this team to 23-8. My preseason prediction was 19-12 (11-7) so to exceed both totals with two key players down is terrific.

I don’t like to post overly optimistic stuff about future games to keep any disappointment to a minimum, but there does seem to be a possibility that more wins are coming.

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those of you that left immediately after the game and did not stay to honor the seniors, shame on you.   you didnt have 15 minutes to spare?    and you call yourself a fan.  ha

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Trying to revive old memories I know I had this team at 8 and 5 in the OOC.  Worries were Seton Hall, Belmont, KState, Auburn and BC.  We exited at a plus three with wins over KState, Belmont and BC.

Conference season was defend the home fires, win some on the road, finish top four.  Mission accomplished.  I thought we could split with Dayton but that didn't happen.  I think everyone in the nation is surprised at how well Dayton has done.    I thought we'd win the rest with VCU being the toughest test.  Yet we lost, not only at home but on the road, to Duquesne, who, like Dayton, has surprised the college basketball world this year.  So that would have been our slip up at home and luckily, thee were no others.  Umass on the road was a total aberration for me and McKillop just schooled us at Davidson.  But you can't argue with winning at Richmond and Rhode Island and shutting Mason down as we did.  In hindsight, a 14 and 4 expectation fell short by to games but it all worked out.  I'll call that the typical A10 self-cannabalism we see every year.  Plus three OOC, minus 2 in conference, top four seed = wildly exceptional year.

As we move onto the A10 tournament, no one scares me and everyone scares me.  On any given night.  I like having the Bonnies come Friday.  As I said in the Wiz's odds thread, I don't think the Bonnies are that stacked.  Winston did little last night.  Osunniyi underperformed.  And Collins put Lofton in his place.  Welch was okay, English overperformed and their bench hit two threes for six points ---- as I had hoped for.  Of course, this will make their revenge factor greater should we see them next Friday.  

Our bracket with the higher seeds is the Bonnies, Dayton and Richmond.  Glad to avoid Umass and Duquesne for now.  No matter how you cut it, winning will be a battle each night.

Our guys are peaking right now.  I kind of expected this given the youth infused into this team vis-a-vis last year.  We are 5 and 0 in our last five and we haven't been playing the Little Sisters of the Blind either.  We beat VCU and the Bonnies (decent teams) and won on the road in conference at Rhode Island and Mason.  In these five games, we have ratcheted up the defensive pressure and found our niche in what guys do what when.  Jacobs' suspension could have hurt, but it seems to have invigorated Tay Weaver  who I like shooting the three better than Jacobs.  Perkins is the microwave off the bench and Hargrove is showing out all the talent we thought we were getting when he signed.  We still have the free throw Achilles heel but have been blessed in avoiding situations where it is do or die from the line.  I am looking forward to my stay in Brooklyn this week.

Unfortunately, the only way I see to the Dance is winning out.  The recent focus has all been on Rhode Islands' free fall and the debate if the Spiders from Richmond are deserving enough.  We have been largely ignored.  Sometimes that good and sometimes it's not.   As has been debated ad nauseum in other threads, the NCAA and the Power 5 +1 don't like to share the wealth and let interlopers in.  The only thing I'll say is with Baylor losing to West Virginia and San Diego State goign down to Utah State, Dayton BETTER be a one seed right now.  Enough with the charades. 

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3 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

Does anybody know what network the game Friday we play will be on?

NBC Sports Network covers the Friday games, CBS Sports Network has the semis, and the finals are on CBS.

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Excellent after action posts. My comments are the following, pleas note that I have no factual information to back them up.

1. I think (hope really) that the team has not completed the process of peaking yet. I could see a lot more and better playing from Bell and Hargrove, and I would love for this to happen while Perkins and Weaver are still scoring regularly. We will see of course.

2. If SLU and Dayton win their first tournament game, we will go against them. I prefer them playing at a time when we are still reasonable rested (this being the second game in a row we play). I think there is possibility, or rather a probability, that we will manage to beat them.

Whatever happens is the way it happens. Let's hope for the best outcomes for the  Bills.

All the best. Go Bills!

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3 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

Don't you think we would also come to play

They will be out for revenge. But it’s a quick turnaround from their first game and overlooking that game could mean disaster for them. Let’s hope they come back with the same game plan that we saw last night

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1 hour ago, Taj79 said:

Trying to revive old memories I know I had this team at 8 and 5 in the OOC.  Worries were Seton Hall, Belmont, KState, Auburn and BC.  We exited at a plus three with wins over KState, Belmont and BC.

Conference season was defend the home fires, win some on the road, finish top four.  Mission accomplished.  I thought we could split with Dayton but that didn't happen.  I think everyone in the nation is surprised at how well Dayton has done.    I thought we'd win the rest with VCU being the toughest test.  Yet we lost, not only at home but on the road, to Duquesne, who, like Dayton, has surprised the college basketball world this year.  So that would have been our slip up at home and luckily, thee were no others.  Umass on the road was a total aberration for me and McKillop just schooled us at Davidson.  But you can't argue with winning at Richmond and Rhode Island and shutting Mason down as we did.  In hindsight, a 14 and 4 expectation fell short by to games but it all worked out.  I'll call that the typical A10 self-cannabalism we see every year.  Plus three OOC, minus 2 in conference, top four seed = wildly exceptional year.

As we move onto the A10 tournament, no one scares me and everyone scares me.  On any given night.  I like having the Bonnies come Friday.  As I said in the Wiz's odds thread, I don't think the Bonnies are that stacked.  Winston did little last night.  Osunniyi underperformed.  And Collins put Lofton in his place.  Welch was okay, English overperformed and their bench hit two threes for six points ---- as I had hoped for.  Of course, this will make their revenge factor greater should we see them next Friday.  

Our bracket with the higher seeds is the Bonnies, Dayton and Richmond.  Glad to avoid Umass and Duquesne for now.  No matter how you cut it, winning will be a battle each night.

Our guys are peaking right now.  I kind of expected this given the youth infused into this team vis-a-vis last year.  We are 5 and 0 in our last five and we haven't been playing the Little Sisters of the Blind either.  We beat VCU and the Bonnies (decent teams) and won on the road in conference at Rhode Island and Mason.  In these five games, we have ratcheted up the defensive pressure and found our niche in what guys do what when.  Jacobs' suspension could have hurt, but it seems to have invigorated Tay Weaver  who I like shooting the three better than Jacobs.  Perkins is the microwave off the bench and Hargrove is showing out all the talent we thought we were getting when he signed.  We still have the free throw Achilles heel but have been blessed in avoiding situations where it is do or die from the line.  I am looking forward to my stay in Brooklyn this week.

Unfortunately, the only way I see to the Dance is winning out.  The recent focus has all been on Rhode Islands' free fall and the debate if the Spiders from Richmond are deserving enough.  We have been largely ignored.  Sometimes that good and sometimes it's not.   As has been debated ad nauseum in other threads, the NCAA and the Power 5 +1 don't like to share the wealth and let interlopers in.  The only thing I'll say is with Baylor losing to West Virginia and San Diego State goign down to Utah State, Dayton BETTER be a one seed right now.  Enough with the charades. 

Am I understanding right? You thought we'd only go 8-5 out of conference but then go 14-4 in conference? 

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10 minutes ago, bills10 said:

They will be out for revenge. But it’s a quick turnaround from their first game and overlooking that game could mean disaster for them. Let’s hope they come back with the same game plan that we saw last night

Schwartz used an A10 conventional wisdom pack defense against SLU to start the game.  SLU hit enough jump shots to foil that strategy, and the SLU Defense overwhelmed Bona.

But Schwartz is a good coach, and will have something cooked up for Friday, assuming Bona wins Thursday.  SLU will not benefit from having 9,000+ fans behind it in Brooklyn, more like 500.

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Watching the replay and it's easy to get excited about what next season could bring. This team has improved so much especially since the UMass collapse. It looks like they really understand the offense, and the offense looks like it has a purpose on each possession. I think it was after the BC game that I said Perkins and Jacobs would the keys to the season and Perkins has far exceeded my expectations. I'll own up to being wrong about Jacobs but he did provide some timely buckets and good defense.

I was completely wrong when I took the under on whether Perkins would average 11 or more points a game. Last summer, I watched the replay of the Juco All-Star game he played in and there is no comparison to the player in that game to the one we see now. The defense has to respect him all over the court which has made teams less likely to run two or three defenders at Has'. The upside to this team is very high when you consider the possible development of Bell, Hargrove, and Yuri.

The one area I hope Yuri improves in is his willingness to take open shots when he takes it into the paint. Maybe he can become a reliable three point shooter, but against the Bonnies I noticed at least three situations where he beat his man, had a shot of 10' or less and passed them up. If he gets his confidence to take those shots, the way that Weaver picked up on a month ago, we are going to be very difficult to beat.

 

 

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1 minute ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

Schwartz used an A10 conventional wisdom pack defense against SLU to start the game.  SLU hit enough jump shots to foil that strategy, and the SLU Defense overwhelmed Bona.

But Schwartz is a good coach, and will have something cooked up for Friday, assuming Bona wins Thursday.

Schmidt

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skip:  that was my evaluation after the 11 and 2 start ..... I thought we'd lose to Dayton, Rhode island and Richmond on the road.  I thought the Davidson and VCU games might be toss ups but figured we'd get Davidson after re-evaluating their OOC record.  I never saw Duquesne coming (still don't) and consider the Umass game the perennial stumble along the road, after the fact.  We always stumble at home at least once and I thought VCU, what the hell.  But yeah, I was buoyed by the OOC .... so much so that I almost drove to Pittsburgh for the conference opener.  We stumbled twice at home, to Duquesne and Dayton, but made that up winning at Richmond and Rhode Island, making the two road stumbles tough hills to climb over for the four. But we got it.

That doesn't do me any good in those preseason picks because I need the time to evaluate at the preseason, the end of the OOC, the end of conference, and of course the tournament.  The Wiz calls it trending, I believe.  Any homer could go "Bills, 31 and 0" and i think we have a few of those. Think about this .... the only game we didn't compete in this year was the Seton Hall game.  We gave Auburn a game, lost to Dayton twice once on a prayer, had a 16-point lead on Umass, and went pretty much toe-to-toe with Duquesne and Davidson.  Short of the actual loses, we have very little to be sad about.  I am p*ssed about losing at home to Dayton, one of the two Duquesne games, and to Davidson. But a double bye eases my pain.  March has come and Travis' young team is right where I want them.

Meet me in Brooklyn, skip.

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30 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

skip:  that was my evaluation after the 11 and 2 start ..... I thought we'd lose to Dayton, Rhode island and Richmond on the road.  I thought the Davidson and VCU games might be toss ups but figured we'd get Davidson after re-evaluating their OOC record.  I never saw Duquesne coming (still don't) and consider the Umass game the perennial stumble along the road, after the fact.  We always stumble at home at least once and I thought VCU, what the hell.  But yeah, I was buoyed by the OOC .... so much so that I almost drove to Pittsburgh for the conference opener.  We stumbled twice at home, to Duquesne and Dayton, but made that up winning at Richmond and Rhode Island, making the two road stumbles tough hills to climb over for the four. But we got it.

That doesn't do me any good in those preseason picks because I need the time to evaluate at the preseason, the end of the OOC, the end of conference, and of course the tournament.  The Wiz calls it trending, I believe.  Any homer could go "Bills, 31 and 0" and i think we have a few of those. Think about this .... the only game we didn't compete in this year was the Seton Hall game.  We gave Auburn a game, lost to Dayton twice once on a prayer, had a 16-point lead on Umass, and went pretty much toe-to-toe with Duquesne and Davidson.  Short of the actual loses, we have very little to be sad about.  I am p*ssed about losing at home to Dayton, one of the two Duquesne games, and to Davidson. But a double bye eases my pain.  March has come and Travis' young team is right where I want them.

Meet me in Brooklyn, skip.

Makes sense now. It didn't make sense if the OOC and in conference picks were made before the season. Wish I could make Brooklyn. 

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@slufanskip:one man's "make sense" is another's "Taj is talking after the fact."  

In a quick look ahead at next year, not knowing who we get or where,  the upper tier teams outside of us appear to be Richmond, Duquesne and Umass.  The first two have everyone back and Umass was extremely youthful but got better as the season progressed.

Second level appears to be Bonaventure, who has everyone back; Dayton, with four guards and that home field advantage; VCU with some proven youth; and possibly Mason with everyone back.  The Bonnies will do well in the great white north; will they win on the road?  Who mans Dayton's front line?  Will Mason find a point guard?  And will VCU incorporate and get better or will all experience a sophomore slump?

Even the next level isn't too, too bad:  Davidson will be hard-pressed to replace Gudmundsson.  And Rhode Island has Fatts.  

The bottom of this year's bracket has many questions next year.  Geedubya has Battle but loses Potter.  St. Joe's has Daly and should add some to that.  La Salle is a perpetual mess and has no inside presence what with Croswell leaving.  And Fordham is, well, Fordham.

Having said all that, I expect to be preseason picked either 1, 2 or 3.  Our roster outdistances both Richmond and Duquesne as I see it.

Join me in Orlando.

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Good stuff, guys, thanks for the reports. Don't want to look past Brooklyn, but I think we're gonna have to win it all to get in if you believe the bracket gurus. I did some checking on them today and we appear to not even be an afterthought. Hell, Richmond isn't get much attention either. ESPN has only SVU in, albeit as a 1 seed. One would think if they're a one that there might be a couple of other teams from the A10 might deserve consideration. Instead, the P5 + the Beast is getting teams in with losing conf records. Go figure. 

So, thinking about next year a little. The Orlando tourney will play a key role to our shot at making the Dance. Some really good squads are playing. Games that could really make us or break us. Take down a couple of the bigs will get you noticed. Also, we get San Diego St out there which is another shot at a big W. I'm really looking forward to Orlando. 

 We only really had 4 shots at games like that this year: SH, Auburn, and the 2 SVU games. Even though we had and beat some good A10 teams. I guess if we had won that first game against SVU, we'd be in the bubble conversation. 

We are in a place I never imagined in October. Next year, hopefully, we're in the place I expect us to be. 

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