The Bills over Fham by 16

[The Wiz]

Good win over RI.  Overall stats still a little weak but an exceptional night of protecting the ball from TOs (see post game analysis in RI spread thread) which made up for the other minor weaknesses. Part of the weaknesses were that we were banged up a little...part of it was the last remnants of the pause.

I am hoping this will be the last "rust " report. This one is pretty simple. We win this game by 12 and and we are back.   The fact that our overall grade is A-...and our trending grade is B+ is another sign  that we are almost out of the funk.

On the Dance front...we need 1 more game to meet the min. requirement to be eligible for March Madness....one less thing to worry about.   A-   indicates we are on target for a bid....but far from a lock ...currently showing, we are one of  last 3 teams in.  This will be our 12th game...This is the game that gives us a decent sample size to help determine who makes the Tourney. This usually happens right before conference play at the start of  the new year. But like everything else, this too is off.  Assuming after this game, we are still A-...our range for the rest of the season will be B+ to A.    B+ only gives you about a 1/3 chance of Dancing.  Also the last 10 games are important in not only getting a bid but in seeding as well.  If we play a make up game with St. B  + 3  A10 tourney games... the clock starts Sat.   If their is no makeup game then the clock started with RI.

Btw...did I mention we have a game on Sat? ...Fordham is a D- team...They have not only the worst offense we will see this year but one of the worst in the last few years. Their defense is not much better...Their defensive strategy is to keep the game as low scoring as possible.

Let's take a look at the report card ...I guarantee there will be no honor roll for  Fham

 

.............................SLU.................................Ford........................................................SLU......................................Ford

.............................................OFF.....................................................................................................DEF...............

PPG.........................A-....................................F-...WITN (last).....................................B+......................................B-

FG%.........................A.....................................F-....4th WITN.......................................B+......................................D+

3Pt%........................B+...................................F-....9th WITN.......................................D........................................D

FT%.........................B-.... ..............................D+.......................................................................................................

Reb.........................B-....................................F-......10th WITN....................................A...........................................D-

 OFF Rebs  = total rebs...DEF Rebs = opp reb

UP....Offense...none ......Defense ...PPG...FG%

Down...Offense....PPG...3P%........Defense....none

Top 100 ITN (In The Nation)

PPG...Perkins...90th...up

Assts...Collins...10th ...dn

Rebs...Goodwin....17th....up

Blks...French...82nd ...dn

FT%...Perkins...75th...up

Double Double....Goodwin...8th ...up

Fham

Reb...Sorriana...35th

Injury report....No injuries to report at this time for either team....if there are any updates, I will post them on this thread.

WWN2D2W...We need to show up...not talking about physically but mentally.  For the year, FHam 's record is 2-10...Their only 2 wins are against Day & LaS...Do those 2 teams look familiar. Those 2 teams make up 2/3 of our losses this year....and 100% of Fham's wins AND they won both of them at home.  Not saying this is an uh-oh moment ...just saying we need to pay attention.  As noted above they have a very weak offense...no 3 pt shooters of any consequence...good time to work on  that 3P defense...They have 3 scorers...Sorriano, Austin and Colon...hold these guys to 35pts combined.... Sorriano is a reb machine ...hold him to 7 rebs ...and finally make some shots....I am not even going to calculate a slash line....just make some shots.

Bottom line....Do we have this game?....Yes....IF.. we show up in mind, body and spirit.

[Taj79]

Fordham is just about as awful a team as you can find.  But then how did they beat both Dayton and La Salle?  Simple ... Dayton and La Salle chose NOT to show up that day.  And like us, both games were played at Rose Hill.  So it CAN happen.  But the Wiz says it succinctly when he says 'just show up."  True, we cannot come in complacent and give Fordham the hope that they can hang around and somehow steal this game.  They beat Dayton by making the Flyers shoot 42% overall, 17% from three.  They won 55 to 54 and Dayton took a three to win it at the end by Watson who missed.  They beat La Salle 76 to 68 by holding the Explorers to only two guys in double digits.  Not four or five.  But Dayton and La Salle are not good, consistent teams.  They are typical, middle of the pack A10 teams that can jump up and bite you if you don't take them seriously.  They are the leading cause of cannibalization in this league.  Them and teams like them.  So they can get you, or get you after a 30+ day COVID break.

Back to Fordham.  Fordham's best player is 6'11" center Joel Soriano.  Averages 11 ppg and 10 rpg per game.  But he appears disinterested at times and is certainly not what you would call a polished player.  But he is IT on the+ inside.  His backup is 6'10" Onyi Eyisi.  Eyisi rests Soriano with foul trouble or even normally but that is it --- there are no other forwards on their roster.  Soriano's game can reach Remeuken-like levels; Eyisi is Husak-esque.  I don't think either can stay with French/Linssen and Bell can be the knockout punch down low.

They usually start four guards in Navarro, Austin, Rose and Cobb.  None shoot above 33% from three and Navarro is just a waterbug PG who can get off and make shots only if left alone.  Their backups are Colon and Perry , two more guards.  The talent level is low but if allowed to hang around, they will.  Rose and Austin seem to like to make it personal and trash talk.  Rose went after Crutcher before their game.  Kind of funny.  Especially since Fordham won.  They play a very deliberate style of offense, ala the Bonnies, taking every shot clock to the end and mostly launching threes at the end.  They went into Mason last night and I quit watching when it was Mason 64 to 32.  They have given many team sin the A10 a battle before losing, Duquesne (3), Rhode Island (10), and Umass (6).  Taking them lightly would not be good.  There is no way they can hang with us and I've said that before and eaten many similar words.  Like the Wiz said ... show up.  Everyone.

This is no contest provding Collins, Jacobs abd Perkins are all at about 100%.  I can see giving Yuri th enight off if needed; ditto Jacobs.  We have enough to win as it but again, no complacency.  

[JettFlight5]

This is a team that the Bills can bury early. Get off fast and crush them.

[billiken_roy]

I think if jacobs and yuri are given the night off it will give incentive for their replacements to go all out to try to win future minutes. 

 

 I know if was Hargrove, bell, etc i'd be thinking, "this is my chance.  Better tear it up.  Might not be another chance."

[The Wiz]

Injury update....Collins...2/10/21......sprained ankle  in the 1st half of RI game.....out 1-2 weeks

[Quality Is Job 1]

This will be the Bills' 13th game, not the 12th.

3 hours ago, The Wiz said:

Injury update....Collins...2/10/21......sprained ankle  in the 1st half of RI game.....out 1-2 weeks

Ugh!

[Fraz]

3 hours ago, The Wiz said:

Injury update....Collins...2/10/21......sprained ankle  in the 1st half of RI game.....out 1-2 weeks

Unleash Point God Goodwin

[HoosierPal]

And don't forget about porn star Grandy Glaze, a proud SLU alum.

[RamJAMTIME]

1 hour ago, Fraz said:

Unleash Point God Goodwin

PG Goodwin at Fordham = triple double alert

[Littlebill]

6 hours ago, The Wiz said:

Injury update....Collins...2/10/21......sprained ankle  in the 1st half of RI game.....out 1-2 weeks

Where do you get these? I haven’t seen anything from legit sources out there. This has to be just complete speculation by whoever is doing these

[The Wiz]

7 hours ago, Littlebill said:

Where do you get these? I haven’t seen anything from legit sources out there. This has to be just complete speculation by whoever is doing these

This one is from Frank Cusumano

[Taj79]

Goodwin triple/double watch ..... Goodwin has one in his career.  The only one in SLU history.  I think he will always be challenged to get the assists portion of the triple because he doesn't run the same point as Yuri does.  He doesn't fast break, rather he walks the ball up most times.  Ergo there are no 'cheap' assists in his stats bag ---- ala the oop to French on Wednesday.  Yes, he gets some, but not enough to push him over that triple threshold.  We shall see.

[JettFlight5]

24 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

Goodwin triple/double watch ..... Goodwin has one in his career.  The only one in SLU history.  I think he will always be challenged to get the assists portion of the triple because he doesn't run the same point as Yuri does.  He doesn't fast break, rather he walks the ball up most times.  Ergo there are no 'cheap' assists in his stats bag ---- ala the oop to French on Wednesday.  Yes, he gets some, but not enough to push him over that triple threshold.  We shall see.

One advantage JGood does have with this roster is they can finish better now. I don't know if it's enough for 10 assists, but it helps. 

[wgstl]

31 minutes ago, JettFlight5 said:

One advantage JGood does have with this roster is they can finish better now. I don't know if it's enough for 10 assists, but it helps. 

I think Yuri has a chance at getting 1, possibly 2.  Collecting assists is the hardest part.  Once Has and Jgood are gone, rebounds will be there to grab for the taking.

[JettFlight5]

1 minute ago, wgstl said:

I think Yuri has a chance at getting 1, possibly 2.  Collecting assists is the hardest part.  Once Has and Jgood are gone, rebounds will be there to grab for the taking.

Agreed....the only one you can't control of the 3 main categories is assists....someone else has to finish.

[Taj79]

ESPN has us minus 17 today.

[The Wiz]

A nice win. We did what we were supposed to do. 

Bolded print from original post. 

no 3 pt shooters of any consequence...good time to work on  that 3P defense. ....True and we did...Fham 3P%...17%...check

They have 3 scorers...Sorriano, Austin and Colon...hold these guys to 35pts combined....Colon didn't play but subbing in their next highest scorer...total pts...27...Check

 Sorriano is a reb machine ...hold him to 7 rebs   ..6 rebs...check

just make some shots. ...we did ...not a great night shooting but good enough...we won the slash...Bills...41/27/ 63  vs Fham  28/17/60

We didn't have a great night shooting last time either (RI) ...BUT ...we had a great stat that carried the day ...TOs.  While TOs were up a little with this game  (9)...it was still a great number.   But a non event as the Rams also had 9 and both teams wound up scoring 8 pts off TOs.  But like last game, there was 1 stat that made all the difference.  In this game, it was all about the rebounding.  The Bills had 55 rebounds....29 more than Fham..  The Bills had 19pts on 2nd chances vs 2 pts for the Rams....17 extra points was the game changer.

And finally...

Do we have this game?....Yes. ....check....IF.. we show up in mind, body and spirit. ...checkmate

 

 

[Fraz]

5 hours ago, The Wiz said:

A nice win. We did what we were supposed to do. 

Bolded print from original post. 

no 3 pt shooters of any consequence...good time to work on  that 3P defense. ....True and we did...Fham 3P%...17%...check

They have 3 scorers...Sorriano, Austin and Colon...hold these guys to 35pts combined....Colon didn't play but subbing in their next highest scorer...total pts...27...Check

 Sorriano is a reb machine ...hold him to 7 rebs   ..6 rebs...check

just make some shots. ...we did ...not a great night shooting but good enough...we won the slash...Bills...41/27/ 63  vs Fham  28/17/60

We didn't have a great night shooting last time either (RI) ...BUT ...we had a great stat that carried the day ...TOs.  While TOs were up a little with this game  (9)...it was still a great number.   But a non event as the Rams also had 9 and both teams wound up scoring 8 pts off TOs.  But like last game, there was 1 stat that made all the difference.  In this game, it was all about the rebounding.  The Bills had 55 rebounds....29 more than Fham..  The Bills had 19pts on 2nd chances vs 2 pts for the Rams....17 extra points was the game changer.

And finally...

Do we have this game?....Yes. ....check....IF.. we show up in mind, body and spirit. ...checkmate

 

 

Wiz, according to your “rust” stat we are back correct? A win by 12+ said we are in your original post.

Is this now the pre-Covid Billikens?

[cheeseman]

1 hour ago, Fraz said:

Wiz, according to your “rust” stat we are back correct? A win by 12+ said we are in your original post.

Is this now the pre-Covid Billikens?

Wait until we play a tough team - VCU or the Bonnies again away for example.

[Fraz]

33 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

Wait until we play a tough team - VCU or the Bonnies again away for example.

Agree there will be tougher tests down the stretch, but think it has more to do with getting our legs under us and getting rhythm back than the competition 

[The Wiz]

2 hours ago, Fraz said:

Wiz, according to your “rust” stat we are back correct? A win by 12+ said we are in your original post.

Is this now the pre-Covid Billikens?

 

1 hour ago, cheeseman said:

Wait until we play a tough team - VCU or the Bonnies again away for example.

We are back...ie the rust based on the numbers is gone.... and it is not just based on the Fham game but on the last 3 weeks and 5 games. 

But we are also not where we were after the KC game (the last game before the pause)

I will explain this in greater detail and what it means going forward  as part of the LaSalle thread spread later today.

[cheeseman]

3 hours ago, The Wiz said:

 

We are back...ie the rust based on the numbers is gone.... and it is not just based on the Fham game but on the last 3 weeks and 5 games. 

But we are also not where we were after the KC game (the last game before the pause)

I will explain this in greater detail and what it means going forward  as part of the LaSalle thread spread later today.

I trust and appreciate your numbers but for me at least this year has been so crazy with all the "upsets" that the eye test is what I am going by.  When I see us beat good teams and the Bonnie win for us supports you - I still won't feel good until I see more evidence.