The Bills over Rich by 5

[brianstl]

16 minutes ago, Littlebill said:

so a Q1 and a Q2 loss, independent of the post covid L's, killed our resume? come on

Yes, because we are 1-3 in Q1 and Q2 games and 1-4 in games away from home.  Those two things have been historically important when it comes to making the NCAA tournament.  We split those games we are on the bubble right now and most likely in if we win the next two games.  Win both of those games and we are in the tournament right now.  Winning the first two games wouldn't have changed that fact.

[billiken_roy]

if there ever was an opponent begging us to pressure them with their lack of depth to wear them down, richmond is it.   imo, thatch, hargrove and strickland should be in the game a lot and used to chase at the point all over the floor.   

[Littlebill]

7 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

if there ever was an opponent begging us to pressure them with their lack of depth to wear them down, richmond is it.   imo, thatch, hargrove and strickland should be in the game a lot and used to chase at the point all over the floor.   

And then he board would complain about scoring droughts

[joe_davola]

Dear Slu,

Stock up accordingly on alcoholic beverages tonight.  I will be throwing a raging fit if you run out at halftime.  Amateur hour.

[slufan13]

13 minutes ago, brianstl said:

Yes, because we are 1-3 in Q1 and Q2 games and 1-4 in games away from home.  Those two things have been historically important when it comes to making the NCAA tournament.  We split those games we are on the bubble right now and most likely in if we win the next two games.  Win both of those games and we are in the tournament right now.  Winning the first two games wouldn't have changed that fact.

This is how I see it too. You can have all the "good losses" you want but eventually you have to have "good wins". We don't have enough of those. The committee is going to give teams a pass for poor play coming off of COVID. I am convinced of that. But we didn't win the opportunities we had after that. 

[RUBillsFan]

 

18 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

if there ever was an opponent begging us to pressure them with their lack of depth to wear them down, richmond is it.   imo, thatch, hargrove and strickland should be in the game a lot and used to chase at the point all over the floor.   

I'm good with applying some pressure & using our depth to wear them down a bit.  However, I don't expect to pressure Richmond & generate turnovers.  Their turnover % is 7th best in the nation.

[billiken_roy]

11 minutes ago, Littlebill said:

And then he board would complain about scoring droughts

you think the three of them cant score?   

[Littlebill]

Just now, billiken_roy said:

you think the three of them cant score?   

not anywhere near the level of who they'd replace, but you know that

[billiken_roy]

Just now, RUBillsFan said:

 

I'm good with applying some pressure & using our depth to wear them down a bit.  However, I don't expect to pressure Richmond & generate turnovers.  Their turnover % is 7th best in the nation.

we have proven with most of our losses we only need to turn 2-3 possessions into layups to win.   

plus regardless of their ability to hold onto the ball, pressure is going to fatigue them more than if we dont pressure them.    fatigue means late game missed shots as legs arent as strong.  

[billiken_roy]

1 minute ago, Littlebill said:

not anywhere near the level of who they'd replace, but you know that

im not saying play all three at the same time.    there is no reason they cant be put into the rotation and subbed in for everyone but french for a couple three minutes per starter.   

[Bay Area Billiken]

SLU’s NET is 50, was as good as 32 a couple weeks ago. All is not yet lost. SLU must hold the home court, beat 52 Richmond tonight and 114 UMass Monday night, hope VCU somehow wins at Davidson, snare the A10 Tourney double bye, win 1 minimum, preferably 2 in Richmond, or 2 minimum, 3 preferable if SLU does not get the Double Bye. All of this remains doable.

The biggest issue remains looking in the mirror at this Jeckyll & Hyde SLU team itself. 

I think SLU should use its bench tonight vs. Richmond and pressure the ball, hound those iron men Richmond guards. Why didn’t SLU pressure the depleted VCU guards? Maybe it was Covid residual re the lack of pressure.

[RUBillsFan]

3 hours ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

SLU’s NET is 50, was as good as 32 a couple weeks ago. All is not yet lost. SLU must hold the home court, beat 52 Richmond tonight and 114 UMass Monday night, hope VCU somehow wins at Davidson, snare the A10 Tourney double bye, win 1 minimum, preferably 2 in Richmond, or 2 minimum, 3 preferable if SLU does not get the Double Bye. All of this remains doable.

The biggest issue remains looking in the mirror at this Jeckyll & Hyde SLU team itself. 

I think SLU should use its bench tonight vs. Richmond and pressure the ball, hound those iron men Richmond guards. Why didn’t SLU pressure the depleted VCU guards? Maybe it was Covid residual re the lack of pressure.

Let's just in the A10 tournament so we don't have to sweat it out on Selection Sunday.

[billikenblue]

3 hours ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

SLU’s NET is 50, was as good as 32 a couple weeks ago. All is not yet lost. SLU must hold the home court, beat 52 Richmond tonight and 114 UMass Monday night, hope VCU somehow wins at Davidson, snare the A10 Tourney double bye, win 1 minimum, preferably 2 in Richmond, or 2 minimum, 3 preferable if SLU does not get the Double Bye. All of this remains doable.

The biggest issue remains looking in the mirror at this Jeckyll & Hyde SLU team itself. 

I think SLU should use its bench tonight vs. Richmond and pressure the ball, hound those iron men Richmond guards. Why didn’t SLU pressure the depleted VCU guards? Maybe it was Covid residual re the lack of pressure.

My sentiments exactly ..Jacobs pressured Baldwin once and got a steal and a layup...he played all 40 minutes and we let him feel comfortable..nor sure why Travis who was a point guard didn’t use that more..

[The Wiz]

When it comes to turning the ball over VCU is an F+ team....When we played them they were averaging over 15 TOs per game....The night we played them they had a season low of 7...That was a difference maker.

[HoosierPal]

3 hours ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

I think SLU should use its bench tonight vs. Richmond and pressure the ball, hound those iron men Richmond guards. Why didn’t SLU pressure the depleted VCU guards? Maybe it was Covid residual re the lack of pressure.

Ford hasn't put on extreme pressure except in short spurts all year.  Occasionally the full court press, occasionally a 1-3-1 aggressive zone. But what, maybe 5 minutes at a time. Why do you think he would change his game planning this late in the season?  I'm not disagreeing with you, but why would Ford change with 2 games to go?

[billiken_roy]

15 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

Ford hasn't put on extreme pressure except in short spurts all year.  Occasionally the full court press, occasionally a 1-3-1 aggressive zone. But what, maybe 5 minutes at a time. Why do you think he would change his game planning this late in the season?  I'm not disagreeing with you, but why would Ford change with 2 games to go?

maybe because what was a very promising start to the season seems to be slipping away?

[Taj79]

Well, Ford can’t seem to figure how to get them to play defense so maybe he should try something else.  Pressing a backcourt of Gilyard and Francis may be tough —- at least tougher than the one guard pony that was VCU.

[Taj79]

This team seems to be full of athletes.  Wouldn’t turning them loose and run ragged help them more since their actual basketball skill set seems lacking in terms of external shooting prowess?  Press.  Steal.  Uncontested rim rattling dunk or two.  Demoralization of opponent.  Maybe?

[RiseOfTheBillikens]

28 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

This team seems to be full of athletes.  Wouldn’t turning them loose and run ragged help them more since their actual basketball skill set seems lacking in terms of external shooting prowess?  Press.  Steal.  Uncontested rim rattling dunk or two.  Demoralization of opponent.  Maybe?

Been thinking this was the way we were gonna play for a year or two now. Ford even talks about wanting to play faster but it never comes to fruition. Would love to see a full court press thrown at opponents occasionally.

[wgstl]

1 minute ago, RiseOfTheBillikens said:

Been thinking this was the way we were gonna play for a year or two now. Ford even talks about wanting to play faster but it never comes to fruition. Would love to see a full court press thrown at opponents occasionally.

And bc Richmond has no depth 

[Compton]

Well done WIz. 

[AnkielBreakers]

That’ll do pig.

[BillsBeliever!!!]

@The Wizif we win our next 3 to make the A10 championship game and then lose what % chance to we have to dance? Any hope? 

[Old guy]

It came close, and we got the cigar. We won.

[The Wiz]

43 minutes ago, BillsBeliever!!! said:

@The Wizif we win our next 3 to make the A10 championship game and then lose what % chance to we have to dance? Any hope? 

It  depends....

It depends on the  VCU / Dav  game tomorrow afternoon.  We want Dav to lose so that a win on Mon against UMass gives us the double bye in the A10 tourney...It is a lot easier to win 2 games next week than 3 .  Also with the double bye, I think winning the 2 games may be enough to get into the Dance,  even if we don't win the championship game. Obviously, if we win,  we not only get the auto bid but a better seeding too.

The VCU / Dav game looks like it will be even.

Here is what I want you to do....I will put up the UMass  game tomorrow....then ask me that same question on Sunday on the UMass spread thread and I will have an answer for you.