GDT: @ Davidson

[Lando Griffin]

39 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

 

Looks like there are a decent amount of A-10 coaches that should be going back to their schools looking for a raise.  I.E. Davidson, Bonnie’s, Dayton…

[Schasz]

I personally think since Ford appears to be the highest paid HC in the A-10 that expectations at SLU should be higher than what has been produced at this time. It's one thing to get decent recruits at SLU and totally another to coach them to the point of getting NCAA invites. Outside of winning the A-10 tourney this year we will once again be on the outside looking in. The way SLU has played against the better teams in the A-10 this season winning the A-10 tourney looks to me like a pipe dream IMHO. I think it's fair for Travis Ford's job thus far to be scrutinized what with only one NCAA Tourney to date.

[The Valley Sucks]

14 hours ago, Taj79 said:

Sure, the faciltities appear to be top notch.  God knows they are a lot better than when we went to school there.  West Pine Gym.  Musial Field.  No on-campus facilities whtsoever.  And now you have Hermann.  The softball/baseball complex.  Chaifetz.  O'Loughlin.  Still ain't running away from the rest of tyhe East Coast Bus League.  Serious question --- why not?

I am not despondent over today.  I too didn't count on a win.  Winning at Duquesne and La Salle?  Sure.  Davidson?  Not yet.  Still remains to be seen at Richmond and Rhode Island.  I have never worried about the NET or the bubble.  We aren't going there.  We need to win in DC; I've said that for most of February.  What is still key is a top four finish in order to do that.  That's the reward; that's the journey.

What league would you like to play in? Don’t say the valley, every decent program leaves that league. 

[Dr. Holly Hills]

57 minutes ago, The Valley Sucks said:

What league would you like to play in? Don’t say the valley, every decent program leaves that league. 

We could join Phil in the Saudi league??

[WVBilliken]

18 hours ago, Soderball said:

People calling him a "dolt" and other similarly nonsensical claims. "Heavy self examination" from a guy with over a decade of coaching experience. This post is terrible. Do you even follow college basketball? List some names. I can list some names for you I think might do as well as Ford and be realistic hires(Miller bros, maybe Crean, Mack.) You are unwilling to put anything up because you know this Travis Ford derangement stuff is rubbish. You know it. Over here "I'm just asking questions" give it up. Garbage.

 

"I don't think he should be fired, I just think he's an idiot and can't coach" lmao wow.l

Ford is doing just fine.  The best move for SLU is not to fire Ford, but to use SLU's dollars, facillities, influence and Market size of St. Louis Metro to get to a better league.  That would solve a lot of problems Ford faces as a mid-Major program. SLU is consistently among the top 10 mid-Major programs thanks to Ford and Staff.  They are doing a good job IMO.

[billiken_roy]

19 minutes ago, WVBilliken said:

Ford is doing just fine.  The best move for SLU is not to fire Ford, but to use SLU's dollars, facillities, influence and Market size of St. Louis Metro to get to a better league.  That would solve a lot of problems Ford faces as a mid-Major program. SLU is consistently among the top 10 mid-Major programs thanks to Ford and Staff.  They are doing a good job IMO.

Catch 22 is no better league will take us until we are more than a mediocre performing program.   The Billikens need to become the Gonzaga of the A10 before a major conference comes calling.

For that to happen our very excellent recruiting coach has some work to do to improve in player development and practice and game coaching.

I'm willing to wait, but that might mean some staff changes and willingness to listen and use the upgraded staff's input.

[ARon]

20 minutes ago, WVBilliken said:

Ford is doing just fine.  The best move for SLU is not to fire Ford, but to use SLU's dollars, influence and Market size of St. Louis Metro to get to a better league.  That would solve a lot of problems Ford faces as a mid-Major program. SLU is consistently among the top 10 mid-Major programs thanks to Ford and Staff.  They are doing a good job IMO.

Ford is doing quite well at recruiting and fairly well overall.

But how is getting to a higher league going to help Ford when he can't win in the A10?

I like the A10 and think if anything it doesn't get enough respect nationally. But anyone who thinks this SLU team would finish any higher than 3rd in the MWC, AAC, or WCC isn't paying attention. And I hate to say it but we'd be lucky to finish in the top half of the Big East.

[Bay Area Billiken]

7 minutes ago, ARon said:

Ford is doing quite well at recruiting and fairly well overall.

But how is getting to a higher league going to help Ford when he can't win in the A10?

I like the A10 and think if anything it doesn't get enough respect nationally. But anyone who thinks this SLU team would finish any higher than 3rd in the MWC, AAC, or WCC isn't paying attention. And I hate to say it but we'd be lucky to finish in the top half of the Big East.

SLU would contend for 2nd in the WCC and for 1st in the MW. I’m out here in the West, am well familiar with the WCC in particular. 

[WVBilliken]

10 minutes ago, ARon said:

Ford is doing quite well at recruiting and fairly well overall.

But how is getting to a higher league going to help Ford when he can't win in the A10?

I like the A10 and think if anything it doesn't get enough respect nationally. But anyone who thinks this SLU team would finish any higher than 3rd in the MWC, AAC, or WCC isn't paying attention. And I hate to say it but we'd be lucky to finish in the top half of the Big East.

Better leagues get many NCAA bids ..... the A10, now seems to be a 1 or 2 bid league.  In a better league you do not have to win the league to make the Dance.  And that is the difference.  And of course, in a better league recruiting would get considerably better.

[RiseOfTheBillikens]

1 hour ago, Schasz said:

I personally think since Ford appears to be the highest paid HC in the A-10 that expectations at SLU should be higher than what has been produced at this time. It's one thing to get decent recruits at SLU and totally another to coach them to the point of getting NCAA invites. Outside of winning the A-10 tourney this year we will once again be on the outside looking in. The way SLU has played against the better teams in the A-10 this season winning the A-10 tourney looks to me like a pipe dream IMHO. I think it's fair for Travis Ford's job thus far to be scrutinized what with only one NCAA Tourney to date.

Just curious... Did you even expect SLU to make the tourny this year with Perkins after losing Goodwin and French and some decent roster turnover?

[Bizziken]

Go back and look. What are the best wins during Ford's tenure? Seriously. LSU? Va Tech? Seton Hall? In 6 seasons. 

It seems like every year we drop a few games we shouldn't (which happens to most teams), but we also never win a few games we shouldn't either.

Take this year as a prime example. We split with UAB and Belmont (both at home btw). We split with the welders. We take care of business against UMass, and we are 21-6 and in decent shape for a bid. It seems as if every season is like this.

[BilliesBy40]

41 minutes ago, WVBilliken said:

Better leagues get many NCAA bids ..... the A10, now seems to be a 1 or 2 bid league.  In a better league you do not have to win the league to make the Dance.  And that is the difference.  And of course, in a better league recruiting would get considerably better.

We had opportunities in the non-conference that would have allowed us to make the NCAA tournament without winning the A10.

[Matty Light]

It is difficult judging performance and development over the last 3 seasons due to COVID impact. You had huge swaths if games getting cancelled or postponed. Players out of action, school interruptions, etc. Heck, French never looked entirely himself the entire season last year. Thatch as well. Jimmerson's leg and Yuri's hands. Most seasons past you would only get cancellations for a blizzard and it wouldn't impact but a game or two.

The one thing that has been consistent is Ford's ability to bring in local talent. At no time between the Hughes/Baniak/Tatum class has a coach done this except the Liddell/Lisch class. I like what Ford is building. It takes time to ripen on the vine sometimes.

[Schasz]

45 minutes ago, RiseOfTheBillikens said:

Just curious... Did you even expect SLU to make the tourny this year with Perkins after losing Goodwin and French and some decent roster turnover?

Losing Goodwin and French was no surprise as they graduated and good recruiting should always solve losses thru graduation. I hated to see Perkins go down for the season, but playing any sport you hope that you recruited enough talent to help overcome personnel losses. Look at Davidson's loss of Loyer...didn't you think that was a positive for the Bills yesterday. As we saw next man up scorched us for 29 points.  I thought after a decent start minus the Memphis loss that I did not expect the Bills to win, I was looking for them to protect home court against UAB and Belmont. The loss to Umass on the road was a bad loss. So we win those 3 games split with the Bonnies then yes I think a NCAA bid this year would have been a possibility. Now I'm not sure even the NIT is a lock. 

[RiseOfTheBillikens]

21 minutes ago, Schasz said:

Losing Goodwin and French was no surprise as they graduated and good recruiting should always solve losses thru graduation. I hated to see Perkins go down for the season, but playing any sport you hope that you recruited enough talent to help overcome personnel losses. Look at Davidson's loss of Loyer...didn't you think that was a positive for the Bills yesterday. As we saw next man up scorched us for 29 points.  I thought after a decent start minus the Memphis loss that I did not expect the Bills to win, I was looking for them to protect home court against UAB and Belmont. The loss to Umass on the road was a bad loss. So we win those 3 games split with the Bonnies then yes I think a NCAA bid this year would have been a possibility. Now I'm not sure even the NIT is a lock. 

Not sure you answered my question in all that... But before the season started I was thinking we were a bubble team with Perkins. Without Perkins I think we are a team that will compete for the top 6 which is basically what we are. We played Auburn better than I thought possible. 

Just was curious with your post about expectations cause personally my realistic expectations were about what we are now. Obviously the blue Kool aid was flowing at times. But I just don't think it was reasonable to expect this team to be in a comfortable tournament position right now even with Perkins. 

 

[glazedandconfused]

4 minutes ago, RiseOfTheBillikens said:

Not sure you answered my question in all that... But before the season started I was thinking we were a bubble team with Perkins. Without Perkins I think we are a team that will compete for the top 6 which is basically what we are. We played Auburn better than I thought possible. 

Just was curious with your post about expectations cause personally my realistic expectations were about what we are now. Obviously the blue Kool aid was flowing at times. But I just don't think it was reasonable to expect this team to be in a comfortable tournament position right now even with Perkins. 

 

Yes. We are still a top 50-60 team in the country after losing our best player to injury. 

 

And yes i know Perkins was supposed to be gone, but 1. we aren’t the only team that had seniors come back and 2. who knows what would’ve been different transfer wise if we weren’t expecting Perkins to return.