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2022-2023 Season


Aquinas

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 A tease from Frank today.  Apparently he recorded two sessions with Coach Ford yesterday and aired the first.  Tonight, per Frank, will be the second.  Coach says something to the effect that the Billikens may lead the nation is scoring this season.  'We are going to play as fast as I have ever had a team to play.'

I'm in the I'll believe it when i see it category.  I'll be watching tonight to see what Coach actually said.

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10 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

 A tease from Frank today.  Apparently he recorded two sessions with Coach Ford yesterday and aired the first.  Tonight, per Frank, will be the second.  Coach says something to the effect that the Billikens may lead the nation is scoring this season.  'We are going to play as fast as I have ever had a team to play.'

I'm in the I'll believe it when i see it category.  I'll be watching tonight to see what Coach actually said.

I feel like we've heard talk about playing fast from Ford every year he has been coach.  Every year we blitz mediocre / bad teams in the non-conference & then play slows down during the conference season.

To his credit Ford's teams have actually played slightly faster almost every season, but they've never been top 100 in tempo:

2017: 331

2018: 337

2019: 239

2020: 219

2021: 184

2022: 124

The real key to playing fast would be getting a really good backup PG who can run as well as Yuri.  It is totally unrealistic to play Yuri nearly the entire game, have him dominate the ball like he does, play high level defense, and also play a really fast tempo.  That's too much to ask.  Teams that play guys 35+ minutes generally play a slow tempo.  Teams like UNC for example who did not have much depth, but played fast were exceptions & able to do so because they essentially had 2 really good PGs (Love & Davis) who could trade off handling the ball.

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6 minutes ago, RUBillsFan said:

I feel like we've heard talk about playing fast from Ford every year he has been coach.  Every year we blitz mediocre / bad teams in the non-conference & then play slows down during the conference season.

To his credit Ford's teams have actually played slightly faster almost every season, but they've never been top 100 in tempo:

2017: 331

2018: 337

2019: 239

2020: 219

2021: 184

2022: 124

The real key to playing fast would be getting a really good backup PG who can run as well as Yuri.  It is totally unrealistic to play Yuri nearly the entire game, have him dominate the ball like he does, play high level defense, and also play a really fast tempo.  That's too much to ask.  Teams that play guys 35+ minutes generally play a slow tempo.  Teams like UNC for example who did not have much depth, but played fast were exceptions & able to do so because they essentially had 2 really good PGs (Love & Davis) who could trade off handling the ball.

You nailed the key to playing fast in your last sentence:  Starting two guards who can both handle, shoot and pass.  Without a backcourt that can put pressure on the defense, all the responsibility gets placed on one guy.  If he's having an off day, so will your offense.

Blue bloods and a handful of other high majors can get those two guys.  Everybody else wishes for them.

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52 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

 A tease from Frank today.  Apparently he recorded two sessions with Coach Ford yesterday and aired the first.  Tonight, per Frank, will be the second.  Coach says something to the effect that the Billikens may lead the nation is scoring this season.  'We are going to play as fast as I have ever had a team to play.'

I'm in the I'll believe it when i see it category.  I'll be watching tonight to see what Coach actually said.

seems like we have been promised playing fast since crewsplatt left.   i'm with you.   i will believe it when i see it.   maybe in the buy games, but watch after christmas how fast we pull back on the reigns, shorten the rotation and revert back to the same old 8 man rotation and running the shot clock down in the second half.   hope i am wrong.  

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2 hours ago, majerus mojo said:

We averaged 76.2 ppg (48th in D1, 1st in A-10) in 2021-22.

8 teams averaged more than 80 ppg, with Gonzaga leading the nation at 87.2 ppg. Getting into the top 10 with ~4 more ppg isn't super outlandish. 

Agree, especially with the addition of Pick, Perk n Park !

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2 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

Hearing that the NC State away game may have some logistic issues for next season.  It may get pushed back to '23-'24.  I'm hoping things work out for this season.

Fine with me as long as we can replace that game with a higher quality opponent (top 100). NC State was pretty bad last year (139 NET). I assume they will remain near the ACC basement this coming year but I don't really pay attention to ACC rosters.

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3 minutes ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

Fine with me as long as we can replace that game with a higher quality opponent (top 100) which shouldn't be a tall task

It'll actually be pretty challenging.  Teams in the top 100 aren't dying to play us.  

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9 minutes ago, wgstl said:

It'll actually be pretty challenging.  Teams in the top 100 aren't dying to play us.  

Yeah I edited my original post to remove that part. Given how many decent last minute matchups there were last season, I'd like to think (with months instead of days to make it happen and as a preseason top 30 program) we can find a top 100 opponent. Only need to find one opponent. Iona part deux?

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46 minutes ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

Fine with me as long as we can replace that game with a higher quality opponent (top 100). NC State was pretty bad last year (139 NET). I assume they will remain near the ACC basement this coming year but I don't really pay attention to ACC rosters.

139 isnt bad considering the alternative might be a 300+ buy team.   

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It's fine if this game gets pushed back a year. We already have road games at Auburn, Iona, and SIUC lined up for this season plus the neutral event at the Mohegan Sun (Providence, Miami, Maryland). So we could even replace this date with another home or neutral game if we don't want 4 true road games.

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31 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

139 isnt bad considering the alternative might be a 300+ buy team.   

Yeah 139 really isn't that bad. But I'd like to think with months before the season even starts, and a decent amount of program hype from national writers, we can find a replacement team of equal or greater value.  I don't think this game getting pushed back to '23-'24 would be the worst thing to happen, especially if we can find a decent replacement game. Better NC State than Auburn or Iona (I was wondering if the agreement was a H&H). 

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53 minutes ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

Yeah 139 really isn't that bad. But I'd like to think with months before the season even starts, and a decent amount of program hype from national writers, we can find a replacement team of equal or greater value.  I don't think this game getting pushed back to '23-'24 would be the worst thing to happen, especially if we can find a decent replacement game. Better NC State than Auburn or Iona (I was wondering if the agreement was a H&H). 

we have always stuggled to get good non buy games.   

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17 hours ago, billiken_roy said:

we have always stuggled to get good non buy games.   

Well yeah, with that attitude!
Roy, I’m here to tell you our wandering days our over. The tide is turning, the pendulum is swinging favorably, the future is now. Things are going to be different going forward I can really feel it. 
 

EDIT: never mind, what I was feeling was a post-breakfast BM. 

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55 minutes ago, Aquinas said:

I dont know who deserves the credit, but someone or group at SLU deserves a lot of credit in out manuvering TN in the Yuri situation. Its the first time I recall SLU dealing with a BB crisis and coming out a winner.

You forget that someone, who remains unidentified, supposedly payed the fee. Would he have come without the money?

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