GDT: SIUE

[JettFlight5]

Have we figured out how to resurrect Coach Majerus yet?

[Billiken Rich]

15 minutes ago, JettFlight5 said:

Have we figured out how to resurrect Coach Majerus yet?

All we really need is his brain.......the rest of him was kind of a mess while he was alive.........

[billiken_roy]

ive always said rickma was a basketball genius but a horrible person.   

[TheChosenOne]

14 hours ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

Illinois is definitely not a top 25 team but they aren't horrible.

I haven’t done it, but this would be a really good season to be locked in on the entirety of college basketball. With the COVID year, NIL, and transfer rules it would be interesting to see what sort of mix the top 25 type teams have. Illinois has a ton of talent and length, but clearly the chemistry or mix isn’t quite there at this point in the season. Most of the roster is new whether it be big time transfers (Shannon and Mayer who are 4th and 5th year guys and Dainja) or freshmen (Epps, Skyy Clark, Harris, and Rodgers) and then the few contributing guys who have been around are stepping into bigger roles (Coleman Hawkins and Melendez). So, the continuity just isn’t there. Not saying that can’t work, but it becomes essentially the Kentucky model for a lot of programs across the country just with transfers vs. one and dones. We’ve seen how the mix sometimes works and sometimes blows up at Kentucky when each season you are bringing in essentially a completely new group of players. And then you throw in NIL and I have to imagine that makes things potentially even more volatile. Maybe something worth doing once I slow down at work since it’s not like I have a social life at this point. Could be interesting to see whether there are any common themes. I know with college football transfer QBs the results were all across the board.

Honestly this was why I thought we had a real opportunity to make noise this winter. With a roster that has been together for years, primarily grown men at this point, and a number of all conference caliber players it seemed like such a great opportunity to take that next step. And then we added two grad transfers who profiled as more role player types (plus many of us know Pickett from his time at Mizzou where the coaches loved him) and a JUCO scorer, so guys you figure have the maturity to mesh. I do think we failed to supplement the roster with missing positions or skill sets (a true combo guard and stretch big) which appears to be a failure, but I thought that might just dictate how we play. For whatever reason, we just haven’t played to the level and consistency you would expect given the experience of the roster. I suppose the health of Perkins needs to be mentioned as he continues to work to full strength, but otherwise we are seeing a team not playing up to its perceived ability with little individual development. Hopefully we see growth over the conference season and put it together at the right time, I think that is what we are left with after that SIUE loss.

I have been amazed seeing the number of players on rosters who are in their 5th seasons of college basketball. Way more players than I was expecting using that COVID year.

Long way of saying with some of the “new” dynamics of college basketball, it will be interesting to see how different programs approach it and what profile of program or model seems to be having the most success.

[papal]

To say someone is a horrible person shows little compassion and should make one look at oneself. Be careful throwing stones,especially at Christmas

[BrettJollyComedyHour]

4 minutes ago, papal said:

To say someone is a horrible person shows little compassion and should make one look at oneself. Be careful throwing stones,especially at Christmas

I'd never heard anything negative about Rickma. I'd only heard he was quirky and a bit odd.

[BC1764]

37 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

ive always said rickma was a basketball genius but a horrible person.   

Oh well. He was a winner, and that was all that mattered.

[BC1764]

You know who else probably suffered the most due to COVID ? SIUE. There’s a piece about that on the stltoday site, and look where they are now. 9-4, with a nationally televised game on the fifth of Jan and a good shot at playing in the first weekend of the tournament.

[TheA_Bomb]

55 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

ive always said rickma was a basketball genius but a horrible person.   

This is all based on treatment of Lisch as walk on. Just FYI for new board members.

Majerus' life was basketball and he was a genius at it.   I find that people that are that talented at something are often a little off.

I wish I could've shared a meal and talked basketball with Majerus.

 

On another note the stated fear of losing a coach to a P5 school is so puzzling to me.  It means they actually won something.  Wouldn't you trade a Loyola like Final 4 run for losing a coach compared to what we have.

[BrettJollyComedyHour]

9 minutes ago, TheA_Bomb said:

Wouldn't you trade a Loyola like Final 4 run for losing a coach compared to what we have.

100%; I hate losing coaches but I hate never being in tournament even more.

[Old guy]

On 12/21/2022 at 9:59 PM, BACKHANDtheRICAN said:

Will everyone now agree with backhand that we have a 0% of an at large bid?? I've been saying this over a month now...

I have no idea how many of the Fantasy Land MBMs agrees or even if they are capable of agreeing with you. However, Team Rankings agrees that after the defeat by SIUe SLU has no chance for an at large spot at the Dance.

[Billiken Rich]

50 minutes ago, TheA_Bomb said:

This is all based on treatment of Lisch as walk on. Just FYI for new board members.

Majerus' life was basketball and he was a genius at it.   I find that people that are that talented at something are often a little off.

I wish I could've shared a meal and talked basketball with Majerus.

 

On another note the stated fear of losing a coach to a P5 school is so puzzling to me.  It means they actually won something.  Wouldn't you trade a Loyola like Final 4 run for losing a coach compared to what we have.

Majerus could be extremely abrasive.  He did not suffer fools or people he considered fools at all.  I watched on several occasions where Rachel Diener was probably the only reason Rick was able to cope with good people who weren't quite getting what he was driving at.  Other than me witnessing the birth of my two sons, I've never seen anyone quite so blindly focused on a subject.  The subject in question was only tangentially basketball related.  I did not know him but I can reasonably say that he was a great man.  I'm not convinced he was always a good man............... 

[Billiken Rich]

1 hour ago, BC1764 said:

Oh well. He was a winner, and that was all that mattered.

You are morally bankrupt and a sad little troll.  Just think of all you could've accomplished with all this time if the Billikens were having a great season and you had nothing at all to do.  Just sad.........

[Old guy]

22 hours ago, BACKHANDtheRICAN said:

We suck.

I would not make this statement that broad. I would prefer to say simply that Ford is the one that does it.

[cheeseman]

5 minutes ago, Billiken Rich said:

Majerus could be extremely abrasive.  He did not suffer fools or people he considered fools at all.  I watched on several occasions where Rachel Diener was probably the only reason Rick was able to cope with good people who weren't quite getting what he was driving at.  Other than me witnessing the birth of my two sons, I've never seen anyone quite so blindly focused on a subject.  The subject in question was only tangentially basketball related.  I did not know him but I can reasonably say that he was a great man.  I'm not convinced he was always a good man............... 

Well who is 

[Billiken Rich]

3 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

Well who is 

Some are better than others.  I'd have rather been Majerus' restaurant waiter than his bank teller.......

[cheeseman]

19 minutes ago, Billiken Rich said:

Some are better than others.  I'd have rather been Majerus' restaurant waiter than his bank teller.......

Just because you may be a bit abrasive doesn't mean you are not a good person.  I choose not to judge someone who I really do not know all that well.  RM had a long time girlfriend who stayed with him for years I bet she could tell you how good a person he was and I am sure there are others.  No human is good all the time that is what makes us human.

[Schasz]

Read Rick's book My Life on a Napkin sometime. Read it when he coached the Bills. Wasn't an easy book to find as it only covers part of his great career, but I gained some good insight into him as a person and as a HOF HC. His years at SLU even though we had moved to FL were memorable for me. Did get back to see the Bills play a couple times. 

[VeniceMenace]

On 12/23/2022 at 10:19 AM, Gremio14 said:

OK, getting in late here…I’ve seen this question posed by at least 10 MBM’s, with no answer:

WHY DID WE/COACH/YURI STOP RUNNING PLAYS FOR PERKINS IN THE LAST 10 MINUTES OF THE GAME?

Perkins was on fire!  Hot as a $2 pistol.  And he was utterly/completely ignored while Yuri drove consistently into the heart and soul of the SIU-E line up.  Does anyone have a technical or strategical position defending this strategy?  I’m simply dumbfounded…without Perkins contribution we lose the game by double digits…

This team has the talent—beat Memphis, Providence and nearly beat Auburn on the road. Ford needs to right the ship this season or it’s time for a new captain.

[cheeseman]

1 hour ago, Schasz said:

Read Rick's book My Life on a Napkin sometime. Read it when he coached the Bills. Wasn't an easy book to find as it only covers part of his great career, but I gained some good insight into him as a person and as a HOF HC. His years at SLU even though we had moved to FL were memorable for me. Did get back to see the Bills play a couple times. 

Did the same - good read

[BC1764]

4 hours ago, Billiken Rich said:

You are morally bankrupt and a sad little troll.  Just think of all you could've accomplished with all this time if the Billikens were having a great season and you had nothing at all to do.  Just sad.........

I’m sorry, I don’t speak Billiken Rich.

[Billiken Rich]

4 hours ago, cheeseman said:

Just because you may be a bit abrasive doesn't mean you are not a good person.  I choose not to judge someone who I really do not know all that well.  RM had a long time girlfriend who stayed with him for years I bet she could tell you how good a person he was and I am sure there are others.  No human is good all the time that is what makes us human.

Ok, enough with the Christmas spirit.  Majerus treated people I know and care about like dogshit in my presence.  Rachel Diener's apologies were all that prevented him from being a complete and total a-hole.......

[Billiken Rich]

37 minutes ago, BC1764 said:

I’m sorry, I don’t speak Billiken Rich.

Maybe I gave you too much credit.....

[HoosierPal]

Oh how I wish H Waldman had the ball in his hands for that final, ill fated drive against SIUE. 

[cheeseman]

2 hours ago, Billiken Rich said:

Ok, enough with the Christmas spirit.  Majerus treated people I know and care about like dogshit in my presence.  Rachel Diener's apologies were all that prevented him from being a complete and total a-hole.......

Ok enough with the Scrooge spirit.  Being rude some one does not make you a bad person it only makes you a rude person.