The Wiz Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 General Outlook...Take care of business on Friday and things will fall into place. Friday will be about who wants the game more. The team that comes to play will win. The computer thinks that team will be the Bills. But this game will not be a gimme....we will have to take it ......to them. Game Outlook...Both teams come in at B+. VCU wins a squeaker on Tues as Dav misses the tying FT with 4 sec left in the game. It is time for a little home cooking. Here is the outlook.... It's all about the Ts...as in turnovers...here is the summary .....Turnover grades... VCU ...F+..................The Bills...B .....Opponent TO grades VCU....A+..6th ITN....The Bills...F-...17th WITN This game will be about protecting the ball ...whoever does the best job of it will win....A quick note here...the inability to generate TOs in the preceding games has been costly. It is not just the stat of "pts off TOs" but the loss of an offensive opportunity on a TO. We have 37 more TOs than our opponents. I have seen it reported in the press that we have given up an extra 46 pts on "pts off TOs". But it is worse than that. Here is the real TO math....generally when you turn the ball over a team scores 1 1/4 pts (the Bills are on target with that number)....in addition you give up 0.93 pts in a lost scoring opportunity....so every extra TO actual costs you about 2.2 pts...For the Bills it works out to almost 4 pts /gm. To put that into context...it is like the Bills have no home field advantage and on away games the home team has a double home court advantage. We have won 15 games with that anchor on our ankle. All we have to do is match the other team's TOs and we would be very difficult to beat. This would be a good game to start that trend. But what about the fact that the Rams are good at taking the ball away...VCU is also not good at protecting the ball...take advantage of that. Report Card.... 2 categories up ....3 down. Another clean Card (no Ds or Fs)...as long as we have a "clean Card " we will be favored in most of the rest of the games. Let's look at the report card... ...................SLU......................VCU........................SLU.............................VCU .................................OFF..........................................................DEF............. PPG...............B+....................C-............................C-..................................A FG%...............B.....................B-..............................A-.................................B 3P%...............C.....................C...............................B-.................................C+ FT%...............B......................C-.................................................................. Reb...............A+..12th ITN....D-...............................C....................................B- OFF Rebs = total rebs...DEF Rebs = opp reb UP...............Off....FT%....Def.....3P% Down.........Off.....FG%...3P%....Def....Reb Top 100 In The Nation SLU Assts...Collins... 1st...unch......48th all time D1 list Assts/TO ratio...Collins...9th...up Reb...Okoro...46th...up Blks...Okoro ...60th...unch Off Reb...Okoro...18th ...up Dou Dou...Collins...49th...dn...Okoro...91st...up VCU Assts...Baldwin...8th Stls....Baldwin...22nd Blks...Deloach...88th Injury /Illness report and misc The Bills....1/31..Thames....Questionable...undisclosed......unspecified issue makes it uncertain if he will be able to play on Fri VCU..none Keys to the game.... Did you not see the part about TOs up above...in addition we need to shoot better as in the 6 games before Fham...particularly from the arc....Rebound on both ends. Baldwin is their steals and assist guy (he can score too)...Johns is their 2pt guy...Nunn is their 3 pt guy...Deloach is their blk and reb guy...We are the better team especially on offense ...let's show it WWN2D2W...Make the slash...46/35/75...Hold their top 5 guys to 50 pts.....Match them on TOs...Out rebound them by 8 Bottom line....Let's TURNOVER a new leaf and beat them at their own game....Weather alert ...The blizzard is coming. JettFlight5, TheChosenOne and BrettJollyComedyHour like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 You beat those VCU traps by passing and spacing. Passing is good; dribbling right into the trap is not good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 Good to see Our Town’s Nick Kern playing a vital roll with VCU. He’s in the regular rotation, started 7 conference games, averaging 5.5 ppg and shooting 65% in ten A10 games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 Scouting the southern Rams. I will say this up front ---- I don't think the Rams can consistently shoot the ball. The one thing that does impress me about this team is the athleticism their athletes have. Just not their basketball skills. The only guy who can seem to shoot the three is David Shriver, and he's popping at 39%. Rarely does he mess inside with the big trees. While Jayden Nunn and Josh Banks shoot comparable percentages, Shriver has taken 45 more threes than Nunn and 76 more than Banks. Jamir Watkins is the second leading three launcher but hasn't really been consistent coming off his ACL repair. Ace Baldwin runs the show pretty much as much or more as Yuri does. He's a good point guard; they won't be naming any streets after him but he leads the team in average, assists, and steals. If and when he's in foul trouble, VCU offense stagnates just as ours does without Collins. His team leading average is only 12 ppg. Behind him closely is Brandon Johns, the Michigan transfer center. Watkins and Johns are the volume shooters but they have seven guys who have launched over 100 shots each. All are enigmatic to say the least ---- they can go off but will they? Watkins averages 10 ppg while Jayden Nunn, their athletic two guard, comes in with 9 ppg. The power guy in the lineup is Jalen DeLoach. who also averages nearly 10 ppg. DeLoach does some dumb things on the court and has demonstrated an on-going ability to not only foul but also to collect technical fouls as well. St. Louis' own Nick Kern has recently moved into the starting lineup but short of a steal and layup to win at Dayton, done little to write home about. But he IS playing at home so watch out. We don't need a Nick Kern coming out party in this one.. VCU does not really play the old HAVOC game anymore but with their athleticism and lack of basketball skills (per me) they do need to apply pressure, get turnovers, and get layups. I'd be very curious to back their dunks and layups out of the FG% to get a true measure of their shooting skills but that would take too long. They usually don't press full court but rather employ a sneaky run-n-jump trap to accelerate play. They have their on ball man force the dribbler to the sidelines after half court, at which point a blind side guy comes in and they use the sideline as a third defender. The instinct is to then pass it back to the unguarded guy but a third defender will try and take that pass away and if they do steal it, the blind side guy is off to the races. This is exactly what happened in Dayton with Kern not only doubling Camara, but stealing the ball and racing in for what turned out to be the winning score. These guys are better athletes than Fordham and giving what Fordham and Iona did to us, I am sure Yuri is in for a very rough night. Bay Area Billiken likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgstl Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 10 minutes ago, Taj79 said: These guys are better athletes than Fordham and giving what Fordham and Iona did to us, I am sure Yuri is in for a very rough night. Or, we just don't pickett bringing up the ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 vcu would be fools to not all out pressure the billikens after the last quarter mess we witnessed again on Tuesday night. i agree with Taj, i am expecting a yuri beatdown. Bizziken and SLU_Nick like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 Fordham could have been called for a foul with the right refs every time they got a steal. I'm not saying that's what I wanted merely that it is true. If we get a tight-azz crew that decides everything is a foul, VCU is screwed........ Bay Area Billiken likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlarry Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 33 minutes ago, Billiken Rich said: Fordham could have been called for a foul with the right refs every time they got a steal. I'm not saying that's what I wanted merely that it is true. If we get a tight-azz crew that decides everything is a foul, VCU is screwed........ That was the Shaka gimmick. Foul every time and bet on the refs not wanting to call all of them. It sucks but it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 2 hours ago, Billiken Rich said: Fordham could have been called for a foul with the right refs every time they got a steal. I'm not saying that's what I wanted merely that it is true. If we get a tight-azz crew that decides everything is a foul, VCU is screwed........ I hate to say this but almost all of the close calls went our way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 23 minutes ago, willie said: I hate to say this but almost all of the close calls went our way. Yep and if you watched the game we were hacking, pushing and shoving just the same as FU. Game was not impacted by the refs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 Best win the VCU game at home with little to no hiccups, as I wouldn't bet the house we can beat them at their place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majerus mojo Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 5 hours ago, Schasz said: Best win the VCU game at home with little to no hiccups, as I wouldn't bet the house we can beat them at their place. Love the hiccups qualifier that is a new one for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longtimelistenerfirsttimec Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 you mean college basketball teams have a better chance to win at home once a again incredible insight from our tenn, fan (i guess barns did not have them ready) or they were on the road? RiseOfTheBillikens likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettFlight5 Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 Shriver is a guy who can do damage from outside. Whoever (I imagine TJ quite a bit) will not be able to leave him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CenHudDude Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 TJ is much more athletic than Shriver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettFlight5 Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 14 minutes ago, CenHudDude said: TJ is much more athletic than Shriver. Exactly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 Carry on, And Beat VCU️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeniceMenace Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 2 hours ago, CenHudDude said: TJ is much more athletic than Shriver. Yeah watch Ford put Yuri on Shiver then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 2 hours ago, VeniceMenace said: Yeah watch Ford put Yuri on Shiver then. LOL- but No. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 A SLU Win tonight, and SLU is back in First Place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeniceMenace Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 30 minutes ago, Bay Area Billiken said: LOL- but No. I like Ford, he resurrected the program, just growing weary of hearing him say of the players after coughing up another loss, "Well, we warned them!" willie likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVBilliken Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 The Bills have talent, but not a lot of margin for error. Got two bigs, but only one who can dominate. Then there's one point guard and a bunch of wings. That would be fine if the wings were shooters, but only a couple are really good shooters. Given that composition there is little room for error against most teams they face. And if the other team plays two bigs, they take advantage of of SLU's weakness inside. Without the shooters to space the opposition team's bigs out .... SLU is screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 The Line per cbssports.com: SLU -3 (ESPN.com concurs SLU -3), o139.5. Sagarin: SLU by 1.76, rounded off to 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 3 hours ago, WVBilliken said: As you know VCU comes at you in waves. Rhodes runs an 8 man regular rotation and 3 are 6’7” or taller. I’m looking for a lot of punch - counter punch physical game tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMouthBilliken Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 This computer program needs a reboot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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