A10 Portal News

[Taj79]

Jason Nelson from Richmond to VCU.

[willie]

Is anyone else worried that Bruce will be here on day one?

[cheeseman]

1 hour ago, Taj79 said:

I don't have the ambition to get up and go look at Ford's past rosters outside of SLU.  Maybe someone else can.  I did a quick perusal of the glory years with Marcus Smart at Okie State and found that outside of some guy named Mark Cobbins, Ford essentially used a lineup of guards and forwards ... usually three guards and two forwards.  We've seen that here as well and here has also shown a pattern of two semi-bigs that sub in and out for each other, never playing at the same time ala Camara and Holmes at Dayton. Given this pattern of similarity, I find it absolutely difficult to believe the impending roster will look anything different than in past rosters.  Getting any forwards of substance --- small forward, power forward or center ---- seems a very large leap of faith.  

Outside of French and Okoro, we have rarely landed a big of any real consequence.  Foreman was decent, but a star?  No.  Rashed Anthony?  No.  Andre Lorentssen?  No.  KC Hankton?  No.  Lasina Traore?  No (not here).  Marten Linssen?  No.  Serviceable as a backup but his resume was Valpo and UNC-Wilmington.  Jake Forrester?  No.  A nice cog off the bench?  Maybe.  Momo Cisse?  No.  Now here comes Bruce Zhang.  The proof is in the pudding and unlike many on here, I am back to my Missouri roots of 'Show Me,'  

Ford has excelled with the "little" guys.  Bess.  Isabell.  Goodwin.  Jimerson.  Collins.  Parker.  Medley.  Hughes.  His coaching resume builders include Smart, Markell Brown, Bess, Isabell, Goodwin and Collins.  If kids sign with coaches, they likely do so for 1) likability and 2) which coach will get me where I want to go.  Makes great sense for Medley.  Maybe even CJ Noland (although the Forte departure puts that in question now).

I can't recall a more depressing time in my Billiken fandom and that includes Ekker, Grawer early and late, and much more in between.  Travis needs to re-recruit me it seems and I see a lot of that permeating this board.

Well I guess we can only hope that May and Pesty know what they are doing.  This could go bad quick.  Ford still has time to recover but it is a bigger uphill climb then I think he may have thought

[Taj79]

@willie:  I have three concerns on Zhang:  1) will he actually come (Vice), 2) will he actually stay (Cisse), and 3) will he be anything more than a project (in the footsteps of Cisse, Traore, Husak, Diarra, Bell).  

[Slowry]

5 hours ago, willie said:

Is anyone else worried that Bruce will be here on day one?

Why worry about a guy that is going to average 1.3 mpg?

[billiken_roy]

10 hours ago, Taj79 said:

I don't have the ambition to get up and go look at Ford's past rosters outside of SLU.  Maybe someone else can.  I did a quick perusal of the glory years with Marcus Smart at Okie State and found that outside of some guy named Mark Cobbins, Ford essentially used a lineup of guards and forwards ... usually three guards and two forwards.  We've seen that here as well and here has also shown a pattern of two semi-bigs that sub in and out for each other, never playing at the same time ala Camara and Holmes at Dayton. Given this pattern of similarity, I find it absolutely difficult to believe the impending roster will look anything different than in past rosters.  Getting any forwards of substance --- small forward, power forward or center ---- seems a very large leap of faith.  

Outside of French and Okoro, we have rarely landed a big of any real consequence.  Foreman was decent, but a star?  No.  Rashed Anthony?  No.  Andre Lorentssen?  No.  KC Hankton?  No.  Lasina Traore?  No (not here).  Marten Linssen?  No.  Serviceable as a backup but his resume was Valpo and UNC-Wilmington.  Jake Forrester?  No.  A nice cog off the bench?  Maybe.  Momo Cisse?  No.  Now here comes Bruce Zhang.  The proof is in the pudding and unlike many on here, I am back to my Missouri roots of 'Show Me,'  

Ford has excelled with the "little" guys.  Bess.  Isabell.  Goodwin.  Jimerson.  Collins.  Parker.  Medley.  Hughes.  His coaching resume builders include Smart, Markell Brown, Bess, Isabell, Goodwin and Collins.  If kids sign with coaches, they likely do so for 1) likability and 2) which coach will get me where I want to go.  Makes great sense for Medley.  Maybe even CJ Noland (although the Forte departure puts that in question now).

I can't recall a more depressing time in my Billiken fandom and that includes Ekker, Grawer early and late, and much more in between.  Travis needs to re-recruit me it seems and I see a lot of that permeating this board.

Both crewsplatt and ekkertime were far worse and depressing than today.  Hell ekker couldn't win with David Burns.  In hindsight that's impossible to have a losing record with burns .

[willie]

33 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

Both crewsplatt and ekkertime were far worse and depressing than today.  Hell ekker couldn't win with David Burns.  In hindsight that's impossible to have a losing record with burns .

I am not trying to defend Ekker but we were also playing some of the best teams in the country.

[billiken_roy]

26 minutes ago, willie said:

I am not trying to defend Ekker but we were also playing some of the best teams in the country.

Losing to eventual national champion louisville by 60 points was no consolation prize to keep me from being disappointed.  

[VeniceMenace]

10 hours ago, willie said:

Is anyone else worried that Bruce will be here on day one?

Way more worried about whether he can play D on day 1.

[MusicCityBilliken]

11 hours ago, willie said:

I am not trying to defend Ekker but we were also playing some of the best teams in the country.

I am no big Ekker fan and I was more than happy to see him go but Ekker's budget, even taking account inflation, was probably a tenth of Ford's. Couple that with a totally dysfunctional Athletic Dept. back then. 

[Taj79]

Jamir Watkins VCU to Florida State.

[kmbilliken]

2 hours ago, MusicCityBilliken said:

I am no big Ekker fan and I was more than happy to see him go but Ekker's budget, even taking account inflation, was probably a tenth of Ford's. Couple that with a totally dysfunctional Athletic Dept. back then. 

Remember the good times about the Ekker years. You could always get a good seat.

[cheeseman]

Jimmy Bell recruited over at WV.  Syracuse center transfers.  I missed his name but he avg. 14 ppg

[Taj79]

Despite having a serious NIL payout at Syracuse, West Virginia essentially bought Jesse Edwards  out.  Same thing will likely happen with RJ Luis at Umass.  

My new curiosity centers on Joe Bamisile.  Va Tech transfer to Geedubya.  Geedubya transfer to Oklahoma.  Now Oklahom transfer to VCU.  Four years.  Four transfers.  Can;t wait to see how the NCAA gives him just another waiver.

[Taj79]

Louis Kortright, 6'3" point guard averaged 10.3 ppg and 4.8 apg at Quinnipiac to Rhode island.

[ACE]

On 4/16/2023 at 10:03 AM, Taj79 said:

Jamir Watkins VCU to Florida State.

Florida State is a bit of a dumpster fire right now.

[JMM28]

4 minutes ago, ACE said:

Florida State is a bit of a dumpster fire right now.

The fascination with Leonard Hamilton is something I’ve never understood. 

[thetorch]

7 hours ago, JMM28 said:

The fascination with Leonard Hamilton is something I’ve never understood. 

4 Sweet 16s and an elite 8 at football schools i can see the fascination.

[JMM28]

3 minutes ago, thetorch said:

4 Sweet 16s and an elite 8 at football schools i can see the fascination.

2 conference championships in 34 years all at very well heeled schools  

1 elite 8 in 34 years? 4 sweet 16s? That’s not…great. 

[dlarry]

7 hours ago, JMM28 said:

The fascination with Leonard Hamilton is something I’ve never understood. 

I think it’s less a fascination with Hamilton and more a fascination with this…..

[thetorch]

15 minutes ago, JMM28 said:

2 conference championships in 34 years all at very well heeled schools  

1 elite 8 in 34 years? 4 sweet 16s? That’s not…great. 

Before Hamilton went to Miami, SLU had more NCAA appearances than they did.

Hamilton has 8 NCAA as FSU in 21 years.  In the 46 years previous they had 10.

FSU would be the DePaul of the ACC if not for Hamilton.  

[JMM28]

8 minutes ago, thetorch said:

Before Hamilton went to Miami, SLU had more NCAA appearances than they did.

 

Because they didn't have a program for a good chunk of those years, amongst other reasons. 

8 minutes ago, thetorch said:

Hamilton has 8 NCAA as FSU in 21 years.  In the 46 years previous they had 10.

 

So 1/3 getting to tournaments out of a power (and traditionally top) conference is good? Gotcha. 

Leonard Hamilton is a good coach. But he has also benefitted from having a really long leash and very low expectations. 

[thetorch]

3 hours ago, JMM28 said:

Because they didn't have a program for a good chunk of those years, amongst other reasons. 

So 1/3 getting to tournaments out of a power (and traditionally top) conference is good? Gotcha. 

Leonard Hamilton is a good coach. But he has also benefitted from having a really long leash and very low expectations. 

FSU never really had a good program. They are in the ACC for football. Hamilton gets very little support compared to the powers in the ACC and has to recruit much different players. Sure expectations are different than Duke, but he's gone toe to toe with the cream of college basketball and surpassed many former powers in the league like Ga Tech, Wake, and NC State. Finishing regularly in the top half of the best conference in basketball is quite an accomplishment for them.

The list of programs that have 5 sweet 16s in this century is pretty short, about 20 teams.

[billiken_roy]

12 hours ago, dlarry said:

I think it’s less a fascination with Hamilton and more a fascination with this…..

why are they pointing at me and laughing?

[BrettJollyComedyHour]

46 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

why are they pointing at me and laughing?

Well, I could give you several possible answers, but you wouldn't like any of them and a few of them wouldn't be board appropriate