c ford on with frank c 590 the fan in 15 min

[longtimelistenerfirsttimec]

c ford on 590 the fan

[AGB91]

He will be on at approximately 11:45.

Frank teased that there will be some news on staff changes.

[ACE]

Forte is leaving - YES!!!!

[billikenfan05]

Just now, ACE said:

Forte is leaving - YES!!!!

I don't know how I feel about Forte leaving, but I respect you as a long time poster. Can you expand on your reasoning here?

[ACE]

1 minute ago, billikenfan05 said:

I don't know how I feel about Forte leaving, but I respect you as a long time poster. Can you expand on your reasoning here?

I just never understood the foray into Texas recruiting.  I know Ford has had a long loyal relationship with Forte, but it seemed inevitable that he was just auditioning for a job in Oklahoma or Texas. He didn't seem like a good fit here.  I want an assistant with East Coast connections. This could be an opportunity to add an assistant who can bring along a good player or two.

[Billikenbooster]

Maybe teach some basics of screens and defense

[stmdragons]

Weird timing with Noland’s recent commitment that Forte seemingly led the charge on. 

[slufan13]

Forte was interesting. Ford, like most coaches, kind of seems like he does his own thing regardless of what assistants are saying so I had hoped that having someone with a close personal relationship with him would be helpful because Ford would be more likely to listen to that assistant. But it didn't seem like Forte was doing that or if he was, it still didn't make a difference. So between that and the fact that this emphasis on Texas recruiting was not paying a ton of dividends, this seems like a good move for both sides. 

If you were going to keep Ford, you had to shake up the staff. And that doesn't mean new graduate assistants or a new DBO. That means at least one new assistant. Forte would have been my top choice to leave by far. Tate has obvious benefits and Bailey has east coast experience and has gotten a lot of credit for the development of many of our guards. 

My keys to this offseason were, in no particular order:

- Shake up the staff - Check

- Go back to heavy emphasis on defense - Noland is a good start but still in progress

- Significantly improve our frontcourt - Nothing yet but I'm sure we'll get someone

- Less reliance on one player to create offense - Check by default but still work to be done

- Change in offseason training - too many nagging injuries over the years. I'm no expert but just seems like this has happened more under Ford than other coaches 

[Marlow]

Assistants make huge difference in player development and recruiting. It will be interesting to see how Ford fills this role because his job could depend on it. 

[Dr Bird]

Did Forte leave voluntarily for a different job or was he let go?

[AGB91]

What would people think of a Van Macon return?

[longtimelistenerfirsttimec]

coaches are fired based on wins and loses no assistant coach has that much control or power the only way ford is fired is if the bills lose so in order for your opinion to be enforced and proven correct is for me to sit at games watch my team lose therefore i will always hope you are wrong

[slufan13]

14 minutes ago, longtimelistenerfirsttimec said:

coaches are fired based on wins and loses no assistant coach has that much control or power the only way ford is fired is if the bills lose so in order for your opinion to be enforced and proven correct is for me to sit at games watch my team lose therefore i will always hope you are wrong

wut?

[Compton]

I can't help but think that something was lost in Ray Giacoletti's depature. Hopefully whatever it was gets addressed with this move.
 

 

[billikenfan05]

1 hour ago, slufan13 said:

Forte was interesting. Ford, like most coaches, kind of seems like he does his own thing regardless of what assistants are saying so I had hoped that having someone with a close personal relationship with him would be helpful because Ford would be more likely to listen to that assistant. But it didn't seem like Forte was doing that or if he was, it still didn't make a difference. So between that and the fact that this emphasis on Texas recruiting was not paying a ton of dividends, this seems like a good move for both sides. 

If you were going to keep Ford, you had to shake up the staff. And that doesn't mean new graduate assistants or a new DBO. That means at least one new assistant. Forte would have been my top choice to leave by far. Tate has obvious benefits and Bailey has east coast experience and has gotten a lot of credit for the development of many of our guards. 

My keys to this offseason were, in no particular order:

- Shake up the staff - Check

- Go back to heavy emphasis on defense - Noland is a good start but still in progress

- Significantly improve our frontcourt - Nothing yet but I'm sure we'll get someone

- Less reliance on one player to create offense - Check by default but still work to be done

- Change in offseason training - too many nagging injuries over the years. I'm no expert but just seems like this has happened more under Ford than other coaches 

Plagiarism.... @SluSignGuy please ban this lunatic.

[ACE]

34 minutes ago, AGB91 said:

What would people think of a Van Macon return?

He stayed at St. John's with Pitino - that got me looking at Iona at some of Pitino's old assistants as possibilities.

 

[willie]

Who's the best jucco big man in the country? Offer his coach a package deal. Whatever it takes to get a quality big. 

[SluSignGuy]

Twitter thread that has a summary

 

https://twitter.com/WestPineBills/status/1645464966021906433

[HoosierPal]

More from the Press Box Segment: 

Portal and current scene is nothing like Ford has seen in his entire 26 year career.  He was on the road recruiting this past weekend.  They are having 3 to 5 Zoom's per day with prospects.  The challenge is getting to know these players as best as you can.  You want to not only get the best players but you need the right players that fit in with the team.  Looking for pieces to fit around what we have.  Have kids coming in this weekend and the following weekend.  Keeping track of all of this is time consuming. 

Ford can't yet comment on the 'good news'.  (April 12 begins signing period.)  Looking for more good news soon.  The numbers being thrown out (money) is insane.  Then players saw that only a select group was getting big money. 

Ford says it is important to get an immediate 'No'.  They can't spend time with them.  Now agents call saying his player needs 'this amount' of money.  You immediately know you have no shot at that player.  You have to figure out who you can spend time with.  Ford does tell recruits about the existing NIL deals current SLU players have he directs them to the BVL Collective.

Ford says he needs to bring in three more. [Three more likely means Rivera is staying and Hughes is going on scholarship.]  Need to be more athletic.  Some that didn't play as much can help with the athleticism.  Need to get more length.  Need to be versatile.  Our D and Rebounding fell off.  We need to get back to that.  Looking at Hughes as a Point Guard and Combo Guard, and at several other positions.  He is great on both sides of the ball.  He will be on the floor a lot.  Glad he got reps at PG behind Collins.

Forte leaving -> getting closer to home.  Literally 5 minutes from home. His sister is moving back to home also.  Important to Forte to get back to Texas.  This has been in the works for about a week.  Doesn't want to rush in his replacement, but he has had a lot of calls on the spot.

Need to be patient on the recruiting. 

[slufanskip]

1 hour ago, slufan13 said:

Forte was interesting. Ford, like most coaches, kind of seems like he does his own thing regardless of what assistants are saying so I had hoped that having someone with a close personal relationship with him would be helpful because Ford would be more likely to listen to that assistant. But it didn't seem like Forte was doing that or if he was, it still didn't make a difference. So between that and the fact that this emphasis on Texas recruiting was not paying a ton of dividends, this seems like a good move for both sides. 

If you were going to keep Ford, you had to shake up the staff. And that doesn't mean new graduate assistants or a new DBO. That means at least one new assistant. Forte would have been my top choice to leave by far. Tate has obvious benefits and Bailey has east coast experience and has gotten a lot of credit for the development of many of our guards. 

My keys to this offseason were, in no particular order:

- Shake up the staff - Check

- Go back to heavy emphasis on defense - Noland is a good start but still in progress

- Significantly improve our frontcourt - Nothing yet but I'm sure we'll get someone

- Less reliance on one player to create offense - Check by default but still work to be done

- Change in offseason training - too many nagging injuries over the years. I'm no expert but just seems like this has happened more under Ford than other coaches 

Why would Travis need an assistant to be in his ear? Hell, he can just read Billikens.com to get all the strategic advise he could possibly want. If you have an assistant with his ear you take the chance that assistant doesn’t agree with Bills.com. 

[billiken_roy]

1 hour ago, AGB91 said:

What would people think of a Van Macon return?

pretty sure he is staying at st john's.  thinking it was pitino's first move to announce such

[GOSLU68]

We have not had a “Big” expert ooach since the Majerus protoge’ we lost to Nebraska; we despatately need someone coaching eings and guards to steal passes. Thames, TJ Hargrove, and Hughes2 all have ling arms and quick hands and should  be fearless going for steals- the obvious is if you pursue the ball sometimes your man keeps the ball and has an open lane to the basket.

[BIG BILL FAN]

https://590thefan.com/radio-shows/press-box/

[billikenfan05]

13 minutes ago, GOSLU68 said:

We have not had a “Big” expert ooach since the Majerus protoge’ we lost to Nebraska; we despatately need someone coaching eings and guards to steal passes. Thames, TJ Hargrove, and Hughes2 all have ling arms and quick hands and should  be fearless going for steals- the obvious is if you pursue the ball sometimes your man keeps the ball and has an open lane to the basket.

Are you referring to Chris Harriman? Are you basing this on his one game stint as caretaker HC vs Duquesne? I always viewed him as a good assistant with strong recruiting ties to Australia. Not some sort of expert tactician. One would say Porter Moser was probably closer to your description.

[Aquinas]

41 minutes ago, GOSLU68 said:

We have not had a “Big” expert ooach since the Majerus protoge’ we lost to Nebraska; we despatately need someone coaching eings and guards to steal passes. Thames, TJ Hargrove, and Hughes2 all have ling arms and quick hands and should  be fearless going for steals- the obvious is if you pursue the ball sometimes your man keeps the ball and has an open lane to the basket.

If you look at teams with steals, VCU had 4 guys average between 1.1 and 1.5 steals per game and one guy with 2.2. Our best last year was Yuri at 1.3 and Fred at 1. Hugh's had .4 steals in 8 min of play, which is promising. TJ only had .3 in 20 min of play, which is bad. Parker had .3 in 13 min. Jimmerson had .5 in 34 min. In addition to speed, it takes passion, focus, anticipation and knowing player and team tendencies. With a team full of wings last year I expected more steals, but it didn't happen. As a team we averaged 5 per game, VCU averaged 8.9. It was also the only stat where we were upside down o to 6.4. We have a long way to go.