2023-2024 Season

[TheChosenOne]

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

Dusty May’s 19th ranked Owls handing 5-1 Va Tech their taints with 5 minutes left: 73-41.

I would love to hear that sort of score update on ESPN!

[TheA_Bomb]

Wyoming in action again today vs Texas.  Did you know that Wyoming won the NCAA Championship in 43-43? The only college team they lost to that year was Duquesne! St. John's won the NIT and claimed they were better an exhibition was set up benefiting the Red Cross and Wyoming won that game too.

[Aquinas]

My view of coach Ford differs some from most on the board. I dont think he is a great recruiter, I think he brought a high level recruiting process that includes non stop recruiting. 

I think the lack of discipline that he displays in game play management is also in his recruiting efforts.  He puts a short term goal over a long term goal. Just like he abondons the goal of playing young players when they make a mistake, he grabs the best available player instead of recruiting the teams greatest need. For instance, did we really need Pickett last year? No, we needed a big. He recruited Frech and Gordon. Really good players that I enjoyed but they didn't complement each other as they both had very limmited range, and adding Collins didn't help. 

His recruiting may be hurt by NIL, but its hurt worse by lack of delivering big seasons. You can't paint a picture of winning championships and NCAA tournament appearances this deep into your SLU tenure when it hasn't happened. Plus aposing coaches are quick to point out the failures. 

To be fair, I think Ford has had more than his share of bad luck. But the impact of that bad luck has been made worse by not recruiting team needs and not playing young players when we had them. 

[3star_recruit]

I think you nailed it.  The prioritization of short-term over long term goals is evident going all the way back to Coach Ford's tenure at Oklahoma State.  He doesn't seem to have the whole in mind when he recruits the pieces.  His teams often have scoring droughts because the players don't complement each other.

The result is Coach Ford's teams have enough talent to finish middle of the pack  or a little bit better.  But the pieces must fit together in order to finish in the top of the conference standings.  And you're right, the short leash he has on young player's is classic short term thinking.  It does not serve us in the long term.

[wgstl]

On 11/13/2023 at 10:26 AM, wgstl said:

Its early and rhythm may not be there yet but our close and long 2 % is alarming. Around the rim we're shooing 53% and a far 2 is 18%(!)

 

 

Good news, we're up to 27%(+9) on long jumpers, but around the rim dropped even more to 51%

[slufan13]

The biggest thing for me is to stop pretending/wishing that Ford is going to play the young guys, push the pace, fire up a bunch of 3's, etc. Even though I think all those things would be good, it's just not who Ford is or who he has ever really been. Sure there are a few outlier seasons in this 25+ year career but he's basically been the same guy forever.

I also think Ford, or any coach, is going to prioritize short-term everything if they think they're coaching for their job. Sure I'd love to see more Zhang or more Medley. Both are guys who show some upside but have a long way to go and need game reps. But if I feel I'm coaching for my job, I'm probably going small with guys like Dalger/Hargrove down low. And guys like Meadows running the point. 

[Cowboy II]

-I am suprised, not pleasantly, at LH2's defense so far, perhaps I thought he was a better defender last season than he actually was but to this point he's not been defending at an all-conf level, fouls too much

[Aquinas]

I think playing Zang now, so that he is a force by tournament time is in Ford's best interest. If we sweep the conference and dance, he saves the season. But what does a one point victory against  Dartmoth buy us. 

[3star_recruit]

14 minutes ago, Aquinas said:

I think playing Zang now, so that he is a force by tournament time is in Ford's best interest. If we sweep the conference and dance, he saves the season. But what does a one point victory against  Dartmoth buy us. 

By force do you mean going from a 3 points and 1 rebound a game to 6 points and 3 rebounds a game?  Because I think that's all you can reasonably expect even with increased minutes this year.  He came off the bench for his prep team.  He's a fundamentally sound project.

[wgstl]

16 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

By force do you mean going from a 3 points and 1 rebound a game to 6 points and 3 rebounds a game?  Because I think that's all you can reasonably expect even with increased minutes this year.  He came off the bench for his prep team.  He's a fundamentally sound project.

6 and 3 with improvement on defense would go a long way with this team. I dont even care if he scores points( as long as Parker comes back at some point), I care they he gets rebounds, alters shots, and can pass out. 

 

Speaking of similar stats, would love to have Forrester this year...

[TheA_Bomb]

11 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

By force do you mean going from a 3 points and 1 rebound a game to 6 points and 3 rebounds a game?  Because I think that's all you can reasonably expect even with increased minutes this year.  He came off the bench for his prep team.  He's a fundamentally sound project.

Exactly he's a project. The time for projects to help this team was last season. But last season was supposed to be a winning season (NCAA invite/Challenge in Conference).

Prediction we'll never see Zhang fulfill his promise here at SLU.

[billiken_roy]

bruce needs a summer at least to build his body and endurance.   he has no muscle definition and very little hops or acceleration.   i really compare him to ian v when he was a freshman.  and by the time ian was a junior and senior he was legit.  i think bruce can be as well but it wont happen this year.   his single digit minutes are sufficient at this point in his career.   he is getting a taste of what american college basketball is.  

yes we could use a seven footer in the paint, but he is honestly behind and at this time not sure throwing him in for starter minutes would do more harm than good.  let's just be positive about him and his future.  

[wgstl]

12 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

bruce needs a summer at least to build his body and endurance.   he has no muscle definition and very little hops or acceleration.   i really compare him to ian v when he was a freshman.  and by the time ian was a junior and senior he was legit.  i think bruce can be as well but it wont happen this year.   his single digit minutes are sufficient at this point in his career.   he is getting a taste of what american college basketball is.  

yes we could use a seven footer in the paint, but he is honestly behind and at this time not sure throwing him in for starter minutes would do more harm than good.  let's just be positive about him and his future.  

I'd do anything to see what THJ and bruce look like at the same time. For obvious reason, at this point, we'll never know.  But I do think that may be our best lineup. 

Im going off of stats because I was too young to remember a ton about Ian's early years, so numbers may be misleading, But Ian did play 10 mpg his freshman year.  A lot of people have said Ian and Bruce are about the same level.  Does Ian go on to average 7 and 5 his sophomore year if we played 2-3 mpg his freshman year?  Maybe, but more likely no. I don't think I need Bruce to end up seeing around 20 mpg, but 15 should be a pretty reasonable ask. 

In the 2nd half against dartmouth, they kept feeding there bigs down low because it was eff, THJ had little to no answer most of the time.  When Bruce was in, their first move wasn't to try and go down low.  That's the thing for me, even if Bruce isnt very good, he does cause offense to try and avoid him at times simply due to his size.  More minutes under his belt doesn't add strength , but it adds timing and confidence. 

 

 

[longtimelistenerfirsttimec]

a coach is trying to win the game in front of him not next year or 3 months from and since i am paying for tickets that is what i want the problem is that this class of players that are here are not good enough to compeat

[Basketbill]

22 hours ago, Cowboy II said:

-I am suprised, not pleasantly, at LH2's defense so far, perhaps I thought he was a better defender last season than he actually was but to this point he's not been defending at an all-conf level, fouls too much

I wonder if the injury he had in the second or third game, is still effecting his laterally mobility. He is reaching too much. At the time I wondered if he had a groin injuryand he has played through it .

[JMM28]

9 minutes ago, longtimelistenerfirsttimec said:

a coach is trying to win the game in front of him not next year or 3 months from and since i am paying for tickets that is what i want the problem is that this class of players that are here are not good enough to compeat

I agree, basketballcountry. 

[Soderball]

1 hour ago, TheA_Bomb said:

Exactly he's a project. The time for projects to help this team was last season. But last season was supposed to be a winning season (NCAA invite/Challenge in Conference).

Prediction we'll never see Zhang fulfill his promise here at SLU.

We didn't even make the NIT. "The Year" turned out to not even be a top 100 program. We achieved nothing.

[Soderball]

14 minutes ago, longtimelistenerfirsttimec said:

a coach is trying to win the game in front of him not next year or 3 months from and since i am paying for tickets that is what i want the problem is that this class of players that are here are not good enough to compeat

and bad year after bad year gets tougher to sell the program to recruits, especially if the NIL game(the most important part) is subpar.

Who's gonna buy into "team blue" when "team blue" can't even showcase a player on ESPN in the bleepin' NIT. It is not hard to make the NIT. there's over 100 teams that make postseason now. SLU is not amongst them. Pathetic.

[Aquinas]

His size affects what other teams do, and without him, we don't have a center. 

I  predict that if we sit him, we will lose him and watch him play for someone else.

The bottom line in today's game, with all players:

Play them or Lose them.

[billikenfan05]

37 minutes ago, Aquinas said:

His size affects what other teams do, and without him, we don't have a center. 

I  predict that if we sit him, we will lose him and watch him play for someone else.

The bottom line in today's game, with all players:

Play them or Lose them.

I agree with this to a point. Increase his minutes and let him get better through trial by fire. His issues aren’t just limited to physicality. He doesn’t really have the skill foundation for rebounding. He doesn’t box out, like at all. 
 

Travis will likely continue to sit him. That’s not inherently a bad or a good thing. Just a matter of fact. 

[slufan13]

Carbondale just lost by 30 to Indiana St last night. We can beat them right? 

[gobillsgo]

30 minutes ago, slufan13 said:

Carbondale just lost by 30 to Indiana St last night. We can beat them right? 

I wouldn’t count on it. 

[3star_recruit]

27 minutes ago, slufan13 said:

Carbondale just lost by 30 to Indiana St last night. We can beat them right? 

SIU just got demolished in their first true road game.  Guess what?  SIU is our first true road game.  Who knows how our guys will respond?  It's not realistic to expect career highs from Jimerson every night.

[Soderball]

7 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

SIU just got demolished in their first true road game.  Guess what?  SIU is our first true road game.  Who knows how our guys will respond?  It's not realistic to expect career highs from Jimerson every night.

Hard to win on the road. USU saw that last night. Only loss is an overtime defeat by Bradley in Peoria.

CBB has the largest home field advantage of any sport at any level in the country.

 

Jimerson is easily worth 20 a night though. Billikens shooting has been historic even in Myrtle Beach. AS A TEAM we are outshooting Stephen Curry in most games.

[VeniceMenace]

8 hours ago, slufan13 said:

Carbondale just lost by 30 to Indiana St last night. We can beat them right? 

MBMs refer to it as Methdale.