Two Man Game with Rammer and Rocchio

[HoosierPal]

If you have 30 minutes, listen to this Billiken's podcast.  This podcast was dropped before the Utah State game.

Rammer speaks of two players who agreed to NIL terms with the Billikens this season, who then were contacted by other schools who upped the offer and drew the players out of their agreement.  One in particular team asked what the player's offer was and said we will double it.  (Vice and Noland? or Dandridge?)  The BVL is making progress, but they can't outbid Power 5 schools.  We have to figure out this new gray area.  It is a mid major issue.  If the trend continues, we might end up with two groups in hoops.

Medley is impressive at PG.  Great hands on defense.  He looks to be in control as point.  He is getting a lot of tips.

Rocchio:  Zhang, every screen he sets is illegal.  He needs to get out of the Euro ball thought process and stop the offensive goal tending.

Rammer:  the difference between the one win and two losses at Myrtle Beach, you lost your best scorer.  We don't have  Kentucky's roster with 9 All Americans.  Depth is an issue.  Ezewiro is a difference maker.  He still is in limbo.  He can play next year if he doesn't get a waiver, but next year is fantasy land.  These are two players that are hard to compensate.

Rammer:  the usual talk he has about Jimerson getting mugged on the floor. 

Vermont was very impressive with their ball handling and passing.  They played hard.  They trust each other and they are connected.

Dartmouth game, they were getting a lot of open three's off their pick and pop. Hargrove was dropping.  Bills weren't switching nor executing on guarding the arc.   Bills came back and switched everything, 1 to 5 on the pick and rolls.  Worked for a couple of possessions.  Dartmouth countered with trying to isolate Monroe, then SLU countered again.  Lot of back and forth on schemes with the two coaches. 

On his 'shot' Zhang was given the ball in a position where he should not have been given the ball. That was the passer's fault.   Zhang's issue not passing back out and taking the 15 footer.  Spacing was not good on that play.  When and where each player should get the ball is still an issue with this team. 

Thames, always hunting for the ball. 

 

 

 

[billikenfan05]

Excuses. Travis made his own bed with NIL by failing last season and the BVF has done next to nothing outside of try to double dip with major donors. You don't even know the proper acronym FFS.

Everyone of you should be done listening to anything regarding Ezewiro, IF he is in limbo it is nobody's fault but Billiken Athletics. Ford counting on having Ezewiro as the ONLY upper class big is malpractice. Even if we had Vice. You're telling me that we had 40 minutes a game to give out and the best transfer we could get was a 2 time transfer that needed a waiver? I don't care what the NIL situation is, that should be the easiest sell in college basketball.

Blaming injuries too, somehow Dayton found a way to beat SMU without their star PG Mali Smith. CRAZY! Empower a new leading scorer, that's yo job Travis. HINT: His name is Kellen Thames and he got hit by a car last year.

Another SLU mouthpiece blaming the players and making excuses.

[TheA_Bomb]

I'll give this a listen knowing it's a house organ.

I don't want us to turn on each other. I want us fans to unite and use our power of solidarity to effect change.

I'm mulling over what we can do and will probably elicit support in the movement soon.

Power to the people err MBMs!

[TheChosenOne]

1 hour ago, billikenfan05 said:

His name is Kellen Thames and he got hit by a car last year.

Wait, what? Is this meant to be literal?

[billikenfan05]

Just now, TheChosenOne said:

Wait, what? Is this meant to be literal?

Yeah, he was in some sort of traffic collision either pre-season or early season last year and that's why he didn't play. I don't remember if he was in a car or on a scooter and I don't necessarily feel like looking it up. 

[TheChosenOne]

3 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

Yeah, he was in some sort of traffic collision either pre-season or early season last year and that's why he didn't play. I don't remember if he was in a car or on a scooter and I don't necessarily feel like looking it up. 

Thanks, I either didn't know that or had forgotten! The show of record for Billiken athletics comes through again and saved me some Google searches.

[Taj79]

I recall Thames not playing much last year because of an accident where he was on a scooter and was hit by a car.

[Cowboy II]

-Kellen Thames was on a scooter and hit by a Saint Louis University vehicle driven by a Saint Louis University employee -  this is a fact

-the comment by Rocchio about Zhang needs to stop the goaltending, has that happened more than once? 

[Taj79]

I've seen Zhang do it twice.  Once against Utah State, once against Wichita State.

[billikenfan05]

12 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

I've seen Zhang do it twice.  Once against Utah State, once against Wichita State.

This is a fact. 

 

15 minutes ago, Cowboy II said:

-Kellen Thames was on a scooter and hit by a Saint Louis University vehicle driven by a Saint Louis University employee -  this is a fact

Holy sh*t, I think I missed this aspect. 

[2010andBeyond]

Ezewiro a difference maker lol. I guess in the context that we literally have no one else maybe he is. Guy averaged 12min a game on a terrible team

[VeniceMenace]

2 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:

Excuses. Travis made his own bed with NIL by failing last season and the BVF has done next to nothing outside of try to double dip with major donors. You don't even know the proper acronym FFS.

Everyone of you should be done listening to anything regarding Ezewiro, IF he is in limbo it is nobody's fault but Billiken Athletics. Ford counting on having Ezewiro as the ONLY upper class big is malpractice. Even if we had Vice. You're telling me that we had 40 minutes a game to give out and the best transfer we could get was a 2 time transfer that needed a waiver? I don't care what the NIL situation is, that should be the easiest sell in college basketball.

Blaming injuries too, somehow Dayton found a way to beat SMU without their star PG Mali Smith. CRAZY! Empower a new leading scorer, that's yo job Travis. HINT: His name is Kellen Thames and he got hit by a car last year.

Another SLU mouthpiece blaming the players and making excuses.

Only one upper class big is inexcusable…when assistant coaches transition, the head coach must close the gap on the recruiting trail. Transfer portal, JUCOs … 

[VeniceMenace]

2 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:

Excuses. Travis made his own bed with NIL by failing last season and the BVF has done next to nothing outside of try to double dip with major donors. You don't even know the proper acronym FFS.

Everyone of you should be done listening to anything regarding Ezewiro, IF he is in limbo it is nobody's fault but Billiken Athletics. Ford counting on having Ezewiro as the ONLY upper class big is malpractice. Even if we had Vice. You're telling me that we had 40 minutes a game to give out and the best transfer we could get was a 2 time transfer that needed a waiver? I don't care what the NIL situation is, that should be the easiest sell in college basketball.

Blaming injuries too, somehow Dayton found a way to beat SMU without their star PG Mali Smith. CRAZY! Empower a new leading scorer, that's yo job Travis. HINT: His name is Kellen Thames and he got hit by a car last year.

Another SLU mouthpiece blaming the players and making excuses.

Notice the beat writer & none of the other media mention the elephant in the room re: recruiting fail.

[slufan13]

Putting any faith/hope into getting a 2-time transfer to be eligible and be your main difference maker is just negligence. He'd make us a lot better but putting basically all your eggs in that basket is a fireable offense in itself.

[wgstl]

36 minutes ago, slufan13 said:

Putting any faith/hope into getting a 2-time transfer to be eligible and be your main difference maker is just negligence. He'd make us a lot better but putting basically all your eggs in that basket is a fireable offense in itself.

yep.  Did not make sense. 

[ACE]

Maybe we were strung along, but we spent too much time on Dandridge.

[Cowboy II]

13 minutes ago, ACE said:

Maybe we were strung along, but we spent too much time on Dandridge.

-just took a look, he's started 2 of 6 games, 13 mpg, 63% from the field, 4.7 and 2.7

[Pistol]

13 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

 

Rammer speaks of two players who agreed to NIL terms with the Billikens this season, who then were contacted by other schools who upped the offer and drew the players out of their agreement.  One in particular team asked what the player's offer was and said we will double it.  (Vice and Noland? or Dandridge?)  The BVL is making progress, but they can't outbid Power 5 schools.  We have to figure out this new gray area.  It is a mid major issue.  If the trend continues, we might end up with two groups in hoops.

I assume he's referring to Vice (Creighton) and Dandridge (stayed at Memphis). He's conveniently ignoring Noland, who followed Forte to North Texas. He didn't do it for free, though. And we were also told Jalen Rucker would be in play. He left Army and does not appear to be playing anywhere this season. If the circumstances I heard about his departure are true, it could be an eligibility (credits) issue keeping him out of the game. I guess that one isn't on the BVF completely, but it means we spent time on two guys who were never coming here, got outbid by Creighton on what would've been our best incoming big, and let UNT take a guard.

Calling NIL a "gray area" and saying "it's a mid-major issue" is weak. NIL can be the great equalizer. If a mid-major doesn't want to be mid-major anymore, then start spending like a high-major and you're going to become one.

NIL isn't separating hoops into "two groups" - conference realignment driven by football and broadcast rights, and the possibility of postseason basketball restructuring based on those same forces are what will create a 1A and 1AA in basketball. NIL might be the only tool to help non-power conference teams avoid that future.

[slufan13]

I'm so glad that people close to the program are talking publicly about how we can't compete in the NIL game. Great message for recruits to hear. Great message for a potential new coach to hear. 

[Pistol]

1 hour ago, slufan13 said:

I'm so glad that people close to the program are talking publicly about how we can't compete in the NIL game. Great message for recruits to hear. Great message for a potential new coach to hear. 

My presumption is that whenever our donors are ready to move on and make the next big hire, no one is going to step into that job without assurances that he'll have NIL backing. They all have to know this is a two pillar process now and not just hiring a coach. If not, they're just wasting their money.

[JMM28]

2 hours ago, Pistol said:

Calling NIL a "gray area" and saying "it's a mid-major issue" is weak. NIL can be the great equalizer. If a mid-major doesn't want to be mid-major anymore, then start spending like a high-major and you're going to become one.

NIL isn't separating hoops into "two groups" - conference realignment driven by football and broadcast rights, and the possibility of postseason basketball restructuring based on those same forces are what will create a 1A and 1AA in basketball. NIL might be the only tool to help non-power conference teams avoid that future.

This is a great point. Right now the tops in the NIL world is probably spending...2-3 million on a roster? You can get a top 25 caliber team bought in an offseason for probably a million. You'd need a coach that could cobble together a team from a purchased roster though. 

38 minutes ago, Pistol said:

My presumption is that whenever our donors are ready to move on and make the next big hire, no one is going to step into that job without assurances that he'll have NIL backing. They all have to know this is a two pillar process now and not just hiring a coach. If not, they're just wasting their money.

This is an issue SLU will run into. I know there were a couple "big" programs this offseason that couldn't get interviews with several top candidates because their NIL program was so screwed up or non-existant. I think SLU is probably in a decent spot with theirs, but definitely needs some help and a better philosophy on things. 

I will say the BVF philosophy would make sense with a coach that can actually develop players. Your average 2-3 star HS recruit isn't getting anything huge out of HS in terms of NIL money. But if you can develop that dude to be an all conference level player by his soph/junior year, you want to make sure you have the capital to retain him. 

[Lord Elrond]

26 minutes ago, JMM28 said:

This is a great point. Right now the tops in the NIL world is probably spending...2-3 million on a roster? You can get a top 25 caliber team bought in an offseason for probably a million. You'd need a coach that could cobble together a team from a purchased roster though. 

This is an issue SLU will run into. I know there were a couple "big" programs this offseason that couldn't get interviews with several top candidates because their NIL program was so screwed up or non-existant. I think SLU is probably in a decent spot with theirs, but definitely needs some help and a better philosophy on things. 

I will say the BVF philosophy would make sense with a coach that can actually develop players. Your average 2-3 star HS recruit isn't getting anything huge out of HS in terms of NIL money. But if you can develop that dude to be an all conference level player by his soph/junior year, you want to make sure you have the capital to retain him. 

What SLU needs in terms of Head and Assistant Coaches is coaches who can develop players. Having a staff who can take players and make them better will help with getting players in the door. 

[Pistol]

Part of me wonders if the market on top coaching salaries will come down a bit because the same people are being asked to finance both the MBB coaches and MBB NIL budgets. At football schools, it's this dynamic but in an even bigger way.

Coaches can ask for as much as possible but they have to be realistic about this new market reality.

In other words, if SLU's top donors are tapped out at $2.5 million on the HC salary and we're way under budget on NIL because of that, then the next guy will have to make under $2 million.

[SLUMedBilliken15]

7 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:

Excuses. Travis made his own bed with NIL by failing last season and the BVF has done next to nothing outside of try to double dip with major donors. You don't even know the proper acronym FFS.

Everyone of you should be done listening to anything regarding Ezewiro, IF he is in limbo it is nobody's fault but Billiken Athletics. Ford counting on having Ezewiro as the ONLY upper class big is malpractice. Even if we had Vice. You're telling me that we had 40 minutes a game to give out and the best transfer we could get was a 2 time transfer that needed a waiver? I don't care what the NIL situation is, that should be the easiest sell in college basketball.

Blaming injuries too, somehow Dayton found a way to beat SMU without their star PG Mali Smith. CRAZY! Empower a new leading scorer, that's yo job Travis. HINT: His name is Kellen Thames and he got hit by a car last year.

Another SLU mouthpiece blaming the players and making excuses.

Careful what you say about Rammer: "We're not gonna have it here"

Edited November 30, 2023 by SLUMedBilliken15

[billikenfan05]

7 minutes ago, SLUMedBilliken15 said:

Careful what you say about Rammer: "We're not gonna have it here"

I like Rammer. He's been nothing but gracious and wonderful to me. But...he's feeding the company line on this though, which is frustrating.