GDT: SLU v. Drake

[billiken_roy]

11 hours ago, TRN said:

On top of that the cheerleader shoved him in the back when he was on the floor.  How dare he invade her cheerleading court!

be careful, cheerleaders are off limits in every way for billikens.   grrrrrrrrrr 

i'll never forgive slu for situation.  

[thunderdan]

11 hours ago, Soderball said:

Well said. Go Bills! Fire Ford!

Our rallying cry.  Totally agree. 

[billiken_roy]

11 hours ago, Soderball said:

. Ford himself is probably worse than Crews yeah.

that is hallowed ground.   imo ONLY ekker can make that claim.   but as coaching on the floor, if i had to pick my three worst game coaches, it would be ekker, crews and ford in that order.

[thunderdan]

His size will hold him back (but, if he was bigger, he wouldn't be HERE), but Medley looks like a player.  I'm excited about his future (assuming he'll be here all 4 years). 

Also excited about Curcic.  Plays with intensity on both sides of the floor, looks to have a sweet shot, and has a bit of an edge. 

[billiken_roy]

3 minutes ago, thunderdan said:

His size will hold him back (but, if he was bigger, he wouldn't be HERE), but Medley looks like a player.  I'm excited about his future (assuming he'll be here all 4 years). 

Also excited about Curcic.  Plays with intensity on both sides of the floor, looks to have a sweet shot, and has a bit of an edge. 

when i could watch him up close in myrtle beach, i thought curcic reminded me of Drejaj from back in the day.   i too like him a lot and he deserves time.  i dont think he is a point guard but i like him on the wings.

[CenHudDude]

11 hours ago, dlarry said:

Well that’s disappointing but I’m proud of the team. 
They played hard just ran out of gas.

That’s exactly it.  We need to be fully behind this team.  If we get everyone healthy and get a little help from the NCAA on the two eligibility issues, this team will win some ballgames.

[billikenfan05]

3 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

when i could watch him up close in myrtle beach, i thought curcic reminded me of Drejaj from back in the day.   i too like him a lot and he deserves time.  i dont think he is a point guard but i like him on the wings.

He is full of understated swagger. He walks bigger than he is like Yuri did. 

[VeniceMenace]

11 hours ago, Soderball said:

Well said. Go Bills! Fire Ford!

Where are the dudes from last spring accusing everyone of being Ford haters? Mighty quiet lately.

[GOSLU68]

5 minutes ago, VeniceMenace said:

Where are the dudes from last spring accusing everyone of being Ford haters? Mighty quiet lately.

If you can’t hear or see the improvement in those not currently injured or missing you are most certainly a half empty person. This team played well together last night. They attacked on defense. They could have used MM or LH2 shooting. 
with the true bigs lanes seem to open better for Jimmerson. Dalger, Thames, Courcic add some zest on defense.

[dlarry]

29 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

that is hallowed ground.   imo ONLY ekker can make that claim.   but as coaching on the floor, if i had to pick my three worst game coaches, it would be ekker, crews and ford in that order.

I think at one point Crews knew how to coach. The problem was that he didn’t want to coach anymore when he was here. 

He retired the day he was appointed. 
Just sat back and collected a paycheck. 
 

I’ll put him ahead of Ford in knowledge of the game. 
Behind Ford in effort.
 

[cheeseman]

7 minutes ago, dlarry said:

I think at one point Crews knew how to coach. The problem was that he didn’t want to coach anymore when he was here. 

He retired the day he was appointed. 
Just sat back and collected a paycheck. 
 

I’ll put him ahead of Ford in knowledge of the game. 
Behind Ford in effort.
 

From the time RM hired him he did not have to recruit and he carried that same approach to when he was the actual head coach

[Cowboy II]

-I haven't read the entire thread but will, first half we had a lot of GibJim, second half Drake does everything they can to stop him and they mostly do, they made a halftime adjustment, I guess we didn't think they could or would make a change but we kept trying to have GibJim be our offense, no one else stepped up and I realize we had a limited roster but it looked like we had no plan other than GibJim, not his fault

-CFord on the postgame calling out the frosh bigs was an eye opener

[billiken_roy]

I'd fired crews the second time on an inbounds play under the basket we just hoisted it to the other free throw line, or the second time he didn't have players on the lane to rebound free throws.

He was worthless basically stealing money aka his salary imo.  

[Soderball]

2 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

I'd fired crews the second time on an inbounds play under the basket we just hoisted it to the other free throw line, or the second time he didn't have players on the lane to rebound free throws.

He was worthless basically stealing money aka his salary imo.  

Crews knew how to coach; his time at Evansville when SLU had to play him in MVC proved that.

He just didn't while here. He also performed the unforgivable by bringing WBAT Brett Jolly to us.

[slu72]

You really have to admire how hard the Bills played last night. They simply ran out of gas. But Ford can be faulted for messing up the rotations. When Drake started to claw its way back, we were playing with the short lineup. Also, Curic played well in the first half then played minimally in the second half. We buult our lead with him on the floor. Then his minutes get cut? 

[Soderball]

5 minutes ago, Cowboy II said:

-I haven't read the entire thread but will, first half we had a lot of GibJim, second half Drake does everything they can to stop him and they mostly do, they made a halftime adjustment, I guess we didn't think they could or would make a change but we kept trying to have GibJim be our offense, no one else stepped up and I realize we had a limited roster but it looked like we had no plan other than GibJim, not his fault

-CFord on the postgame calling out the frosh bigs was an eye opener

The only guy on this roster that can score reliably is GibJim. I mentioned before that even with a destroyed ankle he is an NBA level shooter. I've literally never seen another Billiken who shoots like he does. He's better than Claggs and Highmark. It's actually hard to believe when looking at his stats after the game. He is without a doubt the best 3 point shooter in what like 100 years of SLU basketball. The best. Bar none. The guy may be one of the most accurate shooters in the history of basketball. 50% from three last night. He should be winning national championships but is wasting his time here.

That's why SLU has any ability to compete with anyone at this point. You need only look at the SIU-C game to see what happens when he isn't putting up record numbers. He has to score 40 for us to compete and win.

[slufan13]

Ford has to trust the freshmen especially the bigs. Even against a team without a dominant big man like Drake, we just need someone with height protecting the rim. We went too small too often in the 2nd half. 

[billiken_roy]

If we are talking scoring not just three pointers, I'll take Parker.   Prior to the injury he was shooting 50% from the field for the season.   As much as it appeared he was selfish, he was doing it.   He is a scoring machine and the ONLY player on this roster that create his own opportunity with ease.  

Parker vs Jimerson on 3's isn't even close.   Of course I take Jimerson for that shot.

I'm undecided on Jimerson vs claggett as a three point scorer.  That's a tough pick.   I would take Jimerson ahead of highmark which is still high praise.  

[billiken_roy]

The bigger problem with protecting the lane is our help defense and rebounding fundamentals are so so bad.   

Regardless of size there really is no excuse for gimmees and put backs we give up imo.  

[NextYearBill]

loss is a loss. 

[TRN]

25 minutes ago, slufan13 said:

Ford has to trust the freshmen especially the bigs. Even against a team without a dominant big man like Drake, we just need someone with height protecting the rim. We went too small too often in the 2nd half. 

7 foot tall is 7 foot tall.  Bruce alters shots when’s he’s in the game.  If Ford refuses to see that and goes with the short lineup it proves he has no clue.  You have to match up physically with size regardless of age.

[TRN]

1 minute ago, NextYearBill said:

loss is a loss. 

We’re going to see about 15-20 of them this year.  

[TheA_Bomb]

Agree with @billiken_roy on Curcic he reminds me of Drejaj due to the hard nose play style and moxie. I like it.

Another observation, it is my belief that on a team you need a mix of personality types not just basketball roles. You need a leader, you need someone that's an enforcer with some attitude, you need the even keel guy to keep the team from too high or too low. Listening to Ford last year he spoke about that lack of team interaction, leadership and just how quiet they are, that it was even commented on by outsiders who visited. That's part of roster construction finding a fit to your "culture".  What's the culture? Who's a fit? I don't think we have it. That's not to judge these guys as individual basketball players but as a collective team. It's obvious to me the collective team doesn't work.

[TheA_Bomb]

25 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

The bigger problem with protecting the lane is our help defense and rebounding fundamentals are so so bad.   

Regardless of size there really is no excuse for gimmees and put backs we give up imo.  

I watched a breakdown of Loyola Final 4 defense the other day and it talked about how they didn't use help defense. Pretty interesting going against the norm but it worked. Gotta have very good on ball defenders. They had Krutwig who wasn't very athletic but was smart. 

But I agree we're not helping out. If you're not in correct position you get a lot of reaching fouls too.

Loyola video

I really enjoy Hoops Vision on YouTube

https://youtu.be/1cxcJB8kC9o?si=VxEoiZdtYQkz4XAn

 

[dlarry]

50 minutes ago, Cowboy II said:

-I haven't read the entire thread but will, first half we had a lot of GibJim, second half Drake does everything they can to stop him and they mostly do, they made a halftime adjustment, I guess we didn't think they could or would make a change but we kept trying to have GibJim be our offense, no one else stepped up and I realize we had a limited roster but it looked like we had no plan other than GibJim, not his fault

-CFord on the postgame calling out the frosh bigs was an eye opener

Did not hear the post game.

Was Ford critical of SVB and Bruce?

It thought they played well.