Note: Billiken Coaches Show Debut 1/8/24

[Brighton]

DOC= Sean McDona51458

[Soderball]

50 minutes ago, DOC said:

You’re posting is everyone’s business on here. You are such an egomaniac you can’t see that. Nobody wants to read about your constant stream of repetitive thoughts. Well, except your boyfriend Soderball and a few others of your ilk. 

You gonna cause another twitter scandal for Travis? You're causing him more problems and headaches than I am.

[brianstl]

Can’t wait to see what they do next week to get people to tune in.

[Dr. Holly Hills]

If I can make it down there next week, the first round is on me!

[DOC]

3 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:

Yeah it's a public forum so it's for everyone to read. The fact that you're responding and the threads keep going is contrary to your statement. Is your last sentence trying to belittle me by demeaning homosexuality? DOC It's 2024 people can be and are gay, nothing wrong with it. So I take no offense but you should probably think before you post.

But if you must know Soderballs and I are very happy together and we'll for sure not order a cake from your bakery.

That’s not what I was saying and you know it. Maybe not. You’re in your 10th hour of non-stop posting. Getting a little tired?

[DOC]

3 hours ago, Soderball said:

You gonna cause another twitter scandal for Travis? You're causing him more problems and headaches than I am.

I have nothing to do with Ford or twitter, I just can’t stand you guys and what you’ve done to our board in the name of having some influence over the decision on his job. Frickin laughable thought, but one we all have to listen to on repeat. Ridiculous. Now it’s attack the coaches kid in the name of getting the coach fired. This decision will be made by the people who have the $10 million. To think these kind of folks care how passionate a few blowhards are is a joke. Give it a break. 

[TheA_Bomb]

13 minutes ago, DOC said:

That’s not what I was saying and you know it. Maybe not. You’re in your 10th hour of non-stop posting. Getting a little tired?

So you're saying you were not trying to belittle me and Soderballs by implying that we're homosexuals thus divulging that you hold prejudiced views of homosexuals? Kinda seems like you were.

I'm not tired. I'm fired up ready to keep the pressure. We see the cracks and all this can only help our goal of getting rid of May and Ford.

Admit you're a Ford fan not a SLU fan. Leave the SLU Fan Message Board to the SLU fans. Go back on X and help out the ol' ball coach with your keen defenses.

[Wendelprof]

I've got to agree with Doc on this one.  SLU is not the type of school to dismiss a coach mid-season.  If they haven't taken any action by now, it is unlikely they are going to do anything the rest of the season.  Let's give it a break.  I'd like to see some discussion of the team and the players.  I'm tired of reading about all the criticism of the coach.  I get it, and I agree it is probably deserved, but the points have been made.  I think most fans prefer to talk and read about the team and the players.  If you want to throw in your two cents about the coach every now and then, OK, but this constant writing about nothing but the coach has gotten old.  That's my two cents.

 

[TheA_Bomb]

13 minutes ago, Wendelprof said:

I've got to agree with Doc on this one.  SLU is not the type of school to dismiss a coach mid-season.  If they haven't taken any action by now, it is unlikely they are going to do anything the rest of the season.  Let's give it a break.  I'd like to see some discussion of the team and the players.  I'm tired of reading about all the criticism of the coach.  I get it, and I agree it is probably deserved, but the points have been made.  I think most fans prefer to talk and read about the team and the players.  If you want to throw in your two cents about the coach every now and then, OK, but this constant writing about nothing but the coach has gotten old.  That's my two cents.

 

Did you hear Ford say his offensive strategy going into the season was to press and play quickly in transition? He pointed out the team was 4-0 with this strategy and they spent a lot of time in practice implementing this strategy. The injury to Sincere made them have to revert to running plays nearly every possession. Also that Ez was practicing with the ones but then had to move to the scout team. So he wasn't game ready when he came in.

So let's talk ball. The strategy to press and run in transition had no redundancy and relied completely on Sincere Parker? That seems short sighted.  So Ez was practicing with the ones did anyone not think there was a chance he wouldn't be eligible? It took an unlikely court order and motion by the NCAA for him to play this season. Also, Zhang ang Magassa were question marks. So it seemed like a good strategy to run with an undersized line up but why the reliance on only 1 player?

Rammer asked if he'd go back to the transition and press when Parker returns. Ford said he would and baked in an excuse for it not working saying that there will be another transition period.

Lots of really good tid bits providing some insight on the thought process of the Coach.

[slufan13]

I always forget the board rules. Somebody really needs to write these down. 

[cheeseman]

9 hours ago, Wendelprof said:

I've got to agree with Doc on this one.  SLU is not the type of school to dismiss a coach mid-season.  If they haven't taken any action by now, it is unlikely they are going to do anything the rest of the season.  Let's give it a break.  I'd like to see some discussion of the team and the players.  I'm tired of reading about all the criticism of the coach.  I get it, and I agree it is probably deserved, but the points have been made.  I think most fans prefer to talk and read about the team and the players.  If you want to throw in your two cents about the coach every now and then, OK, but this constant writing about nothing but the coach has gotten old.  That's my two cents.

 

I also don't think SLU will fire Ford in the middle of the year unless he does something immoral or illegal but telling people to stop their drumbeat is not right either.  If people stop expressing their opinions regarding Ford being fired then there will be those in power who may think everything is fine now.  No, they need to hear the constant call.  As far as wanting to see only basketball topics being discussed on the board - well that is easy, just don't read the threads that are titled basically fire Ford.  There are other threads that do talk about what you yearn so just read those.  Matter solved.

[billiken_roy]

1 minute ago, cheeseman said:

 As far as wanting to see only basketball topics being discussed on the board - well that is easy, just don't read the threads that are titled basically fire Ford.  There are other threads that do talk about what you yearn so just read those.  Matter solved.

well if the fire ford posters stayed in those threads titled such that would work.   unfortunately they do not. 

[TheA_Bomb]

We've reached complaining inception.

Complaining about the coach level 1.

Complaining about complaining about the coach level 2.

Going deeper complaining about the complaining about the coach not being able to talk basketball.

I knew the ignore button works and no one is stopping anyone from taking about basketball.

I'm here to talk basketball. This is a thread about the coach's show. He mentioned players not being game ready or in shape. If the team was focused on pressing and transition offense before the season started endurance is key. He even mentioned how much they practiced it. So then why are all the players out of shape? Why when we went back to a less intense offense and defense they still couldn't handle it?  This is according to the coach not speculation. 18-24 year old athletes, with the benefit of trainers, diet, unlimited gym access, recovery, physical therapy, the Champions Center, paid to pay, given scholarships out of shape. Perhaps they lack winning DNA.

[3star_recruit]

27 minutes ago, TheA_Bomb said:

We've reached complaining inception.

Complaining about the coach level 1.

Complaining about complaining about the coach level 2.

Going deeper complaining about the complaining about the coach not being able to talk basketball.

I knew the ignore button works and no one is stopping anyone from taking about basketball.

I'm here to talk basketball. This is a thread about the coach's show. He mentioned players not being game ready or in shape. If the team was focused on pressing and transition offense before the season started endurance is key. He even mentioned how much they practiced it. So then why are all the players out of shape? Why when we went back to a less intense offense and defense they still couldn't handle it?  This is according to the coach not speculation. 18-24 year old athletes, with the benefit of trainers, diet, unlimited gym access, recovery, physical therapy, the Champions Center, paid to pay, given scholarships out of shape. Perhaps they lack winning DNA.

Not only is Parker out, Meadows has been in and out of the lineup due to health.  Hughes and Thames are just coming back from injury.  This was a below average defensive team at full strength.  They're Swiss cheese now.

Coach Ford could have brought in better defensive players in the portal.  He made a big gamble on being able to outscore teams with a Big Three + veteran role players and smoke and mirrors on defense.  He lost.

[OkieBilliken]

4 minutes ago, TheA_Bomb said:

We've reached complaining inception.

Complaining about the coach level 1.

Complaining about complaining about the coach level 2.

Going deeper complaining about the complaining about the coach not being able to talk basketball.

I knew the ignore button works and no one is stopping anyone from taking about basketball.

I'm here to talk basketball. This is a thread about the coach's show. He mentioned players not being game ready or in shape. If the team was focused on pressing and transition offense before the season started endurance is key. He even mentioned how much they practiced it. So then why are all the players out of shape? Why when we went back to a less intense offense and defense they still couldn't handle it?  This is according to the coach not speculation. 18-24 year old athletes, with the benefit of trainers, diet, unlimited gym access, recovery, physical therapy, the Champions Center, paid to pay, given scholarships out of shape. Perhaps they lack winning DNA.

The player fitness issues is baffling.   I hate to keep bringing up Coach Shields, but preseason all she kept talking about was how hard her team was working and results of their fitness tests.    She was preparing her team to win.      

Related to this, I keep thinking about some of Travis' answers on the show.   He said they were 4-0 and pressing 40 minutes a game and then Parker got hurt so they couldn't.   I was at the Wyoming game in Mytle, Sincere's last game.   They DID NOT press for 40 minutes.  They did get a bunch of steals and forced a bunch of turnovers.  Wyoming's guards were pretty awful at protecting the ball, which has proven itself to be true this season.   But once Parker got hurt, they had to scrap everything they worked on preseason?   They now are incapable of forcing turnovers and unable to defend the 3-point shot.   Was Parker alot better that I thought?  

What's sad is the situation we are in now.  We should be playing Curcic more, Bruce more, Stef more, in an actual thoughtful rotation, not 30 seconds at the end of a half.    The season is lost and PT for the new guys would be invaluable for their development.   But Travis needs to desperately try to save his job, so he will play Jimerson and TJ until they collapse.  

Who are we going to beat in conference?   Will everyone hit the portal if we end up with 9 or 10 wins? 

 

[cgeldmacher]

18 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:

Exactly what a nice person would say.

Yeah the Internet isn't made for nice people like you. Maybe you can go into the basement where you're 21 "kid" is playing Xbox and eating Tostinos Pizza Rolls to talk about Ford's accomplishments. And also sneak in that question, "have you applied for any jobs? Plan on moving out, son?" Then you can go cheer really hard for coach Ford because he's trying so hard and he really wants to win and your cheers and all our cheers combined is the missing ingredient (like the end of Elf but for basketball).  Guess where that's going to get you? No where.

I'm not embarrassed by criticizing our Coach, AD, you, mixing in a few jokes, jabs and Memes. Point to something personal anyone's said about the coach or AD?*

 

 

*The above jab can be seen as personal but it's a joke. I don't know you, know your "kid" he could be great a Rhoades Scholar.  Just using humor to illustrate your previous bad takes. Also I'm not sure I can stop being condescending it's in my DNA, like winning DNA but for message boards.

I took it the right way.  Don't worry.  Also, I don't think that you and I are far apart on this.  I said in the past offseason that Ford should get one more year and that the conditions for staying on after that were either make the NCAA tournament, or, short of that, really show everyone that the program is headed in the right direction.  That has not happened.  So, outside of a miraculous turnaround, I believe he should be let got after the season.

Where you and I disagree is on what fans should be doing in the meantime.  We have a choice.  (1) Trust the powers that be at SLU and know that the those making this decision (probably big donors who are paying Ford's salary) are truly Billiken fans like us who want great things for the program or (2) make a ton of noise, buy billboards, sign petitions, and embarrass the hell out of a guy who really put everything he had into trying to elevate our program, did some good things and gave us some good memories, but, in the end, didn't pan out.

I personally think that a coaching change will happen, that this decision has probably already been made in back room meetings, and that strategies are already being worked out.  If that is true, then all of this sending letters and buying billboards stuff (I don't care about bitching on Billikens.com, that's what its for) will be looked at later on as just too much and you may regret it.  If I'm wrong about what the decision makers are going to do, then you are probably right that a bit more action is necessary to get people's attention.  I don't know if I would go as far as you seem to want to, but we would agree in principle.

I'm where I am, because I think this is already a done deal.  I know you don't trust that, but I do.

[Soderball]

11 hours ago, Wendelprof said:

I've got to agree with Doc on this one.  SLU is not the type of school to dismiss a coach mid-season.  If they haven't taken any action by now, it is unlikely they are going to do anything the rest of the season.  Let's give it a break.  I'd like to see some discussion of the team and the players.  I'm tired of reading about all the criticism of the coach.  I get it, and I agree it is probably deserved, but the points have been made.  I think most fans prefer to talk and read about the team and the players.  If you want to throw in your two cents about the coach every now and then, OK, but this constant writing about nothing but the coach has gotten old.  That's my two cents.

 

All the 6th year guys? Our recent recruiting hasn't added up to much to talk about, to be totally frank.

That's the problem with "discussing the team and the players" .. what's there to be said? They're bad. Ford brought in a lot of overseas guys with dubious talent or ineligible.. he brought in PGs with ability but who are too undersized to start or play serious minutes. He brought in Tim Dalger.

He's got one legit A10 starter here in Ezewiro who is completely out of shape.

That's why we're projected to finish dead last in the A10.

 

The year is a failure. That's the discussion. That's why the discussion becomes firing the coach and overhauling the roster quickly. Just like the the last Crews year we are about to see a purge of the roster. That is not pretty. That's not fun. That's not exciting. That's sad and infuriating.

Years like this are not pretty and are ugly, and on top of that many saw it on the horizon last year and began banging the clean house drums a year ago even. Was last year bad enough to purge? No, that was actually a pretty good team.. but watching what's developed here was predictable when watching Ford's ensuing failure to recruit. John Wooden could not muster a winning season with this lineup.

 

edit: i'll add that the roster will be overhauled even if CTF stays. Our new compliance guy is here because the Troy Robertson-led BVF experiment has failed. CTF's complaints about recruiting all through the offseason are pretty good evidence. We have to pay guys and even pay them in high school to get the players we need to win. Ford is not an idiot. He knows what we have on this bench.

[Cowboy II]

24 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

I took it the right way.  Don't worry.  Also, I don't think that you and I are far apart on this.  I said in the past offseason that Ford should get one more year and that the conditions for staying on after that were either make the NCAA tournament, or, short of that, really show everyone that the program is headed in the right direction.  That has not happened.  So, outside of a miraculous turnaround, I believe he should be let got after the season.

Where you and I disagree is on what fans should be doing in the meantime.  We have a choice.  (1) Trust the powers that be at SLU and know that the those making this decision (probably big donors who are paying Ford's salary) are truly Billiken fans like us who want great things for the program or (2) make a ton of noise, buy billboards, sign petitions, and embarrass the hell out of a guy who really put everything he had into trying to elevate our program, did some good things and gave us some good memories, but, in the end, didn't pan out.

I personally think that a coaching change will happen, that this decision has probably already been made in back room meetings, and that strategies are already being worked out.  If that is true, then all of this sending letters and buying billboards stuff (I don't care about bitching on Billikens.com, that's what its for) will be looked at later on as just too much and you may regret it.  If I'm wrong about what the decision makers are going to do, then you are probably right that a bit more action is necessary to get people's attention.  I don't know if I would go as far as you seem to want to, but we would agree in principle.

I'm where I am, because I think this is already a done deal.  I know you don't trust that, but I do.

-how much stock do you put in what has been said on here that CFord has an auto-renewal clause in his contract leading to a large buyout figure?

[3star_recruit]

47 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

I took it the right way.  Don't worry.  Also, I don't think that you and I are far apart on this.  I said in the past offseason that Ford should get one more year and that the conditions for staying on after that were either make the NCAA tournament, or, short of that, really show everyone that the program is headed in the right direction.  That has not happened.  So, outside of a miraculous turnaround, I believe he should be let got after the season.

Where you and I disagree is on what fans should be doing in the meantime.  We have a choice.  (1) Trust the powers that be at SLU and know that the those making this decision (probably big donors who are paying Ford's salary) are truly Billiken fans like us who want great things for the program or (2) make a ton of noise, buy billboards, sign petitions, and embarrass the hell out of a guy who really put everything he had into trying to elevate our program, did some good things and gave us some good memories, but, in the end, didn't pan out.

I personally think that a coaching change will happen, that this decision has probably already been made in back room meetings, and that strategies are already being worked out.  If that is true, then all of this sending letters and buying billboards stuff (I don't care about bitching on Billikens.com, that's what its for) will be looked at later on as just too much and you may regret it.  If I'm wrong about what the decision makers are going to do, then you are probably right that a bit more action is necessary to get people's attention.  I don't know if I would go as far as you seem to want to, but we would agree in principle.

I'm where I am, because I think this is already a done deal.  I know you don't trust that, but I do.

The only reason I don't trust it is because I don't believe the money men have any interest in paying for a $10 million buyout.  Or paying a humongous lump sum. SLU boosters paying more than Oklahoma State boosters to get rid of a coach?  On what planet?

[VeniceMenace]

33 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Not only is Parker out, Meadows has been in and out of the lineup due to health.  Hughes and Thames are just coming back from injury.  This was a below average defensive team at full strength.  They're Swiss cheese now.

Coach Ford could have brought in better defensive players in the portal.  He made a big gamble on being able to outscore teams with a Big Three + veteran role players and smoke and mirrors on defense.  He lost.

Right on. Guess this also means that at SLU recruit good defense rather than coaching players/team up.

[Lord Elrond]

37 minutes ago, Soderball said:

 

edit: i'll add that the roster will be overhauled even if CTF stays. Our new compliance guy is here because the Troy Robertson-led BVF experiment has failed. CTF's complaints about recruiting all through the offseason are pretty good evidence. We have to pay guys and even pay them in high school to get the players we need to win. Ford is not an idiot. He knows what we have on this bench.

That’s a good point. Let’s see what the new compliance/NIL guy can accomplish with some new ideas to spur SLU’s talent improvement. He has a solid resume of understanding the new NIL environment. This should help regardless of who is coach, and would definitely help during any hypothetical coaching change.  I hope for success in improving SLU’s NIL strategy and execution.

[willie]

34 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

The only reason I don't trust it is because I don't believe the money men have any interest in paying for a $10 million buyout.  Or paying a humongous lump sum. SLU boosters paying more than Oklahoma State boosters to get rid of a coach?  On what planet?

I have no idea what his buy out is but I think this acceptence that it is 10 million based on some twitter poster is wrong. I would be very suprised if it is anywhere near that high. One of my peeves about this board is someone throws out a number or statement based on speculation and it becomes gospel. 

[Brighton]

Quote

make a ton of noise, buy billboards, sign petitions, and embarrass the hell out of a guy who really put everything he had into trying to elevate our program, did some good things and gave us some good memories, but, in the end, didn't pan out.

Winless against AP Top 25 programs in 9 tries, no at large bids nor regular season championships.

I fail to see anything good out of this.

[Pistol]

The $10 million figure didn't come out of thin air. We've been talking about it on this board (and on MMP) for a while.

We know Ford makes $2.5 million per season.

We are fairly certain he was renewed in 2021.

Coaching contracts generally go for 5 years.

We've heard rumors that his contract has an auto-renewal feature that extends it by 5 years unless either party declines at the end of a season.

We have reason to believe that may have happened in 2023.

So that would put his buyout at $10 million (or possibly $7.5 million after this season, if I understand how the structure works).

[willie]

1 minute ago, Pistol said:

The $10 million figure didn't come out of thin air. We've been talking about it on this board (and on MMP) for a while.

We know Ford makes $2.5 million per season.

We are fairly certain he was renewed in 2021.

Coaching contracts generally go for 5 years.

We've heard rumors that his contract has an auto-renewal feature that extends it by 5 years unless either party declines at the end of a season.

We have reason to believe that may have happened in 2023.

So that would put his buyout at $10 million (or possibly $7.5 million after this season, if I understand how the structure works).

You are making several assumptions here. Contracts also include buy out numbers. If also a rumor that there were people wanting to buy him out last year why would May extend ? I also question the 5 year number. The question is what was the length of the 21 extension?