Head Men’s Basketball Coach

[VeniceMenace]

4 hours ago, SLUMedBilliken15 said:

I believe with Sincere Parker at full strength playing 30+ minutes, we win last night's game. 

We almost beat Dayton the #1 A10 team and top 21 team AWAY and we beat St. Joseph's (Arguably the #2 team in the A10) after being down 20 points. 

This is a different team with Ezewiro, and a healthy Parker (plus a healthy meadows/thames) than the team we all saw when we were wanting Ford fired. I'm willing to give the Coach a few more games before I judge considering the results of the last 2 games.

This is a different team, perhaps Ford's best team offensively since 2019-2020 when Perkins went off. That team, the hottest in the nation by season's end, was not necessarily an NCAA qualifier...23-8 & about #60 Pomeroy ranking prior the COVID-cancelled A10 tourney.

[DOC]

6 hours ago, dlarry said:

“Ford Haters” aren’t taking over the board. It’s just that 95% of the board is sick and tired of the losing and the excuses. The same posters have been posting for years it’s not a bunch of randos signing up to bash Ford.

The coach of a basketball team is an important topic in most discussions. Coaches are second guessed in every sport. Read any baseball or football team board after a loss and a majority of the posts are going to be questioning the coach/manager. It only seems over the top because they are losing more than winning. 
IMO Ford and the Bills underachieved big time last year but the board had less coaching complaints because they won more than they lost. 
 

If they can run off 4 or 5 wins in a row the coaching critiques will slow down.

I can’t argue with anything you said, nor what anyone else on here has said. Except, a very small group of people that have posted the same thing 40-50 times a day, in every thread, for over a month, spewing the same exact stuff. I call them haters. They blow. 

[TheA_Bomb]

11 minutes ago, DOC said:

I can’t argue with anything you said, nor what anyone else on here has said. Except, a very small group of people that have posted the same thing 40-50 times a day, in every thread, for over a month, spewing the same exact stuff. I call them haters. They blow. 

Hater of the Haters

Bold strategy. Let's see if it works for you.

[slu92]

2 hours ago, DOC said:

I can’t argue with anything you said, nor what anyone else on here has said. Except, a very small group of people that have posted the same thing 40-50 times a day, in every thread, for over a month, spewing the same exact stuff. I call them haters. They blow. 

What else is there to talk about with an 8-9 team? How hard the guys play and oh we were so close, etc??? Call me anything you want….I like watching good basketball and good coaching. Have no clue what you e been watching past few months. 

[slu92]

IF SLU keeps Ford…the program deserves all that comes with that decision and will become even more irrelevant locally and nationally. Definition of insanity trusting Travis Ford to right this ship. All he excels at is conning our gullible AD. 

[thunderdan]

I asked my wife, “If you could name 3 things that a college coach should be good at, what would they be?”

She said: Strategy (X’s and O’s), Teaching Fundamentals (helping players improve, in the process), and Recruiting.

CTF is pretty good at one of those things. Thats not good enough, to justify a $2.5 million salary. 

[BrettJollyComedyHour]

6 hours ago, thunderdan said:

I asked my wife, “If you could name 3 things that a college coach should be good at, what would they be?”

She said: Strategy (X’s and O’s), Teaching Fundamentals (helping players improve, in the process), and Recruiting.

CTF is pretty good at one of those things. Thats not good enough, to justify a $2.5 million salary. 

I asked my former low-A hockey player co-worker/coach the same thing and he doesn't know much about basketball, but he remembers Majerus being really good at "molding young men to be successful on and off the court," so I might add that?

[Taj79]

@thunderdan: which one of the three are you giving CTF credit for?  I am guessing recruiting but if that is the case, can you say that now after the last two or so years.  He got Bess, Isabell, Goodwin, French, Perkins and Collins but since then the recruiting pelts seem light.  In the New World Order of NIL and the portal, is CTF adept at this new aspect of recruiting?  Pickett. Dalger.  Ezewiro.  Meadows.  Plus his freshmen seem light.  Thames. Hughes.  Zhang.  van Bussel. Medley.  Magassa.  His roster construction skills seem to be in need of help.

[HoosierPal]

3 hours ago, Taj79 said:

@thunderdan: which one of the three are you giving CTF credit for?  I am guessing recruiting but if that is the case, can you say that now after the last two or so years.  He got Bess, Isabell, Goodwin, French, Perkins and Collins but since then the recruiting pelts seem light.  In the New World Order of NIL and the portal, is CTF adept at this new aspect of recruiting?  Pickett. Dalger.  Ezewiro.  Meadows.  Plus his freshmen seem light.  Thames. Hughes.  Zhang.  van Bussel. Medley.  Magassa.  His roster construction skills seem to be in need of help.

Calling SLU's 7th all time leading scorer, 3rd all time in FT%, 5th in all time 3 FG% a light pelt is harsh. 

Ezewiro has played 6 games, 145 minutes,  as a Billiken.  I'd give him at least 10 more minutes playing time, (or perhaps to the end of the season?), before drawing a conclusion.

[VeniceMenace]

59 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

Calling SLU's 7th all time leading scorer, 3rd all time in FT%, 5th in all time 3 FG% a light pelt is harsh. 

Ezewiro has played 6 games, 145 minutes,  as a Billiken.  I'd give him at least 10 more minutes playing time, (or perhaps to the end of the season?), before drawing a conclusion.

Way too early to objectively evaluate Ford's recruits on the current roster. Three-fourths of this team is new, and injuries have sidelined Hughes, Thames and Parker.

 

[HoosierPal]

9 minutes ago, VeniceMenace said:

Way too early to objectively evaluate Ford's recruits on the current roster. Three-fourths of this team is new, and injuries have sidelined Hughes, Thames and Parker.

 

Too early for you and me, but not too early for some. 145 minutes is plenty for Taj. 

[Soderball]

1 hour ago, HoosierPal said:

Calling SLU's 7th all time leading scorer, 3rd all time in FT%, 5th in all time 3 FG% a light pelt is harsh. 

Ezewiro has played 6 games, 145 minutes,  as a Billiken.  I'd give him at least 10 more minutes playing time, (or perhaps to the end of the season?), before drawing a conclusion.

You talking about Gibson?

Just to be clear i've said Gibson could possibly be an NBA player due to his shooting ability. He's dynamite. Those all-time %s list are legit

 

I'd hesitate to think about the all-time scoring list mattering much after the COVID period though; Gibson's had 6 possibly even 7 years to accrue that scoring. Take Joe Wiley who had to do his scoring in three years. Sorry to rain on that parade but i think "all time scoring" should have some asterisks and maybe we should look at PPG or points per season average or something instead. Can you imagine if Bonner had 6 years?

[TheA_Bomb]

24 minutes ago, Soderball said:

You talking about Gibson?

Just to be clear i've said Gibson could possibly be an NBA player due to his shooting ability. He's dynamite. Those all-time %s list are legit

 

I'd hesitate to think about the all-time scoring list mattering much after the COVID period though; Gibson's had 6 possibly even 7 years to accrue that scoring. Take Joe Wiley who had to do his scoring in three years. Sorry to rain on that parade but i think "all time scoring" should have some asterisks and maybe we should look at PPG or points per season average or something instead. Can you imagine if Bonner had 6 years?

Also the 3 pointer didn't always exist.

[HoosierPal]

1 hour ago, Soderball said:

You talking about Gibson?

Just to be clear i've said Gibson could possibly be an NBA player due to his shooting ability. He's dynamite. Those all-time %s list are legit

 

I'd hesitate to think about the all-time scoring list mattering much after the COVID period though; Gibson's had 6 possibly even 7 years to accrue that scoring. Take Joe Wiley who had to do his scoring in three years. Sorry to rain on that parade but i think "all time scoring" should have some asterisks and maybe we should look at PPG or points per season average or something instead. Can you imagine if Bonner had 6 years?

Whose parade are you raining on?

I fully agree the record books don't mean as much as they used to. When players can be listed twice in a single class, something is not right.   The Freshman eligible rule came into effect in 1972/73.  Anyone before then had 3 years, with a few exceptions during the war.  The rules have changed, the floor has changed, seasons have gotten long;  it is hard to make comparisons but that is what we do.

BUT, as of right now, today, Jimerson has played in 116 games.  Bonner played in 133.  Evans and Jett played in a SLU high 134.  Easy Ed Macauley played in 106. (He is one who played 4 years back in the days.)  Jimerson is solid in my opinion, as our current 7th total scorer, even though Tag considers him a light pelt.

Look at the Record Book.  Total points and Points per game are already there.  David Burns is the career ppg leader at 19.43.  But he only played 2 years.  Another asterisk?  He didn't experience his first year, or two, playing a lesser roll as most 4 year players do.

[thetorch]

Jimerson will be an odd player to rank.

Was he the best player on a team?  Really only this year, and he may share that distinction with Hargrove.  The team he was best on isn't good either.

2 NITs but he was more of a role player on both teams.

Not a great all around player.  Really bad defender, made himself average, OK rebounder, not a great ballhandler or much of a 1 on 1 player.  

He has some great counting stats.  He's not better than Highmark, Gray, Lisch or Liddell I don't think.  His scoring records will count, his games played are well within range.

We have had a lot of players who came in as shooting specialists at the wing.  Out of all those guys Jimerson has turned out to be the best and improved his game the most.

[majerus mojo]

Lisch >> Jimerson >>> Barnett > Crawford > Cassity for my fandom. You might be able to talk me into Crawford over Barnett?

[Taj79]

I'm not saying some players don't improve over time but no one was launching a parade down Olive when CTF signed Gibson Jimerson.  Not like when we signed Douglas and Gray.  Or Claggett, Highmark, Bickel and Winfield.  Or Hughes and Baniak and Tatum.  Granted these are not CTF examples but Bess, Goodwin, French and Collins were.  Gibson was an afterthought that has exceeded expectations.  But as some point out, his numbers will be skewed by six years of playing (how about that Miami TE getting his ninth year of college eligibility?).  Sure, Ezewiro may be an exception as well but no recruit over the last two or three years eliminates the blind squirrel looking for nuts joke.  

Of course, let's all opinionate on a given individual or two when I asked the question about which if CTF's three traits is the good one.  The good ones stepped right in and contributed, even Gordon.  Maybe the 145 minutes will qualify Ezewiro as well.  Unless you want to move into the strategy and teaching fundamentals as noted by Mrs. thunderdan.  Then go ahead.

[gobillsgo]

Will Wade’s Mcneese team comes back from down 20 to win their 11th in a row. He’s target #1 in my book, though he may not leave Mcneese for SLU. 
 

for those who say he would jump ship at the first opportunity, I’d say who cares?  Didn’t slow VCU’s momentum as a program. I’ll take winning while we have him. 

[wgstl]

30 minutes ago, gobillsgo said:

Will Wade’s Mcneese team comes back from down 20 to win their 11th in a row. He’s target #1 in my book, though he may not leave Mcneese for SLU. 
 

for those who say he would jump ship at the first opportunity, I’d say who cares?  Didn’t slow VCU’s momentum as a program. I’ll take winning while we have him. 

Id take him for sure, only reason he isn’t #1(but still high) I think he’s gone in less than two years at a program like slu 

 

none of that matters though, he’s going to a p5 

[Fraz]

I know it’s been discussed but I forget - CTF has another year after this one correct?

I also know it’s been discussed on likelihood of buying out of next year - where do people stand?  With each NET plunge it seems to be likelier and likelier to me

[thetorch]

Hearing DePaul is going to throw an unseemly amount of money at Wade.

[billikenfan05]

13 hours ago, thetorch said:

Hearing DePaul is going to throw an unseemly amount of money at Wade.

Good, stay away from our guy Schertz. 

[thunderdan]

15 hours ago, Fraz said:

I know it’s been discussed but I forget - CTF has another year after this one correct?

I also know it’s been discussed on likelihood of buying out of next year - where do people stand?  With each NET plunge it seems to be likelier and likelier to me

I’d love to know this as well. Hoping to god he doesn’t have 4 years left (like the ‘wiping his ass with the $10 million buyout’ comment would suggest).

[Box and Won]

41 minutes ago, thunderdan said:

I’d love to know this as well. Hoping to god he doesn’t have 4 years left (like the ‘wiping his ass with the $10 million buyout’ comment would suggest).

From a mental health standpoint, it's probably best to just assume that he does.  Anything less will feel amazing in comparison.

[billikenfan05]

23 minutes ago, Box and Won said:

From a mental health standpoint, it's probably best to just assume that he does.  Anything less will feel amazing in comparison.

Once again: It's rumored that his contract has an auto extend clause that renews every year until cancelled by either party. So an example would be every year he has 4 years left on his deal until CMay balks. Best case scenario is Chris enacted this clause after last season. So this season + 3? If he has 5 years left best case scenario is 4 years on the buyout?