GDT: SLU v. Rhode Island

[MariaReynolds]

47 minutes ago, brianstl said:

How do you do, fellow Billikens?  

Can I interest you in a group text?

That's funny, really is.  And you're still on the outside looking in (as will I be if I keep posting). 

[wgstl]

I celebrate every slu win, but some are taken with a grain of salt. The fact that the final minute gave us so many chances to walk away comfortably, but resulted in stupid or unfortunate mistakes was laughable. Had this been a win against a top 10 A10 team on the road my vibe would be different.

 

 

[wgstl]

I wish Gibby and Parker could coexist better, but they just don’t. 

[TRN]

1 hour ago, MariaReynolds said:

That's funny, really is.  And you're still on the outside looking in (as will I be if I keep posting). 

Us minion SLU fans that have been here 20+ years (thanks Steve) will grieve your absence.  I guess we’ll keep doing what people on a message board do, talk about what their team does.  But, make sure to wash your hands when you leave us untouchables.  I hope your text group can forgive your mingling here.

[RiseOfTheBillikens]

4 hours ago, MariaReynolds said:

Fire Ford. That's the ONLY thing that makes you happy. More power to you. Billiken hate is strong on this board.

She's spittin lowkey. Fans support.

But we probably need a new coach

[TRN]

28 minutes ago, TRN said:

Us minion SLU fans that have been here 20+ years (thanks Steve) will grieve your absence.  I guess we’ll keep doing what people on a message board do, talk about what their team does.  But, make sure to wash your hands when you leave us untouchables.  I hope your text group can forgive your mingling here.

And please keep writing those big checks!   ¡Gracías!

 

[TheA_Bomb]

8 hours ago, MariaReynolds said:

No disagreement in general.  I (and many others) are just tired of the consistent negativity. And it doesn't help that many of those constantly posting snarky sh!t really do little or nothing for the program. 
 

Those who want their voices heard, write the check. Many have and their voices are heard. And, yes, several of them are not big fans of Travis. But you will not see them posting here. 
 

I understand that most cannot write "the check", but if that is the case, don't be an MBA, just be a basic MBM. 

Deleted

No use arguing with some one this entitled (because they write "checks") and totally clueless about so many things.

[Old guy]

OK people, for those that follow Team Rankings, after the win tonight our ranking went down -2.7 to 197. However we are no longer at the absolute bottom of the A10, we are one level above GW which currently has the lowest spot in the A10 all by itself. I would agree with those that say this is a minimal, insignificant gain. However, it is a gain, however small it may be. Our conference gain/loss score is 4-12 which is a tiny bit higher than GWs 3-13. I really do not care how small a move upwards this is, it is a move upwards and I think it is good that the Bills won tonight.

 

 

[TRN]

1 hour ago, Old guy said:

OK people, for those that follow Team Rankings, after the win tonight our ranking went down -2.7 to 197. However we are no longer at the absolute bottom of the A10, we are one level above GW which currently has the lowest spot in the A10 all by itself. I would agree with those that say this is a minimal, insignificant gain. However, it is a gain, however small it may be. Our conference gain/loss score is 4-12 which is a tiny bit higher than GWs 3-13. I really do not care how small a move upwards this is, it is a move upwards and I think it is good that the Bills won tonight.

 

 

What a win that is. About as big of a win as picking up my dogs’ poop from the backyard. It happens, and is not really something to write about, but it happens.

[billikenbill]

12 hours ago, billikenfan05 said:

Bad post.

Hilarious that you called it a “bad post.” The effort was very good and the interaction between Thames and Ford actually happened. EZ goes out mid-first half, Parker goes out mid-second half so I’d say a great effort to get a win by a bad team. Enjoy the win and save your vitriol for your podcast.

[3star_recruit]

14 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:

How does Archie Miller go from doing so well at UD, then can't get IU to the NCAAs to this terrible basketball at URI?

Because quick turnarounds are hard.  We laser focus on the 10% of programs that manage it and mock the 90% of programs who don't.

[Billfan7]

8 hours ago, MariaReynolds said:

That's funny, really is.  And you're still on the outside looking in (as will I be if I keep posting). 

I feel your pain.  This board has devolved into a den of cynicism and sarcasm.  It seems to be dominated by angry, underemployed and unfunded millennials (+ ABomb & Brian) who have a lot of time on their hands.  Any disagreement with their party line leads to group attack and shaming which drives those posters away.  Oh well.

[slufan13]

People just don't understand the brotherhood of teamblue. Wins and losses don't matter. It's the lessons learned along the way and the value for our money 

[3star_recruit]

13 hours ago, Lord Elrond said:

Apathy will kill this program, that’s what I worry most about

Every program needs fans who will write checks and go to the conference tournament, rain or shine.  The rank and file boosters are not the problem.  The problem is the Board of trustees hasn't changed the way they've done business in 30 years.  More basketball savvy and nimble boards have blown right past them.

[VeniceMenace]

7 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:

Deleted

No use arguing with some one this entitled (because they write "checks") and totally clueless about so many things.

You mean like the season ticket holders who are there to network & don’t show up to half the games?

[FromDaEastSide]

FYI - according to KenPom this morning our adjusted Defense is 345 out of 362. Putting us in the same company as Stonehill (where is that, I thought it was a winery) and like every buy game we bring in November. Thought TeamBlue was about defense. 

[TRN]

1 hour ago, Billfan7 said:

I feel your pain.  This board has devolved into a den of cynicism and sarcasm.  It seems to be dominated by angry, underemployed and unfunded millennials (+ ABomb & Brian) who have a lot of time on their hands.  Any disagreement with their party line leads to group attack and shaming which drives those posters away.  Oh well.

Wow, there’s a lot of assumptions and generalizations in this post.  I guess I’m probably one included in your summarization.  

For the record… I’m Gen X, have a great job and career, and am well “funded”.  You must be a Boomer, playing the victim card so easily and randomly.  

Sorry for using sarcasm on a message board during a sh!t show of a season.  I guess we can point at all of the positives, like being able to move down seats during games since 75% of them are empty!

[Lando Griffin]

2 hours ago, Billfan7 said:

I feel your pain.  This board has devolved into a den of cynicism and sarcasm.  It seems to be dominated by angry, underemployed and unfunded millennials (+ ABomb & Brian) who have a lot of time on their hands.  Any disagreement with their party line leads to group attack and shaming which drives those posters away.  Oh well.

Get off my lawn!!!

[TheA_Bomb]

2 hours ago, Billfan7 said:

I feel your pain.  This board has devolved into a den of cynicism and sarcasm.  It seems to be dominated by angry, underemployed and unfunded millennials (+ ABomb & Brian) who have a lot of time on their hands.  Any disagreement with their party line leads to group attack and shaming which drives those posters away.  Oh well.

Yeah losing is not fun and makes for message boards to be filled with vitriol. Usually I'm too busy to post as much as I do but I'm in an operational pause at the moment. What I do has parallels to my criticisms of the AD and MBB. I use the DOTMLPF framework to assess foreign partner Armies, it is an acronym for doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, and facilities. It's not hard to teak that framework to assess SLU Athletics and MBB.  If you do so objectively you'll determine that our main problem is leadership. We have what we need to be successful but the leadership is wrong.

If you think it'll work out and May, Ford are the right guys let me refer you to a book called,"When Prophecy Fails," it's about a UFO cult that tells the world it'll flood on a Midnight in October but they were chosen to be saved by a UFO. Spoiler, that didn't happen but instead of dropping these ridiculous beliefs (a few did) most cult members doubled down and said there was last minute intervention. It's called cognitive dissonance.  You have tied your person to the belief that May and Ford are right. You're doing what the cult members did, in the face of overwhelming evidence that their belief was wrong they doubled down and sought others to join to provide social proof to their belief.

Maria, Bilfan7 no magical UFO is coming to save SLU this year or next year. Time to move on, we'll accept you back here in reality. It's ok I'm here for you.

[billikenfan05]

.

[NYBilliken]

I attended the game yesterday in Rhode Island, which was entertaining battle of evenly matched teams, the Billikens played hard and it was great to see a win. Here are a few impressions from sitting behind visitors bench and watching Bills at this stage of this lost season:

Gibson Jimerson found new dimension in his game, put the team on his back in the second half to secure the win. The new dimension was driving into the thick of traffic. Previously he had added to his perimeter game by driving to the outside then cutting into basket, but last night he not only did that, he drove directly into narrow gaps between defenders to get fouled or score. He scored 30 points - one of his best games. A funny moment happened late in game when Jimerson drove toward basket, was fouled by three different RI players - and the crowd howled in protest when the foul was actually called.

Sincere Parker continued to play inspired basketball when he was on the floor but then was absent for most of second half. I will go back and read this thread to find out what happened to him - and also whatever else I missed.

van Bussel also made a major contribution to the win. He showed great hustle throughout his time on floor, and made a couple of key plays toward the end of the game. He was constantly sprinting to get back on defense and set screens. The Billikens offense found a good pattern with van Bussel on the perimeter getting the ball, and finding a cutting playmaker who would either shoot or pass further. In this game, this pattern seemed to work even better with van B. in the game rather than Ezewiro, who passes then cuts to the basket with expectation of pass to him. Van B. seems to have moved up to second on the depth chart for center.

Hughes also had one of his best all-around games as a Billiken. Medley still mistake prone but had some clutch steals and high degree of effort throughout on both ends of the court. Hargrove had an up and down game - made some great plays but also a couple of airballs and missed dunk at end of first half.

Thames and Ezewiro also played well and contributed to the win - but Ezewiro in particular was foul prone. In general the Billikens committed too many early fouls, which put them in penalty and enabled RI to shoot many foul shots in first half and keep it close. That was starting to happen in second half too but then Bills turned it around and managed to stop fouling, so they may have wound up with more foul shots in second half.

On the negative side, RI had too many open drives to the hoop and uncontested three pointers, which kept them in the game. The Billikens seemed like the better team throughout, but allowed RI to keep bouncing back. It was great to see Billikens persevere and get the win, the offense looks better, and some of our players have improved during this season which will help them in their future careers whether at SLU or elsewhere.

Billiken fan presence was minimal - noticeably fewer than normal.

[Old guy]

A Bomb, this is a very good way to evaluate organizations of all kinds. For example take the corporate scene. Airbus came up with a re-engine for a more powerful A320 (I am not sure of the number but it was the competitor with the Boeing's 727) which forced the production of the 727 Max with bigger engines as soon as possible. There was a difference betwen the tow planes though, the Airbus was done correctly with aerodynamic changes to the wings to accommodate the bigger engines without changing the aerodynamic profile or the lift characteristics of the plane. The Boeing 727Max was not.

Someone in charge of the new 747 Max at Boeing just decided to approve shoehorning the bigger engines under the wings with no changes. This meant the engines had to be placed right under the wings without the necessary distance from the wings to maintain the flight characteristics of the plane. Some "genius" at Boeing decided to use special computer programs to take care of dealing with the altered flight and lift characteristics.  Moreover it was decided decided the computer would work on its on and could only be changed by the pilot by turning it off and flying the plane by hand. The pilots were supposedly not going to need retraining on the new flight characteristics of the 727Max. This plane sold like hot cakes. Of course, the computer automatic control of the plane did not work as intended and wound up killing a pile of people. The planes were grounded until something was produced that did work, it took a really long time to do so. The guy in charge of the 747Max, who ultimately had to approve the new plane, was not fired at the time, although his decisions came close to bankrupting Boeing.  The planes have been approved and fly as expected, but now, the new modified 727Max started blowing off rear doors while flying due to defective parts. Another grounding of the plane happened. This time the guy in charge was fired.

The moral of the story is get rid of the "genius," whoever he or she may be, as early as you can. This has application to many corporations  including SLU, of course. Of course this is applicable to Ford and his "plan."

[Brighton]

4 hours ago, Billfan7 said:

I feel your pain.  This board has devolved into a den of cynicism and sarcasm.  It seems to be dominated by angry, underemployed and unfunded millennials (+ ABomb & Brian) who have a lot of time on their hands.  Any disagreement with their party line leads to group attack and shaming which drives those posters away.  Oh well.

Yes, let’s blame the frustration of a program and athletic department’s ability to get in their own way for 40 years on a pair of posters from a different generation, you know, what should be the next generation of Billikens fans, because that’ll get them to go down there and spend their money. 

[brianstl]

12 hours ago, MariaReynolds said:

That's funny, really is.  And you're still on the outside looking in (as will I be if I keep posting). 

The truth is, unless you have one of two last names, we all are probably on the outside looking in.  You are right money talks and at a time like this with a huge buyout, real massive money talks.  

I am truly thankful we have donors that care enough and have the means to follow the program across the country and to help fund all of the improvements the program has had facilities wise.  We wouldn’t have anything worth complaining about without them.  I am really thankful that we have some donors that are willing to and have the massive means to buy the program out of the mess it is currently in so the rest of us don’t have to suffer another year of this.  That is the kind of financial commitment and true Billiken fandom few will ever be able to display.

[VeniceMenace]

1 hour ago, NYBilliken said:

I attended the game yesterday in Rhode Island, which was entertaining battle of evenly matched teams, the Billikens played hard and it was great to see a win. Here are a few impressions from sitting behind visitors bench and watching Bills at this stage of this lost season:

Gibson Jimerson found new dimension in his game, put the team on his back in the second half to secure the win. The new dimension was driving into the thick of traffic. Previously he had added to his perimeter game by driving to the outside then cutting into basket, but last night he not only did that, he drove directly into narrow gaps between defenders to get fouled or score. He scored 30 points - one of his best games. A funny moment happened late in game when Jimerson drove toward basket, was fouled by three different RI players - and the crowd howled in protest when the foul was actually called.

Sincere Parker continued to play inspired basketball when he was on the floor but then was absent for most of second half. I will go back and read this thread to find out what happened to him - and also whatever else I missed.

van Bussel also made a major contribution to the win. He showed great hustle throughout his time on floor, and made a couple of key plays toward the end of the game. He was constantly sprinting to get back on defense and set screens. The Billikens offense found a good pattern with van Bussel on the perimeter getting the ball, and finding a cutting playmaker who would either shoot or pass further. In this game, this pattern seemed to work even better with van B. in the game rather than Ezewiro, who passes then cuts to the basket with expectation of pass to him. Van B. seems to have moved up to second on the depth chart for center.

Hughes also had one of his best all-around games as a Billiken. Medley still mistake prone but had some clutch steals and high degree of effort throughout on both ends of the court. Hargrove had an up and down game - made some great plays but also a couple of airballs and missed dunk at end of first half.

Thames and Ezewiro also played well and contributed to the win - but Ezewiro in particular was foul prone. In general the Billikens committed too many early fouls, which put them in penalty and enabled RI to shoot many foul shots in first half and keep it close. That was starting to happen in second half too but then Bills turned it around and managed to stop fouling, so they may have wound up with more foul shots in second half.

On the negative side, RI had too many open drives to the hoop and uncontested three pointers, which kept them in the game. The Billikens seemed like the better team throughout, but allowed RI to keep bouncing back. It was great to see Billikens persevere and get the win, the offense looks better, and some of our players have improved during this season which will help them in their future careers whether at SLU or elsewhere.

Billiken fan presence was minimal - noticeably fewer than normal.

Great summary of the Ford era — individual heroics determine outcome.