billiken_roy Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 looking back, the siu game is going to be the game "we shoulda won". i think that a&m and carolina are just that good. but siu was the game that was there to win and we fell. ironically, it can be argued we are "the best win" out of conference that siu has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 Probably correct...I'm just glad we escaped any bad losses. Tough to figure the committee, do they look for more positives or less negatives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 I would not argue with you Roy but the loss is not going kill us it just does not help us as a win would have done. Interestingly, it looks like the Valley might just beat up on each other and that will create a situation that will impact their bids for the tourney. Their best case scenerio was to have 4 teams be the cream of the crop - but to have 6 teams knocking each other off will not be good for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 We played them on the road and lost by 9. I'd have felt worse about losing to SMS at home. Carbondale may not be a sweet sixteen team this year but they are a step or two above Loyola and Pacific and a step or two below TAMU and UNC. If we win 22 and get shafted by the NCAA then I'll cry over C-dale. Till then it was a good loss (if there is such a thing) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 The two elements we need to achieve now are no bad losses in conference, and to bank a significant number of wins in our final ten games of the season before Selection Sunday. Losing at SIUC increased the need for a guady record and a stellar final ten game record. I don't even worry 'bout the rest of the conference, because we successfully navigated the OOC minefield, and now are masters of our destiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUDrew Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 Especially given that we got slaughtered by A&M and UNC. The committee will look for reasons to keep us out, just like they would look for reasons to get a Kentucky in. Right now we have a lot of work to do to make us at-large material. That Carbondale game would have made things a lot easier. Right now the only win the committee would really care about is the controversial Mo State win. Other than that we can scream about our RPI and tough schedule all we want, we just don't have enough. I think we can have at most 3 conference losses and even then I would be real nervous on selection Sunday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 3 losses and be nervous? No way. While the A-10 has been down lately, we are no MVC in terms of national recognition. The MVC has done wonders lately for their conference, but they are still pretty new to the major college basketball scene and got screwed for it last year. We still have some clout on the national scene. That's probably because it's an eastern conference, but we all know perception is reality. I think the committe would have a VERY tough time leaving out the conference winner from the A-10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills16 Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 i watched siu beat wichita state last night on tv. siu is like 72-3 at home the past 5 or 6 years. a billiken win would have been great but not alot of teams coming out of there with wins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUDrew Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 The point is that it was an opportunity for a really strong win, and as I look at our schedule we don't have too many opportunities for those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al 1 Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 I watched the SIU/WSU game as well...One announcer said Matt Shaw has a high grade point (3.9+) as a history major...I thought it had been said the one big reason he went to SIU rather than SLU was to pick up a certain engineering degree that SLU did not have...Does anyone know anything about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 I think it was Falker who was interested in engineering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 Falkner wanted the Engineering degree specific to SIUC. Shaw, and his HS coach, are at SIUC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 Of all the non conference games, I thought we would for sure lose to NC and A and M and we would probably split the games against Loyola, Missouri State, Houston, Pacific, SIU and ole Miss. To me, the fact that we won 5 of those 6 games is a real tribute to our young team. Yet, you are right that SIU was a game that if we played like we did in the second half of MS or Ole Miss was winnable but I did not think we would beat them at their place with bad homer calls and unfortunately I was right. From my personal point of view, although I really like the spirit and toughness of this team, I think many on this board are being a little optimistic about the remainder of the season. Houston, Xavier, Dayton, UMass--all on the road will be very difficult games to win and to think that we will win one of those games and all of the other games is surely possible but very tough. Xavier and Dayton will not be easy games in St. Louis and we still have to prove we can beat St. Joe's. It will be very interesting!! Go Bills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 I think you are reaching here. Rpi doesn't take that into account. I'm guessing that if the committee gets all the way to margin of victory for TAMU and UNC, we'd be screwed anyway. SIUC was not a bad loss no matter how negative you want to be. At the very, very worst you can say it was the one loss where we had the best shot at the win...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiphan Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 >3 losses and be nervous? No way. While the A-10 has been >down lately, we are no MVC in terms of national recognition. >The MVC has done wonders lately for their conference, but >they are still pretty new to the major college basketball >scene and got screwed for it last year. We still have some >clout on the national scene. That's probably because it's an >eastern conference, but we all know perception is reality. I >think the committe would have a VERY tough time leaving out >the conference winner from the A-10. A lot of clout? Ya, so much so that our undefeated conference champ is rewarded with an 8 seed in the tourney. That's respect for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUDrew Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 Look at the title of my last post in this thread. What does it say? SIU WAS NOT A BAD LOSS!! My point was that is was an opportunity for a good win. Can you not read or something, or was reading comprehension just never your strong-suit? I hate to resort to comments like that but it is possible for those of us who have dared to question Coach to have discussions about this team without the "oh he's just being negative" crap being thrown around. And yes, when the only two elite teams on your schedule beat the snot out of you, it certainly does matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 I guess message board dynamics aren't your strong suit either. I replied to your first post before reading your later caveats and corrections. I think it's a major stretch to say that the selection commitee in march will boot us for getting hammered by TAMU in november. It is dwelling on the negative. You may find the truth stale. It is what it is however.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUDrew Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 are two different things. Please point out where I have been "dwelling" on the SIU or the A&M loss? I "acknowledged" that the game at SIU was a chance we had for a real quality win. I "acknowledged" that getting beat by UNC by 21 at home and only scoring 33 points in a loss to A&M could most certainly come into play on Selection Sunday. Put yourself on the committee. You are looking at resumes of bubble teams with very similar RPIs. One team played two ranked teams and got beat by 21 points by one and only scored 33 against another. The other team also lost to two ranked teams, but both games were very competitive. Who would you choose? I am not saying the margin against UNC and A&M will be THE deciding factor for keeping us out of the tournament. I am saying it could be factor on day in we may need every possible factor in our favor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 GW had a horrific non-con slate which pushed them to an 8 seed. If they had the same record vs our schedule this year they'd be a much higher seed. The A10 didn't hurt hem as much as they hurt themselves..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 "Put yourself on the committee. You are looking at resumes of bubble teams with very similar RPIs. One team played two ranked teams and got beat by 21 points by one and only scored against another. The other team also lost to two ranked teams, but both games were very competitive. Who would you choose? I am not saying the margin against UNC and A&M will be THE deciding factor for keeping us out of the tournament. I am saying it could be factor on day in we may need every possible factor in our favor." In my opinion this is a text book example of nit-picking and dwelling on the negative. More likely we'll be compared to a team like SMS last year, who didn't bother to or couldn't schedule a couple of teams like UNC and TAMU. Given that, those losses would look better than wins against Fort Wayne Polytechnic. Sorry we disagree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealisticBilliken Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 Some on this board are making the negativity claims against myself and several other posters. This bashing is becoming extremely stale as Drew put it and I couldn't agree more. BRich, relax pal. We are all fans here and want the Bills to do well. I also agree with Roy that the SIU win on the road could have been the game to hang our hats on. This could have been the big win that the committee will look at to put us in the tourny, especially because it was on the road. Before the season, I also felt we had to win (or at least come within a point or two like the Gonzaga game last year) a game against one of the big dogs on our schedule, knowing that the A-10 was most likely a one bid (two at the most) conference. The Mississippi win was a big one because once Miss gets into SEC play, their RPI will rise quicker then a Viagra commercial, in turn helping us. I still doubt that 22 wins in the regular season gets us in, there will be too many good mid majors like us with better records out there. I believe 23, with two wins in the conference tourny, and we are in. 22 and 2 in the conference tourny, hello nit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 Every game we lose is a detriment to making the dance. Maybe SIU was the most winnable of the 3 we lost, but we will have other opportunities for good road wins. imo ... UNC at home was winnable also. If Kevin is healthy and shooting normal ... maybe we slow down some of the momentum that snowballed into a big win for UNC. I'm not saying it was a game we should have won, but in the same instance either was SIU. Either could have been won, but they weren't, so now we need to focus on the games at hand. If you think SIU was winnable on the road ... then every game we have left is winnable as we don't play anyone left on the road or at home that is better than SIU is at home. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman Official Sponser of the Stemmler and Ahearn could and would have helped club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 It is what it is, Rich. I've just come to accept that these guys see the world through pessimistic glasses. Whatcha gonna do? The facts are that we are 10-3. Our worst loss has come at the hands of TAMU. It was an early game at a hostile arena. ###### happens. The committee looks at that. Everybody knows that your last 10 games are weighted higher than your first 10. If bids came out today, we are in based on RPI. I guess people don't really want to set themselves up for a letdown. But I find it hard to believe we could have set ourselves up much better than we are. I would love to have our 3 L's back, but that's not gonna happen. We had a lot of road wins (which is huge with the committee) and we have no bad losses. Barring a major letdown in the conference, we should be riding this team into the tourney... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 By your standard, would you tell Roy to quit dwelling on the negative that is the loss to SIU? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 2, 2007 Author Share Posted January 2, 2007 already the mvc individual rpi's have started to knock each other around. they are down to only three teams sub 40 rpi. i believe just a few weeks ago they had 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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