So that game happened

I picked the worst game ever to come back to.

Rubin gifting Ajogbor 4 dunks in first half was disgusting. HE JUST STOOD THERE TO WATCH UNDER THE RIM !

The zero effort and zero shits given on this roster is sad. These guys are completely uncoachable. Drew's face showed me that last night. There's just nothing you can do at this point.

There was nothing to like from last night other than JOJ with a nice game and Nic Anderson growing into his spot and role for next year. Thanks for giving us something you two.

I think this had something to do with it, yes. I'm glad Drew kept that group playing together into the second half, though, even though I also wanted to throw them into Lake Michigan at halftime. They aren't going to get better on the bench.

But we've been blown out by Joe's too many damn times. I don't get it.

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Flappy, the bird, really gave it to the ol' Ramblers last night. To be honest this is/had been the basketball program from about 1987 to 2016. A few posts ago someone made the point that hopefully this isn't LU's entering into this 30-year nightmare again. If we get that bad again, Loyola please bring back the free beer after games.

We would all be better served to have free beer before the game so to speak.

Well, certainly not good. I get being rusty, but I do not get the lack of energy or emotion in that first half.

Drew basically threw the team under the bus after the game. He made a comment about how believed they could still be a good team, but it is on the players to want to a good team. In other words, they are not coachable and they don’t care to do the work and play with the effort. This was, to me, shocking. These guys are playing D1 basketball and getting PAID to do so. If they are not self motivated to work, compete and earn the NIL money LU is giving me, it’s a massive failure in recruiting them here. This falls on the coaching staff. We have recruited some good players, but we have also missed on a few that never seem to get the culture or play in the system the staff wants. This has to be addressed in the off season. We are joke and pissing away our goodwill in the basketball community, our fan base and the students.

On my way out of the arena, I heard a couple of students talking and one of them said “I was told that we a good basketball” and they proceeded to laugh at what they just saw.

I get the injuries, I get it takes time to get back into the swing, but the last few games when we were massively shorthanded were at playing 25-30 minutes of decent basketball with energy and passion. We were fading in the second half, but the guys were busting their asses. I was hoping that the return of the starters was going to interject some energy and pride in the returning guys. It did not.

I hope the players on the team were embarrassed Tuesday and that they wake up. Man, at some point you got to get tired of being a joke and being a punching bag. You would think they have a chip on their shoulder and some pride.

Three final thoughts:

1. Konami is hurt. I love the fact that he is giving us what he has and seems like does care to play with his physical state. However, he’s not producing currently. 5 minutes into the game he was really hobbling around. He should be shut down for a couple of weeks and maybe he could gives us some productive minutes during A10 tournament.

2. The news on Chuck Love after game was not good. It sounds like what ever is going on is healing pretty slowly. Drew said after the game Chuck was going to meet with the doctors and some decisions were going to be made. It almost sounded like he could maybe shut down. We know the kid is a baller and could be a big piece here. Let’s not chase wins at the expense of his long term health. Now, it’s a knee issue, I hope he is in the gym and still doing upper body work and getting stronger.

3. Is it time to clean house? I know we have quite a few open spots next year (6-8?) with 3 filled. The fire Drew murmurs are slowly increasing. I have no inside information, but I don’t see LU firing him after this year. I would hope though that Drew would be put on Notice that anything short of A10 Championship or March Madness bid next year will be unacceptable. As Drew has said multiple times, we have the resources to compete. If so, the funds and recruiting has to dramatically improve.

Agree with just about everything you said. Throwing the players under the bus is a terrible look. You recruited them. You spent all offseason with them. The buck stops with you, the coach. Even phrasing it as something like, "I need to do a better job as the leader of this program getting these guys ready and motivated to play" would be much better. Just a bad look all around.

On #1, I agree. Houinsou is one of the few guys who seems to give it his all. His nagging injury has really hampered him this season. Now that we have a few other guys back, let's shut him down for 2-3 weeks. Get him a couple games before the A10 tourney and then hopefully full go for our Pillow Fight game that Wednesday in D.C.

On #2, this may be the pessimist in me, but I wonder if he is receiving advice from his 'team' to shut down for the year and transfer upwards next season for a nice paycheck. He put out enough really good film in the games he played this year to show he can be a major contributor at the D1 level. He has size, athleticism, etc. Wonder if his local schools, Nebraska and Creighton, are working their back channels. Hope not but wouldn't be surprised at all.

On #3, I think we have to move on. This hasn't just been a bad season. It has been historically awful. I think we are on track to finish with the lowest KenPom ranking of any A10 team since KenPom began. And there have been some bad Fordham teams. A home loss to any one of Mercyhurst (#300 KenPom), Northern Illinois (#301 KenPom) or Chicago State (#358 KenPom) would be miserable. Home losses to all three (by 8, 17 and 9!) is, again, HISTORICALLY awful. We have the resources and recent history to be a desirable landing spot for an up-and-comer. Let's make the move NOW rather than suffering through another season of blah.

Yeah I think we need to move on from Drew. The performance has certainly been bad enough to warrant it, and he just seems completely out of his depth -- the only argument for keeping him around would be to avoid starting back over from the ground up, but... I think it's a pretty solid bet there is a mass talent exodus regardless.

Drew has been good at getting the absolute most disappointing "4-star" recruits to come here, and that's about it. Even Miles is way behind where we all expected him to be by this point.

Chuck Love certainly can play, but he still needs a lot of improvement. He needs to get physically stronger, improve his handle, and he needs to get more consistent shooting the ball. He would also need to show he can physically hold up through the course of an entire year. Missing time with a knee is a red flag, especially when you are paying. The physicality in P5 conferences night in and night out makes the A10 look like a sorority house pillow fight.

At this point, I think a transfer would not be beneficial to him as I think at the D1, P5 Conference level he sits the bench much like Jayden is doing in Kansas. The money is nice, but going somewhere and sitting does not help you get to your ultimate goal of playing professional basketball, if that is a goal of his. I would hate to see him become one of these guys that bounces from program to program and never reaches his potential.

I would hope that any discussion on this point provides examples and support for your thoughts?
Lots to digest here. Sorry it is so long. I have seen a lot of bad LU basketball and a lot of good LU basketball, Have been to at least 3 games since 67... I remember a game against St.Peters where there could not have been a 100 people in the gym and I think I could have gone into the huddle and no one would have noticed. My sister in law knocked over a cheerleader with one of those big foam fingers...I guess my point is that there are ups and downs but you do not want to be looking down a precipice from which you need a Herculean effort to recover. To me the question is are we indeed at the precipice and does Coach Valentine have the coaching chops to stop us from starting a fast slide down ? this asks can he recruit and can he coach? And it is tough to analyze. Most arguments get contaminated with the Porter Moser era and say any success he had was become some of Porters guys hung around.(Porter has not achieved even a 500 record in conference play at OU). Coach Valentine has an overall record of 88-68 with a 1st and a 3rd in A10 Conference play.His second year when we finished 15th he had a ton of freshman that looked like a good class and included 2 solid transfers in ALston and Edwards....two of the freshman did not pan out. St. Thomas and Schwieger although both proved to be D1 talents. Two others developed and contributed. Dawson and Quinn as well as the transfer Edwards. One can make the argument that with Dawson and Quinn back this year with 4 years of experience and providing something we need leadership, drive , defense and some physicality plus Moore and Rubin we would have been deep and experienced. So this begs the question why did they leave? In this day and age it seems a lot kids leaving is part of the gig. and replacing them is now part of the job. This seems to be a hit and miss. Brayden Young is going to be a miss requiring us to get Richardson which is a partial miss. A 3 point shooter in Taverias who cant shoot. But around all this you have to try and build for the future and Coach Valentine seems to have been able to recruit having brought in some talented freshman and portal transfers like Dotson and Edwards who have multiple years...but there also have been misses like Glazkov. Dont know if Hendeway would be considered a miss he is having a decent year at Wintrhop.
So as we come to the edge of a cliff and what do we have? Hits and misses in crucial areas by a young inexperienced coach. Some examples of developing players, some not, some examples of keeping key players and some leaving. some examples of bringing in good portal players , some not. I dont feel as solid in this area being able to say. good in-game coaching..Coach appears to stay with the same stuff and not adapt...One thing I could always win a beer at Brunos when Coach Moser was here,was finding someone who would take my " I betcha their leading scorer is not their leading scorer tonight" bet. Yet I can recall games under Coach Valentine when we would come out of a time out and hit a 3 on great play or he would call an offensive set that produced.
Summary. I made some chili the other day on one of those below zero days...It was ok day one but by day 3 man it was really, really good...the depth of flavors....anyway I am not sure what to think...My analogy is that at this point Coach Valentine has the ability to take a good horse and make him run a good race but not so good, at this point, of taking a bucking bronco and calming him down..Critical question is. if we get a new jockey how do we know he will be better? the litany of coaches after Gene Sullivan was large and mostly unmemorable (course you could make the argument they didn't have the necessary resources from LU). The second question is will Coach Valentine calm the horse down and keep it on the track as he learns and becomes better? The better the horse the better the jockey will do, so the last question is can Coach Valentine recruit good players and keep them? (Why did Quinn and Dawson leave?)
My Questions.1. My seat are as high up as you can go so I dont get a feel for what is happening on the bench and interactions between coach and players and players and players? Do those who sit close have thoughts on those relationships? 2. Does anyone think there is University pressure on AD Watson now that the University has invested resources in the program. 3. Do we have the cash to grab a coach with bona fides who can coach and immediately bring solid players in?
Last Comment. For me the last month and appearance in A10 Tournament is essential. I remember some pretty bad teams with Whitesell and the Andy Polka group but I was a big fan cuz they played so hard..one thing I cant take is a team that does not play hard and for each other..that is what I will be watching the rest of the year.