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Hard to say Ramblers are the better team when losing by 13.

True, but that's what makes the tournament worth watching. The better team doesn't always win.

We shot 26.8% from the floor, 28.6% from 3 and 30% from the free throw line. No one was guarding us and we shot 30%!

30% from the free throw line - it's hard to chalk that up to Ohio State.

Can’t argue with those points - well put.

JDubs - I completely agree. Next year is our first year in the A10, Drew's first true recruiting year, first full season Post-Porter, first year post-pandemic and, to be honest, our first year that the program is 100% operating under the "New" higher expectations of the Rambler Fans and D1 college basketball. I think that Drew has proven that he can improve as a coach and execute at a high level. Next year we will see if he can succeed in the rough world of recruiting.

jdubs wrote:Next year is the single most important year for Loyola basketball in the immediate future. The goal is to sustain success, and next year is the real start of the next generation. Last year everyone said the success was a result of Krut. This year everyone said it was because of the super seniors. Every player from the final four team is now gone. Although Drew helped to recruit before, players now will be directly because of him and what he’s looking for. The last 5 years have been a good run, but a successful season next year (too early to say exactly what that would be at this point) would really show that this isn’t just a “good run” and that Loyola is here to stay.

Rambler88 - I fully agree with your "Brutal" assessment of the game. It was SO MUCH like the Oregon State game. Good looks and balls not going down. Ugly possessions. Lack of rhythm. We've seen this before. It bit the team at Northern Iowa and against Drake. I don't see it as a coaching problem. I think it's one of those things that is super hard to control. It's too bad, of course because the Rambler defense was incredible. Such is this game.

I disagree with you about Pittsburgh. I had an incredible time in that city. Visited dive bars, ate at Primanati Brothers, rode on the inclines, went the Fort Pitt museum, drank in the views. I brought my bike and stayed on Mount Washington across the river so I was able to get around. I left Pittsburgh wanting to see more. But, if you did get stuck downtown, I can see how that might not leave a good impression.

Rambler88 wrote:The worst part about this loss is that we are a better team than Ohio State. They have two good players, but I am not sure if they will be anything at the next level. Offensively, Mosley, DeVries and Green are better players.

This was the harmonic convergence of the offensive problems that we had all season, but it occurred in a 2 hour period. I thought I was watching an Oliver Stone movie. It was brutal.

We didn't shoot well in warm ups and it carried over into the game. We mishandled passes, dribbled balls off our legs and we missed lay-ups. We missed free throws, we missed wide open threes, etc.

At the close of the first half, we missed two shots. Schweiger's lay-up that rolled out was a fitting end to the first half. It would have been nice to be down by 3 at half. Despite not scoring for like 8 minutes in the first half, we were still in the game. I felt like we wouldn't shoot that bad in the second half. Alas, I was wrong. We started out the second half with some missed opportunities and never got on track. We got worse. Luckily, I felt that we were a few defensive stops and threes away from turning the game around.

As far as Pittsburgh, it was a ghost town. we walked form our hotel to the game. The only people I saw downtown were people going to game, homeless people and a handful of union protesters. It was dirty and empty. It was a beautiful spring day, with 20,000 basketball fans in town and it felt like we were the only ones there. Luckily, I was able to catch an early flight home.

The end of the season was rough. We were in Pittsburg and it stung a little bit. If we played OSU 10 times, I am convinced we would win 7 or 8 of them. Unfortunately, we shot the ball worse than we did against Oregon State last year when we were eliminated. The end certainly is unfitting this group of seniors who have done so much for LU. I wish them all the best and thank them for the thrills and great basketball the last 5 years.

With all of that said, life moves on. Its time to start rooting for a new group, and with 7 leaving, it will basically be a new group. Its a scary thought, but an exciting one. I am ready to cheer on on the next wave, I do have some questions, thoughts and comments about next year and Drew.

1. Drew will now be exposed. What I mean by that is that this team was established and ready to go. It was a turnkey operation. Drew was the youngest Coach in the Country and he won the Conference Tournament and got to the Dance, but this group had done that already under Porter. What it did not do is win a game in the NCAA. Drew's future and how desirable he will be as a coaching candidate really comes down to the next two or three years. Can he sustain what has happened here the last 5 years? Can he recruit better talent? Can he win the A10? Can he get back to the Dance and win a game or two? How LU goes in the near future will have big ramifications for both LU and Drew.

2. My impression is that Drew needs to look at his coaching staff. To me and my friends, it just seems like Drew doesn't have anyone like Porter did. Porter had Mullins in his ear. He had Drew, He had Flash. I do not get the impression that Drew has anyone like that and it just seems like he is on an Island out there and not getting any help during the games.

3. There needs to be a change in philosophy. LU under Porter and last year under Drew never really play freshmen. With the make-up of our team, the freshmen coming in and the sophomores from last year MUST play significant minutes. It seems like every year for the last 4-5 years we think it is one of our best recruiting years. Yet, many don't play. If we are recruiting guys who can not play D1 ball as freshmen than we are not recruiting correctly. We need to see if these kids are capable of being productive D1 players. The team next year may not be built to win like the last few years, so get them minutes and let's accelerate the growing pains and get past them.

4. Finally, Drew was correct. If they don't crush the transfer portal, its going to be a rough year as we do not quality bigs and no one who can defend remotely like Lucas or Aher.

Mudville21 wrote:The end of the season was rough. We were in Pittsburg and it stung a little bit. If we played OSU 10 times, I am convinced we would win 7 or 8 of them. Unfortunately, we shot the ball worse than we did against Oregon State last year when we were eliminated. The end certainly is unfitting this group of seniors who have done so much for LU. I wish them all the best and thank them for the thrills and great basketball the last 5 years.

With all of that said, life moves on. Its time to start rooting for a new group, and with 7 leaving, it will basically be a new group. Its a scary thought, but an exciting one. I am ready to cheer on on the next wave, I do have some questions, thoughts and comments about next year and Drew.

1. Drew will now be exposed. What I mean by that is that this team was established and ready to go. It was a turnkey operation. Drew was the youngest Coach in the Country and he won the Conference Tournament and got to the Dance, but this group had done that already under Porter. What it did not do is win a game in the NCAA. Drew's future and how desirable he will be as a coaching candidate really comes down to the next two or three years. Can he sustain what has happened here the last 5 years? Can he recruit better talent? Can he win the A10? Can he get back to the Dance and win a game or two? How LU goes in the near future will have big ramifications for both LU and Drew.

2. My impression is that Drew needs to look at his coaching staff. To me and my friends, it just seems like Drew doesn't have anyone like Porter did. Porter had Mullins in his ear. He had Drew, He had Flash. I do not get the impression that Drew has anyone like that and it just seems like he is on an Island out there and not getting any help during the games.

3. There needs to be a change in philosophy. LU under Porter and last year under Drew never really play freshmen. With the make-up of our team, the freshmen coming in and the sophomores from last year MUST play significant minutes. It seems like every year for the last 4-5 years we think it is one of our best recruiting years. Yet, many don't play. If we are recruiting guys who can not play D1 ball as freshmen than we are not recruiting correctly. We need to see if these kids are capable of being productive D1 players. The team next year may not be built to win like the last few years, so get them minutes and let's accelerate the growing pains and get past them.

4. Finally, Drew was correct. If they don't crush the transfer portal, its going to be a rough year as we do not quality bigs and no one who can defend remotely like Lucas or Aher.

I get the premise of a lot of what you are saying, but I think you maybe are being a little too hard on Drew. This season was an undoubted success after losing an All-American player, and I think it’s hard to knock him significantly for not winning a tournament game in year one. And as far as his staff, it’s still very very very early. They did an objectively great job this year and just because it is maybe different than Moser doesn’t mean it is bad. Of course, there is room for improvement, but there always is, especially with a brand new coach. No need to change things up after a markedly successful year.

Finally, I don’t think you have to worry about our recruiting or lack of young players minutes. This team was old and experienced, and the seniors should have played as much as they did. Our recruiting has done us well in recent years, and there is no doubt that younger players will play more next year (they have to). I’m not sure it’s a philosophy issue as much as it is a situational issue. The best players will play, period, no matter the age. Drew knows this and will do so accordingly. Remember, the younger Hutson got a huge chance to play minutes at the beginning of the year, but Drew eventually played the better, older Knight. He’ll do whatever it takes to win games.

JArsy_22 wrote:

Mudville21 wrote:The end of the season was rough. We were in Pittsburg and it stung a little bit. If we played OSU 10 times, I am convinced we would win 7 or 8 of them. Unfortunately, we shot the ball worse than we did against Oregon State last year when we were eliminated. The end certainly is unfitting this group of seniors who have done so much for LU. I wish them all the best and thank them for the thrills and great basketball the last 5 years.

With all of that said, life moves on. Its time to start rooting for a new group, and with 7 leaving, it will basically be a new group. Its a scary thought, but an exciting one. I am ready to cheer on on the next wave, I do have some questions, thoughts and comments about next year and Drew.

1. Drew will now be exposed. What I mean by that is that this team was established and ready to go. It was a turnkey operation. Drew was the youngest Coach in the Country and he won the Conference Tournament and got to the Dance, but this group had done that already under Porter. What it did not do is win a game in the NCAA. Drew's future and how desirable he will be as a coaching candidate really comes down to the next two or three years. Can he sustain what has happened here the last 5 years? Can he recruit better talent? Can he win the A10? Can he get back to the Dance and win a game or two? How LU goes in the near future will have big ramifications for both LU and Drew.

2. My impression is that Drew needs to look at his coaching staff. To me and my friends, it just seems like Drew doesn't have anyone like Porter did. Porter had Mullins in his ear. He had Drew, He had Flash. I do not get the impression that Drew has anyone like that and it just seems like he is on an Island out there and not getting any help during the games.

3. There needs to be a change in philosophy. LU under Porter and last year under Drew never really play freshmen. With the make-up of our team, the freshmen coming in and the sophomores from last year MUST play significant minutes. It seems like every year for the last 4-5 years we think it is one of our best recruiting years. Yet, many don't play. If we are recruiting guys who can not play D1 ball as freshmen than we are not recruiting correctly. We need to see if these kids are capable of being productive D1 players. The team next year may not be built to win like the last few years, so get them minutes and let's accelerate the growing pains and get past them.

4. Finally, Drew was correct. If they don't crush the transfer portal, its going to be a rough year as we do not quality bigs and no one who can defend remotely like Lucas or Aher.

I get the premise of a lot of what you are saying, but I think you maybe are being a little too hard on Drew. This season was an undoubted success after losing an All-American player, and I think it’s hard to knock him significantly for not winning a tournament game in year one. And as far as his staff, it’s still very very very early. They did an objectively great job this year and just because it is maybe different than Moser doesn’t mean it is bad. Of course, there is room for improvement, but there always is, especially with a brand new coach. No need to change things up after a markedly successful year.

Finally, I don’t think you have to worry about our recruiting or lack of young players minutes. This team was old and experienced, and the seniors should have played as much as they did. Our recruiting has done us well in recent years, and there is no doubt that younger players will play more next year (they have to). I’m not sure it’s a philosophy issue as much as it is a situational issue. The best players will play, period, no matter the age. Drew knows this and will do so accordingly. Remember, the younger Hutson got a huge chance to play minutes at the beginning of the year, but Drew eventually played the better, older Knight. He’ll do whatever it takes to win games.

I will stand by my post. I think things need to be scrutinized. It is not a slam on Drew, but I have seen this movie before at LU. The teams with Hughes, Battle et al. were good teams and we never really capitalized on their success. Now we are losing a good senior class and the last of the ties to the Final 4 team. So to think Drew isn't going to be under pressure to maintain or elevate this program would be a miscalculation. It was great that LU hired him, but he is stepping into a program with big expectations now that is spending on the program and headed to a tougher, allegedly, conference. For a young coach, this could be overwhelming. I am sure the Administration will be paying attention before Drew gets Porter money from the school.

There was also a lot of pressure on Drew to make the tournament this year with a top-25 level team. But it's a changing of the guard for sure, and the recruiting piece is heightened now.

I wouldn't call it a change it philosophy to play freshmen, though. You have to play your best players, but coaches are always going to want to play upperclassmen. The recruiting cycles and the COVID year made it so that we've had old teams for awhile. But even Moser did play freshmen quite a bit: CT and Crisman, Turk, Doyle, Ben and Donte, Krutwig. Those guys all played a lot. I think you'll probably see younger guys get more minutes next year. Hopefully they "get old quick."

1 year ago today I was was packing up the car for Pittsburgh. What a fun run.