Balanced Billikens Keep Rolling

Friday night, the Saint Louis University Billikens achieved something that hadn't been done by any previous team in school history.

They defeated the 15th ranked Butler Bulldogs 65-61, giving SLU its fourth win of the season over a ranked team. The last time the school had even registered three such wins in a single season was during the 1993-94 campaign when the likes of Erwin Claggett and Scotty Highmark were on the roster. I was eight years old at that point, so to say I've been waiting for this kind of success for a long time would be an understatement.

After ranking 26th in votes in both polls this past week and knocking off a pair of ranked opponents in Butler and Virginia Commonwealth, the Billikens certainly deserve to be ranked. I was hoping for 22 or 21, but they rocketed all the way up to 18 in the AP poll and 19 in the USA Today/coaches poll. This is their highest ranking since February 28th of 1994. After the week SLU had in addition to the season that they're having, I certainly agree that it's a valid ranking, but I was still surprised as they've been underrated for most of this season. Regardless, it will certainly be nice to see a number on the left of their name on the ESPN scoreboard this week and hopefully for several weeks to come.

Perhaps the best part of this team is that they don't have those letdown losses after a big win. After knocking off Butler at home, then ranked ninth, the Billikens had a home game against Dayton, in which they blew out the Flyers by 29. They then had a pair of road contests against conference bottom feeder Fordham and Richmond, who while no cake walk, was a game the Billikens certainly should have won. And they were up to the task, beating the Spiders 56-46. They came home and defeated the Charlotte 49ers in what could be the two teams' last meeting as conference opponents, as the Niners will return to Conference USA next season. Charlotte stuck around for most of the game in what was an extremely physical battle, but SLU pulled away late to eventually win 75-58.

This set the Billikens up to run the gauntlet. On Tuesday, they would host 24-ranked VCU and visit number 15 Butler on Friday. I've always had a cautiously optimistic approach as a SLU fan, hope for okay and be thrilled if it's better. So I was thinking SLU would be in pretty good shape if they could just split the two games. After all, VCU is a team that gave two ranked teams fits in Duke and Missouri, in an early season tournament, and pulled off the win against ranked Memphis in the same tournament, so winning that game wouldn't be easy. And if that wasn't difficult enough, the Billikens then had to go to Hinkle Fieldhouse, where top-ranked Indiana suffered their first lost of the season and second ranked Gonzaga fell victim to a buzzer beater. If you go on Joe Lunardi's bracketology on ESPN, that's home wins over two of the current four number one seeds. Had the Billikens been intimidated by either opponent, I would've understood it. But they weren't. Not in the slightest.

They nearly ran VCU out of Chaifetz Arena in the first half on Tuesday, just like they did to Butler and New Mexico, the other two ranked opponents to visit SLU this season. The Bills then sustained a second half charge from the Rams, who cut the halftime lead of 17 down to 11. SLU instantly responded with four points from junior guard Jordair Jett to build the lead back to 15. And although the Rams would only lose by 14, it wasn't even that close as they hit two threes in their last two possessions, one of which came with under two seconds remaining.

The Billikens now had a chance to go to Indianapolis and take a commanding lead in the Atlantic-10 (er...16) standings. SLU got off to a decent start and had a 9-7 lead on the Bulldogs, but the Billikens didn't shoot very well during the first half. One of the team's leading scorers, senior forward Cody Ellis, was held scoreless for the entire game. I think this shows what a great team the Billikens have the potential to be. A top scorer gets shutout on the road against a top-15 team and they can still win. Junior guard Mike McCall Jr. took over for the Billikens, going on to lead the team with 18 points which included a couple of big threes and two clutch free throws at the end of the game to ice away the victory. Junior forward Dwayne Evans also had a huge game, scoring 17 points while senior guard Kwamain Mitchell added 12 in what was his most effective game since January 23rd at lowly Duquesne.

Every game the Billikens play, you never know who is going to step up for the team and be the guy. It could be Ellis, Evans, Mitchell, McCall Jr., Jett, or even junior forwards "Awkward" Rob Loe and Jake Barnett. Barnett shot out of his mind against Charlotte, draining four threes in five attempts. Loe went off against UMass to start conference play with a career high of 20 points while adding seven boards and an assist. The team's balance on offense and stingy defense will make them a formidable opponent for anyone in the tournament. Butler's coach, Brad Stevens, has been quoted as saying the Billikens are a Final Four caliber team. I'm not going to fly off the handle quite yet due to my cautious attitude towards my favorite college basketball team, but I could see it as a possibility with the right draw and a few bounces going our way. All I know is, that I'm ready for March. And so are the Billikens.

Lastly, for those of you who haven't seen it, below is my celebration video after beating Butler on the road on Friday. Enjoy!

Pattern Presents a Problem

The Blues got out a brilliant start this season, winning five of their first six. They came from behind in three of those five victories, showing heart and spirit. Over the past three games, this spirit has disappeared.

After a tough road loss in Detroit in which a horrid call cost the Blues at least one point, when captain David Backes was ejected for a hit to the head (it was actually to the shoulder), the Blues came home for a four game stretch in St. Louis. The first game of the homestand was against a Nashville team that they'd beaten twice already this season and did so soundly at home the second time with a 3-0 win. One would expect the Predators to be tired of losing to the Blues and to come out with a big effort. Well, they certainly did that and the Blues had no answer for it. The final was 6-1 and it was pretty embarrassing. I fell asleep after it was 3-0 and it was pretty obvious that the Blues were content to lay an egg that night. I wrote it off, as many of us did, to these things will happen on occasion, especially with such a condensed schedule. With Detroit coming in two days later, they'd want to take it to them after they got robbed at the Red Wings' place just days earlier. Wrong. The Blues came out strong in the first, but got behind 2-0 fairly early and had a "woe is me" lull. They began to play well again in the second and got a power play goal from Alex Pietrangelo to cut it to a 2-1 Detroit lead. In the blink of an eye, the Wings answered with two goals in 1:31 and that was all she wrote. It was 4-1 and even with a period left, they essentially gave up. That one lull right after scoring cost them the game.

Saturday night, the Blues had Anaheim in town. The Blues grabbed the momentum early with a quick power play goal, but they gave it right back when goalie Brian Elliott gave up perhaps his softest goal of the season, a straight shot right off his arm that trickled across the line. The Blues hung with it and while I feel they didn't outplay the Ducks by that much in the first, finished the period with a 3-1 lead. Things fell apart in the second period. Anaheim scored three goals in a span of 1:41, with defensive breakdown after defensive breakdown. Obvious plays like putting a body on a guy who is approaching 700 career goals in Teemu Selanne escaped the Blues during this span and it cost them. A two goal lead became a one goal deficit almost instantly. The Blues would rally with a goal to tie it at four early in the third and then the two team would trade goals in the last six and a half minutes of the third, forcing overtime. The Blues caught a bad break when they scored what looked to be the winner in overtime, just to have it waived off when Patrik Berglund was shoved into the Ducks' goalie and eventually lost in the shootout. But the point stands, that it never should have come down to overtime. Without the Blues taking two minutes off in which they allowed three goals, they would've been in great shape to win the game. 

The most frustrating thing for me after the game on Saturday as I walked out of the arena with my friends, was some moron started sarcastically chanting Brian Elliott's name. I pointed out how his defense hung him out to dry during that three goal span, but he just argued it further. Elliott hasn't been good over the last few games by any stretch of the imagination, but to blame solely him for the Blues' losing streak is ignorant and short sighted. Saturday's game was a team loss and so were the other three games before it. The Blues need to get it together and start putting together team wins again.

I'm aware that players are more likely to be tired with the shortened scheduled, but that can't be an excuse with every team dealing with those issues. No one is going to feel sorry for the Blues. They have to get back to playing the way they were at the beginning of the season, not taking shifts off, fore checking relentlessly, and being accountable on defense. If the Blues do that, they can get back on track and contend with the Blackhawks for the Central Division title.

I Hope the Ravens Get Murdered...

Super Bowl Sunday. If it weren't already on a weekend, I'd propose it should be considered for national holiday status just as much as election day.

For the first time ever, I was actually scheduled to work today. I instead used vacation days to take off both today so I can fry a turkey and consume some adult beverages with my Uncle Greg and tomorrow so I don't have to go to bed at halftime to get adequate sleep before working tomorrow. Super Bowl Sunday has thus become Super Bowl Weekend for me. I highly recommend it.

As for the game itself, I'm really not sure who will win. It's pretty much the worst possible match up for a Steelers fan. If the Ravens win, our biggest rival win the Super Bowl. If the 49ers win, they tie the Steelers for the most Super Bowl titles. I'm also still a little on a San Francisco hate vibe due to the NLCS (I can never leave town with a 3-1 NLCS lead again, now 0-2). Throw in the fact that I'm also a Rams fan, so I hate the 49ers anyway, and this postseason has just culminated in a horrible mess for me on a personal level.

I'll be cheering for the 49ers, as my hatred for Baltimore overrides just about everything else. You can bet the Ravens will be getting the Streak for the Cash curse. I'd say that pans out for me at least 3/5 of the time and about half of the time when I really care about something. And seeing as the Giants cursing didn't pan out, even with me drinking myself silly on French wine, I'd say the curse is due for a good showing in a big game scenario.

From a straight up analytic perspective, I would go with the Niners to take care of business as well. I think they need to take full advantage of the fast track provided by the Superdome and have quarterback Colin Kaepernick run a muck on the Ravens' defense like he did against the Packers. On the other side of the ball, pressuring quarterback Joe  Flacco will definitely be the key. People can talk about records and things all they want, but my opinion is still that Flacco sucks. And even if the Ravens were to win tonight, it probably won't change my mind. After all, the only other time that the Ravens won the Super Bowl, they played two quarterbacks that suck: Trent Dilfer and for I think one snap, Tony Banks. Banks is probably one of the worst quarterbacks of all time and Dilfer is almost certainly the worst starter at the position to ever win a Super Bowl. And while Flacco isn't as bad as Dilfer (typing that was pretty painful), he's still not the amazing player many say he is. And if the San Fran defense can get after him, it will show up.

Go 49ers is still option number two behind go category five hurricane in February that tears up the Superdome and somehow prevents the game from happening, I guess it's my most realistic option. At least I can cheer for a couple of Mizzou alums in Justin and Aldon Smith (no relation, duh) with San Fran instead of the murderer. I'm going to balance out the coverage Mr. Stabby has been getting this postseason and not type his name in this post. But I will leave you with one of my favorite SNL videos of all time that refers to him. Enjoy the video and the game. My various picks are under the video.




Coin Toss: Heads
Times the Harbaugh parents are shown during the broadcast Over/Under 8: Over, easily
Game: Niners
MVP: Kaepernick