Two things:
1) I’ll openly admit I was totally wrong about Loyola. Back when the MVC added them to replace Creighton I really tore into the move as a step down. Man has that turned out to be wrong.
2) how freaking amazing is Moser’s career turn around? He completely belly flopped in the valley last time around and here he is getting the tournament and making surprise runs. Fun fact for the shocker snobs, Porter has now matched Marshall’s two best NCAA tournament runs
It's all a matter of how you look at it. Mullins finished under .500 in his first 2 seasons, which is very similar to how Moser did at Illinois State after 2 seasons. We totally give Mullins a break bc "it takes time to build a program up", but many called (and still call) Moser a bum and say he can't coach. That is simply unfair. The reality is that we are biased bc we love Mullins (I have yet to meet a single person who doesn't like him). I have NO doubts that Mullins will build a winner here at SIU. Honesty my expectations are very high. But I think it's time to start giving credit to Loyola and specifically Moser. This is not directed at one specific Saluki fan, just in general.
I don’t have to give credit if I don’t want to 😁
fine I might have been a little hard on him. That being said the Marquette job is a serious threat
After today, I have to say I am darn impressed with Porter's coaching, although I was never one to credit his success to an inexperienced assistant named Mullins. He's been doing it a long time and spent years as Rick Majerus's assistant...and learned a few things over the years! Had a great defensive plan and had the players to execute it perfectly. 1st team All-American and USA Today College Player of the Year Ayo Dosunmu was held to 9 points and 6 turnovers. Krutwig stole the ball twice from him!
No one should be surprised that Cam Krutwig, USA Today 3rd team All-American btw, could play with Kofi Koburn - quicker, very smart, great footwork, great passer, more experienced ... and not exactly petite at 6' 9"'
Kofi: 21 pts, 9 rbs, 0 assists, 1 steal
Cam: 19 pts, 12 rbs, 5 assists, 3 steals
This team can make a run, especially if they shoot it like today - 51%. They outrebounded Illinois 28 - 24. Terrific defensive team and pretty darn good on offense.
I was curious about what the mood and reaction would be over on the Illini message board, so not too long after the game I went over and had a look at the postgame thread. I was impressed with the level of maturity and sportsmanship: lots of respect and good wishes for Loyola, lots of "they came to play" and "they were obviously underseeded." It was actually pretty cool (for the most part), and I even began to feel kind of crappy about being as gleeful as I was about their defeat--I mean, I would have been pulling for them if they hadn't been playing against a Valley team; I'm not really an Illini HATER, after all.
But just a little while ago I decided to go have a look at the pre-game thread. Oh my. That was a different animal. And ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS. And then I realized that, yeah, I guess I kind of do hate them a bit. Lots of sneering and dismissal in THAT thread. To be fair, I doubt that the a$$****s in the pre-game thread had much to say in the postgame thread.
Anyway, reading through that made the Loyola win all the more savory.
I’m an unabashed Illini hater for multiple reasons, first and foremost their decades-long arrogance when it comes to throwing in-state teams a bone to build any good will. Some state schools have done at least a little better with this over time.
Not expecting annual home-and-homes, but zero trips to Carbondale ever? Wouldn’t even let Weber play Southern in STL or Chicago after hiring him away? Screw em.
And you can argue that they would’ve been more prepared for Loyola today if they’d have seen them earlier in the season.
You owe it to yourself to take a cruise through that pre-game thread: I think you will enjoy that. 😉
(Inflammatory political snark)
You owe it to yourself to take a cruise through that pre-game thread: I think you will enjoy that.
From the pre-game:
"Rece Davis on ESPN said taking us -7 was "free money". Hope he's right."
🤣
If you're gonna reply to me in the forums, please quote what I wrote that you're replying to so I have a clue...thanks! 😀
Imagine the juvenile humor if Oral plays the beavers in the final four .
I will be in on it of course but just imagine 🤣🤣
What I enjoyed most from my look at the Illini board was the posters talking about what a lowly conference the MVC is, how the Illini will/should win this by 20 because the MVC is garbage, and THEN bitching (after the loss, of course) about Loyola being "underseeded."
Uh, you don't realize that your mindset is part of that "underseeding"? Hilarious arrogance.
To be fair, there was a lot of that on this board when we were good, if any of you can remember back that far: ABSOLUTE OUTRAGE that the "big boys" would not deign to schedule us! And then, in a different thread, not five minutes later, the same poster would be ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGED at our having lowly SEMO on our schedule.
Stupid.
(Inflammatory political snark)
You owe it to yourself to take a cruise through that pre-game thread: I think you will enjoy that.
From the pre-game:
"Rece Davis on ESPN said taking us -7 was "free money". Hope he's right."
🤣
Zipp, we could be here all night with gems from that Illini pre-game thread. It is hilarious (and maddening)! 😂
(Inflammatory political snark)
Looks like Loyola will get the Beavers in the sweet 16...could have been fun with Loyola and the volunteer asst coach.
#12 Oregon State vs #8 Loyola Chicago next weekend
That last game: over 50 fouls, over 70 FTs - whew. ORST shot ~90% from the line, OKST shot significantly less.
If you're gonna reply to me in the forums, please quote what I wrote that you're replying to so I have a clue...thanks! 😀
Sister Jean better sell more bobble heads if she wants to keep Porter. I know he wants to stay in Chicago, but the DePaul job is open.... I think Porter chooses happiness at more than a million a year over the god-awful DePaul job
I think Porter might be one of those guys that looks at others lured by the bright lights, 7 figure contracts and the pressure of winning at a Power 5 school and says; "Nah, that's not for me."
*”Nah, that’s not for me, but I want a raise”
That would be the smart play as he'll fail away from Loyola.
As I figured, about 5 minutes following the big Loyola/MVC victory would see the entrance of the d bag trolls.....
I can provide a list of every mid major coach that failed once they left midmajordom. My point was why leave if you continues to run the best basketball program in Illinois? This was the same point I made when the clown show here felt the WSU coach should go to Alabama, Texas, etc. for an extra 10% on his salary. Porter is making stupid money at Loyola and will continue to do so as long as he likes.
OK, please provide that list.
I can provide an even longer list of successful high major coaches who began their careers at mid-majors or below. Wanna play?
Too bad you had to spew out that stupid shit, because your point at the end is completely valid: I agree with you that Moser is enough of a stand-up guy to realize that he is making, as you say, "stupid money," and has enough morals to realize that $1 million/year is just a completely ridiculous amount of money to make for coaching basketball while living in a place you love, where you also happen to be a hero. That is a good point, one that Jacobsen, among others, gets. He will most likely stay there, and that is a great point you make.
Why you have to undermine any valid point you ever make with absolutely stupid shite is beyond me.
Power 5 coaches don't get those jobs without experience at lower levels. Most coached in lower divisions first or smaller schools - you don't just step into a job like that. Rich Herrin, going directly from high school to D1 was an exception. Even midmajor coaches usually spend time in lower divisions or as long time assistants before getting HC jobs.
Guess who?
| 1962–1963 | Cuyahoga Falls HS (assistant) |
|---|---|
| 1963–1965 | Army (assistant) |
| 1965–1971 | Army |
| 1971–2000 | Indiana |
| 1984 | U.S. Men's Olympic Team |
| 2001–2008 | Texas Tech |
| 1933–1935 | Dayton HS |
|---|---|
| 1935–1944 | South Bend Central HS |
| 1946–1948 | Indiana State |
| 1948–1975 | UCLA |
| 1953–1955 | Kansas (assistant) |
|---|---|
| 1955–1958 | Air Force (assistant) |
| 1958–1961 | North Carolina (assistant) |
| 1961–1997 | North Carolina |
| 1973–1978 | Charles D. Owen HS |
|---|---|
| 1978–1988 | North Carolina (assistant) |
| 1988–2003 | Kansas |
| 2003–present | North Carolina |
| 1977–1978 | West Virginia (assistant) |
|---|---|
| 1978–1980 | Ohio State (assistant) |
| 1980–1983 | Walsh |
| 1983–1984 | UCF (assistant) |
| 1984–1989 | Akron |
| 1989–2005 | Cincinnati |
| 2006–2007 | Kansas State |
| 2007–present | West Virginia |
| 1955–1957 | Dartmouth (assistant) |
|---|---|
| 1957–1964 | Belmont Abbey |
| 1964–1977 |
| 1974–1976 | Hawaii (assistant) |
|---|---|
| 1976 | Hawaii (interim HC) |
| 1976–1978 | Syracuse (assistant) |
| 1978–1983 | Boston University |
| 1983–1985 | New York Knicks (assistant) |
| 1985–1987 | Providence |
| 1987–1989 | New York Knicks |
| 1989–1997 | Kentucky |
| 1997–2001 | Boston Celtics |
| 2001–2017 | Louisville |
| 2018–2020 | Panathinaikos |
| 2020–present | Iona |
File this under “things that make you say WTF!”. Just for S&G this morning I wandered over to Illinois board. There are whines about the NCAA committee under seeding Loyola, as in “we should not have had to play them in the second round”. How do they think Loyola felt? I didn’t realize that entitlement was such a heavy cross to bear!
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
Loyola! Fundamentals. Have a plan. Work the plan. Seeding: yes, the committee knew full well what they did. These kinds of seeds are designed to eliminate "shares"...thus, Loyola was slapped with an 8. Now go home. Didn't happen. Porter is good. Loyola is good for the MVC. Yes, it's a hoot to read the Illinois blog. Equally funny is to go back and read the comments about including Loyola and Porter in the MVC. Many teams in this year's NCAA should never have been included. But, that is another story. Go Loyola! Make Saluki fans and MVC fans proud. Bring home the bacon.
Seeding: yes, the committee knew full well what they did. These kinds of seeds are designed to eliminate "shares"
I keep forgetting about this aspect, but yes, it makes total sense. I love when the MVC simply gives the committee the finger. (Insert Nelson "Haha" here).
If you're gonna reply to me in the forums, please quote what I wrote that you're replying to so I have a clue...thanks! 😀
When SIU welcomed Loyola to the Arena in Jan-Feb 2018, I was sitting in the end bleachers. Prior to tipoff, Loyola was warming up at the nearest goal. A frat boy knucklehead remarked about Cam Krutwig: "He's just big as ****," as if he were quickly dismissing any talent or abilities without seeing him play a single possession. How could anyone halfway decent go to lowly Loyola, anyway?
Later in the game, a Rambler guard (I believe Dante Ingram?) threw a sharp pass inside to a cutting Cam Krutwig that had just a little too much mustard on it, sending the ball out of bounds right near us. The potty mouth frat boy again called out, "WOAH WOAH WOAH! CALM DOWN HERE! CALM DOWN! THIS ISN'T THE BIG EAST! THIS IS MISSOURI VALLEY BASKETBALL!"
Then Cam Krutwig and the Ramblers proceeded to go the Final Four just two or three months later.
Then, three years later, the very same Krutwig and Loyola knocked off his precious Illini. Even Jesus himself has an orange and blue house, right?
It's better for people to think of you an idiot, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Where's the Tony Young meme? PWND!!
(NOTE: I was in my late 20's at the time, and quite frankly, even still think of myself as not *that* far removed from my own college/SIU days, so I don't feel any fouls for calling out stupid frat boys.)
EDIT: spelling/typos
Well the "Big 10" got NINE into the dance. MVC got two. SIX BT schools are gone and the first round is not over. One MVC school out.
Percentage wise, the MVC is winning 50% to 33%.
Congrats Loyola! keep the MVC cash coming Ramblers.
March on triumphantly!
