Despite early season expectations, the 2024-25 campaign has been anything but smooth sailing for newly minted Saint Louis head coach Josh Schertz.
An almost entirely rebuilt roster, multiple injuries and a difficult non-conference schedule have all posed major challenges amidst an up-and-down start to the Billikens season.
“We’ve been gutted with injuries and playing without guys,” Schertz said. “Robbie [Avila] misses three, four games and comes back, but as he comes back Kellen [Thames] goes out. It’s just been a revolving door of guys in and out of the lineup, and we haven’t had a chance to really practice and develop.”
As Schertz mentioned, Avila missed time earlier this year and Thames just returned on Tuesday but even more than that, Josiah Dotzler hasn’t played since week two while AJ Casey just suffered another setback in practice.
Battling all that over the last few weeks was undoubtedly toiling as it sparked a three-game losing streak for Saint Louis with all three being tightly contested single-digit losses.
It’s a cycle that’s seen freshmen like Amari Cottry, Max Pikaar and Dylan Warlick playing increased minutes, but through it all the Billikens have persevered to a 8-6 record.
“I thought coming out at Illinois State, against Wofford for a half and then at Grand Canyon, we started to find ourselves in terms of what our identity needs to be,” Schertz said. “We played Grand Canyon and had every chance to win that game, lost on a crazy shot with three-tenths [of a seconds] left, but we built on that and played well last Saturday.”
As for what that identity is, Schertz knows this team has a ton of talent, but outside of just getting healthy, he wants to see them bring more physicality and compete as a whole unit.
“It has to start on the defensive end with how we compete on that end of the floor and how connected we are,” Schertz said. “It’s trying to take care of the ball better and work collectively. We’ve got a lot of talented guys but figuring out how to work together to generate a shot every possession, guys understanding their function and how they add value to winning. I think [we are] starting to see that on both ends.”
Now, the Atlantic 10 slate brings opportunity for anew as Saint Louis looks to re-establish itself as a contender in a conference with the potential for three-bid status this season.
With a visit to Fordham pinned on the Billikens schedule as the program’s A10 opener, Schertz…
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