Bright future for Valley

[Murph]

How about: Every team has won a Valley title or tournament since BU last won their's?? That's what this board needs to be focusing on! Until some real movement towards a Valley crown is made, NOBODY should be resting on any laurels or applauding a 4th place finish! Face it, other than the Sweet 16 run, things have not been good since '96. One NCAA appearance in 10 years is not acceptable unless you're Northwestern!

I'm too lazy to look it up but wasn't The Valley really bad in the mid to late 90s.

[BUFAN]

So only 4 teams in the MVC have had more NCAA appearances in the last 10 years than Bradley. I would have thought every one of them did the way some people here talk.


And of those 4 that have more than BU-
UNI has not been back since 2006 (the year BU was last there)
Indiana State has not been back since 2001.
SIU will have a losing record this year, while Bradley has not had a losing record in the past 4 seasons, and has a chance at the 4th 20+ win season in a row. SIU, Indy State, Drake, and Mo. State could all likely play in the play-in games. When was the last time Bradley played in the play-in games, and how many of the other teams have played in the play-in games since Bradley last played in them?

When was the last time Bradley had a coach hired away by BCS/bigtime program???

[tornado]

hmmm can we count NBA teams, too?...so I gues it all depends where you draw the line...
....Rob Judson, Ritchie McKay, Duane Broussard, Dick Versace, Stan Albeck, Even Jim Molinari coached Minnesota after leaving Bradley.

[basketball nut]

I wanted to add that just getting to the NCAA is not good enough. I hate the fact that you play a whole season to get what most likely would be 1, maybe 2 games in a tournament. I want my team to win it all...but would probably be happy with a Final 4... I'm a hardcore BU fan...for better or worse...but I think we??™re all due for some better...

We are not 1 of the BCS schools and we will only be lucky to make it to the Final 4. In fact to win more then 1 game in the NCAA tournament is doing very good for any team. Do you realize that only 16 teams win 2 games each year. If you have the time check out how many schools have one 2 games each year for last 10 years. I would be very surprised if there were more then a handful.
I guess I am the non competative one as I want to see good BB and see us win 20 games each year. I am not one that bases everything on going to the Big Dance but I will base it on being competative and getting better throughout the season. Yes, I would rather play 3 or 4 games in one of the other tournaments then 1 & done in the NCAA tourn. Does this mean that I don't think we should be shooting for that each year? Not at all but it doesnt make for a bad season just because we don't make it.
As far as the MVC goes, every coach is getting paid to do the same thing, and that is finish #1.
As for this year we have over achieved greatly as we are very young. Many times we have had 3 freshman on the floor at the same time and all underclassmen on the floor at the same time. We will be good but so will everyone else next year because approx. 65% of the starters in the valley will be back and and if you went through the top 8 players on each team that number goes to almost 75% so good luck moving up the ladder as it will get tougher. Then again we will be better next year then this year as we should have more depth next year. We lose 2 starters but only 1 bench player as long as everyone else comes back. It should be fun but no guarantee of a championship and not very likely to make it to the final 4

[Murph]

hmmm can we count NBA teams, too?...so I gues it all depends where you draw the line...
....Rob Judson, Ritchie McKay, Duane Broussard, Dick Versace, Stan Albeck, Even Jim Molinari coached Minnesota after leaving Bradley.

Assistants don't count


Versace fired for cheating.

Stan Albeck fired for losing.

Jim Molinari fired for losing.

[Da Coach]

When was the last time Bradley had a coach hired away by BCS/bigtime program???

What does that have to do with the topic? If Bradley had a string of coaches hired away by BCS schools, but not much NCAA success, would you and others who seem dissatisfied with the program be happy? I dobt it would make a bit of difference.

[peoriaspitfire]

We are not 1 of the BCS schools and we will only be lucky to make it to the Final 4. In fact to win more then 1 game in the NCAA tournament is doing very good for any team. Do you realize that only 16 teams win 2 games each year. If you have the time check out how many schools have one 2 games each year for last 10 years. I would be very surprised if there were more then a handful.
I guess I am the non competative one as I want to see good BB and see us win 20 games each year. I am not one that bases everything on going to the Big Dance but I will base it on being competative and getting better throughout the season. Yes, I would rather play 3 or 4 games in one of the other tournaments then 1 & done in the NCAA tourn. Does this mean that I don't think we should be shooting for that each year? Not at all but it doesnt make for a bad season just because we don't make it.
As far as the MVC goes, every coach is getting paid to do the same thing, and that is finish #1.
As for this year we have over achieved greatly as we are very young. Many times we have had 3 freshman on the floor at the same time and all underclassmen on the floor at the same time. We will be good but so will everyone else next year because approx. 65% of the starters in the valley will be back and and if you went through the top 8 players on each team that number goes to almost 75% so good luck moving up the ladder as it will get tougher. Then again we will be better next year then this year as we should have more depth next year. We lose 2 starters but only 1 bench player as long as everyone else comes back. It should be fun but no guarantee of a championship and not very likely to make it to the final 4

You're right, I don't the NCAA tournament is not the top priority. I care about winning the MVC or at the very least become the new Creighton of the MVC. Doing that first will usually take care of the NCAA situation. I do often dream about being the Midwest Gonzaga, Butler or Xavier but am a realist...

I have also noticed how young some of the other teams are and that is a bit worrisome, but overall good for the future of the MVC.

[leebiddlecome]

Has Bradley really been in contention much over the last decade? One top three seed (2001 - 2 seed) in that time versus three play-in games (2002, 2004 & 2005).

To answer your question honestly, No, Bradley hasn't been in contention. I wish I could answer differently.

It has been over 8 years since BU played a February game (home or away) in which some form of first place (alone, tie, etc) was on the line. I love going to BU games but nothing is better than going to a late season game at Carver Arena knowing you have a chance to win the league and that you can see a potential first place team on a given night.

That hasn't happened in quite some time. Hopefully it changes soon but, as the title of the thread suggested, this league is going to be real good in the future and I hope BU is among the leaders there.

[BUFAN]

What does that have to do with the topic? If Bradley had a string of coaches hired away by BCS schools, but not much NCAA success, would you and others who seem dissatisfied with the program be happy? I dobt it would make a bit of difference.

Da, success breads success, if Bradley had a successful NCAAMBB program one of the big boys would scarff up their coaching staff just like any of the other MVC programs that have been sucessful...

[Da Coach]

success breads success

Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way for the midmajors.

After Steve Alford left Missouri State, they took a step back with Barry, and now he's gone and they are an abysmal team.
After Keno Davis left Drake, they are mediocre, and rebuilding.
After Turgeon left WSU, they are struggling to rebuild, too.

In fact, other than the success SIU had with Painter and then for a couple years with Lowery (not now, though), just about every other example you can find in the MVC of a coach being hired away was followed by some pretty lean times, and not much success.

Many other schools like Winthrop, UW-Milwaukee, etc. may take a long time to get back to the levels their former coaches had them at.

[tornado]

and then for a couple years with Lowery ....

but it needs to be noted the success Lowery had was directly proportional to how many left-over players he had from the Weber/Painter era....
As the number of those players have declined and they have exited, most of Lowery's recruits have been total flops, overrated, have already left, or are now underachieving and losing more than the Saluki fans would like.
He still has time to build a legacy, but there are a growing number of fans who don't care to give him more time...

[BUFAN]

Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way for the midmajors.

After Steve Alford left Missouri State, they took a step back with Barry, and now he's gone and they are an abysmal team.
After Keno Davis left Drake, they are mediocre, and rebuilding.
After Turgeon left WSU, they are struggling to rebuild, too.

In fact, other than the success SIU had with Painter and then for a couple years with Lowery (not now, though), just about every other example you can find in the MVC of a coach being hired away was followed by some pretty lean times, and not much success.

Many other schools like Winthrop, UW-Milwaukee, etc. may take a long time to get back to the levels their former coaches had them at.

Da, you can argue all you want but, Alfords replacement, Davises replacement, Turgeons replacement, along with Mckenna and his replacement, Janks and his replacement and Marshalls and his replacement etc. etc. etc. will all be long gone to greener pastures and everyone in on this board will still be happy with Les and 4th or 5th in the Valley and I am not, sorry...

[Da Coach]

There are a lot of Drake fans who aren't happy with Phelps, and a lot of SIU fans who aren't happy with Lowery, and a lot of MSU fans who hated Barry, and on and on. As I said, very few replacements have the same success as a coach that was hired away by a BCS school. It more often returns a midmajor team to mediocrity.

[leebiddlecome]

There are a lot of Drake fans who aren't happy with Phelps, and a lot of SIU fans who aren't happy with Lowery, and a lot of MSU fans who hated Barry, and on and on. As I said, very few replacements have the same success as a coach that was hired away by a BCS school. It more often returns a midmajor team to mediocrity.

Which goes to show that they were pretty good coaches and that you just can't replace them that easily. It's tough to be like Butler and keep hitting home runs with your hire.

[BUFAN]

Which goes to show that they were pretty good coaches and that you just can't replace them that easily. It's tough to be like Butler and keep hitting home runs with your hire.

I'm not really certain where BS fits in but Butler had a system going for a long while. That is, develope coaches and promote from within. SIU was in that mode for a while and unless you have given up on Lowery they still do. My comment on SIU is it would be very hard to recruit the tallented border line BCS player into their system...