Next game- Oakland at Bradley- Monday, March 23 7:05 pm

[shaunguth]

Have I said lately how much Sam Singh deserves and has EARNED a start?!

I have thought the same thing most of this season. Collins must be a great practice player, although maybe he's going against AT in practice. I'm just surprised Collins outplays Singh in practice, therefore deserving the starting spot in the eyes of the staff.

[shaunguth]

Oakland is a very tough team that has won 10 of their last 11 games.

For the season, they are averaging 80.3 points in their 23 wins and 64.8 points in their 12 losses.

Prediction....

70 - Oakland
71 - Bradley

[SFP]

I have thought the same thing most of this season. Collins must be a great practice player, although maybe he's going against AT in practice. I'm just surprised Collins outplays Singh in practice, therefore deserving the starting spot in the eyes of the staff.

I would guess it is probably a toss up for JL and he knows what he is going to get with SS on just about any given game but DC is an enigma. So, see what DC will give you early on and use SS in spots because SS is plays best when he does not play a ton of minutes.

[shaunguth]

I would guess it is probably a toss up for JL and he knows what he is going to get with SS on just about any given game but DC is an enigma. So, see what DC will give you early on and use SS in spots because SS is plays best when he does not play a ton of minutes.

Funny, because I've come to expect a turnover and a foul in the first three minutes from DC.

[pfunk880]

Funny, because I've come to expect a turnover and a foul in the first three minutes from DC.

[Da Coach]

BU-Oakland game notes from BradleyBrave.com-

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&ATCLID=3697151&DB_OEM_ID=3400

The Opening Tips
??? After earning a postseason victory for a school-record fourth consecutive year, Bradley will host red-hot Oakland in the quarterfinals of the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament Monday night at Carver Arena.
??? Bradley won the only previous meeting against Oakland, limiting the Grizzlies to 35 points on 18.2 percent shooting -- both still Carver Arena record lows -- in a 76-35 victory Dec. 6, 1997.
??? Bradley is attempting to reach the semifinal round of a postseason tournament for the second straight year and the 13th time in 34 tries overall.
??? Bradley also is shooting for its fourth straight 20-win season, a streak the program has not enjoyed since a six-year run from 1956-57 through 1961-62.
??? The Bradley/Oakland winner will play the Idaho/Pacific winner Wednesday night.

[2bradleyfans]

Guess I feel kinda lame.

went over to the OU fan site posted and there is virtually no interrest.

Yea, can't wait for the Golden Grizz that don't care to play here.

[epistibrain]

Apparently some people did not appreciate my candor on a previous post so I will comply and drink the koolaide.

I little candor is fine, but could you turn it down from 8 to something around 6.5?

[Da Coach]

Article about the BU-OU game from the local newspaper at Oakland University-

http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20090320/SPORTS/90320020

This writer has a couple things wrong, though. He says:

Tipoff for Monday’s game is set for 8:05 p.m., with the Braves being the No. 5 seed and Oakland the No. 6 seed in the original tournament seedings. The tournament committee reseeds after reach round.

Actually, Bradley has been the tournament's #1 seed from the beginning, and the full seeding has been set since the first round games ended.

The winner of the Oakland-Bradley game will play in the semifinals against either the James Madison (20-14) at Liberty (22-11) winner, or against the Belmont (20-12) at Old Dominion (21-10) winner, depending on the remaining seeds.

Untrue- The winner of the BU-Oakland game will play the winner of the Idaho-Pacific game.

Here is the bracket-

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3BaJMgGKAmE/Sb5ZgtGR7fI/AAAAAAAAJe8/bCfqQ3tZVB0/s1600-h/2009

[bigjimmy]

Oakland won't be a pushover. Eric Kangas is #30 and is their leading scorer at 18.7. He shoots a lot of 3's and make about 42% of them. His back court mate is #23 Jonathan Jones who averages 13.6 points and 7.8 assists per game. EM versus Jones should be a great matchup. CR should be the primary defender on Kangas. If the game is close we better not foul Kangas as he's a 89% FT shooter. The X factor for Oakland is 6'11" Keith Benson, #34. He's their 2nd leading scorer at 14.1 and leads them in rebounding at 7.8 and blocked shots at 2.2. DC NEEDS TO COME TO PLAY. I think his roomate, TW, needs to have another talk with him. With Benson and 2 other guys at least 6'10" TW needs to relie on his 10-15 foot jump shot instead of trying to force things inside the lane. You might even see an AT sighting if both DC and SS get into foul trouble. I just hope we see a lot more of the good BU team that makes FT's and moves the ball on offense and is ball hawking on defense and not the bad BU team that gives up back door layups and wide open 3's on defense and committs too many unforced tournovers and clanks their Ft's on offense. Should be a fun game and I look for a BU 77-70 win.

[Tulsa Brave]

Braves open as a 3-point favorite...that is less than the typical homecourt advantage. That should cause some of you who are way too overconfident to raise some eyebrows...or to load up.

[Da Coach]

Here is an interesting fact from the Oakland Grizzlies website. The biggest win in their history was against Illinois State!--

The 1998-99 season was the final for Oakland as a transitional Division I school and the Golden Grizzlies finished at 12-15 overall. The 12 victories were against a schedule that was tabbed during the year as the toughest in the nation by Jeff Sagarin of the Sagarin Ratings (USA Today). The first win of the season was at Illinois State (72-71) and has been said to be the biggest win in the history of Oakland basketball. Although Oakland wasn't eligible for the Summit Leaguetinent Conference race, the Golden Grizzlies competed in a full Summit League schedule and finished 8-8 overall, which would have been good for fifth place.

[Braves4Life]

Braves open as a 3-point favorite...that is less than the typical homecourt advantage. That should cause some of you who are way too overconfident to raise some eyebrows...or to load up.

Time will tell. Put me on record as saying that Oakland never has been and never will be in Bradley's class.

Bradley wins easy by 10+!

[Da Coach]

Time will tell. Put me on record as saying that Oakland never has been and never will be in Bradley's class.

Bradley wins easy by 10+!

Here is a preview article from an Oakland County (Michigan) newspaper-

http://pembertonpoint.blogspot.com/2009/03/oakland-at-bradley-preview.html

Oakland has the nations leading assist man, Johnathan Jones, who averages 7.8 assists per game--

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/stats/bycategory?cat=Fielding&conference_id=NCAAB&sort=10

Some fans on the Oakland Grizzlies message board have noticed some BU fans' overconfidence--

Grizzland said:
I am amazed by the confidence of the fans on the Bradley forum. While a few fans are giving Oakland their deserved credit many feel that this game could be an easy victory for BU. I agree with Kampes quote saying that the guys have really seemed to embrace the CIT tournament after a tough come from behind victory. I am expecting Oakland to come out and play tough against BU giving them a run for their money. I am excited about the game Monday and hope we can quiet some fans and that forum. Go get em Grizzlies!!!

Grizzfan1 said:
I agree. A couple of them seem to be a little too overconfident.

[MacabreMob]

Grizzland said:
I am amazed by the confidence of the fans on the Bradley forum. While a few fans are giving Oakland their deserved credit many feel that this game could be an easy victory for BU. I agree with Kampes quote saying that the guys have really seemed to embrace the CIT tournament after a tough come from behind victory. I am expecting Oakland to come out and play tough against BU giving them a run for their money. I am excited about the game Monday and hope we can quiet some fans and that forum. Go get em Grizzlies!!!

An Oakland win might serve up a little crow for some but it won't quiet this forum.

Any word on Dodie's hand? Any progress? How about Big Sam's knee? Just kinked that night, little sore Thursday and now fine?