Bradley's Brazil Tour vs. Professional Teams, Can BU Win?

[tornado]

Let me make THREE strong points....

--every other foreign tour I have seen has pitted the college teams against "club teams", semi-pro teams, or against Canadian college teams
(as was the case when BU went to Canada six years ago -- and although BU beat all the Canadian teams, numerous coleges
have gone north of the border like U of I and lost, and SIU struggled in every one of their games.)
I cannot recall a single example of where a team took a foreign tour and played a full slate of NOTHING BUT professional teams, can you?
Here's a box score of a select group of players from the Big Ten that went to Europe and played some very low level pro teams and LOST games,
here's an example showing a sound loss to a low level Belgian pro team !

http://www.mgoblue.com/document_file/bigten-tour-4.pdf

In 2006, the Big Ten touring team lost some of their games soundly.

http://www.michigandaily.com/content/foreign-tour-good-cagers

--I know they aren't top level pro teams like the Celtics, the Lakers, or even Maccabi Tel Aviv...but even lesser tier PRO teams are
always made up of the best players you can get....
But even many of BU's BEST players don't just jump to the professional level, even at 24 or 25 years of age without a few years of struggle before succeeding!
Even the lesser pro teams here in the US like NBDL or CBA teams would crush most college teams...especially when considering the next point.

--as pro teams, these guys have played together for a long time, and likely have been practicing together for months!
They are playing in their own home environment and would be expected to have a huge "home court" type advantage even if it's not their own actual home arena.

So--- what's everyone's opinion on how hard this tour is going to be?
Can BU win any of these games?
Can a team with largely teenagers and 20 year olds who have only had 10 practices possibly hang with
a series of five different PROFESSIONAL teams in a row..including a couple of them that are clearly top caliber teams?

I think if BU can compete with these guys and even win a couple games, it would be a good sign.


and PS-- one last question. Has ISU ever gone on a foreign tour?
(not counting their 1995 5th place finish in the San Juan Shootout..those were US college teams
and ISU played a Brazilian amateur team as an exhibition in 1999)

http://redbirdfan.com/archives/9900/brazil_9900.htm

[ser_solace]

Do we know how competitive the Brazil pro league is relative to the European leagues?

I guess I'm not sure how good a Brazil pro team is.

[Da Coach]

Here are the rosters listed for some of the teams Bradley is scheduled to play-

Lupo/Araraquara of the NBB (the highest level pro league in Brazil)- roster contains players from 19 to 31 years of age, with size comparable to Bradley. They finished 12th in the 15-team NBB last spring.-

http://www.latinbasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=Brazil&Team=3680&Page=1

Paulistano/Amil of the NBB- they have players from 21-30, with comparable height to Bradley. They finished 9th in the 15-team NBB last spring.-

http://www.latinbasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=Brazil&Team=3557&Page=1

Fluminense from a lower level league. Most of their players appear to be younger and less experienced. I would think Bradley would have no problem with this team-

http://www.latinbasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=Brazil&Team=12297&Page=1

[tornado]

Do we know how competitive the Brazil pro league is relative to the European leagues?

I guess I'm not sure how good a Brazil pro team is.

but I think that's exactly the question that I am posing. What would be a good measure?
I suspect no matter what evidence is put forth, someone will try to refute it, since I suspect the only measure that might get some acceptance would be if the Brazilian pro teams would regularly play home and home games vs. American teams.

But Brazil is a very large nation, with a lot of basketball interest, and a large, well organized system of professional teams that play year round.

and since the Brazilian pro leagues tightly restrict the use of import players, you will find VERY few Americans playing there.
Here you can see that 60-70 Brazilians are presently playing college ball in the US..and a few playing pro ball (Nene Hilario, Varejao Anderson)

http://www.latinbasket.com/Brazil/basketball-Players-Abroad.asp

but only about 8 Americans are playing pro ball in Brazil.

When Brazil competes in the FIBA Americas they almost always do quite well, and are always among the top 4 team in North, Central, and South America combined.
The Brazilian women are ranked #4 in the WORLD, and the men are #18, higher than Canada, Israel, and higher than every other South American country except Argentina.

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/even/rank/p/rankMen.html

[Out of Balance]

Lets not get the crying towels out now. I'm sure JL and company did the research and knew and know just what they were doing in scheduling this trip and just who they will play Lets not start making excuses before the plane leaves P Town BU will do just fine

[SFP]

I hope each game challenges our young men! These are professional men they will be playing and I'd suspect that JL knows what he is doing here. Who cares if we win or lose these games! Let's hope the team gets everything they can out of this trip.

[Bradleyguy10]

I hope we lose most of these games really. A team learns a whole heck of a lot more from losing than winning games like this.....

Let me make this clear though so people don't start bashing. If these teams aren't very talented then if we lose them..yes we have some problems. So really what I hope is that these teams are very very talented and can wipe the floor with us. You only get better by playing the best, and this could be a good learning experience so they know what to work on or it could be just a vacation and nothing more.

[electricmayhem]

One point is that even though they have had only 10 practices, there aren't any freshman on the trip and most of these guys have played together before.

[Da Coach]

I hope we lose most of these games really....

I hope the trip helps the team, but I can't go as far as hoping they lose. I think they can still learn and improve even by pounding the opposition.

[real fan]

Losing games does not help your team in any way as it destroys your confidence , this will be a great experience for our players and hopefully the will take the games seriously and still have a good time on this trip as it is a once in a lifetime trip for most of the ones that will be going to Brazil. I know from going there a long time ago how much I was surprized by the differences in how the city of Rio was compared to Sao Paulo, the people were either very rich or really poor, there was no middle class and the living conditions for the poor was a real eye opener .

[tornado]

Lets not start making excuses before the plane leaves P Town..

who is doing what you're asking us not to do?
I see no excuses...but then I did pose a question - one that neither you nor anyone else has even taken a crack at...
...can anyone name a single time a college team went abroad and played PROFESSIONAL TEAMS?
Simple question...but obviously nobody has an answer....
Everyone else goes and plays rag-tag amateur and club teams, and rarely they play teams that might have a mix of pros.
BUT I couldn't find where anyone actually played a full tour of nothing BUT professional teams.

[houstontxbrave]

Yes BU can win games on this tour.

I think they will hang and be competitive with all of these teams.

I am concerned about the lack of depth and the number of games.

But I really dont care about the outcome of any of the games. I am concerned about this team jelling, coming together and developing a strong bond. I am also wanting this team to learn whatever offenses and defenses JL and staff have in mind.

By Nov very few will know anything about the games or the results, but the way this team handles itself versus BYU will likely be a direct reflection of this tour.

[BU RICK]

I'm trying to keep my mouth shut on this but I can't. Tornado, you crack me up at times, I never know if you're being serious or doing stand-up comedy Win or lose, all I hope for is that we come home with no injuries.

[Out of Balance]

I'm trying to keep my mouth shut on this but I can't. Tornado, you crack me up at times, I never know if you're being serious or doing stand-up comedy Win or lose, all I hope for is that we come home with no injuries.

I'll with you there friend

[Out of Balance]

who is doing what you're asking us not to do?
I see no excuses...but then I did pose a question - one that neither you nor anyone else has even taken a crack at...
...can anyone name a single time a college team went abroad and played PROFESSIONAL TEAMS?
Simple question...but obviously nobody has an answer....
Everyone else goes and plays rag-tag amateur and club teams, and rarely they play teams that might have a mix of pros.
BUT I couldn't find where anyone actually played a full tour of nothing BUT professional teams.

OK, to answer the ?, I don't know nor do I care as long as BU plays hard As I said JL and the coachs knew what they are getting into. As for excuses there are some on this site who looks for any excuse they can come up with when BU loses and does not play well Look, lets go play ball with who ever, gain some experiences, do some team bonding and come home injury free