Just My Opinion

[BRADLEY FAN 49]

I feel like after all the expert post on the reason we were losing being because Merf. left the team.
That surely Merf. must be helping J.L. (giving him pointers behind the scenes).
This has to be the only explanation for us playing better now.

[Beninator]

I feel like after all the expert post on the reason we were losing being because Merf. left the team.
That surely Merf. must be helping J.L. (giving him pointers behind the scenes).
This has to be the only explanation for us playing better now.

lol... Nice post BF49!

[Da Coach]

I think you are right BF49- After reading posts from all the fans who said Merfeld was so essential, and his departure was obviously the reason Bradley was losing games, Jim Les must have worked out some kind of reconciliation to bring him back.
How else can this winning streak be explained?

[afan]

I feel like after all the expert post on the reason we were losing being because Merf. left the team.
That surely Merf. must be helping J.L. (giving him pointers behind the scenes).
This has to be the only explanation for us playing better now.

It would seem reasonable to believe that Merf leaving may have had somewhat of an unsettleing effect on the team. It would seem logical. However, it appears that any residual effect was only temporary, thank goodness.

[ph]

Merf was the bigs coach, and I believe EB is now the bigs coach. WE is now playing better. Although most of that may be natural injury recovery vs learned skills, it does not seem we have lost bigs coaching ability...

[dogsrus]

We have played 2 games at home we SHOULD have won and did and we had a nice road win against a struggling team at SIU.

While thats all wonderful MY question is why did we need a turn around in the first place.

Oh yeah, becuase we lost three games at home we should NEVER had lost in the first place.

So the Kool aid drinkers can get on the realists all they want but, as far as I'm concerned, we are back to "mediocre." We were trending downwards but APPEAR to be turning a corner.....


Weds will tell us MUCH more.

Go BU.

[basketball nut]

I feel like after all the expert post on the reason we were losing being because Merf. left the team.
That surely Merf. must be helping J.L. (giving him pointers behind the scenes).
This has to be the only explanation for us playing better now.

I have been wondering where all the fire JL threads have gone. It has been pretty quiet lately-I bet they come back out when/if we lose a game. I wonder how many of those guys have coached a BB game at any level.
Oh ya didn't you see Merf on the bench today?

[Grassman]

[quote=dogsrus;160167]We have played 2 games at home we SHOULD have won and did and we had a nice road win against a struggling team at SIU.

While thats all wonderful MY question is why did we need a turn around in the first place.

Oh yeah, becuase we lost three games at home we should NEVER had lost in the first place.

So the Kool aid drinkers can get on the realists all they want but, as far as I'm concerned, we are back to "mediocre." We were trending downwards but APPEAR to be turning a corner.....

Well Doggie, let me see if i can cheer you up and help you around that corner.

6 games ago we win @ home in overtime against Ind. St
5 games ago we are embarrased at Mo. St. by 19.
4 games ago we go into UNI and lose by only 2 to a team that has been ranked as high as #20.,
3 Games ago we turn a 19pt loss around to an 18 pt. win.
2 games ago we win @ SIU for the first time in 8 years.
1 game ago we shoot "lights out" and out rebound a team by 14.

WE might not have turned the corner, but we are definitely peeking around it!

[AZ BU Fan]

I have been wondering where all the fire JL threads have gone. It has been pretty quiet lately-I bet they come back out when/if we lose a game. I wonder how many of those guys have coached a BB game at any level.
Oh ya didn't you see Merf on the bench today?

Come on BN. As if the only people who can post on this site need to be current/former basketball coaches - that would tend to eliminate many posters. Its doubtful most sportswriters have coached basketball, but that doesn't disqualify them from their opinions either.

Posting fire JL threads after wins would be just as dumb as .....posting how great JL is, and how he must must stay forever when they lose, and lose, and lose.

[lake Camelot]

Well this has been a bad year for me. I have been disappointed in our play and results. Now I have to sound negative at a time when we should be happy after a couple wins. Come on !!! All the people gloating about how great the team is. We beat Evansville. We should have. We should have won some other games earlier in the year that we lost also. This team has some talent. Just because we win a few games in a row or lose a few games in a row does not make either viewpoint right. You need to look at results over a long time. I don't like what I am seeing on that trend. It doesn't make me right, but I have no choice but to say something because people on here are acting like they have been proven correct.They say people who think Les is doing a poor job are wrong. I don't think our play recently proves any point one way or another. If people think a win over Evansville is the measuring stick for the program then we really disagree.

[Da Coach]

Winning in the MVC is tough. People who expect an easy time winning, even at home, simply don't know what they are talking about.
Only 2 teams in the MVC have currently won more than 1 game in a row- Drake has won 5 in a row, and Bradley has won 3 in a row. The team is clearly playing better. I suspect everyone sees that, if not, make your case. But I see improvement in shooting, rebounding, defense, passing, fewer turnovers, and overall better effort. I also see better game preparation and coaching.
Most people look at a winning streak and can appeciate the team for it, others bemoan why we couldn't have won every game. Like we've always seen, some see a glass half full, some see half empty.

As I said in another thread- after tomorrow, every team will have 9 conference games left. Of the teams tied or equal with Bradley, Bradley appears to have the most favorable remaining schedule. They have 5 more home games (CU, DU, IlSU, UNI, and WSU). They also have 4 more road games (IlSU, UE, InSU, and CU). If they can continue the better play we've seen the last couple weeks and avoid injury, I don't see any of those remaining games they can't win. I am not predicting they'll win them all, but they are tied for 3rd place, and things do not look as hopeless as some writers have portrayed, or as some fans constantly fret about.
Standings and RPI info-
http://warrennolan.com/basketball/20...souri%20Valley

[VeveJones007]

We have played 2 games at home we SHOULD have won and did and we had a nice road win against a struggling team at SIU.

While thats all wonderful MY question is why did we need a turn around in the first place.

Oh yeah, becuase we lost three games at home we should NEVER had lost in the first place.

So the Kool aid drinkers can get on the realists all they want but, as far as I'm concerned, we are back to "mediocre." We were trending downwards but APPEAR to be turning a corner.....

Weds will tell us MUCH more.

Go BU.

You're failing on the challenge that you so willingly accepted! Isn't there a statement game coming up? A game that might be of particular importance for a certain coach???

[Braves4Life]

Only 2 teams in the MVC have currently won more than 1 game in a row- Drake has won 5 in a row, and Bradley has won 3 in a row.

Didn't we beat Drake at Drake? Weren't we the last team to beat them?

Hmmmmmm. Maybe we're not too bad after all.

[Da Coach]

Didn't we beat Drake at Drake? Weren't we the last team to beat them?

Hmmmmmm. Maybe we're not too bad after all.

Not exactly-
Bradley beat Drake in Des Moines on Dec. 29, in the first MVC game for both teams.
Drake then lost their next 3 games at Wichita State, at home to Indiana State, then at Creighton to go to 0-4.
Since then they have gone on a 5-game winning streak-
Sat, Jan 9, at SIU Won 70-65
Tue, Jan 12 home vs. Missouri St. W 88-77
Sun, Jan 17 home vs. Illinois St W 69-59
Wed, Jan 20 at Evansville W 72-65
Sat, Jan 23 home vs. WSU 78-64

[bigdaddystuck]

I didn't call for JL's job, but I was fed up, sick, disgusted etc... by the effort given a couple of weeks ago. We have played much better of late. We are 1 game over .500....not a great record. No one owes BU a retraction or anything. We were bad, we are playing much better. CU is a huge game, why?...because it is the next game, against a team we have not played yet. We put some distance between ourselves and the bottom half of the league...I'll get excited.