Standings and stats as on 2/25/10

[Bradleyguy10]

The difference is how you define your expectations. Personally going into this season I didn't think much of this team and didn't think 6th was too far off. I did think however that a 4 or 5 spot was about right. Then the seasons started...played pretty well at BYU (w/out TB) played respectable against Oklahoma state...beat UofI...started to think this team had some talent and could do better than 4 or 5. Then the home game collapses came. So in a way my expectations were met but in an entirely different way they were not met because we'd be tops in the league and NCAA discussion and NIT guaranteed had we won our home games....which is NOT a tall order to ask for.

[Da Coach]

We can continue to beat our heads against a wall over the preseason vote, and expectations, vs. the final results, but it's all subjective.

I believe if Bradley had Dodie Dunson all year, and had Dyricus Simms-Edwards all year (and a 100% healthy Sam Maniscalco, too), Bradley would not have lost at home to SIU, ISU, and Creighton. We probably would have beaten UNI twice, and certainly would have won other games we lost, too.

That's why preseason predictions are almost never accurate. You can't predict the kind of bizarre things that have happened to Bradley these last 3 seasons (2007-08 DRuff injury, 2008-09 AW and WE out all year, and 2009-10 DD).

But to suggest that we should have seen all along that Bradley was no better than a 5th or 6th place team is revisional-history at best, and more likely it's another attempt at slamming BU as is customary by certain people who would love to get rid of the current coach.

[ER3]

We can continue to beat our heads against a wall over the preseason vote, and expectations, vs. the final results, but it's all subjective.

I believe if Bradley had Dodie Dunson all year, and had Dyricus Simms-Edwards all year (and a 100% healthy Sam Maniscalco, too), Bradley would not have lost at home to SIU, ISU, and Creighton. We probably would have beaten UNI twice, and certainly would have won other games we lost, too.

That's why preseason predictions are almost never accurate. You can't predict the kind of bizarre things that have happened to Bradley these last 3 seasons (2007-08 DRuff injury, 2008-09 AW and WE out all year, and 2009-10 DD).

But to suggest that we should have seen all along that Bradley was no better than a 5th or 6th place team is revisional-history at best, and more likely it's another attempt at slamming BU as is customary by certain people who would love to get rid of the current coach.

These annual revisionist history threads are annoying and useless.
We are what we are. No team in America goes through a season 100% healthy, so why even bother posting a bunch of 'what ifs' centered around the impossible scenario of us going through an year with absolutely zero injuries. It will never happen, so why bother with the hypotheticals?
Dodie would have been nothing more than a spot-starter/6th man for this team if he was healthy...His presence would have done nothing to improve our post play or rebounding issues...If he wouldn't have gotten hurt, that would have meant fewer minutes for Roberts and we probably would have seen very few minutes from DSE...and that might have hurt our overall production as a team as much as it would have helped...
Who knows what we would have been if Dodie didn't get hurt, if Sam was 100% all year, if DSE didn't miss some games, etc., etc., etc.?...but more importantly, who cares?

15-13, 9-8. that's what we are.

[BradleyBrave]

These annual revisionist history threads are annoying and useless.
We are what we are. No team in America goes through a season 100% healthy, so why even bother posting a bunch of 'what ifs' centered around the impossible scenario of us going through an year with absolutely zero injuries. It will never happen, so why bother with the hypotheticals?
Dodie would have been nothing more than a spot-starter/6th man for this team if he was healthy...If he wouldn't have gotten hurt, that would have meant fewer minutes for Roberts and we probably would have seen very few minutes from DSE...and that might have hurt our overall production as a team as much as it would have helped...
Who knows what we would have been if Dodie didn't get hurt, if Sam was 100% all year, if DSE didn't miss some games, etc., etc., etc.?...but more importantly, who cares?

15-13, 9-8. that's what we are.

I'll quote one of my favorite HS teachers...

"If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas!" That's pretty much what this era has been, a bunch of 'ifs' and 'buts'. Everyone else at BU has gotten it done, but they all got canned. I wonder why? I am sure there were 100 'ifs' and 'buts' for them too.

[ER3]

disagree-----...until the final 3-4 games of the season, BU was still well in the hunt for 2nd place in the Valley...
way better than almost anyone had predicted....and only a couple tiny breaks from sitting on a 7 game win streak....
Two losses down the stretch by a combined total of JUST ONE POINT (the 1 pt loss to ISU and the OT loss at Indiana State)
would have given us 2nd place had we won those...
Two weeks ago, and in fact even as recently as ONE week ago -- everyone was booking rooms for Thursday....

Hey!...1 game into the Valley season we were tied for 1st...yippee! I think that means we were almost Valley Champs!!! Awesome! Can't wait to see the "Almost Valley Champs" banner hanging from the rafters in Carver next year...!!!

Who cares if we were 'in the hunt for second with 5 games to go'...what does that get us? do we get an automatic NIT berth for that distinction?

We're likely going to finish 9-9 and 5th in conference...that's all that is worth noting about our conference result.

A 'couple of tiny breaks from being on a 7 game winning streak'? So what?...We are also a couple of baskets the other way from losing 4 out of 7 over that same stretch...so what is the point here?

If a .500 record and a 5th place conference finish exeeds your expectations, congrats...sounds like you have some pretty low expectations for this team...Although I do seem to remember you predicting a 3rd place finish for this team, so I fail to see how this effort could exceed expectations for you...

[Bradleyguy10]

We can continue to beat our heads against a wall over the preseason vote, and expectations, vs. the final results, but it's all subjective.

I believe if Bradley had Dodie Dunson all year, and had Dyricus Simms-Edwards all year (and a 100% healthy Sam Maniscalco, too), Bradley would not have lost at home to SIU, ISU, and Creighton. We probably would have beaten UNI twice, and certainly would have won other games we lost, too.

That's why preseason predictions are almost never accurate. You can't predict the kind of bizarre things that have happened to Bradley these last 3 seasons (2007-08 DRuff injury, 2008-09 AW and WE out all year, and 2009-10 DD).

But to suggest that we should have seen all along that Bradley was no better than a 5th or 6th place team is revisional-history at best, and more likely it's another attempt at slamming BU as is customary by certain people who would love to get rid of the current coach.

I know what you are saying DC but in all honesty I think we could've and should've beaten all of those teams at home without both DD and DSE. I really truly do not believe injuries are the reason for those home loses. And this is my honest opinion because I have no vendetta against JL. Why would I? I'm a student now...why the heck would I care about coach MO or the hiring process of JL? I'm as unbiased a fan you can be when it comes to the coach because I have no idea how the situation 8 years ago went down...nor do I care. All I know is my 4 years here have been a steady decline in quality while having equal if not more talent on the team. Yes we've been plagued with injuries and I think they were significant the last two years, but this year (no offense to DD) I think we should've won the home games and I don't think they had as much of an impact on the team. Maybe DD could've pulled a few more road wins out for us but home games I don't think it would've mattered. We need to dominate at home and we arent, JMO.

[Da Coach]

These annual revisionist history threads are annoying and useless..

What is truly annoying and useless is false accusations, and ignoring facts.

Where was there any history revised?
The injuries did happen, and they did have an impact. Anyone who has even a minimal knowledge of BU can see that they had a major impact.

If any fan doesn't think the injuries I noted made any difference, and thinks Bradley's record would be exacly the same as it is today if they hadn't happened, they are the ones who is living in a dream world.
I can accept that, because I have seen since the inception of this board that there are some who want to get rid of the coach, and would rather see Bradley lose so they can get their way. But fortunately, more rational minds prevail.

[ER3]

What is truly annoying and useless is false accusations, and ignoring facts.

Where was there any history revised?
The injuries did happen, and they did have an impact. Anyone who has even a minimal knowledge of BU can see that they had a major impact.

If any fan doesn't think the injuries I noted made any difference, and thinks Bradley's record would be exacly the same as it is today if they hadn't happened, they are the ones who is living in a dream world.
I can accept that, because I have seen since the inception of this board that there are some who want to get rid of the coach, and would rather see Bradley lose so they can get their way. But fortunately, more rational minds prevail.

The only fact that is seemingly being ignored here is that we are 15-13, 9-8.
You seem to want to believe that this record should have some imaginary asterisk next to it...indicating that it doesn't represent what we truly are as a team based on some impossible, idealistic notion that we could have gone through the whole season without a single injury to anyone on the roster.
Injuries happen to every team. They cannot be avoided.
You have no "proof" that BU's record would be any different than it is today if everyone would have been healthy...you don't. You are living in a "dream world" if you claim that you can absolutely "know" how BU's season would have turned out if Dodie was healthy all year. We absolutely could have ended up with the same exact record...we also could have ended up with a worse record...or we could have won every game on our schedule...there's no way of knowing...so why bother?

Also...just to clarify...having a desire to keep our current coach in no way, shape, or form indicates that someone has a 'rational mind'.

[BradleyBrave]

I wonder if Glasser and Cross eventually decide that middling league finishes and an under .500 league record are unacceptable if they'll be deemed 'haters' and 'negative nellies' too.

[BradleyJD]

As the "big tuna" in Miami once said....

"You are what your record says you are."

Over Jim Les' career at BU, Bradley is:

141-118 (54%) overall

70-71(49.6 %) in Conference

I think that is a fair assessment of his tenure. We are usually right around .500 in conference, and slightly above .500 in the non-con.

[MacabreMob]

As the "big tuna" in Miami once said....

"You are what your record says you are."

Over Jim Les' career at BU...

What's his record in the NCAA?
What's his record in the NIT?
What's his overall Post-Season record?

[BradleyBrave]

What's his record in the NCAA?
What's his record in the NIT?
What's his overall Post-Season record?

How many NCAA's in 8 years?
How many NIT's in 8 years?
How many MVC Championships in 8 years?

How do the above 3 questions compare to his predecessor, who was fired?

Also, are you saying that the regular season and conference season are meaningless?

[BradleyJD]

What's his record in the NCAA?
What's his record in the NIT?
What's his overall Post-Season record?

BU has 1 NCAA appearance with a 2-1 record.
BU has 1 NIT appearance with a 1-1 record.

BU is 14-12 in all postseason appearances under Jim Les.

[SFP]

WOW! Once again a bunch of theatrics. Let's just wait until the season is over to see what this team gives us. As stated tons of time the vast majority of the fans are for giving JL another year regardless of this year's outcome. Can't we just leave it at that?

I believe regardless of recruits that next year's team should be better but without a true big I'm not sure how much. I'm not counting on AT stepping up his game. If he has not seen any meaningful minutes this year that tells me something. We can hope that JP becomes the answer, to fill in those SS minutes.

[BradleyBrave]

WOW! Once again a bunch of theatrics. Let's just wait until the season is over to see what this team gives us. As stated tons of time the vast majority of the fans are for giving JL another year regardless of this year's outcome. Can't we just leave it at that?

Some fans are giving a lifetime, some are giving a week. Truth is it doesn't matter what we think. But, we do have opinions and we're just voicing them.

I believe regardless of recruits that next year's team should be better but without a true big I'm not sure how much. I'm not counting on AT stepping up his game. If he has not seen any meaningful minutes this year that tells me something. We can hope that JP becomes the answer, to fill in those SS minutes.

That was the though this year too. We were getting AW and WE back. Chances are there will be a departure or two, and we don't have anyone committed as of yet. So as of right now, it appears to be more or less the same team that we had this year, which was similar to last year's team which actually did better than this year's group.