2010-11 Expectations

[SFP]

The mental aspect of the game is a huge part and a year of maturity can do wonders beyond the physical. That is why a group of seniors can beat a group of 5 star freshmen. Oh btw you do not hit your physical peak until you are in your upper 20s.

[BU RICK]

B4L, I only meant to say that our seniors may have peaked and that's the 64 thousand dollar question waiting to be answered. If the seniors haven't improved, considering our record the last few seasons, then my expectation is we see more minutes from the other players, that I have read have improved over the off season

[amckillip]

I'm apologize if I came off as defensive. Wasn't trying to diminish the value of an NCAA bid. . .but context is still the ultimate measure. There have been dozens of fly-by-night conference tournament winners that were not good teams or programs over the years. I don't buy that a bad team reaching the NCAA is an indicator of anything other than having one good weekend. It is important not to confuse the two IMO.

I agree with that completely, I guess I just don't see anyone getting lucky after a poor season and winning the MVC Tourney. The MVC is just too tough, so if we finish eighth and somehow win the tournament, I'd still be calling to fire the president and everyone on down, but I don't see that as a real possibility.

I guess bottom line, for me to be happy I want a top 3 finish and a shot at an at-large, with no less than an NIT bid. I would settle for a top 4 finish and an NIT bid. No NIT bid, or an NIT but 5th place finish is unacceptable to me and we should start interviewing, I'm reluctant on that because of all the talent we hae coming in, but something would have to change.

Barring an injury to Maniscalco or TB (our only irreplaceable players, IMO), I don't think a top 3 finsih will be tough.

[LittleBrave]

Man, y'all have some high standards for "minimum" success.

I think most of us would be somewhat happy with a top 3 finish. It's not happened in years!

As I said before, NIT is minimum expectation, but somewhat disappointing.

Here are some keys that will result in a "successful" season:

1) Get more 2nd chance pts. than we allow!!! This is THE MOST CRITICAL part of our success.
2) More involvement of BIGS in the paint.
3) Team 3-pt. % of 40% for season.
4) 3rd best in Valley - Defense (pts. allowed) - Improved D of WE and AW especially!
5) Play with intensity in 2nd half.

[BUFAN]

I expect the same this year as i expect every year. Going to stl as the odds on favorite to win the MVC tourney. But, if i don't win it i expect to have a good enough resume to be guaranteed no less than a 5 sead in the ncaa tourney. Nothing less is acceptable, nothing

[squirrelgotdead]

I agree with that completely, I guess I just don't see anyone getting lucky after a poor season and winning the MVC Tourney. The MVC is just too tough, so if we finish eighth and somehow win the tournament, I'd still be calling to fire the president and everyone on down, but I don't see that as a real possibility.

I guess bottom line, for me to be happy I want a top 3 finish and a shot at an at-large, with no less than an NIT bid. I would settle for a top 4 finish and an NIT bid. No NIT bid, or an NIT but 5th place finish is unacceptable to me and we should start interviewing, I'm reluctant on that because of all the talent we hae coming in, but something would have to change.

Barring an injury to Maniscalco or TB (our only irreplaceable players, IMO), I don't think a top 3 finsih will be tough.

An NIT at this point is not acceptable. We must be consistent here. We fired a guy who got to the NIT 2 out of his last 4 years. That was not good enough. To some fans, it's still not.

[BradleyJD]

An NIT at this point is not acceptable. We must be consistent here. We fired a guy who got to the NIT 2 out of his last 4 years. That was not good enough. To some fans, it's still not.

I agree, the NIT is not an option for Bradley at this point.

[amckillip]

An NIT at this point is not acceptable. We must be consistent here. We fired a guy who got to the NIT 2 out of his last 4 years. That was not good enough. To some fans, it's still not.

I don't give a d@mn about being consistent with what we did to the last coach. I'm looking at what's best for the program at this instant and in the future. Not too mention, when we fired the last coach we lost a first round pick that could have been one of the best players in our (at least recent) history. I'm not faulting you for not accepting an NIT appearance, but take it at face value, don't say we should fire JL because we fired Mo. Mo won the league, JL hasn't. JL had a lottery pick and a sweet sixteen run, Mo hadn't. And even if they had the exact same records and finishes, I still think it's poor decision making to hire or fire a coach on 'precedence.'

[AZ BU Fan]

....I still think it's poor decision making to hire or fire a coach on 'precedence.'

Unless the 'precedence' is NO MVC regular season titles, NO MVC Tourney titles, No MVC Top 3 Finishes after 9 Years of coaching at BU

Does JL have any modern day company in the "0 for 8 years with no MVC regular season titles, no MVC Tourney titles, and no top 3 MVC finishes" amongst former/current Valley Coaches?

PS This should be JL's best chance to break all three of these streaks! And he should....

[real fan]

An NIT at this point is not acceptable. We must be consistent here. We fired a guy who got to the NIT 2 out of his last 4 years. That was not good enough. To some fans, it's still not.

We fired a guy because his teams had trouble scoring 50 points, the league was not as good as it is now, not saying I am happy about what has transpired over the last 2 years but with the new facilities Les should be given a chance to prove something , we have a chance to do something special if our inside players can contribute by defending and rebounding, hopefully coach Platt can teach our inside players to be a lot tougher.

[BradleyJD]

Les should be given a chance to prove something

I think he has....and will again this season. But hopefully this is THE season. Otherwise change may come.

[bigdaddystuck]

Top 3 finish in the Valley....at least

Not like many on here...but at least a NIT appearance. I don't think that the powers that be see the Valley as a multiple bid league. We could have a decent season, have a good enough RPI and still not get an at large bid!

I don't really see how we can lose a non-conference home game.

[real fan]

Top 3 finish in the Valley....at least

Not like many on here...but at least a NIT appearance. I don't think that the powers that be see the Valley as a multiple bid league. We could have a decent season, have a good enough RPI and still not get an at large bid!

I don't really see how we can lose a non-conference home game.

We should not lose any home games this year with the team we will have this season.

[LittleBrave]

We should not lose any home games this year with the team we will have this season.

On paper, I don't see it happening either, but let's face it - it's college hoops and it's unpredictable. Maybe a few calls don't go our way, the ball doesn't bounce in our favor, and we have a mediocre night.
A loss to a team like Detroit would not be a surprise to me...if what I've heard is true that they're a legit NIT-caliber team.
Let's hope it doesn't happen and we take EVERY home game seriously...and WIN them all.
Get 2 out of 4 (at least) away from Carver, and we'll be in good shape heading into the Valley season.

[srw]

I think saying the league is better now is completely laughable...

In the middle of the JL tenure, yes, now the league has regressed due to selfish coaches (JL is NOT included in this, as he has scheduled decently)

Quite simple

Its NCAA or bust here.

3 senior guards= Put up or shut up

That said AW is one of the most overrated players I have seen at BU, so we will need help from DSE in a big way