15 wins

[mrcoachdude]

Dru....

I am hoping your wrong....here is why I think yuo could be...

JP will get better and better as we go..when we need to go big WE and JP at the same time can happen...

WL showed he has a good game...

WE will make most of those bunnies he missed last night...he missed what? 8-10 bunnies? that is a bunch of points..unlike some I like his ability to hit the 15 footer..it will open things up for him and JP inside...and is there a big guy that will be able to stop him off the dribble....he took that big guy to the hole easily last night...

AW showed he does not have to be THE MAN and still contribute..he had a bunch of deflections and played solid "D"..

DD....tell me he wasn't missed from last years team...he is solid..

DSE...thinking he is struggling just a little with point duties...but like JP will get better as we go...

JE will make a difference..

MK... missed all his shots, but played decent "D"...when he hits the shots...

SM is tough...hope he can stay with it...

Anything out of AT is a bonus...

My thoughts leaving the game were that we have become a team that anyone could lead us in scoring on a given night...and those types of teams are harder to defend...stop AW and anyone DD, SM, DSE, WL, WE, could lead us in scoring...losing TB is huge, but we still have decent weapons....
Defense was pretty good and the only rebounding errors I saw were 3 guys going after it and no one ended up getting it...

Still holding out hope for a 20 win season... yeh yeh optimist deluxe!

[dogsrus]

Dru....

I am hoping your wrong....here is why I think yuo could be...

JP will get better and better as we go..when we need to go big WE and JP at the same time can happen...

WL showed he has a good game...

WE will make most of those bunnies he missed last night...he missed what? 8-10 bunnies? that is a bunch of points..unlike some I like his ability to hit the 15 footer..it will open things up for him and JP inside...and is there a big guy that will be able to stop him off the dribble....he took that big guy to the hole easily last night...

AW showed he does not have to be THE MAN and still contribute..he had a bunch of deflections and played solid "D"..

DD....tell me he wasn't missed from last years team...he is solid..

DSE...thinking he is struggling just a little with point duties...but like JP will get better as we go...

JE will make a difference..

MK... missed all his shots, but played decent "D"...when he hits the shots...

SM is tough...hope he can stay with it...

Anything out of AT is a bonus...

My thoughts leaving the game were that we have become a team that anyone could lead us in scoring on a given night...and those types of teams are harder to defend...stop AW and anyone DD, SM, DSE, WL, WE, could lead us in scoring...losing TB is huge, but we still have decent weapons....
Defense was pretty good and the only rebounding errors I saw were 3 guys going after it and no one ended up getting it...

Still holding out hope for a 20 win season... yeh yeh optimist deluxe!

Respect your thoughts and optomism but that sounds like a bunch of "wishing".....I'm going on what WAS not what CAN BE. Hope you are correct and what at least I saw, grows into what you forecast.

[romar]

Respect your thoughts and optomism but that sounds like a bunch of "wishing".....I'm going on what WAS not what CAN BE. Hope you are correct and what at least I saw, grows into what you forecast.

Are you going on what WAS last night or last year?

Last night WAS only the first game of the season. Liked the D alot more rotation and switching and help than I remember out of any recent BU team (post CB).

Now if you're going by what WAS last year, there was no WL, no JP, no DD, WE was coming of 2 knee surgeries the summer before & weighed 25 lbs less and AW was coming off of 1 1/2 seasons off without playing. You had two freshman (one coming off redshirt) being asked to contribute night in & night out. BU had two disgruntled asst. coaches and there clearly wasn't the focus on D & rebounding I saw in their first game last night.

The way I see it is WL v. CR is a wash, JP is an upgrade in the post, both MK & AT can now give you SS minutes, DD/AW/WE & SM are going to have to step up to fill the TB void. DSE & JE are a year older and more experienced and really the only unknown factor is whether AD will be forced into action. The fact that he didn't play last night makes me think they are still looking toward a RS even with only a 12 man roster.

Guess I'm just an optimist too... Losing a TB HURTS BIG TIME, but there are still lots of positives out there and I'm expecting BU to be a very competitive, hard nosed, physical team from what I saw last night ( I will admit I missed the Quincy game which may have altered this opinion).

[houstontxbrave]

I thought after watching the second half we will have a very hard nosed competitive team this season. We are on occasion going to struggle offensively especially with 3pt shooting but we did have some open looks that did not go in. But we looked like a team very much interested in getting the ball into the lane and we really looked like we wanted to play defense.

This team might take sometime to find its idenity, and that likely would have been the same thing even with Brown. But it will, we look like we have guys who want to play hard and win games.

I am very concerned though with anyone playing the point. We look lost and not very smooth offensively when anyone other then SM plays point. DD does not look comfortable and Dyricus is much better off the ball.

But to jump off and say this team is not good is silly. This is game one of a the season, this is a marathon. There are going to be some down nights, but we have something a lot of teams do not have, veteran experience all over the court, these guys have played a lot of college basketball I think SM, DD, AW and Egolf will make sure everyone stays focused and on point.

I believe that this team will never given in and most nights will be the game with 5 or less to play. It is going to be simple they are going to have to win playing stingy D, and rebounding.

I for one am very much looking forward to seeing this team mature and become a cohesive unit come March.

[dogsrus]

This team might take sometime to find its idenity,
But to jump off and say this team is not good is silly.
.

I thought the same thing as far as an identity last nite...I just didn't see one. Hopefully that will come.

Didn't say this team CAN'T be good (or better) just said they didn't look good last nite.

I can't lie...just gotta say what I saw. Yes we SHOULD get better but we don't live in a vacum.....MOST teams will improve as the season goes on.

[romar]

I thought after watching the second half we will have a very hard nosed competitive team this season. We are on occasion going to struggle offensively especially with 3pt shooting but we did have some open looks that did not go in. But we looked like a team very much interested in getting the ball into the lane and we really looked like we wanted to play defense.

This team might take sometime to find its idenity, and that likely would have been the same thing even with Brown. But it will, we look like we have guys who want to play hard and win games.

I am very concerned though with anyone playing the point. We look lost and not very smooth offensively when anyone other then SM plays point. DD does not look comfortable and Dyricus is much better off the ball.

But to jump off and say this team is not good is silly. This is game one of a the season, this is a marathon. There are going to be some down nights, but we have something a lot of teams do not have, veteran experience all over the court, these guys have played a lot of college basketball I think SM, DD, AW and Egolf will make sure everyone stays focused and on point.

I believe that this team will never given in and most nights will be the game with 5 or less to play. It is going to be simple they are going to have to win playing stingy D, and rebounding.

I for one am very much looking forward to seeing this team mature and become a cohesive unit come March.

Agreed & I think the poor 3 shooting was a bit of an abberation, considering AW, DD & SM are usually good 3 point shooters from a percentage standpoint and MK was really trying to force his offense (rushing his shot). I like the opportunities this team is going to have penetrating and kicking out for 3's. They will need to teach WL how to kick out from time to time though - LOL.

[real fan]

I am a very optomistic fan but that team we played against last night was bad and even though we had a few players that looked good it was not encouraging to watch as we should have won by 20 plus points.
The thing that bothers me most about losing Taylor is it is one position that we have no replacement for, coach failed to recruit a good backup and now it is really going to show why you need to recruit positions instead of just players as we have 4 inside players in W.E; J.P; A.T; A.D; these players cannot guard anyone away from the basket except maybe Will but he will be playing center most of the time.

[houstontxbrave]

I thought the same thing as far as an identity last nite...I just didn't see one. Hopefully that will come.

Didn't say this team CAN'T be good (or better) just said they didn't look good last nite.

I can't lie...just gotta say what I saw. Yes we SHOULD get better but we don't live in a vacum.....MOST teams will improve as the season goes on.

I think teams can improve I also think other teams can digress during a season. As we know injuries, suspensions, etc can and will affect a team.

I didnt think that we looked great or even good but I see a lot of potential. It has been years since Ive seen guys not fly out at guys, instead stayed down on D and made the other player make a decision. I thought we boxed out well and was very active on anything in the lane.

I think shooting will eventually work itself out and I thought we had many open looks.

As I said I am extremely concerned about our point guard play if SM is not at 100%. If he can get healthy and play 30 minutes a night, then I know we will be a solid team.

[SFP]

SM was nowhere near 100% and we need his leadership on the court once the MVC season begins. I'm wondering if he played last night because of TB. I'd genuinely would take it easy on him win or lose until the conference games begin. Those are the ones that really count for me.

[Buesch N Chips]

MK...played decent "D"

Yes he did, when he knew where his man was.

We really need MK to eat minutes this year, bu he's got to make better decisions than he did last night.

[romar]

Yes he did, when he knew where his man was.

We really need MK to eat minutes this year, bu he's got to make better decisions than he did last night.

I agree. I'm doing alot of comparing this year to last years team and I think that MK & JE will fill the DSE & JE rolls from last year. Go in to give minutes and do everything you can to make some positives until one of the starters can return. I can't help but think the poor outside shooting last night was the exception rather than the rule, but liked the fact that (unlike some past JL teams) when shots weren't falling, we were still able to drive or go to the post for baskets. I'll bet BU had a ton of points in th paint last night and not all on fast breaks.

I realize the opposition wasn't top caliber, but still liked the intagibles this team showed in the course of scrapping out an 11 point win.

[BUFAN]

I'm thinking 9 wins vs d1 teams would be good

[Heemeskerk]

My undies aren't too bunched up yet. It is typical to see offense lag early in the season. We saw a lot of improvement in the defense from the first game. Rebound and play defense and this team will be able to score.

[Bravesfan]

Bet anyone we don't reach 15 wins this year.....I love BU but we aren't a very good team.

WL....I like...DD looked good.....SM while a warrior is not even close to what he can be and has been.

DSE looked a bit better but after that...nothing.

We are in for a long season.....please BU make me eat my words.

Stop with this constant negativity dogsrus! Why don't we at least wait until the end of next week before we make this kind of assessment of the team?! Granted they beat a Division II team by only 11 points, but some of Kingsville's points came in garbage time, and there were a lot of positives that came out of this game that make me believe we can still get close to or perhaps 20 wins by the end of the regular season.

Obviously shooting remains a concern, but they did have plenty of wide open looks, and that's encouraging. 3 for 17 on three's is not acceptable, but sooner or later some of those shots will fall. And yes, while against a D-II team, I was very encouraged to see how well Lemon played yesterday, along with DSE at times and even SM while he was in the game. Dunson looked good as well, and he will be one of the keys for this team while TB is out.

But to make an assessment that this team is not even capable of 15 wins this early in the season, even with one of our best players out is a little bit premature IMO. Defense will be critical this season, and that was what stood out the most last night. That's an encouraging sign.

I hope that the Braves do prove you wrong dogsrus, for all of our sakes. If we only win one or two of the next four games, then I would be inclined to agree with you. But we have a lot of basketball to be played next week before I will make a prediction with this team.

[peoriaspitfire]

Bet anyone we don't reach 15 wins this year.....

I'll take that bet. What's the bet?