Honest Question

[Bradleyguy10]

First off Happy Thanksgiving.

Yesterday when I found out Bradley lost I told my friend it's probably more shocking to have EIU beat us than it would be if Bradley beat Duke...that's the disparity between the two teams.

Now I'm asking you: If someone gave you two scenarios before the season started (think back to what you thought Bradley's chances would be) #1 being EIU beats Bradley at home or #2 Bradley beats Duke on the road.....which one would you pick as most likely BEFORE THE START of the season?

Honestly with what I was hearing and how I felt about this team I would've picked beating Duke. Yes I did predict a 4th place finish for Bradley (and still don't think that's unreasonable but I definitely now think it's the high end rather than the low end of their potential) but I would not have thought in anyway we would have lost to EIU....

Just asking for some thoughts on that because I'm curious.

Have a safe Thanksgiving and don't put ice covered turkey's into deep fryers!

[lefty]

Not even close....I would never pick us to beat Duke at their place......

We have played decent on the road over the years but we haven't done as well as we should protecting home court.....that part has been dissappointing

[ph]

I think I'd prefer to be undefeated at home to beating Duke.

[BradleyBrave]

As currently comprised, we could play Duke 100 times at their place, and would lose all 100 times. But for some reason I am still going.

[Bradleyguy10]

Not even close....I would never pick us to beat Duke at their place......

We have played decent on the road over the years but we haven't done as well as we should protecting home court.....that part has been dissappointing

Even though we seem to get 1 big upset a year?

So honestly you would pick us loosing to EIU before the season started with all the expectations around this team - a 40 to 100 rpi team, a team with a good chance of making the NCAA and a team "that better make the NIT at least" losing to Eastern....at home where it is a top 50 DI basketball program in terms of crowds top 30 in all time wins all that jazz and you'd expect to lose to Eastern??? And people say I'm not a fan

We should be better than those expectations....

[Bradleyguy10]

As currently comprised, we could play Duke 100 times at their place, and would lose all 100 times. But for some reason I am still going.

before the season though what were your thoughts honestly and if it was "lose to Eastern" what does that say?

[BradleyBrave]

before the season though what were your thoughts honestly and if it was "lose to Eastern" what does that say?

Before the season I thought we would be undefeated going into the WCU game, and possibly heading to Durham. Now we'll be lucky to be over .500 and are going to be embarrassed on national television. If we weren't playing one of the storied programs in college basketball, I would probably change my flight and hotel arrangements.

[lefty]

Even though we seem to get 1 big upset a year?

So honestly you would pick us loosing to EIU before the season started with all the expectations around this team - a 40 to 100 rpi team, a team with a good chance of making the NCAA and a team "that better make the NIT at least" losing to Eastern....at home where it is a top 50 DI basketball program in terms of crowds top 30 in all time wins all that jazz and you'd expect to lose to Eastern??? And people say I'm not a fan

We should be better than those expectations....

absolutely....to me it wasn't close....we also seem to lose a game or two at home that we should never lose......and we are talking Duke.....

[Chico]

Even though we seem to get 1 big upset a year?

So honestly you would pick us loosing to EIU before the season started with all the expectations around this team - a 40 to 100 rpi team, a team with a good chance of making the NCAA and a team "that better make the NIT at least" losing to Eastern....at home where it is a top 50 DI basketball program in terms of crowds top 30 in all time wins all that jazz and you'd expect to lose to Eastern??? And people say I'm not a fan

We should be better than those expectations....

Your question was which was more likely, not what do you pick. I applaud Bradley for playing Duke on the road, but did you think we had a chance to beat them?

[BU_EMT128]

but did you think we had a chance to beat them?

Of course not, but I expected us to be competitive. We are lining up for a spanking on national television.

[Fetz86]

Of course not, but I expected us to be competitive. We are lining up for a spanking on national television.

Though when it happens it will have that been there, done that feeling. Michigan State 82-Bradley 53. Down 35 pts with 9 minutes to go, losing to #1 Duke by 50 should feel about the same.

[Chico]

Of course not, but I expected us to be competitive. We are lining up for a spanking on national television.

I was replying to BGuy10's thread about getting beat by EIU at home or beating Duke on the road. Being competitive against Duke wasn't part of the question. I know no one on this board expects the Braves to pull the upset, but I hope they try harder than they did last night.

[Fan_Bradley]

Failure predicted at Duke

I'm expecting a horrific beating playing in Durham. This team does not have the talent level of Duke nor the desire / passion to even play competitively.

At this point, a loss can be predicted by over 50 points...it may be the worst loss ever experienced by a BU team in the history of the program. It will be very, very ugly.

I think once we are down by 20, Les might as well let WL / AT / JP / JE / and MK play it out to gain some experience. Why have them sit on the bench and not get any experience building towards the future?

The senior leadership of this team is too inconsistent and frankly, not very good. In the last 4 years, what has their overall win / loss record been? Consider when Les played with the Hawk. That recruiting class won a TON of games in their careers. The seniors here haven't accomplished anything and won't.

[BU RICK]

Now I'm asking you: If someone gave you two scenarios before the season started (think back to what you thought Bradley's chances would be) #1 being EIU beats Bradley at home or #2 Bradley beats Duke on the road.....which one would you pick as most likely BEFORE THE START of the season?

#1 I thought coming home from the HOF Tip-off Tournament that we would be 5-0 and that EIU was a good game to schedule after that with a couple days of rest for us. So I definitely thought we'd beat EIU, everyone thought that.

#2 I was really hoping and thought we'd go into the Duke game 8-0. The schedule didn't seem that difficult to me based on my perception that we were going to be much better this year, playing bigger and with some new offensive looks which I think was intimated. But this happens to me every Summer, I just get overly optimistic and I blame myself for that. So, since the game hasn't been played and to finish the question, I expect us to win at Duke (I can see it's a long-shot now).

Now I know there is a distinct possibility we could go into the Duke game 4-4 rather than the 8-0 I was thinking. If we went in there 8-0 and win it, it would have changed everything for the Braves - it would have been worth tons of publicity, maybe even better than the S16 year. So that's my answer and why I was pumped for the season, I'm a little deflated now which we all are. Back to reality.

[unbekannt]

Duke doesn't lose non-conference games at home. Bradley does. No way Bradley wins @ Duke. Bradley could lose to anyone at home. Did everyone forget Quincy? I guess that wasn't an aberration.