Lucas O'Rear out for the rest of the season

[BradleyBrave]

Yes, I happen to know that Bradley was one of only a couple D1 schools that ever looked at James. I think UNI was his only D1 offer, and that included a deal to redshirt his first year like Jacobson likes to do. But BU liked him in HS.
James was a 60% shooter from 3-point as a junior, and 58% as a senior. But he was a rather scrawny 6' shooting guard, and thus had very little interest.
I can only imagine what many fans here would have said if we signed a 6' skinny SG.

If the kid could play, who cares. We have guys on our roster that can't play. He's a redshirt sophomore, so that means we chose Edge McCain and Darian Norris over this kid. This kid is better than both of them. All the more evidence on how missing on both of those guys is hurting this program tremendously.

After further review of the schedule, UNI is done. WSU has some tough games left too. IMO, the league is MSU's to lose. I could them running the table, or at least setting up a title game league finale with WSU in Springfield.

[mrcoachdude]

"This really hurts UNI's chances in the MVC and for a postseason bid. Tough luck for O'Rear.

But then again, we can't use injuries here as an excuse for a team's performance"


trouble maker

[tornado]

While I have never been a fan of University of Indiana, Didn't they beat a top 25 team yesterday with 3 of their starters injured. I believe that a team will lose more games without key starters but, 11 in a row?

they beat team that wasn't going to be ranked for long...but Indiana was missing TWO starters, but guess what...
Minnesota was also missing two of their starting players.

As for Lucas -- it is indeed a tough break -- he is one of my favorite non-Brave valley players -- as are most of the Illinois kids who go on to play in D-I

[AZ BU Fan]

Sorry to remind people that BU was only picked to finish 5th this year in the MVC, even with 3 Preseason All MVC players on the roster. This is either ****ing for the coaching staff, or, an indication of how little the people who cover this sport feel about the ability of the other 11 players on BU's roster to compete in the MVC.

If BU had been picked to finish say, 2nd or 3rd in the MVC, I could accept the loss of two all MVC players for not finishing in the top 5. Picked to finish 5th in the MVC with all players available, it now makes sense that BU is 1-11 so far without their top two players.

One other nugget to consider, how can BU who still has an all MVC player on their roster, not beat other lower half teams in the MVC this season, with three other 4 yr players still on their roster?

If BU would have been at the top of the MVC with both SM and TB back, they should be able to beat #'s 6, 7, 8 and 9 without them.

So far BU is 1-4 agains these teams this year, with 3 games left against them. How BU finishes against SIU, DU and ISU R will tell us if BU would have had any chance to finish at the top of the Conference with SM and TB...

PS For those who continue to call BU a "young team", BU has four 4 yr players AW, DD, WE, and AT with four 2 yr players and one true freshman..Not what I would call real young, as they start three 4 yr players, one soph and one frosh. I would not call that "excuse worthy" young.

[BU FAMILY]

How did we get POB and Ray Brown? A miracle I guess that they didn't end up at UNI.

Too bad Ray Brown didn't end up at UNI - we could've used those scholarship years on somebody else.

[ph]

Seemed most of the conventional wisdom behind our pick was the lack of inside play the past few years. JP's a better starting point but we really need to keep growing in that aspect.

[Bravesfan]

If that is a statement directed toward BU and Jim Les, let me just point out that it is not as if Bradley has been a perennial losing program as some suggest.
This year will be the first year in the last 6 seasons that Bradley will not have a winning season. And I think it is fair to consider that if the 2 key players for Bradley had not had season-ending medical issues, that this year would have likely been a winning season as well.

Agreed. But like many people have already stated, 0-11? A contending team for a conference championship who loses two albeit great players should not go on an 11 game losing streak. 4-7 or better would have been perfectly acceptable since it would show that this team at least has the ability to grind out some wins with a fair amount of veteran players still around.

However, since a couple of posters have mentioned BU was picked by most to finish 5th again, then maybe the 0-11 start does make sense in that BU was not a team that was in contention for a championship in the first place, at least according to most national pundits. Either way though, even just a few more wins by now I think would have given the players a little more momentum towards their goal of a much more solid season next year, and would show the fans that this team knows how to win more consistently. Hopefully the team takes advantage of the softer part of their schedule and wins a few more before the year is out.

[tornado]

Too bad Ray Brown didn't end up at UNI - we could've used those scholarship years on somebody else.

ALL mid-majors have to "roll the dice" once in a while and land risky kids.....otherwise, you just don't get the talent...

Ray Brown was a tremendously talented kid and I see why JL went after him, but it what was between his ears that did him in...
If you think BU is the only team that uses scholarships on kids who don't pan out then you've never heard of P'Allen Stinnett, Ty Morrison, Bobby Hill, Alex Legion, Jamarcus Ellis, Kevin Dillard, Kellen Thornton, Terrence Johnson, Chris Cornelius, Chris Colvin, LA Pomlee, Lucca Staiger, Dylan Grimsley, and even Enes Kanter

[mrcoachdude]

Sorry to remind people that BU was only picked to finish 5th this year in the MVC, even with 3 Preseason All MVC players on the roster. This is either ****ing for the coaching staff, or, an indication of how little the people who cover this sport feel about the ability of the other 11 players on BU's roster to compete in the MVC.

If BU had been picked to finish say, 2nd or 3rd in the MVC, I could accept the loss of two all MVC players for not finishing in the top 5. Picked to finish 5th in the MVC with all players available, it now makes sense that BU is 1-11 so far without their top two players.

One other nugget to consider, how can BU who still has an all MVC player on their roster, not beat other lower half teams in the MVC this season, with three other 4 yr players still on their roster?

If BU would have been at the top of the MVC with both SM and TB back, they should be able to beat #'s 6, 7, 8 and 9 without them.

So far BU is 1-4 agains these teams this year, with 3 games left against them. How BU finishes against SIU, DU and ISU R will tell us if BU would have had any chance to finish at the top of the Conference with SM and TB...

PS For those who continue to call BU a "young team", BU has four 4 yr players AW, DD, WE, and AT with four 2 yr players and one true freshman..Not what I would call real young, as they start three 4 yr players, one soph and one frosh. I would not call that "excuse worthy" young.

Where have I seen this before...oh yeh...everywhere that it can be posted....where we finish has, practically speaking, no bearing on where we would have finshed with TB and SM...we have beat that around here for a looooong time...no one knows for sure....and the youth thing has been smacked around a loooong time too....
I am thinking we found that in the Valley we are just below mid range as far as experience...

[Braves4Life]

Where have I seen this before...oh yeh...everywhere that it can be posted....where we finish has, practically speaking, no bearing on where we would have finshed with TB and SM...we have beat that around here for a looooong time...no one knows for sure....and the youth thing has been smacked around a loooong time too....
I am thinking we found that in the Valley we are just below mid range as far as experience...

+1

[AZ BU Fan]

Where have I seen this before...oh yeh...everywhere that it can be posted....where we finish has, practically speaking, no bearing on where we would have finshed with TB and SM...we have beat that around here for a looooong time...no one knows for sure....and the youth thing has been smacked around a loooong time too....
I am thinking we found that in the Valley we are just below mid range as far as experience...

Hmmm, I guess it is ok for apologists to continue to post ad nauseum how BU would have contended or won the MVC this year if only SM and TB were here, and that 1-11 can be explained purely by their absence... How BU's 1-11 record without SM and TB are solely due to its remaining youthful squad.

I suppose where BU finishes each year, practically speaking, also has no bearing on the continuation of the program's leadership either....

Anyone whose opinions oppose the apologists on this Forum are beat around and smacked around a looooooong time too!

What I am now thinking is is that a lot of posters on this Forum are perfectly ok with BU remaining just below mid range in the Valley.....

[Da Coach]

Anyone whose opinions oppose the apologists on this Forum are beat around and smacked around a looooooong time too!

What I am now thinking is is that a lot of posters on this Forum are perfectly ok with BU remaining just below mid range in the Valley.....

That, as I am sure you know, is ridiculous. I have never met a single Bradley fan who is happy with losing, or satisfied "with BU remaining just below mid range in the Valley". If you have, please give us a single example of this. All I see is a lot of fans who disagree with the doom and gloom and see that Bradley has had some successes, that injuries have had a significant effect, and that with a healthy lineup, Bradley would be competetive with anyone in the MVC.
As we often see, those who think we need a coaching change now like to greatly exaggerate what others here say. Crucial to their argument is the need to try to paint the last 5 years as a total failure, when in fact, Bradley has had a winning record for the last 5 years, and more wins than all but 2 of the other MVC schools. And they need to ignore or minimize the injury issues, since that's the only way we can blame everything on the coach.

Fans are entitled to be as miserable as they want, but to suggest that anyone here is being "beat around" or "smacked around" for their opinions is another one of those exaggerations or fabrications is not true at all. If anything, it is usually the positive posters who get attacked by those fomenting negativity. I will continue posting facts to set the record straight.

[tornado]

I might be an apologist although I haven't posted much on this topic..
I hate losing and want as much as anyone to win -- I am very competitive and if I thought staying the course was going to lose more than the alternative, I'd want to bail, too.

ButIMO, I see making a head coaching change as a sure way to be in the basement for a long time to come...
As I have said -- show me a Valley school that fired their head coach any time back to the 90's, and then the new guy won a single game in the NCAA (except Bradley) --
the only ones who have won anything (like Jank won an NIT game and Cuonzo won a few CBI games) have done so with the old guy's players and then drop to the bottom like Jank has done.
I saw the grumblers get their way with Mo and then they hated every step subsequently from the selection process to the loss of NBA caliber players, to the inevitable struggles to win games the first several years with a totally new roster...

Those grumblers got exactly what they wanted then still continued to grumble after that!
As I have said -- it seems the same people who complain when they get their way...and many of the ones complaining now are the very same ones who didn't want Mo back then....
I say this time around resist the desire to concede to the grumblers...stay the course & we have the potential to be a very good team when we get our players back.



BTW -- check this out -- I guess you can use injuries as excuses!!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/basketball/ncaa/wires/02/04/2060.ap.bkc.pick.six.impact.injuries.1st.ld.writethru.1007/

[TylerDurden]

I might be an apologist although I haven't posted much on this topic..
I hate losing and want as much as anyone to win -- I am very competitive and if I thought staying the course was going to lose more than the alternative, I'd want to bail, too.

ButIMO, I see making a head coaching change as a sure way to be in the basement for a long time to come...
As I have said -- show me a Valley school that fired their head coach any time back to the 90's, and then the new guy won a single game in the NCAA (except Bradley) --
the only ones who have won anything (like Jank won an NIT game and Cuonzo won a few CBI games) have done so with the old guy's players and then drop to the bottom like Jank has done.
I saw the grumblers get their way with Mo and then they hated every step subsequently from the selection process to the loss of NBA caliber players, to the inevitable struggles to win games the first several years with a totally new roster...

Those grumblers got exactly what they wanted then still continued to grumble after that!
As I have said -- it seems the same people who complain when they get their way...and many of the ones complaining now are the very same ones who didn't want Mo back then....
I say this time around resist the desire to concede to the grumblers...stay the course & we have the potential to be a very good team when we get our players back.



BTW -- check this out -- I guess you can use injuries as excuses!!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...ritethru.1007/

Creighton - Rick Johnson (24-59), hired Dana Altman
Indiana State - Sherman Dillard (29-51), hired Royce Waltman
Wichita State - Randy Smithson (30-42), hired Mark Turgeon

You can debate whether these guys resigned or were fired, but they all were replaced by guys who won NCAA games and won them with their own players.

[real fan]

ALL mid-majors have to "roll the dice" once in a while and land risky kids.....otherwise, you just don't get the talent...

Ray Brown was a tremendously talented kid and I see why JL went after him, but it what was between his ears that did him in...
If you think BU is the only team that uses scholarships on kids who don't pan out then you've never heard of P'Allen Stinnett, Ty Morrison, Bobby Hill, Alex Legion, Jamarcus Ellis, Kevin Dillard, Kellen Thornton, Terrence Johnson, Chris Cornelius, Chris Colvin, LA Pomlee, Lucca Staiger, Dylan Grimsley, and even Enes Kanter

Ray Brown was a good athlete but was not a good shooter, I think he was only going to be an average player in the Valley.