If this is your first visit, feel free to
check out the Frequently Asked Questions by clicking this
LINK.
You are welcome as a guest, but you will have to REGISTER
before you can post messages.
To register, click the link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Welcome to BradleyFans.com! Visitors are welcome, but we encourage you to sign up and register as a member. It's free and takes only a few seconds. Just click on the link to Register at the top right of the page, and follow instructions.
If you have any problems or questions, click on the link at the bottom right of the page to Contact Us.
sorry to see ISU drop to 0-4, but they'll want to take it out on someone --
so what's up with Muller benching Ekey in favor of starting Threloff??
Ekey is one of the only guys who actually could put the ball in the hoop.
..and Tulsa - sorry but I had thought it was Downing with the knee - but it was Pickens....
Okay, real quick question and I should know the answer. We never finished above FOURTH or THIRD in the Valley under Jim Les??? Thanks!
... At the end, of the storm, there's a golden sky. And the sweet silver song of the lark. Walk on, through the wind, walk on, through the rain, though your dreams be tossed, and blown. Walk on, Walk on with hope in your hearts, and you'll never walk alone!
I'm behind you 100% Bradley Braves, You'll Never Walk Alone! BEAT STATE!
sorry to see ISU drop to 0-4, but they'll want to take it out on someone --
Good thing their next game is at home against Drake!
They should be able to win that game......right.....?
???People say, ???Forget last year', but I want our guys to remember that one, because that will not happen again. We will be much better.??? Geno Ford, 9/22/12
Okay, real quick question and I should know the answer. We never finished above FOURTH or THIRD in the Valley under Jim Les??? Thanks!
Just my opinion, but I think the Valley was much better back when we went to the Sweet 16. Thanks!
???People say, ???Forget last year', but I want our guys to remember that one, because that will not happen again. We will be much better.??? Geno Ford, 9/22/12
Okay, real quick question and I should know the answer. We never finished above FOURTH or THIRD in the Valley under Jim Les??? Thanks!
We haven't finished higher than 4th since the 2001 season when we were the #2 seed in the MVC tournament and lost to #5 seed Indiana St. in the championship game. During that stretch, we only managed to win more than 10 games twice, once in 2005-2006 (11) and once in 2008-2009 (10). Should come close to that this year...SHOULD.
...some of the ISU guys gave me some heat a few weeks back when I stated that this team had some turmoil that was going to severely hurt the team...
Wilkins has a lot of ongoing issues, his roommate was peddling drugs out of the dorm room, and others had issues, too...
we are now seeing evidence of their turmoil...but they ought to win Saturday...
Just wondering if their preseason hype was by default because the Valley is weak or if they were really supposed to be that much better this season having lost a starting point guard and going with a first-time head coach.
shaun - a lot of the hype was by people who wanted to paint ISU as having a program that's headed in the right direction so as
to contrast it to BU and heap even more criticism on JL......
..but that ploy is now exposed and those who had ISU as an at-large team look pretty silly now......
With the talent they have, NBA scouts coming to see Carmichael, guys that shoot really well from outside, etc...
- and with the expectations of being in the TOP TWO teams in the Valley - I think Muller's chances for Coach of the Year are getting slim........
Just my opinion, but I think the Valley was much better back when we went to the Sweet 16. Thanks!
That would be more than just an opinion, shaun. The MVC was undeniably a stronger conference overall back several years ago (see below). In 2006 the MVC sent 4 teams to the NCAA tournament, and that has never happened before or since.
And the Conference RPI reached an all-time high in 2006, finishing 6th, just a few ten-thousandths of a point behind #5 Big East.
RealTimeRPI.com: Real Time NCAA College Basketball and Sports Ratings - the most accurate independent analysis of the NCAA college basketball Rating Percentage Index (RPI)
Here are the final RPI rankings for the MVC over the last 10 seasons. The conference was significantly stronger and higher ranked in 2006 & 2007, and has never quite reached the same level since then-
2004 11th
2005 8th
2006 6th
2007 6th
2008 8th
2009 9th
2010 9th
2011 12th
2012 8th
2013 8th currently
That would be more than just an opinion, shaun. The MVC was undeniably a stronger conference overall back several years ago (see below). In 2006 the MVC sent 4 teams to the NCAA tournament, and that has never happened before or since.
And the Conference RPI reached an all-time high in 2006, finishing 6th, just a few ten-thousandths of a point behind #5 Big East.
RealTimeRPI.com: Real Time NCAA College Basketball and Sports Ratings - the most accurate independent analysis of the NCAA college basketball Rating Percentage Index (RPI)
Here are the final RPI rankings for the MVC over the last 10 seasons. The conference was significantly stronger and higher ranked in 2006 & 2007, and has never quite reached the same level since then-
2004 11th
2005 8th
2006 6th
2007 6th
2008 8th
2009 9th
2010 9th
2011 12th
2012 8th
2013 8th currently
Mo. State also had a very strong resume in 2006. I think that was the year they were the highest-rated RPI to ever be left out of the tournament. Great, great year for the Valley (and BU!).
I'm still trying to figure out why the expectations were seemingly so high for isu this season. They were a .500 team in conference last season, their starting point guard transferred, and they have a first-time head coach.
At least you don't have to figure out why they're not meeting expectations this year!
I guess I was blinded thinking that Coach Muller could just come in and let the players play and finish 3rd or 4th. Seems like 4th place is the very best they'll do at this point with 4 losses...and a possible date on Thursday night in St. Louis...OUCH! Wouldn't that hurt!
- and with the expectations of being in the TOP TWO teams in the Valley - I think Muller's chances for Coach of the Year are getting slim........
Now with an 0-4 start, even if they win out, they may not finish in the top 2!
If Wichita St. doesn't finish 2nd (or 1st), I'll be amazed!
They will be at full strength in a couple weeks, and when they do...watch out! Serious talent on that team, and perhaps deeper than that team they had in 2004-'05 when freshmen PJ Couisnard, Matt Braeuer, Sean Ogirri, and 2 other subs spelled the starters with fresh legs and talent.
That team was fun to watch, but hit a major bump after losing to BU in mid-February...the game when L-Boogie had that moster dunk in the 2nd half that seemed like his arm was 10 feet long!
After losing some major production the following season, they amazingly got better, as those freshmen had a major impact, and we all remember what happened in '05-'06.
Does anyone think it is possible for ISU to do badly enough that some will put Muller on the hot seat this early into his tenure?
Since this was one of the only two games last night - and I listened to the whole broadcast .. I will give some thoughts and I am sure the ISU fans will think I am being unfair
to kick them when they're down...but it isn't as if they haven't kicked BU plenty when we've been down......and I am not being unfair - I am being very objective...
Remember - ISU was picked as a strong 2nd but with some voters actually picking them #1 ahead even of Creighton and Wichita..
(btw- when was the last time BU got votes for 1st place?? -- ANSWER - just two years ago in 2010-2011 BU was respected enough in the preseason to get 2 first place votes in JL's final season but then we lost multiple players for games due to injury (Maniscalco, Taylor Brown, Prosser (knee), DSE (foot), Dunson (coming off bad arm fracture)....)
- before that it was '99-'00 when BU finished 10-8 in conference
Page Not Found (404): It looks like you're lost... The page you are looking for no longer exists.
ISU has started the MVC season looking like one of the worst teams thus far...but the real test is coming up now...
Now they host Drake at home - and Drake has been even worse - barely even being able to score against Creighton's starters...
I hate to put the monkey on their backs but....if ISU struggles at home against Drake then get ready for a meltdown....this has to be a must-win game -
and who'd have thunk it - that this early in the race - against a team that can't beat anyone -
we'd be talking "must win" game...but if they don't beat Drake, the Redbirds will be headed to Wichita at 0-5!
But the real question nobody's asking is WHY? What's going on behind the scenes that has caused this? (there are clues)
They have the guy who would be Player of the Year in almost any other year.... a rare ISU NBA-potential guy - Jackie Carmichael
something they haven't had since they had John Wilkins' father some 35 years ago.
Some had ISU picked in their bracketology as an NCAA team...
All but one guy who started games over the past couple years has returned and most of their starters are multi-year starters
In fact they have 5 returnees who are regular starters - who have started more than half the games the past two years. (Carmichael, Wilkins, Cousin, Ekey, Brown)
They have 4 experienced seniors plus 2 4th year guys (redshirt juniors) who account for a big majority of their minutes.
So why aren't they winning?? Coach Muller talked after last night's loss and had some interesting words that sound like code words for some serious issues behind the scenes..
"We have personnel struggling."
Then he said this as a separate problem... "We’re having a hard time making shots. That goes to personnel also.”
so if they are "struggling" in a general sense...and also struggling in their on-court performance....
then was he talking about struggling with some undisclosed off-court issues?
Then you have ISU fans talking about John Wilkins being a "team leader" and giving everyone else on the squad "pep talks" and yet Wilkins is regularly MIA
and played only 4 minutes last night??
Then you have Muller benching regulars and starters and going instead with guys like Threloff who can't score and don't run the floor well.
Last night Threloff started instead of Ekey but played like he was lost, was completely unproductive and as soon as he came out and Ekey came in,
then ISU went on a run and Ekey nailed a couple threes, got a block and a dunk. Ekey was one of their best two players on the floor so why was Threloff starting in his place?
Then using Johnny Hill as point guard is odd. Keane has looked good and little used Anthony Cousin has been totally forgotten yet came in and did better.
And one more note - the forgotten Zeke Upshaw, believe it or not, has been their 3rd best scorer in recent games --
a guy Muller hardly even knew was on the team up 'til the last 3 games......Upshaw is shooting about 50% from 3-pt range and averaging more than a point every two minutes of playing time..
...then last night - Muller desperately needed someone who could make a shot (team shooting 23% from the arc), and yet ...
Muller again relegated Upshaw to deep sub role and he got only 6 minutes.
I know he knows his team and he's the coach but his selections are not getting the job done....
Then the guys he does play ...
....there was one issue with starter Johnny Hill picking up a technical for trash talking or taunting when ISU was on a run...
everything was going ISU's way for the stretch and Carmichael had just dunked on a fast break - the momentum was in ISU's favor and Hill
got the "T" but was then rewarded with playing practically the full game...the most playing time of anyone on the Redbirds - more than 50% above his usual playing time.
Tweet
Comment