question from tiger fan

[rollo58]

Serious question.

I saw the Pitt game and there is no denying how good you guys are. My ? is what transpired in your season that had you losing 10 games and being 4th or 5th in your conference, yet so good now...? Was it injury related? Team coming together? Tough early schedule? Team chemistry jelling?

I was just curious. The team I watched against Pitt, should be 27-4 or something like that.

[Mikovio]

Starting center Patrick O'Bryant missed the first 8 games of the season, and backup point guard Will Franklin missed the first 6 games in serving NCAA suspensions. They were overpaid for their summer jobs and had to serve suspensions proportional to those overpayments.

So yeah, you could probably say it took Bradley a little longer to mesh than other teams. Probably also cost us a good seed (I still can't believe we were stuck with a 13 while Joe Lunardi had us as a 10). But at this point we've won 13 of our last 16 games and truly are one of the hottest teams in college basketball....

[dogsrus]

Many thoughts on just what went "right" but it happened after a rare home beating by NCAA final 16 WSU. We came back to make it close that night but it didn't matter.

JL had seen enough and announced ALL positions were up for grabs...EVERY SINGLE ONE.

Stars were benched and players were yanked during games if they didn't follow the new rules or went back to old ways.

The NEW emphasis was DEFENSE, DEFENSE and DEFENSE....get it or sit. Simple as that. Time ON the court was awarded rom effort in practice.

We also hired a very successful local HS coach at years start and many credit his system for helping. But it took the head coach to finally emphasize it.

Also a player with talent that had struggled for 2 years came alive JJ tuaii. People started understanding roles and playing them to perfection.

And the REST, as they say, is now BU history.

[rollo58]

thanks for the quick responses.

i really think this should be an exceptional game. i think the two teams are similar in their defensive emphasis and athletically as well. we don't have anyone as good as O'bryant in the post though (although we've got some good players there).

how deep do you guys go? if not real deep that might be the only area where i could see us having an advantage.

[New Guy]

great thread!

mikovio and dogsrus hit it on the nose about the change. I agree they look better than the record or seed. I also think that Pat O has learned how to handle the double team without putting up a bad shot 16 feet away and Sommerville and Wright have learned how to get open and wait for the ball when it goes in to him. On the bench we have athletic role players on the wing, guard, and forward but can't withstand inside foul trouble, POB being the key. They have been playing about 9 deep so far in the tourney without seeing the 7" 2" backup center.

[rollo58]

from what i saw against pitt, and what i read, i think this game should be a 'pickum'. the tigers are at the top of their game, but so is bradley, and i don't see a difference in the level of players from watching that pitt game. i could see an OT game.

[New Guy]

now how about the tigers. We know they are athletic and deep. Are there any letdowns we can look for that have shown in the past? How does the fan base like Calapari? I know about his 25-26 win average but he has been quoted as saying he won't retire there.

[rollo58]

now how about the tigers. We know they are athletic and deep. Are there any letdowns we can look for that have shown in the past? How does the fan base like Calapari? I know about his 25-26 win average but he has been quoted as saying he won't retire there.

haven't heard that he said that. he's got a pretty sweet package here.

i've not been a huge cal fan due to his being such a salesman, but this has been a special year, and he really has done it all this year from a coaching standpoint. this team is peaking at the right time (we peaked about 4 times this year, lol). i hope he stays at memphis for a long time, as you can't get a better city and school promotor...he's a human billboard, constantly selling the city and the school...also the best recruiter around.

the team is really solid and balanced, and the youth thing is a little overstated because four of the freshmen had a 13th year together at laurinburg in nc.

weaknesses? free throw shooting when we don't focus. um...i have to think of any other weaknesses. there is really no area that losing a guy to fouls can hurt us. maybe dorsey at center, but that has happened before without issue.

the only bad game we had was texas, and we lost because we didn't push the ball inside enough, too many 3's, became one-dimensional. so, if i were bradley, i would shut down the inside and keep enough outside pressure to affect our 3s.

[New Guy]

first let me say it has been a pleasure talking to you.

here is a link to a Peoria Journal Star article that toward the bottom has Calapari's quote. Now that I look at it again, it probably means nothing.

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/032106/BRA_B9AARGHF.071.shtml

By the way it is snowing pretty hard in Peoria right now so there might be a bunch of us with free time today to answer questions

[yahtzee]

Coach Les mentioned on his show last night that he felt the win at N. Iowa was a turning point for this team. Beating N. Iowa a ranked team on the road gave this team a lot of confidence and the opinion they could play with anyone.

[rollo58]

first let me say it has been a pleasure talking to you.

here is a link to a Peoria Journal Satr article that toward the bottom has Calapari's quote. Now that I look at it again, it probably means nothing.

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/032106/BRA_B9AARGHF.071.shtml

By the way it is snowing pretty hard in Peoria right now so there might be a bunch of us with free time today to answer questions

i've enjoyed it as well...i can't wait for thurs, should be a battle.

[rollo58]

good post from one of our more knowledgeable posters at www.memphistigers.org ...naturally there is a 'homer' factor, but still a decent read, even if pro-Memphis. I'm sure there are things you guys would challenge...

------------------------

Give full credit to the Braves for beating Kansas and Pitt. They've had an amazing tournament so far. Having said that, we will beat them the same way we have beaten ORU and Bucknell.

Their win against Kansas was a very good one, but we should look at Kansas' path to get here and ask if they were overrated. First off, the only good team in the Big 12 is Texas. Oklahoma was exposed as a bad team and nobody else was any good. Kansas was 16-2 coming into the Bradley game. They have to be given a lot of credit, but most of the teams that they beat were mediocre or had very slow guard play. The exception was Texas. When they played a rested Texas team they lost by 25 points. When they played Texas in a 3 games in 3 days scenario Kansas beat them by 12. Texas has zero depth so that is no surprise. Kansas was very similar to our team that lost to Arizona State 3 years ago. They were young and folded against an older, more disciplined team.

The Pitt game was a very good matchup for Bradley. They didn't have to deal with any athleticism and got two quick fouls on Krauser. Krauser, Gray and Kendall were the only players that could hurt them and all had foul trouble early. Pitt, like Bradley has very little firepower and has a very hard time coming from behind.

Our game will go the same way that our previous games have gone. We might start off a little sluggish or let Bradley hang around, but in the end our defense and depth will get them. We have thrived because of two things: Defensive intensity and great shot selection. We are no longer letting teams off the hook by putting up bad shots. All of our shots are either high percentage shots or uncontested 3's.

Everyone talks about how Bradley has two 7 footers but only one of them (O'Bryant) gets time and puts up good stats. Size is actually in our favour, as once you get by O'Bryant, we are bigger and longer than them. Needless to say we are far more athletic than they are.

G Bennett 6'0
G Ruffin 5'10"
F Wright 6'4"
F Sommerville 6'7"
C O'Bryant 7'0"

G Franklin 6'0"
G Crouch 6'5"
F Andrews 6'8"

DWash and AA are actually taller than the Bradley guards so we can play both at the same time if we want. Their wing players are all in the 6'4" range so we can come at them with a combination of CDR, Antonio, Rodney, Shawne and Dozier. Bradley is used to having their small guards and wing players penetrate and get off the shots that they want but this won't happen against us. We will be on every pass and shot that they attempt.

The compelling matchup will be against Sommerville, who is their best player. I think that he may be too quick for Shawne but I like the idea of having Rodney or Dozier on him. I think that both will be able to do a great job against him. Shawne is the wildcard. When Bradley puts Andrews in the game I am 100% sure that Shawne will be guarding him. Otherwise, Shawne may have problems finding someone to guard. Sommerville is more athletic than him, and Wright at 6'4" might be too quick.

When Shawne is in the game he will have to do two of these three in order to get a lot of time. He will have to show that he can defend Sommerville one on one. He will have to show that he can do damage against Sommerville in the post. IMO, the game within a game with Sommerville and Shawne will involve foul trouble. Whoever is able to impose their will on the other will have the biggest impact on the game. IF Shawne is on the bench with two quick fouls it doesn't affect us that much because Rodney, Dozier or CDR can guard Sommerville. IF Shawne can get Sommerville on the bench with fouls then Bradley has no chance to win.

On our side, Rodney will be an almost impossible matchup for them. They will have to use Sommerville on him which will take up a lot of energy, or Andrews who is too bulky, or Wright who is only 6'4". IF Rodney can get off quickly and not take bad shots we'll have an easy time of it.


Bradley shoots okay but not amazingly well. Their big men shoot for a high percentage but after that they average in the low 40's as a team. We shoot better than they do, especially now that we are taking good shots. I look for Bradley to shoot 38% for the game and around 30% from 3 point land.

Overall, this will be an 8 to 15 point game in our favour, even though I'm not taking Bradley lightly. As I stated, I believe that at 33, they have the highest RPI of any 13 seed in the history of the tournament. If they had have gotten good value for their RPI they would have been an 8 or 9 seed - very similar to Bucknell. They have played very well, but like most teams have not played anyone like us this season. I am confident that our defensive intensity will be amazing. There are only two things that can derail us. The first is that we stop having the discipline to only take good shots. The second thing is foul trouble. As far as foul trouble goes we will only be in a bad spot of both of any of these sets of players gets in trouble. DWash/AA, or CDR/Antonio, or Shawne/Carney, or Dorsey/Cooper/Waki. If one of the players in each group stays clear of foul trouble we'll be fine.

Memphis 76
Bradley 65

[New Guy]

I agree with most of that. On paper the tigers don't appear to be "paper tigers". His comment about Wright could be questioned. Wright is only 6"4" but has the long arms of a center with a 7' wing span. He also is as quick as most guards and has a 44" verticle so he rebounds like a forward. He is a hard guy to guard and can defend well against guards, forwards and some small centers also. The first key for BU to stay close and have a chance at the end is team defense.Tony Bennet has suprised me all year at how well he defends. He seems to set the tone. If they play the defense like they played against Kansas. Then they have to do everything else well. Shot selection, rebounding, turnovers etc... But they have done that down the stretch to play their way in to the tourney. And have done it twice against very good competition. Memphis is a tall order. Mabye we let the genie out of the bottle and get a little luck.

[squeaky]

I don't agree. His assessment of Bradley, Kansas, Pitt is only about 50% factual, and 50% spin. With the kind of spin this guy uses, you could conclude any team is bad, or conversely, may be better that they look.

I don't deny Memphis has better athletes, and depth. But Bradley does have more going for them than a 7 footer and a bunch of poor shooting, small wing players and guards who can't get their shots off. I hope the team has a similar minimal regard for Bradley.

[SFP]

I agree with most of that. On paper the tigers don't appear to be "paper tigers". His comment about Wright could be questioned. Wright is only 6"4" but has the long arms of a center with a 7' wing span. He also is as quick as most guards and has a 44" verticle so he rebounds like a forward. He is a hard guy to guard and can defend well against guards, forwards and some small centers also. The first key for BU to stay close and have a chance at the end is team defense.Tony Bennet has suprised me all year at how well he defends. He seems to set the tone. If they play the defense like they played against Kansas. Then they have to do everything else well. Shot selection, rebounding, turnovers etc... But they have done that down the stretch to play their way in to the tourney. And have done it twice against very good competition. Memphis is a tall order. Mabye we let the genie out of the bottle and get a little luck.

I'd like to add two things more. Zach Andrews is also very athletic and quick. He can explode to the ball like no one else on our team. We also have an X factor in JJ who they did not mention.