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NIT & Projected lineup next season

J

jasonpeoria911

New member
-I realize a lot of the larger schools don't like to play in the NIT, but if the Braves do happen to end up in the NIT, its not all bad. Still get some national TV exposure if they do good and more great recruits possibly. A lot of the large schools don't really need that exposure but hardly anyone on the far coasts knows of good ole Bradley in central IL. Probably the only time they've heard of it, is last years Sweet 16 and people with prior relatives or friends that know of us. The NIT is probably our best shot at going deep into the Tourney with how our rebounding woe's have been. Either way, BU will get some national exposure in either tournament. Plus another home game probably. More like a standing room only home game most likely.

-For the 2nd part of this, I forgot what our project starters were for next season? Ruffin, Crouch, Warren, Manicalsco, and Salley was it?

Jason
 
I worry about the enthusiasm for the NIT considering BU raised the bar so high last season. I know the players all had NCAA on their mind. Some BU teams in the past have not cared about the NIT (2001), and in fact been more concerned about going on spring break than playing in the NIT. I don't think this group is like that at all, but I just worry that the enthusiasm from both the fans and players won't be what it was during the regular season.

As far as projecting starters, I think you can book Ruffin and Crouch as 2 of your guards. I'm pretty close to booking Jeremy Fears as a 3rd guard (and a contender for NOY). The 4th and 5th spots could be Warren, Williams, Brown, Salley, and/or a JUCO big. I don't see Singh, Maniscalco, Egolf, or Thompson starting, although I think Maniscalco should see some time.
 
what i was thinking is that its always great to get more games in for the benefit of those players that will be on the squad next season. does that outweigh turning down the opportunity to play in the NIT? i don't know... has Bradley EVER turned down the opportunity to play in that one?
 
BI_Brave_alum said:
what i was thinking is that its always great to get more games in for the benefit of those players that will be on the squad next season. does that outweigh turning down the opportunity to play in the NIT? i don't know... has Bradley EVER turned down the opportunity to play in that one?
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BU would never turn down an NIT bid, and I don't think they ever have. I just hope we can get an ESPN game, preferably in Peoria.
 
Re: NIT & Projected lineup next season

jasonpeoria911 said:
... our project starters were for next season? Ruffin, Crouch, Warren, Manicalsco, and Salley was it?

Jason
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I think Jeremy Fears will start next year.
 
If we don't get invited to the NCAA, we should absolutely take an NIT bid and play to win.

I really struggle with how to put together a starting team for BU next year... I guess it will go something like this:

1 - Ruffin
2 - Fears
3 - Crouch
4 - Salley? Brown? Williams?
5 - ???? Thompson? Salley? Mr. JUCO?

As much fun as the 4-guard offense is, and as much as I do expect it to be something the coaches use, I don't really want any part of it being our standard approach as it does not get us a lot of the rebounds.
 
thefish7 said:
If we don't get invited to the NCAA, we should absolutely take an NIT bid and play to win.

I really struggle with how to put together a starting team for BU next year... I guess it will go something like this:

1 - Ruffin
2 - Fears
3 - Crouch
4 - Salley? Brown? Williams?
5 - ???? Thompson? Salley? Mr. JUCO?

As much fun as the 4-guard offense is, and as much as I do expect it to be something the coaches use, I don't really want any part of it being our standard approach as it does not get us a lot of the rebounds.
Click to expand...

We need a couple of big players for rebounding and some easy baskets! I am sick of 4 guards! For that matter, I never liked playing 3 guards. I know we were stuck with that situation this year and Coach Les did a great job with it. But, as you can see, it can only take you so far.
 
tornado said:
thefish7 said:
...and play to win....
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so you think there are times we don't play to win?
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No, not at all. I've never seen that happen with this team, though someone in another thread on here mentioned that they may have dogged it in 2001 when they didn't make the NCAA... I was sort of responding to that (though it isn't in this thread, hehehe).

Edit: It was in this thread... See bradleybrave post above.
 
georgethedog said:
We need a couple of big players for rebounding and some easy baskets! I am sick of 4 guards! For that matter, I never liked playing 3 guards. I know we were stuck with that situation this year and Coach Les did a great job with it. But, as you can see, it can only take you so far.
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That's pretty much how I feel. I think at the college level a guy like Crouch who's tall (and at least in the last part of this season physical) can play the 3 well enough...
 
thefish7 said:
georgethedog said:
We need a couple of big players for rebounding and some easy baskets! I am sick of 4 guards! For that matter, I never liked playing 3 guards. I know we were stuck with that situation this year and Coach Les did a great job with it. But, as you can see, it can only take you so far.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much how I feel. I think at the college level a guy like Crouch who's tall (and at least in the last part of this season physical) can play the 3 well enough...
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I agree Crouch is big enough to play the 3 as long as we always have 2 BIGS on the floor. If Salley and Andrews were the type of players that could play together 35 minutes a game we would be fine. I blame a lot of our problems on Zak's lack of basketball "smarts" to keep out of foul trouble. Salley and Zak could play together if Zak would stay out of foul trouble, but since he cannot Coach Les has to save Salley and play mostly guards.
 
georgethedog said:
I agree Crouch is big enough to play the 3 as long as we always have 2 BIGS on the floor. If Salley and Andrews were the type of players that could play together 35 minutes a game we would be fine. I blame a lot of our problems on Zak's lack of basketball "smarts" to keep out of foul trouble. Salley and Zak could play together if Zak would stay out of foul trouble, but since he cannot Coach Les has to save Salley and play mostly guards.
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Yeah that was the difficulty we really had in some games... We were so thin for post players that we couldn't really afford to have Zach and Salley out there together... JJ did an admirable job of trying to play PF and as long as he could keep the post guys away from the hoop his tenacious defense worked. But, ideally, we'll have 2 post players so that we can keep guys like JJ and JC at the 3 spot.

Does anyone think Ray Brown is capable of playing the 4?
 
Ray will be a very effective defender and rebounder. He is a great jumper and very athletic. He could play the 4 position, especially in the MVC where the biggest 4 players are like Matt Shaw, Dane Watts, and Eric Coleman. I think he could be next year's leading rebounder if he plays enough time. A lot will have to be decided next October.
 
amckillip said:
I think Ray can do it better than JC, but he is certainly not ideal, then again I am not against a 4 guard lineup.
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Are you basketball ______? If the 4 guard lineup was so good why doesn't everyone do it? Ever seen it work with any other team? It will only take you so far IF you have good guards WITH experience like we had this year. But that will get you 4th in the league an a NIT bid. You must have low expectations I guess. :?
 
georgethedog said:
amckillip said:
I think Ray can do it better than JC, but he is certainly not ideal, then again I am not against a 4 guard lineup.
Click to expand...

Are you basketball ______? If the 4 guard lineup was so good why doesn't everyone do it? Ever seen it work with any other team? It will only take you so far IF you have good guards WITH experience like we had this year. But that will get you 4th in the league an a NIT bid. You must have low expectations I guess. :?
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Woah, relax there buddy. I said I don't have a problem with it, I'm not praising it's greatness. I think we easily could have done much better this year had we not had mental lapses such as TT, and missing 8 crucial free throws the other day. That has nothing to do with how big one of our guys are. Maybe you need to talk about something before attacking someone... :wink:
 
amckillip said:
georgethedog said:
amckillip said:
I think Ray can do it better than JC, but he is certainly not ideal, then again I am not against a 4 guard lineup.
Click to expand...

Are you basketball ______? If the 4 guard lineup was so good why doesn't everyone do it? Ever seen it work with any other team? It will only take you so far IF you have good guards WITH experience like we had this year. But that will get you 4th in the league an a NIT bid. You must have low expectations I guess. :?
Click to expand...

Woah, relax there buddy. I said I don't have a problem with it, I'm not praising it's greatness. I think we easily could have done much better this year had we not had mental lapses such as TT, and missing 8 crucial free throws the other day. That has nothing to do with how big one of our guys are. Maybe you need to talk about something before attacking someone... :wink:
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No attack intended. However, you lead me right to another point about having BIG players. I contend that having a couple big players yields some easy baskets throughout the game and therefore BU could have still won even though they missed FTs. A small lineup makes a team play almost perfect basketball to win because there are no easy baskets and rebounding (especially defensive) becomes a big problem. Even with bad FT shooting if we get the defensive rebound before Matt Shaw tips in the final basket we could still have won. Coach please find us a BIG that can stay on the floor!
 
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