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It's a long story, and if you can't get it, PM me.
They have some really nice words about Bradley,
the facilities, and especially the
CROWD!!!
Here are some clips:
"Mar 15, 2007
They did come to play, and they played well at times, but not quite well enough overall. The end result was a 90-78 setback in overtime to the Bradley Braves, ending PC???¬??s season in the opening round of the NIT, and finishing 18-13 overall for the season.
......PC failed to recover on the defensive rebounding end. The result was an un-Friar like 37-47 disadvantage on the backboards for the game, losing the board battle to a team that ranked last (out of 10 teams) in the MVC in rebound margin.
...Down three with :08.8 left on the clock, Efejuku launched a 21 footer from the left wing that connected, and sent the game into OT tied at 74.
The reprieve was short-lived, however.
In the extra period, the Friars were outscored 16-4, thanks to three mid-range jumpers by Franklin, who found a screener to get in between himself and Hill in the lane, and a 7-7 performance from the line by junior guard Daniel Ruffin. Conversely, PC managed just 10-17 from the line in the second half and overtime, and missed the front end of one-and-one???¬??s that could have been the difference. Actually, it was the difference ???¬??? for Bradley.
...Again, the defensive strategy on Bradley???¬??s shooters was sound, but the end result came from the Braves anticipating misses and going after rebounds. 6-3 guard J.J. Tauai, a senior from Missouri, responded with a career high17 rebounds to match his 17 points, playing the wing most of the night. For much of the second half, Bradley played with four guards on the floor, and only one player taller than 6-5. PC could never take advantage of the mismatch, largely due to 23 turnovers leading to 25 Bradley points, and the missed free throws.
While the Friar defense did limit Bradley to a sub-par 5-17 performance from three-point range (and leading shooter Jeremy Crouch, 51% from three, was just 3-7)
???¬?¦Bradley has a solid history of playing Big East schools, with a record of 86-97 against the 16 teams currently in the league. The Braves beat DePaul 78-58 to open the season at home at Carver Arena, and then pasted Rutgers 101-72 during a Thanksgiving holiday tournament in Chicago. Add to that a 72-66 win over Pittsburgh during last year???¬??s NCAA Tournament second round, and Bradley owned a five game win streak overall against Big East schools going into the NIT. That win streak is now at six games, and counting???¬?¦
???¬?¦the officiating crew of Anthony Jordan, John Goble and Bruce Bell were from the Southeastern Conference (SEC)???¬?¦noted several times during the commercial breaks on the radio, and even commented on by the players on the chartered flight back home after the game, was the enthusiasm of the Bradley crowd throughout the entire game. Not only did their student section stand throughout the entire 45 minutes, most of the fans in the stands stood throughout as well ???¬??? including the older fans in attendance???¬?¦Carver Arena is a little more than a mile from the Bradley campus (similar to PC???¬??s campus distance from the Dunk), located in downtown Peoria."
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Mississippi State's scout site also has a nice long story:
"Bradley (22-12) is expected to be a very good matchup for the Bulldogs (19-13) ..
???¬? Bradley is the top-gunning group in the entire NIT field, not to mention the land. They earned their second-round ticket with a 90-78 overtime victory Wednesday night over Providence. They beat a Big East team on probably one of their worst shooting games all year.???¬?? .
???¬?They play four guards, they spread you out, play with an open post and ball-screen. All of them can drive and shoot and get in the lane, dribble-and-pitch.???¬??
Of the 22 wins Stansbury is most impressed with the one at Virginia Commonwealth. ???¬?On ???¬??bracket buster???¬?? weekend and beat them by nine points. That tells you how good they are."
???¬?Having them at home is definitely much better than playing at Bradley.???¬??
State should be full-strength for the weekend, though a cloud is now over senior Dietric Slater following his Wednesday arrest by Starkville City police. Stansbury said Slater, the starting guard-forward who typically defends big forwards, was pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt and arrested for a suspended license. ???¬?That wasn???¬??t really suspended. It???¬??s already taken care of, he just didn???¬??t have it on record. It wasn???¬??t nothing to anything else, he was immediately released when they found out all the truth about the situation.???¬?? However, there also appear to be other issues raised by the arrest that will be coming out later in the day.
Hmmm...very interesting...more details coming out later today....?
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