I WAS for the CBI....

[TheAsianSensation]

I'm with ya, TAS.

This tournament does have some positives, like some of the younger players getting more experience and fans getting to see JC and Ruff a few more times. But getting to this point in this tournament is not a good thing, considering the expectations that were placed on this team at the start of the year.

I'm very curious as to see what everyone will think of this season when it's over.

[BUBraves06]

stop it....nobody yet has blamed the loss on the refs......
but they were PART OF THE GAME and so it is a topic that can fairly be discussed.

They were bad.......
even the TU fans know that the continuation call was bogus, but the calls consistently favored TU the whole game.
Hey...it happens on the road, so we should have adjusted and compensated.
Slo-mo replay consistently showed elbows, forearms, and hip checks against BU that were NOT called, but ticky tack and minimal contact, and even the TU guy's elbow into Andrew Warren's jaw, were called as fouls against BU.

I'm not saying they weren't bad, they were. I just think we did a lot of other things wrong and a few calls here or there were way down on the list of reasons why we lost this game. And no, I guess no one came out and said that they BLAME the officials ver batem but are you serious? It's been said/insinuated all over the board.

[tornado]

They were bad and they clearly affected the game with their bad calls, so I just "insinuated" it again...

[Beninator]

I have never been a fan of the CBI either. The only reason I am for this tournament is that it is very obvious that JC does not want his basketball career at Bradley to be over.

[lefty]

I noticed that the fould were24-18 in favor of TU..Probably at least 3 were toward the end when we were getting back in the game...and with TU getting 18 offensive rebounds its easy to see where they came from.

We actually should feel pretty good about playing TU home or away..overall I think we are clearly the better team...I think we win the next two.

[lefty]

I have never been a fan of the CBI either. The only reason I am for this tournament is that it is very obvious that JC does not want his basketball career at Bradley to be over.

I was never or am a fan of CBI...but it's there for this year so it's still good for us. I don't think it's a negative...and while it would be nice to win it....I wouldn't make it to be anything more than it really is

[it's boogie time]

When they showed that NBA continuation 3 point play, many people at my house started talking about how this is going to three games.

I have a feeling that Tulsa's big guys are going to be on the bench a lot in Peoria. Just a hunch.

[pfunk880]

But getting to this point in this tournament is not a good thing, considering the expectations that were placed on this team at the start of the year.

I agree that they didn't meet expectations, but better to win this thing than not.

[JesseTU]

Box score from Bradley's website:

http://www.bubraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=19332&SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=1425749

In the first half, BU had 8 fouls to Tulsa's 4. Tulsa was then called for a flury of fouls to even things up. In the second half fouls were fairly even, Bradley was in the bonus before Tulsa was but, of course, picked up a few fouls down the stretch as the game was winding down.

I won't bother arguing which way the officiating was the "baddest" because clearly we have different opinions. But there was certainly times when calls were held and times when touch calls were made against Bradley - I won't deny that.

I always try to keep in mind that I'm usually watching for my team to get screwed, not so much paying attention to see if yours does (did).

[tornado]

(per the play by play log)
The very first foul was on Matt Salley (16:35), then the next was on Reese (16:11) and that's the last time the foul count was anywhere near even.

The next six fouls were on BU putting Tulsa into the bonus for nearly half the opening period, and sending several BU players to the bench with the early fouls, and hampering the way BU could play defense without getting whistled. Anyone who has played or coached knows full well all it takes is a couple calls to ruin the entire game plan by signalling the refs weren't going to let BU get away with the same stuff TU was doing, and they allowed Jordan to use the "Shaq-move" where he solidly bumps repeatedly into the defender, backing in close, and gets away with it while the defender gets called for the foul.

Then Tulsa was in the Double Bonus (with 10 fouls on BU) for nearly the final 5 minutes of the 1st half while BU was still two Tulsa fouls away from even being in the single (1-and-1) bonus.
AND......Tulsa was already 7 for 12 before Bradley even stepped to the FT line at 5:45 in the first half,
and Tulsa was 9-18 at the same time BU had shot only 2 FT's.
So over the first 18 minutes or so, the foul count was 10-4
and the FT discrepancy was 18 attempted vs. 2 attempted!!!


The final first half foul count was 10-6 with BU never getting into the bonus or shooting a 1-and-1.

The foul count in the 2nd half was 13 on BU - 12 on TU (actually there were 14 on BU if you count that FT's were shot on the BU technical but it didn't count as a personal since it was a bench "T") ,
but I admit a couple down the stretch were kinda intentional to stop the clock, but BU sure didn't get the benefit of getting into the bonus before TU.
But....... I don't just cite the foul discrepancy, I think the true factor and the one that peeved JL was the discrepancy in BU getting called for what TU did as well and didn't get called for.

[Weatherdemon]

I certainly don't disagree that it was poorly officiated but one of the refs actually just got done with an NCAA regional so at least one was solid.

Tulsa fans complained most about the hairpiece ref.

As for the box score, I have no idea what is going on there. TU usually has that up 45 minutes after the game. I've seen stats in articles but no box scores. Really weird.

[Bradleyguy10]

To be honest I don't really care if Tulsa got called for just as many fouls as Bradley. All that says to me is that they did some ACTUAL fouling during the game. There were at least 7 calls that I can think of off the top of my head that were unbelievably ridiculous. And not only was fouls, which you can see in a stat sheet, it was also little things like out of bounds calls that continually and suspiciously went out of bounds on us. One in particular I remember MS on the defensive end going up against Jordan for a rebound; MS's right hand was trying to swat the ball towards our offensive court and the ball ended up getting smacked out of bounds underneath the net. The call....Tulsa's ball underneath the basket. What did MS do??? Backhand the ball out of bounds at 20 mph....

It wasn't just about calls it was anything and everything the officials could get their hands on, and that DOES affect a game and no one will ever convince me otherwise...especially if it's only a 5 point difference.

Another thing anyone notice? On our run to come back a little bit..the calls that had been going against all night all of the sudden didn't. Good job CBI you got the almost comeback that you wanted to make it interesting (you couldn't have a boring game could you?), and you got the home team to win so it goes 3 games. Well done.

[houstontxbrave]

We can argue officiating all we want, it was a road game in a hostile environment so calls that are questionable are going to happen.

But what we really should be upset with is the absolute lack of rebounding again from this basketball team, specifically a Jim Les coach basketball team. To get out rebounded again but this time by 17 overall and 9 on the offensive end is inexcusible. Except, this has been occuring continually for the last 2 years. I am, for one, tired of seeing 2nd, 3rd, 4th opportunities for other teams. We do not box out, we do not go after the basketball, we only allow the other team to get rebounds and continued offensive possessions.

As frustrating as it is to see a huge free throw advantage to Tulsa, 37 to 18, the rebounding numbers are equally frustrating and somewhat mind numbing. Also, many of those free throws and our fouls are directly related to us not having any aggression on the defensive boards and letting the other team simply dictate the rebounding, going over the back because we do not want position or fouling the rebounder on their put back.

[tornado]

Hey I have a thought...we'll have to wait and see, but what if one or more of last night's refs
ALSO work Friday's game in Tulsa..........

If that turns out to be the case, then whoever such a ref is, would have obviously known in his thoughts, that Tulsa has to make it to a Friday game or else he'd be out of a gig, and the $800 - $1200 or so that goes with it.
Hmmm.....let's see.......

[thefish7]

We got bulldogged by the refs. There were some unbelievably bad calls made, and some just completely amazing no-calls that benefitted TU. That happens sometimes, though, and you have to play through it as best you can. Bradley could have won this game, despite the refereeing, and made it close in the end. You have to hit more of your free throws, and you have to do a better job rebounding.