I WAS for the CBI....

[Scouter]

Dude ... How is this a bad thing?

I assume you're talking to me. I never said those were bad things. In fact, I believe I said they're all good. What I said was bad is people thinking this season turned into a somewhat successful one because of the run we've made in this tournament.

[VeveJones007]

Veve I think you're a little off here, as WE and TCS have played less than 4 minutes combined since this tournament started. I think you're intentions are on target but those guys are getting no benefits. Will came in against Ohio and promptly jacked a three from the corner in transition so he apparently still needs to learn he isn't a 2 guard.

It has been a great help to SM and definitely to DC. It's amazing how much the sentiments towards DC have changed on this board since the CBI started.

I understand what you're saying about the PT for some players, but I'm also talking about practice. Surely WE and TCS aren't being held out of practices. Practices can help the younger players get more comfortable with each other and develop a better understanding of the offense and the defense. I don't believe that the young guys necessarily have to play in this tournament to benefit from it. I think we as fans get caught up in the idea that the players just need game experience to get better for next season.

[Tulsa Brave]

You're not one the people I talked to when I was walking up with 2 boys are you?

There isn't a waiting list on tulsa.rivals.com that I am aware of and I have been a mod since we moved to rivals.

For the bus ride, I'm sure you would be welcome. Just call and reserve your spot.

It told me I couldn't post because there was a short waiting period due to recent problems on rival boards. The waiting period was only a few hours apparently, as I can now post there.

I don't think I talked to you last evening at the game...we got there real early, and the only people we really talked to were a few other Bradley fans we ran into and the people sitting around us.

I'm still undecided on the bus trip...

[TheAsianSensation]

This is really simple.

When the season is over, what word describes it best?

Complete failure
Moderate failure
Small failure
Average
Better than Average
Good
Great
Outstanding



All I'll say is this: I'd sure as heck take Creighton's and SIU's 2nd rd. NIT loss postseason result over anything related to the CBI.

[Tulsa Brave]

I don't know, but what I do know is I'll sure take the hopefully two times I'll get to see the Braves play here in Tulsa...and a win in one of them would make it even better!

[Bradleyguy10]

I know you're "done talking about this" and that's nice, but now you are bringing into question every basketball game or athletic event for that matter in the country. Stop being so cynical. Watching sporting events must be terrible for you because you can never trust the outcome. I would never watch another game if I thought like you. Show a little trust in the institution and believe that a game is won on the court.

I'm only back to clear this statement up. I don't think that this happens regularly, but I do see that it happens during significant games where the benefits can be greater. For the most part I know not every basketball game is decided by the refs, and I know we could've won that game if our 3's and FT's were falling. I'm not saying that referees directly predetermine who is going to win, but I am saying that advantages are given to certain teams when possible (look on youtube for the video of duke vs. belmont and paulus stepping out of bounds). If you can overcome that advantage by being so unbelievably great and that team being really bad, then awesome...there's only so much a referee can do without it being blatant, but we aren't that good and Tulsa isn't that bad. And in response to rebounds; I'd like to watch a replay and see if there were any rebounds that were because of jumping over the backs' of people, and see if they got called for it, and I mean that genuinely not sarcastically, I'd really like to see if that happened, because I wouldn't be surprised if a few over the back calls were over looked. But yes ft's and 3's hurt; we could've over came the disadvantage if those would've been better, but I'm still upset that there was an advantage at all.

Now for real I'm done haha..don't hate me because of my opinions

[VeveJones007]

This is really simple.

When the season is over, what word describes it best?

Complete failure
Moderate failure
Small failure
Average
Better than Average
Good
Great
Outstanding



All I'll say is this: I'd sure as heck take Creighton's and SIU's 2nd rd. NIT loss postseason result over anything related to the CBI.

I'd classify it as a moderate failure only because of the injuries to Ruffin and Warren. This season was over for me after the loss in the MVC tourney, so the fact that we're in the CBI over the NIT makes no difference to me. That most likely is due to my high expectations for this season. I'm looking forward to next season and I think that playing and practicing for as long as possible in a lost season (IMO) can do nothing but help this team reach its goals in the future of being in the top of the MVC, reaching the NCAA's and doing well in the tournament.

The only way you could take this season's result for Creighton and SIU over Bradley's is to say that they were closer to the NCAA's as shown by their placement in the NIT. What I would argue is that it doesn't matter where you finish if you don't meet your goals.

[BU Firsty]

So finishing 17-15 in the regular season and getting to the finals of an inaugural third-tier tournament is a successful season? Even though this team was picked to finish second in the league and was supposed to be an NCAA tourney team? Getting to this point in this tournament does not make this a successful season, despite all the different selling points you could make because of it (three years with 20+ wins, three straight postseasons, etc.).

Yes, this team has faced a lot of adversity. But two of the four major issues that happened to this team were self-inflicted, which makes it harder for me to appreciate what they did because of that. In any case, this team never should've lost to UNI and WSU at home, even if Ruffin was out. They also shouldn't have looked like squat in the season opener against a less-than-stellar UIC team when we had everyone available. No excuses for those three losses. I'm sorry.

And how is "champagne" spelled wrong?

The ???C??? should be upper case. I would not have worried about that with anyone else.

[BradleyBrave]

I was never for the CBI to begin with, and the false sense of accomplishment crashing over the boards is making me nauseous.

Stop taking yourself so seriously. You obviously don't value the 3+ weeks of extra practice time and development for our returning players (which is like a 3 week start on next year), the added exposure that extra TV games has given us, and extra revenue that has flowed into an athletic department that has only one revenue sport. The mention of our thrashing of Virginia in the Louisville newspaper when referring to the recruitment of Antiquan Beckham was icing on the cake. The CBI has paid and will continue to pay dividends for this program both short and long term. Is is the goal or prize of the season? No. But if you're nauseated by good things happening to the program like more games, more money, more exposure, and positive press, then maybe you aren't really a Bradley fan after all.

[TheAsianSensation]

Stop taking yourself so seriously. You obviously don't value the 3+ weeks of extra practice time and development for our returning players (which is like a 3 week start on next year), the added exposure that extra TV games has given us, and extra revenue that has flowed into an athletic department that has only one revenue sport. The mention of our thrashing of Virginia in the Louisville newspaper when referring to the recruitment of Antiquan Beckham was icing on the cake. The CBI has paid and will continue to pay dividends for this program both short and long term. Is is the goal or prize of the season? No. But if you're nauseated by good things happening to the program like more games, more money, more exposure, and positive press, then maybe you aren't really a Bradley fan after all.

I'm nauseated by people who seem to have a sense that the season was a success because of the CBI. I'm plenty willing to acknowledge the CBI is defintely good for us; I don't think we can call it "great" though.

[dogsrus]

I'm nauseated by people who seem to have a sense that the season was a success because of the CBI. I'm plenty willing to acknowledge the CBI is defintely good for us; I don't think we can call it "great" though.

I agree....the season was NOT a success. As far as I'm concerned though the season ended in St Louis. This is kinda like REEEEAL early preseason, you know kinda like TAS's Bracketology in July or August......

I have ALSO learned I have to wait 24 hours after the game to post...to emotinal not to mention the libation factor.

[patrick_o'brian]

I knew after the game last night to not even check this board. I knew it would be in MELTDOWN mode as it is now. We are blaming the refs, talking about how much of a failure this team is, the tournament is all of a sudden fixed? WOW! You guys stress me out. So just because there were a bunch of bad calls last night, this tournament is fixed, and a horrible tournament. I seem to remember that there were alot of bad calls in THE VALLEY this year, is our conference fixed? I am a huge fan of this tournament, of course it is about money, what tournament isn't? So we were below expectations this year. Were there the expectation that Ruffin would be out for 7 games and Andrew Warren, I'm sure was scheduled to break his hand in February, right? All that I can say is that I LOVE BRADLEY BASKETBALL! I love when I get to go to the games and I love that I have got to watch this team 36 times and counting this year! When is the last time that you could say that? For that I would like to thank the Gazelle Group for inviting us into this third tier tournament. I don't know how else we would still be playing in April. SO SETTLE DOWN FELLAS, WE GET TO GO TO CARVER AND WATCH THE BRAVES TOMORROW!

[BradleyBrave]

I'm nauseated by people who seem to have a sense that the season was a success because of the CBI. I'm plenty willing to acknowledge the CBI is defintely good for us; I don't think we can call it "great" though.

I agree. I haven't seen too many people say that, but maybe I am just not paying attention to the over-the-top stuff. I guess I look at our success in the CBI as further evidence that this season is more of a 'lost' season where we never really got an opportunity (mostly because of injuries) to see how good this team could have been.

[mrcoachdude]

I agree....the season was NOT a success. As far as I'm concerned though the season ended in St Louis. This is kinda like REEEEAL early preseason, you know kinda like TAS's Bracketology in July or August......

I have ALSO learned I have to wait 24 hours after the game to post...to emotinal not to mention the libation factor.

liken the CBI to a summer trip abroad and getting in some great games....this may do more for BU than the sweet sixteen did.....players can see we will need help right away....

with Ruf and JC and MS leaving lots of PT to be had.....

[dogsrus]

I knew after the game last night to not even check this board. I knew it would be in MELTDOWN mode as it is now. We are blaming the refs, talking about how much of a failure this team is, the tournament is all of a sudden fixed? WOW! You guys stress me out. So just because there were a bunch of bad calls last night, this tournament is fixed, and a horrible tournament. I seem to remember that there were alot of bad calls in THE VALLEY this year, is our conference fixed? I am a huge fan of this tournament, of course it is about money, what tournament isn't? So we were below expectations this year. Were there the expectation that Ruffin would be out for 7 games and Andrew Warren, I'm sure was scheduled to break his hand in February, right? All that I can say is that I LOVE BRADLEY BASKETBALL! I love when I get to go to the games and I love that I have got to watch this team 36 times and counting this year! When is the last time that you could say that? For that I would like to thank the Gazelle Group for inviting us into this third tier tournament. I don't know how else we would still be playing in April. SO SETTLE DOWN FELLAS, WE GET TO GO TO CARVER AND WATCH THE BRAVES TOMORROW!

Well said and all true POB...I would offer though that even in some of the stoopid posts (like mine) its the passion that we have that drives us.

We ALL love BU basketball.