Thompson & Egolf

[Da Coach]

Not many midmajors that depend on their big men. The ones that do, usually aren't that good. I can't remember the last MVC that won the conference because of dominating big men. Maybe Harstadt and Gallagher in the early 90's?

[CABUFan]

I think that it is clear that JL intends to keep the system we have in place, but that he wants to use bigger players in the same system in the future. That article about Prosser the other day indicated he is expecting to play the 4, and that he is working on his 3pt shooting and ball-handling to do so. Therefore, I expect he will soon be playing a similar role to TW, but with an extra 4 inches. Likewise, it sounds like Wilkins will be a big 3 or 4. I don't think the "4-guard offense" will change, but our lineup is going to get bigger as we get bigger players who can handle the ball and shoot well enough to play a guard-type role.

[Braves4Life]

Braves4Life do you know something that we do not or just speculating.

Nope. Just doin' the math here. Seemed kind of odd that they never hit the floor after the exhibition game and Les went with freshmen instead. Something smelled kind of funny to me.

[bigger-stronger-faster]

I'm not convinced that either AT ot WE will ever be major contributors at BU. Both were at least expected to contribute this year and last night did not even play. Since AT redshirted he's still a bit of an unknown, and you can't coach somebody to be 6-10, so I'll give him a pass so far. But WE not playing last night says a lot about his future.

at one of the fund raisers prior to the start of we freshman year, coach Les referred to
will as having a BOAT LOAD OF TALENT in his introduction - does any one else remember
this evening - if my memory serves me correctly the event took place at the itoo hall

[MacabreMob]

at one of the fund raisers prior to the start of we freshman year, coach Les referred to
will as having a BOAT LOAD OF TALENT in his introduction - does any one else remember
this evening - if my memory serves me correctly the event took place at the itoo hall

All those events are "fluff" for 'insiders'.

As far as I can recall, Coach Les has always said playing time is dictated by how players practice.

[numbr_9]

I'm not convinced that either AT ot WE will ever be major contributors at BU. Both were at least expected to contribute this year and last night did not even play. Since AT redshirted he's still a bit of an unknown, and you can't coach somebody to be 6-10, so I'll give him a pass so far. But WE not playing last night says a lot about his future.

I don't know if you can read too much about a guy's future based on one regular-season game into his sophomore year. Especially a "big". They tend to develop slower than guards.

[real fan]

I think too much is being read into Will and AT not playing last night; AT is only a freshman and Will a sophomore so there is plenty of season left for them to contribute, Sam Singh and D.Collins are both in their final seasons so I would hope that Will and AT can see that with a lot of hard work they are our stars of the future.I believe if they work hard enough in practice that they are capable of getting minutes on the floor.

[bigjimmy]

I think that SS playing the last 9 1/2 minutes of the game, which I think is the most consecutive minutes in a game that he's ever played at Bradley, says a lot about where WE and AT are at in their respective games at the moment. The fact that TB is the backup 4 player also says a lot. That doesn't mean that they won't contribute at some point because Coach Les always seems to give a guy a chance during the non conference season. Coach Les has also shown that if you don't contribute and/or aren't prepared to play your butt will stayed glued to the bench. Time will tell which tale will come true. Hopefully that time will be in a little over 12 hours from now when they are a part of a BU upset victory.

[shaunguth]

The coach had hinted that his playing rotation would not be a large as it was during the preseason, since he believes teams stand a better chance of winning when they play 8 or 9 players.
So I think WE and AT were simply the 2 odd guys out.

I just wonder who is going to the bench if/when AW gets healthy.

[Rusty 54]

I just wonder who is going to the bench if/when AW gets healthy.

I think Chris Roberts and Dodie both get their minutes cut some. Maybe Maniscalco a little as he would play only the point instead of occasionally the 2 guard. And as Knuckles gets his minutes cut, that would filter down to Eddrin and Norris.

[shaunguth]

I think it would be Norris going to the bench once AW comes back if we're only going to play 8-9 players.

[georgethedog]

I don't know GTD.

I don't think Coach Les is set and done.

I think he is still building something.

The 3-4 guard line-up has created more exciting basketball and fan interest for Peoria. He is selling that excitement to supporters. And with the new facilities is trying to get even better players to fill the system. His best success was not under the 3-4 guard system, but some of his best excitement has been with the 3-4 guard system.

I think it is a work in progress and we are not seeing the final result yet.

Hang tight. Gonna have some bumps along the way. But after it is all said and done - the journey will be a good one.

You are probably more right than me. I think the bumps are going to be big ones for a while and we will see one today. I think our small line-up will get exposed in a major way today at Florida. Just like we saw it exposed in the Mississippi State game a couple years ago. Those SEC teams seem to be just as quick as our small lineups, but about 3-6 inches taller at every position (except center since I know they don't have a 7'6" center).

[Out of Bounce]

We just got to play big and bigger.

[brocks]

With Knezevic, Prosser, Wilkins, Harris on the way and AT, WE, TB in the fold, plus big guards out there like CR and DD, I don't see any issues about Les recruiting size. The only spot where we're even arguably small the next few seasons will be PG, and I think our PGs are quick and talented enough to compensate.

[Beninator]

You are probably more right than me. I think the bumps are going to be big ones for a while and we will see one today. I think our small line-up will get exposed in a major way today at Florida. Just like we saw it exposed in the Mississippi State game a couple years ago. Those SEC teams seem to be just as quick as our small lineups, but about 3-6 inches taller at every position (except center since I know they don't have a 7'6" center).

I hope you are wrong here GTD, but I think that you are right on this as well.