BradleyBrave
New member
MacabreMob said:
With all of his injury problems, I doubt BU is rushing him along (there would be no reason to), so I believe this is indeed very good news. Sounds like Sam will be contributing earlier than we expected.
-
Welcome to BradleyFans.com! Visitors are welcome, but we encourage you to sign up and register as a member. It's free and takes only a few seconds. Just click on the link to Register at the top right of the page, and follow instructions. If you have any problems or questions, click on the link at the bottom right of the page to Contact Us.
Report from Itoo Hall
- Thread starter tornado
- Start date
With all of his injury problems, I doubt BU is rushing him along (there would be no reason to), so I believe this is indeed very good news. Sounds like Sam will be contributing earlier than we expected.
tornado
New member
BradleyBrave said:
I agree several teams have fine guards, even Evansville.
But I would take more of a wait and see approach to CU than I would to BU.
BU's three starting guards (JJ, DR, WF) have proved to everybody they are right up there at the top.
Against Kansas' great guards, when POB had only 8 pts, and we didn't rule the paint like we wanted, DRuff had 11 pts, 7 assists and key FT's under extreme pressure down the stretch.
Will had 14 pts, 6 assists, and JJ added 8 pts, 3 steals.
But Nate Funk is coming off a whole year of shoulder surgery and rehab. That type of surgery can definitely hamper the shooting touch. And Dotzler is still a big question mark.
BradleyBrave
New member
tornado said:
One game does not make a Valley season, unfortunately, even if it was against KU.
Agreed on Dotzler being a question mark, but Funk will be just fine. Nick Porter averaged nearly 10 ppg, and Pierce Hibma is a quality guard as well. Those 3 are more proven than BU's guards, Dotzler notwithstanding.
We lost a double-digit scorer in Tony Bennett, and we're not sure who's going to fill that scoring void. We were already the 6th or 7th best backcourt last year, and lost a double-digit scorer. UNI is the only backcourt among the upper-division teams to lose more significant players. I think we'll be fine at the guard position, but anointing us among the league's elite is kind of silly.
BradleyBrave
New member
tornado said:
Perhaps not this year...but I will certainly agree with that statement in 2007-2008!
BradleyBrave said:
I share Bradley Brave's sentiments. . .WSU's backcourt blows all other Valley foes out of the water. Heck, one pub rates them as the #2 backcourt in the country, right between Kansas and North Carolina.
That said, the rest of the Valley returns most of their backcourts, but more importantly their starting point guards. The X-factor for the Braves backcourt is if Crouch can recover his 10 ppg form and Adams can consistently pitch in an additional 5-6 ppg.
My biggest source of optimism is that this bunch of kids will be going into games knowing they can win in difficult situations and hostile environments. It will be important for us to win away from Carver in order for us to immediately build off last year's success.
And traditionally, Bradley teams that lose a lot of key personnel from the previous season and are not expected to do well have traditionally been surprise teams.
BradleyBrave
New member
squirrel said:
Great post on all points Squirrel, and I am especially hanging my hat on this last point heading into this season.
BradleyBrave said:
just my opinion. as far as siu, mullins doesn't impress me at all. he can't shoot. all you have to do is back away from him. young and tatum are very inconsistent. wsu is the same,very inconsistent. coiusnard is out of control half the time and ogirri is nothing more than a streak spot-up shooter. to say bu isn't even in the top 4 or 5 backcourts is way off base, imo.
tornado
New member
flip, this is a topic that's interesting to me, and I can accept that people have differing opinions.
But I believed BU had the best backcourt in the Valley last year, and that Daniel Ruffin was the best PG.
I feel today that the fact have vindicated me even tho you might recall a lot of people on the other board ripped into me royally for saying that.
But in the end, DRuff was clearly the best PG, and the quartet of Tony Bennett, DRuff, JJ Tauai, and Will played at least as well as any teams group of guards in the Valley.
It will always have a subjective component, but I think BU's guards will be as good as anyone's.
To say WSU's backcourt blows everyone else away, is to ignore the fact that the very best returning PG they have wasn't even in the top two on HIS OWN TEAM in assists and wasn't in the top six on the team in scoring.
The WSU PG finished 20th in the MVC in assists per game!!
and the guy on the team who led Wichita in assists (PJ Couisnard with 99) also led the team in turnovers, and was among the league's leaders in turnovers.
The WSU PG, Braeueur, would have 4th in assists on the Braves with the stats he had.
So, I don't hand the title to the Shox just yet, let's see how it plays out.
But I believed BU had the best backcourt in the Valley last year, and that Daniel Ruffin was the best PG.
I feel today that the fact have vindicated me even tho you might recall a lot of people on the other board ripped into me royally for saying that.
But in the end, DRuff was clearly the best PG, and the quartet of Tony Bennett, DRuff, JJ Tauai, and Will played at least as well as any teams group of guards in the Valley.
It will always have a subjective component, but I think BU's guards will be as good as anyone's.
To say WSU's backcourt blows everyone else away, is to ignore the fact that the very best returning PG they have wasn't even in the top two on HIS OWN TEAM in assists and wasn't in the top six on the team in scoring.
The WSU PG finished 20th in the MVC in assists per game!!
and the guy on the team who led Wichita in assists (PJ Couisnard with 99) also led the team in turnovers, and was among the league's leaders in turnovers.
The WSU PG, Braeueur, would have 4th in assists on the Braves with the stats he had.
So, I don't hand the title to the Shox just yet, let's see how it plays out.
MacabreMob
New member
squirrel said:
IMO, the X-factor for the Braves backcourt is if the starters can recover the 10.6 points lost by the graduation of TB from the the 05-06 backcourt.
tornado said:
i think you make some good points.i couldn't agree more. les also face the fact that for many games last season cellus played poorly which was unusal for him, which means the others picked up the slack. there are gonna be alot more shots available, i betting will franklin is gonna have a coming out party big time.
Another thing to consider is that your pg's are only going to be as good as the team around them to a certain extent.
We saw an increase in our pg's performance as the players around him/them improved.
I wouldn't say BU's is the best but I wouldn't put any combo in "another league".
BU's guards are really going to be relied upon to make are somewhat weaker frontcourt better.
Defense, low turnovers and rebounding (for Squirrel) will be more importaint, if thats possible, then ever.
We saw an increase in our pg's performance as the players around him/them improved.
I wouldn't say BU's is the best but I wouldn't put any combo in "another league".
BU's guards are really going to be relied upon to make are somewhat weaker frontcourt better.
Defense, low turnovers and rebounding (for Squirrel) will be more importaint, if thats possible, then ever.
tornado
New member
good question - but I can sure tell you where they were NOT...
Big Mike & I checked all over the place at the Itoo and not a sign of any of them...go figure.