Closed Scrimmage against DePaul

[shaunguth]

I put this in the "BU Schedule" thread, but thought it might deserve it's own space......

http://www2.pjstar.com/index.php/reynolds/article/bu_to_play_closed_scrimmage_at_depaul

Bradley has just one exhibition this year (Nov. 8 against Division II Lewis) because the new on-campus facility won??™t be ready yet.
In place of it will be a closed scrimmage at DePaul held at Alumni Gym in Chicago on Halloween Day.
The public is not invited and the coaches are not allowed to talk specifically about the scrimmage once it??™s completed.
???We??™re excited about it,??? Les said. ???It??™s a chance to play a Big East team to see where we??™re at. We??™ll look at different combinations and I??™m sure we??™ll get a lot out of it.???

[Da Coach]

This should be better for the team than another exhibition game against a D2.

[ser_solace]

I agree I think this is great for our team to better prepare for the upcoming season.

[tornado]

Maybe we should let them win so they'll be more inclined to play us in the regular season down the road??

[real fan]

Any scrimmage games before the season will only get our team more prepared, our 1st game at BYU will be a very tough test as they should be one of the toughest road opponents we will be playing all year.

[BU RICK]

Maybe we should let them win so they'll be more inclined to play us in the regular season down the road??

That's exactly what I was thinking although I don't know that they will keep score. What I hope and think it might be is that it's a precursor to another home & home with DePaul. I've been to every Bradley game at the Allstate Arena and it might have been JJ Tuaui's freshman year and my friend turned and looked at me and said "he's going to be good", and he turned out to be right!

[Da Coach]

That's exactly what I was thinking although I don't know that they will keep score...

Actually, these closed scrimmages are conducted very much like a regular game. They keep a regulation clock, keep score, and hire regular referees. All the normal rules are observed, and stats are kept. It is even likely the game will be taped and used by the teams, just like a regular season game. The only difference is that NCAA rules require that the doors must be closed, and nobody but team officials can attend. And they are not allowed to comment publically about anything related to the scrimmage.

[Da Coach]

Here is more evidence that coaches find these closed scrimmages more useful than regular exhibition games.
9 of the 12 ACC schools plan to play a closed scrimmage game this year, and only 3 will play 2 regular exhibitions-

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/story/930645.html

[shockerfan13]

Actually, these closed scrimmages are conducted very much like a regular game. They keep a regulation clock, keep score, and hire regular referees. All the normal rules are observed, and stats are kept. It is even likely the game will be taped and used by the teams, just like a regular season game. The only difference is that NCAA rules require that the doors must be closed, and nobody but team officials can attend. And they are not allowed to comment publically about anything related to the scrimmage.

They also get to go alot longer than a normal game. They go 2 sessions (1 in the morning and one afternoon). Not much of a break between the two I believe. All in all I think it equals about 4 hours or so of playing. Also, the coaches can basically stop play when necessary to give instruction to the players. Probably pretty useful as the action on the court will still be very fresh in the players' minds. I hated losing a chance to watch the Shox...but it probably does benefit the team's growth alot more than playing some team that isn't as talented as just scrimmaging each other everyday in practice. You can say that it helps to prepare them to play "in front of a crowd"...but really I didn't see any of our freshmen playing timid or nervous out of the gates last year with 1 less exhibition game.