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Next Year

  • Thread starter Thread starter georgethedog
  • Start date Start date
BradleyBrave said:
All of this is 'on paper', which is all we have to go by right now.

SIU should be down a bit. They are losing the preseason POY and another top forward in Shaw. Mullins is great defensively, but is very limited offensively. We saw this year how important experience is, especially with interior players. SIU will contend for a top half finish, but I wouldn't pick them above 4th or 5th.

Drake loses quite a bit too. I think they'll have enough to be a top 5-6 team, but I wouldn't underestimate the value of Emmenecker, Houston, and Corver.

If I had to make a preseason prediction based on returning players, it would go like this

1. CU
2. BU
3. ISU
4. DU
5. SIU
6. INSU
7. WSU
8. UNI
9. MSU
10. UE

I can elaborate if necessary, but I think if you look on paper with what each school has returning, BU has an advantage over most of the league outside of CU.
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I'm sorry, but I just can't see how BU could be picked 2nd in the Valley next year...even in the most kool-aid saturated moments.
Unless something that BU has returning "on paper" magically figures out how to play solid team defense, all the offensive talent we may have coming back in TW, SM, AW, etc. is not going to mean a thing...We are already counting heavily on a red shirt freshman to "anchor the middle" for us and at last check I believe he was 6'10" and 185 lbs...and as much as I like Warren, Maniscalco, and Wilson, I don't think any of them are going to be mentioned as all-Valley defensive team members any time in their careers.
I think we will finish better than where we are picked...but I think we will be picked 5th or 6th in the conference in the pre-season...and that is about right. CU, ISU, and Drake should be picked ahead of us...I know Drake loses a lot, but they still have Josh Young and Cox and a system there that seems to work...SIU will likely be picked ahead of us...Mullins, Bone, Clemmons, Boyle, Fay, and an unparalleled recruiting class isn't a flawless group, but it will give them a chance to be good...then I think it is between us and Indy State for the 5th spot...
I wish I shared your optimistic assessment of 2nd for BU...but I have to look beyond just the offensive numbers of the BU returnees when I'm trying to get a feel for where they should finish next year...and I just don't see them being a good defensive team next year...maybe Dunson and whoever the last scholarship goes to can bring in some much needed defensive presence...we'll see.
 
ER3 said:
BU loses Ruffin and Crouch, so they will be down...at least on paper...regardless of the optimistic predictions on this site...
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I think returning players should be noted for BU if you're going to note them for other schools. Yes, losing JC and Ruff will hurt. But, I believe we return more scoring than any team in the league, and have arguably the best returning backcourt players in Sam, Andrew, and Theron (CU has an argument, but that's about it). We also return 5 guys who have started at least 1 game at this level (Warren, Wilson, Maniscalco, Austin, Singh). As we have seen over the last 2 years, experience means a TON. We wouldn't have won 22 games in 2007 without guys like JJ, DA, ZA, and WF all having at least 1 year of DI under their belts to be able to step in for MS, TB, LW, and POB. And it's very arguable that we would have won more than 17 games this year if SM, TW, RA, TCS, and DC had any DI experience whatsoever. So yes, we sustain some losses, but I don't think we should underestimate the value of the experience gained this season. As Drake showed this year - An experienced group, even if most of their experience is only in practice for 2-3 years, can do great things. We will not be lacking experience next year...and we won't be lacking talent either!

FWIW - I don't think we'll be picked 2nd, and I obviously don't know if we'll finish there. But I refuse to lower our standards because we graduate 3 players. We graduated 5 guys last year - 3 starters - and expected a top 3 finish and NCAA contention this year. We lose far less this year than we did last year, so in my book there's absolutely no reason to lower expectations. I EXPECT a top 3 finish next year. Anything less will be a disappointment.
 
ER3 said:
Yes, I think the Valley will be down again next year...who other than Creighton can you really say should be better next year?
On paper...
Drake will be way down from where they were this year...losing Emmenecker, Houston, and Korver.
SIU will be way down from where they were this year...losing Falker and Shaw leaves them with Mullins and a lot of question marks.
BU loses Ruffin and Crouch, so they will be down...at least on paper...regardless of the optimistic predictions on this site...
MSU will be way down...they lose Lamberth, Mitchell, Richards, Laurie, and there is a coaching change.
UNI will be lousy on paper...they lose Coleman, Josten, and Viet...and Egleseder has some serious injury issues...
WSU was bad this year and they lose Cousinard, Braeuer, Thomasson, and maybe more...

ISU (blue) brings back quite a bit...they should be a little better next year...but are they a top 3 Valley team? Hard to predict that big of a jump for them...
Evansville should be a little better...maybe they can make a push to get out of the play-in games...
ISU (red) should be good again next year with Eldridge, Odiakosa, Sampay, Holloway..but you think they are going to be better? I have a hard time buying that one yet...They lose Anthony Slack, Dom Johnson, Boo Richardson, and Levi Dyer...that's quite a bit to replace on paper.
Creighton will be better without a doubt...Stinnett, Lawson, Woodfox, and Witter with a year of D-I experience under their belts will be a scary, scary team...
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Well, Indiana St should jump quite a bit if those six teams you mentioned are all on the way down. If Drake could do it, I think Indiana St should be able to as well since they finished only 3 games out of third place.

Illinois St should at the absolute worst finish in the top 3. Maybe they won't be necessarily better, but they still should be just as good (if not better), and stay within at-large striking distance again next year.

Creighton, yes, they could be next year's "Drake", if not Drake themselves. Remember, Drake had "nothing" going into this season. I can't see them dropping that much next year even with their losses. As long as the players continue to utilize the current system in place, there is no reason not to believe they won't be battling for the top again next year.
 
I became a lot more optomistic about next year with the signing of DD.

Similar to what I posted at mid-season about this year's team, how far next year's team can go depends on developing an inside game (defensively and offensively) and I believe the key to an inside game is David Collins. I know a lot of people are down on him, but I still believe he can the difference maker between a so-so team and a great team.

This year's team, while good, was always going to be limited in far they could go without an inside game. I think one of JL's highest off-season priorities is to keep DC and ensure DC gets the coaching he needs.
 
Dallas Brave said:
I became a lot more optomistic about next year with the signing of DD.

Similar to what I posted at mid-season about this year's team, how far next year's team can go depends on developing an inside game (defensively and offensively) and I believe the key to an inside game is David Collins. I know a lot of people are down on him, but I still believe he can the difference maker between a so-so team and a great team.

This year's team, while good, was always going to be limited in far they could go without an inside game. I think one of JL's highest off-season priorities is to keep DC and ensure DC gets the coaching he needs.
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I agree with you except for the DC stuff. Right now I view DC's development and potential contribution as a bonus. AT is really going to be the key to improving our inside presence. JL has already named him the starter at center next year (perhaps sending a message to DC), and gives us a dimension that we haven't had in 2 years with his length and shot blocking ability.
 
BradleyBrave said:
I agree with you except for the DC stuff. Right now I view DC's development and potential contribution as a bonus. AT is really going to be the key to improving our inside presence. JL has already named him the starter at center next year (perhaps sending a message to DC), and gives us a dimension that we haven't had in 2 years with his length and shot blocking ability.
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I also think that AT will be an impact player. If DC gets over the hump development-wise, BU would have an awesome team. I am happy the 3 point line is getting pushed back next year so that we are forced to work on building a more balanced inside-outside game.
 
We are definately losing talent at the guard spot with DR and JC. The only way we can be better next year is better balance, and/or a new recruit becoming a superstar (30+PPG)

If WE and AT become serviceable starting D1 talent, then we start to have the overall talent to be very good.

Right now, we do not have the proven Bradley D1 experience to field a great starting lineup. I think those players already exist on our bench.. It'll be another long summer!
 
ph said:
Right now, we do not have the proven Bradley D1 experience to field a great starting lineup. I think those players already exist on our bench.. It'll be another long summer!
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Outside of the center position, I am not sure I agree. Sam, Andrew, and Theron have all proven they can play and excel at the MVC level. Dodie Dunson has proven that he can play at the Big 12 level, being a top reserve as a freshman. The main questions will be whether Anthony Thompson can be that impact center we need, and if our reserves this year (TCS, RA, WE, SS, DC) can develop into significant contributors rather than warm bodies. If AT is for real and our bench guys improve, we can contend. If not, well, we've seen what it will be for 4 of the 6 years of this regime.
 
I think we have the potential to be a good team next year the cupboard is not bare by any means..A second place finish would be nice but probably a stretch!We need some help on our inside game and our defense as all of you have stated.....I never want anyone to leave our program but sometimes people are not cut out for Div 1 mentally or skill wise...
 
BradleyBrave said:
Outside of the center position, I am not sure I agree. Sam, Andrew, and Theron have all proven they can play and excel at the MVC level. Dodie Dunson has proven that he can play at the Big 12 level, being a top reserve as a freshman. The main questions will be whether Anthony Thompson can be that impact center we need, and if our reserves this year (TCS, RA, WE, SS, DC) can develop into significant contributors rather than warm bodies. If AT is for real and our bench guys improve, we can contend. If not, well, we've seen what it will be for 4 of the 6 years of this regime.
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I think my quote came out wrong. I am being cautiously optimistic. I think we have the talent on our bench, right now, to have scary good potential (if WE and AT develop into good players, but both may not happen by next year)

By a long summer, I meant the good type of anticipation!
 
I have no reason to believe that Bradley will finish any better than either 5th/6th place. Until Jim Les proves otherwise, that's the safe place to pick this Bradley team.
 
I think we'll see a team capable of winning the MVC again stumble to a 4th place finish at best.

It will be the same story with different excuses.
 
BradleyBrave said:
I think returning players should be noted for BU if you're going to note them for other schools. Yes, losing JC and Ruff will hurt. But, I believe we return more scoring than any team in the league, and have arguably the best returning backcourt players in Sam, Andrew, and Theron (CU has an argument, but that's about it). We also return 5 guys who have started at least 1 game at this level (Warren, Wilson, Maniscalco, Austin, Singh). As we have seen over the last 2 years, experience means a TON. We wouldn't have won 22 games in 2007 without guys like JJ, DA, ZA, and WF all having at least 1 year of DI under their belts to be able to step in for MS, TB, LW, and POB. And it's very arguable that we would have won more than 17 games this year if SM, TW, RA, TCS, and DC had any DI experience whatsoever. So yes, we sustain some losses, but I don't think we should underestimate the value of the experience gained this season. As Drake showed this year - An experienced group, even if most of their experience is only in practice for 2-3 years, can do great things. We will not be lacking experience next year...and we won't be lacking talent either!

FWIW - I don't think we'll be picked 2nd, and I obviously don't know if we'll finish there. But I refuse to lower our standards because we graduate 3 players. We graduated 5 guys last year - 3 starters - and expected a top 3 finish and NCAA contention this year. We lose far less this year than we did last year, so in my book there's absolutely no reason to lower expectations. I EXPECT a top 3 finish next year. Anything less will be a disappointment.
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I think we are both in similar camps here in the sense that we both believe BU should be better next year than the pre-season polls will label us.
I don't disagree that we return enough offensive talent/potential in the form of Warren, Wilson, and Maniscalco...that gives us hope, as I think we will be able to score with anyone in the Valley...however, are we going to have another year like this one where we have no depth and absolutely cannot stop anyone defensively? Until the coaching staff does something more than just give lip service to the notion of making defense a priority here, I have a hard time being optimistic that we will be anything more than a really talented offensive team that finishes middle of the pack in the Valley regular season, "but sure is a team that no one wants to have to meet up with in the Valley Tournament".
 
I fully expect a very similar season, (record wise, not off the court wise!) to this one. I think our breakout year will be the following season. But i would not mind being surprised.
 
WOW.......how can you leave out SM....your point guard? Sorry rick but if I was the other coach I'd press the daylights out of your line-up! :lol:
 
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