BU article from '86 SI

[VromanFan]

Sports Illustrated has a ton of old stuff online now. Here's an article about the Braves back in 1986.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1064513/index.htm

Here's the main site:

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/

 

[Braves4Life]

Thanks VromanFan! That was a good read and brought back great memories!

 

[BradleyBrave]

What a team. What a team!

 

[IheartBU]

Great story. Fave part: "(rhymes with "her face") "

Funny how the same things hold true today and are getting discussed 22 years later: "Says Mayor Jim Maloof, "The more Bradley wins, the less we will hear, 'Where the hell is Peoria?'""

 

[BUBraves06]

That was a great story. The anecdotes in there about Williams lifting cars in Italy and Versace throwing an officials whistle into the crowd are hilarious. Could you imagine a coach doing that today?

 

[Beninator]

Thanks Vromanfan for the great read and bringing back a lot of memories of that Bradley team.

Now if we could get a guy like massive Mike on next years squad!

 

[BradleyBrave]

Thanks Vromanfan for the great read and bringing back a lot of memories of that Bradley team.

Now if we could get a guy like massive Mike on next years squad!

Yes! I am tired of hearing the 'good big men are hard to find' line. Last night's opponent had 2 of them, and they play for a lesser team in a lesser conference. It's time to find some quality big men to supplement our stellar guard play. Then, and only then, will we get back to where we think we should be.

 

[Double D]

Thanks Vromanfan for the great read and bringing back a lot of memories of that Bradley team.

Now if we could get a guy like massive Mike on next years squad!

Boy would I agree with that. We were mentioning that if they can get Leon Williams to go to Athens, OH and play in front of 2200 each night why can't we sign a guy like that.

Just once I would like a post player who came in and whipped a$$ for 3 or 4 years.

I know it's not that easy, but I can hope can't I?

 

[Duane82]

That was a great article! I wish there were a lot more articles on that site about Bradley

 

[BradleyBrave]

I think an interesting tidbit in this article is the fact that even the great Dick Versace was on the hot seat a bit for a few mediocre seasons preceeding the 32-3 masterpiece. Hopefully history repeats itself and this season is just a blip on the radar in our eventual rise to MVC greatness.

 

[Beninator]

I think an interesting tidbit in this article is the fact that even the great Dick Versace was on the hot seat a bit for a few mediocre seasons preceeding the 32-3 masterpiece. Hopefully history repeats itself and this season is just a blip on the radar in our eventual rise to MVC greatness.

I was thinking the same thing when I read that article.

 

[Double D]

I think an interesting tidbit in this article is the fact that even the great Dick Versace was on the hot seat a bit for a few mediocre seasons preceeding the 32-3 masterpiece. Hopefully history repeats itself and this season is just a blip on the radar in our eventual rise to MVC greatness.

I still have the "Keep Versace" sticker (mentioned in the article) that I took off my shirt and put on a program. We played ISU that day. It was a great win. The infamous Jim Les/Brad Duncan moment handing the ball back and forth.

Game was iced by a alley oop from JL to who else... VOIIIISEEEE WWWIIINNNTERSSSS!!!!!

 

[VeveJones007]

Yes! I am tired of hearing the 'good big men are hard to find' line. Last night's opponent had 2 of them, and they play for a lesser team in a lesser conference. It's time to find some quality big men to supplement our stellar guard play. Then, and only then, will we get back to where we think we should be.

Yeah, if only we could find a 7-footer whose strong and athletic with a couple good post moves...our team would've been great the last two years if Patrick had stayed! With our three point shooters on the outside taking advantage of his presence down low, I think we could've rattled off a couple more trips to the big dance.

Oh well. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Yes I agree, we need to get some quality bigs in to really make this team great. If Collins puts in the effort in the offseason, I think he could make a nice jump for us, and I hope a certain redshirted center develops into a nice post player for us.

 

[BradleyBrave]

Yeah, if only we could find a 7-footer whose strong and athletic with a couple good post moves...our team would've been great the last two years if Patrick had stayed! With our three point shooters on the outside taking advantage of his presence down low, I think we could've rattled off a couple more trips to the big dance.

Oh well. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Yes I agree, we need to get some quality bigs in to really make this team great. If Collins puts in the effort in the offseason, I think he could make a nice jump for us, and I hope a certain redshirted center develops into a nice post player for us.

A 'quality' big man doesn't have to be 7 feet tall. If you're holding out for that, you're going to be waiting a long, long time. A quality big can be 6'7" or 6'8", and with a strong body and solid fundamentals, can be effective at nearly every level of college basketball. All I am asking for is a big man who can score inside and perhaps eventually command a double-team from time to time. Zach Andrews is the closest thing we've had to that since POB's departure. We didn't have anyone on the roster who could do that this year, and it showed. Hopefully AT can start to be that guy next year. I wouldn't mind our last scholarship being a ZA-type who is actually READY TO PLAY at this level.

 

[Double D]

A 'quality' big man doesn't have to be 7 feet tall. If you're holding out for that, you're going to be waiting a long, long time. A quality big can be 6'7" or 6'8", and with a strong body and solid fundamentals, can be effective at nearly every level of college basketball. All I am asking for is a big man who can score inside and perhaps eventually command a double-team from time to time. Zach Andrews is the closest thing we've had to that since POB's departure. We didn't have anyone on the roster who could do that this year, and it showed. Hopefully AT can start to be that guy next year. I wouldn't mind our last scholarship being a ZA-type who is actually READY TO PLAY at this level.

Those players are still very hard to get your hands on, esp out of H.S. I would be happy with anyone even remotely similar in skill set to Randall Falker or Eric Coleman. It will likely be a player 6-5 to 6-7 out of H.S. but I would take a risk on a slightly undersized player who can really play around the basket.

 

[VeveJones007]

A 'quality' big man doesn't have to be 7 feet tall. If you're holding out for that, you're going to be waiting a long, long time. A quality big can be 6'7" or 6'8", and with a strong body and solid fundamentals, can be effective at nearly every level of college basketball. All I am asking for is a big man who can score inside and perhaps eventually command a double-team from time to time. Zach Andrews is the closest thing we've had to that since POB's departure. We didn't have anyone on the roster who could do that this year, and it showed. Hopefully AT can start to be that guy next year. I wouldn't mind our last scholarship being a ZA-type who is actually READY TO PLAY at this level.

I know...I was just lamenting the fact that O'B would've been a senior on this team.

 

[BradleyBrave]

I know...I was just lamenting the fact that O'B would've been a senior on this team.

I think about 'what might have been' quite often in that regard...there's a very good chance that we still might be playing in the Big Dance if he had stayed.

 

[Braveman]

The good old Jaime Diaz piece. I remember when the coaches got us all together after practice and told us that SI would be in town for a few days to cover the team.. IT was fun.. He came to practice, hung out at the Fieldhouse and wandered the city...

It was a good piece....