GREETINGS EVERYONE - I am slowly catching up, coming back, and getting ready for another basketball season....
I am sure that I don't need to replay all that occurred last season - but man what a roller coaster ride (highs and lows and back with some
magical moments at the end) with an incredible finish. I truly should have had a defibrillator near me those last few games and during the
MVC Tournament and NCAA against Michigan State.
I am READY FOR MORE and truly looking forward to this upcoming season.
Isn't it interesting that the "Streets & Smith" Pre-season ranking has Michigan State as # 1 - the team that Bradley gave fits too through late into
the second half of their 1st round NCAA game. To bad a regular season rematch could not be scheduled. Memphis (Bradley's Dec 3rd opponent)
is ranked # 14.
As for my predictions - for me it is truly too early for me to consider. I will say this tho - Ben Jacobson (The Dean of the MVC) knew very well - finish
in the top 6 of the MVC standings to avoid a Thursday MVC tournament game and then anything can happen in the MVC tournament. And UNI "almost"
pulled it off. UNI was really bad at the beginning of last season and Ben just slowly kept on tuning his UNI team - and Wardle did the same. The Valley
is going to be extremely tough / difficult this year. Bradley, Missouri State (preseason choice), Loyola-Chicago, Drake, UNI are "all" going to be targets.
So for me it is a wait and see. After the Cancun tournament last season I thought - Bradley is truly Back. And then the MVC games began and I like
so many others fell into a slump - and then started to notice Bradley was beginning to win, and win a bit more frequent and then on the road. So I
did not know what to expect and I kept to myself and watched a strong regular season finish. The MVC tournament was both a magical and incredible
surprise and the MVC Tournament Championship comeback - simply incredible and likely a deficit record comeback that will never be topped.
I just hope the team and coaches are not to "sure of themselves" or "cocky" with all the new fan fare and media coverage going into this season. I hope
that they have the hunger that they displayed in the end of last years regular season, MVC Tournament and NCAA 1st round against a Final 4 team.
I hope that they all remember "what it took". I am truly going to miss DLO (who did no many little things on the court to throw off the opposing team and
assist Bradley), Luke (who along with DLO truly matured as a player), and Lundy who was always a steady force who knew how to handle pressure and
make key plays. I truly hope these 3 can somehow be replaced.
So catch me after "maybe" Thanksgiving and more likely before the first Drake game for me to provide a possible record for this year team. I need to
get a feel for where this teams and coaches heads and hearts truly are.
GO BRADLEY.....