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Bright future for Valley
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Wow! This guy put in a lot of time and effort into this. This sums everything up perfectly, and articles like this once again reiterate that there is excellent basketball being played outside of the BCS bubble. I think the NCAA committee does their best to include worthy mid-major teams into the tournament field, but they are handicapped when nothing but money and the BCS pundits forever undermine the little guys. Good to see a nice article like this to remind the Diggers and Packers that there IS life outside of the BCS!
As far as our current struggles are concerned, the Valley WILL be back better than ever, maybe at the expense of the Mountain West and the Atlantic 10. Coaching turnover is the big issue that needs to be addressed, and that takes money, something that not all of our members have, but something that needs to be spent if we want to keep the quality of coaches here for more than a year or two. Also, hopefully we don't have an exodus of good players like we did the past year or two all that often. We need to keep recruiting a steady stream of good players so they don't all end up graduating the same year. That way most teams can reload and not rebuild.
And finally, every, and I mean EVERY team needs to reduce the number of bad losses in the non-conference portion of the season. And that goes for Bradley as much as anyone else. No more losses to UMKC or Wisc-Milwaukee will be acceptable!
As far as our current struggles are concerned, the Valley WILL be back better than ever, maybe at the expense of the Mountain West and the Atlantic 10. Coaching turnover is the big issue that needs to be addressed, and that takes money, something that not all of our members have, but something that needs to be spent if we want to keep the quality of coaches here for more than a year or two. Also, hopefully we don't have an exodus of good players like we did the past year or two all that often. We need to keep recruiting a steady stream of good players so they don't all end up graduating the same year. That way most teams can reload and not rebuild.
And finally, every, and I mean EVERY team needs to reduce the number of bad losses in the non-conference portion of the season. And that goes for Bradley as much as anyone else. No more losses to UMKC or Wisc-Milwaukee will be acceptable!
Bradleyguy10
New member
Last 10 years NCAA appearances:
CU 7
SIUC 6
UNI 3
InSt. 2
MOSt. 1
Eville 1
BU 1
WSU 1
DU 1
ISU 0 (bahahahaha)
Seriously this is eye opening...it's crazy to see it like this...considering we kind of jipped MOSt. out of their 2nd NCAA appearance for our first, this doesn't go with the "feel" of the league anymore. It would seem we're in the group of the "thursday" teams according to this. Not fun. I mean UNI and InSt. have more appearances than we do?? And Evansville (whom people were joking about kicking them out of the league due to not taking basketball seriously) is tied with us....
I've said that I don't expect what some expect from next year's team because it seems like every team is young and will be better, but this is unacceptable. GET IN NEXT YEAR!! and two more years after that!
Those are my new expectations....Gonzaga of the midwest or maybe like Creighton of the midwest....eeeer....just be a better Bradley how about that
let's make Bradley mean something to the outside world of Basketball
CU 7
SIUC 6
UNI 3
InSt. 2
MOSt. 1
Eville 1
BU 1
WSU 1
DU 1
ISU 0 (bahahahaha)
Seriously this is eye opening...it's crazy to see it like this...considering we kind of jipped MOSt. out of their 2nd NCAA appearance for our first, this doesn't go with the "feel" of the league anymore. It would seem we're in the group of the "thursday" teams according to this. Not fun. I mean UNI and InSt. have more appearances than we do?? And Evansville (whom people were joking about kicking them out of the league due to not taking basketball seriously) is tied with us....
I've said that I don't expect what some expect from next year's team because it seems like every team is young and will be better, but this is unacceptable. GET IN NEXT YEAR!! and two more years after that!
Those are my new expectations....Gonzaga of the midwest or maybe like Creighton of the midwest....eeeer....just be a better Bradley how about that
let's make Bradley mean something to the outside world of Basketball
So only 4 teams in the MVC have had more NCAA appearances in the last 10 years than Bradley. I would have thought every one of them did the way some people here talk.
And of those 4 that have more than BU-
UNI has not been back since 2006 (the year BU was last there)
Indiana State has not been back since 2001.
SIU will have a losing record this year, while Bradley has not had a losing record in the past 4 seasons, and has a chance at the 4th 20+ win season in a row. SIU, Indy State, Drake, and Mo. State could all likely play in the play-in games. When was the last time Bradley played in the play-in games, and how many of the other teams have played in the play-in games since Bradley last played in them?
And of those 4 that have more than BU-
UNI has not been back since 2006 (the year BU was last there)
Indiana State has not been back since 2001.
SIU will have a losing record this year, while Bradley has not had a losing record in the past 4 seasons, and has a chance at the 4th 20+ win season in a row. SIU, Indy State, Drake, and Mo. State could all likely play in the play-in games. When was the last time Bradley played in the play-in games, and how many of the other teams have played in the play-in games since Bradley last played in them?
Bradleyguy10
New member
"I want to get into the NCAA tournament more" = I'm not a fan
and a long winded unnecessary defense of Bradley basketball...
I'm not attacking BU or JL or w/e it may be....I just want to get into the tournament more and it would seem we have the ability to...we just don't
and a long winded unnecessary defense of Bradley basketball...
I'm not attacking BU or JL or w/e it may be....I just want to get into the tournament more and it would seem we have the ability to...we just don't
BradleyBrave
New member
So only 4 teams in the MVC have had more NCAA appearances in the last 10 years than Bradley. I would have thought every one of them did the way some people here talk.
And of those 4 that have more than BU-
UNI has not been back since 2006 (the year BU was last there)
Indiana State has not been back since 2001.
SIU will have a losing record this year, while Bradley has not had a losing record in the past 4 seasons, and has a chance at the 4th 20+ win season in a row. SIU, Indy State, Drake, and Mo. State could all likely play in the play-in games. When was the last time Bradley played in the play-in games, and how many of the other teams have played in the play-in games since Bradley last played in them?
We've successfully navigated our way out of the play-in games, but is that really something to hang our hats on? I'm glad we're not a bottom feeder, but I would like to get above middle-of-the-pack eventually this decade. Every team in the MVC besides Missouri St has won the regular season or tournament title since we last did, and we haven't been a top 3 seed since 2001. I might be mistaken, but I think every team in the MVC including MSU has been a top 3 seed in that time period.
SIU is down this year, but I think they're allowed to be down after 6 straight NCAA's. If JL got us to 6 straight NCAA's I think we'd all give him more than a free pass for a down year.
What's unfortunate is that I think some of this year's successes aren't going to be appreciated as much because of us falling short last year and in previous years. We've overcome a lot this year and I think overachieved in conference thus far. But our previous underachievements in conference are unfortunately overshadowing that.
Free pass? I don't think we give those for ANYONE around here..
BradleyBrave
New member
Back to the title of the thread though - I didn't read the article yet, but I do believe the MVC has a bright future. I think BU has a chance to be a big part of that.
it's boogie time
Active member
I think you can look at the center position or the frontcourts of most of the Valley teams and see why there isn't going to be an at large berth this year. Hopefully, some of these young, big players pan out.
peoriaspitfire
New member
Final 4
Final 4
I wanted to add that just getting to the NCAA is not good enough. I hate the fact that you play a whole season to get what most likely would be 1, maybe 2 games in a tournament. I want my team to win it all...but would probably be happy with a Final 4... I'm a hardcore BU fan...for better or worse...but I think we??™re all due for some better...
Final 4
I wanted to add that just getting to the NCAA is not good enough. I hate the fact that you play a whole season to get what most likely would be 1, maybe 2 games in a tournament. I want my team to win it all...but would probably be happy with a Final 4... I'm a hardcore BU fan...for better or worse...but I think we??™re all due for some better...
Well, while I'm not satisfied with our showing over the last 10 years aside from 2006, I'd much rather be in contention every year than finishing 9th or 10th every year. At least competitive basketball is better than bad basketball, and we usually earn some sort of postseason anyway.
it's boogie time
Active member
Has Bradley really been in contention much over the last decade? One top three seed (2001 - 2 seed) in that time versus three play-in games (2002, 2004 & 2005).
So only 4 teams in the MVC have had more NCAA appearances in the last 10 years than Bradley. I would have thought every one of them did the way some people here talk.
You mean REAL NCAA appearances or are you including the laughable NIT and that other abortion of a tournament we were in last year.
it's boogie time
Active member
Success?
Success?
How about: Every team has won a Valley title or tournament since BU last won their's?? That's what this board needs to be focusing on! Until some real movement towards a Valley crown is made, NOBODY should be resting on any laurels or applauding a 4th place finish! Face it, other than the Sweet 16 run, things have not been good since '96. One NCAA appearance in 10 years is not acceptable unless you're Northwestern!
Success?
How about: Every team has won a Valley title or tournament since BU last won their's?? That's what this board needs to be focusing on! Until some real movement towards a Valley crown is made, NOBODY should be resting on any laurels or applauding a 4th place finish! Face it, other than the Sweet 16 run, things have not been good since '96. One NCAA appearance in 10 years is not acceptable unless you're Northwestern!
I'm too lazy to look it up but wasn't The Valley really bad in the mid to late 90s.
So only 4 teams in the MVC have had more NCAA appearances in the last 10 years than Bradley. I would have thought every one of them did the way some people here talk.
And of those 4 that have more than BU-
UNI has not been back since 2006 (the year BU was last there)
Indiana State has not been back since 2001.
SIU will have a losing record this year, while Bradley has not had a losing record in the past 4 seasons, and has a chance at the 4th 20+ win season in a row. SIU, Indy State, Drake, and Mo. State could all likely play in the play-in games. When was the last time Bradley played in the play-in games, and how many of the other teams have played in the play-in games since Bradley last played in them?
When was the last time Bradley had a coach hired away by BCS/bigtime program???
basketball nut
Active member
We are not 1 of the BCS schools and we will only be lucky to make it to the Final 4. In fact to win more then 1 game in the NCAA tournament is doing very good for any team. Do you realize that only 16 teams win 2 games each year. If you have the time check out how many schools have one 2 games each year for last 10 years. I would be very surprised if there were more then a handful.
I guess I am the non competative one as I want to see good BB and see us win 20 games each year. I am not one that bases everything on going to the Big Dance but I will base it on being competative and getting better throughout the season. Yes, I would rather play 3 or 4 games in one of the other tournaments then 1 & done in the NCAA tourn. Does this mean that I don't think we should be shooting for that each year? Not at all but it doesnt make for a bad season just because we don't make it.
As far as the MVC goes, every coach is getting paid to do the same thing, and that is finish #1.
As for this year we have over achieved greatly as we are very young. Many times we have had 3 freshman on the floor at the same time and all underclassmen on the floor at the same time. We will be good but so will everyone else next year because approx. 65% of the starters in the valley will be back and and if you went through the top 8 players on each team that number goes to almost 75% so good luck moving up the ladder as it will get tougher. Then again we will be better next year then this year as we should have more depth next year. We lose 2 starters but only 1 bench player as long as everyone else comes back. It should be fun but no guarantee of a championship and not very likely to make it to the final 4
Assistants don't count
Versace fired for cheating.
Stan Albeck fired for losing.
Jim Molinari fired for losing.