NIT: Bradley @ Wisconsin

[tribecalledquest]

That's not what literally means. Literally.

Don’t miss the point. Razor thin. Credit to Mast. Hell of a play.

Congratulations to SIU for winning the “what if” MVC Championship.

[BCPanther]

'If we'd have just scored more points than the other team, we would've won' is a hell of a take...

[SalukiWorld]

SIU might have finished a game behind Drake and 2 games behind Bradley in the actual standings but the eye test and KenPom/NET say that they weren't really that close. They beat Drake in the ugliest game of the year when Drake was playing their worst (both teams shot 33.3%) and the other 2 games weren't close. And they got swept by Bradley.

SIU should be striving for much more than they got this season. Nobody is asking for the 2000's Salukis and 6 straight NCAA bids, that's not happening, but SIU wasn't even in an NIT conversation.

[TylerDurden]

But regardless, history is what it is. My main point is, don’t act like there is that much separation in year 4 of Mullins and year 7 of Wardle.

This was Wardle's eighth season at Bradley, for the record.

Wardle in year four = NCAA Tournament
Wardle in year five = NCAA Tournament (COVID)
Wardle in year eight = NIT, Regular season title

Mullins in year four = Still hasn't matched Barry's best MVC finish.

Wardle has now made two of the last five NCAA Tournaments (one canceled) after taking over a complete dumpster fire from Geno Ford (who went 46-86 at Bradley) and won the regular season.

Mullins hasn't been horrible, but has he really been better than Barry? Barry took over a MUCH worse team that Mullins did and had better MVC finishes, aside from year one.

Please stop making me defend Brian Wardle and his horrid offense.

For the record, I want SIU to be good again. It's good for the league if SIU is relevant. But if we're talking facts, Wardle isn't the guy SIU should go after.

[SalukiWorld]

Mullins has been slightly better than Hinson so far. Hinson would not have beaten Colorado, Butler, and Oklahoma State over a 3 year stretch. This year is very comparable to Hinson's 4th year when he won 22 games, the only difference was SIU beat Oklahoma State and got to 23 wins.

I liked the Mullins hire and there's still a bit of upside so I have hope but the problem with hiring Mullins is SIU fans were never going to judge him fairly because of who he is.

[Redbird82]

Wow, Bradley made the NIT and NCAA this year, that’s impressive.

[TylerDurden]

Wow, Bradley made the NIT and NCAA this year, that’s impressive.

Haha - woops...but the point still stands. Mullins has a long way to go to match what Wardle has done.

Edited above

[tribecalledquest]

Mullins has been slightly better than Hinson so far. Hinson would not have beaten Colorado, Butler, and Oklahoma State over a 3 year stretch. This year is very comparable to Hinson's 4th year when he won 22 games, the only difference was SIU beat Oklahoma State and got to 23 wins.

I liked the Mullins hire and there's still a bit of upside so I have hope but the problem with hiring Mullins is SIU fans were never going to judge him fairly because of who he is.

I think this is a fair take. Hiring alums almost NEVER ends well and you end up firing them one or two years two late.

[So iLL 24]

Mullins has been slightly better than Hinson so far. Hinson would not have beaten Colorado, Butler, and Oklahoma State over a 3 year stretch. This year is very comparable to Hinson's 4th year when he won 22 games, the only difference was SIU beat Oklahoma State and got to 23 wins.

I liked the Mullins hire and there's still a bit of upside so I have hope but the problem with hiring Mullins is SIU fans were never going to judge him fairly because of who he is.

I would take Hinsons starting 5 in year 4 compared to Mullins starting 5.

Pippen, Fletcher, Lloyd, McGill/Bartley/Smithpeters, Cook
is better than
Rupert, Domask, Newton, Jones, Johnson

[Salukimadness86]

Mullins has been slightly better than Hinson so far. Hinson would not have beaten Colorado, Butler, and Oklahoma State over a 3 year stretch. This year is very comparable to Hinson's 4th year when he won 22 games, the only difference was SIU beat Oklahoma State and got to 23 wins.

I liked the Mullins hire and there's still a bit of upside so I have hope but the problem with hiring Mullins is SIU fans were never going to judge him fairly because of who he is.

I would take Hinsons starting 5 in year 4 compared to Mullins starting 5.

Pippen, Fletcher, Lloyd, McGill/Bartley/Smithpeters, Cook
is better than
Rupert, Domask, Newton, Jones, Johnson

How did this starting five do for BBQ? No better than this year's team. Believe that was Hinsons 21st year as a Head Coach, year 4 for BM. Just saying.