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Final score: Bradley 72. Valparaiso 65

As I have opined before, and I won't belabor this point, I think there were too many substitutions. I understand sitting Jaquan in the first half after he got two early fouls, but throughout the game there were multiple subs at nearly every stoppage of the clock. Maybe there is a long-term benefit to subbing players in and out so frequently and keeping their minutes low, but it appears to me to stunt the flow of the offense.
Only 2 of the starters played more than 24 minutes- Meta played 27 minutes (he averages 24 mpg) and Alex played 31 minutes (he averages 30 mpg).
Montana played 25 minutes off the bench, two more than his average, and he turned out to be the Player of the Game.
 
This is a great point and I've seen it in practice in reverse actually working. The two games Richardson actually got some "run" and played extended minutes (this one and the ISU Red game), he made mistakes in both of them early but Coach didn't yank him immediately. Richardson eventually got into the flow and had his two best games as a Brave in those because he got a chance and didn't have to play in fear of getting pulled for a mistake.

Earlier in the season, it seemed like Coach was getting out of that usual habit and letting guys play more after mistakes. But, as the heat of the conference season has gone on, that quick hook mostly seems to be back.

I think he continues to be frustrated that this group, at least in his opinion, is less coachable than some of his recent teams and lacks a vocal leader like Duke Deen as a catalyst.
 
First off what happened to we celebrate every win because this is not easy winning games?
Second it is hard for players to get into the flow of the game as he subs way too early and often.
3rd Bully needs to learn he cannot dribble all the way to the basket most of the time and expect to shoot over guys that are 8 inches or more taller them him. He needs to stop and take that 8ft shot in the lane more often or pass the ball more to his teammates .
4 Meta is now trying to dribble too much from further away from the basket which leads to more turnovers plus he needs to catch and pass out more.
5 I think somebody mentioned several weeks ago that Burch was dealing with a back injury which might be why he has struggled and did not play last night.
 
tomahawk chop said:
First off what happened to we celebrate every win because this is not easy winning games?
Second it is hard for players to get into the flow of the game as he subs way too early and often.
3rd Bully needs to learn he cannot dribble all the way to the basket most of the time and expect to shoot over guys that are 8 inches or more taller them him. He needs to stop and take that 8ft shot in the lane more often or pass the ball more to his teammates .
4 Meta is now trying to dribble too much from further away from the basket which leads to more turnovers plus he needs to catch and pass out more.
5 I think somebody mentioned several weeks ago that Burch was dealing with a back injury which might be why he has struggled and did not play last night.
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I have no inside information but it appeared to me that Burch is not 100 percent physically; he doesn't have that "confidence of motion" that he had at other times. I can sympathize with a back injury.

As others have said: I am just happy BU won, even if they barely missed covering the spread. After having gone through the previous coach, I'll never again take for granted being in a place where we expect BU to win home games.
 
It is true that Burch missed two games earlier because of a back issue. But the two he missed were November 8 (Central Michigan) and November 12 (UT-Martin). He has been healthy and played in every game since then (until last night), and averaged over 26 minutes per game. Only Jaquan Johnson and Alex Huibregtse have averaged more minutes.
Injury doesn't appear to be the issue last night. The coach said in the post-game press conference that it was a "coach's decision" and he said it was motivated by his choice to go with a bigger lineup. I think a lot of us fans wonder if it might have been something more, but we might as well move on, because I don't think we'll hear anything more.
 
BU played pretty solid in the 1st half despite giving up several offensive boards. The 2nd half was out of sorts - turned the ball over more than usual, settled for 3-pt'ers.
Wheels definitely made us look better than we could have looked. I knew he'd be a contributor this season, but he's exceeded my expectations! I can't imagine this team without him actually.

Important win - let's see how we respond on Friday. This team is still quite a mystery. As long as that mystery gets us a Top 3 seed in Arch Madness, I'll be pleased.
 
LittleBrave said:
BU played pretty solid in the 1st half despite giving up several offensive boards. The 2nd half was out of sorts - turned the ball over more than usual, settled for 3-pt'ers.
Wheels definitely made us look better than we could have looked. I knew he'd be a contributor this season, but he's exceeded my expectations! I can't imagine this team without him actually.

Important win - let's see how we respond on Friday. This team is still quite a mystery. As long as that mystery gets us a Top 3 seed in Arch Madness, I'll be pleased.
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That is interesting. I thought so, too. However, Coach Wardle, on the post-game interview with Dave and Chad, said he upset with the first half. He said the team played selfishly, and the players were was always looking to take their shot and not looking to pass the ball, and not running the offense like he expected. He said he was a bit more pleased with the way the team played in the 2nd half, less selfishly.
 
DC-I was listening and I believe he said he was generally happy with the first half-ball was moving defense was good but they were making some tough shots and he was really unhappy about the second half. That is my memory from listening.
 
Listening to every postgame show that I can, I'd say he was much more negative sounding than usual, especially in a win. I have the audio saved if anyone is interested in hearing it. I don't know what the board rules are about that and I don't want to post anything I'm not supposed to do.
 
Houston, you must be right. I was listening while we were still deep in the parking deck, and the WMBD signal was cutting in and out. So I probably did not hear him clearly. Your version makes more sense.
 
Da Coach said:
That is interesting. I thought so, too. However, Coach Wardle, on the post-game interview with Dave and Chad, said he upset with the first half. He said the team played selfishly, and the players were was always looking to take their shot and not looking to pass the ball, and not running the offense like he expected. He said he was a bit more pleased with the way the team played in the 2nd half, less selfishly.
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I heard from the Post game interview he was just the opposite. Happy with the first half but not the second
 
Da Coach said:
That is interesting. I thought so, too. However, Coach Wardle, on the post-game interview with Dave and Chad, said he upset with the first half. He said the team played selfishly, and the players were was always looking to take their shot and not looking to pass the ball, and not running the offense like he expected. He said he was a bit more pleased with the way the team played in the 2nd half, less selfishly.
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Really?? I thought the Braves played a much better 1st half - not at all happy with the 2nd, though we played ok to get the W - it was mostly Montana making plays or else we'd be on the losing side. One of the ugliest 2nd halves we've played this season IMO.
 
LittleBrave said:
Really?? I thought the Braves played a much better 1st half - not at all happy with the 2nd, though we played ok to get the W - it was mostly Montana making plays or else we'd be on the losing side. One of the ugliest 2nd halves we've played this season IMO.
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Yes, I heard Coach Wardle incorrectly. It was the 2nd half that Coach Wardle was criticizing the play. See the posts subsequent to that one you quoted.
 
BUBraves2006 said:
Listening to every postgame show that I can, I'd say he was much more negative sounding than usual, especially in a win. I have the audio saved if anyone is interested in hearing it. I don't know what the board rules are about that and I don't want to post anything I'm not supposed to do.
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DC - does sharing this audio clip comply with the rules of this site and your approval?
 
Da Coach said:
Yes, I heard Coach Wardle incorrectly. It was the 2nd half that Coach Wardle was criticizing the play. See the posts subsequent to that one you quoted.
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Thanks didn't see those..sorry. I am glad he was critical of the team's play in the 2nd half, cause I felt a little disappointed after the final horn sounded even with the W.

I thought maybe I had watched the game in an alternate universe or something! ;)
 
LittleBrave said:
DC - does sharing this audio clip comply with the rules of this site and your approval?
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If it is not copyrighted, it's fair to post. I would prefer you post the site it's from, and a link if possible.
In the case of podcasts of Chad Kleine's pregame shows, they are archived and posted on the WMBD website (worth listening to!)-
wmbdradio.com

Podcasts | Braves Plus

wmbdradio.com wmbdradio.com

The game audio itself, and the postgame shows are not archived by WMBD, for some reason. It's likely that Learfield has those copyrighted, so I would prefer we not post the audio files themselves.
So if you want to post them on your own web page and then post a link here, that would be OK.
 
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