Postgame: BU 63 NIU 49

[Big Mike]

Just got home from Dekalb......Nice games by AW-CR and TB..but tonight the player with the most spark was DSE...driving to the hole, leading the team in boards.....very nice, his future looks nice! SS came in down low and seemed to calm things down, 41 Sean Kowal was starting to own the paint until SS came in and started to throw his weight around, we really need that presence down low......good to get the W' on the road!

[Big Mike]

Kirk Wessler on the NIU game and CR....

http://www.bradleyhoops.com/homepage/x1682948779/Wesssler-Coming-to-the-defense-of-his-injured-teammate

[BradleyBrave]

A game that average teams find ways to lose, and GOOD teams find a way to win. We didn't just find a way to gut out a squeaker...we blew them out of the building in the 2nd half. Give a LOT of credit to the COACHES who were able to get a team to weather a 1st half lull and blow a team out in the 2nd half on their home court. Give equal credit to the PLAYERS for listening and responding and playing like the mature team we thought they were. Dodie is with us in spirit...we're exemplifying the type of character he brings to this program...this could be the beginning of something real, real good...

[jeffsu]

Kirk Wessler on the NIU game and CR....
http://www.bradleyhoops.com/homepage...jured-teammate

Great article. Love that we're WRITING and not just recap'ing... always nice to see something like this!

[Chucky T's]

Good adjustments made by JL and staff for the 2nd half....NIU is a very poor shooting team....some of the shots they did make looked like absolute prayers that were answered....DSE gets better every game....Sammy looked like he was hurting a little on those bad ankles....CRob = MVC all defensive team....Big Sam was a big help .....TB and AW are going to very fun to watch for the next two years.

For those of you who followed DSE in high school, was he a very good shooter at WHS? His shot looks a little unorthadox but as long as it goes in who cares!

Go Braves!

[electricmayhem]

I was in DeKalb last night, so allow me to offer my thoughts.

1. DSE was excellent. He deserves to be out there 20 minutes every night.
2. EM looked like he had no confidence at all. He's so quick, and JL used him late in the second half for defense, but he simply has no offensive confidence, handling the ball or shooting it.
3. I don't care for WE shooting 15-foot jumpers. If TB is going to do it, fine... but we need someone underneath to rebound.
4. I'm extremely impressed with the Convocation Center. My brother and I decided it would be a great basketball atmosphere if they could draw some people.
5. SS and AT both lost their assignments on the boards more than once. I know SS had a nice second half, but he got beat to the glass a few times.
6. There is no excuse for missing 7 of our 12 free throw attempts.
7. I've never seen a college basketball team (NIU, not us) miss so many shots in the first half that weren't even close. Not close. Awful.
8. Is that the same NIU team that made a run at Northern Iowa late in the game?

Great win for the Braves... win the games you are supposed to win.

One last thing... I don't know if any of you heard the postgame interview with NIU coach Ricardo Patton on 670, but he said he likes Bradley's lineup better than Northern Iowa. Not a bad endorsement, since UNI took down Iowa State last night.

[dogsrus]

Good adjustments made by JL and staff for the 2nd half....NIU is a very poor shooting team....some of the shots they did make looked like absolute prayers that were answered....DSE gets better every game....Sammy looked like he was hurting a little on those bad ankles....CRob = MVC all defensive team....Big Sam was a big help .....TB and AW are going to very fun to watch for the next two years.

For those of you who followed DSE in high school, was he a very good shooter at WHS? His shot looks a little unorthadox but as long as it goes in who cares!

Go Braves!

Grassman has both stated he wasn't a great shooter in HS...I imagine thats why he's developed into such a good slasher/finisher. Boy...IF JL can work with him duringn his stay at BU and develop a better outside shot the sky would be the limit for him.

As he is he's pretty darn good and, like you said, getting better each game.

[Braves4Life]

One last thing... I don't know if any of you heard the postgame interview with NIU coach Ricardo Patton on 670, but he said he likes Bradley's lineup better than Northern Iowa. Not a bad endorsement, since UNI took down Iowa State last night.

Their announcers said the same thing. (Of course, I've been saying for two years that UNI doesn't impress me. But, you've got to give UNI credit. As unimpressive as they seem they find a way to win).

[tornado]

my simple take on a few things...

--nowhere near 3000 there, must be counting butts not in the seats

--NIU not shy about taking bad shots, assist to turnover rate is bad

--I would not call our first half bad...we played good defense and kept our team in the game. The good D offsets somewhat the bad O

--Anthony Thompson breakaway dunk..nice

--TB solid again...the guy never has an off-game?

--need to work at getting Andrew more shots

--Dyricus is ready

--BU has been beaten on Points in the Paint only twice all season, and we won one of those games anyway....good job BU, it shows we are NOT just a 3-pt shooting team!

--my only discouragement - that when we got up almost 20, we let up and allowed them a few easy buckets...especially the lazy inbounds pass to Sam M that they stole....guys, develop the killer instinct

[QPS]

For those of you who followed DSE in high school, was he a very good shooter at WHS? His shot looks a little unorthadox but as long as it goes in who cares!

At Washington, for career (2 years), DSE shot 51.9% for 2 pts; 35.7% for 3 pts; and 70.5% for FT. He averaged 17.8 PPG. Per WCHS basketball record book.

[tornado]

can the WCHS record book be accessed online?

[Beninator]

Nice win.. We did what we had to do on the road. DSE deserves more minutes.

[ph]

my simple take on a few things...

--nowhere near 3000 there, must be counting butts not in the seats

--NIU not shy about taking bad shots, assist to turnover rate is bad

--I would not call our first half bad...we played good defense and kept our team in the game. The good D offsets somewhat the bad O

--Anthony Thompson breakaway dunk..nice

--TB solid again...the guy never has an off-game?

--need to work at getting Andrew more shots

--Dyricus is ready

--BU has been beaten on Points in the Paint only twice all season, and we won one of those games anyway....good job BU, it shows we are NOT just a 3-pt shooting team!

--my only discouragement - that when we got up almost 20, we let up and allowed them a few easy buckets...especially the lazy inbounds pass to Sam M that they stole....guys, develop the killer instinct

oddly, AW was the only one that had a near normal amount of 1st half shots (Although he was 1-4 or 1-5). It was shocking to hear the halftime stats and everyone other than AW seemed to only have 1 or 2 (not sure about 3) shots by halftime ...

[Chico]

Bradley wins the "trap game".

Negative Nellies?

*chirp, chirp*

Nellies?

*chirp, chirp*

NELLIES!

**(silence)**

The first person I heard call it a trap game was Coach Les. If he thought it was a trap game, with his playing and coaching experience, I'd have to agree. I won't be calling him Coach Nellie anytime soon.

[georgethedog]

Good game boys. You did what you needed and won on the road. Congrats! GTD