Final- Indiana State 72 Illinois State 65

[bu fan 9]

King O is not soft like Warren.

[SFP]

King O is not soft like Warren.

AW is not selfish like King O! Sometimes I wish he was. As I said early on AW has the potential to be better. He has the tools but being out a year has taken a toll. AW will need dedicate his summer to nothing but conditioning and improving his game to have a career as exciting as King O's. King O does bring some heart to his game.

[BU RICK]

SFP, you keep bringing up conditioning, my question is - how many months does it take to get in condition to play, say, 30 minutes in a college basketball game. And even if you don't play for a year, it shouldn't matter if that's what you've played growing up and your career. I think it's something other than conditioning - JMO.

[bu fan 9]

He is just soft he needs to get mean and have a lot more heart.

[SFP]

I'm not disputing that you have to want it type of attitude but if you do not think that a year off your feet type of conditioning is not playing a role then you are quite mistaken. Take a month off of aerobic activity and let's see how many laps you can run up and down a court. Those that have played ball also know that bball shape is different then being able to run 10Ks. He started off strong but he is now obviously hitting a wall. He should be able to start getting through that wall with the right conditioning real soon. What I am also saying, once he looks back at this year and knowing that it will be his last year, his conditioning program will go up a notch and so will that hunger. He will not be the first player for all this to happen to. The guy has a silky smooth game and with a little more hard work I believe he has the potential to be better. JMO!

[BU RICK]

I don't think it has anything to do with conditioning, I think he is hurting somewhere. There have been many instances where athletes don't tell their trainer or coaches about how they feel. Why?, because they want to play! If I were JL, he would sit the Evansville game and rest. Let DSE and MK play his position for this game and start to get ready for St. Louis.

[thefish7]

He is just soft he needs to get mean and have a lot more heart.

I just can't agree. He's leading MVC guards in rebounding and goes into the paint to score and draw fouls. Has he had a couple of poor games? Yeah. Is he soft? I don't think so.

[bu fan 9]

He has always been soft even people around the program talk about how soft he is.

[DUBrave5]

I can tell you that right now no one is more frustrated with AW's play than AW. After his late game this was his post on twitter...

Cmon 24 get it together!!!! 11:59 PM Feb 2nd from Echofon

He'll be okay, just hitting a slump that he will eventually break out of. Could be scary for other teams too if he breaks out of it heading into St. Louis.

[houstontxbrave]

No.
Warren is a fairly one dimensional player right now...He is nowhere near the athlete that Eldridge is, so his upside is fairly limited.
He can be a great shooter when he has space, and that is a very valuable skill...but he is not athletic enough to create his own shot on a consistent basis, and he is not strong at all with the ball whenever there is contact on offense.
Put him on a wing and have him there to finish some drive-and-kick offensive sets, and he can excel...but run him into the lane and have him try to score in traffic, and bad things seem to happen more often than not...

ER I have to disagree. Well with the the part where is isnt athletic enough to create his own shot. He had a very good game when it comes to getting the lane and scoring, creating shots and finishing.

Problem is he hasnt attempted to be a more drive/slash and score player in quite awhile this season. It is almost like he has decided he is going to put up contested 3's from the side and not even attempt to challenge the defense.

Other then that I agree he is soft towards contact anymore both offensively and defensively, he has made some very questionable decisions both passing the ball and defending (the intentional foul at SIU was maybe one of the most boneheaded plays I have ever seen). I do not buy the conditioning thing, but I do buy something is going on with Warren, either mentally or physically.

BTW I take O all day long over Warren. He might be selfish, show me a score who isnt, but he brings passion nightly. I do not see that from Warren nightly.

[Da Coach]

AW is a solid player who is just going through a mental thing right now. We've seen what he can do, and he will get back on track again.
I simply don't understand fans ripping on one of the best players in the MVC just because he's had a couple sub-par games. It happens to everyone, and especially coming of the long layoff with his injury.
I predict AW will win a bunch more games for BU in his remaining 1 1/2 seasons.

[bu fan 9]

I am not trying to rip him. I have said he was soft and lacked heart for a long time. His defense drives me crazy I can live with his offensive slump.

[houstontxbrave]

AW is a solid player who is just going through a mental thing right now. We've seen what he can do, and he will get back on track again.
I simply don't understand fans ripping on one of the best players in the MVC just because he's had a couple sub-par games. It happens to everyone, and especially coming of the long layoff with his injury.

This is what I do not get about this message board. Ripping someone? Ripping someone would be things like he is horrible, terrible, not worth a scholorship etc.

I have read people making observations... soft, not playing how he did earlier this season, shooting badly, looking tired, etc.

There is a difference between ripping and making an observation.

The fact of the matter is Andrew Warren has in his last 8 games is shooting 26-79 from the field - 33% 8 games out of 22 is not a couple of games and I think 8 straight very poor shooting games is more towards a trend.

I will go back to what I have written before... a scorer is taught that if your shot is not falling you put the ball on the floor and create a way to get to the line and get free points. Personally I would hope that if I had missed 53 of my last 79 shots, and I have made 22 of my last 23 free throws I would try as much as possible to get to the line... I have not seen that from Warren.

But ripping him is not happening, observing the lack luster play he has given in the last 8 games is certainly being typed here.