Eddren McCain

[basketball nut]

BUT pointing the finger at the staff, for just a second...


Les MUST LEARN how to play more than 7 guys, otherwise, this will be an every year occurance...


I cite Dayton and Creighton as examples...both fairly successful and both play 10-12 guys...


I am not saying flat out to play 12 because we don't have the talent as of yet, BUT you will earn more recruits if they believe they will get time no matter how many players you may have...


Right now, we just lost our #3 PG...in a 10-12 man system, he still gets some PT and a chance to pass someone with good play...


Also, a larger rotation helps players develop as I am sorry, but AT and Milos are not going to develop much further by practicing against our own guys and riding the pine during games.

Great points SLB22-Was watching UNI last weekend and Dayton last night and was thinking the same thing. Heard several coaches mention the fact they always use all of the players-even if it is only 2-4 minutes a game just to get them the feel for real action. Yes they make mistakes and you might not be able to run them in shifts like some teams do but they can all play a little.
I always hear about being rewarded for how good you practice which is good but when you know you will get to play maybe you will practice harder. That is DA philosphy at CU and it seems to work-also has worked for UNI-how many players were in the game against Kansas that I, for one, couldn't remember playing against BU.

[SaintLouBrave22]

Great points SLB22-Was watching UNI last weekend and Dayton last night and was thinking the same thing. Heard several coaches mention the fact they always use all of the players-even if it is only 2-4 minutes a game just to get them the feel for real action. Yes they make mistakes and you might not be able to run them in shifts like some teams do but they can all play a little.
I always hear about being rewarded for how good you practice which is good but when you know you will get to play maybe you will practice harder. That is DA philosphy at CU and it seems to work-also has worked for UNI-how many players were in the game against Kansas that I, for one, couldn't remember playing against BU.

I use the Valley tournament as a prime example...

UNI had every player prepared to play and their bench carried them through the 1st half of the championship game and kept them in it when their starters weren't playing well...


Always have everyone prepared because you do not know when and if you may need to use them...


Does anyone feel that AT or EM would have been ready if they needed to play significant minutes down there, because I sure don't...


The one thing I always enjoy about Dayton and Creighton and UNI is that every player 1-12 knows their role and performs within those roles for their coaches...

Since we only play 7 guys on a regular basis, guys 8-12 have no clue what they are out there doing when they do get their time or what is expected of them...


Its just disheartening sometimes to see guys like Norris and McCain leave when they were expected to do great things but got lost on the end of the bench because of poor coaching time management skills.

[SFP]

If this is true.... for basketball reasons and playing time this is a good move for him personally. But it is a real bad move for him if he leave now before the semester is over. He would not receive full credit for the classes he is taking. This only would make him attend school longer to get his degree. IMO he should stay, get full credit for all his classes, and then make a move. If he is in bad academic standing then it probably doesn't matter if he leaves now or later.

EM did pretty well academically last semester. I also hope he has thought through this completely. Basketball for him should be a way to get a degree and network for his future. We will miss his defensive intensity and rebounding.

[ImAStowellMan]

Great points SLB22-Was watching UNI last weekend and Dayton last night and was thinking the same thing. Heard several coaches mention the fact they always use all of the players-even if it is only 2-4 minutes a game just to get them the feel for real action. Yes they make mistakes and you might not be able to run them in shifts like some teams do but they can all play a little.
I always hear about being rewarded for how good you practice which is good but when you know you will get to play maybe you will practice harder. That is DA philosphy at CU and it seems to work-also has worked for UNI-how many players were in the game against Kansas that I, for one, couldn't remember playing against BU.

I don't know about that. UNI has used the same rotation all year and they have 30 wins to show for it. Throughout the entire Valley Tournament, Jacobson repeatedly said how he likes to get that "line change" of O'Rear, Sonnen, James, Koch 2, and Dunham in the game before the 1st media timeout if he can.

But I do whole-heartedly agree that there is something to be learned from that style of play. Like many of you have said, how can a player develop without getting into live game situations?? UNI is losing it's studs next year, but I still expect them to finish high because Jacobson has made sure that guys like Sonnen, James and Jake Koch have been in there fighting. You only get a player for four years. Might as well make the best of it.

[houstontxbrave]

I use the Valley tournament as a prime example...

UNI had every player prepared to play and their bench carried them through the 1st half of the championship game and kept them in it when their starters weren't playing well...


Always have everyone prepared because you do not know when and if you may need to use them...


Does anyone feel that AT or EM would have been ready if they needed to play significant minutes down there, because I sure don't...


The one thing I always enjoy about Dayton and Creighton and UNI is that every player 1-12 knows their role and performs within those roles for their coaches...

Since we only play 7 guys on a regular basis, guys 8-12 have no clue what they are out there doing when they do get their time or what is expected of them...


Its just disheartening sometimes to see guys like Norris and McCain leave when they were expected to do great things but got lost on the end of the bench because of poor coaching time management skills.

I have to completely agree. I have always thought and believed to be successful you must have atleast an 8 man rotation and 3 scorers. But I am starting to believe in college basketball, substitutions creating mismatches and more energy is a very good way to go.

But even go back to 2006 JL pretty much went 8 deep with a few minutes to Adams and Heemskirk. I just feel like JL, especially with younger players, you make a mistake you sit. He has his players he trusts and if you are not him you really will struggle to get time.

There was no reason this season for Milos to go game after game with no PT, I mean he plays at Iowa State then attaches to bench for the conference season.

He also seems to recruit over guards more often then any other area of his team. Who would have thought after Norris, EM he would go back out and recruit Stewart and Lemon. He just went and recruited right over EM.

[ImAStowellMan]

Do you guys think this was a matter of WL's recruitment forcing EM to pack his bags? Or WL being recruited because the staff knew EM was leaving?

Maybe the two have nothing to do with each other, but the timing is certainly strange....

[jeffsu]

He also seems to recruit over guards more often then any other area of his team. Who would have thought after Norris, EM he would go back out and recruit Stewart and Lemon. He just went and recruited right over EM.

Disagree. If you have TWO more years of college ball experience, and you're so worried about a high school senior (or JUNIOR) then you have other problems. If an incoming-freshman will be getting more PT than you, that says something about your development...

I could see the "recruiting over" argument if they were both being recruited together the same year... or even maybe one year apart... but not like this.

[houstontxbrave]

Disagree. If you have TWO more years of college ball experience, and you're so worried about a high school senior (or JUNIOR) then you have other problems. If an incoming-freshman will be getting more PT than you, that says something about your development...

I could see the "recruiting over" argument if they were both being recruited together the same year... or even maybe one year apart... but not like this.

Jeff, leaving Stewart out of this, but look at DSE, Eastman, Lemon. JL has went and gotten 3 guards that directly compete with EM for playing time during the duration of his 4 years at BU.

If JL believed EM was his man at the 1 or 2 for, as of last year, 3 years remaining does he really go out and get more guards? Same I suppose though could be said about SM, JL went out and got Norris and EM right in the middle of SM's 4 years.

Guards are extremely important in college basketball but JL is very attracted to having several similar position guards on his roster.

EM is very quick, good ball handler and strong defender but he has fallen out of favor with JL and it is of no help to EM that DD was returning and also that EM can not shoot the ball.

JL has recruited over EM each of the last two seasons. Nothing wrong with it, but I think it is pretty apparent.

[SaintLouBrave22]

Disagree. If you have TWO more years of college ball experience, and you're so worried about a high school senior (or JUNIOR) then you have other problems. If an incoming-freshman will be getting more PT than you, that says something about your development...

I could see the "recruiting over" argument if they were both being recruited together the same year... or even maybe one year apart... but not like this.

But doesn't your development say something about the staff and you're recruiting in the first place also say something about the staff...?


They do work hand in hand...


And once again, I will go back to the development and lack of a player rotation...


Its way too screwy at Bradley...where one guy goes from being our #1 PG to our #3 and another goes from starting the season with a redshirt to being our #2/3 option of the bench by the end of the year...


No defined roles, no defined anything...


There needs to be structure and better organization and everyone needs to get minutes even if just a few here and there, and most importantly (once again), they need to all have defined roles from Sammy Maniscalco to Will Egolf to Taylor Brown, all the way down to Anthony Thompson...

They should all play and they should all know whats expected of them...


Thats where its frustrating because they simply DON'T know whats expected of them nor are they all given ample time to prove anything...



Like Houston said, Milos plays one game and then all of a sudden no minutes for the rest of the season...


Confusion and Disorganization breeds Chaos....


But thats just my opinion...

[SaintLouBrave22]

Jeff, leaving Stewart out of this, but look at DSE, Eastman, Lemon. JL has went and gotten 3 guards that directly compete with EM for playing time during the duration of his 4 years at BU.

If JL believed EM was his man at the 1 or 2 for, as of last year, 3 years remaining does he really go out and get more guards? Same I suppose though could be said about SM, JL went out and got Norris and EM right in the middle of SM's 4 years.

Guards are extremely important in college basketball but JL is very attracted to having several similar position guards on his roster.

EM is very quick, good ball handler and strong defender but he has fallen out of favor with JL and it is of no help to EM that DD was returning and also that EM can not shoot the ball.

JL has recruited over EM each of the last two seasons. Nothing wrong with it, but I think it is pretty apparent.

And see, I agree w/ you completely Houston...


THIS however would never be a problem if Jim Les played 10-12 guys....


THIS in fact IS a problem because Jim Les coached teams never play a regular rotation of more than 8.

[SFP]

I'm not a fan of the phrase "recruited over". It is a coaches job to get the best players possible for your squad regardless. A player can react very positively and work their tail off to see the court or leave. That is how the world works. A player who is passed over at this level has zero chance of really playing after college ball anyway and they should really take to heart the scholar part of scholar athlete. Call me old fashion, but unless you are run off the team, you should gut it out. Kids today seem to run when things are not going their way. Adversity can make you stronger if you have the right frame of mind. In reality none of us will know what really happened but I do wish him a ton of luck.

[basketball nut]

And see, I agree w/ you completely Houston...


THIS however would never be a problem if Jim Les played 10-12 guys....


THIS in fact IS a problem because Jim Les coached teams never play a regular rotation of more than 8.

As you said in an earlier post about playing 8 but 9-12 knowing their roles when they get into the game-these are things I have noticed out of most of the S16 teams-(don't tell me about Duke). I try not to second guess the coach as I know what it is like to make those decisions but sometimes we have to change our thought patterns to see if something else works.
The UNI game in StL is a perfect example as the regulars were not doing anything so why not bring in a group off the bench to give some guys a rest and see if maybe someone from the bench can give you that spark that your rotation has not got so far.
I was never a Roy Williams fan until last year when he pulled his starters and sat & coached (talked to) them while the game was going on-never paid any attention to the play only the players he was talking to-including a time out-when they went back in (after about 5 minutes-in which the guys that were in had brought the team back from16 to 10 points down) they played so much better and understood (apparently) what he wanted and blew out the Dookies.

[real fan]

Is there an outside chance that he left on spring break to sort things out because until Bradley makes a statement about him not returning it is just a rumor.
I could see why he would leave with all the things he has been thru and being so far from home, I hope he finds a good place as he is a good person and was a hard worker.

[squirrelgotdead]

The school released a statement to the press about 3 PM:

http://www.bradleyhoops.com/homepage/x1664776278/McCain-leaves-BU-team

[Big Mike]

thats a good article....answers some questions on EM and some recruiting...here's to everything working out to better both sides!