No Panic........but

[BradleyJD]

Tonight was awful. There is no way around that fact. I would not say I am at the full-panic state, YET.

However, let's look at some troubling numbers from tonight.


1. Bradley shot 8-25 on two-pointers tonight!!! My section counted 8 or 9 missed layups or shots within 2 feet. Tell me how a D-1 school does that?

2. Sammy played 35 minutes and managed to contribute 3 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, and 8 turnovers. Oh, and everyone and anyone he guarded killed him. Granted, Sammy is playing hurt. But, he literally did not make a single positive play. He was routinely beaten on D, and he killed us on offense.

3. Jim called two or three timeouts tonight and the very next play BU turned it over on absolutely terrible plays. DD's baseline drive and SM's turnover rank as some of the worst I have ever seen.

4. The D is only allowing 62 ppg.....This is far and away the best in the JL-era. Thanks to Coach Platt, this team is, at least, keeping the opponents from blowing BU out. The D is not perfect, tonight we saw tons of open layups and 3's, but they are controlling the scoring better than any JL team. What does this say about an experienced team and the offense?????

5. Adjustments- Bradley went on an early 9-0 run to take a brief lead in the 1st half. Timeout Eastern, who promptly went 10-0 to grab control. Bradley makes several 2nd half runs to cut leads to 4, 6, 3, etc. Eastern TO's lead to quick turnarounds. Yet, when BU was down 2....Eastern runs 9-0 before BU finally gets a TO...and that was a MEDIA TO!!!! Where is the coach at on that????


As I said, I don't think we need to have mass-panic. However, BU is in serious danger here. We cannot score at all! How does this team possibly shoot 8-25 on 2's???

How does SM stay in the game when he is not scoring, IS turning the ball over on every other play, and cannot guard the worst player on the other team? Why are we failing to adjust during games??

A lot of questions early on. This is beyone gut-check here. Bradley has to go to Duke in a couple of weeks. As the guy next to me said tonight, that game is looking like a 50+ point loss if we play this way.

[BradleyBrave]

4. The D is only allowing 62 ppg.....This is far and away the best in the JL-era. Thanks to Coach Platt, this team is, at least, keeping the opponents from blowing BU out. The D is not perfect, tonight we saw tons of open layups and 3's, but they are controlling the scoring better than any JL team. What does this say about an experienced team and the offense?????

I agree 100%, but it begs the question as to why Les goes on the post game, blames the defense, and says guys aren't buying in. Les said when Platt was hired that he was going to work exclusively with the defense, so saying the defense is the problem is more or less throwing Platt under the bus. The problem is, there's little to support our head coach's contention. Our defense has been our ONLY bright spot through 6 games. Talk about a good way to lose your assistants...

[Dallas Brave]

I didn't see the game. Does anyone know why AT and JP only logged a total of 11 minutes between them? I'm afraid JL hasn't changed his stripes. I predict that this is his last year on the Hilltop.

[BradleyJD]

I agree 100%, but it begs the question as to why Les goes on the post game, blames the defense, and says guys aren't buying in. Les said when Platt was hired that he was going to work exclusively with the defense, so saying the defense is the problem is more or less throwing Platt under the bus. The problem is, there's little to support our head coach's contention. Our defense has been our ONLY bright spot through 6 games. Talk about a good way to lose your assistants...

I have no answer for this. To blame the D for this is beyond insanity. You have 23 turnovers and shoot 8-25 inside the 3-point line and you blame the defense????????

[BradleyBrave]

I have no answer for this. To blame the D for this is beyond insanity. You have 23 turnovers and shoot 8-25 inside the 3-point line and you blame the defense????????

I want to know what guys aren't buying in to. Shooting? Passing? Weave-kick-and chuck? Dunno. The defense has been good and the rebounding is getting better. I'm just a hater , but I want to know what Les thinks they aren't buying in to.

[ER3]

I want to know what guys aren't buying in to. Shooting? Passing? Weave-kick-and chuck? Dunno. The defense has been good and the rebounding is getting better. I'm just a hater , but I want to know what Les thinks they aren't buying in to.

This offensive system that Les trots out there is absolutely disgusting to watch...I wouldn't buy into that nonsense, either...
4 guys around the 3-point line...perimeter pass...perimeter pass...perimeter pass...center coming up to set a meaningless ball screen 35 feet from the hoop...no roll to the basket off the screen...perimeter pass...perimeter pass...perimeter pass...no motion away from the ball...6 seconds on the shot clock....isolation play...forced shot or turnover to end the possession. Nifty.
Just horrible.
After halftime, I was talking to some of the people in my section...and I told them to watch for a screen of any sort that Bradley sets that isn't a ball screen...and if anyone sees one, to call it out. I didn't see one. No one did...in an entire half of a college basketball game...great system...really dynamic...incredibly diverse.
Just play zone against this team and they are toast. Sad.

[rsmit84]

My favorite is when we "play big" and both bigs come out for meaningless screens. Even my wife asked "were they both supposed to do that". The sad thing is, with this system, my answer is I dont know.

[BradleyJD]

KW said it well here.....

These guys should be ashamed of themselves. Not simply because they were on the short end of the score, but because they were on the short end of the effort.


I also think JL said something here.....

???They??™ve got to buy into the fact that they??™re not good enough to show up and beat anybody,??? BU coach Jim Les said.

While we have heard versions of this before, I think some of it is true.


This effort was plain old bad. It needs to be fixed. I think it can be.

[BradleyBrave]

KW said it well here.....

These guys should be ashamed of themselves. Not simply because they were on the short end of the score, but because they were on the short end of the effort.


I also think JL said something here.....

“They’ve got to buy into the fact that they’re not good enough to show up and beat anybody,” BU coach Jim Les said.

While we have heard versions of this before, I think some of it is true.


This effort was plain old bad. It needs to be fixed. I think it can be.

Sadly this is a broken record we're hearing. As I said in another post, I am sure we'll get a short-term response, probably with a win at WCU. Long-term, I think we're in for our typical ups-and-downs and middling MVC finish.

And we should be good enough to show up AT HOME and beat EIU.

[Bradleyguy10]

After halftime, I was talking to some of the people in my section...and I told them to watch for a screen of any sort that Bradley sets that isn't a ball screen...and if anyone sees one, to call it out. I didn't see one. No one did...in an entire half of a college basketball game...

Wow, that is disturbing. I've always been an advocate of the "Our defense is adequate but our offense stinks" campaign (as i posted many of these things last season when I saw every home game). Now I can't see the home games and therefore didn't see this one and that is really really sad that when you are looking for something as simple as that against a terrible team you don't see one. That is shocking, yet at the same time I believe it.

I've been tired of this offense for a couple years now. I like JL because he isn't going to be using Bradley as a stepping stone as probably every other coach would, but when is it time to choose overall success over loyalty? Maybe he'll get better in year 15 or something but he needs to learn that he can't do the same thing each year if it simply doesn't work...

[bu fan 9]

I don't understand why we kept feeding the ball to the post if we didn't turn it over Will couldn't make the shot. Why we would ever feed the ball to Will is beyond me everyone in the place knows he can't finish.

[Buesch N Chips]

Sadly this is a broken record we're hearing. As I said in another post, I am sure we'll get a short-term response, probably with a win at WCU. Long-term, I think we're in for our typical ups-and-downs and middling MVC finish.

And we should be good enough to show up AT HOME and beat EIU.

I'm not sure it is fair to spin a win at WCU as a symbol of problems.

[Future Walk-On]

This offensive system that Les trots out there is absolutely disgusting to watch...I wouldn't buy into that nonsense, either...
4 guys around the 3-point line...perimeter pass...perimeter pass...perimeter pass...center coming up to set a meaningless ball screen 35 feet from the hoop...no roll to the basket off the screen...perimeter pass...perimeter pass...perimeter pass...no motion away from the ball...6 seconds on the shot clock....isolation play...forced shot or turnover to end the possession. Nifty.
Just horrible.
After halftime, I was talking to some of the people in my section...and I told them to watch for a screen of any sort that Bradley sets that isn't a ball screen...and if anyone sees one, to call it out. I didn't see one. No one did...in an entire half of a college basketball game...great system...really dynamic...incredibly diverse.
Just play zone against this team and they are toast. Sad.

+1

They all just stand there!

[ser_solace]

Yeah, I agree on the offense. I too am tired of the players just passing or dribbling around the perimeter. I think a by product of this is that when the post players do get the ball, they just look to try and make a shot rather than making the best decision with the ball.

[AZ BU Fan]

No need to panic! No Need to panic! No need to panic! No need to panic!