BU vs SIU

[CubbieBear]

You guys are forgetting that when we get TB & SM back next year we'll be back to 4th!!!!! YaHoo!!!!

Probably true....and if JL is gone...we'll be better than 4th Has to be done

[theBUer]

Catching the game last night, it seems to me that a few players (especially AW and DD) are trying way too hard to be the "leader." It's one thing if two of your best players (and another misses a little bit of time because of injury), but then it's another to get it over your heads and forget that you are playing as a TEAM. I don't know what each person on the team is thinking when it comes to this season, it's only conjecture on what I think and would be a "no duh" among others on this board.

For instance, AW played the entire game and he was 3/14 from the field! Meanwhile, JB for SIU has 14 pts, 5/6 FG and yet played fewer minutes. To be fair, Bocot's scoring does seem modest but he was helped out immensely by his other teammates who chipped in and picked up the offensive slack.

My point, I would argue that this team cannot lean itself on one or two players while the others are either playing average or below average. I do think that this game would have blown itself way, way open if it weren't for some calls that went our way (on one play, WL supposedly walked but instead he was fouled).

[LittleBrave]

SIU is a bad team, it only means that we have 0 hope for anything good to happen this season , we have hit an all time low as far as fan appreciation goes, it has been a long time since it has been this quiet in the arena, I always go to St.Louis but will not drive and spend more money on a bad product, we have some good players but they are being held back by poor coaching( my opinion as far as bad coaching but this team would not be losing like this with good coaching)

I am in agreement. Last night I saw some talented guys for BU on the floor with little opportunity for success. DSE, WL, JE are GOOD players - somebody needs to get more out of what they're capable of. The offense does not fit their strengths. Not many defensive adjustments to thwart the fire-power mighty SIU offense. Using only 7 guys is inexcusable, especially if 3 or 4 of them are having bad nights. This excuse about not playing guys because of their attitude/focus in practice is getting old - I can't imagine MK and AT just not trying. We need a change, starting from the top I'm afraid.

[LittleBrave]

After tonight I think I have finally flown the white flag of despair on the Les era. Sorry.

I'm pretty much with ya' B4L. Last night was flat-out disappointing and I came to the realization that it was our measuring stick of success.
We probably have a few more losses before we hit rock bottom.
I was somewhat excited before the Valley season began - now I'm wondering when we'll get win #1...don't think it will be for another couple games though. And if our schemes and game plan stay the same, it may be February before it comes.

[SaintLouBrave22]

I am in agreement. Last night I saw some talented guys for BU on the floor with little opportunity for success. DSE, WL, JE are GOOD players - somebody needs to get more out of what they're capable of. The offense does not fit their strengths. Not many defensive adjustments to thwart the fire-power mighty SIU offense. Using only 7 guys is inexcusable, especially if 3 or 4 of them are having bad nights. This excuse about not playing guys because of their attitude/focus in practice is getting old - I can't imagine MK and AT just not trying. We need a change, starting from the top I'm afraid.

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't we hear a lot of the same lip service from the other Jim?

I believe what this Jim is calling focus he described as "character"?

You said it best---inexcusable!

I mean like I said before it's either:

a) he isn't as good of a coach as they thought he was

b) the players he recruited aren't as good as we were told they would be

It's one or the other or a combination...there is no choice C and me, I lean towards A simply because, this is year 9 people...yes, 9. Just think about the Sweet 16 team. That team finished tied for 4th in the conference, so in reality, if you were impressed with the talent and the fact that they made the Sweet 16, that means they were great underachievers in conference play.

Let's face where we are now...we are at Year 9 and at this point, only accounting for between the stands, we are no better off than we were 10 years ago today. While the Sweet 16 was nice, it didn't in fact get us players that we wouldn't have got otherwise and the new facilities haven't gotten us anyone that we wouldn't have obtained otherwise...

I have come to a conclusion that there really is only one way to fix this as the players have been a revolving door in and out while the records have stayed about the same.

Anyone who feels that Bradley should be ok with mediocre finishes and everything should stay status quo can jump in and stop me, but I look at SIU's run and now UNI and even Wichita State and then look at this upswing from Missouri State that is starting and I keep wondering, when is our time?

We have not won a championship since 1996 and we are one of I believe now only 3 teams to never win at Arch Madness...


When is our time?

[LittleBrave]

When is our time?

Just wait another 9 years and I think he'll have it figured out.
I see an NCAA appearance during that time too.
What?? That's not good enough?

[wily coyote]

Look, some of these players may not belong at Bradley, but can you blame them when they get an offer to come here and they know it is their best?This comes down to THE head coach, he ultimately makes the decision who gets offered a scholarship and this is what we have. Would we have a couple more wins with the 2 injured players in, yes, but should we be losing games like we are without them, no. If anything our defense should have gotten better without SM on the court due to the advantage anyone else provides as far as speed. JL has fallen in love with a system that requires shooters and we don't have them, and I would not say we have done a very good job of recruiting it. We now have a problem that Michigan football has had which is trying to run a system that you don't necessarily have the personal to run. Rich Rod wanted to run a spread offense and it took 3 years for him to get the players ne needed and it still wasn't very successful. Without the correct personal it just doesn't work. This team seems very streaky when it comes to "buying in" as Les puts it and to me it seems that the second things start to go bad they scrap what they have been practicing. This is a team that almost seems to be being run by the indians instead of the chief and that signals more bad things to come......

This is now the post of the year. Your anology is spot on.

[squirrelgotdead]

Just wait another 9 years and I think he'll have it figured out.
I see an NCAA appearance during that time too.
What?? That's not good enough?

I think you can look at a 15 year cycle in the Valley and see where every program has been to at least one NCAA Tournament, many more than once.

The programs that have been more than one time:

Bradley (1996 about to fall out of window)
Indiana State
Creighton
Illinois State
Southern Illinois
Northern Iowa

Wichita or Missouri State (or both) could join that list this year

Evansville
Drake

So you are potentially looking at a scenario at year's end where BU is keeping company with Evansville and Drake as the only programs without multiple NCAA appearances in a 15-year window, during a time when the league had few peers at its level.

[real fan]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't we hear a lot of the same lip service from the other Jim?

I believe what this Jim is calling focus he described as "character"?

You said it best---inexcusable!

I mean like I said before it's either:

a) he isn't as good of a coach as they thought he was

b) the players he recruited aren't as good as we were told they would be

It's one or the other or a combination...there is no choice C and me, I lean towards A simply because, this is year 9 people...yes, 9. Just think about the Sweet 16 team. That team finished tied for 4th in the conference, so in reality, if you were impressed with the talent and the fact that they made the Sweet 16, that means they were great underachievers in conference play.

Let's face where we are now...we are at Year 9 and at this point, only accounting for between the stands, we are no better off than we were 10 years ago today. While the Sweet 16 was nice, it didn't in fact get us players that we wouldn't have got otherwise and the new facilities haven't gotten us anyone that we wouldn't have obtained otherwise...

I have come to a conclusion that there really is only one way to fix this as the players have been a revolving door in and out while the records have stayed about the same.

Anyone who feels that Bradley should be ok with mediocre finishes and everything should stay status quo can jump in and stop me, but I look at SIU's run and now UNI and even Wichita State and then look at this upswing from Missouri State that is starting and I keep wondering, when is our time?

We have not won a championship since 1996 and we are one of I believe now only 3 teams to never win at Arch Madness...


When is our time?

All of us are tired of waiting for our time to come, Les recruited these players which makes him responsible for them being bad or good, he promised championships and has not delivered , we all realize that we lost 2 key players and our expectations went down but there is no excuse to lose by 16 to IND.St. and to SIU at home as those 2 teams are not very good ones, attendance and support is at an all time low since he took over the program and he needs to know that the fans are not buying into his coaching.

[Buesch N Chips]

All of us are tired of waiting for our time to come,

no one would disagree

Les recruited these players which makes him responsible for them being bad or good,

yes, but not every college player blossoms, and it is not always the coach's fault. But when there is a trend...

he promised championships and has not delivered

once again, he envisioned them, as we all do, he made no promises or guarantees. Everyone wants success.

we all realize that we lost 2 key players and our expectations went down but there is no excuse to lose by 16 to IND.St. and to SIU at home as those 2 teams are not very good ones,

I agree both games did not turned out like we hoped, but be careful not to wait until after a game to define what your expectations are for that game Revisionist expectations are very popular here.

attendance and support is at an all time low since he took over the program and he needs to know that the fans are not buying into his coaching.

certainly a down time in regards to attendance, but in my opinion the last thing Les should be concerned about is how the "land of 10,000 coaches" feel about his system.


I think Prosser needs to play more, I think Walt needs to play more. I think Will needs to change the way he plays the game. I thought JP showed a confidence last night that reminded me of how he looked in high school. Maybe it was because he went against Fay in HS as well. Looking to shoot. I'm not going to complain about our PG play, because we don't have one, but I loved how DSE put the team on his shoulder in the last two minutes.

SIU came in and smelled a wounded animal. They were all over us, talking, thumping their chest, and we do none of that.

[lefty]

Couple of things...

In regards to DD....now that he has to be a second perimeter option the pressure is much tougher than when you 3rd or 4th option like last year not to mention running some PG at the same time. To me he's an opportunistic(complimentery) type scorer not the go to guy..when he tries it doesn't go well.

DSE looked good toward the end but SIU was trying not to foul either so they were backing off some. I thought it looked like he was favoring his knee some in the first half...that's kind of scary

JP looked good at times last night and we went inside to him and WE a little and we need to do that more to try and get to the FT line. This team needs to shoot 20 plus ft's a game to have a chance at winning.

AW.....even though he's our go to guy I would still like to see him have a little more patience.....give it up and get it back for a better shot.
Actually I would rather he take the long three like he did last night when he's squared up with a good look than a hurried 20 ft turn around fadeaway..

Lastly.....the last 10 minutes of the first half was about as lackluster all the way around as you can get in my opinion.....seemd that way throughout the stands, at the concessions,on the bench and with the coaches........not much fire by anyone until the last 4 minutes of the game.

one thing that is a huge concern is come February if you are playing with a 7 man rotation and one scorer.....well we always talk about embarrassing losses.....and now it seems we may be the team that others look at as the embarrassing loss......along with our friends down the road

guess that was more than a couple...sorry

[LittleBrave]

Really enjoyed reading KW's report about the game. It lightened my mood a bit about the state of the team and our woeful performance last night.

I guess after the spotlight was dimmed (thousands of fans had left, online stream cut off), DSE went bonkers and scored a career-high.
That's one guy who leads by example - not necessarily a vocal leader. To me, he's the toughest of all Braves, but he needs to get tougher, meaner, crazier I guess!

[SaintLouBrave22]

no one would disagree



yes, but not every college player blossoms, and it is not always the coach's fault. But when there is a trend...



once again, he envisioned them, as we all do, he made no promises or guarantees. Everyone wants success.



I agree both games did not turned out like we hoped, but be careful not to wait until after a game to define what your expectations are for that game Revisionist expectations are very popular here.



certainly a down time in regards to attendance, but in my opinion the last thing Les should be concerned about is how the "land of 10,000 coaches" feel about his system.

WOW? Are you his publicist?

Some great spin there BnC


First, yes he DID in fact promise and say that he would win titles...scoreboard...

Second, he better start worrying about how many fans show up because the many of those fans are the reason why he has a job and is paid for that job...

Do you think the new AD will be happy hearing how great the crowds used to be and how by the end of the season we're lucky to have 6k in the stands...

Worst BU/SIU crowd since early 90's...or didn't you get that memo...


And your comment on players not blossoming...well, how about you tell me what makes us different than anyone else? Why does ISU develop their bigs better and recruit better? How does Wichita consistently rebound well? Where did Missouri State find all their big guards and how? And how did Rice end up at Drake when Bradley needed a scorer like that?

Either the players have not been developed properly or the wrong guys were recruited to fit his system...while there is a little of both, I believe LB touched earlier on the fact that we want to have a system ran through cuts and drives and 3-pt shots, but we have no PG to hit the cutters, no real screeners to set up drives, poor ballhamdlers for those drives, and zero 3-pt shooters besides the guy everyone will cover up...so there you have it, and 2 of 3 wouldn't even work if we had Taylor or Sammy...


I've always heard that in college if you can't recruit exactly who you want, then you darn well better tailor your system to what you have...

He hasn't and thats why we haven't (won)

[SFP]

One of my all time favorite NFL players was fired from his head coaching job. I liked his attitude but at the end of the day it was the right thing to do.

The AD came in to make the program into a consistent winner. If it was you job and resume what would you do? I know what I would be doing right now if I was him. Things will be very interesting come March!

[Future Walk-On]

I guess after the spotlight was dimmed (thousands of fans had left, online stream cut off), DSE went bonkers and scored a career-high.
That's one guy who leads by example - not necessarily a vocal leader. To me, he's the toughest of all Braves, but he needs to get tougher, meaner, crazier I guess!

LOLOL I was there.

Guess how many times he passed? It was garbage time and he just felt like driving. I really hope no one glorifies him too much. Atleast he was hustling....but it is still no offense!

I didn't start him in fantasy and it was a good call till the last 3 min.