Wisconsin 66 Bradley 43

[Da Coach]

As I've said, DS is our best ball handler and maybe one of the best shooters. His time will come.

[jeffsu]

As I've said, DS is our best ball handler and maybe one of the best shooters. His time will come.

"Is" or "Will be" ? If he was the best at both, I'd imagine he'd see the court more immediately. I don't disagree that he has the potential to be those things, but I can't imagine he is them already.

And no, I don't buy into this "doesn't like a player" thing (not insinuating you're saying that, DC, but others seem to have barked up that tree). The coach has more pressure on him than the players... Geno will presumably always play the lineup and players that he feels gives BU the best shot. Literally.

[Da Coach]

If that's true, then we shouldn't see any changes in Geno's starting lineup or rotation the rest of the year. But I predict we will.

[buschsquirrel2011]

Wily...just saying that we need to get a few more assists and I would be happy if DStew could get some minutes and create shots for his team mates...not worried about him scoring...get us some assists

Getting assists means other guys you pass to have to actually make the shot. That isn't so easy when you can't shoot from the outside and teams sag down on your interior guys. Where are all of these magical assists going to come from?

[KMart]

Walt Lemon got me frustrated in the first half by starring at the ball and not covering his man when the ball was on the opposite side of the court giving up a couple open 3's, along with a lot of rushed and bad shots as well which kinda of dug us a hole with so many empty possession we had. We should have been closer at halftime, but we're a young team and it showed. This game also showed we have a really weak and thin front court. Next year with WE back and Nate Wells playing, we should look a lot better.

On a good note, we are losing games now which is good because now we can make adjustments and learn so when Valley play starts up we are ready!
I'm interested to see how we play Michigan now since we had our first big challenge behind us.

[wily coyote]

Getting assists means other guys you pass to have to actually make the shot. That isn't so easy when you can't shoot from the outside and teams sag down on your interior guys. Where are all of these magical assists going to come from?

One way is to break down the oppositions defensive by running plays that put you into position to score. I agree we are VERY Short in shooters but one or zero passes once we cross half court will NOT get the job done. It will get better. BOOK IT. Hopefully we have 2 starters coming in next fall. It's gonna take some time.

[mrcoachdude]

Getting assists means other guys you pass to have to actually make the shot. That isn't so easy when you can't shoot from the outside and teams sag down on your interior guys. Where are all of these magical assists going to come from?

yeh I posted that in another thread...better shooting % = more assists...

patience

[Bradleyfan1]

Couldve been better, couldve been worse!

Hey fans, Tonight has to be a better showing from prosser I like the inside looks hes getting if he blows them fine percentages will pay off over the season, What we have to get him is not letting it transition to the rest of his game, lack of rebounding and turnovers, Jake Eastman has to keep shooting the 3 he went o for 2 then was like I have to drive for the rest of the game, Get off Walts back the kid is a stud yes he should start pulling up and nailing the mid range instead of getting the charges but some of these charges should have been 2 shots not saying we would make them, free throws are killing us but should improve naturaly we are still in the first quarter of the season and have 2 of the best proven players in the league DSE and Taylor, The supporting cast will continue to grow, we will be fine! Bradley wins tonight..........85 to 65 Statement game!

[Braves4Life]

Bradley wins tonight..........85 to 65 Statement game!

Agreed Bradleyfan!

[Bravesfan]

Bravesfan, I highlighted this post as to a degree I think your answer to my post and this answer to Gwright are a bit contradictory.

First point:
I am not questioning the effort from this team. It is clearly there and that is a tribute to Geno and the staff. I am questioning their offensive schemes and the coaching. The first portion of your post that I highlighted is something I very much agree with. To date, it isn't Geno's fault that he doesn't have the players for his system, but it is his fault to continue to run an uptempo offense when the players that we have do not match the style Geno wants to utilize. I made this analogy earlier in the season, but this team reminds me of the Stan Albeck teams after Hersey Hawkins.

Second point: Missed shots...
We don't play well against tall teams. (Wofford and now Wisconsin) While uncontested, I think that we rushed a lot of our shots because we were influenced by the height of the opposition in both games. Wisconsin's defense sagged towards the basket so while JP missed his shots, his shots were pretty well contested and to a degree rushed all night. I also do not like our situational shot selection in this offense. How many times in the first five games are we throwing up shots in which if they are missed, there is absolutely nobody in place to rebound? Quite a few and there hasn't been any real changes to correct this. This team sorely needs a better basketball IQ in this area as our players are not good enough to shoot in these type of situations.

What else can be done:
As I have said a few times, this is Geno's "pass year". IMHO, he needs to experiment with the players he has and very much needs to work on half court sets and put people in the best situation to succeed. (move Walt Lemon away from point guard for starters) We will be unable to run any type of press so while we talk about an uptempo game, sooner or later things will slow down to half court situations.

Great post! I did think a little more last night and this morning about what offensive schemes Geno should run. Regarding your second point, playing against tall teams probably will cause problems for this team no matter what offensive scheme Geno runs. However, a half court offense will at least eliminate some of those wild drives to the basket, and more importantly, some of those sloppy turnovers that the team committed last night. But the more I think about things, if we till can't make those short jumpers or bunny layups, it probably doesn't matter what offensive schemes are run, except that a half court offensive scheme will provide us the opportunity for almost all high percentage shots and reduce the number of possessions for our opponents.

The other thing to think about is that Geno, like many coaches in Division I may stick with the system they like through thick and thin no matter how bad the players are. He may feel that this is a "throw away" year anyway, and that he wants to get his system in place so that when his recruits start playing he can teach them his uptempo offense right from the get go. But I still think it's good to have a backup plan in place to tide things over until he gets his recruits in here.

I guess the best way to sum things up is that people will see positives no matter what system he runs. I just think he should mix things up a bit until his recruits start playing. And I have no doubt that if he has the right players in here they should be able to thrive in his uptempo system, but I just don't think this is the right time unless he feels he can get the players he has this year to learn it. But how much of the season would that take before they feel comfortable with it? We won't know for awhile.

Btw, I do like the fact that Geno is emphasing scoring baskets in the paint, because for years we relied on a "Princeton" style offense where we lived with the three and died with the three. I personally believe unless you several great three point "specialists" on the team, we have to learn how to penetrate and score in the paint. But again, so far it hasn't too well yet, and a more balanced attack maybe would be enough to create high percentage shots that would give us the best chance to win. But it's all up to Geno as to what he wants to do, and I'm confident things will get better in the long run.