BU 48 - MSU 51 Final

[Toyota12]

passing

In the first half last night WL received a screen from JP a couple of times and did not pass back to him on the roll to the basket and dribbled to the middle and passed back out to the wing.Then we took a 3 and missed the shot.. We have seen a little improvement on offense but these guys seem to revert back to the pretty shot or the cool move instead of doing the fundamental thing that makes things easier...JMO.. Maybe i am wrong..We got to get these guys to all play together with some consistency night in night out.. Why do we seem to have only one guy have a good night?

[Chico]

In the first half last night WL received a screen from JP a couple of times and did not pass back to him on the roll to the basket and dribbled to the middle and passed back out to the wing.Then we took a 3 and missed the shot.. We have seen a little improvement on offense but these guys seem to revert back to the pretty shot or the cool move instead of doing the fundamental thing that makes things easier...JMO.. Maybe i am wrong..We got to get these guys to all play together with some consistency night in night out.. Why do we seem to have only one guy have a good night?

Looks like the Braves need a true point guard. Can't wait for Geno to get his players in here and hopefully things will change for the better.

[Beninator]

And if we needed any more proof that the local media are now wearing the ROSE COLORED GLASSES...
note the two stories this morning by DR & KW..
You would have thought we'd played the best game all year! -- glowing with compliments....hardly anything realistic or on target for most who watched this game...
Comments like...
"Braves proving they??™re capable"
"If you didn??™t know Bradley was the last-place team in the Missouri Valley, you would not have guessed by watching this game."
"Boy, he was good tonight..More good stuff about the Braves.."
"Doing those things well in the future might allow Bradley to climb out of the MVC cellar."
"..excellent for most of the game.."

Seriously - did they not see all the totally unforced turnovers?
And all the hurried, ill-advised and forced shots...
..and despite good shooting by JP - our team still shot 37% from the floor and 19% from 3-pt...
This was actually one of our worst games -- we can't even beat a team on our own court that was way off and scoring only 50 pts...
I am still optimistic we can put it together - I believe we have the talent -- and now pretty much the opnly games that matter are in St. Louis.

I haven't read today's PJS. I quit paying for that rag a long time ago so I will only glance at the PJS when I see it for free.

That being said, I thought from an execution standpoint on offense, last night was one of our best efforts of the year. I posted as much last night. If this was in today's PJS, then I would have to agree with them. This is an incomplete team so it is IMHO possible to execute offensive sets and not get a winning result. That is IMHO what we saw last night. Geno doesn't like it, but we play better when we slow things down. Yes shot selection is an issue, but our shot selection is much better than the beginning of the year. As for Jake's three at the end of the game, I would like to hear the response from Geno rather than hearing it from Bussone. IMHO, as an announcer, Bussone was good in the 1980's no so much now.

[Bravesfan]

And if we needed any more proof that the local media are now wearing the ROSE COLORED GLASSES...
note the two stories this morning by DR & KW..
You would have thought we'd played the best game all year! -- glowing with compliments....hardly anything realistic or on target for most who watched this game...
Lastly - KW seems to be hinting we can soon move out of 10th place in the MVC--
"...Bradley proved itself capable of competing with a good Valley team.

..Doing those things well in the future might allow Bradley to climb out of the MVC cellar."

really - is this the same guy who wrote last spring that we had hit ROCK BOTTOM and couldn't get any worse??
Remember "Plenty about BU is unacceptable" and all the rips blaming JL for every bad play?
Multiple comments about how crowds are dwindling and the empty seats...

BTW -- I also remember his comment...about how Dr. Cross always sat intensely at courtside taking "copious notes" and scrutinizing JL's every move...
So has something changed??

I don't mind these two with the "Rose Colored Glasses" type of articles for a first year coach. The problem is they need to be consistent anytime a new coach comes on board. They most certainly didn't do this for Les during his first year here, and probably not for Coach Mo either. So yes, the hypocracy is on full display with these two, especially KW.

I do happen to agree with them though that this team can compete with some of the better teams (though probably not the best teams yet) in the Valley as we did yesterday, and can eventually move out of the cellar. But they can't be serious when they say this was their best game of the year! Though I don't think they were quite as bad as you say they were either tornado. I think MSU plays a tough zone defense, and 50 points in this type of game probably is a good accomplishment for whomever won. I do agree that those forced shots at the end were not very smart, and probably not the best designed plays for that situation. However, had our three's been falling like they did in the second half against UNI, everyone would have praised Geno for that play. I think maybe they should have had DSE or someone else other than Eastman take that three.

[Da Coach]

BU played hard the entire game last night, and had a chance to win at the end. Hard to do much more than that.

Huh? Is that what your expectations for this team have fallen to? How about winning on our home floor? Weren't you among those who expected Bradley to win every home game prior to this season? If playing hard is all we should expect, we didn't need to pour out millions of dollars on a new coaching staff, since we already had that.

[Bravesfan]

In the first half last night WL received a screen from JP a couple of times and did not pass back to him on the roll to the basket and dribbled to the middle and passed back out to the wing.Then we took a 3 and missed the shot.. We have seen a little improvement on offense but these guys seem to revert back to the pretty shot or the cool move instead of doing the fundamental thing that makes things easier...JMO.. Maybe i am wrong..We got to get these guys to all play together with some consistency night in night out.. Why do we seem to have only one guy have a good night?

And again, like I have said in the past, I don't know how many times Geno, Les, Mo or any other coach can stress this to these players. Sooner or later you have to wonder if it's a lost cause for certain players that either refuse to listen, or they get so nervous that they force up bad shots.

Like I said above, I don't think we are as bad a team as we were earlier this season, and the team put forth a great effort last night in nearly pulling off an upset of a team that still maybe pretty good when all is said and done. But until these players learn that there is no "i" in team, we will continue to see "NBA" type moves out of players that have no chance going to the NBA in the first place! I hope Geno keeps showing the tape of the second half against UNI, because that's how we need to play EVERY night.

[Bravesfan]

I haven't read today's PJS. I quit paying for that rag a long time ago so I will only glance at the PJS when I see it for free.

That being said, I thought from an execution standpoint on offense, last night was one of our best efforts of the year. I posted as much last night. If this was in today's PJS, then I would have to agree with them. This is an incomplete team so it is IMHO possible to execute offensive sets and not get a winning result. That is IMHO what we saw last night. Geno doesn't like it, but we play better when we slow things down. Yes shot selection is an issue, but our shot selection is much better than the beginning of the year. As for Jake's three at the end of the game, I would like to hear the response from Geno rather than hearing it from Bussone. IMHO, as an announcer, Bussone was good in the 1980's no so much now.

That's a good point about Bussone. Was he actually close enough to the bench to hear that this was a set play? I wouldn't know for sure, but I'm sure questions regarding the last minute or two of the game will be asked on his weekly radio show.

As for the set offense not always producing wins, I agree there too. It really hurts not to get that win last night, but when we have a short bench and very few good shooters, even the best coached games will not always result in wins. I'm just hoping we get more than the one Valley win we've got, which I still believe we will. I still see 3 or 4 Valley wins total, and maybe we can sneak up on someone in St. Louis. That and more consistent play is about all we can hope for for this first rebuilding year.

[Da Coach]

...I think MSU plays a tough zone defense, and 50 points in this type of game probably is a good accomplishment for whomever won...

I think some have become conditioned because of how bad our offense has been, that last night actually looked good.

Here is the reality- we shot 37% overall, 18% from three, and scored only 48 points against a mediocre team (11-9, 4-4 in the conference, and on a 3-game losing streak- this qualifies as mediore to all those that labelled the past 9 years at Bradley as mediocre). And it was on our home floor to bring our home record to 5-6. As bad a some try to make the last 4 or 5 years, it would be hard to find many games even this bad.

By the way, we now have a losing record at home (5-6) for the season (something you won't find mentioned in the PJS). Bradley has not had a losing record at home since 2001-2002, which was ironically Jim Molinari's last season. And, that year (2001-2002) was the only losing record Bradley has had at home in the past 20+ years.

[Bravesfan]

I think some have become conditioned because of how bad our offense has been, that last night actually looked good.

Here is the reality- we shot 37% overall, 18% from three, and scored only 48 points against a mediocre team (11-9, 4-4 in the conference, and on a 3-game losing streak- this qualifies as mediore to all those that labelled the past 9 years at Bradley as mediocre). And it was on our home floor to bring our home record to 5-6. As bad a some try to make the last 4 or 5 years, it would be hard to find many games even this bad.

By the way, we now have a losing record at home (5-6) for the season (something you won't find mentioned in the PJS). Bradley has not had a losing record at home since 2001-2002, which was ironically Jim Molinari's last season. And, that year (2001-2002) was the only losing record Bradley has had at home in the past 20+ years.

Yeah, I admit I'm probably grasping for straws a bit for any sign that this team will turn things around for good this year. I think considering that this was a close game that went down to the last possession or two, many found it at least entertaining to watch as it was very competitive, considering how much worse we looked earlier in the season at times. Even the Bears announcers last night were giving kudos to how "scrappy" Bradley looked for a last place team. Anyway, being a diehard Cubs fan myself, "wait till next year"!

In regards to being content that we are staying close against "good" teams at home, I couldn't disagree with that sentiment more! That was a game I felt we could win going into the game, as I felt before the UNI game. MSU is another one of those teams that while capable of beating ranked teams on the road (which they did against Creighton earlier this season), while also capable of losing to last place teams at home. That's why I thought, and expected we would beat MSU last night. So while entertaining to watch (in a "good bad" way), I was pretty bummed afterward that we could not secure the win. And frankly anyone who calls themselves a Bradley fan should not tolerate losing, EVEN in a "throwaway" rebuilding year like this. And as I have stated many times before, I don't think any team should EVER have to drop this far down in the standings during the rebuilding process (see Butler this year, a team that could still win the Horizon League this year). But what's done is done, and hopefully we are back to NCAA/NIT talk within a few years, even if there are no guarantees that will happen.

[BradleyJD]

Huh? Is that what your expectations for this team have fallen to? How about winning on our home floor? Weren't you among those who expected Bradley to win every home game prior to this season? If playing hard is all we should expect, we didn't need to pour out millions of dollars on a new coaching staff, since we already had that.

I was among those who expected a coach in year 9 to be competitive and challenge for the top 3, yes.

For a first year coach, with less talent than last year's team (which finished last)....I certainly want the team playing hard, with a chance to win at the end.

Don't you want them to play hard and have a chance to win?

[BradleyJD]

By the way, we now have a losing record at home (5-6) for the season (something you won't find mentioned in the PJS). Bradley has not had a losing record at home since 2001-2002, which was ironically Jim Molinari's last season. And, that year (2001-2002) was the only losing record Bradley has had at home in the past 20+ years.

I think the PJStar publishes the Bradley schedule about once a week. It usually shows results for all their games.

I think this season shows you how far down the program has/had fallen. I hope Coach Ford and these guys can help bring us back to respectability.

[Da Coach]

Again, it is all in one's perspective.
Prior to last year, in which the year-long injury/illness issues, which were out of JL's control, lead to a losing season, this program had 5 winning seasons in a row with over 100 wins. It could be a long time before we see that kind of success again.
If the program is farther down now, the blame belongs with those who demanded and engineered such radical changes without anticipating the obvious fallout, and not with a program that was a winning program.

[Air Petey]

I think I got blasted by some on this board for my prediction that Bradley would go 1-9 starting with the Michigan game...... Wish there was a bet in Las Vegas for that!!

Making sure everybody understands - I did not want that to happen. I predicted it based on this coaching staff not playing a style of ball fit for these players. Team basketball wins over 5 players "getting me points" philosophy!

[bigjimmy]

T and Da Coach. We're finally getting positive coverage. Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth. I understand why the 2 of you are just a little miffed at the way the Journal Star, especially KW, have covered the Braves this year. Maybe the Journal and KW are just not used to having a coach who either gets along with them or just doesn't mind talking to them. No question KW's reactions would have been different if JL was still the coach. I don't know. Maybe I'm trying to be Sweet Mary Sunshine in a Pollyanna kinda of way here because I see some of the same signs that KW does. But I'm also realistic to know as long as don't have any pure shooters or better inside play we will continue to struggle.

[Chico]

I haven't read today's PJS. I quit paying for that rag a long time ago so I will only glance at the PJS when I see it for free.

That being said, I thought from an execution standpoint on offense, last night was one of our best efforts of the year. I posted as much last night. If this was in today's PJS, then I would have to agree with them. This is an incomplete team so it is IMHO possible to execute offensive sets and not get a winning result. That is IMHO what we saw last night. Geno doesn't like it, but we play better when we slow things down. Yes shot selection is an issue, but our shot selection is much better than the beginning of the year. As for Jake's three at the end of the game, I would like to hear the response from Geno rather than hearing it from Bussone. IMHO, as an announcer, Bussone was good in the 1980's no so much now.

I think your comment about Bussone being an announcer was meant for me, but I've never commented on his announcing just that he was IMO the best at giving the starting lineups.