BU 48 - MSU 51 Final

[Beninator]

So you already know that Geno is a "middle of the road" coach based on 3/4 of 1 year?

I honestly don't think we can make any judgements on how Geno will be...not until he gets 2 years of his own guys.

Yes. I realize he needs to get his players here and I am not buying into his record in the MAC. I don't like our offensive schemes at all. (see my post on this thread as I was very complimentary of the execution of our offense last night.) I have been calling for us to use more baseline screens, multiple screens, and turns since probably the second game of the year and was absolutely giddy when I saw us use some of those concepts last night. I actually like the schemes we use on defense even though they don't always work out for us.

But back to the original question... What is our plan?

[Bravesfan]

I saw a few good things from last night's game when we played like a team. I'm going out there to say if this team had a true PG we would have won at least 3 more games if not be around .500 in league play. I also thought we do not go inside enough to JP. There were a few times which one of our guards were driving in and with a flick of a wrist they could have hit JP with a pass wide open.

Unfortunately I don't think our players are alert enough and quick enough to dish the ball to open players. That's what seperates a good team from a bad team.

[BradleyJD]

Yes. I realize he needs to get his players here and I am not buying into his record in the MAC. I don't like our offensive schemes at all. (see my post on this thread as I was very complimentary of the execution of our offense last night.) I have been calling for us to use more baseline screens, multiple screens, and turns since probably the second game of the year and was absolutely giddy when I saw us use some of those concepts last night. I actually like the schemes we use on defense even though they don't always work out for us.

But back to the original question... What is our plan?

What do you mean plan? The plan is to get players and compete for Valley titles.

Do you mean what is our defensive plan? offensive plan?

I think Coach Ford likes to let players create, many times off the dribble. I actually think Walt has the chance to score 15+ a game with a system like that. Freedom can be great for players, it can also be risky

[real fan]

Yes. I realize he needs to get his players here and I am not buying into his record in the MAC. I don't like our offensive schemes at all. (see my post on this thread as I was very complimentary of the execution of our offense last night.) I have been calling for us to use more baseline screens, multiple screens, and turns since probably the second game of the year and was absolutely giddy when I saw us use some of those concepts last night. I actually like the schemes we use on defense even though they don't always work out for us.

But back to the original question... What is our plan?

I would hope the plan is to get rid of the players that cannot contribute and bring in ones that can contribute, to not have a real shooting guard and a decent bench will get you many losses which has happened over the last 2 seasons, I cannot believe the coaching staff recruited so many below average players and anyone that does not believe this well our record and performance on the court speaks for itself.

[Bravesfan]

Yes. I realize he needs to get his players here and I am not buying into his record in the MAC. I don't like our offensive schemes at all. (see my post on this thread as I was very complimentary of the execution of our offense last night.) I have been calling for us to use more baseline screens, multiple screens, and turns since probably the second game of the year and was absolutely giddy when I saw us use some of those concepts last night. I actually like the schemes we use on defense even though they don't always work out for us.

But back to the original question... What is our plan?

So you don't buy his record in the MAC. How then did he just happen to win the MAC two years in a row? Poor conference? More fundamentally sound shooters who fit in his system? Winning close games by pure luck? Why do you think his record was so good if you don't buy it then?

Not saying that I would agree or disagree with you. Just some legitimate questions that I am curious about Beninator.

[bu fan 9]

The bottom line is Geno is in over his head and we paid him big time money.

[Beninator]

So you don't buy his record in the MAC. How then did he just happen to win the MAC two years in a row? Poor conference? More fundamentally sound shooters who fit in his system? Winning close games by pure luck? Why do you think his record was so good if you don't buy it then?

Not saying that I would agree or disagree with you. Just some legitimate questions that I am curious about Beninator.

I am watching the NFL so I will just look at last year's record for now. Kent State was 25-12 last year. 17 of those wins were against teams with sub 150 RPI's. Those 17 wins are listed below.

Wins/RPI

Bryant-254
Lehigh-205
La Monroe-325
S Florida-155
Youngstown St-295
Bowling Green-245
Ohio-163
Ball St-167
Toledo-338
Cent Mich-307
E Michigan-324
N Illinois-317
W Michigan-174
Buffalo-166
Bowling Green-245
Buffalo-166
Ball St- 167

http://www.kentstatesports.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/schedule

http://realtimerpi.com/2010-2011/rpi_252_Men.html

[bu fan 9]

how many conf turney wins does he have? How many NCAA wins does he have?

[Beninator]

What do you mean plan? The plan is to get players and compete for Valley titles.

That should be the plan of every Bradley coach. Real fan is closer to what I would be looking for with an answer. Is the plan to bring in JUCO's, recruit Chicago more aggressively, recruit local players more aggressively, send current players to specific skill camps??? Unless I am missing something which could be the case, I haven't heard of a plan from Geno or from anybody on the Hilltop for that matter. --not that he should readily volunteer that information-- Yet I see a lot of people stating that we now have a plan. Just a curiosity of mine..

I would hope the plan is to get rid of the players that cannot contribute and bring in ones that can contribute, to not have a real shooting guard and a decent bench will get you many losses which has happened over the last 2 seasons, I cannot believe the coaching staff recruited so many below average players and anyone that does not believe this well our record and performance on the court speaks for itself.

I think that one of JL's mistakes is that he recruited too many athletes instead of basketball players and his guards had similar skill sets that weren't really compatible with his system. i.e. lack of outside shooters...

[Beninator]

The bottom line is Geno is in over his head and we paid him big time money.

There is always room for anyone to improve and maybe we haven't seen all that the staff can offer.. However, I very much agree with you that we overpaid for Geno.

[rsmit84]

how many conf turney wins does he have? How many NCAA wins does he have?

So winning conferences dont matter? Anything can happen in a tournament. And yes, he was in a conference where regular season champion wasnt good enought to get into the NCAA. If you want to claim hes "in over his head" fine but reasonable people arent going to jump to that conclusion because of those specifications and this years results.

[Buesch N Chips]

The bottom line is Geno is in over his head and we paid him big time money.

WAY too early for this kind of talk. Let the man build something and we'll see where he takes us..

[Da Coach]

I still do not understand what fallout we are seeing. I see a new direction for a program. You have a good coaching staff and quality young men playing for Bradley...

If you cannot see fallout from the coaching change, then I doubt nothing will change your mind.
Bradley will almost certainly finish in 10th place this year.
Note that Bradley has never finished in 10th place in the MVC or in any conference they have been part of in 108 years of playing basketball.
Note that we will almost certainly see a losing home record this year, something we have never seen in the 9 seasons under the previous coach.
Note that we have already witnessed massive blowout losses, including the largest margin of loss at home in the entire 108 seasons of Bradley basketball, as well as several other blowouts that came close.
Note that people criticized previous coaches for their offense and their defense. But despite assurances of an uptempo offense, we are currently averaging significantly fewer ppg than last year, or any of the previous 7 years. And, we are also giving up 77.9 ppg on defense, a whopping 8 ppg more than last year, and way more than any Bradley team in decades!
We currently have a -14.2 ppg differential, which is greater than any season I can find in Bradley's history!
And I could list many more reasons for the fans' frustrations. Forgive us fans if we don't like the huge downturn we are seeing as a direct result of the coaching change with no assurances it will get any better anytime soon. Most fans would love to have your rose-colored glasses that see bright days ahead, but can you say things will be better next year, or the following year? - that is the fallout.
I'll support Geno, and I hope he can turn this downturn around quickly. But there is no way Bradley would be anywhere close to where they are now if not for all the fallout from the changes imposed.

[Bravesfan]

I am watching the NFL so I will just look at last year's record for now. Kent State was 25-12 last year. 17 of those wins were against teams with sub 150 RPI's. Those 17 wins are listed below.

Wins/RPI

Bryant-254
Lehigh-205
La Monroe-325
S Florida-155
Youngstown St-295
Bowling Green-245
Ohio-163
Ball St-167
Toledo-338
Cent Mich-307
E Michigan-324
N Illinois-317
W Michigan-174
Buffalo-166
Bowling Green-245
Buffalo-166
Ball St- 167

http://www.kentstatesports.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/schedule

http://realtimerpi.com/2010-2011/rpi_252_Men.html

That's a good point Beninator. But you can also argue that Bradley would have probably lost to half of these teams this year, and that Kent St. did beat 8 teams with RPI's of 150 or less, which again Bradley has failed miserably to do this year outside of beating UNI.

We have yet to see if Geno can rebuild a team in a tougher conference like ours. But I think based on the type of guys that he had at Kent St., and in a conference where it is tougher to recruit good players, he has shown he can do a great job putting together teams to fit his system.

I say let's wait until he has a full team of his players to see what he can do. Yes, there are some questionable moves that people have cited, but I really do think a new coach coming into this situation has his hands tied. At least he has kept us competitive for the most part, which while not acceptable in terms of wins and losses, at least is something to build on.

[Bravesfan]

how many conf turney wins does he have? How many NCAA wins does he have?

Why is this so important for you to keep mentioning bu fan 9? Just because he didn't accomplish this at Kent St. doesn't mean he can't do this in the future. And at least he won the MAC regular season title twice, which is something most Les haters were complaining he could not do.