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BU 101 Rutgers 72- postgame thoughts

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  • BU 101 Rutgers 72- postgame thoughts

    Just a few ramblings while I try to let the excitement die down.

    Bradley played a near perfect team. Rutgers is not going to compete for the Big East title this year, but they are not a team without talent. They returned 4 starters from last year's team. They were big and physical, and will win some games this year in the Big East. But Bradley took them out of their game and forced them to defend the perimeter, then consistently broke that down with quick, precise passing and cutting.
    Again, Bradley put on a clinic. Other coaches would be smart to use a tape of this game as an educational tool to show how to pass and run an uptempo offense.
    Bradley had a measley 11 turnovers despite their best ball handler recovering from injury and limited to 19 minutes.
    Every player played and shot well. No matter who they left open, they made Rutgers pay for it. Every BU player played superb, in-your-face defense. The Rutgers players did not know defense could be played that well! They had to think there were 6 or 7 defenders on the floor! The BU players were better conditioned, and the Rutgers guys had to be substituted often because they were exhausted.

    BUBraves.com story--
    HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Bradley (5-0) took its 3-point shooting show on the road and continued its torrid long-range attack, draining 13 first-half 3-pointers en route to a 101-72 victory versus Rutgers (1-3) in the third round of the Chicago Invitational Challenge Friday evening at the new Sears Centre. The Braves advanced to the tournament's championship game and will play either Miami-Ohio or Illinois in Saturday's 7:30 p.m. tournament finale. Junior guard Jeremy Crouch, who sank all three of his 3-point tries, led five Braves in double-figures with a game-high 19 points, while senior center Zach Andrews provided some interior punch with 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds.


    Box score--


    Matt Salley was a little soft in this game. 1 rebound indicates a poor effort by Matt. He needs to do better rebounding the ball.

    The biggest lead was 39 points at 73-34. After that point, Bradley coasted, resting the regulars most of the rest of the game.

    Here is the Illinois box score--
    Yahoo Sports-


    Illinois website-


    Maybe this will be corrected, but the boxscore shows Brian Randle played 6 minutes, but he was not even in uniform! And it also shows Richard Semrau played 29 minutes and scored 12 and had a team-leading 10 rebounds! But I don't remember ever seeing him in the game. Am I missing something?
    Marcus Arnold did get in the game a bit, but he doesn't show up in the box score. Something's screwy!

    Now about Illinois- They will be beatable. The big men shoot poorly, so if Bradley can defend their guards, they will have trouble scoring. That is the story with the Miami game. They played defense like an MVC team. If they just had one outside shooter, they would have won easily. However, Miami had nobody who could make an outside shot. They made exactly 1 three pointer all game (they only tried 8 ). When they needed to score down the stretch, they did not make a single basket from 10:10 left in the game, until their last basket with 43 sec. left. That stretch of almost 10 minutes without a basket cost them the game.

  • #2
    I told you guys Drew would be useful from the get go this year. Looks like I was right. Here's hoping he keeps it up all year!

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    • #3
      You were right! I forgot to add- Andrew Warren was teriffic tonight. He played solid defense, and knocked down some shots that had to be a dagger for Rutgers. And he played a team-high 27 minutes, giving the other guards a lot of rest.

      Jim Les knew what he was getting with AW. He is a super young man!

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Da Coach
        You were right! I forgot to add- Andrew Warren was teriffic tonight. He played solid defense, and knocked down some shots that had to be a dagger for Rutgers. And he played a team-high 27 minutes, giving the other guards a lot of rest.

        Jim Les knew what he was getting with AW. He is a super young man!
        There is a reason top teams in big conferences started to come after him hard late last year. I am not going to name any names but lets just say they aren't programs to frown upon, but he knew he'd stay loyal to Bradley from the beginning.

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        • #5
          A number of my Illinois peeps (some who contribute over 6 figures to their athetic department) kept asking me about that Warren kid and where we got him from. Beyond being impressed with the beatdown we gave Rutgers, they saw something in Andrew Warren that they've sorely been missing...a perimeter player that can step in and matter.

          It will take our BEST effort to win tomorrow. I think we can do it. Hey....why not? We weren't supposed by 5-0...
          Onward and Upward!

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          • #6
            My turn to chime in.
            After five games, it is beginning to appear to most that this is no fluke.

            Bradley has many offensive weapons and has a fine defense as well.
            When I refer to offensive weapons, I don't just mean they can shoot. Yes they do shoot well, but every time some defender got into the face of Ruff, Will, Andrew, JC, or JJ, they can fake and drive. Between those five guards there were nine 3-pointers, but also 13 baskets that came from much closer in, many driving around defense. And they all screen well.
            Bradley has 5-6 guards that are very difficult to guard!
            And even though Matt Salley isn't much of an offensive weapon, you can't leave him alone of the perimeter. He can knock down a three, and is now 3-5 on the season!
            Bradley as a team shot 56% from 3-pt, and on the year they are shooting 52%.
            One more fact-- Matt Salley was 4-4 and ZA 2-4 on FTs, so that concern is fading!
            Not sure what opponents view as Bradley's weakness.

            As I watched Illinois, I see a lot of weaknesses.
            They actually shoot poorly from outside, and are not quick.
            A good defensive team will not allow them to get good shots.
            Their inside game is absent at times, only Pruitt seems to be able to score in there.
            The big men off the bench (Carlwell, Jackson, Arnold) had a total of 0-2, Zero points, two rebounds.

            Illinois benefitted from some very marginal calls down the stretch that helped stall Miami's offense.
            There were three illegal screen calls in the final 8-10 minutes that seemed to freeze the RedHawks' offense.

            By the way, the Illini web site has a box score posted that is wrong. There are some weird errors in it such as having Richard Semrau playing 29 minutes and Brian Randle playing 6 min.

            The Miami web site appears to have the correct box score.


            Bradley will get some steals against Illinois, and they don't move well off screens.
            The only thing that could doom the Braves is if everyone goes cold, but Bu has too many offensive weapons. Did anyone think we'd be saying that?

            Comment


            • #7
              Kudos to the PJS which has the coverage already online
              Here is the story of BU's big blowout win over Rutgers


              and BUB, the quote from Rutgers head coach Fred Hill is almost word for word what you said:

              "When you've got great guards who can break you down off the dribble and create things, that's very hard to defend," Hill said. "That's what Bradley has. You try to trap, and they find the open man. You try zone, and they make the shots. They're so quick off the bounce, and then they penetrate and kick and shoot. We just couldn't stop their initial penetration."

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              • #8
                Would BU be just as good if O'Bryant was still here?

                Comment


                • #9
                  The link above is the link to Kirk Wessler's commentary on the BU-Rutgers game.

                  Here is the link to the report of the game by Dave Reynolds


                  and an extra piece about BU vs. Illinois tonight


                  And to the BU report card

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Some more coverage from other local media and from outside of Illinois


                    Suburbs     Aurora Beacon-News Lake County News Sun Northbrook Star Elgin Courier-News Naperville Sun The Doings – Oak Brook Daily Southtown Post-Tribune Oak Leaves Arlington Heights Post…


                    Both the Sun Times and the Trib have coverage of the Illinois game but simply pretend that Bradley doesn't exist.
                    Neither has any report on the BU game, although the Trib has the box score and mentions
                    at the end of the Illini article that Bradley won and is the next opponent.

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                    • #11
                      Is it possible a BIG EAST coach just said this about Bradley and coach Les?-

                      "A team never looks as quick on tape as it does in person," said Rutgers coach Fred Hill. "And they were quick on tape. When I watched their tape, I said 'Wow.'

                      "They're very, very good. When you're making shots like that and everybody can shoot the ball, it's pick your poison. They play a great way for their talent and what they do. (BU coach Jim Les) has got them playing at a very high level this early in the season."

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                      • #12
                        This year's Bradley team has picked up where last year's team left off in showing maturity, poise, and heart. Win or lose tonight against the Illini, this is a team to be proud of.

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                        • #13
                          Right you are, DB. I have never seen a more unselfish bunch of guys, and a better passing team than I have seen watching Bradley these first 5 games. Let's hope it continues, but I have no doubt it will.

                          Here are a couple links to stories in the Chicago papers. Not a lot of coverage up here. On the nightly sports shows on Chicago broadcast TV, they reported on the Illinois game extensively, and a little on the UIC game, but never mentioned the Bradley-Rutgers game. These sportscasters up here have no idea Bradley is an Illinois team, and were the most successful Illinois team last year.

                          Sun Times--


                          Daily Southtown--


                          Chicago Tribune--

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Sweet 16

                            Originally posted by BU Bill
                            Is it possible a BIG EAST coach just said this about Bradley and coach Les?-

                            "A team never looks as quick on tape as it does in person," said Rutgers coach Fred Hill. "And they were quick on tape. When I watched their tape, I said 'Wow.'

                            "They're very, very good. When you're making shots like that and everybody can shoot the ball, it's pick your poison. They play a great way for their talent and what they do. (BU coach Jim Les) has got them playing at a very high level this early in the season."
                            Amen. These guys are playing at their Sweet 16 level right now. I think they saw what great defense can do for you at the college level. Most teams with their prima donas never see this kind of defense until the postseason; they simply cannot handle it!

                            This team has enough guys back from last year who saw what that winning is not all about which team has the most talent. It's about who has the most heart! If we can continue playing with this much intensity and effort we will go far!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I heard Bruce Weber's postgame show last night (it's carried on 560 WIND up here in Chicago). He was asked if he was tempted to bring Jamar Smith into the game last night since they could have used his shooting when things were looking bad.
                              He said he never considered putting him into the game. He was not willing to jeopardize having a re-injury and losing him for a big part of the conference season. Although Jamar was in uniform, Weber implied he would play it safe with him, and it sounded like he was definitely not going to use him in this tournament.

                              Bruce, as well as the Illini fans up here, are complimentary toward the Bradley guards. But they also believe Bradley hasn't played anyone who knows how to, or has the personnel capable of guarding BU's perimeter shooters. They are confident Bradley will not be able to get their shots off againt Illinois' much superior perimeter quickness and skill.
                              They also believe their superior inside players can exploit Bradley's lack of size inside.

                              However, Bruce did admit they were a bit lucky to beat Miami.

                              Miami, incidentally is not highly ranked in the MAC preseason poll. They were picked to finish 4th in the 6 team MAC Eastern Division. Their vote total was 8th highest overall among the 16 MAC teams, and they did not receive a single vote (out of the 40 media votes) to win the MAC tournament. Yet this middle of the MAC team lead Illinoi for all but the last minute of the game.--

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