Final- Wichita State 73 Bradley 39

[lefty]

[quote=tornado;272413
We're gonna get a whole lot worse when 3 starters, Egolf, Jake, & DSE are gone...[/quote]


Actually only DSE has been consistent defensively..the other two have not at all...so I don't think it will be worse at all.
Prosser has not been good in conference either.....we have a ways to go yet to be close to the top talent wise....I know you want to say we have all the talent we need so it would be the coach's fault but that's just not true....

[Bravesfan]

Coach---You asked "what are we doing wrong"? IMO our number one problem is a terrible lack of talent. With 2 or 3 exceptions, the players we recruit and sign seem to be marginal players who don't really have the talent to compete successfully at the level we want to be at. We just don't do a very good job of evaluating talent IMO. Look at our bench---full of marginal players and projects who really are not ever going to be able to help us much. We need to set the bar much higher in terms of who we recruit. I know this is difficult but if other schools can do it---why not we? If Geno can't recruit better players, he will not succeed at Bradley and our program will continue to decline.

Partially agree with you wizard. We have had some good talent here even the last few years. TB, DSE, WL, WE and JE come to mind. The problem is we only have 3 or 4 players who blossom at one time, with 8 or 9 players on the bench (or a couple of other starters) that look lost 80% of the time. Now, there certainly is a chance that a couple of the players on the bench may still gel within the next year or so, but that takes too long. I think Geno may be able to "coach up" a few of these players, but waiting around 4 years for players to finally get good will not help us win championships, or even get us back to the NIT. I think NW, JC and SS may be able to step up, but none of them are helping us that much right now, and there in lies the problem. NW did show a few flashes of brilliance on Saturday, but we need to see more of that before I'm convinced he will be consistently good.

So obviously we need to get to the point where we can reload and plug in new players (i.e.: Wichita State, Gonzaga, Butler) so that the learning curve doesn't take as long. And yes, better player evaluation is the key here, irregardless of who is coaching this team. And this is not as easy as it seems. Even great recruiters will run into this problem where the potential of players looks great on paper, but then they bomb out at this level. In other words, mid to high-major DI basketball will seperate the men from the boys once players start playing here. Somehow, we need to find more men and fewer boys on the recruiting trail, even if it is hard to anticpate how well a particular player will do once they get here.

[Da Coach]

I don't think anyone is blaming the coach, but if that is how you want to see it, OK.

I think this has much more to do with evaluating what we lose vs. the incoming talent. Who do you see playing the 5 next year? Or the 4 or 3?
And I think we all expect Fields to be the 1, but who is the 2? If it is Walt, as we all would hope, then our outside shooting is not improved over this year and last, and maybe is worse.

[Bravesfan]

Bumping this question for the fallout people. So far I hear crickets chirping as a response.

I most certainly wanted Remy here. Just because he is only averaging 5.2 ppg on Indiana doesn't mean he wouldn't have flourished more on a mid-major team. He quite possibly could have been a starter here, where at Indiana, their team is so deep that he probably isn't quite good enough to start on their team. No guarantees, but I think he would given this team quite a boost right now, if for no other reason that he would have been one more dependable player than we have now.

[lefty]

I don't think anyone is blaming the coach, but if that is how you want to see it, OK.

I think this has much more to do with evaluating what we lose vs. the incoming talent. Who do you see playing the 5 next year? Or the 4 or 3?
And I think we all expect Fields to be the 1, but who is the 2? If it is Walt, as we all would hope, then our outside shooting is not improved over this year and last, and maybe is worse.

I'm thinking Grier and Walt will play the 2 and 3 which gives you some diversity on the perimeter.....I haven't looked at the stats but it seems Walt is shooting better the last few games. Walt's a hard worker and probably will continue to be as well and maybe if he doesn't have to run point can concentrate more on shooting and/or scoring

[Rusty 54]

I think this has much more to do with evaluating what we lose vs. the incoming talent. Who do you see playing the 5 next year? Or the 4 or 3?
And I think we all expect Fields to be the 1, but who is the 2? If it is Walt, as we all would hope, then our outside shooting is not improved over this year and last, and maybe is worse.

5 - Ford has to find a juco
4 - Pickett
3 - Grier or Tucker
2 - Lemon Jr
1 - Fields

If we want any sort of depth off the bench in the post Ford has to find a second juco big guy. I see SS passing up Prosser in the rotation, but would love to have another juco big be the first guy off the bench.

If we want any depth at guard Bell and Crawford have to improve by leaps and bounds this summer, or have to be replaced.

[LittleBrave]

If we want any depth at guard Bell and Crawford have to improve by leaps and bounds this summer, or have to be replaced.

Agree. I have a lot of faith in Bell, but Crawford doesn't seem to know what's going on half the time and looks timid. He was counted on to be that X-factor this year, and he's unfortunately turned out to be a Y(why?)-factor.

KB is a frosh and it's obvious, but he seems to be on the top half of toughness on our team, and someone who isn't afraid to take it into the paint among the trees. He just needs to make better decisions and more chances to play.

[SFP]

Our back court should be better just because we'll have a PG and there should be some resemblance of balance. The front court without a true 5 will be sketchy unless NW blossoms the next 6 months. The 3 position should be manned by a pure shooter since we know that WL is not that type of player.

What happens if GF can't get that JUCO big that will be a difference maker? The way he is coaching I say go after the best shooter/defenders we can get at that point. Besides getting a serviceable big we also need a shooter. What will the staff come up with? My advice would be to get the very best ball player you can get regardless of position at this point.

[wily coyote]

Gotta disagree with this statement...

First, let me say that I think the seniors have played well this season...kudos to them!

However, we have 2 potential starters on the bench in street clothes this year because they transferred and cannot play.

We have 2 new recruits coming in who were recruited for their ball handling and outside shooting.

I think all of the returning scholarship players will be better...including Tyshon, who will be a 2nd year JC transfer.

And we have 2 scholarships yet to fill for next season.

I think the future looks bright...too bad you don't see it the same way.

O&B, Agree with everything you said in your post except I can't go as far as you did saying the seniors have played well. They've played ok but not well enough to contend. How some people think we are losing alot is beyond me.One shouldn't have been here,one should have recruited over two years ago and one never reached his potential due to injuries. With two more good recruits we will not miss them at all. I too think the future looks bright if we can land better people than were losing. That shouldn't be very hard. If we can't we're in deep s--t.

[Rusty 54]

What happens if GF can't get that JUCO big that will be a difference maker? The way he is coaching I say go after the best shooter/defenders we can get at that point. Besides getting a serviceable big we also need a shooter. What will the staff come up with? My advice would be to get the very best ball player you can get regardless of position at this point.

If we don't get a center that is a difference maker we play on Thursday next year. No matter how much better our guards are.

[Beninator]

I most certainly wanted Remy here. Just because he is only averaging 5.2 ppg on Indiana doesn't mean he wouldn't have flourished more on a mid-major team. He quite possibly could have been a starter here, where at Indiana, their team is so deep that he probably isn't quite good enough to start on their team. No guarantees, but I think he would given this team quite a boost right now, if for no other reason that he would have been one more dependable player than we have now.

I agree and I wanted Remy here as well. People are talking fallout here and to be bluntly honest, I really do not see where we missed out talent wise from the coaching change. Other than possibly Remy and I am giving Remy the benefit of the doubt here, I would take Pickett over any recruit that we lost in a heartbeat. We will have to wait and see about Grier and Fields.

[Bravesfan]

I agree and I wanted Remy here as well. People are talking fallout here and to be bluntly honest, I really do not see where we missed out talent wise from the coaching change. Other than possibly Remy and I am giving Remy the benefit of the doubt here, I would take Pickett over any recruit that we lost in a heartbeat. We will have to wait and see about Grier and Fields.

Well, let's hope Pickett and everyone else continues to develop. I'm optimistic things will be better within the next year or two.

[Mikovio]

I don't mind a 30 point blowout any more than any other loss. Who cares about style points? What committee are we trying to impress? If Ford saw that the game was getting out of hand, he was correct in substituting the starters to get them more rest for the winnable games coming up -- like today's -- and giving deep benchers like Wells 15 minutes. I see that as playing the percentages.

It's very difficult to project next year without having seen Fields and Grier. The fact they've been practicing with the team and have a year of D-I experience under their belts makes me optimistic, but it's a crapshoot from my vantage point. Nobody saw the young 2001 team finishing in 2nd after graduating Dye, Roberson etc. Ford does apparently need another big though, barring some miraculous development by Wells. Regardless, I expect improvement in the win column.

[SFP]

I don't mind a 30 point blowout any more than any other loss. Who cares about style points? What committee are we trying to impress? If Ford saw that the game was getting out of hand, he was correct in substituting the starters to get them more rest for the winnable games coming up -- like today's -- and giving deep benchers like Wells 15 minutes. I see that as playing the percentages.

It's very difficult to project next year without having seen Fields and Grier. The fact they've been practicing with the team and have a year of D-I experience under their belts makes me optimistic, but it's a crapshoot from my vantage point. Nobody saw the young 2001 team finishing in 2nd after graduating Dye, Roberson etc. Ford does apparently need another big though, barring some miraculous development by Wells. Regardless, I expect improvement in the win column.

+1 Spot on how I feel.

[Bravesfan]

+1 Spot on how I feel.

Ditto here. There definitely is some potential for continued improvement next year, but there also are some big holes that can cause a step back if they are not addressed in the offseason.