Final score: Chicago State 64 Bradley 77

[lefty]

2 for 1 tonight,got to see two games for the price of one and I don't mean the girls game. The 1st half was as good as we've looked this year but what in the hell happened the 2nd half. That was as ugly as a red headed step sister. I don't think we can blame it all on Walt not playing much the 2nd half because he didn't play a whole lot the 1st half and we looked very good without him. Maybe it took them that long to realize Walt wasn't on the floor. Thought Grier,Austin and Taylor had very good games. 1st half thought Fields looked much better but he hardly saw the floor in the 2nd half all the while Bell really struggled in the 2nd half. Blake did a good job but couldn't stay out of foul trouble. Listened to Geno on the way home and he was quite funny even though he said he couldn't believe what he just saw and neither could I.

I would throw Blake in there as well??¦.he is a decent force on the defensive end in the paint??¦I was wondering why Fields didn't play in the 2nd half more too. He did make a couple of nice shots but had 4 turnovers in like 10 minutes??¦.you just can't do that??¦??¦.

[Big Mike]

On another note the price of beer went from $7.50 to $6.50 from last game.......sales must have been really down!

[Biff]

I thought Chicago St was not very good. I didn't see a single player who we would recruit. We forced them to shoot outside in the first half, and obviously they are not good at that. In the second half, we allowed them to do whatever they wanted. Bad defense and confusion. We better hope Walt stays healthy and stays in the games.And I liked the lower beer price!

[Big Mike]

Reynolds: th good, the bad the ugly......

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20131115/SPORTS/131119329/10963/SPORTS

Reynolds:game grades......

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20131115/SPORTS/131119330/2000/NEWS

[tornado]

I thought Chicago St was not very good. I didn't see a single player who we would recruit. We forced them to shoot outside in the first half, and obviously they are not good at that. In the second half, we allowed them to do whatever they wanted. Bad defense and confusion. We better hope Walt stays healthy and stays in the games.And I liked the lower beer price!

but it doesn't take a genius to see what's happening...the silly foul rules that
are supposed to "clean up the game", result in less contact and "mugging" and help offenses...

..have led to what we see....when they need points, they drive into someone - anyone - knowing they will get the contact
and the foul - so the rules end up creating MORE contact and more fouls, less flow to the offense, the exact opposite effect as intended.

Teams that are behind, play just to get a foul called - and getting it most of the time..



btw- Xzavier Taylor 11 pts, 6 rebs in 22 min...he really helped us

[bravetime33]

-this Chicago State team is not good - we were well on the way to a 30 point blowout win until Walt got into foul trouble

-we lose one starter and we look like a Thursday night team

-can't wait 'til the PJS writers spin this one into another "we have quality depth" argument..we are not deep unless Walt lemon is in there

-I suggest we do a little work in practice against the press - it still looks like we've never practiced a press-breaker

-I am happy we made a few threes & hit a good pct of our FT otherwise we lose this game to a team that scrapped hard and found our weaknesses

-Xzavier Taylor should start at the 5 and play starters' minutes - he deserves it..

-Wells showed everyone he does deserve more playing time..he contributed with a basket, a deflection, a tip, kept the ball alive on the rim, a rebound or challenged someone's shot every single possession while he was in there

-good, vocal crowd & student section despite a lot of no-shows - announced at 6797 -

The game I saw showed bench depth in the first half without lemon the lead was held and in fact stretched ( to me that is the definition of depth) it does not make any difference to me who scores the points as long as we hold or stretch i saw 2 consecutive dunks (one an ally hoop from barnes to taylor) and 2 consecutive 3. The second half was a different story
This is as strong a bench as I have seen in a LONG time
A lot of these guys are only 4 games into it
I see an edge in Bell, Blake, Taylor and the serb which defines what kind of guys Geno is bringing in. To be fair to him this is only his second full time recruiting class as the first one was too short and not an indication of his abilities
With the current underclassmen, the 2 commits so far, and Chins contacts I feel as good about the future for our program in long time.

[tornado]

The game I saw showed bench depth in the first half ..

with all due respect - who gave us good play off the bench in the 1st half?
Only two players scored more than a single basket - and one of them really ought to be a starter and played starter minutes (Xzavier Taylor).
The other - Fields - seems to be getting accolades for the 2 baskets he scored, but look at the rest of his stat line - 4 turnovers, no rebounds, just one asst.

I would agree I liked what I saw in the 3 minutes Nate Wells played, but the 20 pt lead had more to do with what I saw as horrible play by CSU -
29% FG shooting and 8% (1-12) shooting from 3-pt and fifteen first half Chicago State turnovers, a whole lot of which were unforced.
The two baskets by Fields were offset by turnovers and bad decisions, and Fields-Bell-Zecevic-Harris-and-Swop combined for little production and were often yanked and chewed out for bad plays. The five of them combined for just 9 pts/3 rebs/2 asst in 41 first half minutes.
We were fortunate we were playing a bad team and only lost one starter early.

[BUfan14]

MAYBE because our only plan against their press is to run towards the inbounder and then receive the inbounds pass in the DISTANT FAR CORNER 95 FEET FROM THE BASKET,
then wait there 'til the double team comes and traps us in the corner with no option but to force a silly pass to someone who's also double teamed.

Ya there might have been a few press turnovers, but most of them seemed unforced and nothing to do with the press. Like Omari dropping the ball, Walt and Bell both throwing the ball out of bounce in the half court. And even though they are not turnovers, missed wide open layups (which is like a turnover). They just seem like mental and lazy mistakes.

[Canton BU fan]

On another note the price of beer went from $7.50 to $6.50 from last game.......sales must have been really down!

Phil Luciano is taking credit for that in today's paper.

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20131115/NEWS/131119431/10960/NEWSh

[BUfan14]

In terms of bench depth I don't know if it's as good as some think or as bad as others think. Swop and SZ are young and should get better and they look like they have some talent. KB always gives you defense and I think will get more consistent as only a Sophomore. Same with AF hopefully. Wells and Blake and eventually Prosser again will (If you count Taylor as a starter) give us decent post minutes combined. Blake at least gives you a good rebounder and has looked better offensively than I thought he would. So if our second unit is considered KB/AF, SZ, JS, CB, and JP/NW then I think it is a unit that provides some minutes, solid defense, and has potential to get better as the year goes on with SZ, JS, KB, AF, and NW still developing.

So in summary the bench is still young and so there will be some boneheaded play and there is no great scorer off the bench which hurts on offense a little, but they are solid rebounders and defenders and have potential. Overall that is a solid, not great bench and depth. Better than it has been lately, which is nonexistent.

Anybody worried about AF? I'm hoping he is just shaking off a year of rust, cause I haven't seen much yet.

[Da Coach]

...
Anybody worried about AF? I'm hoping he is just shaking off a year of rust, cause I haven't seen much yet.

I think we can assume the coach is also concerned. He had a great chance to produce yesterday after Walt sat out the last 13 minutes of the first half against a weak team. But after a couple turnovers and a bad shot, he was replaced and walkon Darrion Harris took over at the point.

[wily coyote]

The game I saw showed bench depth in the first half without lemon the lead was held and in fact stretched ( to me that is the definition of depth) it does not make any difference to me who scores the points as long as we hold or stretch i saw 2 consecutive dunks (one an ally hoop from barnes to taylor) and 2 consecutive 3. The second half was a different story
This is as strong a bench as I have seen in a LONG time
A lot of these guys are only 4 games into it
I see an edge in Bell, Blake, Taylor and the serb which defines what kind of guys Geno is bringing in. To be fair to him this is only his second full time recruiting class as the first one was too short and not an indication of his abilities
With the current underclassmen, the 2 commits so far, and Chins contacts I feel as good about the future for our program in long time.

It amazes me how so many people can watch the same game and have so much difference in opinions but that is good for message boards . I agree with your post almost to the word. The only difference between yours and mine is I'm not as convinced about Bell or SZ. Of the two I think SZ will be more helpful in the future. Some people on here think in order to have depth they have to put numbers on the board. Not true last night. When Walt went out in the 1st half we extended our lead and probably played better minutes than we have played in a long time. That to me is a positive. Also some people on here use the excuse that Taylor should be a starter and play starter minutes rather than give our bench credit for their play. I thought the definition of a starter was who was on the floor for the first jump ball to START the game. Guess I don't understand basketball very well.
Your last sentence also sums up where I think our program is going. Hopefully we can keep Chin on our staff for a long time. Now lets go to THE ASSEMBLY HALL and get a W.

[Buesch N Chips]

I think we have the potential to have great depth. We haven't exactly been racking up the rpi points with our schedule, and these guys have looked ok against that level. Sunday will be a test to see if some of these guys will be relevant come conference season.

[tornado]

Wily - XT was not a starter - never said he was.... but I wouldn't be surprised if he soon is...thus removing from the "bench strength" essentially the only player who is giving us much off the bench..
Once again, we had a scare thrown into us last night by a team that we shoulda mauled by 20-25, and when we went to the bench we looked shaky....
even like we were about to give up the entire 25 pt lead.....requiring us to play heavy, mid-season minutes (32, 34, 36, even 38 ) with multiple of our starters.

[Buesch N Chips]

Wily - XT was not a starter - never said he was.... but I wouldn't be surprised if he soon is...thus removing from the "bench strength" essentially the only player who is giving us much off the bench..
Once again, we had a scare thrown into us last night by a team that we shoulda mauled by 20-25, and when we went to the bench we looked shaky....
even like we were about to give up the entire 25 pt lead.....requiring us to play heavy, mid-season minutes (32, 34, 36, even 38 ) with multiple of our starters.

The way we finished the game is definitely a concern.