Final UNI 80 - BU 46

[lefty]

I could not disagree more. Insanity has been described as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Playing Walt at point guard is not working and has not worked for 2 1/2 years, and it isn't going to suddenly start working in the few games we have left. Recall that Walt never played point guard in grade school, in high school, or in AAU ball. He is not a point guard, and everyone sees that except our coaches.
And even if that were true, who's fault is that? Recall that when Jim Les' point guard went down with a season ending injury, he took all the blame for not recruiting an extra All-MVC backup who could step right in and replace an All-MVC point guard. We've had 3 recruiting classes to bring in a point guard, and we were assured that we had our point guard of the future.
But I can't accept that the coach is handcuffed, and has no other options. Coach Ford has publicly told people that the best point guard he has in practice is Darrion Harris. If Charron Woods was good enough to play PG as a walk-on, then why not give Darrion Harris a chance and try something different. Frankly right now, I'd rather see anyone at the point other than Walt. This just isn't working. We recruited Bell and Fields to be the point guards on this team. Are we just accepting that we completely misjudged and blew it? Even Omari Grier couldn't do any worse, and he actually played point guard at his prep school.
Even our post play would suddenly appear lots better if we had a real point guard.

That's your opinion and that's fine DC….I wouldn't have a problem if Geno decided to use someone else at point either. It's just Fields and Bell haven't shown anything there. Fields does good in the open floor but after that I don't see much. Bell seems to be a trainwreck handling the ball. Yes the PG has been misjudged and we have blown it this year…Fields was to be the guy and he's not. I wouldn't have OG there either, now maybe Harris wouldn't be a bad option and at least worth a try.

Last night's play was truly uninspiring….and while the offense was terrible…the defense was way worse IMO……at the end of the day it's on Geno and the staff….recruit better,develop better,develop better on offense and defense, that's all on Geno…….this year is a huge step back and puts major pressure on next year

[bu fan 9]

Let's hope Geno doesn't get another year Lefty. I don't know why things would change if he gets another year. He is another Elvis.

[smitty]

This is a trainwreck

I watched the game last night which was on here in Chicago, hoping to see some progress over the last 2 years. What I saw was shocking and embarrassing. This team has regressed and gotten much worse since last year. Bradley has limited talent, but then UNI is not exactly a team loaded with McDonalds All Americans either. But the difference was like night and day. UNI plays great team ball, and was getting open layups and wide open jump shots all game. On the other hand, Bradley moves the ball poorly, and is the worst passing team I've ever seen. Bradley struggled to get any open shots, and usually the shots they got were off balance and heavily guarded shots with very little chance of being successful. Even worse, we play the most predictable offense that even unathletic teams like UNI have no trouble figuring out every move and guarding us like they know our offense better than we do. This team needs a total overhaul of it's offense and defense to have any chance of beating anyone. The rest of the league coaches are going to do the same things that worked to perfection against Bradley last night. Last night was not a case of Bradley just having a bad game like some people want to pretend. It was a case of one team getting vastly outcoached and outplayed by another team.

[tornado]

I know you only want to blame Geno and staff but I think it's on all of them…..

None of the players acted like they cared other than OG IMO.

but isn't getting the team ready to play largely the responsibility of those in charge?
I guess I am not so much into finding someone to hang blame on - than actually just trying to get anyone with ****s enough to step up and take responsibility..

...all we hear is a series of really flimsy excuses...
we're not ready, we didn't come ready to play, we haven't sorted out who should be in our rotation yet, not tough enough, too many leftover players, too few leftover players, they haven't "jelled", they haven't learned to play with each other, had a bad shooting night, the other team was hot, we didn't match up well, etc...

But here's the truth - face or ignore it it's your choice...
MANY good coaches didn't want this job - they turned it down, even after interviewing, then in 3 years we have completely failed to recruit or land even one player who fits the THREE main things we or anyone needs to play good basketball - a point guard, a low post player, and a shooter (or two) - we have none of those. And I am not sure I really want to fire Geno and hire someone else because we're gonna see the exact same scenario unfold -

Put the blame wherever you want - but it is getting sillier and sillier to see people trying to hang the blame on a coach who has now been gone 3 years, an AD who has been gone 5 years, or fans who have been loyal for 40 years.

[wily coyote]

I could not disagree more. Insanity has been described as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Playing Walt at point guard is not working and has not worked for 2 1/2 years, and it isn't going to suddenly start working in the few games we have left. Recall that Walt never played point guard in grade school, in high school, or in AAU ball. He is not a point guard, and everyone sees that except our coaches.
And even if that were true, who's fault is that? Recall that when Jim Les' point guard went down with a season ending injury, he took all the blame for not recruiting an extra All-MVC backup who could step right in and replace an All-MVC point guard. We've had 3 recruiting classes to bring in a point guard, and we were assured that we had our point guard of the future.
But I can't accept that the coach is handcuffed, and has no other options. Coach Ford has publicly told people that the best point guard he has in practice is Darrion Harris. If Charron Woods was good enough to play PG as a walk-on, then why not give Darrion Harris a chance and try something different. Frankly right now, I'd rather see anyone at the point other than Walt. This just isn't working. We recruited Bell and Fields to be the point guards on this team. Are we just accepting that we completely misjudged and blew it? Even Omari Grier couldn't do any worse, and he actually played point guard at his prep school.
Even our post play would suddenly appear lots better if we had a real point guard.

I agree with every sentence in your post. Walt isn't a PG and never will be . I would try Omari and if he fails I'd give Harris a shot. What would it hurt. What concerns me more than anything is how badly we missed on Fields and Bell. Doesn't say a whole lot for the evaluation skills of our staff.IMO This season is spiraling out of control faster than you can say "wait till next season."

[midstateknowitall]

I know I have stated my opinion's before and I will attempt to do it again. Geno's in the toughest part of transition period. Could he or should he have got better players during the last 2 years, sure its easy to say that now after we all seen them play. Hard part about JUCO kids is that most don't play great competition all year long, don't have as much structure, and don't know what it really takes to compete at a high level like MVC. So its almost like they are freshman's their first year here. Who is the leader of this team, Walt?

Walt- extremely talented player. However is not a PG/Decision maker, he is built to attack. unfortunately, BU has to rely on him to be that PG/Decision maker at times because he is the best player: however his decision is made up 95% of the time and that's to try and score first. Hard to have any flow to your offense when 1 guy feels he is the only and best option (especially when he has the ball a lot of the time). Walt had 1 reb & 0 asts; and was 1-6 from 3 yesterday. He has to be more productive all around. Your best players should make the team better not just himself. Unfortunately, Walt being the man, he doesn't understand how to make the team better yet!

All the blame isn't on Walt, but BU has 5asts (2 from starters) the whole game to go along with 11 Turnovers from starters (13 as a team). Hard win like that. This team has no leader (as a player) no calming factor to look towards when things don't go perfect!

Bradley played extremely hard and competitive against USF the other night. And got blasted yesterday. Proves my point that this team is too immature/young with no "player leader" to get them ready. Coaches can't make plays on the floor. Players do that, coaches try to put them in best positions to win. Can't teach toughness, competitiveness, fire, drive, or will to win. This team lacks that overall. They go from HIGH of HIGH to LOW of LOW no consistency. And IMO a lot has to do with the teams best player Walt and his inconsistency.

[lefty]

Let's hope Geno doesn't get another year Lefty. I don't know why things would change if he gets another year. He is another Elvis.

Geno had success before.....I don't have a problem at all for another year...

[lefty]

but isn't getting the team ready to play largely the responsibility of those in charge?
I guess I am not so much into finding someone to hang blame on - than actually just trying to get anyone with ****s enough to step up and take responsibility..

...all we hear is a series of really flimsy excuses...
we're not ready, we didn't come ready to play, we haven't sorted out who should be in our rotation yet, not tough enough, too many leftover players, too few leftover players, they haven't "jelled", they haven't learned to play with each other, had a bad shooting night, the other team was hot, we didn't match up well, etc...

But here's the truth - face or ignore it it's your choice...
MANY good coaches didn't want this job - they turned it down, even after interviewing, then in 3 years we have completely failed to recruit or land even one player who fits the THREE main things we or anyone needs to play good basketball - a point guard, a low post player, and a shooter (or two) - we have none of those. And I am not sure I really want to fire Geno and hire someone else because we're gonna see the exact same scenario unfold -

Put the blame wherever you want - but it is getting sillier and sillier to see people trying to hang the blame on a coach who has now been gone 3 years, an AD who has been gone 5 years, or fans who have been loyal for 40 years.

who's putting the blame on Les, Kavanugh, and fans? I don't think I have.

Getting the team ready to play is on the current coach...not the past one....now if you have players not following that's an issue too. I have heard of that with previous coaches too.........And really I don't think that is the case...but the players just didn't seem interested in playing hard last night.....

[CubbieBear]

This team just has no clue at all, the whole team. Geno needs to go. A team shouldn't be this bad with 8 newcomers and most of the "experts" predicting Bradley to finish 4th or higher in the Valley. Never seen a Bradley team play this bad.

Jason

Sagarin rating is a pathetic 269 (and falling)...how are we "not prepared" It does fall back on Geno (30-51 so far). Pre-season hype makes this even worse No wonder the attendance is WAY down--it's just woeful to watch. Anybody wanna buy my Thursday tickets for St. Louis?? Geez....

[bu fan 9]

Geno had success before with players he got left with. And lot fans thought he should of gotten to the NCAA tourney with those players and couldn't get it done.

[bradleyfan124]

but isn't getting the team ready to play largely the responsibility of those in charge?
I guess I am not so much into finding someone to hang blame on - than actually just trying to get anyone with ****s enough to step up and take responsibility..

...all we hear is a series of really flimsy excuses...
we're not ready, we didn't come ready to play, we haven't sorted out who should be in our rotation yet, not tough enough, too many leftover players, too few leftover players, they haven't "jelled", they haven't learned to play with each other, had a bad shooting night, the other team was hot, we didn't match up well, etc...

But here's the truth - face or ignore it it's your choice...
MANY good coaches didn't want this job - they turned it down, even after interviewing, then in 3 years we have completely failed to recruit or land even one player who fits the THREE main things we or anyone needs to play good basketball - a point guard, a low post player, and a shooter (or two) - we have none of those. And I am not sure I really want to fire Geno and hire someone else because we're gonna see the exact same scenario unfold -

Put the blame wherever you want - but it is getting sillier and sillier to see people trying to hang the blame on a coach who has now been gone 3 years, an AD who has been gone 5 years, or fans who have been loyal for 40 years.

There were coaches who did not want the job because of the Administration so I think the problem goes deeper than the coaching staff even the coaches are ultimately responsible

[peoriaspitfire]

My avatar says it all. My next step is to print the shirts and sell them to visiting fans, so at least my season tickets aren??™t a total loss financially.

I??™ve never been this saddened and embarrassed by the state of Bradley basketball and nothing I can say will make it better. My thoughts are with all of us.

It looks like someone already owns the firegenoford domain??¦

[tornado]

Fans still need to support this team & staff so I would love to see the stands packed but ...that said -
what's happening is gonna result in terrible crowds --- as I have noted elsewhere - a lot of the very fans who wanted exactly what we have and who have been proclaiming thru rose colored glasses that we have a great team, and we're headed in the right direction, and that we're "light years better"...
even those fans are tanking and not showing up for games!!! Their seats are empty! They did their little TD dances when they got what they wanted then when the giddiness wore off they finally see reality and are staying home.

[Chico]

My avatar says it all. My next step is to print the shirts and sell them to visiting fans, so at least my season tickets aren??™t a total loss financially.

I??™ve never been this saddened and embarrassed by the state of Bradley basketball and nothing I can say will make it better. My thoughts are with all of us.

It looks like someone already owns the firegenoford domain??¦

We are all upset with the state of the program, but why embarrass the team by selling shirts to visitors? Hope you are just kidding.

[Chico]

Fans still need to support this team & staff so I would love to see the stands packed but ...that said -
what's happening is gonna result in terrible crowds --- as I have noted elsewhere - a lot of the very fans who wanted exactly what we have and who have been proclaiming thru rose colored glasses that we have a great team, and we're headed in the right direction, and that we're "light years better"...
even those fans are tanking and not showing up for games!!! Their seats are empty! They did their little TD dances when they got what they wanted then when the giddiness wore off they finally see reality and are staying home.

+1.