Final: Augustana 58 Bradley 56

[Da Coach]

For what it's worth- Bradley fans must still care an awful lot about Bradley basketball. Our traffic numbers over the past 24 hours are near all-time highs, and the ad clicks have also hit all time highs! For that I thank everyone.
I have also gotten more emails in the past 24 hours than ever before. All of them agree with me that it's disappointing to see what has become of the great program we once had.
Thanks to the loyal Bradley fans, and hang in.

[Chico]

I disagree, Chico -- GF has had four years to bring in talent and has TOP 100 players -
plus he had numerous (TB, Walt, Dyricus, TP..) kids that had gotten all-conference mention
But even if you want too use the lack of talent argument - at this point there's no excuse - he's been here long enough - WHY does he have a lack of talent? - instead of bringing in single digit juco scorers and kids who were run out of other programs because they couldn't play

The guys coming back to this program couldn't compare with the group Albeck had. Remember a guy nicknamed "The Hawk"? Too bad Albeck didn't know what to do with what he had.

[tornado]

.. traffic numbers over the past 24 hours are near all-time highs, and the ad clicks have also hit all time highs!....

..at least someone's making out pretty well.....

[bravetime33]

you're gonna get a few more lining up behind you soon

this was terribly embarrassing - and had this happened in 2001 or 2010 - the coach would have likely been canned on the spot - some has a little 'splainin' to do..

Augustana 58 - BU 56

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broad...e=mvc&id=69138

It did happen in 2010 we lost to Quincy he did not get canned then
And it happened in 2008 to Wisconsin- Plattvile
Our best player was out and our true point guard as well I am not down on this team and am willing to give it a chance

[tornado]

you apparently don't know - or choose NOT to remember - there were major calls to fire him - and even earlier, starting as early as 2005!

Plus, in 2010-11 "they" did fire him...
and even in 2009-10, "they" tried to fire him that season, but the Board wisely would not authorize a buyout of four years on the contract - this was the substance of the rumors that were reported as false on another board and that KW wrote about...


Also -- in 2011, Kirk Wessler wrote this prophetic column about how the Board was faced with an important choice
and that the wrong choice could spell disaster and be EXTREMELY COSTLY.

"Bradley can't afford to be wrong"
"The next few weeks might be the most critical in Bradley basketball history.
...Bradley cannot afford to spin its competitive wheels
...It’s imperative the next men’s basketball coach raise the program’s competitive profile
to a level that makes Bradley an attractive “get” for the final realignment of NCAA Division I.
Bradley cannot afford to fumble the hiring of a replacement for Jim Les..
..The next Braves coach cannot become the sixth successive one to get the boot.
.. If we find ourselves here again in five or seven years, this proud program will not be recognizable..

By then, the hard-core 5,000 fans, who would continue to buy season tickets even if the Braves went 0-30, mostly will be dead.
The additional 2,000 who help create the reliable season-ticket base ... will give up.

Playing home games on campus at the new Renaissance Coliseum won’t be a quirky idea. It will be the only move that makes sense.
Hire the right guy
...
I do know, though, that Bradley president Joanne Glasser and athletics director Michael Cross have to get this right."

http://www.pjstar.com/x256219408/Wessler-Bradley-can-t-afford-to-be-wrong

...This time Kirk was right as we are learning the hard way...

[bravetime33]

you apparently don't know - or choose NOT to remember - there were major calls to fire him - and even earlier, starting as early as 2005!

Plus, in 2010-11 "they" did fire him...
and even in 2009-10, "they" tried to fire him that season, but the Board wisely would not authorize a buyout of four years on the contract


In 2011, Kirk Wessler wrote this prophetic column about how the Board was faced with an important choice
and that the wrong choice could spell disaster and be EXTREMELY COSTLY.

"Bradley can't afford to be wrong"
"The next few weeks might be the most critical in Bradley basketball history.
...Bradley cannot afford to spin its competitive wheels
...It??™s imperative the next men??™s basketball coach raise the program??™s competitive profile
to a level that makes Bradley an attractive ???get??? for the final realignment of NCAA Division I.
Bradley cannot afford to fumble the hiring of a replacement for Jim Les..
..The next Braves coach cannot become the sixth successive one to get the boot.
.. If we find ourselves here again in five or seven years, this proud program will not be recognizable..

By then, the hard-core 5,000 fans, who would continue to buy season tickets even if the Braves went 0-30, mostly will be dead.
The additional 2,000 who help create the reliable season-ticket base ... will give up.

Playing home games on campus at the new Renaissance Coliseum won??™t be a quirky idea. It will be the only move that makes sense.
Hire the right guy
...
I do know, though, that Bradley president Joanne Glasser and athletics director Michael Cross have to get this right."

http://www.pjstar.com/x256219408/Wessler-Bradley-can-t-afford-to-be-wrong

...This time Kirk was right as we are learning the hard way...

The point was to acknowledge we did lose to a non div 1 team even as close to 2 years after the run and 2 years after that
It happens and just because we had quite a few players playing for the first together against competition I would assume some tightness, lack of flow and little rythem
We get our point guard running the show getting our best player out there more players knowing each other better we might see a different result

[Da Coach]

The point was to acknowledge we did lose to a non div 1 team even as close to 2 years after the run and 2 years after that
It happens and just because we had quite a few players playing for the first together against competition I would assume some tightness, lack of flow and little rythem
We get our point guard running the show getting our best player out there more players knowing each other better we might see a different result

So do you think this is an NCAA team?
The media and coaches don't seem to think so, since they voted Bradley 9th in the preseason poll. I also doubt many who saw the game Thursday's would think so either.
I can pull out many old posts here by almost everyone posting (including you) saying that by year 4 "when Geno has all his own guys" we should be winning and playing for championships and NCAA bids.

[LongTimeFan]

FWIW, Bradley lost to D3 UW-Platteville in an exhibition in 2008.

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArt...ATCLID=1621587

That said, this is still an ugly loss, even though Augie is a good D3 team.

I couldn't remember who that game was against. All I can remember is that we lost to a small school team who ran a Princeton offense. Bradley has always seemed to have problems with a very structured offense by the opponent.

[ancona flash]

Lets breathe deep and realize we just lost an exhibition game. We didn't just go 7-25 and finish last in the MVC. The season has yet to officially begin. Good grief. I haven't commented on here for a long time but I just can't hold it in. If we are playing in on Thursday in STL in March, then fine, count me in on making major changes. I'm far more pissed that Shaw played when he wasn't 100%??¦??¦for an exhibition??¦??¦that doesn't matter!!!!!!!

I think JG is a piece of work and the AD hasn't overwhelmed me with his college athletics acumen, but we have a LOOOOOONG way to go this year before phoning it in and calling for heads to roll.

[tornado]

If they drive enough fans off...the fans will find a way to be happy & survive without Bradley basketball but Bradley basketball is in desperate need of the fans - but they're acting like it's the other way around
We all know what needs to be done - please don't wait 'til we lose to Eureka

[LongTimeFan]

I admit this loss is embarrassing but we have been there before. We are still here. It is evident that Bradley has been struggling in the last several years and, if this year continues it downward spiral, changes will probably be considered. However, with Bradley's financial shape, I believe Ford will be back one way or the other next year.

I hope to see improvement when Barnes, Sutherland, and Shaw get back are healthy we will see a big improvement. Improvement needs to appear by MVC season.

[mvcfan]

Memphis just lost to a Div2 team. Everyone relax.

[tornado]

sure - it happens - rare but it happens....especially when the opponents are good D-II schools - but show me where it happens much with DIII's?

It sure does not help Memphis to do this, and they are getting clobbered with ridicule in the press...LINK
so I doubt you'll see anyone from Memphis touting this loss as a good thing and coming up with excuses that their opponent is someone capable of beating most other DI teams.
Memphis also had a couple players out with injury and did not use that as an alibi.

[BostonBird]

sure - it happens - rare but it happens....especially when the opponents are good D-II schools - but show me where it happens much with DIII's?

It sure does not help Memphis to do this, and they are getting clobbered with ridicule in the press...LINK
so I doubt you'll see anyone from Memphis touting this loss as a good thing and coming up with excuses that their opponent is someone capable of beating most other DI teams.
Memphis also had a couple players out with injury and did not use that as an alibi.

I have no dog in the fight, but d3 basketball is better than d2 so not sure where you're going with that.

[Da Coach]

I have no dog in the fight, but d3 basketball is better than d2 so not sure where you're going with that.

Wow, that is such a definitive statement, you must have some proof of that to back it up? Could you please post your proof for that?


In reality, maybe the very top D3 teams probably may be better than some of the bottom D2 schools, but there is no way D3 in general is better than D2. If they were, then all D1 schools would prefer to play D3's for exhibitions, but they don't. They would much more often rather play D2's because those schools are closer to the level of competition of D1. There is an obvious reason. D2 schools can award full athletic scholarships, just like D1 schools (the only difference is they are restricted to 10 scholarships, instead of the 13 that D1 schools have). D3 schools are prohibited from awarding athletic scholarships. So D2's have the advantage, and get usually much more talented players and better athletes. It is not rare for D2 players to play in the NBA, and it's common for them to play professionally overseas. It is relatively rare to see D3 players ever do that. D3 is the largest NCAA division, with about 450 schools. When you get past the top couple dozen D3 schools, and especially when you get to the lower half of D3 schools, they play basketball at a much lower low level than any D2 schools and would have trouble beating many good Class 4A high school basketball teams in Illinois.
D3 players probably do a lot better academically, but in general, D2 schools would beat comparable D3 schools most of the time. That is why it is rare for a D3 team to upset a D1 team in an exhibition game. It is much more common to see D2 teams win these exhibitions.




BTW, upcoming Bradley opponent Memphis lost last night to Division II Christian Brothers, 74-70-

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2265946-memphis-suffers-74-70-exhibition-loss-to-division-ii-christian-brothers?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national