Josh?

[BUSongwriter]

Of the many head-scratchers of the first two games, I guess I'm most surprised at Josh Cunningham's lack of offensive production. Our prize recruit played a lot of minutes against a Division III team and weak D-I team, both at home, and has a 1.5 ppg average. I'm curious why.

So for those more in the know than me: Is it an injury? Is it our offensive scheme, or lack of one? Was he overrated? I guess I was expecting more explosiveness, more aggressiveness, more skills with the ball. He hasn't created his own offense, hasn't gotten out on one fast-break.

I know he's a freshman. But he's a Top 100. Certainly his skills should be head and shoulders above our first two opponents. I would think offensively we could isolate him one-on-one against a defender and let him go to work, but that hasn't happened.

What are you hearing/thinking about Josh?

[tornado]

Remember when we heard that Chris Blake was going to be an effective low post scorer for us? I have concluded some people simply cannot assess talent consistently.
Walt was railed as a useless, selfish player by media & a few clueless fans as well, while the guys we bring in that get touted as best since Hersey Hawkins are disasters.

Remember - our media called last year's recruiting class one of the 2 or 3 best since the Hersey Hawkins years,
"STELLAR" - yet three of them were already gone/run out to open up scholarships just 5 months later, and then he said this year's was even better.

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=285380#post285380

..there's virtually no end to how wrong the hype has been this last 3 years....but if you stay on BradleyFans you will know the reality...

[Da Coach]

Many preseason magazines and websites picked Josh as the MVC Preseason Freshman of the Year.

Here are a couple other freshmen performances from last night-

In Indiana State's 79-66 road win at IUPUI last night, freshman Brenton Scott scored 14 points and had 6 rebounds off the bench-

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400586296

And in Wichita State's 71-54 win over New Mexico State last night, freshman center Shaquille Morris had 9 points and 4 rebounds in just 12 minutes of play!

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400586295

[buballer82]

I don't think it's fair to use a comparison of Blake. Apples to oranges. From what I've witnessed in the exhibition and first game, we need someone to get him the ball in the post at the right place and right time. Josh gets set in the post with his man sealed just fine and then never gets the ball.

To me we are in terrible shape with Bell running the point. Bell has shown time and time again that he doesn't have the skill to play the position and he's definitely not a shooting guard so I'm not sure where you play him. I sure hope Sutherlands true point abilities improve the whole flow of offense.

[tornado]

our philosophy for 3 years running has been to mimic Wichita State - to model our recruiting after them and become a copycat of their use of big bodies..
so we recruit BIG BODIES and make our roster look like Wichita State's - the only problem is the big bodies we recruit cannot score.

"...long, versatile, athletic players. Call it a Wichita State-light approach."

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20141112/SPORTS/141119718/10930/SPORTS

"All five spring recruits are 6-6 and above: 6-6 Jordan Swopshire, 6-7 Chris Blake, 6-7 Auston Barnes, 6-8 transfer sit-out Mike Shaw and 6-9 Xzavier Taylor. Stefan Zecevic, a 6-5 guard, signed in the fall.
“Total, we’ll have seven guys 6-7 and up with some athleticism and ability ...
“We’ve added a class with a lot of size, athleticism and good shooting. Now it’s about us developing them and making them better. I think we’ve addressed needs and filled significant holes.”

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20130515/News/305159919/?Start=2

[wizard1]

Josh

I share your concern about Josh. Thus far, I havn't seen any special skills or ability beyond the ordinary. He apparently doesn't shoot well from the perimeter, isn't great with the ball, and doesn't drive to the basket. He can jump but so can a lot of players. I certainly have not seen anything close to "top 100" as yet.
Wiz

[buballer82]

Tornado, our current bigs don't have anyone with a basketball IQ close to Van Vleet or Baker playing with them. It would be awesome to have great guard play but it's been awhile since we've had that. That would definitely open things up inside for the bigs and allow them to get the ball in good position to be effective inside.

[ihatetea]

To me it is a lack of fit in our offensive scheme. I think he would excel in a pick and roll heavy attack, where he can catch the ball on the move while the defense is scrambling. They ran one of those that I can remember last night, and it ended in a lob dunk from Jones to Cunningham. The few times that I watched Josh when he was in high school, he isn't a create his own offense guy, but rather a guy that outworks everyone else. He has looked a bit like his conditioning isn't good enough to do that against the better athletes that you see in college. I don't know if that is because he is still getting confident after the knee injury, or if it is just that adjustment period that every player new to D1 has to go through. But when he starts grabbing 8 boards a game with 2 or 3 of them offensive you'll know he feels comfortable with the speed of the game and that is when he'll look like a top 100 guy.

He's definitely more Kenneth Faried and not Blake Griffin. Geno would do well to recognize his players' strengths and try to put them in the best positions to utilize those abilities. The half-assed ball movement we employ isn't helping anyone. Our bigs aren't good enough passers to execute the high-low look we are trying to get. And they aren't good enough post scorers or post passers for us to just keep dumping inside. And it's not like the players aren't aware of the lack of talent in the bigs. It is part of why, as the game drags on, the guards stop throwing the ball inside and we just dink around the outside and jack up a bad, late, hurried shot.

[Chico]

I don't think it's fair to use a comparison of Blake. Apples to oranges. From what I've witnessed in the exhibition and first game, we need someone to get him the ball in the post at the right place and right time. Josh gets set in the post with his man sealed just fine and then never gets the ball.

To me we are in terrible shape with Bell running the point. Bell has shown time and time again that he doesn't have the skill to play the position and he's definitely not a shooting guard so I'm not sure where you play him. I sure hope Sutherlands true point abilities improve the whole flow of offense.

Maybe Bell needs another tattoo.

[Canton BU fan]

Maybe Bell needs another tattoo.

Most guys who wear a headband are good. Try that.

[Chico]

Most guys who wear a headband are good. Try that.

Maybe Geno should pass out headbands.

[bigjimmy]

Now it??™s about us developing them and making them better.

This might be the perfect quote for the Geno Ford era at Bradley. Name me 1 player who has been developed and made better while playing for Geno. Anyone? Anyone? Out of all the guys that Geno has brought in and was supposed to be a difference maker name me any of those player who has made a difference. Anyone? Anyone? When you have players who "don't fit the system" yet they have some success elsewhere what does that say about "your system". Unless of course "your system" is to miss many point blank shots, shoot FT's poorly and leave guys wide open to shoot 3's.

[wily coyote]

This might be the perfect quote for the Geno Ford era at Bradley. Name me 1 player who has been developed and made better while playing for Geno. Anyone? Anyone? Out of all the guys that Geno has brought in and was supposed to be a difference maker name me any of those player who has made a difference. Anyone? Anyone? When you have players who "don't fit the system" yet they have some success elsewhere what does that say about "your system". Unless of course "your system" is to miss many point blank shots, shoot FT's poorly and leave guys wide open to shoot 3's.

Bigjimmy have to agree with you 100% but, I will take it one step farther. Not only have we not seen kids improve but just the opposite. IMO the majority of our kids regress. This is very troubling to me. For example ,most Freshmen struggle early but show major improvement by Feb. Hasn't been the case with this staff. One of two things have happened here. WE either have recruited kids that should not have every been here in the first place or our staff does a very poor job of developing talent. Maybe both, need to get this turned around very quickly. Still want to see Geno succeed but surely don't like what I've seen the last 2 games.

[ihatetea]

Josh looking much more like the player he was in high school the last three games.

[tornado]

Kudos to Josh - he had more rebounds than everyone else in the starting lineup combined..
and as many as the other five guys in our frontcourt combined