Final: TCU 57 - Bradley 49

[bigjimmy]

2nd half observations:

I thought we were having one of our better halves until around the 5 minute mark when we stopped being strong with the ball on offense and got lax on defense. Josh was having his best game as a Brave until he picked up a couple of questionable calls. We were much more aggressive on the boards, outrebounding TCU by 5. We just have an awful time finishing around the basket and in games. Of the games we've lost I think Tramique would have made a difference in most of them. Of course that is assuming that he is as good as advertised. We'll be playing SLU who is a team we should beat but we gotta have more than 3 guys who play well. By the way the arena seats 8,100 and at most there were maybe 250 people, making it seem like more like a scrimmage than an actual game. The BU game is at 3:30. Also there were no bands or cheerleaders for any team which added to the scrimmage atmosphere. About the only excitement was a 70 year old lady who was shouting running commentary for her Corpus Christie team. Also both North Carolins A & T and Mississippi Valley State didn't have any radio coverage. Just a weird atmosphere for a tournament. Hope the guys can pick up a W on Saturday.

[AZ BU Fan]

I am on record as saying we needed a couple of shooters for the past few years, but we failed to land any reliable outside shooters......

I see lots of players on the Recruiting message board that appear to be good shooters, good post players, etc. So its not that GF and staff aren't recruiting players who have talent, soooooo....

The better question to ask is why these players are not committing to BU?

Before the onslaught of cries for GF head, taking a realistic view of BU, Peo, and the MVC:

• little TV or national exposure,
• MVC schools surrounded by Big 10 and Big 12,
• Peoria area not hot bed of social life particularly for afro americans,
• NCAA bias against MVC and similar size schools/conferences,
• no great student interest/support for BU MBB,
• no basket weaving curriculum for athletes,
• little local opportunity for MBB alums to translate BU MBB experience into a career after graduation,
• hard/expensive for players families to get to Peo to watch their kids, and on and on and on.

The headwinds for BU MBB being a top team, even in the MVC, could be insurmountable for any coach BU would be able to hire. If WSU follows CU out the door, what is left in the MVC to attract any top coaches to BU/MVC? Is there any coach out there will be able to bring in top talent to BU?

Even JL had a ton of difficulty of signing talent during his LH tenure that would make a difference. Every pre season of the JL era included absolute glowing reports of top talent coming in, particularly great big men. SS, DC, AT (per JL "best big man he has ever recruited"), and NW. Even JP wasn't an big impact and WE was an outside shooter who needed help defending in the post. Other than Cellus, POB, and Zach for one dream year, zip. After these guys left, JL became a guard/wing coach whose teams struggled to play D.

I also believe there is a very short list of players since 2001 that improved dramatically once at BU. Ruffin? Crouch? 2 out of maybe 50?

Re offense creativity, there really hasn't been any since before the Mo era... Remember the Mo offense? Stall and keep score low and hope to get hot at the end. Remember the JL offense? High weave until shot clock wound down then heave 3 pointers or drive out of control to the basket and throw it off the rim or back board. Is it any surprise we are now having trouble identifying GFs offense? Tough to run an offense without a team of players who can run it. Last couple years, his players tried to do everything one on one, and my guess is GF did not have that in mind in his game planning.

On a related note, did anyone see how bad Kentucky made KANSAS look from the field and also curiously from the FT line when Kentucky wiped out Kansas the other day? Kansas looked like a poor JC team against the more talented Ky team. I couldn't see any offensive system Kansas was trying to deploy as Ky took them out of everything.

BU is a team with many new faces playing together for the first time with a new coach. Seems like it will take some time this season for a cohesive team to show up and to transition to major college bb.

If no progess by end of season 4, and, no decent recruit(s) for next season, I wouldn't pitch a fit if GF replaced, but, sounds like a mystery 5th year was added to his contract, so it would be another year for GF to show any progress.

I am, however, realistic to know the chances of BU finding some magician who can pull more talented guards, fowards, and centers to BU, even with first class game and practice facilities, are getting smaller and smaller in the era of big money, big tv, and big corruption in the NCAA MBB world.

[BU212121]

Mo's teams while boring were not always poor offensive teams. Trey were actually offensively efficient just played slow.

Les after he got his feet wet continuously had solid but not great teams...

Since then...

Disaster

[AZ BU Fan]

Mo's teams while boring were not always poor offensive teams. Trey were actually offensively efficient just played slow.

Les after he got his feet wet continuously had solid but not great teams...

Since then...

Disaster

JL's teams were 'solid' (re 0.500, 4th or worse in MVC) for years post S-16. Injuries, underachievement, and years of big man recruit misses after Zach Andrews finally did him in. Remember, JL's nickname was Mr Thursday Night in the MVC Tourney at the end of his tenure. Always felt he was never respected by other MVC Coaches., don't know if that was due to his personality, or, their belief his teams never performend to their supposed talent level. No great cries of 'foul' from his peers when BU let him go.

His 2010-11 team was 12-20/5-15 in MVC which I would also consider a disaster. It helped his removal by a new admin with an agenda who wouldn't believe JL's last round of super recruits would turn things around.

GF was left with a mess personnel wise for first two years, very similar to what JL faced getting his feet wet for his first 3 years (when 3 of the best recruits BU has had since 2000 left after Mo was fired). There was some sign of progress last season for GF and BU, but ultimately, several key players decided to play for themselves and their futures. Lots of new faces this season, which will always make progress slower and more difficult. Best to talk about any future with GF at end of this season.... and, if true, after the end of next season since it is rumored BU gave him a one year extension and can't afford to buy him out.

Give GF the same religious like support JL had before his S16 miracle year and in all the post S16 years. Would help more than hurt at this stage of the game.

[bravetime33]

JL's teams were 'solid' (re 0.500, 4th or worse in MVC) for years post S-16. Injuries, underachievement, and years of big man recruit misses after Zach Andrews finally did him in. Remember, JL's nickname was Mr Thursday Night in the MVC Tourney at the end of his tenure. Always felt he was never respected by other MVC Coaches., don't know if that was due to his personality, or, their belief his teams never performend to their supposed talent level. No great cries of 'foul' from his peers when BU let him go.

His 2010-11 team was 12-20/5-15 in MVC which I would also consider a disaster. It helped his removal by a new admin with an agenda who wouldn't believe JL's last round of super recruits would turn things around.

GF was left with a mess personnel wise for first two years, very similar to what JL faced getting his feet wet for his first 3 years (when 3 of the best recruits BU has had since 2000 left after Mo was fired). There was some sign of progress last season for GF and BU, but ultimately, several key players decided to play for themselves and their futures. Lots of new faces this season, which will always make progress slower and more difficult. Best to talk about any future with GF at end of this season.... and, if true, after the end of next season since it is rumored BU gave him a one year extension and can't afford to buy him out.

Give GF the same religious like support JL had before his S16 miracle year and in all the post S16 years. Would help more than hurt at this stage of the game.

I could not agree more with what you said
My feelings on Geno is to where we finish this year ...year 1 for him was unfair year 2 he overachieved and year 3 he regressed
If there were no suspension we would be sitting at 4 and 1 and the tone would have been better but still that would have not been good enough because there would have been some observation made about negetivity...sometimes I feel this board should be called anti Braves fans.
I was impressed how this young team came back from 14 down in the first away game to take the lead with 5 minutes to go against a big 12 opponent I have seen improvement the last 2 games (coincidental with senior back on the court?) which can't be denied and with the addition of a true PG I am looking forward to future the trend is up at this point

[lefty]

Liked the aggressiveness of Cunningham around the basket - wish we had a few more shooters - anyone still say they don't miss Walt Lemon?

So - just what does it say about Geno's recruiting that IN YEAR FOUR he is forced to play Ka'Darryl Bell for 40 freaking minutes at point guard
and that the two guys who were HAILED AS "DIFFERENCE MAKERS" - combined for 0-2, zero points, zero assists

I don't miss Walt at all??¦..you guys keep bringing up how many games we have lost the last 3 years when Walt was here??¦.and we are losing games now??¦.

Geno needs to turn things around pretty soon or we will be looking for another coach??¦.I'm pretty sure he knows that as well??¦.

I thought we would get blown out this game on the road even though it was a neutral site??¦??¦??¦..I'm not into moral victories either and it looks like we had our chances??¦??¦.when it gets down to it we lost at the ft line??¦they made 10 more and we didn't shoot all that well

[Local Brave Fan]

Local Brave Fan

Watched the game last night. First time I have seen the team play. I gave up my season tickets this year. I think there is some life with the front line but our guards are just plane bad. If we had some guards this game was winnable. TCU inside game was poor and for a 6 and 0 team. Mississippi State will blow them out. The Braves will get a road win today against St Louis because they are just a very young team.

[tornado]

but the problem now lefty is that we're losing games scoring 40-50 points -
we've had coaches get ripped & lose their jobs when they WON scoring 40-50 points...

[Da Coach]

The headwinds for BU MBB being a top team, even in the MVC, could be insurmountable for any coach BU would be able to hire. If WSU follows CU out the door, what is left in the MVC to attract any top coaches to BU/MVC? Is there any coach out there will be able to bring in top talent to BU?

Even JL had a ton of difficulty of signing talent during his LH tenure that would make a difference. Every pre season of the JL era included absolute glowing reports of top talent coming in, particularly great big men. SS, DC, AT (per JL "best big man he has ever recruited"), and NW. Even JP wasn't an big impact and WE was an outside shooter who needed help defending in the post. Other than Cellus, POB, and Zach for one dream year, zip. After these guys left, JL became a guard/wing coach whose teams struggled to play D.

I also believe there is a very short list of players since 2001 that improved dramatically once at BU. Ruffin? Crouch? 2 out of maybe 50?

Maybe there is some of your post I can agree with, but much is debatable
Both coaches were left with some decent talent. Geno was actually left with more players who had All MVC talent (Walt for 2 years, Taylor Brown, Dyricus), but he failed to surround them with any significant talent by his own recruiting. By contrast, by year 2 of Jim Les, he had landed Marcellus Sommerville, a 3-time All MVC player. By year 3 he had recruited Patrick O'Bryant, Daniel Ruffin, Tony Bennett, Jeremy Crouch, Lawrence Wright, etc.

And I don't know how you can minimze the talent JL recruited. He had All Conference players, many of them 1st teamers, every year he was at Bradley (except his first when he did not have a chance to recruit) and it even extended for 3 years after he left. That is 11 straight years of All Conference talent, many of them improved significantly while they were at Bradley. By contrast, Geno has had 3 years without a single All MVC player he recruited, and with no player averaging more than 12 points, or 6 rebounds, it appears likely we will not have any this season either. You can't win without talent that can score and rebound.

Bradley All MVC players recruited in the last 12 seasons-
2002-03 None
2003-04- Marcellus Sommerville was 1st team
2004-05- Marcellus Sommerville was 1st team, Cellus was runner up for Player of the Year
2005-06- Marcellus Sommerville was 2nd team, Patrick O'Bryant was 2nd team, POB was Defensive Player of the Year
2006-07- Daniel Ruffin was 2nd team, William Franklin was 2nd team
2007-08- Jeremy Crouch was 1st team, Daniel Ruffin was Honorable Mention
2008-09- Theron Wilson was 1st team
2009-10- Sam Maniscalco 2nd team, Andrew Warren was Honorable Mention
2010-11- Andrew Warren was 1st team
2011-12- Taylor Brown was Honorable Mention
2012-13- Walt Lemon was 2nd team; Dyricus was Defensive Player of the Year
2013-14- Walt Lemon was 2nd team

[lefty]

but the problem now lefty is that we're losing games scoring 40-50 points -
we've had coaches get ripped & lose their jobs when they WON scoring 40-50 points...

I know T...but a loss is a loss......doesn't make any difference by how much or how many points you score. There are no asterisks by the numbers....


As you know I wasn't for letting that coach go.....you take a look at his conference record and wonder why in the world did we let him go?

[tornado]

As you know I wasn't for letting that coach go......

and I am sure you know neither was I...
Did you know when Jim Larranaga was at Bowling Geen - he went 10 years without an NCAA appearance, and averaged a 5th place finish -
Had BGSU's fans been as impatient as Bradley fans - he'd have been canned....

Then from that point on - all the guy did was SIX 1st place finishes, two Sweet Sixteens & a Final Four...
how dare they insult the fans & the media & give the guy more than 10 years to prove himself!!

[wily coyote]

I don't think anyone's gonna argue that Geno has not recruited talent anywhere close to what JL recruited. Just proves my point, JL could recruit but after that ,not so good when the lights come on. Have to agree we lost a good coach because of scoring 40 -50 points a game but IMO it's much better watching, than the 2 man show we sat through last year. This is a team game and always has been, except what we saw last year. I've said it b4 and I'll say it again. It's the only Sr. night I actually enjoyed and still do. Are we struggling ,yes but at least we have plenty of room for improvement. Last year that wasn't gonna happen. Can't say for sure it will this year but the last week has given us some hope.

[Chico]

Because we beat a very, very bad NC A&T team by just a few points, the past week has given us hope? Have to do better than that.

[bravetime33]

Maybe there is some of your post I can agree with, but much is debatable
Both coaches were left with some decent talent. Geno was actually left with more players who had All MVC talent (Walt for 2 years, Taylor Brown, Dyricus), but he failed to surround them with any significant talent by his own recruiting. By contrast, by year 2 of Jim Les, he had landed Marcellus Sommerville, a 3-time All MVC player. By year 3 he had recruited Patrick O'Bryant, Daniel Ruffin, Tony Bennett, Jeremy Crouch, Lawrence Wright, etc.

And I don't know how you can minimze the talent JL recruited. He had All Conference players, many of them 1st teamers, every year he was at Bradley (except his first when he did not have a chance to recruit) and it even extended for 3 years after he left. That is 11 straight years of All Conference talent, many of them improved significantly while they were at Bradley. By contrast, Geno has had 3 years without a single All MVC player he recruited, and with no player averaging more than 12 points, or 6 rebounds, it appears likely we will not have any this season either. You can't win without talent that can score and rebound.

Bradley All MVC players recruited in the last 12 seasons-
2002-03 None
2003-04- Marcellus Sommerville was 1st team
2004-05- Marcellus Sommerville was 1st team, Cellus was runner up for Player of the Year
2005-06- Marcellus Sommerville was 2nd team, Patrick O'Bryant was 2nd team, POB was Defensive Player of the Year
2006-07- Daniel Ruffin was 2nd team, William Franklin was 2nd team
2007-08- Jeremy Crouch was 1st team, Daniel Ruffin was Honorable Mention
2008-09- Theron Wilson was 1st team
2009-10- Sam Maniscalco 2nd team, Andrew Warren was Honorable Mention
2010-11- Andrew Warren was 1st team
2011-12- Taylor Brown was Honorable Mention
2012-13- Walt Lemon was 2nd team; Dyricus was Defensive Player of the Year
2013-14- Walt Lemon was 2nd team

With all that success in talent why no wins?
I ran some numbers Jim was here 9 years IF he was still here this is what the annualized numbers would show after year 12.
Conference won loss. 98 wins a 105 losses
Average conference finish 5.6
Conference tournament record 6.6 wins 16.5 losses
Conference championships 0
Meaningful game after feb 1 for championship 0
How would the "progression" evolve with the current leadership at BU ?
With these annualized numbers I would say there would have been a drop in attendance and general interest at bu
This 12 year hypotheticle would demonstrate to me not a successful program and would question "how can we improve?"
also the numbers are skewed because this reflects a total of 9 actual years of work given the first 3 were not that much different than Geno's first 3

[bravetime33]

[QUOTE=bravetime33;300400]With all that success in talent why no wins?
I ran some numbers Jim was here 9 years IF he was still here this is what the annualized numbers would show after year 12.
Conference won loss. 98 wins a 105 losses
Average conference finish 5.6
Conference tournament record 6.6 wins 16.5 losses
Conference championships 0
Meaningful game after feb 1 for championship 0
How would the "progression" evolve with the current leadership at BU ?
With these annualized numbers I would say there would have been a drop in attendance and general interest at bu
This 12 year hypotheticle would demonstrate to me not a successful program and would question "how can we improve?"
also the numbers are skewed because this reflects a total of 9 actual years of work given the first 3 were not that much different than Geno's first 3[/QUOT
Correction stands on conferennce tourney win Los as 6.6 wins 9.9 loses