Final: Loyola 58 Bradley 53

[Da Coach]

Wily- this Bradley team lead Wichita State in Wichita for 1 half, only to get blown out in the 2nd half. And they outscored Wichita 37-27 in the 2nd half in Peoria, only to fall just short (62-59). Bradley outscored and outplayed UNI in the 2nd half in Peoria, and they have played very well in other games for 15 to 20 minute stretches. It is clear this team is capable of playing very well for stretches.
The question many Bradley fans have, is why can this team play so well for stretches of 15-20 minutes, but cannot make adjustments or sustain that quality of play for a whole game? That is one of the issues that I think obviously points to coaching, even though the PJ Star writers seem ignorant or they don't want to bring it up.

[BUspartan]

Dave Reynolds' pregame article. He says Milton Doyle is not expected to play Sunday.-
http://www.pjstar.com/article/201502...medium=twitter

Well, that's big. I remember being extremely impressed with him during Arch Madness last year, even prior to his dagger 3 against us.

Anyone know the story behind him? His Rivals page lists Kansas as the only Power 6 school to offer him, he apparently transferred within months of his arrival, and doesn't have any stars next to his name.

https://rivals.yahoo.com/byu/basketball/recruiting/player-Milton-Doyle-133420

[Da Coach]

Doyle is not in uniform. And Nate Wells is listed as starting today.

[LongTimeFan]

Well, they are leaving a lot to be desired in the first half today. A point a minute might have been good 70 years ago. I had thought they had been playing better.

Maybe we will try to recruit players who can score now. I should say when we can recruit again.

[Da Coach]

According to Geno in today's paper, Bradley is playing as well as they can right now.

[tornado]

sad, we have the most inept offense I have ever seen...
the kids could do better if they just showed up and played on their own...
where to start - terrible passing, everyone seems lost, jacking terrible shots, then just when Loyola plays bad enough to let us get back into the game with 50 points on the board - we call time out, draw up a play then don't even get the ball in bounds!!
Inept is kind - and only about 1500-2000 real butts there - lower bowl vastly empty. How can the AD & Geno defenders dare say this is good basketball.

[bula-bloom]

predictable

Another reason he has to go. ..completely predictable. ..

As I sat watching the last 10 seconds I said he's going to have Southerland drive on a clear out just like he always did with lemon. It's 8th grade basketball strategy. ..

Here's what I said onthisboard last year after the msu loss. .. it still applies:
"Regarding him driving wildly in the final minutes, don't you think that is the type of play that Geno has called for the last two years? Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't-- there's not a lot of creativity in it. It appears he has a couple different plays though -- lemon to the right, lemon to the left and lemon down the middle."

I'm so glad I saved 2 grand on not buying season tickets this year.

[tornado]

believe me, some people saved a whole lot more


one more thing- pretty obvious Nate still deserves to start- proved a few more doubters wrong again today...
He's not Jahkil Okafor but if they get the ball to him he gets a decent shot, scores, gets and assist or a rebound on every play or so.

Nate finished with 10 pts, 6 rebs, 3 asst - when in FOUR years under Geno has any low post player he's recruited even come close?
and the only starter that didn't have multiple key turnovers.
10 missed FT's especially bunches at key times by Cunningham & Jones, really hurt, too.

[bula-bloom]

baseball pass

Obviously not a great chance for full court pass to work BUT as I was enjoying the espn3 coverage of the game from my easy chair I was reading bradley's press guide. I learned Donte Thomas was a 3 sport athlete in high school (baseball and football). Don't you think that he might have more of a baseball arm than Josh? -- Josh is/will be a great basketball player but looks like he hasn't played a lot of "overhand sports" looking at his arm motion.

Put Thomas in and let him throw it -- crazy coaching staff doesn't know the capabilities of the team for these things.

Geno did sound mildly dissappointed on the postgame -- he should have sounded unbelievably disappointed....

[bula-bloom]

saving more?

believe me, some people saved a whole lot more


one more thing- pretty obvious Nate still deserves to start- proved a few more doubters wrong again today...
He's not Jahkil Okafor but if they get the ball to him he gets a decent shot, scores, gets and assist or a rebound on every play or so.

Nate finished with 10 pts, 6 rebs, 3 asst - when in FOUR years under Geno has any low post player he's recruited even come close?
and the only starter that didn't have multiple key turnovers.
10 missed FT's especially bunches at key times by Cunningham & Jones, really hurt, too.

Yes when I called to talk about season tickets this year -- they pitched that program to me -- I just about choked that someone would commit to 20K per year for this program. But, as I said in an earlier post I have contributed about 30K (I forget what I computed and don't feel like going back to check) to the program since 2000. I can't believe the bigger donors aren't more upset.

[Da Coach]

Where to start.... another horrendous performance from start to finish. This team has no life, no energy, and no apparent will to win. But worst of all, they have no coaching that will ever give them a chance to beat anyone of significance.
Geno and his experience-deprived staff just got out-coached badly by one of the worst coaching minds (Porter Moser) in all of college basketball.
The offense can only be described a totally inept and purposeless.
The passing is slow and predictable. Opponents have plenty of time to close in on whoever any pass is going to, which insures nobody ever gets an open shot and has to either pass back to someone else who is well guarded, or take the ball 1 on 5 like we do more than any team I've ever seen. Even all the 1 on 5 crap would be better than our offense, except we have nobody who is any good at it.
On the post-game show, Geno again laid 100% of the blame on the players not playing up to expectations. He claimed only 2 players on the team have shown any improvement at all, Nate Wells and Josh Cunningham. Well, Nate is another coach's recruit who has been buried on the end of the bench for 4 years, and Geno refused to play him until now, when he finally realizes all his own recruits aren't any good. And Josh is a keeper, but his skills are minimized because of they way he's used, and the fact he gets little or no help.
This team and this program, and this entire athletic department is a disaster of monumental proportions. I am embarrassed to be a Bradley fan, and likely so are the other 1,500 or so people who were at the game today.

Of course we'll get the boys from the PJ Star dressing this disaster up as they usually do, and calling it another moral victory. Or they'll make excuses because Anthony Fields was on crutches and unable to play. Or Kirk will write a fluff column telling us how great Loyola is and never mention they were playing without their only good player.

I can only hope someone was taking notes and observing just how pathetic this team and this coaching is, because our AD sure wasn't. Maybe he's happy with the garbage they keep giving the season ticket buyers whose money and donations help pay their exorbitant salaries. But then I doubt he would know a good team if he ever saw one.
Funny how accurately all this was predicted by myself and others, and yet our administration has spent millions forging ahead full speed into this oblivion.

I am now sitting watching UNI vs. MSU- our AD should be watching and taking notes of this game. Or maybe he should watch and take notes of a UC Davis game. That is what a well-coached team looks like. Too bad we'll never experience that again at Bradley as long as these *******s are here.

[Da Coach]

By the way- if anyone is interested in self-torture, here is the game story-

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209892409&DB_OEM_ID=3400

Box score-

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400586459

[tornado]

we scored 53, but 15 were FT, 15 off TO and 6 on putbacks
so our actual offense got us a whole 17 points...
this is why nobody cares any more...and the few of us who do and try to point out the reason that they seats are empty - they snarl & don't want to hear it.
We have now lost the season series to both Drake & Loyola, two really bad teams

[molar50]

Highlight for fans. Free chicken at Chick-Fill-A tomorrow. Braves made 15 free throws. Unfortunately, they missed 10 and some were the first of one and one free throws. Loyola tried to play worse than Bradley, but our team played stupid at the end. Only 2 more home games for the fans to endure. It will soon be spring and I am hopeful for the changes that will take place.

[bigjimmy]

The self torture was having to watch this game. Just another pathetic effort today. You just can't expect to play hard for 10-15 minutes and expect to win, even against a team that's not anymore talented than you are. Loyola wins because they play hard the whole game and that's normally good enough against the bottom 5 of the Valley. I think I can count on my hand how many times that this team has played hard for 30 + minutes this year. I'm sure if you can make horse manure look good the Journal Star will find a way to do it after this one. Looks like the game at Missouri State will determine who finishes last in the Valley. Hey bottom are we there yet?