BU women's team

[Da Coach]

This is Mike Brooks' 4th season as head coach of the Bradley women's team, and his 5th year coaching the program. The players are now all his recruits, and he took over a program with a winning record and a lot of holdover players who returned, who he had helped recruit when he was promoted to Head Coach on July 6, 2012. So there shouldn't be any more excuses like we've seen the last few seasons.

The Bradley women finished this season's (2015-16) non-conference schedule 4-7, and with a 242 RPI.

http://www.bradleybraves.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=3400&SPID=1499&SPSID=19342

And tonight, they played their first MVC game against 4-7 Loyola at the Renaissance Coliseum, and lost 67-54. That dropped their record to 4-8, and their home record to 2-4 (with one of the wins over D3 Eureka).

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?a=1&id=104382

Here is Mike Brooks' record in his 4 seasons so far.
2012-13-- 14-16
2013-14-- 8-22
2014-15-- 6-24
2015-16-- 4-8 so far

So, hate to beat a dead horse, but we seem to be looking at a lot more fallout from JG & MC team.
Mike Brooks' record has gotten worse each of his first 3 years, despite inheriting a winning team, and despite promises the program would improve and be competitive. Are there any excuses left? Where are those who claimed he just needed time, or just needed to recruit "his type of players"? (even though many of the roster he inherited were his players)
Where does this team go from here? When will we see some results from all the new facilities, and the generous support of donors?

And apparently nothing is going to change with the awful state of Bradley volleyball? Is a perennial last place finish (2-26 in 2014, 6-24 in 2015) now accepted?

[Bbbandwagon]

BU women's team loses MVC opener

Brooks has actually assembled a nice group of players. The problem is he's just not a good coach. He's articulate and sharp in his press conferences but I don't think he really understands the game at this level. Too many questionable coaching decisions resulting in a lost. Out coached in loses to Bowling Green, Western Michigan, UIC, and NIU, games the Braves were winning only to lose in the 2nd half.

I don't see the Braves winning anymore games in the 2015-16 Season.

[PhiAlphaBoy]

This is Mike Brooks' 4th season as head coach of the Bradley women's team, and his 5th year coaching the program. The players are now all his recruits, and he took over a program with a winning record and a lot of holdover players who returned, who he had helped recruit when he was promoted to Head Coach on July 6, 2012. So there shouldn't be any more excuses like we've seen the last few seasons.

I agree that Brooks has had enough time and should be replaced immediately once his contract is up for renewal. I wouldn't want Bradley to waste buy-out money on a low/non-revenue sport. However, let's not give Paula Buscher (167??“188 overall/ 91??“125 in MVC) too much credit since she certainly wasn't a world beater coach either. Paula was a nice lady but only a mediocre coach who had never finished higher than third place in any conference until she stepped down a level and became coach at SIUE. It was time for her to go, we just chose the wrong coach to replace her.

[Da Coach]

Paula was well liked, ran a clean program, recruited good kids who did very well in school, and was never an embarrassment to Bradley. She had 2 winning seasons her last 3 at Bradley and the only postseason appearances in the program's history, which happened to coincide with the opening of the new facilities. I feel she should have been given more time to see if she could continue to elevate the program.
And I know she did not win championships, but she was a good coach, and deserved more support from the administration than she got. Realize that during her tenure at Bradley, the women's program had some of the worst facilities anywhere in the country among D1 schools prior to the opening of the Renaissance Coliseum. The low women's coaching salaries and recruiting budgets were also an embarrassment, and were a big part of the problem. So considering what she had to work with, the program was not all that bad, and was getting better. A lot of the program's supporters were disappointed to see her fired when the program was actually on the rise.
But if a coaching change is going to be made, as it was in 2012, and especially if the administration is suddenly going to pump way more money into the budget to try to insure that the changes succeed, and if it gets to enjoy the all new state-of-the art $100 million facilities paid for by the supporters of the previous program, then it better show an improvement, and that simply has not happened now in year 4. The previous administration squandered millions of dollars, and set the program back years by their mismanagement and meddling, and the 4 years with Coach Brooks do not appear to show much hope of improvement. We now have some of the best facilities in Division I, and have greatly increased financial support to the program, and yet we are much worse off. Simply put, this was another example of the horrendous fallout from the previous administration that botched so many things.
I hope I am wrong, and that things can still turn around and produce a winning program. We can only hope that Chris Reynolds has a plan, and that if changes are made again, he will be able to direct the program back in the right direction, so Bradley fans and supporters can be proud again.

[braves16]

BU ladies beat EU today 46-42.

[Da Coach]

BU ladies beat EU today 46-42.

That result is incorrect- Evansville clobbered the Bradley women 62-46.

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=104412&a=1

Evansville ran out to a quick double-digit lead, lead comfortably the entire game, and never trailed.
The Evansville women were 1-13, 0-3 prior to this game.
The UE women had lost 11 in a row, and were winless at home (0-5) this season before today.
This is Bradley's 6th loss in a row, and they fall to 4-10, and 0-3 in the MVC.
In Bradley's 3 MVC games, they have lost by an average of 18 points.

[braves16]

That result is incorrect- Evansville clobbered the Bradley women 62-46.

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=104412&a=1

Evansville ran out to a quick double-digit lead, lead comfortably the entire game, and never trailed.
The Evansville women were 1-13, 0-3 prior to this game.
The UE women had lost 11 in a row, and were winless at home (0-5) this season before today.
This is Bradley's 6th loss in a row, and they fall to 4-10, and 0-3 in the MVC.
In Bradley's 3 MVC games, they have lost by an average of 18 points.

Sorry about that. I saw that score on the MVC twitter feed.

[Jeffesh]

It doesn't seem as if there's much hope for the Lady Braves. One thing that has been made clear in Brook's tenure is there is no improvement during the season. If anything, the team keeps losing confidence and just progressively plays poorer. Another wasted season. As a season ticket holder I sure hope change is on the way.

[Bbbandwagon]

It doesn't seem as if there's much hope for the Lady Braves. One thing that has been made clear in Brook's tenure is there is no improvement during the season. If anything, the team keeps losing confidence and just progressively plays poorer. Another wasted season. As a season ticket holder I sure hope change is on the way.

I agree. He has ruined their confidence and should resign immediately! This is embarrassing. Bradley University, the fans, the ticket holders, and especially the young ladies on the team deserve better. Have some dignity.

[Da Coach]

I am hearing there is more discontent about the status of the women's basketball program. Some of the biggest supporters want to see improvement, and ultimately see a winning program. Unfortunately, things are following the lead of the volleyball program, and the men's basketball program right now, where nothing seems to get better. I look for a change of some kind after this season.

[basketball nut]

It doesn't seem as if there's much hope for the Lady Braves. One thing that has been made clear in Brook's tenure is there is no improvement during the season. If anything, the team keeps losing confidence and just progressively plays poorer. Another wasted season. As a season ticket holder I sure hope change is on the way.

I am in agreement that something has to change. I can't say CR is going to make a change but one thing I know is the CR is watching each game very closely. Had a chance to talk to him one night and he was very polite but wouldn't talk while play was going on. He knows what is going on and wants to win at all levels.

[Jeffesh]

I have also noticed him watching games, which can only be good for the future of the program. I also know that he has taken an interest in talking to the players about any concerns they may have, past or present, regarding their Bradley experience. I am hopeful that all this means moves made toward a winning program.

[tornado]

Missouri State at BU - game in progress but not looking good for the Braves..
5 min to go and MSU up by 16, 49-33

Bradley is going to drop to 0-4 in the Valley, Missouri State will go to 3-2

[tornado]

BUWBB loses 55-44

[Da Coach]

BUWBB loses 55-44

Another poor performance. On their home floor, Bradley never lead in the game, they trailed by double digits almost the entire 2nd half. Same old story- Poor shooting (33% overall, 13% from three), 20 turnovers, out-rebounded 48-34, and only 7 assists. It is like a broken record for the last 4 seasons.

Stats-

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?a=1&id=104383

Standings-

http://www.mvc.org/wbb/stats/2015-16/confsked.htm