Fatigue?

[BUSongwriter]

Many are sharing frustration over lack of progression and, sadly, regression with our young Braves. I share the frustration and the SIU game was really disheartening.

We started the season with better performances, hanging with some tough teams. DLO, Van Bree and Barker looked especially promising early.

DLO seems to have regressed the furthest. Either his tendencies have been scouted well, or -- and this is what I really wonder -- he's worn out. If I'm correct, he played all summer against older, stronger guys. Did our other internationals play in the summer as well? Then they come to a new country, a new school, have hard practices and play up to three times a week against older, stronger players.

Barker has also regressed, fouling often and not muscling inside like earlier.

Tired legs can mean more missed shots, including free throws, and lead to mental errors.

The last few games have been bad. No way to paint it any other way. But we are the youngest team in the country, and I wonder if we're a little gassed. Thoughts?

[lefty]

Many are sharing frustration over lack of progression and, sadly, regression with our young Braves. I share the frustration and the SIU game was really disheartening.

We started the season with better performances, hanging with some tough teams. DLO, Van Bree and Barker looked especially promising early.

DLO seems to have regressed the furthest. Either his tendencies have been scouted well, or -- and this is what I really wonder -- he's worn out. If I'm correct, he played all summer against older, stronger guys. Did our other internationals play in the summer as well? Then they come to a new country, a new school, have hard practices and play up to three times a week against older, stronger players.

Barker has also regressed, fouling often and not muscling inside like earlier.

Tired legs can mean more missed shots, including free throws, and lead to mental errors.

The last few games have been bad. No way to paint it any other way. But we are the youngest team in the country, and I wonder if we're a little gassed. Thoughts?

I think is certainly possible??¦.there is so much for these freshman to take in and really they don't have much chance to observe older more mature players.
Getting use to a 40 minute game and understanding the intensity and that you can't take a possession off like you did in HS. I think the emotional aspect is just as challenging for young guys too??¦getting use to school as well as trying to understand the college game on the court. They practice hard but they are up against other freshman so it's not anything close to the competition in the games??¦??¦..I think and hope some games in the future will be better but it wouldn't surprise me to see a similar game or two like Wednesday night

[Vent]

Fatique may be a slight possibility, but I don't believe it is the main issue. The main problem, in my opinion, is we don't have much talent. The small amount of talent we do have does not retain what the coaching staff is trying to convey. Wardle has said so and that speaks volumes after this length of time.

I am not going to single out players that I think are in over their head. It isn't fair to them. I will say however, I believe if we really want to get serious about the future of Bradley basketball, there are maybe 3 kids in the freshman class that can be a part of it.

The freshman class does consist of good kids that play hard but that doesn't mean they are the caliber of basketball players that can get to the middle of the pack in the MVC. I believe Wardle is well aware of that.

Good players do not make the mistakes, game in and game out, that these guys do. There simply is not much talent there and that is why they were still available, when Wardle was announced as head coach.

The challenge now is getting rid of several of those players and bringing in players that can make us competitive in the MVC.

It is irrelevant as to whose fault it is. It is now on the shoulders of Wardle to get the job done. If we don't bring in some different players, we will be at the very best, average by the time this freshman class is seniors. Upon their graduation we will be right back where we are now, rebuilding a program because of inexperience.

Freshmen generally have a hard time competing because of size, strength and maturity. These guys have a hard time competing because of poor fundamentals and common basketball sense. I think the foreign players are finding out quickly that the quality of basketball here is much better than it is in their homeland.

I do not believe this year's team could beat the Manual high school teams when McClain and Griffin were playing or the the Peoria High teams when Reynolds was playing.

[tornado]

Vent- it is called being a freshman. As noted elsewhere there really aren't any other freshmen in the MVC doing any better - and the few elsewhere that are doing well, have several talented, more mature, experienced teammates to rely on and help bail them out at times.
We don't and it shows. If our frosh were one-and-done caliber, of course things would look different, but mid-majors don't get such a luxury.
The results we are seeing are discouraging to fans, but I assume that you, like I, kinda expected some if not most of what we are seeing.

[Vent]

You don't have to be a "one and done" caliber player to execute the basic fundamentals of the game. You don't have to be a "one and done" caliber player to take what is taught in practice and transform it to the floor on game day.

I was expecting to finish last in the MVC and maybe win 6 to 8 games this season. I was also expecting to see freshmen that could execute the basic fundamentals, and shoot the basketball better than the players under the previous coaching staff. It wasn't going to take much. So far, I haven't seen either.

I suppose that if all of the players on opposing teams don't improve and ours do, we will be eventually catch up to the rest of the league. I just don't see that happening.

Wardle inherited a mess. He has a difficult task of cleaning it up. I just don't believe he has the roster to do it.

Being a freshman and making physical mistakes is one thing. Being a freshman and consistently making mental mistakes is another.

[PhiAlphaBoy]

Vent- it is called being a freshman. As noted elsewhere there really aren't any other freshmen in the MVC doing any better - and the few elsewhere that are doing well, have several talented, more mature, experienced teammates to rely on and help bail them out at times.
We don't and it shows. If our frosh were one-and-done caliber, of course things would look different, but mid-majors don't get such a luxury.
The results we are seeing are discouraging to fans, but I assume that you, like I, kinda expected some if not most of what we are seeing.

+1

This is exactly right Tornado. It might be different if we had 3-5 freshmen instead of ten. Every last one of our guys gets exposed on a nightly basis with no upperclassmen to hide their weaknesses.

[tornado]

Note this- the fact that we started the Valley season playing the top teams and are 0-3 - our RPI actually got BETTER!
It is pretty rare - almost unheard-of, that a team loses three straight games and yet IMPROVES their RPI.
We are at 250 RPI now and playing the TOP MVC opponents has ALSO improved our Strength of Schedule to 29!
This is by far the best in the MVC - and even tho we are 0-3 in the Valley.

And let me correct one thing that's being said on another site...
Some completely uninformed, possibly even dangerously stupid and deluded people are claiming that our strong schedule is because of Geno & crew.

Ha, ha - LOL - what utter cluelessness!

First, the entire Valley schedule comes from the league and we have nothing to do with it - certainly not Geno or Cross since they was looong gone well before it was set up.

Then essentially the entire rest of the scheduled games are completely of Dr. Chris Reynolds' & Brian Wardle's doing except the only strong opponent, the Arizona game....
especially all those quality home games against the very BCS-caliber opponents that Mike Cross had been telling us for FIVE years were impossible to get and that he had tried harder than anyone in all of history and was still unable to get it done.

So if you wanna give anyone credit (or blame) for our really tough schedule that - as it stands right now ranked #29 - (tougher than any other MVC team currently AND STRONGER than any MVC team has had since SIU in 2007!!!!! - LINK) - and Bradley hasn't had a sub-29 SOS since 2006 (ahem...=KK&JL) - LINK
Then give the credit to Dr. Chris Reynolds & Coach Wardle - not the do-nothings that still seem to be the darlings of those who propagate mis-information on other message boards.

Memo to the uninformed - if you are looking for something to credit to Cross & Geno - check out last year's RPI & STRENGTH of SCHEDULE!!!!
LINK
Believe it or not, both the RPI & SOS were WORSE last year even tho we are 1-14 this season (only DI games count)!
The RPI of 288 reflects the very worst RPI ever in all of histpory for any Bradley team ever - that's just one small part of the JG/Cross/Geno & their supporters'-legacy.

[Stickboy46]

Note this- the fact that we started the Valley season playing the top teams and are 0-3 - our RPI actually got BETTER!
It is pretty rare - almost unheard-of, that a team loses three straight games and yet IMPROVES their RPI.
We are at 250 now and playing the TOP MVC opponents has improved our Strength of Schedule to 29!
This is by far the best in the MVC - and even tho we are 0-3 in the Valley.

And let me correct one thing that's being said on another site...
Some completely uninformed, possibly even dangerously stupid and deluded people are claiming that our strong schedule is because of Geno & crew.

Ha, ha - LOL - what utter cluelessness!

First, the entire Valley schedule comes from the league and we have nothing to do with it - certainly not Geno or Cross since they was looong gone well before it was set up.

Then the entire rest of the schedule is completely of Dr. Chris Reynolds' & Brian Wardle's doing except the Arizona game....
especially all those quality home games against the very BCS-caliber opponents that Mike Cross had been telling us for FIVE years were impossible to get and that he had tried harder than anyone in all of history and was still unable to get it done.

So if you wanna give anyone credit (or blame) for our really tough schedule that - as it stands right now ranked #29) is tougher than any other MVC team currently AND IS STRONGER than any MVC team has had since SIU in 2007!!!!! - LINK

Small thought on the SOS. WSU's was I think 6 before the conference season begins, yes 6th in the nation. Then we started conference play against Drake and you guys and it jumped up to like 80 before coming back down to around 50 after the Evansville game. It's kind of amazing how much SOS can swing.

[tornado]

I know - but it is what it is...just quoting numbers--- and I know they will continue to change..

By the way - the SOS of many of the rest of the MVC teams is actually dropping - so much so that now ...
as a conference, the MVC has dropped yet another slot - behind the MAC in Conference RPI


*** and with the Evansville game coming up this Saturday- I expect our RPI & Strength of Schedule will actually get yet another notch BETTER

[Stickboy46]

I know - but it is what it is...just quoting numbers--- and I know they will continue to change..

By the way - the SOS of many of the rest of the MVC teams is actually dropping - so much so that now ...
as a conference, the MVC has dropped yet another slot - behind the MAC in Conference RPI


*** and with the Evansville game coming up this Saturday- I expect our RPI & Strength of Schedule will actually get yet another notch BETTER

That all is driven from poor scheduling. Its a domino effect. In general lower end teams play the big boys in Non-conf. That drives the SOS Up (lower number) for those lower end teams. When they return to their conference and start playing other teams of similar level, their SOS and RPI starts to fall, which in turn makes everyone elses in the conference fall. That's why I really think the MVC needs to find a way to FORCE the schools to schedule up a bit. Teams like SIU and Evansville with more than enough talent playing 300+ SOS kills everyone because they have no chance of getting a really really good RPI or SOS. The system is already biased to Power conferences, we don't need to help them out more.

EDIT: I ran some numbers

Evansville is currently sitting at 12-3 RPI 85, and SOS 257

If they were to drop the 3 games they played against SWAC teams (Alabama St, Miss. Valley St, and Alabama A&M) and add Away buy games with 3 good not great Power 5 teams (I chose Indiana, Cal, and Florida St.) and lose all 3 of those games they would be:

9-6, RPI 43, SOS 79.

They would be in contention for an at-large bid, with 6 losses ... Right now they have no chance with 3 losses. On top of that, they would actually probably make money from having 3 away buy games. If they happen to win one of those games (say FSU), they would have a sub 30 RPI.

[tornado]

it's cuz like it or not the Selection Committee does like to see those 12-3 and 29-4 records...then they poo-poo a 21 RPI and claim it's because Barry Hinson broke the code...
schools like the Big East & Big Ten have been doing it for years - Northwestern is hoping it'll work for them this year - even if they go 7-11 and finish in 9th in the League