Final score: Texas-Arlington 56 Bradley 51

[Dub]

Good progress on general ball handling and flow. We are improving, and I'm excited about what we might be able to accomplish in valley play. I hate losing, but I am encouraged by the progression. If we can get a couple players to lock in and score the ball better, we will compete for a slew of wins in valley play. Schedule has been a good one as well.

[Vent]

If you can't shoot free throws....you can't shoot with a hand in your face. We can't do either.

[Braves2006]

Even a sub-mediocre offense wins this game. Unfortunately, we have an abysmal offense. The FT's alone are enough for me to stop watching. I mean... this team is absolutely unwatchable.

[bigjimmy]

Granted this was a disappointing result. Another bad start but one we did come back on and take the lead, which hasn't happened too often. Right to the end we had our chances to win the game. Is it frustrating to see us miss wide open shots and FT's? Sure it is. Has to be more so for them. The effort was there. Trust the process.

[Da Coach]

Granted this was a disappointing result. Another bad start but one we did come back on and take the lead, which hasn't happened too often. Right to the end we had our chances to win the game. Is it frustrating to see us miss wide open shots and FT's? Sure it is. Has to be more so for them. The effort was there. Trust the process.

I believe and hope you are right that things will get better, but.....
Bradley fans are among the most loyal and dedicated fans you will find anywhere. But asking for years of additional patience after what they have suffered through the last 5-6 years may be asking a little too much. We are losing fans at a rate never seen before in Bradley history.
As far as I can find, the attendance of 4,711 was the lowest ("official attendance") attended game in the history of Carver Arena, and the lowest in the last 60+ years with the exception of the few ill-planned games that were held at Renaissance Arena by our inept prior administration.
And this seems strangely like deja vu as I recall that there were a bunch of people, including Kirk Wessler who during years 1, 2, 3, and even into year 4 of Geno Ford kept telling us the same things- "trust the process", "be patient", "rebuilding takes time", "Geno is doing things the right way", "you can't judge him until after year 4", and even one entire column late in year 3 of Geno from KW, when everyone else could clearly see what a disaster the Geno era was, preaching that Bradley fans aren't patient enough and that it will take "longer than expected" and "It's going to take a while, in a misguided attempt to try to shift some of the blame to his predecessor for leaving the "cupboard bare". (Despite the fact it had been a consistent winning program and that Geno inherited All-MVC players like Taylor Brown, Dyricus Simms-Edwards, Walt Lemon, and Sam Maniscalco, and other quality players like Will Egolf (the only center to average double digits in the last 20+ years) and others, and he rejected Remy Abell and replaced him with Devon Hodges. OTOH, not a single one of Geno's players has ever received any level of All-Conference recognition or honors).

Most of those people who were 100% wrong are long gone. Most don't even attend games any more, and many never supported Bradley or bought tickets anyway. So no big loss. Even Kirk Wessler, who wrote innumerable over-the-top columns praising the worst 4 year stretch in the 114 year history of Bradley basketball, seems now to have a complete blackout of any Bradley basketball coverage.

Fans can only hope that we aren't seeing the same phenomenon all over again, because they simply aren't going to be as patient again. We are already seeing the effects of that with the dwindling attendance and support. This program needs to start showing signs of improvement and start winning again.

[Chico]

I wouldn't base anything on last night's crowd. Most people don't travel under those conditions. I have in the past but no more and not because of the team.

[Da Coach]

I wouldn't base anything on last night's crowd. Most people don't travel under those conditions. I have in the past but no more and not because of the team.

Understood, but the "official attendance" is based on ticket sales, not the number of attendees, which would have included all season tickets, plus all tickets purchased in advance. Despite the weather, that 4,711 total is incredibly low compared to the last 65+ years. As far as my research shows, since the opening of the Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse in 1949, there have always been way more season tickets sold every year than where we are now as shown by that 4,711 figure from last night.

Does anyone recall that there was a massive snowstorm on February 1, 2011 (less than 6 years ago) that forced a Bradley home game with Creighton to be moved up from 7:00 PM to a 3:00 PM start on a Tuesday. The early start, combined with the treacherous weather resulted in less than 300 people in the arena. It was a great game. Bradley knocked off the top team in the MVC.

But what do you think the official attendance was for that game? 8,091- with no walk-up sales! We had almost 9,000 presold tickets!

http://www.bradleybraves.com/news/2011/2/2/205088189.aspx

Furthermore, our former AD personally told me that season ticket sales peaked in 2009-2010 at well over 9,000, and sadly now there are half that many.

I am worried for Bradley basketball. That trend will continue if improvements aren't seen quickly. Celebrating wins over Chicago State, SEMO, and EIU are not something Bradley fans ever thought we would be resorting to. I am still a donor and season ticket holder, but people like me and Chico and most of the others posting in this thread are getting older and I don't see the younger fans jumping on board and staying as loyal as the fans we are losing now. Only winning will reverse that.

[ihatetea]

Is anyone else getting tired of all the passing going on and hoping to get a shot off before the 30 second shot expires?I thought Brian was going to play up tempo style of basketball.This is already getting boring.
Also,does anyone have an explanation why Ronnie Suggs is not playing at all?

I would have to look it up but it seems to me we are playing faster than last year. The offense wasn't the problem last night, we got tons of wide open looks that we just couldn't make. Shooting was our issue last night from finishing in the lane to three point shots to free throws. Couldn't hit at all. Last night was a clear example of where the process was better than the result.
I was alarmed by the poor defense personally. Everything I said about our offense could be said about UTA's offense. Lots of misses on both sides.

Suggs and Foster are the biggest mysteries to me. Our bigs played well enough last night that we didn't need Foster, but we sure could have used Ronnie's shooting.

[Da Coach]

I would have to look it up but it seems to me we are playing faster than last year. The offense wasn't the problem last night, we got tons of wide open looks that we just couldn't make. Shooting was our issue last night from finsihing in the lane to three point shots to free throws. Couldn't hit at all. Last night was a clear example of where the process was better than the result.
I was alarmed by the poor defense personally. Everything I said about our offense could be said about UTA's offense. Lots of kisses on both sides.

Suggs and Foster are the biggest mysteries to me. Our bigs played well enough last night that we didn't need Foster, but we sure could have used Ronnie's shooting.

No question the team is playing faster this season. They averaged only 56.0 ppg last season, and the average time of possession was around 25 seconds per possession.
This season they are averaging 71.1 ppg, more than 15 ppg increase over last season, and the average time of possession is under 20 seconds per possession.

[Vent]

It was also stupid to play games on Friday nights, when there are multiple high school games taking place. That was a real marketing blunder. I agree with Da Coach. People will be patient, if they see progress. I don't expect Wardle to work miracles over night, but please give us something to hang our hat on, other than effort. I am beginning to question his ability to judge talent.

[Dub]

Based on the evidence I'm seeing, I believe this team will win 12-15 games this season. That would represent, to this one fan, an on- track progression in the rebuild. Fan attendance is a separate issue for me right now. Keep the faith.

[Da Coach]

Based on the evidence I'm seeing, I believe this team will win 12-15 games this season. That would represent, to this one fan, an on- track progression in the rebuild. Fan attendance is a separate issue for me right now. Keep the faith.

The game at Mississippi tomorrow night is the final non-conference game. So, unless you think we can win that one, Bradley will go into the conference season with 5 wins. So that means to get to 12 to 15 wins, Bradley would have to win 7 to 10 conference games. I hope you are right, but that might be a little optimistic now.

[Braves2006]

What about TCU? Still gonna be a loss though.

[Da Coach]

Oops, yes, I overlooked that. But it will be another game that will be very difficult to win on the road. I still expect Bradley to go into MVC play with a 5-8 record.

[Vent]

Oops, yes, I overlooked that. But it will be another game that will be very difficult to win on the road. I still expect Bradley to go into MVC play with a 5-8 record.

I have to agree with you. I also believe it will be difficult them to stay out of the "play in" round in St. Louis. I think that will consist of Bradley, Drake, Evansville and whoever else floats to the bottom. I'm thinking 5-6 wins in league play.