Final score: TCU 74 Bradley 42

[lefty]

I think almost everyone understands the unique situation Coach Wardle inherited, and are willing to be patient. However, what I hear from many fans, and what concerns me, is that these current players consistently underperform, make too many of the same mistakes game after game, and don't seem to have a clue how to stop teams defensively or make adjustments and correct the flow of games (both on offense and defense) when they are getting away from them. I know I have been critical of these things, but isn't some of that on the coaches and the game plan? And even if it is all on the players, who recruited them?

yup....when it comes down to it..it's all on the coach and Wardle knows that. It may be a little tougher than he thought but I'm still confident he'll get it done. I don't think the staff all of a sudden forgot how to coach when they crossed the state line.......

[wizard1]

Final Score:TCU 74 - Bradley 42

Da Coach....I have to agree with you.....Something is dreadfully wrong. We have recruited players who do not have the talent, skill, athleticism, instincts, and toughness we need. We do not seem to be able to correctly evaluate prospective players and we have shut the door on JC players who could help us.
Additionally, our coaches do not seem to be able to devise good offenses and our defense is still awful. Why can't our coaches get thru to these kids and correct the endless mistakes and errors that are repeated game after game?
We are losing our basketball program and are now at the point where we do not belong in the MVC.
Wizard

[tornado]

I think they do have the talent, that's what's so frustrating -
we are caught in a "Ground Hog Day"-scenario where every game we come out cold, commit bad fouls, shoot poorly, terrible turnovers, miss FTs and fall behind by 10 or more in the first 5 minutes.
Every one of these kids has had far better games - many of them but this season we are in a tremendous funk...
I think it's a mental thing, we need to get the right motivator...maybe let them scrimmage against Cellus, Tony Bennett and Zach Andrews..

[Da Coach]

I have posted these numbers before, and I am not suggesting anything other than the point that all 9 other MVC teams do recruit and take advantage of good junior college talent. Sometimes the junior and senior level leadership and work ethic from a juco can make a difference on a young team.

12 of the top 30 scorers in the MVC are juco transfers

And- 9 of the top 20 rebounders in the MVC are juco transfers, including the #1 rebounder, Missouri State's Alize Johnson.

Every one of the other 9 MVC teams have one or more kids who played at juco now playing key roles for them, and all 9 of them have had one or more juco starters.
Bradley is the only school with no players who ever played a minute at the juco level (Jojo McGlaston is a transfer from a juco, but he never played there and in not a typical juco transfer).
Missouri State has 5 different juco starters (Rousseau, Johnson, Miller, Martin, & Rhodes), and they have been one of the top MVC teams with a record of 8-3.
Loyola, another surprise top team in the MVC at 10-3- their top scorer and the MVC's top rebounder is a juco transfer (Alize Johnson).
And even Wichita State (9-3, RPI 69) and Illinois State (6-3, RPI 61), the top 2 RPI teams in the MVC, have juco players in key roles. WSU's top scorer and rebounder, Darral Willis is a junior college transfer, and Illinois State has 2 jucos starting and contributing a lot (Fayne & Clayton).

[pfcmsh]

Disadvantage Recruiting

Our program was a disaster under the previous regime. It's hard to recruit a Kieffer Sykes, Hersey Hawkins, or Mitchell Anderson, when youve won 5 games for 2 years. Who, of the finest players, would want to come to Bradley. It's going to be a slow crawl out of the abyss. Our talent is still limited. Am I too much of a homie?

[Vent]

I think almost everyone understands the unique situation Coach Wardle inherited, and are willing to be patient. However, what I hear from many fans, and what concerns me, is that these current players consistently underperform, make too many of the same mistakes game after game, and don't seem to have a clue how to stop teams defensively or make adjustments and correct the flow of games (both on offense and defense) when they are getting away from them. I know I have been critical of these things, but isn't some of that on the coaches and the game plan? And even if it is all on the players, who recruited them?

I could not agree more. I would like to think our immediate goal is get into the top 5 or 6 of the MVC standings. With that in mind, I wonder how many of our current players would play 30 minutes or more per game, on any of the top 5 or 6 teams in the MVC this year or next year.

[lefty]

I could not agree more. I would like to think our immediate goal is get into the top 5 or 6 of the MVC standings. With that in mind, I wonder how many of our current players would play 30 minutes or more per game, on any of the top 5 or 6 teams in the MVC this year or next year.

None......but nobody plays 30 minutes a game on our team now......Brown is tops at 29.6..........but I understand what you are saying

[Da Coach]

None......but nobody plays 30 minutes a game on our team now......Brown is tops at 29.6..........but I understand what you are saying

Just who are "the top 5 or 6 teams in the MVC this year"?

If you go by record, it would be:
Loyola
WSU
ILSU
UE
MSU
SIU

If you go by RPI, it would be:
ILSU
WSU
UNI
Loyola
INSU
SIU

And if you go by the preseason picks, it would be:
WSU
ILSU
UNI
MSU
SIU
INSU

Those lists include every team except Bradley and Drake.
Obviously, none of Bradley's players would be playing meaningful minutes on junior/senior dominated teams like WSU, ILSU, and UNI.

But I suggest looking at the regular rotation players on teams with .500 records or better like SIU, Missouri State, Evansville, Indiana State, or Loyola. I would argue that we do have players who are as talented as some of the regular rotation players on most of those teams, though not 30+ minutes per game.

The problem I see with Bradley is not only the talent level, it is the bad mistakes, poor execution, and inability to figure out how to devise offense and defense that can work to our advantage.

Last season Bradley not only lead the MVC in turnovers by a wide margin, they lead the country in turnovers. This year it is slightly better, but they still lead the MVC in turnovers by an enormous margin. Our new point guards haven't made as much difference as they should have.
And Bradley was the worst assist team in the MVC last year. But, with 2 new point guards and a faster uptempo offense, we should have seen significantly more assists this season, but Bradley has improved only slightly and still ranks 9th in the MVC.

[Vent]

Repeating the same mistakes, game after game, is a reflection of the level of talent. The coach is not playing in the game. And as for our guards not accumulating many assists...the person receiving your pass must be a good shooter or scorer. We have some of the worst shooters I've seen in my following Bradley basketball over parts of the last 6 decades. Other than Bar at 56% and McGlaston at 47% (which is not the greatest), our field goal percentage is atrocious, as is our free throw shooting.

[lefty]

Looking at the stats is kind of interesting....maybe we could break them down by quality opponents and they would look different...


but we have shot better on 3's and overall from the field than our opponents
We turn the ball over 1.7 more per game but we have same pts off turnovers
we have shot the same amount of ft's but made 1.6 less ft's per game
we are getting outrebounded by an average of 3.2 and the other teams average 4.6 more shots than we do


I don't know what any of that means other than statistically we look ok for the most part compared to the other teams so far this season....


I wouldn't have thought that though just watching the games....

[Chico]

Don't think any coach anywhere had to start his recruiting as late as Wardle. Even his 2nd recruiting class was tough to put together. As previously stated, who would want to come to Bradley after the past 5 seasons? Good luck coach Wardle.