Final score- Wichita State 82 Bradley 56

[Chibearsfan10125]

It's not like Pittman was Suggs or Foster and not getting any playing time. I can't remember a game where Pittman didn't get some run on the court. It wasn't always an extended look, but he was getting some opportunities. He had a great game yesterday, but I don't think it's fair to him to expect that every game. Pittman is a solid player and a great defender, but in a perfect world, he's not playing major minutes. Probably between 8-15 minutes a game. He's a role player who helps a ton defensively when he's out there, but his best role on this team is as a defensive stopper. Let him focus on becoming the defender he can be and he will be a big help next year.

[bradleyfan124]

Wow - I had a good amount of respect for Shocker fans, but if this is the shared sentiment among fans, then I'm not down with it.
This is a pompous, elitist attitude. You don't have to "talk" better - just "play" better as the Shockers have done. No need for this at any level.
Have some respect for those who are not as good as you. Furthermore, since I've been on here, the majority of fans have a high level of respect for other Valley teams and speak well of Wichita State and admire what they've done. There are also some Shocker fans who have been on here who have praised BU and spoken their gesture of hope for our hoops program, which is much appreciated. I hope you guys don't show up on here ever again, because it's poor sportsmanship really.

I am not going to be politically correct here.. Gregg Marshall runs up the score on teams. He did that when ISU played at their place to get even for ISU beating them at ISU. He has no right yelling at an opposing player. If he has a problem with a player talk to the opposing coach about it.. I remember the Woody Hayes punch. But Marshall thinks he is a prima dona. He is a jerk..There is such a thing as losing with a good attitude but there is also winning with a good attitude. He has never learned that

[shock]

Ok guys, I had no intention of coming back but I had to come back and apologize. I havent even looked back on the thread. It doesnt matter. I spoke without looking at the metrics. I looked up salary numbers and spending and realized I was wrong about you and your school caring.

Thank you to committing to your coach. Thank you for supporting him. Thank you for giving him the tools he needs to be successful. Really, thank you. Hopefully BU can keep improving and sit at the top of the pile with us.

I'm sorry, and this really is me eating some crow in regards to you caring and your school caring.

[bradleyfan124]

Ok guys, I had no intention of coming back but I had to come back and apologize. I havent even looked back on the thread. It doesnt matter. I spoke without looking at the metrics. I looked up salary numbers and spending and realized I was wrong about you and your school caring.

Thank you to committing to your coach. Thank you for supporting him. Thank you for giving him the tools he needs to be successful. Really, thank you. Hopefully BU can keep improving and sit at the top of the pile with us.

I'm sorry, and this really is me eating some crow in regards to you caring and your school caring.

I think your point is well taken. I think what is comes down to we are all pro-MVC.. I will support the Shocks when they get into the NCAA.. Everytime they win it makes the MVC look better.. Just as I will support ISU ( even though they are our big rival ) Lol!!.. You both will get into the NCAA so when you do give'm hell

[buballer82]

We have to play like we hate you, run up the score, press all game, because we have to show the committee just how much better we are. We have to rub your whole face in it because that is what it takes in this god-forsaken league to turn the heads of the committee members.

Looking back to 2009, I vividly remember Chris Roberts hitting a deep 3 at the buzzer in Peoria and fans hit the magic number for a restaurant promotion. Marshall threw an absolute fit with Roberts and Jim Les over how unsportsmanlike that was. That being said, it seems like he's ok with pouring it on when the game is already decided, i.e. extensive pressing up 30 points in the second half, but not ok when someone does something similar to him.

We could care less about the MVC Championship. We want to play for a National Championship.

I'm confused. Are you saying you do care about the MVC Championship and you could care less? Or are you saying you COULDN'T care less about the MVC Championship because its all about National Championship's (which you have never won).

Seems to me that you should care very much about MVC tournament championships. Why are you so concerned about impressing the committee? Please don't tell me its about seeding because you have yourselves a team on the bubble if you don't win Sunday. Surely such an elite group of players would have no problem winning a conference tournament against teams packed with inferior talent, yet you've only won 1 MVC tourney in the last 30 years.

If your school is so worried about hurting the feelings of the players, shell out the money so Wardle can recruit players who can compete at our level.

Nobody here is concerned about our players getting hurt feelings including Wardle. But since you brought up hurt feelings, Shocker nation was sure into their feelings in regards to Brown's hard foul. Get over it! If you are going to try to embarrass a team, these things happen. Again, why are you so worried about impressing the committee? Your elite talent should be able to easily take care of business and punch that automatic bid ticket, right?

[DeanMartin]

The 3 game win streak was proven to be a fluke. No real improvement. We beat 3 bad teams is all we did. Wichita State had no seniors, and they absolutely throttled us. Coach Marshall was trying to be very generous to us by emptying his entire bench at the 16 minute mark with a 55-19 lead. The Shockers could have beaten us by 60 points had he left his starters in. We pressed their end of bench players and made up about 12 points. He was letting the young coach know that he was going to call off the dawgz, but Wardle insisted on pressing his bench guys with our starters. I get where Marshall got mad, and I get where Wardle was sending a message of not quitting. We are just fortunate that Marshall was that nice to us. The real take away from this game is that We can claim we are young all we want, but they are just as young, and they are light years better than we are, and that is both player personnel and coaching. We may have won more games this season, but we don't have 1 real win that we can hang our hat on, and say, "we had no business winning that game." The wins were all vs. weak teams & or vs. team that was suffering from major injuries. We are so far from being a contender in a very weak MVC and NCAA Tournament is so far out of sight that it would take a "James Webb Space Telescope" to see it!

[Da Coach]

I have been a bit hard on this team, since like many fans, we are tired of losing, but I don't agree with your opinion, Dean Martin.
It is difficult for Coach Wardle to recruit immediately to compete for the top of the MVC. What high school talent wants to come to such a poor program as Bradley was when Wardle got here?
It is almost always a gradual process, especially when a coach starts from such a low point. Even Gregg Marshall, who took over a decent Wichita State program from Mark Turgeon, had losing records his first 2 seasons. And maybe the other most successful MVC coach in the past 30 years, Dana Altman, didn't have a winning overall record until his 4th season at Creighton. And nobody in recent years has inherited as depleted a program as Brian Wardle has. So I think it's premature to judge his performance so harshly.

[Dub]

The 3 game win streak was proven to be a fluke. No real improvement. We beat 3 bad teams is all we did.

DeanMartin: It was a 4 game win streak. I know you are trying to share your opinion that Bradley has made no progress, but can't you at least give the credit of beating 4 bad teams in a row, not just 3?

What result this year would have met the requirements of being a measurable improvement? Most of the fans here were saying 10-12 wins minimum. We had 13, up from 5. Did you attend the last couple home games where we showed a little fight and overcame adversity to win both games after being down?

If you seriously see no progression, I would argue that you aren't watching very closely. It is there. Look for and enjoy those moments because it will make the feeling all the more sweet when we arrive.

[bigjimmy]

Here's my take from someone who has attended every Arch Madness and can speak about how fans feel about the Valley as I get a chance to talk with different fans from different schools. The vast majority opinion is that Wichita has become Creighton. The Blue Jays had a superiority complex about them and Wichita is right there with them. Nobody would be sad to see them lose in St Louis. Also, by a large margin, Marshall is the most hated coach. I absolutely respect what he's done at Wichita. No one respects how he acts. Some Shocker fans want to never leave the Valley because of the tradition but they also like being the big fish in the small pond. Other Shocker fans believe they are better than the Valley and would like to join up with Creighton. By the way no one likes ISU Red either, mostly because of their fans.

[Da Coach]

Here's my take from someone who has attended every Arch Madness and can speak about how fans feel about the Valley as I get a chance to talk with different fans from different schools. The vast majority opinion is that Wichita has become Creighton. The Blue Jays had a superiority complex about them and Wichita is right there with them. Nobody would be sad to see them lose in St Louis. Also, by a large margin, Marshall is the most hated coach. I absolutely respect what he's done at Wichita. No one respects how he acts. Some Shocker fans want to never leave the Valley because of the tradition but they also like being the big fish in the small pond. Other Shocker fans believe they are better than the Valley and would like to join up with Creighton. By the way no one likes ISU Red either, mostly because of their fans.

I agree. I have been saying that I respect Marshall as a coach, and I understand why he runs up scores this season, but you'd have a hard time trying to find anyone outside of WSU fans who like him personally.
As far as conference changes- I don't see the Big East being interested. They are all private schools, and all Catholic schools except Butler, and WSU doesn't appear to be a fit. If the Big East wanted more schools, Dayton, St. Louis, and a couple others would probably be ahead of them in line. The AAC was mentioned, but they would be the only non-football school, so I don't see that working. And the A-10 would be a geographic nightmare for them, and for the other members. In the end, they would be foolish to leave the MVC.

[Braves2006]

Here's my take from someone who has attended every Arch Madness and can speak about how fans feel about the Valley as I get a chance to talk with different fans from different schools. The vast majority opinion is that Wichita has become Creighton. The Blue Jays had a superiority complex about them and Wichita is right there with them. Nobody would be sad to see them lose in St Louis. Also, by a large margin, Marshall is the most hated coach. I absolutely respect what he's done at Wichita. No one respects how he acts. Some Shocker fans want to never leave the Valley because of the tradition but they also like being the big fish in the small pond. Other Shocker fans believe they are better than the Valley and would like to join up with Creighton. By the way no one likes ISU Red either, mostly because of their fans.

Great post bigjimmy!! My sentiments exactly and it sounds like the rest of the Valley (sans Shockers fans) are in agreement.

[lefty]

Why don't we talk about what is really important to Bradley.Why have we not seen more of Pittman all year?He scored in double figures and was named ameron player of the game.Does anyone else question Wardles evaluation of playing time for certain players?

Pittman played decent against WSU but he went a stretch of games where he turned it over almost every time he touched the ball. He's certainly solid of defense but offensively he's been woefully inconsistent

[pfcmsh]

Here's my take from someone who has attended every Arch Madness and can speak about how fans feel about the Valley as I get a chance to talk with different fans from different schools. The vast majority opinion is that Wichita has become Creighton. The Blue Jays had a superiority complex about them and Wichita is right there with them. Nobody would be sad to see them lose in St Louis. Also, by a large margin, Marshall is the most hated coach. I absolutely respect what he's done at Wichita. No one respects how he acts. Some Shocker fans want to never leave the Valley because of the tradition but they also like being the big fish in the small pond. Other Shocker fans believe they are better than the Valley and would like to join up with Creighton. By the way no one likes ISU Red either, mostly because of their fans.

Agreed! Great post, bigjimmy!!

[algotrader]

I'd put the team about 10-15% ahead of my expectations for where they would be this year. And for that reason I'm OK with this season. It is what it is. I knew it wouldn't end well. But I saw some things that looked promising.

[DeanMartin]

DeanMartin: It was a 4 game win streak. I know you are trying to share your opinion that Bradley has made no progress, but can't you at least give the credit of beating 4 bad teams in a row, not just 3?

What result this year would have met the requirements of being a measurable improvement? Most of the fans here were saying 10-12 wins minimum. We had 13, up from 5. Did you attend the last couple home games where we showed a little fight and overcame adversity to win both games after being down?

If you seriously see no progression, I would argue that you aren't watching very closely. It is there. Look for and enjoy those moments because it will make the feeling all the more sweet when we arrive.

Ok, we beat 4 turds in a row. Credit where credit is due. I will be watching very closely next season. I'm very tired of the drought, been waiting for a long time for good basketball on the hilltop again.