Final score: Valparaiso 61 Bradley 50

[Classof77]

I went and watched my old grade school team play last night. The 8th grade scored 45 points in four six minute quarters. I enjoyed that game more than the last few Bradley games. But I'm not giving up. We can still turn this season around.

[BUfan17]

Kennell was 0-6, Childs was 3-12, and Brown was 6-18. We need some shooters really bad and tonight showed it. I say give Luuk the start and see what he can do. We need someone besides Brown to step up and be a major scorer. I was hoping either DLO or Pittman would fill that role but neither of them have been major contributors. Koch showed a lot of promise earlier in the year, I hope he can return to that same level.

[towandanel]

As a 70 year BU fan, 59 year alum, and long time season ticket holder .... sadly .... I think I’ve lived long enough to witness the rise and demise of a legendary Division 1 basketball program. Thanks for the memories, Paul, Squeaky, Billy, Barney, Bobby Joe, Shelly, Chet, Hersey, Forddy, Ozzie, Joe and Jim.

[wily coyote]

As a 70 year BU fan, 59 year alum, and long time season ticket holder .... sadly .... I think I’ve lived long enough to witness the rise and demise of a legendary Division 1 basketball program. Thanks for the memories, Paul, Squeaky, Billy, Barney, Bobby Joe, Shelly, Chet, Hersey, Forddy, Ozzie, Joe and Jim.

Agree 100% with your post. I'm 73 and remember going to see the Braves return from an NIT championship in 1958. The terminal was on airport road at the time. Don't see those days in my future. Never been a coach so I sure do not understand what the problem really is. I do know we have no shooters and that would fall on recruiting. On the outside it appears to me their are more things going on then we know. Thursday appears to be in the cards unless a miracle happens quickly.

[Wilbery]

As a younger fan when I moved away from Peoria I was quite sad to not be attending games any more, though I still watch on ESPN+. When I first came to Bradley my grandparents remembered Bradley from the multiple NIT championships even though they had never even been to Peoria. I still love the school and always will and I have not lost faith in Wardle yet but I really do hope that we can at least recapture some conference wins and become a perennial worry for other teams.

[Vent]

Agree 100% with your post. I'm 73 and remember going to see the Braves return from an NIT championship in 1958. The terminal was on airport road at the time. Don't see those days in my future. Never been a coach so I sure do not understand what the problem really is. I do know we have no shooters and that would fall on recruiting. On the outside it appears to me their are more things going on then we know. Thursday appears to be in the cards unless a miracle happens quickly.

I remember the glory days of the 1960s when we were a consistent top 20 team in both the AP and UPI. At that time the Valley was the best league in the country. The demise of the Valley started when they turned away from football. That lead to the departure of Cincinnati, Memphis, Louisville and even North Texas that was never very good in basketball. Later it was Tulsa that left to improve their football. Having recently lost our two most respected basketball programs, Creighton and Wichita State, the conference is what it is. Currently I believe the MVC is rated 12th in the country. If this is true, that means there are 5 Mid Major conferences that are better than us. We are now in last place in that 12th rated conference. We can blame the prior administration, referees, injuries, mental toughness and all the other talking points. In 1978 Dick Versace to over for Joe Stowell, who was one of the best floor coaches and teachers of the game in the country but had problems recruiting. This spring Joe will be put into the MVC Hall of Fame, a well deserved honor. When Dick became the head coach, it was believed Bradley could not get good players to come to here because the program had been down for a few years and the facilities were antiquated. We found out with good player evalution and good contacts in the Chicago area players would come here and make a difference. When Dick was fired, the program took another step back although there were a couple of good seasons. In came Jim Les who infused the program with shooters and several players from Illinois. Les was then fired and now we’re back where we were. To not be competitive in a conference as weak as the Valley is a travesty. To be four years into a rebuild with a coach from the Chicago suburbs, and not be able to or unwilling to recruit players from the Chicago area or the state of Illinois is unbelievable. To not be able to recruit players that can make us a top team in the 12th rated conference in the country is a shame.

[egib52]

I didn't get to see the game due to other commitments, but I think Childs needs to begin each game by asserting himself inside with his athleticism. At least draw some fouls. I heard the post-game, and Dave talked about Walt getting to the Civic Center at 6 am on game days to shoot. We need some players to just get in, and spend hours shooting until they find their shots.

[tornado]

I was going to say something but I did't want to bother anyone with more noise

[BUSongwriter]

I didn't get to see the game, but one thing that leaps out from the box score is the combination line for our bigs, Koch Bar and Ari Boya: two points, four rebounds. I continue to think Boya can develop into a force in this league, but I have to believe that if Callum Barker had played in last night's game he would have had more impact than both of our centers.

I hope to see the day when one of our bigs muscles up in a crowd and slams the ball down with authority. Bar and even Boya tend to go for Hometown Community Bank shot lay-ups when close, which are often missed or blocked. Go up for the throwdown and either make it or get fouled, for goodness sake!

Here's hoping that Saturday is the start of something better.

[Da Coach]

I didn't get to see the game, but one thing that leaps out from the box score is the combination line for our bigs, Koch Bar and Ari Boya: two points, four rebounds....

Another thing evident from the box score- Koch Bar played only 15 minutes, and Ari Boya played only 8 minutes-

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=237496

Between them, they played 23 minutes, barely more than half of the game, and it wasn't because of foul problems. Boya had 1 foul, and Bar had zero.
So Bradley played 17 minutes with a small lineup by choice.

[wizard1]

Final Score:Valpo 61 - BU 50...

Vent....The problem is not so much that we cannot recruit shooters....We have guys who can shoot. However, the problem is that our Coaches and staff have installed a slow offense that moves slow, does not attack he opponent, does not fast break, and cannot find or create an open man for a good shot.,, Combined with bad substituting , sloppy ,weak passes that are rarely quick or crisp and we approach each possesion very tentatively and with no confidence. This hurts our shootong badly. Our players rarely work closely together. The real problem is our coaching that doesn't run practice scrimmages that are tough and fast and they don't emphasize eliminating errors and taking care of the ball. Unless our coaching philosophy, our offense, practices that emphasize speed and quickness and a much firmer set of starters, and creating and finding the open man, we are not going to improve our team and program from a losing, embarassing, "Also-Ran". Change is badly needed and Chris Reynolds is going to have to take some tough action to accomplish this.
Wizard

[BravesWinINStyle]

I remember the glory days of the 1960s when we were a consistent top 20 team in both the AP and UPI. At that time the Valley was the best league in the country. The demise of the Valley started when they turned away from football. That lead to the departure of Cincinnati, Memphis, Louisville and even North Texas that was never very good in basketball. Later it was Tulsa that left to improve their football. Having recently lost our two most respected basketball programs, Creighton and Wichita State, the conference is what it is. Currently I believe the MVC is rated 12th in the country. If this is true, that means there are 5 Mid Major conferences that are better than us. We are now in last place in that 12th rated conference. We can blame the prior administration, referees, injuries, mental toughness and all the other talking points. In 1978 Dick Versace to over for Joe Stowell, who was one of the best floor coaches and teachers of the game in the country but had problems recruiting. This spring Joe will be put into the MVC Hall of Fame, a well deserved honor. When Dick became the head coach, it was believed Bradley could not get good players to come to here because the program had been down for a few years and the facilities were antiquated. We found out with good player evalution and good contacts in the Chicago area players would come here and make a difference. When Dick was fired, the program took another step back although there were a couple of good seasons. In came Jim Les who infused the program with shooters and several players from Illinois. Les was then fired and now we’re back where we were. To not be competitive in a conference as weak as the Valley is a travesty. To be four years into a rebuild with a coach from the Chicago suburbs, and not be able to or unwilling to recruit players from the Chicago area or the state of Illinois is unbelievable. To not be able to recruit players that can make us a top team in the 12th rated conference in the country is a shame.

The Valley was ranked 8th last year (#1 of the 25 mid-major leagues) and sent a team to the Final Four. IIRC all your posts still skewed significantly negative.

This year the Valley falls to 12th as mid-major leagues are cyclical (the A10 is 14th & MW 16th!) and we hear the broken record from you 468 times.

It’s time to move into the reality of modern college basketball. Otherwise, I highly suggest following the P5 or a blueblood as mid-major basketball clearly will never fulfill your needs.

[bigjimmy]

The 1st half? Yeesch. The 2nd half? A little more encouraging. Luuk seems to have regained the confidence in his shot and of Wardle, giving us another offensive option. DB has been more aggressive in getting shots off. DLO is starting to contribute more. The big questions are getting Elijah and Nate going again on offense. I don't think we're that far away, especially in the topsy turvy Mo Valley, from turning this season around. Am I being a little foolish in thinking this? Perhaps but why not.

[Vent]

The Valley was ranked 8th last year (#1 of the 25 mid-major leagues) and sent a team to the Final Four. IIRC all your posts still skewed significantly negative.

This year the Valley falls to 12th as mid-major leagues are cyclical (the A10 is 14th & MW 16th!) and we hear the broken record from you 468 times.

It’s time to move into the reality of modern college basketball. Otherwise, I highly suggest following the P5 or a blueblood as mid-major basketball clearly will never fulfill your needs.

I regret you look at my posts as being in a negative mode. I realize the MVC is not and will not be a prominent basketball league again. With that being said, I do expect to see Bradley play good fundamental basketball. If what I state seems negative, maybe it’s because the last 8 years bear that out. There has been stability to the program in the Wardle era. It is also a fact, the MVC is not the same conference after losing Creighton and Wichita in recent years. With the absence of those teams, it should be easier for us to reach the level we all want to be in the MVC. I expect to see good fundamental basketball at Bradley. You don’t have to be a Power Conference to play with sound fundamentals. I expect more out of Bradley basketball than what I and others are seeing.

[BUfan39]

The 1st half? Yeesch. The 2nd half? A little more encouraging. Luuk seems to have regained the confidence in his shot and of Wardle, giving us another offensive option. DB has been more aggressive in getting shots off. DLO is starting to contribute more. The big questions are getting Elijah and Nate going again on offense. I don't think we're that far away, especially in the topsy turvy Mo Valley, from turning this season around. Am I being a little foolish in thinking this? Perhaps but why not.

I agree after taking a few days to think about it. We have to work with what we have as the roster won’t be changing for the remainder of the season. We’re only 3 games into the MVC season so there is time. But it’s going to get away from us fast if we don’t get that first win Saturday night. The time is now to turn this around as we need to come home and get back to defending the home court. If we’re 2-3 going into next weekend I think we’ll all feel a little bit better. While we do give up some easy baskets we still do play well enough defensively to win games. Holding teams in league play to 65, 65, and 61 should always result in a W especially on the road. Shots have to start falling at some point right?