Three Point Shooting

[BUfan14]

Is it just me or does it seem like we haven’t had a team consistently good from deep since the Les years? It’s incredibly frustrating to see other mid major teams having 4-5 threats from deep. Last year we had NK, DB, and Ville once he heated up. No surprise, that was our best team in recent memory. But we seem to have several guards year after year that are no threat at all from three. A few barely have a jump shot at all.

It just seems to me that this trying to out athletic teams hasn’t worked for us enough to challenge for Valley titles. No argument it had made us great defensively under Wardle, but we still feel limited offensively and we have trouble spacing because of the lack of deep threats. I’d like to have a team with three consistent deep threats year after year. Ville and Mast have both not looked great from three at times this year, so that hurts even more.

It was really nice to see Kent catch a ball deep, not be wide open, and still fire with confidence and make it today. That seems to happen a lot for other teams, but rarely do we see that happen for Bradley. I think we need to balance recruiting athletes with some better shooters. Not a knock on Wardle, he’s brought this program up from nothing, but to be consistent at the mid major level, I think we need to have better shooters.

[Da Coach]

Agreed. The guys we lost from last year's team seemed to get better late in games, and they were better late in the season when games were on the line.
So far, we haven't seen that same trend this season. If anything, it appears there are guys who don't want the ball late in the shot clock, and who are not as good late in games as they are when the game isn't on the line. The only way to remedy that is to develop our better shooters so they can get more playing time, and to recruit more shooters. I am sure our coaches know what they need, and I think they will get it done.

[Tommy]

Isn't this year's team averaging more points per game than last years? I think with Nolan, Ville, and Mast, we have 3 solid 3 point shooters, and Kent may fill that role, as well. Let's not forget how young this team is. To compare it to last year's team is a little unfair as we have Kent, Hannah, and Mast getting minutes and they are all freshman. Ville is only a sophomore and we lost a lot of senior talent in Nate and DB as pointed out by Coach.

I think we need to be patient. Wardle teams always have their struggles at some point during the year, but he seems to have them playing their best ball come tournament time. If that trend continues, then I think we're all good. Most years, the MVC has been unfairly relegated to a 1 slot conference for the NCAA, so sadly, that makes the tournament the defining moment of the year, not our season record. That being said, it would be nice to actually win the conference outright, and my hope was that we'd become the next Wichita State and just dominate the conference. I still think if Wardle sticks around, that is going to happen.

Lastly, I'm not really arguing with you about the 3 point shooting. It has been less than impressive this year, but with our youth, I expect it to improve as the season progresses and believe getting some of our inside presence back with Henry and Boya, that will open up our outside shots a bit more. Or at least I'm hoping!

[LittleBrave]

I like Tommy's points. I think we were treated to an early 9-4 season, but probably not tested greatly.
I really like how the newcomers have stepped in, but we're seeing now how more experienced teams like Loyola, can pull out these Valley games.
East, Nolan, and Mast are a year away from being great.
I think talent-wise Nolan and East are excellent, but I'd take DB and Nate right about now with their experience and toughness.

I have thought all along that this year's team is very good, but will be better next year, though we lose All-MVC Childs.
Really like Kent's ability to fill the hoop, and high upside to Hannah's game.

Our newcomers will have a year under their belt to see what it takes to win league games and to come with intensity every night.
Nolan doesn't have that fire like he has at the beginning of the season, but he'll get it back.
Getting a home crowd of 2K-3K or so would really help too...hopefully that happens next year!

[LittleBrave]

I expected more from Ville, but he's in an obvious slump right now.
He is a natural 3-point marksman and will likely get 2-4 per game once he breaks out.
The commentators were spot on Sunday night by saying that Ville is so valuable to this team. As he goes, so go the Braves.

I think when Ville hits 2 or more 3's, we've won all but 1 game!

Another side note, I don't think our selection of 3-pointers has been great the last 3 games. Not as many wide-open looks by penetration into the paint. That's what DB was super at.

[The Old Guy]

Tonight’s game against Valpo certainly revealed our 3point shooting deficiency. When Ville and Mast score 2 points between them, the chances of winning are close to 0.

[Tommy]

I take back everything I said earlier. Tonight's performance will take me a couple days to get over. I've seen 8th grade teams with better motion offense than what we had tonight.

[BUfan14]

I’ve heard a lot of basketball people say that free throw shooting is a good indicator of overall shooting potential. Meaning a good free throw shooter should be able to become a decent three point shooter. We don’t seem to have much shooting potential even, as our free throw shooting, especially in the clutch, is bad. I don’t trust anyone at the line in a big spot. I was really hoping Mast would shoot better, but maybe as he gets use to his bigger body the shooting we heard about will come. I really think Kent needs more run. Him, Hannah, and Mast are decent freshman that could grow for the future, along with Linke. If this team doesn’t improve soon, I’d play them a whole lot down the stretch. East is only a sophomore, if he plays harder and smarter he has the talent. I’d like to see some big time shooters recruited for next year.

[Tommy]

Yeah, the free throws might be the most frustrating part of this team right now. I do believe Wardle will right this ship, and from what I saw yesterday, I get the impression they aren't practicing right now due to the high volume of games. If I'm wrong, then I really can't imagine how they can look so terrible.

Let's just hope Wardle gets them playing their best ball come tournament time. We seem to have an early season skid every year that we pull out of. I sure hope this is what this turns out to be. I can't take a full season of this.

[LittleBrave]

I can't take a full season of this.

I don't think any of us can, Tommy.
It' quite depressing seeing the potential of this team (and depth) and now we're fighting to stay out of the Thursday play-in game.

We definitely don't look like the same team that got us to 9-4...bad decisions, porous D, and not much team offense.

[houstonbrave]

With Ville I feel like we are seeing a replay of Jeremy Crouch’s sophomore season where he was good as a Freshman, Junior and Senior but absolutely awful as a sophomore. Hope he turns it around like Jeremy, only sooner. Let’s not wait until junior year.

[LittleBrave]

With Ville I feel like we are seeing a replay of Jeremy Crouch’s sophomore season where he was good as a Freshman, Junior and Senior but absolutely awful as a sophomore. Hope he turns it around like Jeremy, only sooner. Let’s not wait until junior year.

Agreed HB!

Teams are figuring out how to blanket Ville from getting open. I saw slim chances for him the last game to even get off a 3-ball.
Ville is an excellent sharp-shooter and we NEED him to break out of this!

IMO, Ville is the key-le!

[Tommy]

Teams are figuring out how to blanket Ville from getting open. I saw slim chances for him the last game to even get off a 3-ball.
Ville is an excellent sharp-shooter and we NEED him to break out of this!

IMO, Ville is the key-le!

Looked to me like nobody was moving around on offense, which makes it awfully difficult to get open. I've never seen them stand around like scarecrows as much as they did against Valpo and it's baffling to me.

If they move and have rotation, shots will open up for everyone, including Ville.