My Opinion on this team...

[Stryker]

I know there are other threads around that discuss some of this right now, but I just want to communicate and allow others to communicate their opinions on the team in one place.

After the Belmont game it is apparent to me what the primary weaknesses of the team are:

1) Guard play is substandard - from perimeter defense, athleticism on the perimeter, and ball handling, this a major weakness for the team. Including 3 pt shooting and very sloppy turnovers at times, that seem to be mostly derived from mishandling the ball at the guard position. Also playing 2 very undersized guards for a lot of the game just isn't going to work against good teams. Duke and Ville can be made into complete non-factors by decent to good mid-major teams, and getting very little out of those two guards makes the team really one dimensional. If undersized guards are going to play they have to be able to score or contribute in a really meaningful way. Getting less than 30 ppg from the guard positions just won't cut it when 3 pt shooting is so important in the game today.

2) Lack of motivation outside of Rienk. Rienk was cheering the team along with Wardle yesterday afternoon. He looked like the only one that actually wanted the win.

To me the problems with the team are derived at the guard positions. Can we get good play out of the guards at times? Yes, but unfortunately it always seems to be against bottom feeder teams. If Terry Roberts was still on this team they would be in 1st place easily. As the team stands it is the standard 4-5th finish team in the MVC we have been getting for the past 30-40 years seemingly.

I'm also starting to cool a bit on Wardle. I really like him, and he had a tough job coming in to rebuild the BU basketball program, but I feel he has some glaring weaknesses with lineups, game management, and I don't feel like he can bring in players with the talent level needed to win the MVC. I like him but I am losing faith that he is the right man to get BU on top of the MVC overall. That said, I'm not calling for his job or anything, just that if he can get BU over the top in the next few years it may be time to look at someone the admin believes can do a better job. Also the changes in NCAA MB recently have to be really difficult to handle right now.

[PhiAlphaBoy]

Yes, the MVC has always been a guard-oriented league. Every successful Bradley team in my memory has always had a top notch point guard and combo guard. I also think our coaching has been somewhat substandard at times.

[Big Mike]

Coming to the belief the Braves will finish no higher than 5th...

[Bball31]

To win in today’s college basketball you need at least 3 very good shooters from 10-25 feet out, are 6’-3” to 6’-7” and can play multiple positions. They also must be able to play both ends of the floor. I have a very hard time finding three on this year’s team.

[BradleyBiz]

Wardle is still our guy. He has built a culture with talented players who are quality people and we are at least in the mix for championships each year (for the most part). And Imagine if this team had Terry Roberts.

Does Wardle have weaknesses? Of course. If he didn’t , he’d already be at a high Power 5 program. But ask Illinois or Kentucky or Loyola (the list is long) right now about their coaches. The perfect coach does not exist.

I’m not upset about the loss yesterday. Belmont shot very well. And we played well. Belmont will live and die by the three. They are shooting very well mid season. It will be interesting to see if that carries into Arch Madness. That’s when it really matters. PS: it would be awesome to get a Friberg type shooter out of the portal next year.

[Bball31]

Perhaps we should be getting use to it. Over the last 30 years, we’ve only had 13 winning seasons in conference play (including this year at 6-4) and finished above 4th place 6 times. BU might have the most loyal fans.

[PhiAlphaBoy]

All I know is if Bradley decides to tear things down again by making a coaching change they had better get the right guy. Our loyal fan base is too old to endure yet another 5 year rebuild; many will be dead by then. If we replace Wardle we would need to get it right the first time, just like Drake, Belmont, Indiana State and Murray State did. Just look at the immediate miraculous turnaround at Kansas State this year... We would need a hire like that

[BUfan14]

I mentioned this early in the year....think about our roster construction: 7 post players, 2 sub-6 foot point guards, and 4 wings. One of those wings is hurt and wasn't playing much before the injury anyway (though I disagreed with that decision). Two of the remaining wings are not overly reliable shooters or athletic. I know people call Ville a sharpshooter every game, but he hasn't shot above 36% since his freshman year. He is a solid bench shooter, and he has become a guy who contributes in other ways like rebounding and quick hands on defense, despite slow feet, however he is not the sharpshooter he was billed to be.

Now ask, what is the most important positions in college basketball, especially for a mid-major? GUARDS. PG first, and then wings who can shoot and score. We have built the team inside out, but the rest of the Valley builds outside in. We have four of thirteen scholarships going to wings/guards. That is very poor roster construction to me. Also, I'm not even sure we really have a true point guard. I know Deen is like Darrell Brown, but he isn't quite as tall or good at blowing by guys. Deen's turnovers even seem a little more erratic than Brown's did. Pop is a non-factor, so basically we only have one point guard.

Think about that....on a mid-major team we essentially play one under-sized point guard and three wings. That is truly astounding in today's game. We are lucky there haven't been more serious injuries at those 1-3 spots. We have no one to go to when those guys struggle.

Next, what do mid-majors needs to do to win big games generally? Hit big three pointers. Mid-majors will never out athletic or muscle great teams, but if they have scrappy guys who can hit threes, that is where they can gain an advantage. I have said it a few times....the years we have had the most success in the last 20 years are the years we had guys like Jeremy Crouch, Will Franklin, Nate Kennell, Andrew Warren, Danny Adams. Sometimes more than one of those guys on the same team. We have no elite shooters, or even scorers for that matter, from the perimeter. Pair those guys with scrappy point guards who can hit a few threes and blow by guys when needed (Daniel Ruffin, Darrell Brown) and you have good teams. Unfortunately, those guys didn't have great post presences (outside of the Sweet 16 year) to make those teams really elite, but they were still teams that competed with high majors when given the chance. Rienk Mast is that elite post guy, but we forgot to build the rest of the team. The Valley is much worse now than it was then too.

Finally, most of our relatively successful teams had a stretch four kind of player with athleticism. Marcellus Sommerville, Taylor Brown, Elijah Childs, Theron Wilson. Guys that could hit a three if necessary, but is wasn't their game. They rebound, defend, and get to the rim. They were basically a traditional small forward playing at the power forward spot. Do we have a guy like that? Not really, Leons plays more like a guard than a post. He rarely goes into contact, nor uses his height. Most of his shots seem to be three pointers. Henry is basically a regular post in a smaller body.

So in conclusion, we have build a team with 7 posts, 4 decent but flawed wings (one of whom doesn't play), and 2 unsized point guards (one of whom doesn't play much), and no real stretch four in a guard intensive league. That is a problem. The lack of perimeter focus on the roster probably causes our free throw and turnovers problems too.

[Old Coach]

Finally, most of our relatively successful teams had a stretch four kind of player with athleticism. Marcellus Sommerville, Taylor Brown, Elijah Childs, Theron Wilson. Guys that could hit a three if necessary, but is wasn't their game. They rebound, defend, and get to the rim. They were basically a traditional small forward playing at the power forward spot. Do we have a guy like that? Not really, Leons plays more like a guard than a post. He rarely goes into contact, nor uses his height. Most of his shots seem to be three pointers. Henry is basically a regular post in a smaller body.

I actually think that Leons has been a classic stretch 4. He's 52-92 (57%) from 2, and 29-75 (39%, 2nd best on the team) from 3. He's 2nd on the team in FT attempts, making 42-52 attempts (81%), and he leads the team with 130 rebounds.

[Big Mike]

I actually think that Leons has been a classic stretch 4. He's 52-92 (57%) from 2, and 29-75 (39%, 2nd best on the team) from 3. He's 2nd on the team in FT attempts, making 42-52 attempts (81%), and he leads the team with 130 rebounds.

Plus he leads the league in blocks....

[BUfan17]

I think your first point is the biggest issue. We just don't have guards that can compete consistently against the top teams in the MVC. We have no consistent threats from the 3 like Belmont does. Mast does all that he can, but we really need some perimeter scoring to compete with these kinds of teams. The only guys in double digits were Mast, Leons, and Henry.

Ville and Hickman have their moments, but they aren't volume scorers. Deen has potential, but he is undersized and can get shutdown on offense or exposed on defense. Zek shows promise sometimes but it still pretty raw.

Times like these make me wonder how this team would be if Terry Roberts stuck around, we lost a lot of production with him gone.

[BUfan14]

I actually think that Leons has been a classic stretch 4. He's 52-92 (57%) from 2, and 29-75 (39%, 2nd best on the team) from 3. He's 2nd on the team in FT attempts, making 42-52 attempts (81%), and he leads the team with 130 rebounds.

Fair enough points. I still think he doesn't quite play around the rim much on offense. Once in a while he does a driving spin move to score inside, but he doesn't really seem to post up much, and he doesn't go towards contact hardly ever to get to the line. Looking at those numbers, almost 45% of his shots are from three. He certainly has the "stretch" part of it down, thus my comment he almost plays more like a guard, on offense that is. On defense, Malevey is spectacular and probably the best defender on the team when accounting for his defensive versatility.

So Malevy is great don't get me wrong, but I guess I'm also looking for the team to have a guy like Jashon, but with just a little better outside shot and another couple inches....like Sommerville, Wilson, Brown, Childs....guys that can get to the free throw line. That has been a huge issue in that we hardly attempt many free throws, much less how many we make. So I guess the ability to score down low and get to the line are the abilities I am looking a little more for at the four position, in addition to a serviceable three point shot. Malevy is much more perimeter oriented than those other guys, and he certainly does have a better than average three point shot. If we had a guard that could penetrate and score in the paint, this wouldn't be such a need either. But we seem to have a hard time getting easy buckets inside outside of Rienk and maybe Jashon, unless they are wide open dunks.

I'll concede that I think the 4 spot is the least of the concerns I listed by far. The PG and 2/3 spots are by far the biggest areas of concern. When you have 7 guys for 2 spots, and 6 guys for three generally more important spots, that is a poor distribution of resources.

[️ Fanatic]

On defense, Malevey is spectacular and probably the best defender on the team when accounting for his defensive versatility.
s.

Agreed on Leons defense, so my question is... why was he not guarding Ben Sheppard in Sat's game - Coach had Hickman on him most of the game: Same in the game vs. Drake: Where Malevey was guarding Sturtz while Hick/Zek were on DeVries. I assume they leverage his help defense more this way(or keep him out of early foul trouble which has happened a couple games too) - yet I want my best defender guarding their best offensive threat.

[PhiAlphaBoy]

Agreed on Leons defense, so my question is... why was he not guarding Ben Sheppard in Sat's game - Coach had Hickman on him most of the game: Same in the game vs. Drake: Where Malevey was guarding Sturtz while Hick/Zek were on DeVries. I assume they leverage his help defense more this way(or keep him out of early foul trouble which has happened a couple games too) - yet I want my best defender guarding their best offensive threat.

Wardle has said previously that he believes Hickman is the team's best defender. Since he made that statement Hickman has been exposed as "not as good as advertised", IMO.

[Scoretable2]

Opinion! Connor Hickman is passing up shot opportunities. Confidence may be the issue. I would coach him to shoot more,
especially in big lead games.