Final score: Bradley 50 SIU 48

[molar50]

I thought that the SIU coach made a poor decision by not calling a timeout after Henry’s missed free throws and having the ball advanced to half court. They could have made a 3 point shot to win or possibly get fouled and get to the foul line. I know it’s just speculation, but I think the odds are better with the time out. But, it is easy for me to criticize after the fact. I wouldn’t want to be a coach.

[Da Coach]

I thought that the SIU coach made a poor decision by not calling a timeout after Henry’s missed free throws and having the ball advanced to half court. They could have made a 3 point shot to win or possibly get fouled and get to the foul line. I know it’s just speculation, but I think the odds are better with the time out. But, it is easy for me to criticize after the fact. I wouldn’t want to be a coach.

Yes, I agree. SIU had 2 timeouts remaining, and if they called time out, they would have had slightly under 4 seconds to run a designed play, and most of the time that results in a better shot than the desperation half court heave they ended up with. But there are some coaches who believe doing so could benefit the defense, too, and thus choose not to call a time out.

[Fan since 88]

I think that the best shooters and athletes go to the power 5 teams. Coaches in the Valley have to decide if they want good shooters or good athletes. Most of the recruits that have both qualities are not coming to the Valley.

[Dubl R 1]

Just got home!!.. great win!

guess this means I’ll have to go to valpo!

[Tommy]

I think that the best shooters and athletes go to the power 5 teams. Coaches in the Valley have to decide if they want good shooters or good athletes. Most of the recruits that have both qualities are not coming to the Valley.

There’s 8 billion people in the world and that should leave enough talent to fill a roster. We just have to be much smarter in the way we recruit than the big boys who can just buy the obvious choices. And don’t discount coaching, attitude, and effort. Those 3 things can overcome the talent deficit quite often. I just hope we make the dance and get our shot.

[Da Coach]

Good read from Dave Eminian-

https://www.pjstar.com/story/sports/college/basketball/bradley-hoops/2023/02/19/bradley-basketball-bu-vs-siu-score-updates-of-missouri-valley-game/69908507007/

[Fan since 88]

There’s 8 billion people in the world and that should leave enough talent to fill a roster. We just have to be much smarter in the way we recruit than the big boys who can just buy the obvious choices. And don’t discount coaching, attitude, and effort. Those 3 things can overcome the talent deficit quite often. I just hope we make the dance and get our shot.

The world population has little to do with how many good basketball players there are at the college level.

I happen to think that the coaches in the valley are smart enough to know how to recruit, and good enough to know how to coach players up, but outside the power 5, teams generally don't have the money or national exposure to go get the very top level talent.

Once in a while one slips through to a mid major team, but now they can leave anytime if they get a better offer (i.e.Terry Roberts), but not many mid majors make deep runs in the NCAA tournament, not due to poor coacihng, but because the talent level does not match up with the big boys.

I am pleased the Coach Wardle has managed to keep most of his players here, and as a result, we have a good team this year, and appear set up nicely for the future.

Like you I am loving this run and want nothing but the best for our Braves in the Lou and the NCAA tournament.

[Da Coach]

While we continue to enjoy this season, I really like how the 2023-24 roster is shaping up, but there are still a few unknowns.
As far as recruiting for 2023 goes, Bradley might not have any more open scholarships. The only certain open scholarship is Ja'Shon Henry's, and that is already committed to Demarion Burch.
It's always possible other scholarships could open, as has happened nearly every year under Coach Wardle. And, Bradley senior Ville Tahvanainen has not said whether he will return next year. Bradley's other senior, Malevy Leons told Dave Eminian he does plan to return for 2023-24. And of course, there could be a player or players who leave before their eligibility is over. That is especially true and more common than ever with the transfer portal, immediate eligibility, and NIL opportunities.
I don't expect to hear about any other commitments until after the season, when decisions are made.

[Stryker]

The world population has little to do with how many good basketball players there are at the college level.

I happen to think that the coaches in the valley are smart enough to know how to recruit, and good enough to know how to coach players up, but outside the power 5, teams generally don't have the money or national exposure to go get the very top level talent.

Once in a while one slips through to a mid major team, but now they can leave anytime if they get a better offer (i.e.Terry Roberts), but not many mid majors make deep runs in the NCAA tournament, not due to poor coacihng, but because the talent level does not match up with the big boys.

I am pleased the Coach Wardle has managed to keep most of his players here, and as a result, we have a good team this year, and appear set up nicely for the future.

Like you I am loving this run and want nothing but the best for our Braves in the Lou and the NCAA tournament.

Can't be upset with Wardle at all IMO. It took 2 seasons to get some talent back at BU, and since then he has had four 20 win teams in 6 years, and only one losing season, which was the COVID year and if I remember right there were plenty of injuries etc that year as well.

If you exclude the COVID year and the two rebuilding years, where I don't think any coach in the nation could have had a winning record with BU, and Wardle has 5 winning seasons and 4 seasons with 20 wins or more and 2 NCAA appearances (sort of). That's pretty darn good for a mid major coach all things considered. I'm pretty darn happy with him and he has got some pretty talented players to BU like Childs, Mast, Brown, Lyons, etc. I'd still like to see it improve though, but he has done an above average job.

I really liked Les too, but Wardle already has as many 20 win seasons at BU as Les did. Things are pretty great at the Hilltop all things considered, just would like to see attendance improve and student turnout to games actually happen.

[BUfan14]

I think the program certainly has a ceiling high enough to be a top Valley contender year in and year out like Drake, UNI (typically), Creighton and Wichita in days of old, Loyola in recent years, I assume Belmont now. That’s what we should expect.

Wardle rebuilt the program and made us really solid teams that had some things break their way and won Arch Madness. That now seems to be paying dividends to land better talent like a Leons, Roberts, Hickman, etc. I agree it’s harder for mid-majors to land kids that our athletes and can shoot, but they can succeed with good hidden gem recruiting and player development (Zek, Leons). It’s also about building rosters that have a balance of both types of players. The next step for Bradley and Wardle is to become those consistent contenders in the regular season. The question was could Wardle take that next step.

That COVID year team had a lot of issues, but one off year can be forgiven. These last two needed to show we could contend at the top though and take that next step. That’s why this team was so frustrating early on, because they didn’t live up to that potential or look like they could contend. It appears we may finally take that next step to be annual contenders. Credit to Wardle for being able to do so. Certainly the Valley is way easier now than in the Les era when the Valley was a top 7 or 8 conference, but hopefully that will improve.

[bradleyfan124]

I think the program certainly has a ceiling high enough to be a top Valley contender year in and year out like Drake, UNI (typically), Creighton and Wichita in days of old, Loyola in recent years, I assume Belmont now. That’s what we should expect.

Wardle rebuilt the program and made us really solid teams that had some things break their way and won Arch Madness. That now seems to be paying dividends to land better talent like a Leons, Roberts, Hickman, etc. I agree it’s harder for mid-majors to land kids that our athletes and can shoot, but they can succeed with good hidden gem recruiting and player development (Zek, Leons). It’s also about building rosters that have a balance of both types of players. The next step for Bradley and Wardle is to become those consistent contenders in the regular season. The question was could Wardle take that next step.

That COVID year team had a lot of issues, but one off year can be forgiven. These last two needed to show we could contend at the top though and take that next step. That’s why this team was so frustrating early on, because they didn’t live up to that potential or look like they could contend. It appears we may finally take that next step to be annual contenders. Credit to Wardle for being able to do so. Certainly the Valley is way easier now than in the Les era when the Valley was a top 7 or 8 conference, but hopefully that will improve.

I think that is a key word. He is not building a team. He is building a program

[bigjimmy]

Hated not seeing most of this game live, darn that work for a living thing, but I was fortunate to see the last 2:00. I watched the replay and it's pretty amazing that we won the game. Don't win too often when all 3 phases of shooting are below 50%. It looks pretty obvious to me that JaShon just has no confidence at the FT line as he's just 7 -21 in his last 7 games. It might be pretty hard to play him in the last few minutes of the game as teams will just foul him before he shoots it or gets a rebound with us leading. We wouldn't have won a game like this earlier in the year where teams were allowed to be overly physical with us but over the past month you could see this team mature before our eyes into one of the more physical teams in the Valley. Leons and Hickman should be first team All Defense with Leons being the defensive POY. It's amazing how Leons can impact a game when he doesn't score. Krikke has certainly been on a roll recently but as long as we're engaged from the opening tip we'll be fine. But you still can't look past them towards the Drake game on Sunday. TCB and GET ER DONE!

[Da Coach]

Hated not seeing most of this game live, darn that work for a living thing, but I was fortunate to see the last 2:00. I watched the replay and it's pretty amazing that we won the game....

The ESPN games are archived and the replays are posted here-

https://www.espn.com/watch/schedule/_/type/replay/startDate/20230219

Anyone who would like to watch the Bradley-SIU game again -

https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/f8750691-c658-42c6-8d18-6e1e663a503a

[bradleyfan124]

The ESPN games are archived and the replays are posted here-

https://www.espn.com/watch/schedule/_/type/replay/startDate/20230219

Anyone who would like to watch the Bradley-SIU game again -

https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/f8750691-c658-42c6-8d18-6e1e663a503a

Does anyone know how I can watch the Murray State game againthat was played here. I3 Broadband does not have a contract with ESPN 3

[Tommy]

Does anyone know how I can watch the Murray State game again that was played here. I3 Broadband does not have a contract with ESPN 3

I've had trouble with my video converter/editor all year so haven't been getting the games up on Youtube like usual, but I should have it up soon. If you know someone with ESPN+ that would let you use their account, that's your best bet.