Final: Bradley 69 Truman State 47

[Bradley8792]

And can we move on from the whole Pettigrew debacle?

[tomahawk chop]

The big problem at hand is bu is 13 games in and coach is still trying to figure out rotations and manage playing time and player inadequacies and he is frustrated. You can lead the horse to water but you can't make it drink. This a very dangerous heading into valley play and starting 0-2 . I hope it gets figured out soon but I don't see that happening. Hope I'm wrong

That is what worries me because his actions are not normal for him this season. Sure he has been hard on his players before but not like he has been this season. We started the season 6-0 and were playing much better and he was not screaming that much even though mistakes were being made at that time. Seems like once we started losing games he could not accept the mistakes and now it appears some of the players are playing more uptight that leads to more mistakes and he cannot handle it.

[Bballjunkie]

Sometimes the best coaching is less coaching if that makes sense. I'm talking game strategy less substitutions and letting your players play through mistakes. In practice it's all about teaching, culture, and hard work.

[yoda]

we’ve lost more talent to the portal than about anyone the past few years, plus lost our best player Eli, had injuries and still Brian Wardle virtually always has them ready to play down the stretch & in March.

Not many teams get quality kids from the Portal or from Juco, yet we’ve done ok with Duke, Davis, Leons, Roberts, Lundy- even East.
Plus his success with Euros.
Give the guy some credit.
This board is starting to rag nonstop like the pjs or isu boards
If he was doing any better he’d be getting $2 mil offers from P5 schools.

[tomahawk chop]

Sometimes the best coaching is less coaching if that makes sense. I'm talking game strategy less substitutions and letting your players play through mistakes. In practice it's all about teaching, culture, and hard work.

Agree, get them prepared in practice and then let them play. I am not saying he does not know how to coach as his success speaks for itself. I just think with this group that he is being overly hard on them because of mistakes. I think he can do a better job with them.

[ManMythLegend]

I find it entertaining how much ragging there is on BW this quickly after all the praise he was given last year (the praise deservedly so). The man can coach, he's proved it. And anyone here questioning his ability is laughable. Here's the honest truth....we aren't as good as we looked in our first 6 games. We aren't as bad as we looked in our 5 game skid. We lost players after last season that are nearly impossible to replace immediately. The valley is going to be tough this year. BW is still the guy. One game at a time and let's see where we end up come March. Enjoy the ride.

[Tomahawk]

Agree with a previous post regarding Brian Wardle's coaching. Put them in his shoes and see how you can handle the criticism that all coaches endure. Is Wardle perfect, of course not. None of us are. Let the season play out and see what happens. He has done more for Bradley success wise. I will even throw out those first two years record after he was hired.

[Dub]

One defining attribute of Wardle is he is a relentless and intense competitor. He is off the charts in this category compared to the general population, and even most people in sports. It’s what makes him successful, and also has an awful lot to do with what is putting championship trophies on our shelf. Of course, any strength has potential to cross over and be a liability if not contained.

He is a fiery-but-mostly-peaceful coach. He’s the coach we want and need unless you prefer other approaches, like for instance Geno Ford.

Two observations: 1. When he gets hot and calls a timeout, he will wisely step back from the huddle and collect his thoughts before giving instruction. I respect that. 2. The players who are the most naturally competitive respond better to him than those who are less so. They get it. Watch and you’ll agree.

i respect the heck out of the job Brian Wardle and Chris Reynolds are doing for Bradley.

[basketball nut]

I find it entertaining how much ragging there is on BW this quickly after all the praise he was given last year (the praise deservedly so). The man can coach, he's proved it. And anyone here questioning his ability is laughable. Here's the honest truth....we aren't as good as we looked in our first 6 games. We aren't as bad as we looked in our 5 game skid. We lost players after last season that are nearly impossible to replace immediately. The valley is going to be tough this year. BW is still the guy. One game at a time and let's see where we end up come March. Enjoy the ride.

I agree that this post has been entertaining. As Coach MO use to say Peoria is the home of 10,000 coaches although we have lost half of them. Lol
I really thought we would be a lot better then we are doing. From everything i was reading i thought Ellis would easily replace Zek. I was wrong.
We don't have a JH yet although I see Burch getting tougher and tougher. He plays hard and goes after rebounds and his "D" is getting better. AA this year is kind of where Davis was last season. Davis is playing better every game.
As for the rotation I think that is pretty set for each player ahead of time.
The guys that have been here 3 or 4 years understand what it takes to earn your playing time. Some of the new guys haven't bought into that yet. It looks like Thomas is getting the idea.
we need to get Ellis on the same page.
We can only wait see what happens by the beginning of March and the tournament.

[basketball nut]

One defining attribute of Wardle is he is a relentless and intense competitor. He is off the charts in this category compared to the general population, and even most people in sports. It’s what makes him successful, and also has an awful lot to do with what is putting championship trophies on our shelf. Of course, any strength has potential to cross over and be a liability if not contained.

He is a fiery-but-mostly-peaceful coach. He’s the coach we want and need unless you prefer other approaches, like for instance Geno Ford.

Two observations: 1. When he gets hot and calls a timeout, he will wisely step back from the huddle and collect his thoughts before giving instruction. I respect that. 2. The players who are the most naturally competitive respond better to him than those who are less so. They get it. Watch and you’ll agree.

i respect the heck out of the job Brian Wardle and Chris Reynolds are doing for Bradley.

Very well said

[PhiAlphaBoy]

On a scale of 1-10 where would you rate Wardle (and staff) for the overall job they've done from April through today?

I'm rating them a 4 so far. Last season I would have rated them a 9.

[Dub]

On a scale of 1-10 where would you rate Wardle (and staff) for the overall job they've done from April through today?

I'm rating them a 4 so far. Last season I would have rated them a 9.

In what regard and by what measure? W/L results season to date? Quality of new players? Development of established players? I don’t know that the rating means much without some further qualification.

would you have rated them a 9 last year at this same point in the season?

I highly doubt that our staff isn't putting forth the same level of effort and excellence this year, or that they are employing different strategies compared to last year.

The difference is we lost one of the very top players in our league and haven’t yet been able to fill the void .

[PhiAlphaBoy]

Good questions dub. I would rate the staff a 4 based on the following:

Poor player retention, but primarily their horrible success in the portal to replace the lost players. We're the only team in the league getting NOTHING from our portal players.

An inability to recruit to the need. Stevie Wonder could see that we were thin at the guard position, specifically point guard. The Valley has always been a guard's league and we have always been weak at that position under Wardle, maybe no weaker than we've been this year.

Poor player evaluation and nonsensical substitution patterns. Honest to God it seems as if he runs players in and out every two minutes regardless of the game's circumstances.

Fits of rage. Yanking and berating players every time they make a mistake, which has guys constantly looking over their shoulder and playing tight. This was never more apparent when contrasting the way ISU was coached today against MSU. How long has Shcertz been at ISU? And all of their top scorers today came through the portal?

Players in the dog house. Ellis getting 30 minutes in prior games then rides the bench against a D2. Really?! A guy you need to get going and you play a walk-on whoe will give you nothing towards your end goal. Then Thomas getting fairly significant PT after being invisible for two months, after folding towels at the end of the bench with players whose scholarships should have been used for guards. There's no logic there man.

Wardle and his staff look lost and clueless right now and I don't see things getting better. I wish I did. I know we closed out last season with ten straight wins to win the league championship for the first time since many posters have been alive. Kudos and fantastic job by Coach of the Year Wardle! I hope he can get things turned around again but I'm just not seeing that we have the horses to finish higher than 4th or 5th this year.

[patrick_o'brian]

I just want to add that I enjoyed watching Kyle Thomas get some minutes and could easily be a big fan of his. No clue why. I just liked what he brought to the table. Yes it was a D2 team in mop up time but I think there’s something there. Maybe not.

[Tommy]

BW has always pulled players quickly after making mistakes and I assume that’s just his teaching method to get them to understand what to do and not to do. As the season gets to tournament time, that always tails off.
This team lost 2 starters (Rienk and Zek), our 6th and 7th men (JaShon and Ville) and lost what was supposed to be our best off season get in Pettigrew when he decided to walk. That’s a lot to lose and expect them to not have some bumps in the road when we lose a starter and floor leader to injury. I don’t remember anybody complaining about Wardle’s coaching style when we were 6-0 against some tough competition.
I haven’t been happy with the recent losing either, but BW has had us perform at or above expectations every year but the nightmare COVID year with the Eli and crew nonsense that all but ruined our year.
Just to list some notable times we fickle college basketball fans have overreacted in the past:
1. Calling for DB to be benched when he was struggling through a scoring drought. He was called a defensive liability because of his height (just like Duke). He went on to win MVP in the conference tournament.
2. Lundy was a perennial bench player and had no place in the starting lineup. We know how that story ended with him being the catalyst in one of the greatest comebacks of all time in the MVC tourney championship against UNI.
3. 2019 6 game losing streak including a loss to an abysmal EIU team. Many were calling for BW’s head. We went on to win the MVC tournament.
I could go on, but you get the point.
BW will have us ready and playing our best ball by the end of the year barring any serious injuries to a starter. You can count on it.