Final score: Drake 74 Bradley 67

[bradleyfan124]

Not sure what some folks are drinking. We simply cannot beat Drake or the Sycs. Will be swept by both. It’s those 2 and the rest.

Glad you weren't at the Alamo or Battle of the Bulge We can beat both of them

[Tommy]

Who am I supposed to be motivating? Just speaking the truth. Doesn’t mean I like it. But it’s the truth.

I guess I don’t see things the same way you do. Not sure how taking Indiana State to OT in their building and losing by 7 to Drake would illicit such a negative Nancy response. It seems to be a bit reactive and defeatist to me.

[bradleyfan124]

I think this game re-emphasized a thought I had. Bradley needs a good post up center. Brodie hurt us down the stretch. We need a guy that go down low and take up space. Play defense, get rebounds and score on post up moves. Mast could do that last year. I think Thomas can do it but will he. I thought Jonovoc would be the guy this year but that didn't happen.They need to get someone from recruiting or Transfer portal

[Heemeskerk]

You’d make a great motivational speaker.

Soon we will be living in a van down by the river! SNL reference. lol!

[Tommy]

IMG_2008.webp

Soon we will be living in a van down by the river! SNL reference. lol!

Haha! We could use him!

[Da Coach]

A couple things I noticed... Bradley has been successful much of this year by coming out strong at the start of games, taking big early leads, and holding the lead throughout the game. That was the pattern of nearly all of their games during the 9 game win streak (and 11 out of 12 games). But now in the last 2 games, losses at Evansville and the loss to Drake, the opposite has occurred. Bradley fell behind Evansville by 17 points in the first half, and they fell behind Drake by 17 early in the 2nd half. It's difficult to win games when you have to make up big deficits like that. Hopefully, the coaches can rectify this trend the last 2 games.

And the other thing that has worked against Bradley this season is that their opponents have shot far more free throws than Bradley.
Bradley has attempted 392 free throws this season, which ranks 11th in the MVC. Meanwhile, the other three MVC teams with winning records, Indiana State (507), SIU (504), and Drake (480) are the top three in the MVC in FT attempts.
Usually winning teams get fouled more than losing teams. But, Bradley's opponents have attempted 479 FTs, a whopping 22% more free throws by the opponents, than by Bradley. That's a huge disparity for a team that has won 70% of their games, and a much bigger disparity than in past seasons.

A little of that may be related to the change the NCAA made this past off-season regarding how officials call the block-charge fouls. - https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...coming-season/
The rule requires officials to make a quick determination of how long the defender was in position before the contact happened. With everything else the officials have to be watching, this is nearly impossible for them, so they seem to just call everything a block now, and award foul shots to the offensive player. We rarely see offensive fouls called any more in that situation. Bradley may not have adjusted to this rule change as many other teams have.
Also, this rule change benefits teams with the big, strong, bulky inside players, which Bradley doesn't have. Bradley's three "big men" Leons, Hannah, and Atlason shoot surprisingly few free throws, Those three were just 2-4 combined from the FT line against Drake. That is fewer FTs than Darnell Brodie got by himself. Against Indiana State, those three attempted only 2 FTs combined for the entire game, less than half the number of FTs Robbie Avila had by himself. And it's not just those two games, Bradley has shot fewer free throws than most opponents this year, despite winning 17 of their 25 games.
Whatever the reason, maybe it would benefit Bradley to try to get to the FT line more, or stop giving their opponents so many free throws.

[bradleyfan124]

A couple things I noticed... Bradley has been successful much of this year by coming out strong at the start of games, taking big early leads, and holding the lead throughout the game. That was the pattern of nearly all of their games during the 9 game win streak (and 11 out of 12 games). But now in the last 2 games, losses at Evansville and the loss to Drake, the opposite has occurred. Bradley fell behind Evansville by 17 points in the first half, and they fell behind Drake by 17 early in the 2nd half. It's difficult to win games when you have to make up big deficits like that. Hopefully, the coaches can rectify this trend the last 2 games.

And the other thing that has worked against Bradley this season is that their opponents have shot far more free throws than Bradley.
Bradley has attempted 392 free throws this season, which ranks 11th in the MVC. Meanwhile, the other three MVC teams with winning records, Indiana State (507), SIU (504), and Drake (480) are the top three in the MVC in FT attempts.
Usually winning teams get fouled more than losing teams. But, Bradley's opponents have attempted 479 FTs, a whopping 22% more free throws by the opponents, than by Bradley. That's a huge disparity for a team that has won 70% of their games, and a much bigger disparity than in past seasons.

A little of that may be related to the change the NCAA made this past off-season regarding how officials call the block-charge fouls. - https://www.cbssports.com/college-ba...coming-season/
The rule requires officials to make a quick determination of how long the defender was in position before the contact happened. With everything else the officials have to be watching, this is nearly impossible for them, so they seem to just call everything a block now, and award foul shots to the offensive player. We rarely see offensive fouls called any more in that situation. Bradley may not have adjusted to this rule change as many other teams have.
Also, this rule change benefits teams with the big, strong, bulky inside players, which Bradley doesn't have. Bradley's three "big men" Leons, Hannah, and Atlason shoot surprisingly few free throws, Those three were just 2-4 combined from the FT line against Drake. That is fewer FTs than Darnell Brodie got by himself. Against Indiana State, those three attempted only 2 FTs combined for the entire game, less than half the number of FTs Robbie Avila had by himself. And it's not just those two games, Bradley has shot fewer free throws than most opponents this year, despite winning 17 of their 25 games.
Whatever the reason, maybe it would benefit Bradley to try to get to the FT line more, or stop giving their opponents so many free throws.

I always felt Bradley would have a better second half than a first. The officiating has been less than good this year. I commented on that on another thread.

[Tommy]

We had 10 fouls to Drake's 4 near the end of the game. That's ridiculous, especially against a physical defensive team like Drake, and the momentum killing offensive fouls called on BU when we were making our comeback were really bad. They made the foul count a little closer after the game was over, but we are consistently the only home team in the Valley that gets called for more fouls than the visiting team.

Yes, I understand that we had a lot of shots go in and out in this game, and we shot horribly in the 1st half while Drake couldn't seem to miss (1st half was a repeat of the 1st half of the Evansville game), but I still say we win that game if the refs had called it even close to even, which I'm sorry, they just did not. When a player goes flying like he just got hit by a 300 lb. offensive linemen in order to get a charge called on Deen, that's a flop. That play could have tied the game, but instead gave the ball back to Drake. I'm still fuming about the officiating in that game, but am slowly cooling down. I should be good by summer.

[Braves2006]

I guess I don’t see things the same way you do. Not sure how taking Indiana State to OT in their building and losing by 7 to Drake would illicit such a negative Nancy response. It seems to be a bit reactive and defeatist to me.

And that's totally fine Tommy. Its ok to disagree. That's the way I see it after watching the games but don't get me wrong.... I'd love to eat crow at some point (either in Des Moines or STL). Those 2 teams are very good/sound teams. But every great team can have a bad night and get beat. (And by the way, I prefer "realist" to "defeatist )

[braves16]

ISUblue is now up to 23rd in the AP poll.

[Da Coach]

ISUblue is now up to 23rd in the AP poll.

In today's NET rankings, Indiana State is at 20, Drake at 51, and Bradley at 60 - https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basket...l-net-rankings

Here are this week's AP Media poll (INSU at #23), and the USA Today Coaches poll (INSU at #24) - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings