Final score- Washington State 91 Bradley 74

[bigjimmy]

When you don't score and you let the other team score for a 7:00 stretch guess what. No chance to win. They out hustled us, out toughed us and just had better effort. Not having Burch and his effort certainly didn't help but I'm not sure it would have made a difference. It was good to see Conner Dillon hit 4 3's as he and Christian Davis, with 14 points, were about the only 2 bright spots for the whole game. They looked like a team who looked like they believed in their hype and could just roll out there without much effort and win. I'm sure Brian will be getting their attention between now and the next game and we'll see a much better effort.

[BengalFan14]

Both CDs were pretty good tonight. Actually, they played their asses off. Big CD scored well and had to guard 0 on WSU - who’s an NBA draft pick. Looks like he will get the toughest defensive assignment, Zek, Darius and Duke played soft - Wardle needs to get their attention because they’ve read way too hype about themselves. We missed Burch - as much as he drives me nuts we needed his size as a backup PG. JJ is a freshman and made freshman mistakes. Almar can’t guard a chair without fouling. And so on…
We didn’t expect to go 33-0. The kids just need to learn from this and get better. I’m not concerned. I think next week 2 wins are waiting for us.

[LittleBrave]

Absolutely can NOT have another game like this in non conference - even in conf play. Worst defensive and rebounding effort I’ve seen in a few yrs. We looked slow and lethargic on D and didn’t get the boards.The offense other than the turnovers in 1h looked decent and we are a great 3-point shooting team, tho Almar missed every attempt. That won’t happen again. Hannah should be taking two 3s max per game unless we’re up big.
Duke struggled and that is rare. No open looks and he is good at opening up space.
Not too concerned about our offense going fw, but for a lull to open the 2nd half, but we played uninspired for a 5-min stretch on both ends.

Positives were C Dilly and Davis playing well again, and his consistency is needed for a long season. Hannah, Duke, and Zek need to step it up.
Again, we’ll be alright, but we need to fix things before the Thanksgiving tourney and every game there is crucial to WIN. Loss of Demarion seemed big 2nite and he brings the energy from the bench.

[LittleBrave]

I was worried about this game heading in, abd not sure why. I just hope it’s not a game that will cost the Braves down the road. We can overcome it, but just can’t play undisciplined to this degree and the guys need to learn from the undisciplined efforts on defense, and our success in recent yrs hinges on smart and tough defense.

U don’t expect this kind of effort from vets like we have, and guys who have a LOT of pride for Bradley. Maybe a good thing to happen in Gm 2 to get a sense of urgency from the leaders.
Let’s see how BU responds.

[Tommy]

Crossing two time zones is never easy in sports. It’s early, we’ll bounce back.

[Landof10thcoaches]

Dukes head was so big and now hopefully the rest of the teams is deflated. Duke is not playing well. He is the leader. Bully is going to take over if duke can’t start hitting shots we know he will but when???? Refs were not good but can’t use that for anything but excuses for poor defense. Washington state is a good team and will surprise a lot of teams. Turn the page learn from it.

[Bradley8792]

Unfortunate loss that could have been a win. Hopefully they will learn from it. I think this game was an example of what Duke will see all season. Hes going to be heavily guarded. Bully looked frustrated. Welcome to Div 1. Zek just needs to be better. Better focus, leadership. Nice to Dillon contribute. Hopefully Almar can become consistently better.

[Nashville Cat]

Our coaches have been through the tiny guard dilemma before, going back to DB. They need to figure it out. Post ups and traps are going to be there all year (as they were last year). BTW the difference in athleticism was noticeable to the extent Dave Snell mentioned it on air.

[Tommy]

Our coaches have been through the tiny guard dilemma before, going back to DB. They need to figure it out. Post ups and traps are going to be there all year (as they were last year). BTW the difference in athleticism was noticeable to the extent Dave Snell mentioned it on air.

NC, I usually agree with most everything you say but this is an exception.
I don’t understand why after a loss, it becomes an issue with height? Didn’t we just win the conference outright with Duke in 22-23?
I remember people complaining about DB’s size and calling for him to be benched on this forum after he had a stretch of bad shooting games in the same year we were chanting ‘MVP’ for him after we won the conference tournament in St. Louis.
The least of my concerns on this team are with Duke. He is going to have some off games and he’s going to have games where he lights it up (like last year’s Missouri State game).
My point is that yesterdays game was a poorly executed game in all facets and I don’t think Duke’s size was the deciding or even a main factor in the loss. I’ve seen taller guards at BU completely fall apart when being pressed/trapped, so to make this a small guard issue seems off base to me.

[Fetz86]

We didn’t play well, but it’s hard to look good competing 8 vs 5. Those refs were awful.

[bradleyfan124]

I knew we would struggle to guard this team. Their bigs are very mobile and drive the ball well.
1st off we don’t defend well against mobile bigs, and leave our feet way too much on the perimeter…
Also we need to have more of an inside presence offensively.. too many times our bigs are handling the ball out top.. not their strong suit.

last thing I thought our attention to detail was awful tonight.. let the same things continually happen all night… not very good situational awareness.. we missed miss matches in our favor , instead taking bad shots .. oh well

p.s. … severa head scratching calls AND non calls by the refs.. they were not good

I have never been able to understand this. Basketball rules are uniform all over the country. However you go to different areas and they are called differently. I remember Dick Versace throwing the referee's whistle into the stands. My son played for Peoria Notre Dame when they were in the rough and tumble Mid-State 6. You had to play tough when playing Central or Manuel. One year they went to a basketball tournament in Sterling. Those ref's were not used to how Peoria Notre Dame played. Most of the starting 5 fouled out. If we have any former referees on here they could help us out with this

[bradleyfan124]

I have never been able to understand this. Basketball rules are uniform all over the country. However you go to different areas and they are called differently. I remember Dick Versace throwing the referee's whistle into the stands. My son played for Peoria Notre Dame when they were in the rough and tumble Mid-State 6. You had to play tough when playing Central or Manuel. One year they went to a basketball tournament in Sterling. Those ref's were not used to how Peoria Notre Dame played. Most of the starting 5 fouled out. If we have any former referees on here they could help us out with this

However one game does not make a season. This will be a good learning lesson for them that will help them out over the course of the season

[Nashville Cat]

NC, I usually agree with most everything you say but this is an exception.
I don’t understand why after a loss, it becomes an issue with height? Didn’t we just win the conference outright with Duke in 22-23?
I remember people complaining about DB’s size and calling for him to be benched on this forum after he had a stretch of bad shooting games in the same year we were chanting ‘MVP’ for him after we won the conference tournament in St. Louis.
The least of my concerns on this team are with Duke. He is going to have some off games and he’s going to have games where he lights it up (like last year’s Missouri State game).
My point is that yesterdays game was a poorly executed game in all facets and I don’t think Duke’s size was the deciding or even a main factor in the loss. I’ve seen taller guards at BU completely fall apart when being pressed/trapped, so to make this a small guard issue seems off base to me.

I agree with your points but would say that defensive strategies against us will evolve and change year to year and it's on us to adjust. Clearly one game doesn't define a season. You are correct.

[Tommy]

I agree with your points but would say that defensive strategies against us will evolve and change year to year and it's on us to adjust. Clearly one game doesn't define a season. You are correct.

Can’t argue with that. I wonder how much having Demarion out affected the outcome, as well.
If the past is any indication, we won’t perform as well as expected early on and BW will have us playing our best ball come tourney time!

[tomahawk chop]

We played poorly, they played great, refs were not good because i cannot remember 3 of our guys fouling out in the same game in the last several seasons. Home team was allowed to play physical and we were not allowed to last night. I still believe they would have won anyway . I was extremely happy with the way Connor Dillon played last night, he obviously proved he belongs on this team. Time to get back to work and get better. We all have to remember that we have a target on our back this season because of the early predictions and everyone we play is coming after us. Duke also is a marked man because of being picked preseason player of the year in the Valley.