Final score: UNI 83 Bradley 69

[LittleBrave]

I also am glad he came back, but I wonder if he has taken the wrong approach. He is a talented kid, but I feel like this season he has just sat back expecting his talent to outshine everyone else. He should have come in hungry with the goals of being Valley POY and DPOY. I just feel like he coasts through most games. He has the size to be a top of the league defender on the perimeter and the offense to be our go to scorer.

I think BW needs to send a message now regardless of who we are playing. The kids that want to play the hardest, play the most. I would also have our 3 point shooters getting a ton of shots up to find their strokes again.

I think fans get the wrong impression of Zek - his demeanor makes it appear he is not going at 100%. I think he's steady, smooth, and I like his poise, confidence and swagger - maybe contrary to many BU fans. I don't see him changing into a "tougher", more rigid player. I don't think we can have 5 Zek's on the court, cause, yeah, it would be too "casual". Before the last 2 games, I don't think anyone had an issue with Zek. Maybe fans have seen something I haven't the last 2 games? I don't question his hunger one bit, but it's not always evident.

[LittleBrave]

I'd like to see Bradley get back to working for good three point opportunities, instead of the excessive passing and trying to get the ball inside or settling for a bad shot. It isn't working and leads to turnovers.

This is huge, DC - need to get back to shooting 40% or better each game. This is a guard-first league and you HAVE to shoot well from long range to win the conf. and win Arch Madness.

I think a lot of it is getting easier looks, set up by a better flow of the offense. Granted Almar has missed a LOT of them during the past 10 games or so.

Coach Wardle looks worn out - I don't think the players want to see a madman on the sideline, but rather a coach who can sympathize with veteran players who are in a rut. BUT we do need to see that fire back from Coach, which will ignite some of the players.

[tomahawk chop]

We had 4 starters play 90 minutes score 9 points and have 7 turnovers. These are the senior leaders. The other starter had 10 points in 19 minutes. This stat alone blows my mind and speaks of toughness and effort. Its not like we went up against Auburn or another power house team.

[BUfan14]

I think fans get the wrong impression of Zek - his demeanor makes it appear he is not going at 100%. I think he's steady, smooth, and I like his poise, confidence and swagger - maybe contrary to many BU fans. I don't see him changing into a "tougher", more rigid player. I don't think we can have 5 Zek's on the court, cause, yeah, it would be too "casual". Before the last 2 games, I don't think anyone had an issue with Zek. Maybe fans have seen something I haven't the last 2 games? I don't question his hunger one bit, but it's not always evident.

The lack of off ball defensive focus has always been an issue. It’s why he gets lost in rotations sometimes. Also, the nonchalant turnovers have been a consistent issue. The lazy passes are not excusable. Going back to our two overtime games, I believe it was Indiana State, Zek stole the ball up a bunch and we basically had the game if he just holds on to the ball, but he got to casual trying to jump and pass at half court and then turned it over because he had no one to throw it to. Indiana state comes back and ties it and we go to overtime. We won, but still a really bad play Wardle mentioned on the post game in terms of finishing. He is our most talented player I believe, but he just isn’t always focused. So maybe you could say more focus than effort, but that still shouldn’t be an issue for a senior leader.

[LittleBrave]

The lack of off ball defensive focus has always been an issue. It’s why he gets lost in rotations sometimes. Also, the nonchalant turnovers have been a consistent issue. The lazy passes are not excusable. So maybe you could say more focus than effort, but that still shouldn’t be an issue for a senior leader.

I can see this and very well explained BUfan14!
Can’t argue with anything there.

[Dubl R 1]

I'd like to see Bradley get back to working for good three point opportunities, instead of the excessive passing and trying to get the ball inside or settling for a bad shot. It isn't working and leads to turnovers. Plus, we need a couple players to crash the boards and go for offensive rebounds. After missed shots, Bradley seems in a big hurry to retreat on defense when there are a lot of long rebounds that could be contended for. Thus, Bradley is one of the worst teams in the MVC in offensive rebounding.

I agree...but how are we going to get those is the key. Right now teams are flooding the high ball screens...leaving Meta completely alone on that...we only exploit that maybe 2 times a game...even tho we run off of him 10-15 times...so if we don't punish them for leaving him open more...Duke is going to struggle to get open looks off that.

The other I've noticed is that teams do not over rotate when darius and Almar drive the ball from the 3 point line anymore....I think the word is out that they rarely go all the way to the bucket...and they are not completely blowing by their initial guy...they run us off the 3 and immediately recover to shooters.

We have to do something different to move defenders off that line...

If you go back and watch film...we have guys open a lot, and instead the guy with the ball is completely focused on his little area, mainly if it Almar, Meta, or Darius handling the ball at the top of the key.....We need to keep our bigs, other than Almar on the block....and Almar shouldn't be used as a rub man at the top IMO...he needs to be pick and pop, or run some flare screens to free him up to shoot the ball....which we NEVER seem to do.

I'm just not convinced our bigs are the type to have the ball at the top of the key and play facilitator...they don't secure the ball, pass, or dribble well enough to do that...we'd be better off running some high low action...let the 3's come in the flow instead of trying to force them with constant high ball screens

We have made ourselves too easy to guard right now.

[BUfan14]

I agree...but how are we going to get those is the key. Right now teams are flooding the high ball screens...leaving Meta completely alone on that...we only exploit that maybe 2 times a game...even tho we run off of him 10-15 times...so if we don't punish them for leaving him open more...Duke is going to struggle to get open looks off that.

The other I've noticed is that teams do not over rotate when darius and Almar drive the ball from the 3 point line anymore....I think the word is out that they rarely go all the way to the bucket...and they are not completely blowing by their initial guy...they run us off the 3 and immediately recover to shooters.

We have to do something different to move defenders off that line...

If you go back and watch film...we have guys open a lot, and instead the guy with the ball is completely focused on his little area, mainly if it Almar, Meta, or Darius handling the ball at the top of the key.....We need to keep our bigs, other than Almar on the block....and Almar shouldn't be used as a rub man at the top IMO...he needs to be pick and pop, or run some flare screens to free him up to shoot the ball....which we NEVER seem to do.

I'm just not convinced our bigs are the type to have the ball at the top of the key and play facilitator...they don't secure the ball, pass, or dribble well enough to do that...we'd be better off running some high low action...let the 3's come in the flow instead of trying to force them with constant high ball screens

We have made ourselves too easy to guard right now.

This is an excellent analysis. We are running our offense like we still have Mast or Leons distributing from the top (and capable of strong enough perimeter shooting), and that’s not our current bigs’ strength. It causes a lot of turnover problems. Meta has become quicker, but he’s still not at the point of being able to get to the rim consistently before somebody rotates most of the time even when left alone, so teams can do that and only occasionally be burned by it. He does take advantage a couple of times a game, but not every time and usually ends up with a bad miss or two when someone recovers quick enough. I’ve been saying all year Hannah needs to be in the post more, that is his strength. His numbers are down across the board playing out on the perimeter so much (other than three shooting percentage), and he gets in foul trouble from reaching on drivers too often on defense. Even his posts up usually start at the free throw line level and then he backs a guy down. Guys playing out of their natural position (Almar, Thomas, Hannah in particular and even Meta at times) has put players in positions that are not their strengths, which has caused passing issues, which has caused turnover problems (in addition to lazy guard passes), which disrupts our whole offensive flow. Great in depth post!

[egib52]

I think fans get the wrong impression of Zek - his demeanor makes it appear he is not going at 100%. I think he's steady, smooth, and I like his poise, confidence and swagger - maybe contrary to many BU fans. I don't see him changing into a "tougher", more rigid player. I don't think we can have 5 Zek's on the court, cause, yeah, it would be too "casual". Before the last 2 games, I don't think anyone had an issue with Zek. Maybe fans have seen something I haven't the last 2 games? I don't question his hunger one bit, but it's not always evident.

I'd challenge you to watch him more often on offense and defense when he is off ball. He stands around a lot. I was as excited as anyone that he came back, but watching him especially in the WSU game really frustrated me. So I keep an eye on him a lot, and he just doesn't seem to have a high motor. This doesn't even consider the lazy passes.

[BengalFan14]

Zek maximizes his effort when he make shots. No points - no defense.