Bradley - Quincy Game Thread

[molar50]

Sam M

I also notice Sam M cannot guard his man. He also had too many turnovers. I think he should shoot more often. He has a nice looking shot. I do not think that he could be on the floor with either Ruffin or Cole-Scott because of the lack of height. Ruffin seems to be able to handle a taller player, but he has so much more experience.

[ghunt]

Ok we recruited big men, but where are they?

Ok, I know the season hasn't started yet, so the playing time can evolve, but Jim did say today would look more like the lineups we'll see--there is absoultely no reason to go as small as it appears Jim is leading towards. Look at the rebounding totals for the two games--that is undeniably bad given whom we were playing. Ok, with Salley and Sam back for this game, I thought what we'd do is have at least a true 4 and 5 player in there at most times, but it doesn't appear we are going that way.

I thought one possbibility is that we's start the season by the big fellas in a "committe" type of fashion--spreading out fouls and seeing who develops as the season progressed, but I am not sure how to describe what today was: Eglof 12 minutes, Austin 3 minutes, Thompson 4 minutes, Singh 8 minutes, and Salley 23 minutes. 50 minutes total for 2 to 3 positions (true 4 and 5). Ok, even if we adheared to a smaller line-up, that line should talley 80 minutes, not 50. Sam M. is scrappy and looks advanced for a freshman, but he is prone to turnover the ball, and I am not sure about him getting so many minutes at the two spot at the expense of the inside players.

I may be prematurely stating the following, but I think it may need to be said. Last year's system was fun to watch, but was created out of need due to the lack of size, and that lack of size was a glaring weekness. We recruited to address that weakness, but it appears that we are not ready utilize those players yet, but I am not sure why. I hope what the coaching thought is that the guards are further along than the big guys at this point in the year, and as the big men develop, the playing time will increase. What I hope is not the case is that we are beholden to a system where we use either a very small three guard to a four guard lineup. There is no reason at all why Salley should be the biggest player on the floor for us for even one minute of the game (unless, of course, we are suffering severe foul problems).

[dogsrus]

Dogs...thanks for the reminder.

The officiating was AWFUL. Not sure who they were, but I hope they weren't a Valley crew. Man was that first half bad. I guess they're allowed to work out the kinks in the preseason too, but wow. Bad.

Sad to say they ARE a VAlley crew. Its just down right difficult to watch. How many times did a Quincy player go flying out of control....bang or bump into a BU player BECAUSE he was out of control, fall to the ground and BU get called for the foul. I mean its basketball....the defensive guy has a right to his position as much as the offensive guy does. It was a clear case of the less talent getting the call over decent positional defense.

BU had a perfect trap a couple times....the dribbler tried to split the trap by just blasting through because the two defensive guys were giving him no room to dribble through , he gets his legs tangled up and falls down and its foul on BU. On another play the offensive guy going for a layup turned his entire body sideways carrying himself past the point of a layup to under the basket taking the BU player with him. He had NO chance at the shot just flipping it up....again FOUL BU.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....

[BradleyBrave]

One thing I forgot to mention in regards to rebounding is our boxing out. It's as fundamental as it gets, but year after year we're very poor at it. Our size on the floor wouldn't be as much of an issue if we boxed out better. We constantly turn and look, and don't check out on the shot. We then try to outjump people. With POB we could get away with it. The other 4 years of the JL era we could not. I don't think we'll be able to get away with it this year. Rebounding fundamentals MUST improve.

[bu fan 9]

The reason we are playing small a lot is because our new big men are NOT ready for D1 basketball yet.

[it's boogie time]

I do not think that he could be on the floor with either Ruffin or Cole-Scott because of the lack of height.

I have the feeling that you are going to see two out of those three on the floor the majority of the game (obviously Ruffin is going to get some major minutes). While BU will be a little bit smaller than their opponent at the one and two spot, I think they'll have the advantage. The key is going to be the other three guys with them getting the rebounds.

[Stryker]

there was also an exchange between Quincy head coach Marty Bell
and one of the referees (the white-haired guy) during the second half when Quincy was shooting free throws.
The student section was up and screaming and the FT shooter tossed an airball.....
Bell went to the ref and insisted that the fans could not be standing on those risers and in the aisles and along the end-court,
and that they would need to sit down.
I could see the ref responding that it was not a call the game ref would make and was something he'd have to take up with the AD...
I guess Bell was just trying to get any advantage he could when his player #21 (Jeff Wilson) was on the line.
That guy was terrible shooting FTs. Opponents are going to foul him like crazy this season!!

First of all I couldn't believe when that ref turned around and started talking to us students when we were yelling about his terrible call. Oh yeah, there was foul language used against the ref guys, I heard it, and that is probably why the ref went and got the assistant athletic director and got the Cop involved, who said he would be kicking people out if it happened again. What happened to free speech?? Anyway, It really seemed like the ref got pissed and right after that THIS ref called about 3 fouls on BU in a row. I was just extremely upset with the officiating.

One other thing, we were screaming at the Quincy coach to get off the floor, the first five minutes of the game this guy was about 3 feet on the floor when a play was going on! I think Cole-Scott almost stepped on him at one point. Then I got even more pissed when the previous ref I was talking about started chatting up with the coach, looked like they were old friends for while there. Anyway, just left a bad taste in my mouth from it, especially since it was the first half.

As far as the players-

I'm not sure why Austin didn't much for playing time, but when he was in there he definitaly is not a real post player. I think he is just a little to small. He did get dominated inside at one point.

Tyrone has such a high jump shot it is just great to watch. He elevates extremely high, and even though he only had a couple of three's, if he comes off the bench and does that kind of stuff every game he will be a good boost to the Offense.

JC is looking ok, I know he did have a slow start to last year, so I'm not worried. Ruffin looks amazing as usuall.

In the Post--I wanted to see Singh play for a while longer today, I'm interested as to what he will contribute this year. Salley looked fine, and COllins looks like he will be able to score inside, I'm just worried about our inside defense. They were letting the Quincy guards in much to easily, and playing off the chance that the ballhandler might pass, instead of just stopping the ballhandler. Theron Wilson looks good, not much offense though.

Warren--Best surprise of the day in my opinion. I really hope we get to see alot of him this semester. When he got aggressive he was great. Also that underneath slam was awesome. He also did a good job nocking down his free throws, especially after he was fouled shooting a three.

[real fan]

We need to start rebounding more aggressively as it appears our bigs are not physical enough under the basket; size only matters if you get good position and go up with the intent that you are going to get the ball and no one else is going to keep you from getting it.
Did anyone else notice the official ( Gerry Pollard ) going in front of the student section because one of the students was letting him have it because of a poor foul call made against Bradley; he should have stayed out on the floor but chose to go over to the students section which in turn stirred one of them up even more and then he went over to a policeman and pointed the student out to him as if he wanted him to do something about it; none of this would have happened if the official had acted professionally and stayed out on the floor.

[thefish7]

That ref is clearly in the wrong line of work.

[Anthony Parker is my Hero]

Big Guys

I do like that we have a lot of big guys that could play. I think that we could use all of their fouls, and bang up on a teams big guy. Say SIUs falker, have singh bang around him for a bit, then throw collins, austin, salley, etc. none of them may be falkers ability, but if they all can bang on him, he could get worn down.

[Rusty 54]

Warren played a lot better today and was more aggressive on offense then he than he was in the St. Ambrose game. I think he could and needs to contribute a lot this year.

As for the refs and their phantom touch calls, lets hope the only other Bradley games they get are when we play SIU

[audacious_aficionado]

I do like that we have a lot of big guys that could play. I think that we could use all of their fouls, and bang up on a teams big guy. Say SIUs falker, have singh bang around him for a bit, then throw collins, austin, salley, etc. none of them may be falkers ability, but if they all can bang on him, he could get worn down.

sounds like a plan. falker's FT % last year was .543! can i get a "hack a shaq"?

[Lakeview Brave]

Nope...it was a "dry run", I talked with someone "close to the situation" and she told me it was for the purpose of taping, then going back over it to see how it goes, what adjustments to make, and where problems may lie, as neither Frank nor Bish have done much broadcasting in a while.




Wait a minute.....I agree it was not a pefect half of basketball, but it served the exact purpose intended.
You never saw Jim Les get too angry, he wasn't screaming, nor did he pick up a "T".

He purposely inserted numerous freshmen and new guys in rapid changes in the first half to see how they functioned.
Given the rapid changes, and all the ticky tack fouls...I thought just about everything went well except for the defense and the way the guys attacked the opponents when they came off the bench.
Voila.....as soon as the adjustments are made, BU reverses a 7 point deficit and has a 25 point lead in about 10 minutes!!

Yes, there are things to work on, but I also saw lots, and lots of good things.....

---Sam Maniscalco plays like a veteran D-I guard, and he will only get better.
Watch Sam M. when he goes to the sidelines, he listens intently to Jim Les and wants to know exactly how to get better. He is an incredible player now and learning & getting better as we speak.

---Andrew Warren might have forced a couple shots, but overall, played with amazing confidence for a guy who is a couple games removed from being a freshman. 19 pts in 23 minutes

---Ty Cole Scott is a continuous blur on both offense and defense, and isn't hogging shots at all...just taking what comes naturally. The crummy foul calls hampered him but he still scored more than any non-starter except AW, and more than anyone else of the 12 players who played less than 23 minutes.

---DRuff was All American tonight.
He nearly had a double double at half (12 pts/7 assists) and ended with 22/11, and a BLOCK of a Josh Edmonds layup, where Daniel's arm was 8 inches over the height of the rim.
He had a couple turnovers early that maybe weren't fully his fault, but in the end 11 assists to 4 TO isn't bad.

---DEEP, DEEP at the post spots....something we could only dream about last year. We definitely didn't get beat on the blocks, it was Quincy's good guard play that kept them close, but our post players were solid, and can be better with a little experience.
Note this.....Singh, Anthony Thompson, Rashad Austin, Matt Salley, David Collins, Will Egolf, and Theron Wilson gave BU a total of over 80 minutes of interior and post play (40% of all the minutes played)
and the combined # of turnovers committed by ALL THOSE GUYS IS TWO.
SERIOUSLY....OUR ENTIRE FRONTCOURT COMBINED ALMOST WENT THE ENTIRE GAME WITHOUT A TURNOVER.....

---Last-- our game is a guard oriented game with lots of outside shots.
But the shots are not bad ones, they are unselfish, and our shooting pct
today was 34-68....50%.....not bad!!

all in all it was a totally enjoyable experience.........a fun game to watch
if you don't like this kind of basketball.....good passing, good shooting, and exciting play, then check for a pulse....

---Sam Maniscalco plays like a veteran D-I guard, and he will only get better...................
.... He is an incredible player now and learning & getting better as we speak.

Can I say the same thing about Derrick Rose? Does "the having to play 1 minute of D1 basketball" rule before you can make an assesment only apply to other teams players?

[abraveforlife]

dreadful first half

despite the dreadful first half, they looked pretty good. Do not expect this team to mesh right away. This COULD mean a slow start to our season. It's preseason, they just need some time on the court as a team. I would not be surprise if they start slow and finish very strong. Again, someone may jump on me for saying they may suck in the beginning, this team will grow really really quickly.


Just a tad bit worried, that is all.

[Da Coach]

Sam M has a nice shot and should have looked to shoot more I thought but looked slow on D. He got beat of the dribble 3 or 4 times and Im worried he wont be able to stay with the quicker guards in the league. Did anyone else notice that?

Sam is simply making the most common mistake freshmen guards make in defending players too close. He is right up on top of his guy, and that makes it easier for them to fake him one way and go around him the other way.
I'm sure he'll correct that. He was known as a great defensive guard in high school, and defended guys like Demetri McCamey and Evan Turner as well as anyone did. He'll be OK.

I recall Will Franklin was not a very good defender early in the 2005-2006 year, but by the end of the year, he was playing shutdown defense and helped hold opposing guards to low scoring games down the stretch with incredible defense-- Johnnie Mathis (Creighton- 2-13 in the MVC tournament 1st round), Jamal Tatum (4-15 in the championship game of the MVC tournament), Brandon Rush (Kansas- 4-14), and Carl Krauser (Pitt- 1-6 from 3) and Antonio Graves (0-8 shooting).