Postgame thread-- VCU 79 Bradley 64

[Da Coach]

Theron did do a great job, but by moving him out to the perimeter, it took Bradley's best rebounder and interior defender away from the basket.

[ph]

Would you rather stop the ball from getting inside, or defending the ball once it got inside?
TW did have 7 D boards, but stopping the 30 points by Maynor was a bigger issue. Many times, you stop the point, you stop the team. (Hurry back Ruff!)

[georgethedog]

Hey gang,

he Braves have played some tough teams through the non-conference schedule and they have learned. It will toughen them up for the MVC season and I personally believe that the team will either win the regular season title or take the MVC tournament. Either way, I believe that the Braves are an at-large NCAA team or a high ranking NIT team. Let's see them go far either way.

Thanks guys and look forward to more games!

Good first post. The only way BU makes the tourney as an at-large is if they win the regular season. No other way possible.

[lefty]

Maynor wasn't getting into the lane or driving to the basket for easy shots and dish-offs in the first half. Those all came in the 2nd half when he was not contained by Ruffin. The entire flow of the game changed when Ruff was out, including the last couple minutes of the first half when VCU took the lead, scored as the buzzer sounded, and got a lot of momentum from their little run.

With a healthy Ruffin, Bradley would have controlled the 2nd half and won that game. Even Maynor's outside shots were open in the 2nd half because we couldn't defend his drives, so the defenders played off him.

Are you sure coach?Maynor, Eric........ g 6-13 2-3 1-1 1 1 2 1 15 5 1 0 0 18

first half stats 15pts and 5 assists...and I remember he missed some shots in the lane as well
VCU is a very good team and we would would need great games most everyone to beat them IMO

[Da Coach]

When Daniel left the game, Bradley was leading (they had lead the entire game up to that point). It was after Ruffin left the game that Maynor put VCU ahead. The game changed in the second half, and Bradley couldn't stop Maynor. Ruffin, when he was playing, defended Maynor prety well.

[BradleyBrave]

When Daniel left the game, Bradley was leading (they had lead the entire game up to that point). It was after Ruffin left the game that Maynor put VCU ahead. The game changed in the second half, and Bradley couldn't stop Maynor. Ruffin, when he was playing, defended Maynor prety well.

I think it would have been a hard-fought game, but I have to agree with DC. BU controlled the game on both ends when DR was in the game. Maynor scored a lot of his 1st half points when DR was out of the game, including the 3 at the end of the half. We've been told how deep our team is, but unfortunately we aren't that deep, and can't withstand an injury to Dan Ruffin. As a ValleyTalk poster put it, he's our 'engine'. Without him, this train doesn't run.

Fortunately, Northern Iowa is the worst team we've seen in nearly a month. Hopefully, this is where the murderous non-conference schedule starts to pay dividends. I just hope our confidence isn't shot because of it.

[Da Coach]

UNI is also playing without their projected point guard Ahelegbe, and without 2-guard Carlton Reed, both of who are injured. Another point guard, Stephen Jones, quit and transferred to a juco at the start of the season.
It's forced them to play Jared Josten, Adam Viet, and freshman Jon Montgomery at the point, and they are all more natural 2-guards, and not real quick.
So if Ruffin isn't able to play, this might be the one team we still match up with well.