1/9 Pjs

[onetuffshot]

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LG, I agree that TW and MS are having to play out of position. Poor Matt probably never played a game in his life with his back to the basket, before he came to Bradley. At least last year he was a 4, which suited his style much better. And TW, probably our best on the ball defender, has to bang with much bigger bodies inside, where his atleticism is not as effective, at the 4.
I don't know what the answer is. I'm sure JL was counting on one of our new bigs or SS to play big minutes at the 5. After 16 games and many practices, that hasn't happened. And I don't believe having JC on the bench during the most important minutes of the game, will make it happen.
Last season we had 3 above average shooters and a great passer (JJ) on the perimeter. The other guys on the perimeter were all good ballhandlers and passers, also. It just happened that the great passer was also a great defender at the 4. It didn't matter that our inside post play was practically nonexistent except for Zack's pick and roll dunks. Those four guys on the perimeter were a tough match. And, IMO, most of their shots came after very good ball movement, rather than penetration and kickouts. I loved watching that team pass the ball. There was very little dribbling.
I do know this. At full strength, this team was within one good out of bounds play from defeating a still undefeated Vanderbilt team, and one good late stop from beating Michigan State, I'm not ready to give up. With some good old fashioned persistence, we can turn this thing around.

[Scouter]

Bench JC. He's too slow, can't dribble (etc. off his foot or out of bounds), can't shoot on the run and gets taken off the dribble by everyone allowing them to penetrate and dish off.

Last year was last year. Remeber the year before--he was benched then too.

I don't care if it's not popular--it's the right decision. Once again I will repeat. WHAT WE ARE DOING ISN'T WORKING.....MORE OF THE SAME ISN'T GOING TO WORK EITHER.

You guys are really funny. Sure, let's bench one of our best players, who gives 100 percent effort night in and night out.

JC sat two years ago because he was out of shape. He changed that last year and I'd say is about that same speed right now. Maybe he's a little slower because of the knee injury. But to call out JC and say he should sit because this team is no good is ridiculous.

[houstontxbrave]

I think the most glaring statistic that is putting a spotlight on JC is his number of turnovers.

He has a total of 43 already this season, thats 2.7 per game. Yes his ball handling respondsiblities have increased but the out right poor decisons seem to have increased significantly, especially in his passing or holding onto the basketball. Last year he had a total of 39 turnovers for the entire season.

His other numbers are somewhat down also

Shooting 40% from the field and 42% from 3. The overall is poor but the 3 point shooting % is very good.

But last season he shot at 45% from the field and 50% from 3.

His points per game are 13.1 versus 13.8.

Just feels like he as a senior should be much more careful with the basketball, but his defense especially on the ball defense is so poor. I admire him for playing hard and wanting to win, but I suspect his body is showing the wear and tear of college basketball especially in regards to his quickness and lateral movement.

I sincerely hope that if/when Ruffin returns and the continued maturation of SM, JC's less of a use when it comes to ball handling and we can do more of issolation on his shooting. But when it comes to defense, he will continue to be exploited.

[dogsrus]

I have said it all along and it bears repeating. I don't know what will improve this team but our problems are more than about ONE player be it JC, AW, TW, TCS or ANY form of intitials you choose.

For every thing a guy like JC does wrong he does 10 right.....this is not about me defending JC but I would offer he has the highest good to bad ratio (I think they call it plus/minus in hockey) of anyone on the team.

EVERYONE on this team needs to step it up a notch or seven. When you losing things get magnified.

We lost our "head"....the tail is flailing all over and some guys are playing out of position, some are pressing....some just need that head to get back into their own groove.

[onetuffshot]

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Every player on the team has had their turnovers go up. We all hate turnovers. Last year we had what amounted to 3 point guards on the perimeter. With Ruff out, the turnovers get magnified. Sam M made six vs SIU. Last night Coach Les defended Sam's mistakes as mistakes of aggression. JC's turnovers bother me, too. Maybe he is pressing. I do know he makes more attempts to ge the ball to our post men than any other team-mate and that includes Ruff. I have,nt checked, but I'll bet his assists are up, also. I don't think any of us realizes how good DR is of taking care of the ball.

I think the most glaring statistic that is putting a spotlight on JC is his number of turnovers.

He has a total of 43 already this season, thats 2.7 per game. Yes his ball handling respondsiblities have increased but the out right poor decisons seem to have increased significantly, especially in his passing or holding onto the basketball. Last year he had a total of 39 turnovers for the entire season.

His other numbers are somewhat down also

Shooting 40% from the field and 42% from 3. The overall is poor but the 3 point shooting % is very good.

But last season he shot at 45% from the field and 50% from 3.

His points per game are 13.1 versus 13.8.

Just feels like he as a senior should be much more careful with the basketball, but his defense especially on the ball defense is so poor. I admire him for playing hard and wanting to win, but I suspect his body is showing the wear and tear of college basketball especially in regards to his quickness and lateral movement.

I sincerely hope that if/when Ruffin returns and the continued maturation of SM, JC's less of a use when it comes to ball handling and we can do more of issolation on his shooting. But when it comes to defense, he will continue to be exploited.

[houstontxbrave]

Every player on the team has had their turnovers go up. We all hate turnovers. Last year we had what amounted to 3 point guards on the perimeter. With Ruff out, the turnovers get magnified. Sam M made six vs SIU. Last night Coach Les defended Sam's mistakes as mistakes of aggression. JC's turnovers bother me, too. Maybe he is pressing. I do know he makes more attempts to ge the ball to our post men than any other team-mate and that includes Ruff. I have,nt checked, but I'll bet his assists are up, also. I don't think any of us realizes how good DR is of taking care of the ball.

Assists are up 48 total 3.0 per game

compared too 62 total last season 2.30 per game.

I realize how good DR is at taking care of the ball, but his turnovers are way up compared to last season

This year 44 total for an average of 3.67

Last year 78 total for an averagoe of 2.44

Anyway everything given are just numbers other facts of course apply to how the numbers are accumulated.

[SFP]

JC is a good player, but the reason he shot so well last year was because of the penetration and kick-outs from Ruffin and Franklin. How is that so hard to understand?

I think your idea for JC to come off the bench is silly. He's been one of the three best players on this team this season. Why would you not have him out there at the start of the game? There's no reason to change his "roll."

He's not playing point and AW is better on the defensive end, and can create his own shot, penetrate and draw fouls . TW should be at the 3 which leaves JC coming off the bench. JC is best when we have a big to cover up his defensive liability and one that can pass to an open player or another player that can penetrate and pass so JC can do what he is great at, which is a pure set shooter. JC is not strong enough to go inside (can't rebound either) or fast enough and does not have a great handle to create his own shot. I like JC a lot as a player (he does play hard) but right now he would best serve this team coming off the bench. We need bigger, faster and stronger players at the guard position to become a great basketball school.

This was demonstrated against Memphis in the Sweet 16. Our guards were as skilled as theirs but they were around 4-6" taller and 30 lbs bigger and had their way penetrating and shooting. JC needed to add some balk this year but with the injuries and operation he was limited.

[real fan]

I think that JC and Theron should be playing the 3 and splitting time, I also think that Andrew Warren is our true 2 guard and JC could play the 2 to give Andrew some rest; I also believe Sam is our point guard and Cole-Scott should be used as his backup; I think we have a lot more turnovers because some of our players are logging too many minutes ; we try to make way too many fancy passes and we are being overplayed on the perimeter because we have no inside game.

[SFP]

NO way JC plays the 3!!!! He can barley guard the 2 on the other team.

[onetuffshot]

Post reply

You guys are really funny. Sure, let's bench one of our best players, who gives 100 percent effort night in and night out.

JC sat two years ago because he was out of shape. He changed that last year and I'd say is about that same speed right now. Maybe he's a little slower because of the knee injury. But to call out JC and say he should sit because this team is no good is ridiculous.

I have said it all along and it bears repeating. I don't know what will improve this team but our problems are more than about ONE player be it JC, AW, TW, TCS or ANY form of intitials you choose.

For every thing a guy like JC does wrong he does 10 right.....this is not about me defending JC but I would offer he has the highest good to bad ratio (I think they call it plus/minus in hockey) of anyone on the team.

EVERYONE on this team needs to step it up a notch or seven. When you losing things get magnified.

We lost our "head"....the tail is flailing all over and some guys are playing out of position, some are pressing....some just need that head to get back into their own groove.

Some of us don't agree with you, Pete.

[onetuffshot]

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Oh, and by the way, what fun would message boards be if we all agreed!! GO BU

[Braves4Life]

NO way JC plays the 3!!!! He can barley guard the 2 on the other team.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm Care to take any of that back after UNI Pete?

[SFP]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm Care to take any of that back after UNI Pete?

I never said he could not shoot the 3, I said play the 3. I still say he should never be considered to pay the 3. Imagine if he had to match up against a person taller and bigger for a whole game. He would be worn out by 1/2 time and would not have the legs to shoot a free throw. JC is a shooter and I've never said anything else. He finally came through this year and we needed it big time. Maybe I was a little rash in having him come off the bench but I still say SS opened up the outside game by putting some pressure on UNI in the paint. JC is best when he has the time to shoot a set shot. If the other team is keying on our perimeter game perhaps JC is not the best player for us to be starting. When that happens I'd rather go big.