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Tonight’s game is the first time that Bradley will play a team for the second time this season. What adjustments do people think we’ll see tonight compared to the Dec. 29th game in Peoria? I don’t think BU wins tonight’s game without a different game plan.
A lot has been made about BU’s poor shooting that night that resulted in a total of 9 first half points. UNI shot 41.3% from the field and BU shot 31.5%. The final score was 59-46. Bradley would have needed to make 4 more two-pointers and 2 more three-pointers (or some combination thereof) to have won the game. The additional scores would translate into an overall FG % of 42.6. Or stated differently, BU would have needed to shoot at least 42.6% from the field in the previous game to have won the match.
I don’t believe Bradley can win tonight’s game by simply shooting better … provided BU can shoot better. For one, UNI didn’t shoot all that well in the previous game either when the Panthers shot almost three points under their season average of 44.0% … and they are a better shooting team at home, so expect to see 45+ % shooting from the Panthers tonight. Secondly, UNI is one of the better defensive teams holding their opponents to an average shooting percentage of 36.7%. I think Bradley will be hard pressed to shoot above 43-44% if they insist on featuring the same offensive scheme shown in last four conference games.
Also, Bradley got hammered on the boards getting out-rebounded by 45-27 in the last game. But with the lineup that we played, that was to be expected.
I think the keys to tonight’s games are:
A lot has been made about BU’s poor shooting that night that resulted in a total of 9 first half points. UNI shot 41.3% from the field and BU shot 31.5%. The final score was 59-46. Bradley would have needed to make 4 more two-pointers and 2 more three-pointers (or some combination thereof) to have won the game. The additional scores would translate into an overall FG % of 42.6. Or stated differently, BU would have needed to shoot at least 42.6% from the field in the previous game to have won the match.
I don’t believe Bradley can win tonight’s game by simply shooting better … provided BU can shoot better. For one, UNI didn’t shoot all that well in the previous game either when the Panthers shot almost three points under their season average of 44.0% … and they are a better shooting team at home, so expect to see 45+ % shooting from the Panthers tonight. Secondly, UNI is one of the better defensive teams holding their opponents to an average shooting percentage of 36.7%. I think Bradley will be hard pressed to shoot above 43-44% if they insist on featuring the same offensive scheme shown in last four conference games.
Also, Bradley got hammered on the boards getting out-rebounded by 45-27 in the last game. But with the lineup that we played, that was to be expected.
I think the keys to tonight’s games are:
- We need to play our big guys (RA, DC, SS, and DC) at least 55-60 minutes tonight in order to neutralize UNI’s presence on the boards and cut down on UNI’s second chances. Assuming MS gets his usual 25+ minutes, I think DC needs to get at least 20 minutes as well. UNI’s 7 footer, Jordan Eglseder, logged 22 minutes in the last game. He had 9 rebounds in that time. Similar to how Theron Wilson gets more rebounds when DC plays more, the 6’6” Eric Coleman ripped down 14 rebounds against BU because he was playing along side teammates who stand 6’8 and a 7’1”.
- Bradley needs to play ball control. Slow it down and work for the good shot. BU launched 29 three-pointers in the last game against UNI … of which they connected on 6. Sometimes I think BU’s hectic up-tempo offensive approach prevents the players from having a grind-it-out style on defense. A more controlled tempo on offense will translate into better discipline on defense. If BU takes more than 17-19 three pointers, then it will be because we are playing from behind from the onset of the game. Better clock management and smarter shot decisions will result in the improved shooting percentage that this team needs.
I don't think DC and SS are necessarily the Dynamic Duo, but I have seen four games of mostly the same line up since DR has been sidelined ... and the outcomes speak for themself.
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