Wow- BU loses 68-65

[Da Coach]

I don't believe coaching was the entire reason we lost, but maybe you can answer this Coach. Why does Les seem to bench the hot players for ten minutes (MK tonight) at a time when the rest of the team is having an off night? Shouldn't a coach play the percentages?

And I know this is a second question, but why did Les draw up a play at the end of the game to a poor shooting (for this game) TB instead of leaving him exposed and getting the ball to one of the hotter shooting players? I think it's things like that lead to some of the questions that our posters ask.

JL has always played guys in rotations and concerned himself less with who is "hot" and who's not. Maybe I would do it differently if I was coach, but JL has always done this.

And Coach Les said on the postgame show that the last play was called for Chris Roberts to get a shot, but that taylor was the 2nd option to get a 10-15 footer, which he is very good at.
The shot did go to TB, and he took a very makeable shot. I can't fault that play. The odds of Loyola getting that last shot with 2.5 seconds left is extremely small. And as I said elsewhere, I think it doesn't happen if we guard the inbounder.

 

[lefty]

JL has always played guys in rotations and concerned himself less with who is "hot" and who's not. Maybe I would do it differently if I was coach, but JL has always done this.

And Coach Les said on the postgame show that the last play was called for Chris Roberts to get a shot, but that taylor was the 2nd option to get a 10-15 footer, which he is very good at.
The shot did go to TB, and he took a very makeable shot. I can't fault that play. The odds of Loyola getting that last shot with 2.5 seconds left is extremely small. And as I said elsewhere, I think it doesn't happen if we guard the inbounder.

The last play seemed alright to me too......but the last 2.5 is what I don't understand....we should have kept him in front but not guarding the inbound is beyond me with so little time and not able to run the baseline....we let them make an easy half court pass....that really is inexcusable IMO

 

[romar]

JL has always played guys in rotations and concerned himself less with who is "hot" and who's not. Maybe I would do it differently if I was coach, but JL has always done this.

And Coach Les said on the postgame show that the last play was called for Chris Roberts to get a shot, but that taylor was the 2nd option to get a 10-15 footer, which he is very good at.
The shot did go to TB, and he took a very makeable shot. I can't fault that play. The odds of Loyola getting that last shot with 2.5 seconds left is extremely small. And as I said elsewhere, I think it doesn't happen if we guard the inbounder.

But who made the decision not to guard the inbounder? Don't take this wrong, but JL did. I also question why TB was an option on a cold shooting night when AW has been shooting very well. Think it should have been CR, 2nd option AW with TB free to do what he does best & crash the boards.

 

[Beninator]

Ditto. I still expected a 10+ point BU win at home....... as did the odds makers.

Maybe we should ask the officials about the odds!!! I thought that the officiating this year was very good until tonight's game. Tonight the officiating was sooo bad that I thought Tim Donaghy was part of the crew!;-)

JL has always played guys in rotations and concerned himself less with who is "hot" and who's not. Maybe I would do it differently if I was coach, but JL has always done this.

And Coach Les said on the postgame show that the last play was called for Chris Roberts to get a shot, but that taylor was the 2nd option to get a 10-15 footer, which he is very good at.
The shot did go to TB, and he took a very makeable shot. I can't fault that play. The odds of Loyola getting that last shot with 2.5 seconds left is extremely small. And as I said elsewhere, I think it doesn't happen if we guard the inbounder.

I have stated many times that I thought last year's team was one of JL's best coaching efforts. My main complaint with this year's staff remains the substitution patterns. I have been posting this since the exhibition game!

The last play seemed alright to me too......but the last 2.5 is what I don't understand....we should have kept him in front but not guarding the inbound is beyond me with so little time and not able to run the baseline....we let them make an easy half court pass....that really is inexcusable IMO

I agree lefty.... Also, I think that this team does not play smart for some stretches of time especially when we have 10 point plus lead.

 

[Bravesfan]

JL has always played guys in rotations and concerned himself less with who is "hot" and who's not. Maybe I would do it differently if I was coach, but JL has always done this.

And Coach Les said on the postgame show that the last play was called for Chris Roberts to get a shot, but that taylor was the 2nd option to get a 10-15 footer, which he is very good at.
The shot did go to TB, and he took a very makeable shot. I can't fault that play. The odds of Loyola getting that last shot with 2.5 seconds left is extremely small. And as I said elsewhere, I think it doesn't happen if we guard the inbounder.

Thanks Coach as always for analysis. I see where that final offensive play probably could not have been drawn up any better. It was just a matter of the shot not going down. But agreed that not guarding the inbounder, as fluky as that shot was, was a big mistake. I think Les may think differently in that situation the next time.

I do think Les has nothing to lose trying the "hot hand" route the next time, but I also can see that he does not want to confuse players by changing rotations on the fly during the game. Maybe something he could do sparingly the next time the team has a bad shooting night. Hopefully though, and most importantly, the players will play with the same intensity when they have a big lead the next time they are in that situation.

 

[bigjimmy]

Will the real BU team please stand up. Is it the team that fought hard for 40 minutes and beat the Illini or is it the team we have seen the last 2 games.

 

[BUfan14]

Well I was working during the game so I just got home and finished watching the archive...what a disappointing effort. The defensive effort just wasn't there, I don't understand how this year's defense seems to allow so many easy shots. We play way to soft out there, especially in the post. I want to see intensity and mix it up a little out there. WE has to show up, he played so hard and energetic in the Illini game coming up with big boards, now all he does is fade away for shots. I know he has always done that, but he has to go up strong at times. AT needs to start finishing the open layups he gets, and stop bringing the ball down when he rebounds it! Anyone who said TB should be playing the 3 with 2 bigs should be silenced tonight. It is ok to spell guys, but we don't have good enough bigs to play 2 at a time, nor can TB handle the ball enough to be a 3. TB needs to get the ball alot but not as a 3, but from 15 feet and in. I disagree with taking the shot with time to rebound, simply because that can always happen, you make sure that only YOU can win the game by taking the last shot. AW was suppose to be our last shot guy, he has been too passive. He needs to step up and want the ball. This whole team needs fire and instensity to scrap and mix it up! Two biggest needs for this team in my opinion are defense and intensity. Also that was some of the worst officiating I have ever seen! I honestly felt like they had an agenda out there, and I normally try to keep it in perspective as I know I'm seeing it for my team, but wow that was awful!

 

[Dallas Brave]

In today's PJS article on last night's loss, it reads
"Les declared a back-to-basics approach starting at practice Thursday."

I am so tired of hearing that line uttered for the last several years. I hope I never, never hear JL say that again. If he does, then he better also blow up his coaching staff as part of the back to basics.

 

[Da Coach]

It worked last year. And it worked in 2006.

 

[real fan]

When you continue to do the same things coaching you get the same results, Milos is hot in the 1st half and makes 4 shots in a row, Les substitutes for him and he never scores again, I know Taylor has played well and he wanted to get him in the game but here is a novel idea, play Taylor, Milos and Will at the same time because we were getting killed on the boards once again, but then he would rather play Sam and Eddren together and lose again. Sam Singh being out on the floor on our final play was also real smart as he is such a good offensive rebounder, the rebound came right next to him but he never got off of his feet. Bad coaching decisions are why we lost and that is why the media and other coaches picked us to finish 6th.

 

[Dallas Brave]

It worked last year. And it worked in 2006.

I would never put last year and 2006 in the same category.

Going back to basics should not have to happen after nine games into the year ... especially this year. We have experienced players, went to Brazil, and played two top notch BSC schools in the Las Vegas Tournament. If we need to go back to basics now, then that indicates that something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

We incur an acceptable (and expected) loss at BYU, play OK State tough, and then beat Illinois. After which we lose two home games to programs that have good teams, but that we should beat and would have boosted our RPI a lot more than we had ever anticipated before the season started. Games in which we had sizeable leads in the 2nd half.

Net, net ... in the span of two home games, we squandered the hard work and results that had been achieved up until the Western Carolina game and have gone from having a solid resume to having one that can not be repaired this year.

 

[tornado]

Ok, I am done now, and this will likely soon be deleted, but it had to be said.

you were right on everything else, but nothing has been deleted...nothing in any thread, so what's with all the predictions that this or that will be deleted?
Bad game, players and coaches feel terrible, fans are down, so what's new....welcome to midmajor basketball.....

Anyone wanting to give up their season tix for the remainder of the year, simply put them in an envelop and address to:

tornado
61548-0980

...and I thank you.....

JL took full responsibility for the loss, he will do what needs to be done, and the best is yet to come...fish or cut bait...hang in there

 

[ER3]

Anyone wanting to give up their season tix for the remainder of the year, simply put them in an envelop and address to:

tornado
61548-0980

...and I thank you.....

JL took full responsibility for the loss, he will do what needs to be done, and the best is yet to come...fish or cut bait...hang in there

Ah...tornado's annual 'anyone who wants to give up their season tickets can send them to me' post...It wouldn't be Bradley basketball without it. I feel complete now.

It's fine that JL took responsibility for the loss...but I am highly skeptical of whether he truly has any idea about how to go about 'doing what needs to be done'...I fully expect him to throw out a bunch of meaningless coaching cliches about 'getting back to basics', 'hanging our hat on our defense', and 'buying in to a blueprint' of some sort...and then we'll coast home to yet another uninspiring 5th place Valley finish...too much talent on this team to be this mediocre.

 

[Buesch N Chips]

It's fine that JL took responsibility for the loss...but I am highly skeptical of whether he truly has any idea about how to go about 'doing what needs to be done'...I fully expect him to throw out a bunch of meaningless coaching cliches about 'getting back to basics', 'hanging our hat on our defense', and 'buying in to a blueprint' of some sort...and then we'll coast home to yet another uninspiring 5th place Valley finish...too much talent on this team to be this mediocre.

You keep saying the same thing in every thread over and over. You don't like JL and his staff. You want him gone. We get it.

 

[ER3]

You keep saying the same thing in every thread over and over. You don't like JL and his staff. You want him gone. We get it.

Why don't you just ignore my opinions if they are too monotonous for your liking?
This board is full of people that are all expressing the same opinions over and over again...who cares?

 

[chitown fanatic]

Free throws and execution are a big problem for this team. Those things are fixable. This team did turn around last year after a bad loss at Milwaukee.
I don't agree that it is due to coaching.

Did ISU lost at Ohio because of coaching? Have Creighton's losses this year been due to coaching?

The difference is that Creighton HAS a coach who WILL turn it around when it matters most...conf season. The same can not be said for our team. And getting back to the "it worked last year" post, if you think 21-17 and another mid-pack finish is "it worked", I'd hate to see what "it's broken" means!

 

[Grassman]

Free throws and execution are a big problem for this team. Those things are fixable. This team did turn around last year after a bad loss at Milwaukee.
I don't agree that it is due to coaching.

Did ISU lost at Ohio because of coaching? Have Creighton's losses this year been due to coaching?

ISU and CREIGHTON have not been playing this way for 9 years.

 

[Buesch N Chips]

Why don't you just ignore my opinions if they are too monotonous for your liking?
This board is full of people that are all expressing the same opinions over and over again...who cares?

I'm not even saying I disagree with you. But take a count of how many posts you have made criticizing the staff since the end of the Loyola game, and they all say the same thing. Maybe that's to be expected when we have 4-5 post game threads going at the same time.

 

[tornado]

ISU and CREIGHTON have not been playing this way for 9 years.

I have seen a number of their fans who disagree with you..

 

[Da Coach]

ISU and CREIGHTON have not been playing this way for 9 years.

Nice try changing the subject, but the subject was last night's game.
If we are going to talk about the last 9 years, Bradley hasn't played this way either. Note that Bradley's record is way better than ISU's over the last 9 years, they have almost the same number of wins as Creighton.
Also, ISU has not played in the NCAA since 1998, and neither of them has won an NCAA game since Jim Les has been coaching at Bradley. And needless to say, neither has played in the Sweet 16.
So if we are going to play the game where we find things about past years to complain about, I'll be happy to provide some of the successes of these past years, too.