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How do we turn this around?

Bravesfan said:
Well I'm in the camp of those who believe that Les is capable and has coached very well even without these said assistants who have left. I think most of the problems this year have stemmed from inexperience playing together (key word: together). I absolutely agree that perhaps sticking with more proven lineup combinations during the stretch run of the Loyola and SIU games may have helped stem the bleeding somewhat, but some of those God-awful possessions where players were turning the ball over the last few minutes of the SIU game cannot be attributed to coaching. Les was not out on the floor "falling asleep" at the wheel so to speak. I still believe though that Les has all the tools at his disposal to lead this team into a run the rest of the season, though it probably won't really get started until after this upcoming road trip which will be a big challenge.

However, Les and the team have a great opportunity TONIGHT to at least stem the bleeding at home and reestablish our home court advantage. Forget that we blew three very winnable games at home. Forget kicking ourselves in the rear anymore. Forget sulking of what "could have been, would have been, should have been". Forget that we lost our chance at an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. Forget our record. Forget the booing....Forget, Forget, Forget! Let's establish a new home winning streak tonight by just concentrating on tonight's game and tonight's game only. Let's beat a good but still very beatable Indiana St. team and take care of the teams we should be beating. Let's do that to start, and THEN worry about what's coming next, one game at a time. A win tonight at least instills some sorely lacking confidence into this team, and just may be the spark we need to get things back on track.

Just win tonight's game, and then we can continue to go from there! THAT's how we turn things around. :D
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Again with the 'playing together' line...honestly...how many games has every other team in the MVC played together relative to our group, and how many games of DI experience does every other MVC team have relative to our group? This is probably the weakest excuse I have heard for this program in a long, long time. Basically what you're saying is adding a 20 ppg all-conference 4th year guard has made the team worse. That's a good one.
 
BradleyBrave said:
Again with the 'playing together' line...honestly...how many games has every other team in the MVC played together relative to our group, and how many games of DI experience does every other MVC team have relative to our group? This is probably the weakest excuse I have heard for this program in a long, long time. Basically what you're saying is adding a 20 ppg all-conference 4th year guard has made the team worse. That's a good one.
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Actually, funny you say that because UNI started 4 underclassmen most of the season last year after Brown hit the bench as the 6th man.
 
Bravesfan said:
...I think most of the problems this year have stemmed from inexperience playing together (key word: together).
Click to expand...

I really don't understand or agree with this excuse. So, now we have to wait until we have a team of 5 starters that have all played 2+ years together before we can begin to have any expectations? That is silly. It just doesn't happen very often in college basketball...

Freeman and Dillard never played together in a game before this year...that certainly didn't appear to be a problem for SIU here...How much time has SIU's starting lineup of Dillard, Freeman, Fay, Bocot, and Evans played together coming into this year? Zip. How in the world could a team that is so inexperienced (key word: together) come into Carver and rally and win against us?

We have experience...Maniscalco, Warren, Egolf, Thompson, and Singh are all in their third year or more in this program...Roberts, McCain, and Brown are in their second seasons here...This is NOT an inexperienced team as far as college teams go...and this "but we're so inexperienced" crutch simply doesn't hold much weight as an excuse for why we are struggling...

In college basketball, the yearly turnover of personnel is a constant that every program has to deal with...the offensive and defensive systems should be the one enduring thing that gives a program the ability to have success year over year as players continually come and go. The big problem we have in that regard, IMO...is that we have an offensive "system" patterned after an NBA system that largely relies on an individual's ability to read, react, and "make plays"...This NBA style offense works when you have Nash and Stoudamire playing together for extended periods of time and running the same isolation and two man sets night after night after night for years...but in the college game, I think this type of system is really difficult to rely on year over year...You may be fortunate to have a stretch of a couple years where you have the right people in place with the right basketball IQs and the right chemistry to make this NBA type of offense work...but once that team loses people to graduation, transfer, etc...I think it is really difficult to try and "teach" this new system that is so full of improv, read-and-react type of stuff at the foundation of it all...

This is all just my opinion, of course...but I'd really prefer that we ran a much more "traditional" collegiate offensive system...one that succeeded more by design and disciplined execution and depended less on an individual "getting a screen and then finding a way to make a play"...I think if you can recruit the type of jaw-dropping athletes that teams like Memphis get year-after-year, I think it is more realistic to think that you can run this NBA-style offense and have consistent success year-to-year...It is not realistic to expect us to be able to assemble collections of players with this same level of basketball ability and athleticism at BU, unfortunately...and therefore I just don't feel this NBA style offense we are trying to run is a very good fit with all of the roster turnover you have year over year in the college game...

Just my long-winded two cents worth...
 
BradleyBrave said:
Again with the 'playing together' line...honestly...how many games has every other team in the MVC played together relative to our group, and how many games of DI experience does every other MVC team have relative to our group? This is probably the weakest excuse I have heard for this program in a long, long time. Basically what you're saying is adding a 20 ppg all-conference 4th year guard has made the team worse. That's a good one.
Click to expand...

Well I'm not saying that some teams don't gel faster than others. They do, but irregardless if it is the coaching, or players, or some combination of both, the lack of time playing together combined with some injury issues is most likely the reason this team is not winning consistently so far this season.

Sometimes chemistry cannot be coached no matter what. Other times maybe a different lineup combination could make a difference. And sometimes it's just luck. I don't really know the answer to the question as to why the length of time for Bradley to gel is taking longer than other teams in similar situations. But injuries do play into it (I know, no excuses! :D ). Sometimes players aren't as talented on one team as they are on other teams. But most times, either the chemistry "clicks" or it doesn't after a certain point.

We all know how long it took for things to gel in 2006, but once it did there was no looking back. I really can't answer that question as I'm not privy to what is going on in practice. But I think we all agree that we hope things turn around soon.
 
SaintLouBrave22 said:
Actually, funny you say that because UNI started 4 underclassmen most of the season last year after Brown hit the bench as the 6th man.
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Well referring to my above post, maybe UNI's recruits were better than ours, which would yes, ultimately reflect on Les. However, that does not mean our recruits won't eventually come through and make that Valley championship run. Therefore it's much too early to evaulate this recruiting class.

Again, why do some gel quicker than others? I don't know because I don't have access to the practices.
 
Bravesfan said:
Well referring to my above post, maybe UNI's recruits were better than ours, which would yes, ultimately reflect on Les. However, that does not mean our recruits won't eventually come through and make that Valley championship run. Therefore it's much too early to evaulate this recruiting class.

Again, why do some gel quicker than others? I don't know because I don't have access to the practices.
Click to expand...

This isn't JL's first class of kids through the program. How many does a coach get?
 
ER3 said:
I really don't understand or agree with this excuse. So, now we have to wait until we have a team of 5 starters that have all played 2+ years together before we can begin to have any expectations? That is silly. It just doesn't happen very often in college basketball...

Freeman and Dillard never played together in a game before this year...that certainly didn't appear to be a problem for SIU here...How much time has SIU's starting lineup of Dillard, Freeman, Fay, Bocot, and Evans played together coming into this year? Zip. How in the world could a team that is so inexperienced (key word: together) come into Carver and rally and win against us?

We have experience...Maniscalco, Warren, Egolf, Thompson, and Singh are all in their third year or more in this program...Roberts, McCain, and Brown are in their second seasons here...This is NOT an inexperienced team as far as college teams go...and this "but we're so inexperienced" crutch simply doesn't hold much weight as an excuse for why we are struggling...

In college basketball, the yearly turnover of personnel is a constant that every program has to deal with...the offensive and defensive systems should be the one enduring thing that gives a program the ability to have success year over year as players continually come and go. The big problem we have in that regard, IMO...is that we have an offensive "system" patterned after an NBA system that largely relies on an individual's ability to read, react, and "make plays"...This NBA style offense works when you have Nash and Stoudamire playing together for extended periods of time and running the same isolation and two man sets night after night after night for years...but in the college game, I think this type of system is really difficult to rely on year over year...You may be fortunate to have a stretch of a couple years where you have the right people in place with the right basketball IQs and the right chemistry to make this NBA type of offense work...but once that team loses people to graduation, transfer, etc...I think it is really difficult to try and "teach" this new system that is so full of improv, read-and-react type of stuff at the foundation of it all...

This is all just my opinion, of course...but I'd really prefer that we ran a much more "traditional" collegiate offensive system...one that succeeded more by design and disciplined execution and depended less on an individual "getting a screen and then finding a way to make a play"...I think if you can recruit the type of jaw-dropping athletes that teams like Memphis get year-after-year, I think it is more realistic to think that you can run this NBA-style offense and have consistent success year-to-year...It is not realistic to expect us to be able to assemble collections of players with this same level of basketball ability and athleticism at BU, unfortunately...and therefore I just don't feel this NBA style offense we are trying to run is a very good fit with all of the roster turnover you have year over year in the college game...

Just my long-winded two cents worth...
Click to expand...

Several of our players were either roll players, red-shirted, were injured or still learning the system last year. Therefore many did not play together. If it's so easy to gel and rise to the level of Gonzaga or Butler, then every experienced team would win the championship every year. BUT, using simple mathematics, there's no possible way ten teams can win the Valley championship every year unless they all tied at 9-9. That shows me more mediocrity than anything else. :)

As an example, why didn't Evansville challange for the Valley championship last year with a senior laden team? It doesn't always happen, and not using that as an excuse, but it is easier said than done.

That said though, before people accuse me of accepting mediocrity, I of course like everyone else hopes Bradley breaks through sooner than later! :)
 
I don't think it's rocket science....watch tapes and learn....
if we play good defense and hold teams in the 50's, then we need to work and find better shots - feed the post and hit the guys who are making their shots..
we have too many wild, un-makeable shots launched way too early in the possession and from way too far out to expect many to go in..
As has been noted by many - out guys play too much one-on-one and individual ball ....where we need to play as a team...
 
tornado said:
I don't think it's rocket science....watch tapes and learn....
if we play good defense and hold teams in the 50's, then we need to work and find better shots - feed the post and hit the guys who are making their shots..
we have too many wild, un-makeable shots launched way too early in the possession and from way too far out to expect many to go in..
As has been noted by many - out guys play too much one-on-one and individual ball ....where we need to play as a team...
Click to expand...

+1 and a PG!
 
I'm not sure how everything will shake out next year, but it looks like we'll have more depth.

If we're playing a traditional 2 guard offense then we have Walt, DSE, Crawford and Bell to cover the 1 & 2. Shayock, Pickett and Jake are your 3s. Then, Pross, Egolf and Wells cover your 4 & 5. If you go small, I'm guessing that Pickett will need to spend some time at the 4, just to cover the 3 bigs.

In a nutshell, I see these ten guys playing next year, so it wouldn't surprise me to see the other 3 guys looking for greener pastures, although its a little late in the game for Milos.
 
jasonpeoria911 said:
You turn it around by having a total roster turnover and seeing if Geno can recruit a team that can win, simple as that. The players Bradley has now just don't have enough to get it done with Geno.

Wells might possibly send Prosser to the bench if he starts out well.

I predict at least 1 or 2 players leaving, Hodges or Stewart will be gone i'm sure.

Jason
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I doubt Wells will send Pross to the bench. Wells will still be learning while Pross has the experience. I do think it will be huge for Wells to play 15 minutes a game and Pross 25 which will make Pross more effective IMO and more consistent having some rest instead of playing 30+ minutes.
It would be nice to have an effective bench though
 
I don't see Shayok going to the bench. He has such a great upside and continues to improve (modest though it may be). With continued improvement this year, strength training in the off-season and constant reminders that he's NOT a point guard, I think he'll be a major contributor next year.
 
Da Coach said:
Maybe Pickett and Wells can play some 5 and we can see what JP can do at the 4 position.
Click to expand...

Possibly....do you think JP is quick enough at that postion? Can Pickett play the 3 too...if so you could have WE,JP,Wells, and Pickett rotating with Pickett getting some time at the 3 too...way too much speculation here as it always assumes everyone would be healthy
 
The 5 isn't the best position for JP, IMO, since most 5's in the MVC are bigger and jump better than Jordan does. I think he could be a 4 like Jake Koch. Though we haven't seen it, Jordan has a good touch from 10-15 feet.
 
I still believe one way to turn things around is a little lineup shake-up...

Just this morning there's some quotes from Bruce Weber talking exactly that...
he brags how one other time he shook up the starting lineup - the team responded and played better and snapped out of a slump...
He's talking about doing it again...

"A year ago, the Illini ended a four-game Big Ten road losing streak at
Minnesota in a ???foxhole??? game, when Weber juggled the lineup to send a
message...." -- *

"Nnanna has to play more. He has a great attitude and plays hard,'' he
said. "So, we've got to get him in there. Nnanna, Ibby and Mike Shaw ??”
those guys come every day and play their butts off. If we can't make
progress, those guys have to get some minutes." - *
 
I think it's pretty simple from a fan's perspective:

Limit turnovers, rebound, solid D

WL, DSE, TB have solid games (which may have only happened 1 or 2 times all season)

BU wins!!!

Right now unfortunately, we're relying too heavily on these 3 for production. A stronger bench next year hopefully will be the answer to a lot of things.
Our bench got outscored 25-0 last game, DSE had 3 pts. and we still almost won.
 
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