• Welcome to BradleyFans.com! Visitors are welcome, but we encourage you to sign up and register as a member. It's free and takes only a few seconds. Just click on the link to Register at the top right of the page, and follow instructions. If you have any problems or questions, click on the link at the bottom right of the page to Contact Us.

Wessler rips the Braves

Bravesfan said:
It was a good article by KW, but obviously he is giving Geno the benefit of the doubt as he is only in his second season as he did not put any of the blame on him (not that he should have). Obviously a game like this in year 6 or 7, however will warrant a different response from him. ;)
Click to expand...

or year 3 or 4...

unacceptable 1st half, and considering there was so much on the line.
With a win, we are just 2 games out of 1st place in mid-February. Chew on that!
 
Warning: This post is 100% negative..

IMO none of our bigs can create their own shot inside. As in none can play with their back to the basket. None can do a simple Jump hook or any post move.

WE has tried some jump hooks and made a few, but Prosser rarely comes close in his attempts (ball spinning wildly and line driving at the rim) and hasn't tried one lately..

we can barely establish post position (9 feet from the basket isn't posting up)

We can't just expect our bigs to wait around until Walt or DSE get into the paint and feed them for an easy lay up (in which I can bet they wouldn't go up strong AT ALL and barely make it or get blocked)

At this point. I think feeding JP on the "block" is an absolute waste

If TP gets the ball on the block he is more likely to step back and shoot (which is fine as he is 6' 6")

This is why we need BIGS.... like most other teams have...

Tuttle, Mockevicius, Clarke, Van Deest, Orupke, Echenique, Carmichael, Gant, Hall

I think that's someone from every team but us MoState and Southern
 
Future Walk-On said:
...
Tuttle, Mockevicius, Clarke, Van Deest, Orupke, Echenique, Carmichael, Gant, Hall
..
Click to expand...

Well - no denying Echenique, Hall, & Carmichael are the league's best three big men - and everyone else in the league would take them in a heartbeat...

but I strongly suspect if we had any of those others, we'd be hearing the EXACT same complaints from the fan base...

Tuttle's having a little of a disappointing year - and how do his numbers from yesterday (4 pt, 7 rebs, but 4 turnovers) differ at all from Tyshon Pickett's (4 pts, 6 rebs, NO turnovers) or WE's (5 pts, 4 rebs, a couple blocks & a couple assists)

Mockevicius - averaging 5.4/4.7 - worse than all three of our bigs

Clarke, Van Deest - really, Drake is behind us in the standings & we beat them!

Orukpe - the guy's been around since he was first signed by WSU in 2007!
...seems like he's been on the team for like a decade and is 25 or 26 years old - and even then is only giving them 3 ppg & 5 rpg - hitting just 36% of FT's...and you'd seriously rather have him?

Gant - as noted elsewhere - good upside but inconsistent and his stats are virtually no different than Prosser's
 
I am relatively pleased with our frontcourt, though they've had their ups and downs. Yeah, I expected a little more contribution from all of them at season's start.

I think they all did their part last night in the 2nd half.
The main concern I have is JC, SS and their progress. These 2 guys should be getting 10+ ppg between them at this point.
JC seem like he could break out any time, but then he makes a bad turnover or mental mistake and then sees pine. I like his ability to hit the 3, and has the most natural looking outside shot of anyone on the team and can make tough fade-aways.

Of course next season, we'll need to find a replacement for WE, as he brings so much to the team on both ends.
 
tornado said:
Well - no denying Echenique, Hall, & Carmichael are the league's best three big men - and everyone else in the league would take them in a heartbeat...

but I strongly suspect if we had any of those others, we'd be hearing the EXACT same complaints from the fan base...

Tuttle's having a little of a disappointing year - and how do his numbers from yesterday (4 pt, 7 rebs, but 4 turnovers) differ at all from Tyshon Pickett's (4 pts, 6 rebs, NO turnovers) or WE's (5 pts, 4 rebs, a couple blocks & a couple assists)

Mockevicius - averaging 5.4/4.7 - worse than all three of our bigs

Clarke, Van Deest - really, Drake is behind us in the standings & we beat them!

Orukpe - the guy's been around since he was first signed by WSU in 2007!
...seems like he's been on the team for like a decade and is 25 or 26 years old - and even then is only giving them 3 ppg & 5 rpg - hitting just 36% of FT's...and you'd seriously rather have him?

Gant - as noted elsewhere - good upside but inconsistent and his stats are virtually no different than Prosser's
Click to expand...

1. Mockevicius is a freshman. Prosser is a 4th year Junior. In conference Mockevicius is out performing Prosser in points and rebounds. Mockevicius is already more skilled inside than Prosser.

And Mockevicius is more of a projection anyways, because his Junior year I would bet he is averaging more than 3 and 3 in conference.

2. Gant is vastly outperforming Prosser in conference play and slighty over the whole season. (I believe conference play is the fairest span of games to compare) over 9 points a game to prossers 3 + 1 more rebound per game.. and he is a sophomore on a better team.

3. There is no way statistically you would rather have Prosser over Clarke or Van Deest. You reasoning is "really, Drake is behind us in the standings and we beat them?" So then why would you want Carmichael?

4. Tuttle is averaging 10 and 6 on the year and in conference...you bring up 1 game...what about when he had 24 and 10 against Indiana State?

5. Ok I'll give you a tie with Orupke...


FTR: Just because I would prefer other bigs than Prosser, doesn't mean I don't want him to do well.
 
Future Walk-On said:
Warning: This post is 100% negative..

IMO none of our bigs can create their own shot inside. As in none can play with their back to the basket. None can do a simple Jump hook or any post move.

WE has tried some jump hooks and made a few, but Prosser rarely comes close in his attempts (ball spinning wildly and line driving at the rim) and hasn't tried one lately..

we can barely establish post position (9 feet from the basket isn't posting up)

We can't just expect our bigs to wait around until Walt or DSE get into the paint and feed them for an easy lay up (in which I can bet they wouldn't go up strong AT ALL and barely make it or get blocked)

At this point. I think feeding JP on the "block" is an absolute waste

If TP gets the ball on the block he is more likely to step back and shoot (which is fine as he is 6' 6")

This is why we need BIGS.... like most other teams have...

Tuttle, Mockevicius, Clarke, Van Deest, Orupke, Echenique, Carmichael, Gant, Hall

I think that's someone from every team but us MoState and Southern
Click to expand...

Nothing new here that we don't already know. But the fact that we have 14 wins with this bunch (and hopefully a few more wins between now and St. Louis) is a testiment as to how well a coaching job Geno has done this year. Imagine how good this team will be with better shooters and another year of experience!
 
Bravesfan said:
Nothing new here that we don't already know. But the fact that we have 14 wins with this bunch (and hopefully a few more wins between now and St. Louis) is a testiment as to how well a coaching job Geno has done this year. Imagine how good this team will be with better shooters and another year of experience!
Click to expand...

True, Geno has done a good job.
 
Bravesfan said:
Nothing new here that we don't already know. But the fact that we have 14 wins with this bunch (and hopefully a few more wins between now and St. Louis) is a testiment as to how well a coaching job Geno has done this year. Imagine how good this team will be with better shooters and another year of experience!
Click to expand...

and a BIG!!!!!!!!!!!

Preferably one like Dwight Howard and one like Tim Duncan.
 
That is why we need bigs...
Click to expand...
I doubt there's a team in mid-major-dom that wouldn't like to have a couple more solid big men....but honestly - there's some who act like there's a whole bunch of them just hanging around outside the Civic Center waiting for an invitation...
Geno's landed five in the Class of 2011, then two more in 2012 plus two more already signed for 2013 and only one
of those NINE was a big man because of the simple fact, that there just aren't a bunch of them of significant quality available...

If you know of one that can step in and do better than the guys we have, and if you know for a fact that the guy is willing and anxious to come to Bradley - then e mail his name right here...
[email protected]
[email protected]

I know our guys are looking everywhere and trying to lock in on another big man but seeing as how seven of the MVC teams don't have anyone any better than we do - I think we can draw the conclusion it is not easy...
 
The point of my last post was to show that 7 other teams in this conference have very serviceable big men. Scoring wise and rebounding wise.

So if one could argue GF just hasn't had enough time to land any, or there are none.. where did the rest get theirs? or this could be a previous staff's fault right?
 
We can contend next year with two juco big guys that can contribute. With one juco big, and without significant improvement from JP or SS, we could play on Thursday again. That's how big of a deal I think this recruiting class is.

Thanks for the info FWO. Good stuff there.

There is nothing so far that Geno has done that suggests that he needs my help with his job. He gets it. He is building a foundation for our program that will lead us back to success.
 
Future Walk-On said:
Could change the word Big to Shooters in my previous post as well
Click to expand...

News flash, we're not a BCS program. Mid-majors can't all get guys that are triple threats: Size, Scorers, Speed...in order to be successful, these mid major coaches have to find a blend of guys that are hopefully dual threats to pair with maybe 1-2 triple threats. Its even tough at our level to get 8-9 guys that all have 2 of those qualities. Give GF another 2 years where he's flushed the roster and see what happens.
 
Da Coach said:
I never said that. Where did you get that from. I read whatever I can read about Bradley and college basketball.
I no longer subscribe to the PJ Star. Maybe that is what you recall.
Click to expand...
You are probably right . At my age you tend to get things confused.lol
 
of the handful of big men listed above - all but one was recruited & signed 3, 4, 5, and even 6 years ago --
Geno's been here two years - not one of those on the list save for maybe Mockevicius can be compared to Geno's situation - Mockevicius is the only one who has been recruited & signed in the same interval that Geno's had to land kids here at BU...

..and I am still not convinced we have weaker big guys than Mockevicius -- his overall stats are not better than our guys -
 
BUBalum05 said:
News flash, we're not a BCS program. Mid-majors can't all get guys that are triple threats: Size, Scorers, Speed...in order to be successful, these mid major coaches have to find a blend of guys that are hopefully dual threats to pair with maybe 1-2 triple threats. Its even tough at our level to get 8-9 guys that all have 2 of those qualities. Give GF another 2 years where he's flushed the roster and see what happens.
Click to expand...

Don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but, I suspect BU also has to contend with uncertainty of where they will play 2-4 years from now, Conference wise.

Serviceable bigs (or any other top recruits) may prefer the relative stability of CU, or other State Schools in the MVC with FB programs who have a better chance of landing on their feet.

Unknowns are harder to come by with the media available today. It comes down to prospect roulette/blackjack trying to find developable talent...and the odds favor the 'house', not BU...

BU has crapped out on a number of long shot bigs we hoped would pan out.

Even with superior facilities, a rabid fan base, good coaching, and history, they still have an uphill battle for talent.

Need to find diamonds in the rough or look to untapped markets (Europe/Africa/Brazil&Argentina/Australia and possibly China for skilled young players who aren't being pursued by other US schools)..although they are so involved with Club Teams eligibility is difficult.
 
BUBalum05 said:
News flash, we're not a BCS program. Mid-majors can't all get guys that are triple threats: Size, Scorers, Speed...in order to be successful, these mid major coaches have to find a blend of guys that are hopefully dual threats to pair with maybe 1-2 triple threats. Its even tough at our level to get 8-9 guys that all have 2 of those qualities. Give GF another 2 years where he's flushed the roster and see what happens.
Click to expand...

News flash, no one here is comparing us to any other BCS program.

I agree GF hasn't had enough time to be judged harsly...

I am chalking it up to a series of unfortunate events and recruiting mishaps starting before Geno arrived and still may linger (we will find out as you said in a few years). That is as nice as I can be.
 
There is no reason we should not be able to get big guys that are good enough to compete for titles in the MVC.

We have amazing fans, great history, brand new facilities, and a great staff. I'm not afraid to put Peoria up against Wichita, Omaha, Cedar Falls, Bloomington-Normal, Carbondale, or any other Valley city. We also have immediate playing time available.

I have confidence in Geno that he will get us the big guys we need. If he does, we win. If he doesn't, we lose.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top