Southern Miss vs Braves

[Big Mike]

This is an all round hard game to watch......no-flow at all? :-o Why is Cellus put back in the game with 3 fouls and 7 minutes to play and picks up the 4th? :roll:

[Big Mike]

People can make fun of the Braves crowd all they want but tonight it looks like there are about 500 people in the arena? :oops:

[BU fan]

Bradley's offense is inept and nonexistent. Partly due to the horrible officiating. Cellus has 4 fouls, and maybe if you add them all together they might make 1. Hard to believe our guards can go the entire half and make maybe 1 shot.

[BU Bill]

Bradley has a commanding 21-18 lead at halftime.

GO Braves

[Big Mike]

TB made a trey.........i wish he would do some driving to the hoop........it would help! Killer dunk by ZA at the half though! :mrgreen:

13 T/O's by each team in the 1st half alone! Each team has only 1 trey!

[tornado]

the reffing is absolutely horrific, especially the calls by Skiles who is a regular in MVC games.
Need I say more?? If the guy is used to calling MVC games, then you can guarantee there will be more moving screens and ticky tack calls than you can imagine.
There is no way to know if BU might just be capable of playing a good game since the whistle blows and kills the play every 12 seconds.

[TheAsianSensation]

This game is probably not going to win any Academy Awards. :roll:

[Looking Up]

We desperately need a guard to step up and run this team.
There is no way this S.Miss. can hang with us if we make
good decisions and play some good defense.
Give Franklin some minutes and let's see what happens!

[Da Coach]

Cellus has only 3 fouls. It has been reported all night that he had 4.

[Big Mike]

He has 4 now! The way he's playing he could end up with more fouls than points! Where is TB's offense tonight? :?

[Heemeskerk]

Do we run any type of an offense? What an ugly, ugly game. Our lack of guard play is showing again.

[Big Mike]

DA is saving the day with a driving lay-up...getting fouled and hitting the FT! Comes back down and drains a trey! :D

[Da Coach]

Danny Adams=Player of the game

[Heemeskerk]

Go DA! Great to see Danny stepping up big.

[Big Mike]

Tonight my top 3 players are LW, DA and JC! It's probably good for WF to get in some minutes before the Valley starts! :wink:

[beanocook]

Does the poor officiating only affect Bradley?

Nice to see the BU shooters and underclassmen contribute. I like Sam Singh.

[BU fan]

It hurts when your best player can't play most of the game.

Cellus is playing well in the last couple minutes.

Final score 56-43.

We'll take it. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v722/bkb2005/gobraves.gif

[Big Mike]

It's a road win and i'll take it! RB is playing his way out of the line-up in my book! Looks like he is affraid to make a mistake! DA changed the game with his aggressive play on both ends!

[Da Coach]

Bradley played poorly enough that they probably would not have beaten a top 150 team. But I think the defense was good.

[beanocook]

Bradley played poorly enough that they probably would not have beaten a top 150 team. But I think the defense was good.

Agreed but it was nice to see them pull away. Southern Miss is a really bad team who didnt appear to care much. I like how Jeremy shot the ball with confidence and Danny made nice contributions. Its good to win when your best player doesnt do much.

I really dont like the point guard situation but not much Bradley can do about it.

Just take the victory, get the heck out of Hattiesburg and then get ready for the league season.

[Da Coach]

Ken Pomeroy's system had this game pegged. His Pomeroy Ratings showed that Bradley should win by 13 points (which they did).

http://kenpom.com/sked.php?y=2006&team=Bradley&t=p

[Heemeskerk]

I really like how DA plays the game and his confidence. His man to man defense is what hurts us. The zone defense works well with DA in the game. I agree that point guard position needs a boost.

[bu fan 9]

Ray Brown is completely lost

[tornado]

So. Miss did play a bad game, and maybe they are a bad team, but someone please tell me why Larry Eustachy is considered by some to actually be a good coach.
Their team did nothing to foster the idea that they had any plan whatsoever for this game.

Of course the bad reffing affects both teams, but if one of the teams scores almost all their points on sloppy stuff, wild shots and 3-pointers, then the reffing really don't matter to them.

BU at least ran an offense, and got whistled for an endless number of illegal screens, offensive fouls, and other equally terrible calls. Add to that BU does play a little bit of aggressive defense on the ball, and the two guys who were familiar to MVC folks never let a ticky tack foul go by without blowing their whistles.

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the board HEEMY! Seems all the guards are playing like they do not want to make a mistake! Let's hope they get it together for UNI because they will take advantage of all our mistakes ! :wink:

[Big Mike]

Also i watched MS after he came back into the game with 4 fouls and he went on to set at least 4 moving screens.......watch his feet.......seems like he's setting the screen to pick and roll off to the hoop but he never quits moving! The coach's have to see that.....don't they? :?

[Heemeskerk]

Welcome to the board HEEMY! Seems all the gaurds are playing like they do not want to make a mistake! Let's hope they get it together for UNI because they will take advantage of all our mistakes ! :wink:

Thanks Big Mike. We need to have a knockdown shooter at guard (not to mention a guard who can create his own shot). Should be Crouch and hopefully he will come around. I don't want to be too hard on him because I recall what it is like trying to knock down shots when the confidence is shaky. I really don't see Ruff, Franklin or Bennett adding more than what you see is what you get. In my opinion JC is a big key for this team.

We have problems when are best outside shooter is Cellus.

[Da Coach]

Here is the final box score- note the attendance listed at 257. Where were all the Bradley faithful?

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200512210521

Bradley
Name Min FG 3Pt FT Off Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts
M. Sommerville 18 2-8 2-5 0-0 0 5 0 2 0 0 4 6
L. Wright 26 2-6 0-0 8-9 1 3 1 4 2 1 3 12
Z. Andrews 29 3-4 0-0 2-4 2 8 0 3 1 1 4 8
T. Bennett 23 2-6 1-2 0-0 1 2 0 0 2 0 4 5
D. Ruffin 27 0-2 0-2 2-2 0 4 3 2 0 0 4 2
R. Brown 9 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
W. Franklin 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 4 1 0 0 1 0
J.J. Tauai 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0
J. Crouch 33 6-13 1-5 0-0 0 2 2 2 1 0 0 13
D. Adams 12 2-3 1-2 1-1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 6
S. Singh 11 2-4 0-0 0-0 1 3 0 2 0 0 3 4

Totals 200 19-47 5-17 13-16 5 30 11 20 6 2 25 56
Percentages: .404 .294 .812 Team Rebounds: 6

Southern Miss
Name Min FG 3Pt FT Off Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts
M. Ambres 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
J. Singleton 34 3-10 3-6 0-0 0 2 1 4 2 0 3 9
D. Cornwell 14 0-5 0-0 1-2 1 2 0 1 0 0 4 1
C. Beasley 32 0-5 0-1 0-1 0 3 1 2 4 1 4 0
K. Lamonte 36 8-11 0-1 2-2 0 6 3 3 1 0 2 18
J. Forte 34 1-6 0-2 4-5 1 4 3 0 0 1 4 6
T. Hall 4 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1
C. Craft 21 1-7 0-5 0-0 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 2
S. Simpson 19 1-3 0-0 4-6 1 1 0 2 0 0 3 6

Totals 200 14-47 3-15 12-18 4 23 8 16 8 2 20 43
Percentages: .298 .200 .667 Team Rebounds: 5

Game Info
Technical Fouls: Bradley - Z. Andrews 1. Southern Miss - S. Simpson 1
Attendance: 257
Officials: Don Dailey, Steve Morris, Steven Skiles

[Big Mike]

WOW.........they must print out the actual attendance figures? Do they normally have bigger crowds when the students are there? :-o

[Da Coach]

When the student is there, it goes up to 258.

Seriously, all their fans must have still been celebrating their bowl victory last night. They have averaged 3412 for their 5 previous home games.
http://southernmiss.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2005-2006/teamcume.html -scroll down past their schedule

[Da Coach]

Here is the Southern Miss. story--
http://southernmiss.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/122105aaa.html

They post the attendance as 2,577

The BU website has not posted a report yet.

[Big Mike]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=253552572

According to this WF had 4 asst leading the team in this area after playing only 7 minutes? :-o I'll take that as a good sign for this to come! :idea:

[BradleyBrave]

This game was tough to watch. There were some positives though, as this has been typically a game that BU finds a way to lose. They found a way to win and had unexpected heros tonight.

Positives:

1.) Jeremy Crouch - While the outside shot still isn't there, he showed other facets of his game tonight, and was a leader when our starters were in foul trouble. He didn't make too many mistakes on a night when we made a lot.
2.) Danny Adams - His personal 6-0 run sealed it for the Braves. The unlikely hero of the night.
3.) Will Franklin - First significant minutes of the year (his minutes against Del St weren't significant IMO), and to me he's already passed JJ and pushing Ruffin (I will get to him in negatives). He led the team with 4 assists in only 7 minutes, and ALL were critical.
4.) Depth - We won this game with 4 starters on the bench with 4 fouls at the 12 minute mark. Our lead was slim, and deep reserves were in. This is where BU crumbles and goes away. Instead, we took a 3-5 point game and turned it into a 13-14 point game. Great mettle shown by JC, DA, SS, LW, and WF.
5.) Defense - Yeah, this team was terrible. Yeah, they've scored in the 30's 3 times. But they had scored 90 and 84 points (albeit against subpar competition) their last 2 games, and we kept them down in the low 40's on their homecourt. Our defense had a lot to do with their struggles. Our rotations were good, we forced timely turnovers and killed them on the glass. Our switching to zone in critical times was good, as they were inept from the perimeter (give credit to the coaching staff for making that adjustment). The zone rotations are markedly better from a year ago.

Negatives:

1.) Marcellus Sommerville - Where were you? Where's your head? Poor officiating? Maybe. Dumb fouls? Yes. Forced shots in the 1st half? Yes. A 5th year senior cannot come out on the road like this. 'Cellus looked like he had the 'gonna get mine' attitude in the 1st half, perhaps the foul trouble was a blessing.
2.) Daniel Ruffin - I'm beginning to think he's one of the worst guards on this team. He may keep his starting job this year, but I already see signs that WF plays a better floor game and has a better grasp of what's going on. Ruffin doesn't seem to have the instincts to play the position at a high level. I am beginning to think he will have the most value as an energy guy off the bench.
3.) Tony Bennett - Tony is becoming a little more inconsistent that I would like to see. He's still playing solid defense, but he's disappearing a bit on offense. Fouls kind of took him out of it, but he wasn't really shining anyways.
4.) Offense - It's a good thing we play defense this year, as our offensive consistency is still poor. There's no reason to go 8 minutes without scoring a single point, regardless of who we're playing or where. We can't repeat these lulls on the road, or we'll get blown out early in every game.
5.) Officiating - Of course we cannot control that, but man were these guys bad. Inconsistent, frequent whistles on both ends. The game had no flow. Yeah, part of it was the teams involved. Part of it was also the officiating.

Again, if you would have asked me at the 15 minute mark of the 2nd half what I thought of the game, I may have given you a different response than I am giving now. However, it was a long road trip to the middle of nowhere to play a bad team around a holiday. Those trips often end up as disasters (just ask the Salukis). We played very poorly and had every reason to fold up in the 2nd half. But we responded, got contributions from some unlikely characters, and found a way to get a road win. It's a nice way to head into the conference season, where the mettle of this team will truly be tested.

Thanks for giving me an early Christmas gift Braves! Happy Holidays to all!

[BU fan]

Bradley's recap--

http://www.bubraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=221896


PJ Star report--
http://pjstar.com/stories/122205/BRA_B8FPRASR.077.shtml

I agree with most of what BradBrave posted. Our guards still are in a collective funk. Why? I don't see an answer. Bennett, who looked like an All American against DePaul, has played himself into more time on the bench. And Ruffin, who played better last year, is keeping turnovers down, but not creating any opportunities for the team to score. Maybe things will straighten out in MVC play.

[BU fan]

One interesting result from last night that I missed from going to bed early---
DePaul won at Cal 68-65

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200512210095

DePaul's RPI now is up to #13.

http://www.kenpom.com/rpi.php

[OrangeandBlack74]

Also last night, Western Kentucky lost a heartbreaker to Arizona in OT.....

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200512210017

[Da Coach]

Here are a couple articles from the Southern Mississippi press--

Icy Eagles no match for Braves
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051222/SPORTS030104/512220374/1097/SPORTS

COLD, COLD, COLD - Golden Eagles' shot at upset goes kaput
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/sports/colleges/university_of_southern_mississippi/13462679.htm

No mention in these articles about the issue between Jim Les and Larry Eustachy. It makes one appreciate the great reporting Dave Reynolds does. Compare his excellent description of the game and surrounding events, with these 2 rather bland articles.

[BradleyBrave]

Here are a couple articles from the Southern Mississippi press--

Icy Eagles no match for Braves
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051222/SPORTS030104/512220374/1097/SPORTS

COLD, COLD, COLD - Golden Eagles' shot at upset goes kaput
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/sports/colleges/university_of_southern_mississippi/13462679.htm

No mention in these articles about the mini-altercation between Jim Les and Larry Eustachy. It makes one appreciate the great reporting Dave Reynolds does. Compare his excellent description of the game and surrounding events, with these 2 rather bland and generic articles.

I like the fact that beating us would have been termed 'an upset'. When's the last time we were a team that could be 'upset'? :)

[Dallas Brave]

I didn't get to watch the game last night. I noticed in the box score that Zach got hit with a "T" - what was it for?

[BU fan]

In the second half he was guarding their big man in the lane and went for a block of a shot. The So. Miss. player pushed off a little with the elbow and Zach followed through hard with his block. Zach was called for the foul, and then he started jawing at the So. Miss player. I didn't see the So. Miss. guy do much to provoke it, but he must have, since the ref quickly called not just the block foul, but a double technical foul. It hurt Zach, since he went from 2 fouls to 4 fouls and went to the bench.

[Majik45]

It was a really weird technical in my opinion. Whatever they said to each other must have been pretty bad, and since there was no crowd, the refs probably heard it. There was really no confrontation or anything, just a couple word said real quick. The ref was very quick to T them up too.

Whatever was said must have been pretty bad though because DA ran in really quickly and got Zach out of there. No chest bumping, pushing, or up in your face kind of talking, just a quick exchange of words.

[Da Coach]

Here is one more article on the game from the Hattiesburg American.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051222/SPORTS/512220303/1006

They are a little weak on the accuracy of things. In the article, they spell Cellus' name Somerville; and check out the photo of "Marcellus Sommerville".

[collegehoopjunkie]

This is an old thread about Southern Mississippi but I saw some news about how Larry Eustachy is going to build the team back to prominence.

The article says he is going to try to bring in NINE new players this season, even though he hasn't got anywhere near that many open scholarships.
It appears he is on the verge of cleaning house.

"but he did say not every player with eligibility remaining will return for the 2006-07 season.
"It'll all work out, as it always does...
Roster turnover has been a constant in Eustachy's first two years. None of the players from his first signing class,... returned."
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/sports/14316683.htm

[Murph]

This is an old thread about Southern Mississippi but I saw some news about how Larry Eustachy is going to build the team back to prominence.

He will party with ya...... :lol: