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Final score: Mississippi 82 Bradley 59

Not much to say. Bradley seemed to get intimidated again, like they did at San Diego State when they missed a bunch of early shots, and they never seemed to get back into their usual offense and flow. Maybe it was Mississippi's defense, though I didn't think it was that good. Many of the shots they missed were wide open shots that they usually shoot a much higher percentage, and they made too many turnovers.
Let's all hope they put this game behind them and get back on track at Drake on Dec. 28.
Stats-
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400987266
http://www.olemisssports.com/gametr...ool=ole&sport=mbaskbl&camefrom=&startschool=&
 
Da Coach said:
Like you, I am very disappointed in tonight's performance. However, I do not think there are any places in the Valley that this will happen to us. They appeared intimidated after they missed a lot of early shots. Many of them were wide open misses. But there are good teams in the MVC, so we must play better if we want to contend for the top half. We need to break the string of Thursdays.
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Agreed. But don??™t think Ole Miss is that good. Remember the Redbirds beat them without their starters for the last 5 minutes of regulation and OT. I could see us losing by 25+ in Cedar Falls.... Again, just a tough night and horrendous play
 
I believe Coach Wardle is a good man and a good coach, but let??™s not forget that he had to completely restock the team when he was hired. BU has several players who simply would not start for competitive programs. Weaknesses exist with rebounding, athleticism, interior scoring, and constant turnovers. Ole Miss is projected to be a second division SEC team, but they are still SEC. BU must recruit better players and play a stronger schedule. Tonight??™s game should open eyes. I do think the Braves should finish 500 or slightly better in the Valley, but they have a long way to go.
 
We've said this before, Bradley's biggest weakness is their lack of athleticism, and that will only get worse with the loss of McGlaston, and with Donte Thomas graduating. Wardle needs to bring in a couple of bigger and more athletic guys. I am already on record saying this might be the year to grab a couple junior college guys because we'll need immediate help next year without Donte.
 
I understand the reason for a cupcake schedule. It's gonna take wins to get butts back in the seats but this is what happens when you go on the road and play better competition. We struggled in every phase of the game and to put it nicely, it was butt ugly. We are gonna have to find a way to step it up or we'll be looking at Thur. night again. Sure makes ISU's win there look a lot bigger than I thought at the time.
 
When playing cupcakes and make mistakes you can still win. When you play better competition and make those same mistakes reality sets in. That happened against San Diego State and again against Ole Miss. in fact Ole Miss is at best a middle of the pack team in the SEC.

On another note, I’ve spoken with multiple season ticket holders that have attended very few home games this season, that have been contacted by Bradley’s ticket office as to why they haven’t been to many games. Bradley obviously is concerned about the no show season ticket holders. Most have said it’s due to the lack of interest in the teams they’ve scheduled. Most have said they’ll continue to support the school financially but will designate it to the university’s academic side
 
That was simply a poor, sloppy, undisciplined effort. Not acceptable. Losing would not have been a shock but it should not have been anything like that bad.
 
wily coyote said:
I understand the reason for a cupcake schedule. It's gonna take wins to get butts back in the seats but this is what happens when you go on the road and play better competition. We struggled in every phase of the game and to put it nicely, it was butt ugly. We are gonna have to find a way to step it up or we'll be looking at Thur. night again. Sure makes ISU's win there look a lot bigger than I thought at the time.
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This. I know I've said it a few times on here (and it's true for my Aces too) that if you schedule a bunch of cupcakes that you have to expect it to be pretty rough the first few times on the road with competitive teams, even if they are not world beaters. I understand, sort of, why the schedule was put together, as this team needs to see some winning, even if it is against inferior competition. Hoping your Braves can grow from this, but they have to get past the "hanging their heads" at the first sign of things not going their way. Even during my Aces beat-down by Duke this week, I never got the intention that their heads were down. They just got beat my a far superior team. With a full compliment of players maybe the Aces lose by only 40.

I also agree that I think Coach W has the program to point know that he needs to take on a few Jucos. He has some good complimentary pieces, but other than Childs and your PG (sort of) he needs to get much more athletic.

The Valley is stronger with a lot of competitive teams.
 
houstonbrave said:
That was simply a poor, sloppy, undisciplined effort. Not acceptable. Losing would not have been a shock but it should not have been anything like that bad.
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Perfectly stated. I never expected to beat SDSU or Ole Miss. I did expect the team to at least show up though.
 
When BU blows out teams like Little Rock and Chicago State, it's easy to fall into the mindset that BU has a good team. Reality sets in when BU loses to teams like SDSU and Ole Miss. I agree with what has been posted on this thread that Coach Wardle needs to find some athletic juco players for next season. Finding athletic freshmen that can hit the ground running shouldn't be out of the question, either.

I think BU can avoid being a Thursday team, but it will come down to one or two games in Valley play. They are not out of the woods with regard to playing on Thursday.
 
We need better players

We need better players

This last game and the San Diego State game clearly show that we simply do not have the kind of talented players needed to compete at a higher level and in the MVC. Somehow, our recruiting must change or we are going to be mired in mediocrity for years to come! Also, our non conference schedule has to be upgraded. If other MVC programs can schedule better opponents, we should also be able to do this if our coach and AD want to. We must also play in good, hi level non-conference tournaments early in the year. Preseason attendance is also adversely affected by cupcake opponents.
Brian must change his strategy regarding JC players. While we did recruit a very few, these were really less talented players who have not really helped us. We need BIG, ATHLETIC, TALENTED players.
Our present roster consists of nice kids who play at a low MVC level and are boys among men when they go up against stronger teams. I'm afraid that this MVC season is going to be another disappointment for us.
Wizard
 
This is not going to be a disappointing Valley season.

I still think we finish 3rd or 4th.

Whoever finds a way to win on the road will win the conference.

Other Than Tyshon Picket . I??™d take ANY Wardle recruit over anyone Geno brought in.

Who thought we??™d be one basket away from 11 and 2 headed into Valley play?

Far as the schedule goes? He scheduled winnable games. We won those . He scheduled a couple tests on the road. We failed. I bet he??™s working there tales off for the Drake game. #InWardlewerrust #Themovement
 
???Winnable games???? Is that going to help the team be competitive? There is a huge difference between San Diego State and Missouri Science and Technology. A strong schedule should make for a stronger overall team. Again, I remember when Coach Jankovich started a season at 14-0 playing patsies, only to lose at Bradley and going 10-10 the rest of the season. Nothing is gained by a weak schedule other than false hope.
 
Do we want to go back to the way it was the past few years? I don't. It's been really nice to see us win for a change. It's been nice to see us be the drillers a few times this season. How many times this decade have Bradley teams have just been unwatchable? Too many to count. Don't get me wrong. I was really disappointed with how we played against Ole Miss. We are lacking in athletic play makers but it's getting there. Each recruiting class has been more athletic than the last. We have a small margin for error but it's getting better. I'm looking forward to what the Valley season brings us.
 
bigjimmy said:
Do we want to go back to the way it was the past few years? I don't. It's been really nice to see us win for a change. It's been nice to see us be the drillers a few times this season. How many times this decade have Bradley teams have just been unwatchable? Too many to count. Don't get me wrong. I was really disappointed with how we played against Ole Miss. We are lacking in athletic play makers but it's getting there. Each recruiting class has been more athletic than the last. We have a small margin for error but it's getting better. I'm looking forward to what the Valley season brings us.
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Well said!!
 
As #themovement continues the winnable games should become against better teams. At this point he knew he had to get some w??™s. We have a chance of being able to be a real good defensive team. It??™s going to be a crazy year. The Valley season is here. Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
As recently as 1-2 seasons ago Bradley was the cupcake patsy team that decent teams put on the schedule to guarantee a W. We would even lose to other patsys. Now we are crushing patsys and beating some decent teams. It is obvious to this Bradley fan that the scheduling is a very well calculated plan, and is on a steep upward trajectory.

If every year as Bradley continues to improve, we continue to have one of the softest schedules in the league as the Redbirds were accused of in years past, then fire away.

What these past two games have shown us is ???That you are never as good or as bad as you think you are.???

I think this loss helps Bradley. Merry Christmas.
 
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