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Final score: Cleveland State 76 Bradley 69

I just can't believe how much we've regressed since the California tournament, Hickman missing or not.

There's just no way we should have lost to this team. Even the effort at Akron would have been enough...

If we can't hit open shots, turn the ball over 15+ times and can't rebound, we can lose to basically anyone.

I'm not giving up on this team, but we are sure in a low place right now.
 
Stryker said:
I've been saying since December a year ago that BU needs shooters...without good guard play BU is toast, nothing else matters.
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I hear ya. I’m right there with you. I’ve really given up that finding perimeter shooters or athletic taller point guards is a priority for this staff. It’s just clearly not Brian’s priority at this point, because it’s year after year. Smaller speedy point guards that are overlooked and perimeter guys that have some athleticism to play defense is what Brian wants. Shooting and scoring are much further down the priority list.
 
I had to stay home but watched on TV. Bet that was a tough game to watch at Carver. The only bright spot I saw was Ellis had his best game. We will need him.
 
Definitely the most discouraging game this season so far. We had them on the ropes too, with a 5-pt lead at the Under 4 TO. Too many missed 3s down the stretch and they made theirs.

Good to see Ellis play well, but Burch and Atlason struggled. Hannah was a liability - hopefully his worst game of the season and maybe his worst the last 2 seasons.

Nice game by Davis and Leons, tho Davis should have made a couple more open 3s.
Too much pressure on Duke to do so much IMO.
 
Mostly upset that after the time off....nothing changes ,Wardle just keeps jerking guys out after a mistake...way too many substitutions....let a guy work through it....WTH!:mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
Our offense's execution has been really poor during this losing streak. Too many turnovers, too many quick shots, not running the offense efficiently has unfortuantely been the norm during these last 4 games. 7-25 from your 3 primary 3 point shooters just isn't going to cut it. As one of our best players Hannah can't be the non factor that he was tonight. As our best player Malevy needs to get more then 8 shots. Conversely our defense just hasn't been up to snuff either. Cleveland State's 2 best players combined to shoot 15-32, 8-13 from 3 and 11-13 from the FT line. Need to get this figured out quickly before it spirals downhill.
 
Let's all be realistic here. As much as we love the braves they are a mid level mid major program. With the nil and the landscape of college basketball you have to have something to draw in the better players.Need to have a system that attracts top talent. Need to have a homecourt environment that is different and attractive to draw these players in. We had that at fieldhouse. It was rabid. Teams hated coming here. We dropped the ball when Renaissance was built. Should have built an 8000 seat arena and put the fans right on top of the court. We would have had something not a lot of other teams have. Our offensive system lacks movement. We have to work harder than the other teams to score. You also have to get the ball in your best players hands more. You win with your best players. Lastly our substitution patterns are some of the worst I've seen in basketball period. Yanking players in and out only creates more tension and lack of freedom to perform better on the offensive end. If you can't play free and score you will break down and that's what we are witnessing right now with the braves.
 
At some point the soul searching has to start with coach. Coming back from rest they sure looked like a bunch of stiff's. Running around not blocking anyone out and no hands up defense. No energy, no talking,7”1 and can’t dunk or finish. Message may be sent but the actions on the court are the same. The same excuses after every game are old. Shake things up start the guys on the bench. You recruited them then let us see them get a chance. This team is lost and the coaches are as well. Even in warm up we have walk on guys that can’t dunk trying to. They are not focusing on the game look good and then win. Win first then look good. Point guard play is brutal love duke but at best he is a two guard off the bench. Match up nightmare for us gets manhandled in the post with the switch defense. The fans are bringing it way more than this team.
 
a lot of these discouraging comments are similar to what was posted here a year ago as well as back in 2018 & 2019
and we won championships each of those seasons. Hang tight - we got the right people in charge and will contend again this year.
 
Does anyone else see this as "regression to the mean?" Bradley got quite a few breaks in the 6-0 start..and did not get them in the last 4 games. To me: 6-4 is a fair representation of this year's team (given the reasonably tough schedule). Should be in the thick of the MVC race.
 
yoda said:
a lot of these discouraging comments are similar to what was posted here a year ago as well as back in 2018 & 2019
and we won championships each of those seasons. Hang tight - we got the right people in charge and will contend again this year.
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Great post, Yoda.
This too shall pass, and I was encouraged by Ellis’ play. He took a giant step forward and is looking like another important piece of our rotation. I think he’s finally coming back full strength from his injury and I think a lot of folks will be surprised by just how good he’ll be come tournament time.
Getting Hick back will do wonders for morale and I’m predicting we end the losing streak and start playing better ball on Monday.
On a side note, BW mentioned in post game how little they’ve been able to practice in Carver. He said he wasn’t making excuses but stressed they need to be able to practice where they play more. I know a lot of folks on this board have mentioned that as an issue and I tend to agree that it’s a disadvantage for us. Knowing Wardle sees it as an issue gives me some confidence that he’ll find a solution.
 
As we see in College Basketball, Nearly every Division 1 team can beat Another D1 team on any given night! Just look to Chicago State taking down # 25 Northwestern in Evanston! I Do Believe the MVC tourney Championship will be up for Grabs! However, most likely only for the top 4 teams that receive a bye! Bradley needs to be Healthy and Ready for Conference Play! Just as we think Bradley has hit a new low with 4 straight defeats, the team could get Hot again and with some Breaks start a Winning Streak! That's College Basketball which is what makes it exciting! It appears to me the First Road Game at Valpo next year could make or Break the Conference Season! We don't want to be 0-3 in Conference play! Time will Tell if we can turn this season back around and compete for the top 4 Valley slots for Arch Madness! No Matter what Happens, We should see some Great Games During Valley play and no matter Bradley's record, any of those games will be Winnable! Go Braves and let's hope we're very competitive the rest of the Season!!!!! We showed our talent in the first 6 games so we have history on our side!!!!!
 
ollienanyes said:
Does anyone else see this as "regression to the mean?" Bradley got quite a few breaks in the 6-0 start..and did not get them in the last 4 games. To me: 6-4 is a fair representation of this year's team (given the reasonably tough schedule). Should be in the thick of the MVC race.
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Agreed.
 
Tommy said:
On a side note, BW mentioned in post game how little they’ve been able to practice in Carver. He said he wasn’t making excuses but stressed they need to be able to practice where they play more. I know a lot of folks on this board have mentioned that as an issue and I tend to agree that it’s a disadvantage for us. Knowing Wardle sees it as an issue gives me some confidence that he’ll find a solution.
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It sounds like they're getting 1 practice per home game at Carver Arena. If you look at each week this way, on average you play twice a week (Home & Away), and you have to give the team 1 day per week off. So with the 4 days a week you practice, 3 of them are in the on-campus practice facility and 1 downtown. You could argue that it would be most ideal if both practices prior to a home game would be at Carver Arena.
 
I believe Connor Hickman would have made a difference in both the Akron and Cleveland State games. However, this team should be able to stand on its own without missing one guy
 
Game recap- https://bradleybraves.com/news/2023/12/15/mens-basketball-game-recap-bradley-vs-cleveland-state.aspx

Official box score- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2023-24/cleveland-state/boxscore/21873

Attendance: 4,842
Season average: 5,085 - Bradley leads the MVC in average attendance
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