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Final score: Nevada 91 Bradley 69
- Thread starter Da Coach
- Start date
Again!...A Terrible Loss...Why?
Again!...A Terrible Loss...Why?
DaCoach....I agree with you 100%. Something is wrong with this Bradley team.
Coaches should stop blaming the players and take some responsibility themselves for what is happening.
Way too much dribbling around the perimeter and no quick/crisp passes and ball movement. We need to learn how to create and set up openings for our shooters-we don't seem to be able to do this at all. Our players are obviously afraid to shoot and we are very indecisive with the ball.
Our bigs have terrible hands and couldn't catch a cold!! Our basic man-to man defensive skills stink.
What in the world is going on in practice. Are we teaching players anything? Our kids are not learning and improving.
Only two positives that I see from this game:
1. D Lo is finally shooting some threes. He is a good shooter and we need this in our offense.
2. Nate Kennell- He's a player and he makes things happen.
Wizard
Again!...A Terrible Loss...Why?
DaCoach....I agree with you 100%. Something is wrong with this Bradley team.
Coaches should stop blaming the players and take some responsibility themselves for what is happening.
Way too much dribbling around the perimeter and no quick/crisp passes and ball movement. We need to learn how to create and set up openings for our shooters-we don't seem to be able to do this at all. Our players are obviously afraid to shoot and we are very indecisive with the ball.
Our bigs have terrible hands and couldn't catch a cold!! Our basic man-to man defensive skills stink.
What in the world is going on in practice. Are we teaching players anything? Our kids are not learning and improving.
Only two positives that I see from this game:
1. D Lo is finally shooting some threes. He is a good shooter and we need this in our offense.
2. Nate Kennell- He's a player and he makes things happen.
Wizard
Big Mike
Active member
Tonight we were just out-classed by a superior team who outplayed the Braves in every facet of the game. Nevada is good.....Bradley is not! Does anyone know why Suggs did not get into the game till under 10 minutes remaining and still put up 7 pts in very little time played? Is he hurt or falling out of favor or what? 
IMO the team seems to start slow the first 10 minutes of every home game...that's on the coach.
IMO the team seems to start slow the first 10 minutes of every home game...that's on the coach.First full game that I have watched this year and was looking forward to see Brown and Bar, the new high scoring offense, 37% 3 point shooting, and potential on the roster to turn things around. I walked away with complete disappointment. I agree that the offense still looks as bad and we struggle with the ability to create and complete easy shots. However, the defense is awful. How can we not put pressure on the ball and rebound so poorly at the same time? Our rebounding is brutal. I did not see anyone who was able to work and get a board. First 4 minutes of each half and our team defense says a lot about our coaching. Oh, and I would much rather have 5-6 guys that can play rather than an 11 man rotation with perceived depth. Looks like a year where we will not have any regular rotation and substitution pattern. Outclassed for sure.
Tonight we were just out-classed by a superior team who outplayed the Braves in every facet of the game. Nevada is good.....Bradley is not! Does anyone know why Suggs doesn't get into the game till under 10 minutes remaining and still gets 7 pts in very little time played? Is he hurt or falling out of favor or what?
Ronnie also had 4 rebounds (including a team-leading 2 offensive rebounds) to go along with his 7 points and no turnovers in just 6 minutes of playing time. I agree that he should get more playing time. Maybe we should try Ronnie along with a different starting lineup to avoid the abysmal starts we have every game?
It is notable that the top rebounders tonight were all guards (DLO with 7, McGlaston with 6, Suggs with 4), and the big men were terrible on the boards- Bar with 2, van Bree with 1, Thomas with 2, Barker with 1, and Foster with 0. That was mostly to the credit of Nevada's athletic players, but I also saw a lot of missed block-outs, poor positioning, and too hasty retreating after our shots.
tornado
New member
yes but the many times we tossed amazingly bad, soft lob passes or gave away terrible turnovers when we threw a pass right into the hands of the defender - who was often quite surprised that we made it so easy on him...
this tendency is disturbing....do we practice this way?? Do we keep throwing those biddy-ball level passes because we do it all the time in practice and get away with it?
That's the lazy stuff that has NOT improved since last year and we're never gonna play with the big boys unless we stop giving the ball away so easy.
Hats off to Mussleman who took a team that was 9-22 to 24-14 his first year....that's impressive...
Seems like teams underestimate Kennell.....I doubt that happens much in the future....I thought he struggled some on defense....
Wiz...I think coach works on everything you said....he was pulling players like Pittman for the turnovers in the first half(he played much better 2nd half). Took Brown out from passing up wide open 3, yelling for them to move the ball....he's just going to have to continue to raise the bar recruiting wise IMO
Nevada is clearly the better team...better in the paint, quicker to loose balls, and certainly better shooters...
They had 12 turnovers to our 14 so we were close there....maybe ours just looked worse
Seems like teams underestimate Kennell.....I doubt that happens much in the future....I thought he struggled some on defense....
Wiz...I think coach works on everything you said....he was pulling players like Pittman for the turnovers in the first half(he played much better 2nd half). Took Brown out from passing up wide open 3, yelling for them to move the ball....he's just going to have to continue to raise the bar recruiting wise IMO
Nevada is clearly the better team...better in the paint, quicker to loose balls, and certainly better shooters...
They had 12 turnovers to our 14 so we were close there....maybe ours just looked worse
Bradleyfan1
New member
It was the first time we played someone who really got into us physically.
I wouldn't say the officiating was in our favor by any means.
Luuk due to foul trouble. Jo jo and Darrell all couldn't get the ball in the hoop, We needed them to be at there best. They will have a lot of brighter days.
Bar will keep getting better and better. Suggs pt will continue to rise. He had the flu.
I was very impressed with Nate , he continued to show , he's that guy.
They sagged a lot on D and packed the lane , I wish we would've killed them with the 3 , having Luuk playing more minutes would have made a difference.
On to Ball St , they really can shoot the 3 . I'm ready to see the response from this group and go from there.
Free Throw shooting was great , other than the pack tripled our attempts.
Brighter Days ahead.
I wouldn't say the officiating was in our favor by any means.
Luuk due to foul trouble. Jo jo and Darrell all couldn't get the ball in the hoop, We needed them to be at there best. They will have a lot of brighter days.
Bar will keep getting better and better. Suggs pt will continue to rise. He had the flu.
I was very impressed with Nate , he continued to show , he's that guy.
They sagged a lot on D and packed the lane , I wish we would've killed them with the 3 , having Luuk playing more minutes would have made a difference.
On to Ball St , they really can shoot the 3 . I'm ready to see the response from this group and go from there.
Free Throw shooting was great , other than the pack tripled our attempts.
Brighter Days ahead.
Yes, I have been looking at the Ball State stats, and will post about them later, but everyone they play can shoot the 3-pointer well, and they rebound well, too.
Here are Ball State's stats-
http://bsu_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/Stats/mbasketball/2016-17/2016-17-Stats.pdf
One more thought, then I will put last night's downer behind...
Going into the game, Bradley was shooting 36.8% from three. That is a far better 3-point shooting percentage than Bradley has had at any time in the last 6 seasons. We were 28.0% last year, 30.1% in 2014-15, 32.2% in 2013-14, 31.9% in 2012-13, 30.0% in 2011-12, 33.4% in 2010-11. In fact, it was better than any season since 2007-08.
So especially since Nevada's size, athleticism, and game plan made it almost impossible to get inside baskets in the half court offense, why didn't we adjust and try to get our better shooters more outside shots? Bradley was 4-9 on three pointers in the second half, when Nevada was extending their lead from 20 points to 30 points! I know that coaches don't think you can win games just by shooting threes, but when your team is already down 20, and they are pulling away and scoring at will, why not adjust and try something different that seemed to be working in the 2nd half?
It looked like we were conceding that the game was already lost.
Going into the game, Bradley was shooting 36.8% from three. That is a far better 3-point shooting percentage than Bradley has had at any time in the last 6 seasons. We were 28.0% last year, 30.1% in 2014-15, 32.2% in 2013-14, 31.9% in 2012-13, 30.0% in 2011-12, 33.4% in 2010-11. In fact, it was better than any season since 2007-08.
So especially since Nevada's size, athleticism, and game plan made it almost impossible to get inside baskets in the half court offense, why didn't we adjust and try to get our better shooters more outside shots? Bradley was 4-9 on three pointers in the second half, when Nevada was extending their lead from 20 points to 30 points! I know that coaches don't think you can win games just by shooting threes, but when your team is already down 20, and they are pulling away and scoring at will, why not adjust and try something different that seemed to be working in the 2nd half?
It looked like we were conceding that the game was already lost.
Our half court offense was nothing but half court dribbling with one on one sets. Our half court defense was the some of the worst defense I
I've seen in parts of 6 decades I've been watching Bradley basketball. This is not acceptable for the amount of money we are paying and the quality of non conference teams we are playing at home this year. Nevada is a very good basketball team and would finish in the top 3 of the MVC. But there is no way they should come to our home court and destroy us. We had no answers. I don't remember seeing one offensive play last night, when one of our ball handlers passed the ball, made a cut to the basket, and got it back for a shot. We were lost at both ends of the floor. Getting beat physically is one thing. We got beat physically, fundamentally and mentally.
I've seen in parts of 6 decades I've been watching Bradley basketball. This is not acceptable for the amount of money we are paying and the quality of non conference teams we are playing at home this year. Nevada is a very good basketball team and would finish in the top 3 of the MVC. But there is no way they should come to our home court and destroy us. We had no answers. I don't remember seeing one offensive play last night, when one of our ball handlers passed the ball, made a cut to the basket, and got it back for a shot. We were lost at both ends of the floor. Getting beat physically is one thing. We got beat physically, fundamentally and mentally.
pfcmsh
Member
Great Question
Great Question
You raised great points here. That is why you are da coach
. We had no chance close to the basket, so 3's were our only chance to stay close. I feel as all of you do about this game. Bad.
You mentioned our 3 point shooting better than many years. Other things are better too. A Coach Ford team would have quit, period. We'd have lost by 40. Last night we stayed with them in the 2nd half. I'm not making excuses for them. We start so poorly most of the time. Are we trying too hard or not hard enough? Maybe we thought it was going to be easy? He put in 5 replacements when he saw the effort wasn't there early in the 1st half. He must have gotten through to them at the half in the locker room because he finally got them to play in the 2nd half. Nevada might have been cruising on the big lead. We need the same effort from the opening tip! We rarely score many points until we are well into any first half against any team. I think the cold starts are our problem.
Nevada is a very good team with better, bigger athletes that play better as a team than we do. Look at the assists. I expect them to do really well now after seeing them. I didn't expect us to win, but I expected us to be within 10. Poor first half.
Great Question
You raised great points here. That is why you are da coach
. We had no chance close to the basket, so 3's were our only chance to stay close. I feel as all of you do about this game. Bad. You mentioned our 3 point shooting better than many years. Other things are better too. A Coach Ford team would have quit, period. We'd have lost by 40. Last night we stayed with them in the 2nd half. I'm not making excuses for them. We start so poorly most of the time. Are we trying too hard or not hard enough? Maybe we thought it was going to be easy? He put in 5 replacements when he saw the effort wasn't there early in the 1st half. He must have gotten through to them at the half in the locker room because he finally got them to play in the 2nd half. Nevada might have been cruising on the big lead. We need the same effort from the opening tip! We rarely score many points until we are well into any first half against any team. I think the cold starts are our problem.
Nevada is a very good team with better, bigger athletes that play better as a team than we do. Look at the assists. I expect them to do really well now after seeing them. I didn't expect us to win, but I expected us to be within 10. Poor first half.
tornado
New member
I love the guys we have in charge..... and what we have is a 1000% upgrade over the corrupt and incompetent group we have before..
but people are not going to wait forever...
the crowds are gonna shrink more unless we clean up the mistakes. We have talent now but we keep making horrid mistakes and keep running the same stuff over and over when it is not working.
I know we're not getting blown out by 40 or scoring in the 30's like we were when Glasser/Cross/Geno ran the ship, but junior-high-level mistakes have got to stop!
pfcmsh
Member
I like the idea of Suggs starting. Kennel has a nice short shot in the lane. If we cant be successful against big, athletic teams inside, then start Suggs, Brown, JoJo, Thomas and Bar. Not a big line up, but stronger at shooting and going to the basket. Bring in Kennel and Pitt and keep going to the basket. Let's get the opposing team in foul trouble for a change.
Dubl R 1
Active member
I agree that they were much bigger than us as a whole, but I think we are underestimating Koch Bar a little but offensively. He can do some things if we get him the ball. He was 3-4 last night, and his miss was on an ill advised 15 foot corner shot... which in a couple years I think he will be making. 3-4 against an NBA prospect is pretty good... who knows, if we can get him the ball down there 15 times and he makes 10 shots... that's a pretty good game.
We had multiple times they got caught in switches and Drew(their pt. guard) is left guarding Bar, and our guards do not find him to exploit it. I mean maybe drew gets a couple fouls, and has to sit, now Darrel brown can get going... idk.
We play as if we have no center at all on the floor offensively... especially this game. We can't just discount inside play because we think they might be better. Koch had 7pts on 3-4 shooting, 2 rebs in. 18 min. He needs to play 30 min and should, imo, average 8-10 shot attempts per game.
We had multiple times they got caught in switches and Drew(their pt. guard) is left guarding Bar, and our guards do not find him to exploit it. I mean maybe drew gets a couple fouls, and has to sit, now Darrel brown can get going... idk.
We play as if we have no center at all on the floor offensively... especially this game. We can't just discount inside play because we think they might be better. Koch had 7pts on 3-4 shooting, 2 rebs in. 18 min. He needs to play 30 min and should, imo, average 8-10 shot attempts per game.
I'm not sure we have the talent right now. Last year's freshmen were players available, but not recruited by any other programs. I think Wardle is doing the best he can with the cards he was dealt with and this turn around is a three to four year project. I know Versace went from last in the MVC to first, but that was an exception. This is like a big ship that was sailing in the wrong direction for years and turning the ship around was last year's goal. We are at least on course, but it is going to take better players to return this program to our fans expectations. Don't give up on this team and I believe much better days are coming.
pfcmsh
Member
Still Looking Up
Still Looking Up
I agree with you 100%. I am frustrated too, but in spite of getting hammered by Nevada, I join all of you in standing by the new regime. It takes a few years to turn the battleship, even though we want it to happen faster.
Still Looking Up
I agree with you 100%. I am frustrated too, but in spite of getting hammered by Nevada, I join all of you in standing by the new regime. It takes a few years to turn the battleship, even though we want it to happen faster.
I don't remember how he got his points last night but he seemed overmatched I thought by Nevada bigs. He only had 2 rebounds and I think 2 fouls in the first half which limited playing time....
JoJo and Brown were the killers last night shooting 2-15........as well as Luuk with his foul trouble. I doubt we win many games with those 3 guys not playing well
Good/Bad Habits...
Good/Bad Habits...
Lefty...I appreciate your comments, but I have to question if we are working on the things in my previous post in practice because I do not see any of them in games. You do not instill these good habits by yelling at players during games.
You instill them by intense teaching in practice and running hard scrimmages in practice until they become ingrained habits and appear naturally in games.
Quick passes and ball movement instead of endless dribbling around the perimeter, no soft passes or cross court passes, ferocious -tough-physical play inside, create and set up openings for 3 point shooters, tough man- defense with help and arms up, go to the basket hard on lay-ups and "crip" shots, play hard with a fearless attitude.
We also have issues with our talent levels. We must recruit much better players if we are going to successfully build the BB program.
Wiz
Good/Bad Habits...
Lefty...I appreciate your comments, but I have to question if we are working on the things in my previous post in practice because I do not see any of them in games. You do not instill these good habits by yelling at players during games.
You instill them by intense teaching in practice and running hard scrimmages in practice until they become ingrained habits and appear naturally in games.
Quick passes and ball movement instead of endless dribbling around the perimeter, no soft passes or cross court passes, ferocious -tough-physical play inside, create and set up openings for 3 point shooters, tough man- defense with help and arms up, go to the basket hard on lay-ups and "crip" shots, play hard with a fearless attitude.
We also have issues with our talent levels. We must recruit much better players if we are going to successfully build the BB program.
Wiz
I really think they do work on it Wiz....but they are practicing on each other too, not teams like Nevada. My point was he's yelling because they do work on them but not executing which ultimately is on the coach too..
Your last line is probably more the issue than anything