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Final: USF 61 Bradley 57

But it seems that is what the coaches are calling- they had a timeout to call some drawn-up play in the final minute, but still everything is the same- Walt 1 on 5.
The team played well, and came back in the first half when they could have gotten blown out.
Pickett & Lemon scored 33 of Bradley's 57 points, and took 30 of Bradley's 52 shots.
Stats-
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=31006

Attendance 6,221

Anyone want to guess what was the deal with Omari Grier? He did not get off the bench until after 10 minutes were played in the first half, and sat a lot of the second half, too. He's been our best shooter.


Not sure what was up with Omari??¦he didn't make a shot though??¦We played better team ball in the first half but not the 2nd. Walt will not trust his teammates with shot clock winding down or in the guts of the game??¦.at this time of the year that's on Geno IMO??¦

Wells had a dunk and a block in close sequence??¦.but other than that he's slow to react in the lane defensively. He's got a great attitude, tries hard, and everyone wants him to do well but he's pretty limited IMO
 
Thought the 1st 10 minutes of the game was same ol, same ol from what we've seen this month. Geno took 2 timeouts to try and get the guys going and during the next 20-25 minutes we looked as good as we have all year. It looked like we had some new offensive sets that we ran. Walt was very patient in running the offense and we actually made some 3 point shots. We even had a 5 point lead with the ball 3 times around the 6 minute mark but couldn't convert. Then Walt reverted back to form and from there the offense was just throw it up and hope. And can somebody, anybody explain to me why we don't have an inbounds play of any kind when we're inbounding it from under our basket. I've never seen a team have more trouble getting the ball inbounds. Other teams can score easy baskets on inbounds plays. Why can't we? For the most part I liked our effort. It was the execution that sometimes left something to be desired. The Valley season is now upon us. Hopefully we can press the reset button and start over.
 
Wells had a dunk and a block in close sequence??¦.but other than that he's slow to react in the lane defensively. He's got a great attitude, tries hard, and everyone wants him to do well but he's pretty limited IMO

Have to disagree.....XT had a poor game with the ankle, Blake gives you nothing at the 5......Wells gave the team a spark, had 4 rbs and made SF bigs works to get the ball...I M O he should get in the games before Prosser or Blake get off the bench! :-o
 
Now on the inbounds plays, why is Barnes in bounding the ball? He is without a doubt the softest passer on the team and tonight was not the 1st time his inbound pass was stolen!
 
I think both Wells and Swopshire will get better with more playing time and could help out down the road......a three here and there....a block, a rebound, a nice screen....there is hope!

They have earned some minutes.....I was looking for some minutes from Fields but I do not recall him getting in?
 
Yeah Mike, there is simply no excuse for these issues this late in the season, and especially with all the time between games this month to work on these specific plays.

By the way, the missed dunk by Ka'Darryl Bell turned out to be very costly. Not only did he miss the dunk, a USF player chased down the rebound and then Bell immediately fouled him and he made both free throws. It was a 4 point swing that really hurt them.


Game story by BradleyBarves.com
http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=209351650

Box score-
http://www.bradleybraves.com/pdf9/2...PSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=3400
 
Yeah Mike, there is simply no excuse for these issues this late in the season, and especially with all the time between games this month to work on these specific plays.

By the way, the missed dunk by Ka'Darryl Bell turned out to be very costly. Not only did he miss the dunk, a USF player chased down the rebound and then Bell immediately fouled him and he made both free throws. It was a 4 point swing that really hurt them.


Game story by BradleyBarves.com
http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=209351650

Box score-
http://www.bradleybraves.com/pdf9/2...PSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=3400

I agree on the Bell play??¦??¦we aren't good enough to overcome missing easy layups
 
Have to disagree.....XT had a poor game with the ankle, Blake gives you nothing at the 5......Wells gave the team a spark, had 4 rbs and made SF bigs works to get the ball...I M O he should get in the games before Prosser or Blake get off the bench! :-o

maybe??¦.but I gotta feeling if Nate plays more he'll just foul more??¦..he was pretty slow reacting in the paint??¦.I agree he's not bad straight up defending but when he has to react to help??¦he's pretty slow it seems??¦.not that the other guys do well on help either but Taylor has the ability to move??¦so does Blake although Blake is a liability offensively
 
I think both Wells and Swopshire will get better with more playing time and could help out down the road......a three here and there....a block, a rebound, a nice screen....there is hope!

They have earned some minutes.....I was looking for some minutes from Fields but I do not recall him getting in?

Fields didn't play at all??¦??¦and we didn't have a good sequence when Walt was out either..maybe around the 7 minute mark???¦..and when Walt came back he didn't play well at all to finsih the game
 
Now on the inbounds plays, why is Barnes in bounding the ball? He is without a doubt the softest passer on the team and tonight was not the 1st time his inbound pass was stolen!

Even my wife commented that Walt was kind of lazy going after that pass. I can't stand that play but you have to lob it over??¦..the guy getting the pass has to go get it though and I thought Walt took it for granted
 
I agree with Swop making a three every now and then and also Wells playing better with more game experience. The staff let these guys play through mistakes and they get comfortable out there. What I don't like is how Bell and Lemon can repeatedly turn the ball over and loose us games. What was the deal with Omari? He has been one of our better players and only played 10 minutes. No Anthony Fields tonight for the 1st which I can't believe. No way our 2 PG's can miss countless layups, a dunk and turn the ball over when we need a play made and we get no look at him. Team performed well but as we can see with opportunity more kids on this team can contribute. Wake up Geno give these kids a chance. Doing the same thing over and over is INSANE.
 
I dont blame Bell because he missed one layup. I am blaming Lemon and Geno. Walt for constantly driving to the basket and throwing up wild shots and missing. I count that as a turnover. And Geno for letting him. There was no flow to the offense, no movement, motion
 
I dont blame Bell because he missed one layup. I am blaming Lemon and Geno. Walt for constantly driving to the basket and throwing up wild shots and missing. I count that as a turnover. And Geno for letting him. There was no flow to the offense, no movement, motion

normally I wouldn't either but it was totally uncontested??¦..we aren't good enough(or play good enough) to overcome those??¦??¦.


and I agree on the second point??¦.not much of an offensive flow the 2nd half at all??¦.especailly the last 7 minutes??¦.
 
Walt's offense and shot selection appear to be exactly in line with what he's being asked to do. Why our coaching strategy changed from what was working, back to what has not been working in the game's conclusion is baffling, but I keep hearing Geno talk about giving our leaders more chances to make game winning plays. I was pleasently surprised with the overall response and preparation for 34 min. If that could be sustained we will win some valley games.
 
Even my wife commented that Walt was kind of lazy going after that pass. I can't stand that play but you have to lob it over??¦..the guy getting the pass has to go get it though and I thought Walt took it for granted

It looked like Walt was a 3rd or 4th option on that inbounds play. But nobody else seemed to move, so the pass was lobbed long to Walt. But by then, USF knew that was coming and Walt was double-teamed. Someone on the floor needs to tell Walt about the second guy coming from his blind side, but it didn't seem they did. Just overall poor communication and teamwork at a really crucial point in the game, and I agree that has to fall on the coaches as much as the players.
 
Kirk Wessler has a new column on the Braves, his first in a long time-
http://www.pjstar.com/article/20131229/SPORTS/131229320/10963/SPORTS?rssfeed=true


Kirk says, "Nobody is exempt from accountability", but then he blames everything on the players, and then spends the next 4 paragraphs ragging on Walt alone (who, in case KW missed it, was the leading scorer, had a season-high 7 assists, 4 steals, and played great defense). He also praises the coach for juggling the lineup a little, and makes no mention of even the slightest culpability in the coaching.
So I guess when he says "Nobody is exempt", he means the problem is the players, and mainly Walt's fault, ignoring the fact that without Walt, Bradley would have been blown out by halftime. Do the coaches ever bear any responsibility? It's amazing how Kirk's viewpoint on this has changed 180?° compared with the last coach, who he blamed for everything.
Sorry, but IMO this staff has had 3 years to recruit and build this team and bears some responsibility if we don't have team leaders or the right players to perform in situations. How much longer will the PJ Star continue to give them a complete pass and keep blaming the players?
 
.... He also praises the coach for juggling the lineup a little...

really? - where we lost the game is digging ourselves a double digit hole right out of the gate by keeping our best player and best scorer of late, Tyshon Pickett on the bench.
Of course the fans won't ever know all the facts on this but this was a coaching decision that Geno says publicly was due to the players getting back late from Christmas break due to flight difficulties. But does everyone believe that's all it was? Why is a player benched for something he had no control over?
Even KW says had they not had delayed flights - "Ford likely would have benched someone else"
anyway -- the only segment they really outplayed us was those first 6-8 minutes then right at the end.

i thought the best stretch of basketball we have played all year was in the latter part of the 1st half when we had Walt, Tyshon, Bell, Barnes, and XT in the game.

I have been one who has called for a lineup change even starting walk ons if that's what it takes - but don't shoot yourself in the foot.
Wells and Swopshire didn't play badly but their combined 8 pts + 4 rebs in the end just doesn't get it done considering "starter minutes"

And we have to develop an inbounds play that works reliably - this has hurt us way too many times already this season.

And when we are zoning them - how do they get the ball so easily right into the low post for layups, short shots, & even DUNKS??
Isn't a zone supposed to make that almost impossible, yet they kinda did it with ease..

And I wouldn't blame Walt the way some are because he's doing what he has to do - without Walt we're not even within 20 points in this game.
If KW wants to rail on "leadership" then please explain why after the team is loaded with 3 years worth of Geno's recruits - we have no leader -- someone has to be accountable.
And leadership can only carry you so far if you're still going to have basically only two scorers on the floor and put up a paltry 57 points total.


One last question - what is meant by Geno when he says...
"The emotional level of our team was great, especially considering what we've fought through the last few weeks."

What is it we have "fought through"?
Attendance of 6221 - but lots of empty lower bowl seats between baselines.
 
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