Pathetic

[it's boogie time]

I'm still trying to guess why BU played a zone coming out of a timeout with a little under two minutes remaining and SIU down seven. You know they are going to be shooting threes. Why make it so easy? One fake inside and a wide open three to pull within 4 and then the unexplainable collapse.

 

[Out of Balance]

Well most posters on here know where I have stood regarding Jim Les. He has been a decent coach, and obviously he has knowledge of the game or we wouldn't be talking about four consectutive postseason appearances, regardless of what level of postseason we are talking about. And I'm certainly not calling for his firing since this team will be back together next year for the most park. But I know what I saw tonight, and this loss is on him! Okay, maybe not 100% of it. The players themselves should share the blame too, minus the booing of course which probably wasn't directed at them anyway. But Les is the field boss, and he is in charge of reeling his players in when things get tight.

There is no excuse for blowing three straight home games after building double digit leads in all three of them! Once, I can live with. Twice......maybe. But three times is absolutely unacceptable!

My problem is not with his motivational skills. You can only scream at a team so much to make them play a full 40 minute game. It's not with the team's effort. It was there tonight, even if it did not look like it the last five minutes. My problem is with Les's substitution patterns. WHY does he INSIST on taking out players when they are playing well, or not playing the combinations that work the best together? Someone answer that question! That is absolutely a fundemental coaching philosophy that ALL good coaches follow when the team is playing well. You NEVER take out players and ruin the continuity and flow of a game when things are going right, other than for brief periods of rest, and most certainly not during the most critical points of the game.
Lowery has taken some heat the last year or two, but he kept Dillion and some of his other top players in the game for 35 minutes plus. Why is Les not doing this? And where were the plays drawn up for AW the last five minutes? This has nothing to do with good coaching. This is common sense! Even a bad grammar school coach should know this!

Again, I'm not saying kick Les out to the curve. But someone associated with the team, Les or otherwise needs to answer this question. Then maybe we can understand why he is making these types of calls.

The reason I'm so frustrated is this is not a team that was expected to rebuild this year. This is a talented team that yes, has not played a lot together, but individually has experience and talent. Yes the national pundits picked them sixth in the Valley, and maybe they are seeing something I'm not. But I do think we have the talent to if not finish above .500, to at the very least be able to close out games at home like we are supposed to! That is my biggest gripe with this team. Not so much the record, but how we are getting to this record, which lately has been garbage!

I understand that some may think that I am making knee-jerk comments, but this is three straight home losses in this manner, which is something that should never happen outside of very young teams that are just learning how to win at the Division I level. I think this team is past that stage, and that is what is really bothering me.

Now I hope Bradley can prove me wrong, and maybe this game is what motivates them to pull off a huge upset at Wichita St. on Sunday, and get to that 2-1 record the hard way which I had predicted anyway. If they win, great. Lesson learned hopefully for the next home game. But right now I'm not counting on it. Hopefully this team from the players and coaches on up can take something away from this debacle tonight and turn it into something special on Sunday night and beyond. But these meltdowns at home have to stop immediately or this could be a very long couple of years for this team.

Braves, prove me wrong!

I agree with you:!: For the first time JL played 2 players at the same time at the 4 & 5, both being over 6' 8 (WE & SS both 6'9) This happen twice in the game tonight. The first time was in the last 4 min's of the 1st half and the second time from the 4 min to the 1 min. in the second half! Both times were do to TB's foul problem. You had to be blind or Know nothing about BB if you could not see how good this lineup worked out. With this lineup we stretched the lead to 13 at the half and then with 1:21 in the game with this same lineup working again (7 point lead) only to have Jimmy pull it apart (remove SS) and put TB back in the game with 4 fouls. Then right away WE picked up #4 inside, where SS would of been. To start the second half, instead of staying with that lineup and going for the kill, he changed and they score 5 points in the first 30 sec's:!: Just bad coaching and a momentum killer, at critical times in the game:!: Now we have a coaching staff that stands back of the team during time outs, looks like they have no purpose and does nothing but look down at the floor I am sure we will not see this big lineup anymore:!: This could save this season:!:

 

[rsmit84]

I'm just wondering how people can say we played great for 36 minutes? Yes, our offense was tremendous much of the game but I think our defense was pretty awful the entire game. Our three point defense is just terrible and has been all year. Its hard to not leave your man to help when you have no faith in your SOFT interior D. Not to mention Dillard was getting penetration at will. The scary thing is I dont have a lot of faith that our players are being put in a position to succeed.

 

[California Alum]

We don't have a point guard/floor leader who controls the flow of the game. SM doesn't have any interest in doing it and that kills us. He runs around like he's at the YMCA playing a pick up game. I do blame our coaching staff for not channeling his game for what we need. I'd sit him down until he gets the message. Yes, I'm assuming soneone is trying to get through to him, but who knows.

We also do not develop our big men. I love SS and all he represents, but he is what he is. We didn't develop DC and we are not even trying to develop AT. Why play a six year man who just doesn't have what we need? I must say that I though he and WE on the floor together had pretty good results.

I believe we have some talent. We just don't know how to deal with it. That's the coaches' job and they are not doing too well.

This team reminds me of Albecks teams. Out of control and no defense. We will always play this way until we get someone who wants to be a floor leader controling the flow of the game. SM and EM don't seem interested in doing it. They are like two flies on a hot skillet. DSE is our only hope. Where is Darian Norris? I think I'll stop now as I'm beginning to tilt at windmills.

Pathetic is an understatement!

 

[bigjimmy]

Another tough home loss where we failed to execute down the stretch. No excuse to lose a 7 point lead at home with 1:30 to go. It looked like we had never seen a full court press before. I am sick and tired seeing our guards leaving good 3-point shooters open when we double down on a guy going down the lane. This is our 3rd straight home game where we've had a 2nd half double degit lead get away from us. Give SIU credit. They hung in there the whole way and never gave up. It also certainly helps to have a point guard who can not only shoot but execute the offense at the end of the game. I love the way SM competes but it's clear he's not close to 100% and with all the stoppages in play JL should have brought in EM on the defensive end. All in all not a good way to start to the new year. Unlike some people I'll always believe and stick by the Bradley Braves. It doesn't me I won't criticize them when it's appropriate. It also doesn't mean I'll jump off the kool-aid bandwagon when things get tough. I certainly get tired of JL saying "we need to continue to work on it". It's time to just do it.

 

[BradleyBrave]

Is anything Jim Les's fault? It's his team. His players. His program. He recruits the players, he runs the practices, he calls the timeouts, he makes the decisions on playing time. If nothing is the coach's fault, why do coaches get fired?

This team has major issues if we're trying to make a point or send a message in a conference game by playing a walk-on at power forward ahead of a 6'10" 3-star recruit, and a 6'8" freshman who's already scored in double-figures in a game, both of whom are here on scholarship. Not trying to knock Ryan Phillips, because he did the best he could, but he's not a Division I basketball player. Why is he playing? Why are we redshirting Jordan Prosser if we have to play Ryan Phillips in a conference game?

I don't think there's any denying that we have two all-conference caliber players in Andrew Warren and Taylor Brown. That SHOULD be enough to be a top half team, perhaps even contend for a league title. We're going to be really lucky to not play-in. How is that even possible?

I was no huge Molinari fan but at least he won home games and won conference games. We're 8 years in, still under .500 overall in league play, and going nowhere fast. This season is toast. Copy this down and shove it back in my face if I am wrong.

 

[buballer82]

BradleyBrave I couldn't agree more!!!!

 

[ER3]

Is anything Jim Les's fault? It's his team. His players. His program. He recruits the players, he runs the practices, he calls the timeouts, he makes the decisions on playing time. If nothing is the coach's fault, why do coaches get fired?

This team has major issues if we're trying to make a point or send a message in a conference game by playing a walk-on at power forward ahead of a 6'10" 3-star recruit, and a 6'8" freshman who's already scored in double-figures in a game, both of whom are here on scholarship. Not trying to knock Ryan Phillips, because he did the best he could, but he's not a Division I basketball player. Why is he playing? Why are we redshirting Jordan Prosser if we have to play Ryan Phillips in a conference game?

I don't think there's any denying that we have two all-conference caliber players in Andrew Warren and Taylor Brown. That SHOULD be enough to be a top half team, perhaps even contend for a league title. We're going to be really lucky to not play-in. How is that even possible?

I was no huge Molinari fan but at least he won home games and won conference games. We're 8 years in, still under .500 overall in league play, and going nowhere fast. This season is toast. Copy this down and shove it back in my face if I am wrong.

Spot on! Great post.

 

[Future Walk-On]

...where to start...

1. I was in not my normal seats tonight...I heard the boos somewhat amongst the screaming SIU fans behind their bench (Fay's parents etc)....who got the best of my cocky ass from the first half. The fight song also drowned them out a bit. I liked the boos as I was laughing to myself because of what I just saw. The worst 5 minutes of Bradley Basketball I have ever seen.

2. Can I throw in my vote to not play the fight song after we lose? just my opinion....i hate it.

3. I have never thought JL brings something to the table worth keeping besides his past. I called for him getting canned towards the end of the season before we eventually went to the Sweet 16 ;-) that saved his a$$ IMO (although it seems it would be hard to fire him). And he always subs out at bad times....MK against Loyola for example. from personal experience the assistants don't do much...

4. This may go in the "do not discuss" section of this board...butttt I CAN'T STAND SCHOOLS AND POLITICS. people are calling a certain player on BU matching up against Fay ....a tough matchup? IT ISNT EVEN A ****ING MATCHUP. This player can not match up with any player in MVC. and someone tell me why he is on the team...;-) politics. I don't know who everyone on here is but i still hope i remain anonymous. MK not getting a minute but this player is? and he is guarding a player bigger than half our team combined? the laws of physics shouldnt even allow that to happen. i went to a private high school most from peoria are probably familiar with and now Bradley. it was evident in high school too ..it is gross.

5. What happened to (what i believe was..) the 1-3-1 zone that was smothering Freeman and Dillard on the perimeter that we ran for one possession. Basketball wasn't a sport I played in high school so I can't break it down as well as I do football or baseball....but it appeared to me that this was decently successful. There is something about a 3-pointer that ignites a team more than anything. why not smother the perimeter and let them work to get hard earned points in the paint? booker was non existent till his tip in over SS (if WE was there it would not have happened). i mean slow earned 2's are better than raining 3's. i don't even know what happened when dillard has NO ONE within ten feet of him and pops.

6. Team needs a PG. Preferably a Rajon Rondo type. TB and AW can score we just need a set-up man. And I'll take AW taking the final shot to tie over SM in this situation....we also need an enforcer.... the trevor booker type preferably lol

7. We have 2 players that any team in the valley would die for. AW has the most NBA like game of anyone in the conference....a team with 2 possible 1st teamers and stuff like tonight happens.

So anyways Bradley, Illinois (FB and BB), the Bears, and the Cards have done enough to me this past year.
I need to bandwagon with Florida, Duke, Texas, the New England Pats, the Boston Sox, and the Yankees like my awful friends

 

[shaunguth]

CB said " kids should never be booed. News flash CB the boos were not aimed at the kids. I've always heard we had knowledgible fans and I think we surely do. I have never booed a Coach, official or player but our fans were booing the TICKING TIME BOMB. That last 4 minutes were very poor. The first 36 the best we have played.

Well, I'm glad someone knows the exact reason why each person was booing. I hope you told the recruits at the game that those people were actually booing the "TICKING TIME BOMB".

 

[Murph]

I certainly hope nobody was booing our players tonight! Anyone that was should just stay home and find something else to do.

I'm afraid that's whats going to happen, then what?

 

[Murph]

Yes! JL needs a seasoned bench coach! EM should have played more and we should have ran our through AW! If he was not hitting his shot he was being fouled. EM was putting pressure on their guards and disrupting any flow thay had on O.

You call that person a seasoned bench coach, I call him a babysitter.

 

[mrcoachdude]

JL's coaching did not lose this game. Turnovers late and clutch shooting by SIU is what lost it. I don't see how that's the coach's fault.

goingh zone after a Time out WAS the coaches fault....TURNING POINT .....come on JL take the credit for that one!

 

[lake Camelot]

JL's coaching did not lose this game. Turnovers late and clutch shooting by SIU is what lost it. I don't see how that's the coach's fault.

I didn't get online last night when I was mad, because I didn't want to say something I would regret. First off I did not boo. I haven't read the rest of the thread yet so it may be covered already. It only took one comment to wind me up again. This is the exact opposite of how I feel. I feel this loss is totally on Les. Why with the lead would you come out of the timeout in a zone with the way they had been hitting 3's. I know it was to confuse them and slow them down, but it was the dumbest thing I have seen in years. Then not calling timeout when we were in trouble on the press. Leaving the players wide open on 3's was a combination of coaching and players. I have always said it was crazy to mention Les being in trouble as far as his job. I think if they don't turn it around the rest of the season he should go. He has proven over time he is not a very good game coach. He has been able to recruit fairly well over time, but that can only get you so far.

 

[Braves4Life]

goingh zone after a Time out WAS the coaches fault....TURNING POINT .....come on JL take the credit for that one!

First off I did not boo. I feel this loss is totally on Les. Why with the lead would you come out of the timeout in a zone with the way they had been hitting 3's. ......it was the dumbest thing I have seen in years.

Yep! That zone was NOT a smart move!! And the offensive sets in the last minute REALLY looked bad. I know the players did not execute but the plays just looked bad. If that first one to AW had not gone out of bounce AW would have been trapped in the corner.

And, for the record, I saw a lot of bad BU games and teams in my day and NEVER once considered booing...... It never even entered my mind! To me it's like kicking a family member when they're down.

 

[QPS]

Giving up 14 points in 90 seconds translates to giving up 373 points for a 40 minute game. It seem's like the team is operating under Murphy's law. I hope they find a way to turn things around.

 

[tornado]

SIU played very well, especially at the end when it mattered....
our guys will learn from this one and be better...they were totally devastated by the outcome..they know they let this one get away and 50 more people telling them isn't going to make it more clear..

 

[BradleyJD]

SIU played very well, especially at the end when it mattered....
our guys will learn from this one and be better...they were totally devastated by the outcome..they know they let this one get away and 50 more people telling them isn't going to make it more clear..

What about learning from the last 3 home games!!!

Same story every game, every year. This is way past getting old.

 

[Braves4Life]

SIU played very well, especially at the end when it mattered....
our guys will learn from this one and be better...they were totally devastated by the outcome..they know they let this one get away and 50 more people telling them isn't going to make it more clear..

You make a great point tornado. For 35+ minutes BU played relatively well and at times dominated SIU. They showed me that if they can get their act together they are a team that can definately make noise in the MVC and have the talent to get hot and run the MVC table in March. We must remember that many of our guys really have very little big game experience and are learning "on the job".

If this team learns its lessons and begin to apply them soon we can still win this league. I, for one, am NOT jumping off the BU Bandwagon (never have/ never will)

 

[Beninator]

...where to start...

1. I was in not my normal seats tonight...I heard the boos somewhat amongst the screaming SIU fans behind their bench (Fay's parents etc)....who got the best of my cocky ass from the first half. The fight song also drowned them out a bit. I liked the boos as I was laughing to myself because of what I just saw. The worst 5 minutes of Bradley Basketball I have ever seen.

2. Can I throw in my vote to not play the fight song after we lose? just my opinion....i hate it.

3. I have never thought JL brings something to the table worth keeping besides his past. I called for him getting canned towards the end of the season before we eventually went to the Sweet 16 ;-) that saved his ass IMO (although it seems it would be hard to fire him). And he always subs out at bad times....MK against Loyola for example. from personal experience the assistants don't do much...

4. This may go in the "do not discuss" section of this board...butttt I CAN'T STAND SCHOOLS AND POLITICS. people are calling a certain player on BU matching up against Fay ....a tough matchup? IT ISNT EVEN A ****ING MATCHUP. This player can not match up with any player in MVC. and someone tell me why he is on the team...;-) politics. I don't know who everyone on here is but i still hope i remain anonymous. MK not getting a minute but this player is? and he is guarding a player bigger than half our team combined? the laws of physics shouldnt even allow that to happen. i went to a private high school most from peoria are probably familiar with and now Bradley. it was evident in high school too ..it is gross.

5. What happened to (what i believe was..) the 1-3-1 zone that was smothering Freeman and Dillard on the perimeter that we ran for one possession. Basketball wasn't a sport I played in high school so I can't break it down as well as I do football or baseball....but it appeared to me that this was decently successful. There is something about a 3-pointer that ignites a team more than anything. why not smother the perimeter and let them work to get hard earned points in the paint? booker was non existent till his tip in over SS (if WE was there it would not have happened). i mean slow earned 2's are better than raining 3's. i don't even know what happened when dillard has NO ONE within ten feet of him and pops.

6. Team needs a PG. Preferably a Rajon Rondo type. TB and AW can score we just need a set-up man. And I'll take AW taking the final shot to tie over SM in this situation....we also need an enforcer.... the trevor booker type preferably lol

7. We have 2 players that any team in the valley would die for. AW has the most NBA like game of anyone in the conference....a team with 2 possible 1st teamers and stuff like tonight happens.

So anyways Bradley, Illinois (FB and BB), the Bears, and the Cards have done enough to me this past year.
I need to bandwagon with Florida, Duke, Texas, the New England Pats, the Boston Sox, and the Yankees like my awful friends

A couple of points to address here as I fundamentally disagree with some topics on your post.

Point 3. You obviously missed the season after the Sweet 16 year and last year as far as JL's coaching ability. I am not saying that JL is a great coach, but the coaching job done in those 2 years was very good. After saying this, I will admit that JL is not having a good year on the coaching front this year.

Point 4. Why bash this player? It was the staff that sent him in to guard Fay not the player. He is a decent guy and good player in HS. IMO, your point here looses credibility and reeks of a personal agenda.