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Well.....Creighton 73 BU 64

B

Bradleyguy10

New member
Back down to earth. I was worried about a mental lapse and I can't say for sure if that's exactly what it was but here are some of the stats that suggest we lapsed back into the "other" team.

Creighton 3pt% was 47.7% -- what happened to 1st place perimeter d in the MVC

BU shot 6/18 from 3 which is 33.6% most notably 1/9 (11.1%) from 3 in the 2nd half -- what happened to only taking around 10/game

Overall CU shot 48.6% and BU shot 37.4% -- again 1st place defense, where'd you go?

Free throws were 18/26 which is 69.3% -- didn't look like 1st in free throws

Bench points for CU was a whooping 33 and BU with 19 -- CU just has a deeper team



Three road games in a row coming up here that will say a lot about this team...and will say a lot about the standings. Creighton is the more talented team and I had a feeling they'd put it together tonight. Move on to the next game.
 
Our bigs did not show up and our guards need to learn how to hit mid-range jumpers instead of driving into the trees. We also need to figure out how to guard the perimeter a bit better.

I watched the Mich. State game today and what their guards are doing is hitting that mid-range after they beat their man and then when the big steps out to defent them their bigs are wide open underneath. If EM learns to shoot the 10' jump shot there will be know one that can stop him.
 
Honestly, we didn't look that much worse on the offensive end than the last couple games, but we just couldn't stop them and when we needed possessions the most, we turned the ball over and missed open shots.
 
No lack of effort.

Too many missed free throws and layups, and good shooting by Creighton.

The game turned when Bradley took a 3 point lead in the second half, then Cavel Witter clanked in the three pointer off the glass, and Antoine Young, who was 0-11 from three for the year, swished 2 of them. Creighton made their free throws, and Bradley couldn't keep up.

Well, we knew we wouldn't win them all, but it's tough to lose one at home. Bradley is still in 1st place and a game ahead of Creighton and ISU.
Need to go back to work and concentrate on the next game.
 
Bradleyguy10 said:
Back down to earth. I was worried about a mental lapse and I can't say for sure if that's exactly what it was but here are some of the stats that suggest we lapsed back into the "other" team.

Creighton 3pt% was 47.7% -- what happened to 1st place perimeter d in the MVC

BU shot 6/18 from 3 which is 33.6% most notably 1/9 (11.1%) from 3 in the 2nd half -- what happened to only taking around 10/game

Overall CU shot 48.6% and BU shot 37.4% -- again 1st place defense, where'd you go?

Free throws were 18/26 which is 69.3% -- didn't look like 1st in free throws

Bench points for CU was a whooping 33 and BU with 19 -- CU just has a deeper team

Three road games in a row coming up here that will say a lot about this team...and will say a lot about the standings. Creighton is the more talented team and I had a feeling they'd put it together tonight. Move on to the next game.
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I didn't think we were going to run the table in the Valley this year. ;) It would have been nice to run the table at home this year, but that's tough to do to.

The next three games will say a lot about our team, but it still will be a very difficult stretch. One out of three would be good. Indiana St continues their tradition of playing mediocre basketball, but occasionally knocking off some great teams in their place (as they did during the Royce Waltman era). I still think though we are talented enough to beat these guys at their place, but it will be tough. But that's our best chance for a win.

Now SIU has come back from the dead a bit, and as always are a pain to beat in their place. But they still are trying to find themselves, and despite their two game winning streak, this is a winnable game for us. I think the key to being a great team is to beat teams that are struggling on the road. It won't be easy, and a loss would not be surprising, but this is winnable.

Then there is lst place UNI. I don't know if they are as good as their record indicates, and as shaky as we are on the road, Bradley usually upsets one or two great teams on the road in a season, this as evidenced by our wins at Drake and Virginia last year, VCU the year before last and UNI in 2006. So since I don't know if UNI will keep up this pace all season, maybe we have a shot there too. I don't know how realistic a shot, but it is a possibility.

So basically we do have a shot to win any or all of these three games, unlike at Creighton or ISU red where I think it will be extremely difficult to get a win at those two places. The most important thing is that we get one at minimum, though two or more would be preferrable. Getting swept would really put us at risk for the play-in round, so one is the minimum goal, especially with a couple of easier home games to follow against Indy St and WSU.
 
As far as our offense goes give CU credit. They played fantastic defense IMO which made it hard for us to get good shots. They just bring pressure all the time which I think made us a little tired shooting in the second half.

We played good defense as well most of the time but CU does a better job on the pull up jumpers.

Another thing I noticed.JL didn't say much to the refs all game. A few times late in the second half he talked about a couple of calls but he didn't chirp much at all until before then.

McCain needs to stay on his feet...he's up in the air too much and doesn't know what he's going to do.
A couple of games ago he had 8 turnovers and people didn't think he had that many but tonite he only had 2 and it seemd like 5
 
lefty said:
As far as our offense goes give CU credit. They played fantastic defense IMO which made it hard for us to get good shots. They just bring pressure all the time which I think made us a little tired shooting in the second half.

We played good defense as well most of the time but CU does a better job on the pull up jumpers.

Another thing I noticed.JL didn't say much to the refs all game. A few times late in the second half he talked about a couple of calls but he didn't chirp much at all until before then.

McCain needs to stay on his feet...he's up in the air too much and doesn't know what he's going to do.
A couple of games ago he had 8 turnovers and people didn't think he had that many but tonite he only had 2 and it seemd like 5
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? There is no possible way McCain only had 2 turnovers, you are right.
 
BravesFan, I definitely think all 3 are possible, legitimately possible. It's just going to be tough, and everyone knows that. It's time to get back to business on DEFENSE. Those percentages were very high for CU and we need to be the #1 overall defense in the league if we want a chance for the valley title. The offense wasn't too bad but 18 3's total and in the 2nd half going 1/9?? Ouch.

But CU did put some shots in that ruined momentum because they just...were creighton shots lets put it that way.
 
Time to take a day off, then get right back to work focusing on the next opponent. BU is still very much in the hunt for the MVC, it's a long conference schedule.
 
jasonpeoria911 said:
Oh, and play more D on the perimeter against Creighton next time.
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OH, Do you think?:rolleyes: and also try to hit our FTs and especially the front ends of the 1 and 1s.

Also, I wish just once DC would take the ball and go hard to the rim, not back away, and dunk it on someone, regardless if he fouls the guy guarding him!:mad: Right now you play him to put the ball down once with his right hand, turn around and fade away from the basket and shoot.
 
Bradleyguy10 said:
Anyone think we can make up for it by beating them at Creighton?

We are, after all, better on the road. :D
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Yes we are. We are still perfect on the road, at least for a few more days! :D

That would definately make up for tonight. If anyone can beat Creighton at home as UNI did, it is a big win!
 
SFP said:
OH, Do you think?:rolleyes: and also try to hit our FTs and especially the front ends of the 1 and 1s.

Also, I wish just once DC would take the ball and go hard to the rim, not back away, and dunk it on someone, regardless if he fouls the guy guarding him!:mad: Right now you play him to put the ball down once with his right hand, turn around and fade away from the basket and shoot.
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yeah..once in the first half the defender was on his right hip and instead of going right and having a layup he turns opposite and does a fadeawy
 
Just adding a couple of things to what has already been said...

We played like an inexperienced team tonight... We rushed things on offense and tried to create situations that weren't there... ie driving to the baseline and jumping out of bounds to try to pass to someone/anyone and getting caught with noone to pass the ball to..... We need to concentrate on the mid-range game and freethrows!

Creighton is a team that we do not match up well against...

Let's be sure to concentrate on winning the next game....

all for now... Tonight's game was like watching root canal operation.
 
SFP is correct in that the mid-range jumper around the freethrow line is open and we need someone to start pulling up and make that shot. That should be one of the easiest shots to make as it is only around 12-15 ft out.
 
I have said this before but it bears repeating. We are a team that has a very small margin for error. We need to do a better job of taking care of the ball. We have a bad tendency to drive down the baseline and eiher step out of bound or leave our feet and force a pass inside that gets stolen. Because we seem like we're taking more time on offense when you're turning the ball over like we do it limits your number of possessions. Then throw in missing free throws and passing up wide open in the lane shots for forced shots and then if your defense isn't close to perfect your small margin for error goes out the window. However having said all of that 4-1 in the MVC is still pretty good. Be a little smarter with the ball on offense and along with the way we're playing defense I look for us to be at least 6-2 when we play at home next time.
 
bluedevils1 said:
Honestly, we didn't look that much worse on the offensive end than the last couple games, but we just couldn't stop them and when we needed possessions the most, we turned the ball over and missed open shots.
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That about sums it up. I've got to give Creighton (and Altman) credit. Coming off two losses, they came in here and really played a good game. Their defense was very good, we had a real tough time adjusting to it.

I think the way the game was called really ended up hurting us too. Now, I'm not going to complain about the officials, because I think they were consistent. But they did call things very tight, especially in the second half. This hurt us for two reasons:

1) Losing TW to foul trouble. He was plagued by fouls all game long. He scored 15, but was limited to 24 minutes. He wasn't really ever able to get into the flow of the game after halftime. There was one play around the ten minute mark where they went down to him in the block and he had a nice finish, and it looked like we might try and shift our strategy to getting it down to him. However, he picked up his fourth foul soon after and wasn't able to do much for the remainder of the game.

2) Free throws. We reverted to our pre-conference struggles at the line. In a tightly officiated game, making your free throws is key. Creighton made theirs and we did not. I think that, more than anything, was the key reason we lost. We didn't play our best game of the year by any stretch, but if we hit our throws we are still right there at the end.

Big stretch coming up now... we're still 4-1 and in tremendous shape right now, let's see how this team bounces back. I think JL will have them ready to go.
 
I write this without reading anything else - The better team with the better players won the game. We can complain about cheap fouls or missed shots or whatever, but the best team won. Maybe we'll be better than them on another night, but not tonight. Losing this game doesn't lessen our 4-0 start. Not at all.
 
Didn't see the game due to other commitments, but that's too bad we lost. Oh well. Now, we'll see how the team responds. Hopefully hungry on the road.
 
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