Bradley Game Thread

[ShockTalk]

I thought McDuffie had a very nice game as well. He makes good decisions, the team's flow doesn't seem to slow down when he gets touches on offense and he doesn't hesitate with his move to the basket like a lot of FR do. Finished inside 2 or 3 times nicely today and had a great finish on a fast break. Really like his defense as well. He seems to really bear down and I have no idea what the actual stats are but I think he's 2nd on the team in floor burns to the undisputed champ Wessel and it's not close.

I'd like to see more passes from FVV like the one fantastic pass MM made instead of as many deep penetrations into the trees. I know Fred doesn't have some of the great targets he's had in the past (Cle, Cotton), but I did think he would continue to get better as a passer enough to make up for the not-as-great targets. Being a pass first PG, I didn't expect his TOs to climb each year while his assists went down (again, him being a senior). I think the rule change added to his TOs, however, I don't believe he went to the hole as much in the past.

While I'm ragging on our Best Point Guard Ever, might as well get it all out on the table. @ShockerFever: mentioned Fred sticking his free arm out (making contact) while dribbling. Have I just not seen this in the past? Seems like he is doing it more and more.

OK. I'm ready for my 20 lashes for heresy.

[Cdizzle]

If a defender is going to ride a ball-handler 50 feet down the floor, and not be called for a foul, I would expect at some point the ball-handler would try to get the defender off himself. I'm so sick of this trash. Watch FVV and Baker. They are grabbed, rode and held the entire friggin' game, with or without the ball. If you are Melo Trimble, you shoot 12 FT's a game because of it. If you are FVV, you get called for offensive fouls.

[Ricardo del Rio]

I thought he returned with about 2 minutes remaining?

Yes, I think Conner did return. I was a little bit surprised.

[Ricardo del Rio]

I just watched the game on Roku/ESPN/ESPN3.

I suppose ESPN hired Bradley's broadcast team for the game.

No semblance of balance in the broadcast.

The broadcast became a little obnoxious, after awhile.

[WuDrWu]

In general it was a man vs boy day in Peoria. This game is never in doubt. There isn't 1 player on Bradley's team that would make WSU's. Not one.

Bradley will probably have 2-5 of their freshmen transfer out at the end of the season. They'll have to unless they want to relive this nightmare again.

Gregg is TIRED of Fred not getting calls. I'd hate to know how many charges he's been called for so far. Now, I agree he's pressed at times when he didn't need to, but he's certainly not getting calls others get.

Baker is great. His defense remains incredible. And speaking of D...how many shot clock violations did we force? That wins a lot of games.

Shaq keeps getting better. He abused their skinny freshmen. I can only assume BUfan is like "wait until our fr grow up"....well BUfan, WSU was whipping your collective asses with 4 sophomores on the floor.

The energy of McDuffie and Kelly especially, and Shaq and Brown to a slightly lesser level, is really fun to watch and bodes well for the future.

I'm not really worried about the rebounding numbers...there were some oddities that skewed the numbers, imho.

Conner, still getting better, passed the ball very nicely, 50% from 3, still not mixing it up enough on D young man. If you want to play.....

Huge week. 4-0 works, anything less and it's problematic.

It was nice to shoot a good % again....imagine that, with a lot of layups.

[tropicalshox]

Good article on Marshall and the Shockers by a Bradley writer.

http://m.pjstar.com/sports/20160103/wessler-coach-gregg-marshall-lights-fire-under-wichita-state

[wufan]

In general it was a man vs boy day in Peoria. This game is never in doubt. There isn't 1 player on Bradley's team that would make WSU's. Not one.

Bradley will probably have 2-5 of their freshmen transfer out at the end of the season. They'll have to unless they want to relive this nightmare again.

Gregg is TIRED of Fred not getting calls. I'd hate to know how many charges he's been called for so far. Now, I agree he's pressed at times when he didn't need to, but he's certainly not getting calls others get.

Baker is great. His defense remains incredible. And speaking of D...how many shot clock violations did we force? That wins a lot of games.

Shaq keeps getting better. He abused their skinny freshmen. I can only assume BUfan is like "wait until our fr grow up"....well BUfan, WSU was whipping your collective asses with 4 sophomores on the floor.

The energy of McDuffie and Kelly especially, and Shaq and Brown to a slightly lesser level, is really fun to watch and bodes well for the future.

I'm not really worried about the rebounding numbers...there were some oddities that skewed the numbers, imho.

Conner, still getting better, passed the ball very nicely, 50% from 3, still not mixing it up enough on D young man. If you want to play.....

Huge week. 4-0 works, anything less and it's problematic.

It was nice to shoot a good % again....imagine that, with a lot of layups.

On the rebounding, it should be noted that Bradley had double digit more turn overs than us. That's 5+ defensive rebounds we didn't have an opportunity for.

As for the energy guys, those 4 + Conner and Landry give us a great core for the next two years. Someone is going to have to learn the point.

[jdshock]

Someone is going to have to learn the point.

Which was the last HCGM team at WSU that had a bad pg? Admittedly, three years ago, Fred looked like a better back-up than anyone we have currently. I'm sure people were concerned about losing Joe, though, and HCGM brought in two players that completely filled his shoes, albeit as different players than Joe was. I'm not worried.

[wufan]

Which was the last HCGM team at WSU that had a bad pg? Admittedly, three years ago, Fred looked like a better back-up than anyone we have currently. I'm sure people were concerned about losing Joe, though, and HCGM brought in two players that completely filled his shoes, albeit as different players than Joe was. I'm not worried.

The last time was Joe and Toure's junior year. They weren't good until February and we went to (and won) the NIT.

[jdshock]

The last time was Joe and Toure's junior year. They weren't good until February and we went to (and won) the NIT.

Daishon Smith will probably have at least some transition period, too. I have to think TT, CF, or Allen will start from day 1 next season since they will have had a full season under FVV.

[shockmonster]

Daishon Smith will probably have at least some transition period, too. I have to think TT, CF, or Allen will start from day 1 next season since they will have had a full season under FVV.

Does Allen play Point Guard?

[jdshock]

Does Allen play Point Guard?

Maybe not. I forgot how tall he is. If I am including him in the list of people who could learn PG, I guess Shamet should be included too.

[asiseeit]

I see LS and CF starting in the back court with both sharing the ball handling responsibilities
and kind of rotating from the point to the wing. Both can operate as a PG from the top of
the key when needed. ZB and PA at small forward. I see MM becoming a stretch four like Cle with
RK his back up. SM, Willis and RN the three headed center. If someone roots out any of those
guys he will be a very nice addition.

[wufan]

I see LS and CF starting in the back court with both sharing the ball handling responsibilities
and kind of rotating from the point to the wing. Both can operate as a PG from the top of
the key when needed. ZB and PA at small forward. I see MM becoming a stretch four like Cle with
RK his back up. SM, Willis and RN the three headed center. If someone roots out any of those
guys he will be a very nice addition.

I like how this line-up looks if it shakes out. Allen can probably back-up the 2 as well. McDuffie will need to get over 200lbs at minimum to be an effective 4.

[ShockTalk]

I see LS and CF starting in the back court with both sharing the ball handling responsibilities
and kind of rotating from the point to the wing. Both can operate as a PG from the top of
the key when needed. ZB and PA at small forward. I see MM becoming a stretch four like Cle with
RK his back up. SM, Willis and RN the three headed center. If someone roots out any of those
guys he will be a very nice addition.

I like how this line-up looks if it shakes out. Allen can probably back-up the 2 as well. McDuffie will need to get over 200lbs at minimum to be an effective 4.

I really hope that by next year Hamilton "gets it". That's the only part of his game holding him back right now. If he does, he will move other players down the list and/or to other positions.