Bradley 74 - Missouri State 56

First, let me say that if anyone in the US is feeling like we never get a break or that we really are not a blessed nation, the just check some of the pictures of the tragic situation in Haiti, then maybe say a prayer for those people and help in some form of support to restore that nation.

We as Americans do have so much to be thankful for....
next time your car breaks down or your basketball team loses a game, instead of thinking about anything negative, say a prayer thanking God that you are blessed with a car and that we can enjoy such recreation!
(BTW - the SUV I drive is great and gets 20 mpg, so e mail me or PM me ASAP and I'll put you onto the guy to talk to....)

OK back to basketball --
Yesterday was the most satisfying game I have enjoyed since Chris Roberts landed the long one...
I really enjoyed BU's big win over MSU. We played well, the kids gave us 110% effort, and the crowd was good.
For those who don't have the links......

Story -
http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=204870096

Box score -
http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=204870163

My observations........
This Missouri State team simply looked like an entire busload of different guys than we played last week. I really don't have an explanation, but maybe they all had the flu? They not only didn't shoot well, they seemed slow, and disinterested at times.
By the time Weems flung up a frustrated-looking attempt from 12 feet past the 3 point arc, it was obvious the Bears were no longer going to try to rely on their skills and coaching, they were just going to send up the Hail Mary and hope for the best...and just maybe that's what actually happened last week...just maybe some of those very same long shots just took better bounces and went in. Even as I watched the game last week, I wasn't so sure that MSU was the better team, as that their shots found the hole.

And Coach Les set some nice matchups...using Roberts, Warren, Jake to cover Adam Leonard...and then it was funny watching Leonard try to launch a few of those bombs over defenders who are 4-5 inches taller...
Did you note that Weems & Leonard took 27 shots to end up with 27 points between them?

Some of the defensive jobs the Braves did were marvelous...
Mallett started and played 27 minutes, ended with 4 points - only 37% of his average.
Creekmore and Furhmeyer were starters and combined for 3 pts (Furhmeyer was scoreless).
Juco player of the year Nafis Ricks, 24 minutes, 1-7 and just 3 points,
and we defended free throws better....they made just 7-13 (53.8%).
And Eddren hit his only two shots, one of the few remaining things we need to see improvement on!

Now, I think we see we are as good as anyone in the Valley, and hopefully this confidence will drive BU to a long stretch of wins...

The Missouri State fans have really done a 180 !!!
They have gone from confidently thinking they can win the Valley, to truly believing they are going to be playing on Thursday in St. Louis...all this in just about 2 weeks!!!
Read this thread from the Missouri State board!

In fact...some of the most intriguing comments are in their game thread where before the game was midway through the 1st half....the posters on the board are saying things like...
"I feel like puking"
"There is no worry of losing Coach after this year"
(before the thread is over, there are guys ripping on Cuonzo Martin!)
"Game over. I'm sick of this"
and seriously ...one guy says.... "Boooooooo ..."

He's even booing his own team before the 1st half is over....
but at least one comment was enjoyable.....one guys says this......
"(Cuonzo Martin) should have gone after Dyricus Sims Edwards. He is very good."
(got that right!!)

At this point in Valley play, Bradley has played 3 home game and four road games,
and we are 3-4, not too far from where we figured we might be.....
So now it's our turn to get hot...
Three of the current top 4 teams right now in the Valley have had the MORE favorable schedule, playing MORE at home than on the road...



Donivine Stewart was sitting right behind the Bradley bench where's he's been for just about every game this year...
I have a daughter that plays on the same travel soccer team as the daughter of Donivine's coach, Dan Sparrow of Limestone, and I had a chance to talk with Coach Sparrow a bit - there's more but I will put that into the private blog!!



Lastly - two odd things I found while checking some stories this morning --

Note this box score of the Iowa State 56-53 win over Nebraska...
There are TWO different attendance figures given in the box score.
This is the first time I have ever seen this...
"Attendance: 11367
Actual attendance: 9427"
http://media.scout.com/media/doc/77/771287.pdf

Maybe this'll be a new trend at other schools, too....then we will see how much Illinois State inflates their attendance figures when we can all see those empty seats!

Then it was really reassuring to see this headline...
"Latinos are no longer rare in college basketball"
http://newsok.com/latinos-are-no-longer-rare-in-college-basketball/article/3431515

But the truth is that Latin American kids are still quite rare...as they did some digging and came with only about a dozen examples.....can anyone recall a Latin American kid who played for Bradley??
Here's one I suspect you recall...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12922

we could certainly use a few more like Marcel!!