Some notes on Bradley, the Valley, and Max...

Just wonder how much difference would there have been in the last two games, both losses for Bradley...if.........

--if we had Taylor Brown healthy...I have to think we'd have won both games and we'd be 6-0 and few would be complaining.

--if we hadn't played FIVE games in EIGHT days including a long trip out east...
Remember, EIU had only play three games in that same span and had not travelled outside of the State of Illinois.

--if Sam Manisclaco had simply not had his worst game ever...
Here's a guy who gives us everything, he's one of the most if not THE MOST valuable player in the league, and he wins games for you - such as the USC game...
but he had a really bad game Wednesday, and it cost us..........but I know Sammy will snap back.


Bradley's next three games...

-At Western Carolina -- NEXT TUESDAY, NOV. 30 -- WCU is one of those schools where none of their sports programs draw well, but basketball is the poor sister to their football program.
They have a good basketball program -- and have already beaten DePaul in Chicago! But -- they've yet to play a home game.
Last year's home attendance averaged only 2,427, but their home non-conference games were all under 1000!
Even though their football team went just 2-9, they drew close to 10,000.

-Home vs. Utah -- SATURDAY, Dec. 4 -- The Utes are now 4-1, losing their only road game at Utah State, and wins over four easy teams, and they've drawn about 5000 per home game, even though they have drawn about 10,000 per game in recent years past...
BUT -- interest is currently down and won't likely pick up until football season is over.
Virtually none of the talk on any of the three Utah message boards is about basketball.
In fact, they are already talking Pac-12 football and basketball, as they are moving to the Pac-10 Conference...
The only basketball discussion going of any significance over there is about their schedule once they get to the Pac-12.
Utah starts playing Pac-10 teams next year and this article is the subject of their discussion...
as they already have their conference schedule for next year.....so that means they're out of the Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge....and their game against Bradley is likely the last one they'll ever play against a Valley team in this challenge.
http://pac-10.org/News/tabid/863/Article/215644/Future-Pac-12-Conference-Basketball-Schedules-Announced.aspx?bg=/Portals/7/DigArticle/215644/WASH_Holiday_Justin-0910-web.jpg

-At Duke - WEDNESDAY, Dec. 8....should be interesting.......


Dodie's little brother Brandon Dunson got his first action yesterday with Arizona State.
ASU beat Houston Baptist 73-55, and Brandon got into the game for 2 minutes in the middle of the 1st half - while ASU was ahead by 14...then was subbed in again with only 14 seconds to go and Arizona State up 18.
Teammate Corey Hawkins, Hersey's son, didn't get in the game at all, but he's not going to be able to redshirt this year now since he did appear for 4 minutes in Arizona State's game against UAB..
Personally, I think that Brandon is wasting his talent at Arizona State...he's never going to get more than a few minutes per game there, as they are very deep with wing players.
Here's the ASU statistics....Brandon and Corey have played the least of all the players on the roster - neither has scored and neither has even taken a shot.


P'Allen Stinnett's Missouri Western team just did something Bradley couldn't do -- they just beat Quincy. P'Allen had 13 pts, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 turnovers....pretty much the same scoring and rebounding line that Peoria Notre Dame's Josh Edmonds had in the game, that ended 92-88 in favor of Missouri Western.
In three games, the high scoring Missouri Western team is averaging 83 ppg, and P'Allen's numbers are 19 ppg, 8-18 on 3-pointers, 4.7 rpg, 4.6 assists per game, and 4.0 turnovers per game.


Creighton's Ethan Wragge (who would probably be starting if healthy) is suffering from a lingering foot injury (ligament strain), and has missed all but a few seconds of Creighton's four games thus far. It is possible he could return soon, but if Creighton has an easy time with Kennesaw State today I'd have to think he gets very little playing time.


Meanwhile, Creighton's Kenny Lawson -- billed as possibly the best post player in the league -- has become the Bluejays' most prolific 3-point shooter....
http://omaha.com/article/20101123/BLUEJAYS/711239802#lawson-gets-the-green-light-on-3s


Wichita State is 3-1 with one win over D-II Chaminade and their only loss to UConn, an 83-79 loss on Monday. UConn is 5-0 and their closest game has been the Wichita game, while they beat both Michigan State and Kentucky by bigger margins.


Ex-Saluki Kevin Dillard is now at Dayton -- waiting out a year to be eligible. I am not so sure I agree with this article -- he didn't exactly help SIU win a lot of games. The Salukis were 28-33 with Dillard.
http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/springfield-oh-sports/university-of-dayton-flyers/transfer-dillard-eager-to-be-on-the-court-for-flyers-1013669.html


ISU enters the easy part of their schedule...that is if any one part of the non-conference schedule is any easier than the rest...
After playing SIUE, Tennessee State, and Ark-Little Rock, the Redbirds get South Dakota, Louisiana Monroe, and Jackson ville State all at home.


Three games into the season, Peoria Notre Dame's Max Bielfeldt is averaging 35 ppg, 12.3 rpg......and not against weak competition....would love to see him at BU!
Here's a review of Max from yesterday by a national writer...

"Max Biefeldt, PF, Peoria Notre Dame – There is absolutely nothing pretty about Biefeldt’s game, but the bottom line is he produces. Though limited athletically, Biefeldt had an enormous game with 40 points and 15 rebounds. Biefeldt ran the floor and scored off of rebounds, hit from the outside, and scored on crafty post moves. Quite simply McCluer had no answer for him, and giving maximum energy on every possession, Biefeldt set a tournament record for points scored in a single game. It is easy to talk sometimes about what Biefeldt isn’t physically able to do, but his high motor and intelligence allow him to put up big numbers consistently, and that is impossible to take away from him. "
"Max Biefeldt listed offers from Illinois-Chicago, Ball State, Western Michigan, and Wright State. Also Dartmouth and Brown from the Ivy League are in hot pursuit."

Watch out -- Peoria Central has a 6-9, raw junior center who is still growing --



Flashback....here's a discussion off the BradleyFans board from FOUR years ago...
anyone remember this ??? (one of our funnier threads!!)
It centers on an article that was written in the PJ Star after the Bradley-Wright State game in December of 2006...where an experienced (and I mean 30 years of experience covering sports) writer who covered the game, railed about Bradley's offensive rebounding...
and if you read the article, it's obvious that he didn't have a clue -- not even an inkling - of what an offensive rebound is.
The entire article was based on a completely erroneous idea of what constitutes an offensive rebound...
Recall, in that game, BU clobbered them 88-49, and they missed 43 shots (and lots of 3-pointers and even free throws) compared to Bradley missing only 27 shots..
Of course this means there's a whole lot more rebounds for someone to get off their offensive end! BUT it constitutes OUR defensive end where we outrebounded them!
Even a cursory look shows that even our walk-ons like Ryan Phillips had as many offensive rebounds as all but three of their players...so to dig and find just one thing to rag about in a blowout game, and make it the offensive rebounding to rag about when it not only isn't an issue, but then display a complete lack of understanding of what the stats mean....prompted that thread in 2006 started by one of the Bradley fans........
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2189