Basketball is supposed to be difficult. It's supposed to be a seesaw affair, a teeth-clenching battle of wills where every loose ball counts and the ref's whistle makes the crowd draw a single, halting breath.
It's not like that at the Coliseum.
Bradley was facing an easy game tonight against Western Illinois and they made sure there would be no trap against the Leathernecks. Braves took the W, 93-64, behind 29 points from Catie O'Leary.
Ball don't lie
If you're looking for heart-stopping basketball excitement in Peoria right now, please stay away from the Bradley women's squad. If you're looking for close games and fast finishes, don't come out to the Coliseum.
In short, if you don't want to see a blowout, go somewhere else. That's what you're going to get from Bradley right now: hot shooting from the arc, points in the post, second-chance opportunities and solid free-throw shooting.
I may be getting ahead of myself; the conference schedule hasn't started and the grind of mid-season hasn't taken effect. Still, the Braves have not made the same mistakes that plagued them last year. They're limiting turnovers (they haven't crested 20 in the past two contests); they're rebounding well; the shooters are spreading the floor for the slashers and everyone has a role.
Kelsey Budd and Catie O'Leary, the Wisconsinites, are shooting the daylights out of the bucket. Budd tallied 31 Saturday night in the win over Iowa; O'Leary came off the bench with 29 tonight. Katie Yohn continued to break out of her slump with 11 points and Leah Kassing picked up another double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Individual numbers don't nearly tell the story, though: Bradley dominated this game. They held the 3-8 Leathernecks to 32 percent field-goal shooting and 15 percent from three-point range. Bradley outrebounded Western IL 46-39, shot over 50 percent overall and from beyond the arc and picked up 53 points from their bench.
If all basketball was this easy, everyone would be playing.
On Wisconsin! And Iowa, and Minnesota...
It's no secret that Paula Buscher has recruited from the northern Midwest over the past six years. Renee Frericks and Jenny Van Kirk both hailed from Minnesota, as does freshman Michelle Young. Budd and O'Leary are from Wisconsin, while Mackenzie Westcott and Alyson Spinas-Valainis head back to Iowa on breaks. I don't know if the air is thinner or what, but the Wisconsin kids in particular can shoot from almost any spot on the floor. Kelsey Budd has the ability to control the game with shooting or passing (10 points and nine assists tonight), while Catie O'Leary can run the second unit.
The Braves' greatest asset might be their depth. There are five potential point guards on the team, two of whom can shift to the three of whom can shift to the shooting guard position. Westcott and Frings can both play small or power forward, and both can shoot from beyond 15 feet. Spinas-Valainis still needs to improve, but she clocked five points and six rebounds tonight, a building-block performance.
In short, the out-of-towners are really turning the cogs for the Braves tonight.
Grades
Offense: A+. I only saw one interior pass get stolen tonight, and the Braves outscored the Leathernecks bench 53-16. Next.
Defense: A. Six blocks. Ten steals. 23 points off turnovers. And Coach Buscher got a warning from the refs after the sixth bad call on what should have been a jump ball. The Braves didn't have to worry about an inside offensive presence, so they swarmed the basketball on the perimeter.
Atmosphere: C+. Again, sparse crowd, but the Morton Junior High Band did their best imitation of the BU Basketball Band and got loud on free throws. The guys next to me were all over the refs about fouls and got several glances from the zebras. Nice job, guys.
So.....what?
I'm sure that's what people are thinking after reading this, if they read to the end. "So what? Why should I care?" they're saying to themselves.
Right now, this is the streaking basketball team in Central Illinois. Bradley has won four in a row since dropping a four-point game to Wisconsin-Milwaukee on November 28. They're 9-3 going into conference play. They shoot, they drive, they make julienne fries! What more do you really want to see?
Two more games on the homestand starting next Thursday. Either find your seats on the bandwagon or get left in the dust. I know one thing: we're making noise in St. Charles come March.
See you in the cheap seats.
JS
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