Bravehearts V1E4: Bradley vs. SEMO

And that's why grown men play the game.

In case you didn't know Braves fans, I'll let you know: it won't get any easier.

There will be more games like this. They will be stomach-turning. You'll lose your voice from screaming, whether your anger is directed towards the television, the opposing players or the referees. The wins will be as draining as the losses, and the losses will be worse than losing could ever be.

What we do know is the Bradley Braves will play until the absolute last tenth of a second has ticked away. It came down to that last tenth of a second yesterday night for victory to be assured, but when the buzzer sounded, the Braves had come out on top against Southeast Missouri State.

For the time being, we can breathe a sigh of relief and quote those tongue-in-cheek "Bradley Football" t-shirts:

Still Undefeated.

Final Score: Bradley 66, SEMO 65


I won't lie, I didn't take notes at this one. Anything I wrote would have become a jumble of lines on the page with some barely decipherable phrases: "Hayden...ugly shot...no free wings...Jake BEASTMAN...Okenna does look like Ewing...oooh, Dyricus' leg is...GIMME THAT BALL!" It wasn't as big as the Wisconsin game will be next weekend or the Illinois State game in January, but this was the first real game on campus since before the student body was born and the place was full (at least until halftime. More on that later.)

Suffice it to say I lost my voice before five minutes had ticked away in the first half. If you haven't been to the Coliseum yet, disregard the silly name and GO. The building is loud, not as loud as the Fieldhouse was, but loud. There is not a bad seat in the place, and the women's team will be making noise this year.

Now that we're done with that shameless plug, the grades:

Offense: B-. Once again, there were signs, but they came in spurts. Jordan Prosser had a rugged 15 points and seven boards while taking a beating from SEMO's bigs, while Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Walt Lemon, Jr. scored 13 and 11, respectively. The outside shooting was on for the Braves (5-12 from the arc, two of those from my man Shayok Shayok) and give credit to Jake Eastman (five points, a trey, five assists and five boards in 25 minutes) for giving the Braves a great lift off the bench. The team shot well at 55 percent, but 14 turnovers is too many, especially when most of them came on lost balls on drives to the basket.

Defense: B+. Bradley is going to get hurt on defense in the paint. They're just too small with Egolf out. SEMO showed a lot of hustle and either tipped or took away rebounds from the Braves on multiple occasions and turned them into 12 second-chance points. The Redhawks also exploited Bradley down low on backcuts to the basket and on drive-and-kick plays against the zone. But Bradley held SEMO without a free thew for the last minute and a half of the game, and two sequences ended up giving them a win: Eastman grabbing the rebound of Marland Smith's missed free throw (which would have made it a three-point game), and Charonn Woods' full-court, one-on-one defense and contest on Marcus Brister's desperation jumper (see Kirk Wessler's blog at the Journal Star website).


Atmosphere: A. I might be biased, but the band put in work. The cheerleaders and dance team did a great job with their routines, and the cheerleaders especially kept to the throwback theme by wearing uniforms from different eras of Bradley sports. However, this grade rests on the shoulders of the fans. I'll say it again: the place was LOUD. The fans, who have an average age of 45, got into this one. The students weren't the only ones making themselves heard. I would have deducted for the portion of students that took off after halftime, but they don't matter. The fans wanted this one and showed it.




This season won't be an easy ride. The ballclub is eventually going to have to take a few tough losses to effectively bond. The conference schedule is miles away, but some tough foes are waiting. Still, the Braves now know they can win games like this and they know what they have to do to win games like this. Doesn't make for immediate success, but it will make things very interesting when January rolls around.

You hear that, Northern Iowa?


It's BRADLEY, SON.

See you in the cheap seats.

JS

Bravehearts V1E3: Bradley vs. Missouri-Kansas City

Note: The seats may be cheap, but I can't afford them every game, right? Thankfully, we've got a lot of talented writers here in the balcony. Kevin McClelland is a 2011 graduate of Bradley University, and as a Cleveland native, he knows the ignominy of waiting until next year (sorry, man). Here are K-Mac's thoughts on Bradley's first real men's basketball game of 2011-12.


First and foremost, let's begin with the vitriol I spit at the UMKC coach, Matt Brown:

"Hey! You coach D-I basketball, at least put on a necktie!"

What self-respecting Division I coach has the gall to NOT wear a tie with his shirt? How hard is this to comprehend? Sheesh.

Now, for the game.

Final Score: Bradley 68, UMKC 58

Slow start on both sides. UMKC has some shooters, but that's about it. Jordan Prosser went "beast mode" and was the man on the boards—a career-high 17 rebounds, five offensive, giving the Braves a 44-33 rebounding edge. He has added some bulk and UMKC had little to no height advantage. Translation: he dominated inside defensively. His 12 points were also a career high. 

DSE had 21- including an impressive 10-11 from the line—more free throws than UMKC made as a team (7 of 18; one guy was an ugly 1 for 8). He was his usual athletic self, taking a breakaway steal and dunking it home late in the first half before UMKC tied it with a three-pointer to make it 29-all going into the break.

Taylor Brown's baseline J is still silky smooth, and nothing was rusty about his game: 20 points on 8-13 shooting and 4-4 from the line proves it. He had some great offensive rebounds (five, to be exact) which quickly turned into easy points in the paint. TB is excellent within 12 feet of the rim and his athleticism makes it easy for him to fake out and overpower opponents. He had a great block after a UMKC rebound—just hopped up and pinned it on the backboard. If he keeps his head out of his ass (no smoking!), he'll score 20 or more on everybody this season. 

Shayok Shayok and Walt Lemon did not have great games—in fact, barely approaching good. Walt DID have one helluva of a block in the second half that energized the team defensively.

However, I cannot shake the image of Jake BEASTman (Eds. note: that nickname WILL stick) coming out of nowhere to block a shot into the student section, and then again on the next possession. His energy and hustle can't be beat. He finished with a very quiet but important 12 points to go along with the aforementioned two  blocks, three boards, two assists, and a pair of steals. We'll need that from him every game. 

Things to work on: 

-GET SOME STUDENTS IN THE STANDS. Pitiful attendance for "the start of the Geno Ford era." (I hate that people are calling it that- it's not the second coming, for Pete's sake.)

-Get Walt to slow down. He's got great vision and his speed is unquestioned, but he needs to slow down mentally and use his skills in ways that help the team. 

-Stay aggressive defensively. The Braves showed lapses in their defense, and UMKC took advantage. TB lost his man on an easy back cut; can't have that. 

We've got a good team, not a great team, and by no means do I expect us to finish in the top half of the Valley but if we overachieve, then anything is possible.

Did he just say, "Anything is possible?" That's my line!

There's always next year,

KDM


When he's not cursing the name of The-Akron-Basketball-Player-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named, Kevin McClelland works for Bradley's Admissions Department and is the public address announcer for BU women's basketball and volleyball. Check out his blog, "At Least We're Not Detroit", at http://atleastwerenotdetroit.wordpress.com.