Redbirds v Bradley 1/20 8:00 PM Marquee (ESPN3)

[RBFANTOO]

Great win. I really hope Dan remembers whatever he said to the team at half-time. He needs to repeat it for the rest of the season.

I didn't recognize the team that came out of the locker room for the second half.

 

[Brick]

im convinced one of the problems is dan can only be decent when playing from behind because when they get a 10 point lead they lose it EVERYTIME. The only reason I can think of is he uses 10 points leads as practice for areas they need to work on and let the teams back in the game instead of stepping on their throat.

Might want to rethink that losing the lead every time. Sure didn’t happen last night. Took the lead on first score of second half and never gave it up.

 

[SgtHulka]

Surprising outcome, always nice to beat badley. Would have been interesting to see the dynamics today were we playing back to back games like the other valley teams

 

[gobirds85]

Sorry, didn’t insert correctly

Great to see the Birds win. Love the fire and the 2nd half, but Dan should let them have a little fun at the end. He needs to lighten up as this was a BIG win for us coming off the Indy St. doubleheader loss. Now, let's keep this rolling and beat a hapless Valpo team.

GO YOU REDBIRDS!!

 

[Redbird222]

Great to see the Birds win. Love the fire and the 2nd half, but Dan should let them have a little fun at the end. He needs to lighten up as this was a BIG win for us coming off the Indy St. doubleheader loss. Now, let's keep this rolling and beat a hapless Valpo team.

GO YOU REDBIRDS!!

Looks like he let them have some fun in the locker room

 

[CaliRdBrd]

I watched it on TV as it looked worse from that angle. He pulled Dusan's arm down. Then after Kotov's arm was down, Dan yelled at Kotov and gave him a nice shove (pretty sure to his neck).

I watched it on TV as it looked worse from that angle. He pulled Dusan's arm down. Then after Kotov's arm was down, Dan yelled at Kotov and gave him a nice shove (pretty sure to his neck).

Maybe this will be a Neil Reed/Bobby Knight opportunity to show DM the door.

 

[TIMMY]

Looks like he let them have some fun in the locker room

There's a time and a place for everything.

 

[Adunk33]

Sorry, didn’t insert correctly

Watched this a couple different times, and at first it does look like he's telling them to knock it off. However, watch Muller as he walks away with Duce. DJ waves over to the BU bench and Muller doesn't react. Couple that with this tweet:


And it seems they are just celebrating. Duce and Alex don't seem too upset in the locker room video above. (Reminds me of when we used to clown BU for celebrating like this after a win over the Birds....at any rate, it feels good.)

I was talking with a couple buddies during halftime, and was pleasantly surprised with the last 15 minutes or so of the first half. The defense just seemed to have that energy that leads to wins- jumping passing lanes, chasing down loose balls, etc. The ball seemed to stick at the time. My first half observation was that BU couldn't hit a shot and the guys in stripes were just letting the guys play. Only 21 fouls called in yesterday's game, which is the lowest of the season.

Second half came and the offense became more aggressive and the defense was more or less consistent. For the first time this year, I believe the team saw how defense can fuel offense. Even BU's best defensive possession, where I don't believe the Birds got the ball inside the arch, Josiah hit a bomb over a double-team as the shot clock expired.

Everything went right in the second half, which was great to see. Obviously, Bradley didn't make a lot of their open shots. Childs working the short corner of the 2-3 zone got him open looks that he didn't capitalize on. They were missing a pair of key guys. DJ was unconscious and Tone left something to be desired, offensively. As long as one of those two guys are "on" and then the Birds get average performances from everyone else, I like their chances to win some games.

A major thing that was taken away from last night's game....free throws do appear to be contagious. 10-14 of course isn't perfect, but it's progress. Even Duce hit 2-3

This weekend comes at a great time as Valpo seems to be one of the most beatable league. A pair of wins this weekend would do wonders for this team's confidence. I'm sure I don't have to remind this board but big wins by Muller teams are either followed up with a:
A: horrible loss
B: win by 1 over a team that they should beat by 20.

Growth every week is what is needed this season. As it's been discussed completely on this board, whether you like it or not, Muller will be back another year and very likely with much of the current team. Effort has been there most of the season, and last night it clicked. How many times will that happen again this season? Who knows. Either way, I'll be rooting for the kids to be successful.

 

[Bird Friend]

Great to see the Birds win. Love the fire and the 2nd half, but Dan should let them have a little fun at the end. He needs to lighten up as this was a BIG win for us coming off the Indy St. doubleheader loss. Now, let's keep this rolling and beat a hapless Valpo team.

GO YOU REDBIRDS!!

While it may be tempting to let boys be boys I, personally, think Dan is right to shut down actions like these. First, it’s not good sportsmanship. It’s disrespectful, which I think is one of Dan’s guiding principles. In the long term, it’s about being gracious in victory and in defeat. Second, it gives something the opponent can use as personal motivation for the next game. Losing to us hurts. But being taunted brings anger. And let’s be honest, our team really does not need for BU to be focused AND angry the next time we face them.

 

[Adunk33]

Something I forgot to mention for those clamoring how much better Wardle is than Muller- In 6 years at BU, he is 89-90 overall and 41-52 in the MVC and lucked in to two MVC tournament championships. In 2019, Bradley was 9-9, in a 3-way tie for fifth in the league, and was a benefactor of the conference's tie breaker rules, thanks in part to two half-court buzzer beater losses by the Birds. Had those two shots not gone in, Bradley may have very well being playing Thursday night that year. Then they beat 6 seed UNI in the 'ship by 3. In 2020, they beat Valpo, the first Thursday night team to ever make it to Sunday. Four games in four days is too much for any team to be real competitive.

Again, not saying we're in a great situation coaching-wise but its something to consider. If you call Muller's "successful" season "flash in the pan" it could be argued that Wardle has had similar success. Cue: "BuT hE GoT HiS tEaM tO tHe tOuRnAmEnT." Yeah. I know that.

 

[Phantom]

Really good W. First 10 mins were crap, but then something started to click and they carried it the rest of the game. Switching to the zone in the second half had BU totally out of sync. Hopefully this is something to build off of. The next two games vs. Valpo are big. Win both and we're suddenly in a competitive mix again with some rhythm. The schedule does no favors after that with DU, MSU and SIU, so we need to get what we can.

 

[gobirds85]

Looks like he let them have some fun in the locker room

Cool. Hopefully this gets us rolling. It's great to see the guys having fun playing the game.

 

[gobirds85]

Something I forgot to mention for those clamoring how much better Wardle is than Muller- In 6 years at BU, he is 89-90 overall and 41-52 in the MVC and lucked in to two MVC tournament championships. In 2019, Bradley was 9-9, in a 3-way tie for fifth in the league, and was a benefactor of the conference's tie breaker rules, thanks in part to two half-court buzzer beater losses by the Birds. Had those two shots not gone in, Bradley may have very well being playing Thursday night that year. Then they beat 6 seed UNI in the 'ship by 3. In 2020, they beat Valpo, the first Thursday night team to ever make it to Sunday. Four games in four days is too much for any team to be real competitive.

Again, not saying we're in a great situation coaching-wise but its something to consider. If you call Muller's "successful" season "flash in the pan" it could be argued that Wardle has had similar success. Cue: "BuT hE GoT HiS tEaM tO tHe tOuRnAmEnT." Yeah. I know that.

I'll take the bait...two Valley tourney championships and big dance bids v zero. I'll take the former over the latter.

 

[DannyCooksey]

congrats to the team. good win. always nice to beat those guys

 

[topiarydan]

As echoed above - a great comeback win. Not impressed with Bradley- they just shit the bed after the 10 minute mark. Let's face it we got some good luck on some longgggggg 3s that were last second desperations. What still sticks out though is down 1 at half with 30 seconds and we only start to run what did not appear like anything like a play and are forced with a deperation at end of half - seemed like nothing was planned and that is what concerns me. We also while up 10 were chucking up long shots with 20 seconds left on the shot clock. But there were others where we used the clock effectively. So if the team can play like they did the last 3/4 of the game going forward I do think we'll be able to sweep Valpo and split with some others we play - namely SIU and UNI

 

[Bird Friend]

I'll take the bait...two Valley tourney championships and big dance bids v zero. I'll take the former over the latter.

And yet many on this board have argued that just making the dance by winning Arch Madness after middling seasons isn’t enough to get Muller (or any coach, really) off the hot seat. The real question for me is how much early tourney upsets opened easier paths for BU to win at the Arch? Just winning the tourney deserves some respect, but does it come with any hedges?

Not asking you specifically, but the board in general, but . . . if the Birds were to finish 6th to avoid Thursday and somehow win Arch Madness, would you continue to call Dan a terrible coach? Or would you give him a grudging bit of leeway to see how next year goes?

 

[Redbirdfan06]

Something I forgot to mention for those clamoring how much better Wardle is than Muller- In 6 years at BU, he is 89-90 overall and 41-52 in the MVC and lucked in to two MVC tournament championships. In 2019, Bradley was 9-9, in a 3-way tie for fifth in the league, and was a benefactor of the conference's tie breaker rules, thanks in part to two half-court buzzer beater losses by the Birds. Had those two shots not gone in, Bradley may have very well being playing Thursday night that year. Then they beat 6 seed UNI in the 'ship by 3. In 2020, they beat Valpo, the first Thursday night team to ever make it to Sunday. Four games in four days is too much for any team to be real competitive.

Again, not saying we're in a great situation coaching-wise but its something to consider. If you call Muller's "successful" season "flash in the pan" it could be argued that Wardle has had similar success. Cue: "BuT hE GoT HiS tEaM tO tHe tOuRnAmEnT." Yeah. I know that.

In 2019, Bradley knocked out the 1 seed Loyola to get to the championship to then beat 6 seed UNI.
In 2020, Bradley beat Drake who had just knocked out 1 seed UNI to reach the championship.
Lucked into championships is inaccurate.

 

[TBS_20]

And yet many on this board have argued that just making the dance by winning Arch Madness after middling seasons isn’t enough to get Muller (or any coach, really) off the hot seat. The real question for me is how much early tourney upsets opened easier paths for BU to win at the Arch? Just winning the tourney deserves some respect, but does it come with any hedges?

Not asking you specifically, but the board in general, but . . . if the Birds were to finish 6th to avoid Thursday and somehow win Arch Madness, would you continue to call Dan a terrible coach? Or would you give him a grudging bit of leeway to see how next year goes?

I would not call him a good coach. I would call him a lucky coach to be a 6th seed to win 3 games. That would save his ass though if it were a season where he would actually lose his job. Unfortunately, thats how it is in the MVC. Life of a mid-major. Small things are magnified. I'd rather be the level of program who fires coaches going 24-10 with 2nd round ncaa exits every year because thats just not good enough. but, we'll never be there.

 

[gobirds85]

And yet many on this board have argued that just making the dance by winning Arch Madness after middling seasons isn’t enough to get Muller (or any coach, really) off the hot seat. The real question for me is how much early tourney upsets opened easier paths for BU to win at the Arch? Just winning the tourney deserves some respect, but does it come with any hedges?

Not asking you specifically, but the board in general, but . . . if the Birds were to finish 6th to avoid Thursday and somehow win Arch Madness, would you continue to call Dan a terrible coach? Or would you give him a grudging bit of leeway to see how next year goes?

In year 9, the litmus test should not be a 6th place finish in a one bid league, who's champion had a #15 seed in the last ncaa tourney. I still believe Dan is not much of a coach. I would like to see us aim a little higher at the same time I understand the financial ramifications of firing him prior to the end of his contract. Thank you Larry Lyons.

 

[gobirds85]

In 2019, Bradley knocked out the 1 seed Loyola to get to the championship to then beat 6 seed UNI.
In 2020, Bradley beat Drake who had just knocked out 1 seed UNI to reach the championship.
Lucked into championships is inaccurate.

Agree. Few care how you got there as long as you got there. Are we not working on year 23?