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LU Outmatched at Bradley

12/17/03
by John C. Thomas
Not many expected Loyola to present a big problem to the re-invigorated Bradley Braves in their contest at the Peoria Civic Center Wednesday night. But no one expected the Braves to open a 21-point lead in the first half. Nevertheless, Loyola made a game of it --cutting the deficit to four points late in the second half-- before finally falling 79-63.

The Ramblers got out to a 4-0 lead in the first minute plus before Bradley went on a 17-2 run to forge a 17-6 lead with 10:35 left in the half. But that wasn’t the only run for the home team-- Bradley spinned off another run, this time by a margin of 11-3, to embarrass Loyola with a 31-14 advantage with 6:10 remaining in the half. Loyola limped along to halftime, where Bradley led 41-22.

The Ramblers did a good job of adjusting to the Bradley attack at halftime, and little by little chipped away at the lead. With 6’9” center Demetrius Williams almost completely unable to play due to the flu (he played 6 minutes in the first half but couldn’t continue), the ramshackle Loyola squad first cut the lead in the name of respectability, and then made a serious run at the Braves.

Over the first 14:47 of the second half, Loyola outscored Bradley 32-17 behind good inside play from Paul McMillan and some scoring on the outside from Blake Schilb and Terrance Whiters. The amazing Loyola comeback run put the score at 58-54 Bradley with 5:13 left to play.

But the Braves broke out of their shooting funk as Phillip Gilbert led Bradley on an 11-1 run over the next 2:13 to put the game out of reach. Bradley finished the game on a 21-9 run to quash the Loyola comeback and make the final score 79-63.

The Ramblers fall to 2-3 on the season while Bradley climbs to 7-2.

McMillan led the Ramblers with 20 points to go with his game-high 15 boards. DaJuan Gouard had a career-high 16 points, and no other Rambler reached double digits. Bradley’s Phillip Gilbert led all scorers with 22.

It’s no shame to lose at Bradley, with the powerful effect of 9,000 screaming fans making life difficult for the visitors-- especially visitors with freshmen expected to play a large role in the game. And the Braves have a newfound confidence under second-year coach Jim Les, who has Peoria pumped up about Bradley basketball.

But the Rambler attack in the first half was pathetic. Loyola again showed weakness on free throws, making only three of eight attempts at the line and missing twice on the front end of one-and-ones. Confusion, mis-matches, and bad shot selection reigned. Loyola’s passing was horrible, the Bradley press accounted for more than 15 points, and the substitutions were again mystifying.

At this point, it appears evident to everyone in the world that cares that the starting lineup should be Telford, Kou, L. Smith, McMillan, and Williams. The only hold out is Coach Farmer, who believes that DaJuan Gouard is the future of the Ramblers and deserves to play more than 30 minutes a game. Gouard scored a career high 16 points at Bradley tonight, but it took 11 shots from the field, eight free throw attempts, and 30 minutes on the court to do it. He was 1-5 from behind the arc, making him 3-for-21 on the season (14%), His heavy minutes prevent Whiters (statistically our best three point shooter) from playing the two, prevent Majak Kou or Andre Knox from getting experience, prevent Louis Smith from playing his natural position, and prevent the Ramblers from winning.

Coach Farmer has a history of miscalculations of this type. In his first year as coach, he stubbornly refused to play Carlos Gallo, who helped win many conference games down the stretch after his utility was accidentally discovered. Coach Farmer benched Chris Williams in his second year in the program, driving him to Ball State, where he eventually averaged more than 23 points per game and hit on over 40% of his three pointers. Loyola hasn’t had a player average more than 40% on threes since Javan Goodman in 1999. Coach Farmer also squandered the talents of Jerell Parker, Hubert Radke, and Joe Evert. The jury is still out on the Smith twins.

Nobody here is claiming to know more than the coach. My question is about philosophy. I believe that Coach Farmer makes playing decisions based more on seniority (as if this is UCLA, and everyone is an extraordinarily talented top level recruit) and performance in practice. Here’s a bulletin: we’re at Loyola, it’s 2003 not 1978, and we desperately need to play the top 5 most talented players!

I don’t know what else to say. This year so far is reminding me of Farmer’s first year, except that we’ve won two games a month before he won his second game as LU coach. It’s becoming more and more obvious that Scott Spinelli was the key to the two competitive years we’ve had in Coach Farmer's five plus years as coach. Spinelli is now at Nebraska, where they’re 6-1 so far this year with a win over Tennessee. Coincidence?

Lord have mercy on Loyola fans.