Thursday, October 28, 2010
Bulls lose to Thunder in opener
It was a good game until the last three or four minutes when the Thunder ran away with it. Derrick Rose had a highlight reel filled outstanding game. Noah also put up some nasty rebounding numbers. Unfortunately Luol Deng was everything I feared he'd be. Every time he dribbled he turned it over and he a took a ton of not-quite-3-point jumpshots throughout the game. As far as I'm concerned, move him as soon as you can-- 'Melo or Igoudala or Granger would be fine by me. Otherwise the Bulls had some struggles on D, fouling the hell out of the Thunder, and some obvious meshing kinds of problems for guys like Brewer and Korver. I think that stuff will get cleaned up... But I can no longer get myself to believe that there's a way to clean up Deng. Whoah, accidental double-entendre.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
NBA Season Kicks Off; Heat Lose.
The 2010-2011 NBA season kicked off tonight with a marquee game between the Heat and their Big Three, and the Celtics and their Big and Old Four (or so). I wasn't able to watch, so no impressions of the SuperHeat, but the Heat lost which makes me happy. I'm a quasi-Celtics fan, and I hate the Heat.
I hate the Heat these days because of the off-season shenanigans that had LeBron and Chris Bosh signing there. I don't begrudge LeBron his choice to play with his buddies, wouldn't any of us? Problem is that he had that stupid ESPN show and said it was about the best chance to win. Previously I'd respected LeBron as an intelligent manager of his fame and image, and there he made a much maligned misstep. It bothered me mostly because his best chance to win would have absolutely been to join the Bulls along with Chris Bosh, and so he shouldn't have said it was about best chance to win. Or something. Plus he smashed my SuperBulls dreams.
He's got a new Nike ad, called "Rise," out obviously talking around the momentous offseason. It's well made and displays LeBron's charismatic talents. Even makes me question my own very likely misdirected and new-found dislike of LeBron. But I'm not ready to swallow this one yet.
Anyway, Bulls start tomorrow. Excited about watching this team even if Boozer isn't playing until after Thanksgiving.
I hate the Heat these days because of the off-season shenanigans that had LeBron and Chris Bosh signing there. I don't begrudge LeBron his choice to play with his buddies, wouldn't any of us? Problem is that he had that stupid ESPN show and said it was about the best chance to win. Previously I'd respected LeBron as an intelligent manager of his fame and image, and there he made a much maligned misstep. It bothered me mostly because his best chance to win would have absolutely been to join the Bulls along with Chris Bosh, and so he shouldn't have said it was about best chance to win. Or something. Plus he smashed my SuperBulls dreams.
He's got a new Nike ad, called "Rise," out obviously talking around the momentous offseason. It's well made and displays LeBron's charismatic talents. Even makes me question my own very likely misdirected and new-found dislike of LeBron. But I'm not ready to swallow this one yet.
Anyway, Bulls start tomorrow. Excited about watching this team even if Boozer isn't playing until after Thanksgiving.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Bradley Lineup Musings: Red/White Edition
One of my favorite off-season timewasters is to think about how many minutes each player will play at each position. I have previously engaged in such discussion over on Bradleyfans from time to time, but now I have a blog... And after the Red/White scrimmage I have new "information" to base the projections on. Assumptions on the following are all based on a regulation length game, so 40 minutes for each position. First I have the list by position, and then a summary minutes by player. Minutes are in parentheses.
1/PG - Mansicalco (30), Dyricus Simms-Edwards (10)
2/SG - Dodie Dunson (25), Dyricus Simms-Edwards (5), Jake Eastman (5), Andrew Warren (5)
3/SF - Andrew Warren (25), Taylor Brown (10), Jake Eastman (5)
4/PF - Taylor Brown (20), Jordan Prosser (15), Will Egolf (5)
5/C - Will Egolf (20), Anthony Thompson (15), Jordan Prosser (5)
Sam Maniscalco - 30 minutes
Andrew Warren - 30 minutes
Taylor Brown - 30 minutes
Dodie Dunson - 25 minutes
Will Egolf - 25 minutes
Jordan Prosser - 20 minutes
Dyricus Simms-Edwards - 15 minutes
Anthony Thompson - 15 minutes
Jake Eastman - 10 minutes
No minutes: Andrew Davis, Walt Lemon, Jr., Milos Knezevic, and the walk-ons.
Observations:
I believe that the three guys showing 30 minutes could well average more minutes per game than that... I just believe that is also not ideal. If the Braves are playing well it shouldn't be necessary for these guys to play more than 30 minutes to keep them healthy and fresh. As a result view the above as "ideal."
Didn't put in any time for either of the freshmen, even if Walt Lemon looked like he could pull a few minutes down. Based, however, on depth at guard, I can't see him being a regular player unless he unseats one of the guys above him on the chart or is injured. A lot of people are discussing the possibility of a redshirt for Andrew Davis, but if you look at the above you don't really have any depth behind some big minute-getters in the post. If anyone gets hurt or into foul trouble you may need him. I suppose that means you could put the redshirt on and avoid using him unless totally necessary. I guess I'm just not sold on a redshirt for anyone since we're already a man down with the 13th scholarship unfilled.
Other interesting things, I'm surprised to be showing more minutes for Prosser than for Dyricus. DSE is a favorite of mine, but with Dodie coming back from his injury, there's just less time to be had for DSE. Also a surprise for me was predicting more minutes for Prosser than Thompson, though this is strictly because I don't expect to see Thompson playing the 4 so Prosser gets the nod due to being perceived as having more versatility. Most disappointing surprise is no minutes for Milos, which is completely based on his poor performance at the Red/White scrimmage. I think he's an interesting prospect, so I hope that was just a bad showing and he'll provide some solid minutes at the 3 (I'm pretty convinced that's the only position he's suited for).
1/PG - Mansicalco (30), Dyricus Simms-Edwards (10)
2/SG - Dodie Dunson (25), Dyricus Simms-Edwards (5), Jake Eastman (5), Andrew Warren (5)
3/SF - Andrew Warren (25), Taylor Brown (10), Jake Eastman (5)
4/PF - Taylor Brown (20), Jordan Prosser (15), Will Egolf (5)
5/C - Will Egolf (20), Anthony Thompson (15), Jordan Prosser (5)
Sam Maniscalco - 30 minutes
Andrew Warren - 30 minutes
Taylor Brown - 30 minutes
Dodie Dunson - 25 minutes
Will Egolf - 25 minutes
Jordan Prosser - 20 minutes
Dyricus Simms-Edwards - 15 minutes
Anthony Thompson - 15 minutes
Jake Eastman - 10 minutes
No minutes: Andrew Davis, Walt Lemon, Jr., Milos Knezevic, and the walk-ons.
Observations:
I believe that the three guys showing 30 minutes could well average more minutes per game than that... I just believe that is also not ideal. If the Braves are playing well it shouldn't be necessary for these guys to play more than 30 minutes to keep them healthy and fresh. As a result view the above as "ideal."
Didn't put in any time for either of the freshmen, even if Walt Lemon looked like he could pull a few minutes down. Based, however, on depth at guard, I can't see him being a regular player unless he unseats one of the guys above him on the chart or is injured. A lot of people are discussing the possibility of a redshirt for Andrew Davis, but if you look at the above you don't really have any depth behind some big minute-getters in the post. If anyone gets hurt or into foul trouble you may need him. I suppose that means you could put the redshirt on and avoid using him unless totally necessary. I guess I'm just not sold on a redshirt for anyone since we're already a man down with the 13th scholarship unfilled.
Other interesting things, I'm surprised to be showing more minutes for Prosser than for Dyricus. DSE is a favorite of mine, but with Dodie coming back from his injury, there's just less time to be had for DSE. Also a surprise for me was predicting more minutes for Prosser than Thompson, though this is strictly because I don't expect to see Thompson playing the 4 so Prosser gets the nod due to being perceived as having more versatility. Most disappointing surprise is no minutes for Milos, which is completely based on his poor performance at the Red/White scrimmage. I think he's an interesting prospect, so I hope that was just a bad showing and he'll provide some solid minutes at the 3 (I'm pretty convinced that's the only position he's suited for).
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Red White Scrimmage Notes
Just got back from my first Bradley event of the 2010-2011 season: the Red/White Scrimmage. It's an event intrasquad scrimmages for both the guys and the girls. My first time at the new arena was nice. It's a good looking facility with good sightlines. Crowd was kind of disappointing, place was maybe 2/5 full. Sound system was troublesome with the voices sounding tinny with too much echo. I think that's something they'll work out over time.
The girls looked pretty good tonight. It's actually been a long time since I've seen them play since I never managed to get to one of the games they played at area high schools/ICC while the new arena was being built. I hope to be able to go see a few games this year. Raisa Taylor is the only player I even recognize, she had a nice night. Some of the players I'm not familiar with looked pretty good. Maybe Paula's finally going to turn in a big season. We'll see, I guess.
As for the guys, it was a little sloppy but I thought showed some promise. Sam Maniscalco, Taylor Brown, Will Egolf, and walk-on Jordan Brown all sat out with injuries. None are reported to be serious. The men's scrimmage started off as a "conventional" twenty minute game with two halves. As it is, they changed things up in the second half, by putting most of the better players in red and giving them a 10-pt disadvantage. I think it was an attempt at a kind of situational set up. Didn't work out well as the white team with walk-ons and reserves increased their lead to 18 or so by the end of the 10-minute period. Didn't matter much, I don't think as some players were changing which squad they were on fairly frequently.
As for the players, I'll start off with the "bigs" I guess. I thought Anthony Thompson looked a bit bigger, especially in the arms, while Jordan Prosser looked absolutely huge. Thought freshman Andrew Davis showed some nice skills, and also if you watched them dunking in the warmups he looks to be pretty athletic and a good leaper. He also looks like Hayden Christiansen (the guy who played Anakin Skywalker in the prequel Star Wars movies), so until further notice he's to be known as Darth Andy (and he doesn't like Sand People, okay?). Thompson showed some good ups with a couple of nice putbacks and a big block (that I think was actually probably a goal tend). He was still having trouble with leverage/strength though as the new and improved Jordan Prosser was really able to muscle him around. Prosser looked fine out there-- hoping he'll be good for at least 15 minutes a night. Be interesting which of those two becomes the key reserve or takes a starting role if the Braves go big and move Taylor Brown to the 3.
Now I'll move on to the guards and wings. I missed the three guys who sat out, but I figure there's no point whatsoever playing a guy who's less than 98% in something like the Red/White, so I'm fine with them sitting. With those guys out, the only returning players who saw a lot of time were Andrew Warren, Dyricus Simms-Edwards, Dodie Dunson, Milos Knezevic, and Jake Eastman. AW looked okay, made a couple, missed a couple. Looked good on defense and came up with at least one big rebound. Dyricus looked strong. He was playing point a lot and looked good, but didn't do anything spectacular. A part of that was Dodie's (and Walt Lemon's for that matter) defense. It was a fun one-on-one matchup to watch... And it's nice to see Dodie back on the court after last year's season ender. Dodie played well; good defense, and I think 1/2 shooting from 3. Milos didn't have a good night, not much else to say. Eastman played a lot of minutes and made a couple of shots. He gets to the basket well, and over all I'd say he looked fine. I'm nervous they had him matching up with forwards a lot of the time. I have to think his best chance to contribute comes as a guard and not a forward (too small)... So I hope he'll see less/no time in the front court. He also dunked it once during the warmups. So, uh, he can dunk.
Freshman Walter Lemon, Jr. looks good to me. Played good D and looks like a great athlete. Nasty first step. Been hearing positive reports about him from practice, and am hoping he'll get some chances to develop against live opponents this season.
The two healthy walkons got a lot of floor time and this is probably the only chance I'll get to comment on them, so here goes. The kid from Geneseo has a nice shot, but he's tiny and I can't imagine him seeing the floor... Hope we don't get into that situation. That being said, Charonn Woods looked decent to me. He's very strong looking and has average quickness. He played decent defense against guys who were definitely much quicker. Hope we never need him, but I'm thinking he wouldn't be a disaster for a few minutes.
Speaking of defense, with as much stoutness on the defensive end, regardless of who was playing, I'm hoping that means the team is buying into whatever it is that Platt is selling.
I don't read much into a scrimmage like this, but I felt like it was an okay result and a nice way to kick off my Bradley season.
The girls looked pretty good tonight. It's actually been a long time since I've seen them play since I never managed to get to one of the games they played at area high schools/ICC while the new arena was being built. I hope to be able to go see a few games this year. Raisa Taylor is the only player I even recognize, she had a nice night. Some of the players I'm not familiar with looked pretty good. Maybe Paula's finally going to turn in a big season. We'll see, I guess.
As for the guys, it was a little sloppy but I thought showed some promise. Sam Maniscalco, Taylor Brown, Will Egolf, and walk-on Jordan Brown all sat out with injuries. None are reported to be serious. The men's scrimmage started off as a "conventional" twenty minute game with two halves. As it is, they changed things up in the second half, by putting most of the better players in red and giving them a 10-pt disadvantage. I think it was an attempt at a kind of situational set up. Didn't work out well as the white team with walk-ons and reserves increased their lead to 18 or so by the end of the 10-minute period. Didn't matter much, I don't think as some players were changing which squad they were on fairly frequently.
As for the players, I'll start off with the "bigs" I guess. I thought Anthony Thompson looked a bit bigger, especially in the arms, while Jordan Prosser looked absolutely huge. Thought freshman Andrew Davis showed some nice skills, and also if you watched them dunking in the warmups he looks to be pretty athletic and a good leaper. He also looks like Hayden Christiansen (the guy who played Anakin Skywalker in the prequel Star Wars movies), so until further notice he's to be known as Darth Andy (and he doesn't like Sand People, okay?). Thompson showed some good ups with a couple of nice putbacks and a big block (that I think was actually probably a goal tend). He was still having trouble with leverage/strength though as the new and improved Jordan Prosser was really able to muscle him around. Prosser looked fine out there-- hoping he'll be good for at least 15 minutes a night. Be interesting which of those two becomes the key reserve or takes a starting role if the Braves go big and move Taylor Brown to the 3.
Now I'll move on to the guards and wings. I missed the three guys who sat out, but I figure there's no point whatsoever playing a guy who's less than 98% in something like the Red/White, so I'm fine with them sitting. With those guys out, the only returning players who saw a lot of time were Andrew Warren, Dyricus Simms-Edwards, Dodie Dunson, Milos Knezevic, and Jake Eastman. AW looked okay, made a couple, missed a couple. Looked good on defense and came up with at least one big rebound. Dyricus looked strong. He was playing point a lot and looked good, but didn't do anything spectacular. A part of that was Dodie's (and Walt Lemon's for that matter) defense. It was a fun one-on-one matchup to watch... And it's nice to see Dodie back on the court after last year's season ender. Dodie played well; good defense, and I think 1/2 shooting from 3. Milos didn't have a good night, not much else to say. Eastman played a lot of minutes and made a couple of shots. He gets to the basket well, and over all I'd say he looked fine. I'm nervous they had him matching up with forwards a lot of the time. I have to think his best chance to contribute comes as a guard and not a forward (too small)... So I hope he'll see less/no time in the front court. He also dunked it once during the warmups. So, uh, he can dunk.
Freshman Walter Lemon, Jr. looks good to me. Played good D and looks like a great athlete. Nasty first step. Been hearing positive reports about him from practice, and am hoping he'll get some chances to develop against live opponents this season.
The two healthy walkons got a lot of floor time and this is probably the only chance I'll get to comment on them, so here goes. The kid from Geneseo has a nice shot, but he's tiny and I can't imagine him seeing the floor... Hope we don't get into that situation. That being said, Charonn Woods looked decent to me. He's very strong looking and has average quickness. He played decent defense against guys who were definitely much quicker. Hope we never need him, but I'm thinking he wouldn't be a disaster for a few minutes.
Speaking of defense, with as much stoutness on the defensive end, regardless of who was playing, I'm hoping that means the team is buying into whatever it is that Platt is selling.
I don't read much into a scrimmage like this, but I felt like it was an okay result and a nice way to kick off my Bradley season.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Chicago Bears Week 6 Preview: Offensive Line mk. XIV
Along with other things blog-related I've let the football suffer. Sorry, and to think, despite my almost complete lack of hope that this season would be any good for a Bears fan, the Bears are 4-1, tied for best record in the NFL. Never mind that the one loss was historically bad football (9 sacks in a half, and a dazed and confused Jay Cutler out with a concussion), and two of the wins made you feel like you didn't really win. It's the NFL and winning ugly is just as good as winning pretty, kinda anyway.
Tomorrow we have the Seahawks (2-2), who, for all intents and purposes, suck. They can apparently pass okay, and they can also, evidently, stop the run very well. From what the radio's been saying, they're awful at everything else. That's fine, the Bears can't run the ball anyway, and Cutler's back off the deadpile. Martz is the coach so I expect a healthy dose of the passing. On the defensive side, one question going into the game has to be the health of Lance Briggs. If he's healthy though, I expect a Bears defense to continue a healthy dominant streak through this game.
That leaves the storyline of the season: o-line. Pre-season I figured the Bears had some nice talent, but none of it would matter because the o-line and d-line wouldn't be able to get it done. Thanks to all-universe defensive end/monster Julius Peppers the d-line's been okay. The o-line has, on the other hand, been bad at best. It's been terrible since the preseason, and as a result been in a near constant state of flux. Personnel changes have been on-going week to week and even series to series. Mike Tice, however, says that's all done with. Chris Williams (erstwhile first rounder and LT heir apparent) is back from his week 1 injury and will take over LG duties from Roberto Garza. Garza's looked bad this year, and maybe it's been due to injury, because they've decided to scope his knee. In steps Williams, who will join LT Frank Omiyale, C Olin Kreutz, RG Edwin Williams, and RT J'Marcus Webb.
I'm an optimistic guy, and sometimes these line changes work. Williams has been kind of underwhelming at LT, ostensibly because he has short arms for the position. Some pundits are saying this isn't a big deal at the inside guard position. Sign me up, I need some good news for the line. Williams is adequately sized for the guard, and supposedly very athletic. Hopefully it all works, because a twice-concussed Cutler means that the Bears are going to waste a season that seems intent on positioning them to win their division.
Prediction: Williams does okay and Bears win 28-10.
Tomorrow we have the Seahawks (2-2), who, for all intents and purposes, suck. They can apparently pass okay, and they can also, evidently, stop the run very well. From what the radio's been saying, they're awful at everything else. That's fine, the Bears can't run the ball anyway, and Cutler's back off the deadpile. Martz is the coach so I expect a healthy dose of the passing. On the defensive side, one question going into the game has to be the health of Lance Briggs. If he's healthy though, I expect a Bears defense to continue a healthy dominant streak through this game.
That leaves the storyline of the season: o-line. Pre-season I figured the Bears had some nice talent, but none of it would matter because the o-line and d-line wouldn't be able to get it done. Thanks to all-universe defensive end/monster Julius Peppers the d-line's been okay. The o-line has, on the other hand, been bad at best. It's been terrible since the preseason, and as a result been in a near constant state of flux. Personnel changes have been on-going week to week and even series to series. Mike Tice, however, says that's all done with. Chris Williams (erstwhile first rounder and LT heir apparent) is back from his week 1 injury and will take over LG duties from Roberto Garza. Garza's looked bad this year, and maybe it's been due to injury, because they've decided to scope his knee. In steps Williams, who will join LT Frank Omiyale, C Olin Kreutz, RG Edwin Williams, and RT J'Marcus Webb.
I'm an optimistic guy, and sometimes these line changes work. Williams has been kind of underwhelming at LT, ostensibly because he has short arms for the position. Some pundits are saying this isn't a big deal at the inside guard position. Sign me up, I need some good news for the line. Williams is adequately sized for the guard, and supposedly very athletic. Hopefully it all works, because a twice-concussed Cutler means that the Bears are going to waste a season that seems intent on positioning them to win their division.
Prediction: Williams does okay and Bears win 28-10.
2010-2011 Bradley Season Preview
Dustin is traveling the south and making an avant record with a friend. He has limited access to the internet. Until he returns and for you sports fans, here is some college basketball!
2010-2011 Bradley Preview:
Introduction
For the program, declining an invite to a minor postseason tournament marked the end of a vaguely disappointing 2009-2010 campaign for the Bradley Braves. Fans are becoming disenfranchised with the middling conference results following a major high point in NCAA tournament four seasons before. For a fan like me, I had my morale ups and downs with team performance-- but my fandom is driven by a loyalty to my Alma Mater and a great enjoyment of the process of being a fan. I have my crew of fans I run with, we drink a million beers (more on that later), and we yell ourselves hoarse over the greatness of the product or the skullduggery of the evil refs. A summer off leaves the disappointments of a 16-15 season behind, and hope springs eternal. If I'm honest nothing really indicates a huge swing up in performance, but with a fresh new season lying ahead I'm ready to predict a chance for greatness and a surety of fun. BRING IT ON!
Roster Changes & Roster
Two scholarship players graduated from Bradley and completed their college eligibility in 2010. The first, Dr. Sam Singh, Emeritus, was at Bradley for at least 300 years (in actuality 6), honing his basketball skills and maximizing his talent. This means he averaged 14 minutes, 1.7 points, and 3.2 rebounds per game. To be perfectly honest, this was a little disappointing. It was a surprise when it was announced he'd applied for and received a medical waiver that allowed him to play a sixth season. We fans viewed it as kind of, "hmm, okay," since we were thin in the paint and it seemed like Sam would be able to improve on his 4.7 points and 3.2 rebounds a game from his fifth season. He didn't, and Bradley really struggled down low. Despite the fact that I like Sam Singh, I can't help but wonder if bringing him back didn't potentially stunt the growth of other post players without providing any particular value. I believe his departure will not affect Bradley's performance and may actually help a little.
The other graduating player was 6'4" Chris Roberts a fan favorite wing guard. Chris Roberts was an athletic monster-- the kind of guy who would occasionally leap out of the gym and electrify the fans. He's probably most famous for a 75 foot game winning jumper he hit during a postseason contest in his first (junior) season as a Brave. He was a solid contributor on offense (9.2ppg/2.2apg) and an very good on-ball defender. I thought he offered his best contribution at the 2, but almost always played at the 3 where he was a little undersized. I'm sure we'll miss Chris at times, but Bradley is pretty deep at his position so the net performance loss may not be that great.
Eddren McCain also left the program, or I suppose it should be said, was kicked off the team. He got himself into legal trouble involving drugs and a prostitute. He'd also managed to play himself out of the lineup despite a promising freshman season. It's too bad that's the way it turned out, but it should have no affect on the 2010-2011 season.
Incoming are two freshmen: Center Andrew Davis (6'10" from Oklahoma) and 6'3" athletic guard Walt Lemon, Jr. of Chicago. Andrew Davis was a late signing who'd previously committed to Army before deciding to reopen his recruitment. It's hard to say anything either way about Davis as he's relatively unknown. Post players often take a long time to develop, so I'm going to go into the season with the expectation that he's a project and we won't see him on the floor too much during the regular season.
Walt Lemon, Jr., on the other hand is a little bit better known. You can see some videos from earlier in his career with mixed results. He comes from the Chicago Public League, a known source of quality talent. He's got a reputation as a point or combo guard, depending on who you ask. I normally wouldn't expect much from a freshman either way, and I've been burned but the hype machine, but... BUT, the "insider" hype on this kid has been pretty strong. Things like, "I heard Dick Versace said he was the best guard in the CPL!" and (despite being loaded with three senior guards-- two of which are all-conference candidates) "he could push the seniors for playing time." Anyway, we'll see how it all shakes out, and I can't exactly predict a major contribution from a freshman in a rotation of guards as strong as Bradley has... But, it'd sure be fun if he was awesome.
Not really newcomers here, but post man, Jordan Prosser (one of the highest rated recruits Bradley has ever had) is coming off of a freshman redshirt and Dodie Dunson returns from medical redshirt. Dodie was a strong contributor after transferring to Bradley two years ago but missed most of the last campaign due to injury. I suspect he'll be our starting shooting guard as he's returned to health and a talented defender and scorer. It's premature since he hasn't played yet, but Prosser could be the key to Bradley's season. An emergeance of another post player that could see Taylor Brown moving to his natural "3" position could be an incredible breakthrough for the Braves. Either way, it'll be nice to have both of these guys contributing this season.
Guards
1 - Dodie Dunson
4 - Jake Eastman
5 - Sam Maniscalco
24 - Andrew Warren
25 - Walt Lemon, Jr.
32 - Dyricus Simms-Edwards
Forwards
3 - Taylor Brown
34 - Milos Knezevic
44 - Jordan Prosser
54 - Will Egolf
Centers
23 - Andrew Davis
41 - Anthony Thompson
Coaching Changes
It was a busy off-season for Coach Les and newcomer-AD Michael Cross. Alvin Brooks III took a job back home in Texas creating a vacancy for the "recruiter" assistant coaching position. Also, (son of Bradley legend Chuck) Eric Buescher left or was fired. It was publically positioned that he left, but heavily suggested he was shown the door. I can't honestly say anything first-hand about if he was or wasn't qualified or if he was or wasn't contributing to the staff. It is widely believed, however, that he maybe couldn't quite handle the job and that Les was left to handle almost all tasks required of a coaching staff.
Bradley made, at least as far as I'm concerned, a couple of very good hires. They first brought in Jim Platt, hired from the staff at Army (and probably the reason why Andrew Davis is coming to Bradley), who is known as a defensive expert and is a very experienced college coach (31 years, including 9 as a head coach at Arkansas-Little Rock and Charleston Southern). Bradley has struggled with defense and rebounding, and most believe Coach Platt may help the Braves a great deal in those areas. Platt is Les's top assistant and Les has confirmed that Platt has complete responsibility on the defensive end of the floor.
Bradley also hired Willie Scott, a former Bradley point guard, and most recently the head coach at Chicago JuCo, Malcolm X College. He was successful at Malcolm X, with the program experiencing a complete reversal from perennial loser to a winning program. He's recognized also a strong recruiter with good ties into Chicago, a recruiting pipeline Bradley has long coveted but only rarely succeeded in.
Schedule
The "big deal" schedule-wise came when Bradley announced a game at Duke for the upcoming season. As far as playing the best goes, this is a great development. Bradley's also involved in an exempt tournament for this season, the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. This thing used to be a big deal when it was the unofficial start of the basketball season and one of a very few exempt tournaments on the scene. As it happens, this year they struggled to even put the thing together with teams dropping out here and there. The way it's structured now, I don't think it's even really a tournament with a tree, but instead just a series of games. Bradley got games in Peoria against D2 Texas A&M-Kingsville and Loyola Marymount, as well as games in Springfield, MA, against USC (a big name, but a bad basketball program) and TCU. The Mountain West-MVC challenge is back this season with Utah visitng Peoria. Other than that Bradley has home games against Northern Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Jackson State, and Detroit Mercy, and an away game at Western Carolina.
Prediction
Non-Conference (including Bracket Buster) - 11-1
Conference Record - 12-6
Overall Record - 23-7
RPI - 50s
Post-season - NCAA Invitation
I'm always optimistic, so sue me. Seriously though, I feel the Valley is up for grabs, and the non-conference schedule isn't weak, but there is only one nigh-on unwinnable game on it (@ Duke). Bradley has a trio of talented senior guards who have one last chance for glory as well as an extremely talented forward in Taylor Brown who has a bit to prove to himself and fans this season (due to discipline problems he got little respect all-conference wise despite being one of the league leaders in scoring and rebounding). Bearing usual caveats (injuries, discpline, meteor impacts), I feel like some things are aligning to position Bradley for a run this season.
Projected starting lineup:
PG - Sam Maniscalco
SG - Dodie Dunson
SF - Andrew Warren
PF - Taylor Brown
C - Will Egolf
Significant contributors - Dyricus, Prosser, Thompson
This is my safe prediction for starting lineup, based on our recent history with Coach Les as well as the known quantities on the roster. As for reserves, Dyricus is in there over Eastman because I think DSE showed a great deal more in his freshman season. Thompson and Prosser get minutes just based on the need for play in the paint. What I'd really like to see (which requires an unknown conversion of talent into performance) is Taylor Brown at the 3, and two "bigs" muscling in.
Starting lineup I'd love to see:
PG - Sam Maniscalco
SG - Andrew Warren
SF - Taylor Brown
PF - Will Egolf
C - Thompson or Prosser
Significant Contributors - Dodie, Dyricus, Milos, plus whoever isn't starting between Thompson and Prosser.
Such a lineup would give us great depth at all positions, and get rid of our traditional size disadvantage. In fact, that lineup, would be well above average size wise. It does absolutely rely, however, upon Thompson or Prosser proving they can provide a good 20 minutes in the paint, something that hasn't happened yet.
Winning and the Beer Consumption Model
When asked how I thought the season would go, I've often answered well, they're going to win or lose and as a result I will drink more beer one way or the other. Taken in those terms it becomes interesting to ask does winning or losing lead to more consumption of beer? I've spent many years gathering data and pondering this important question. After years of painstaking research my foundation is ready to share their results:
2010-2011 Bradley Preview:
Introduction
For the program, declining an invite to a minor postseason tournament marked the end of a vaguely disappointing 2009-2010 campaign for the Bradley Braves. Fans are becoming disenfranchised with the middling conference results following a major high point in NCAA tournament four seasons before. For a fan like me, I had my morale ups and downs with team performance-- but my fandom is driven by a loyalty to my Alma Mater and a great enjoyment of the process of being a fan. I have my crew of fans I run with, we drink a million beers (more on that later), and we yell ourselves hoarse over the greatness of the product or the skullduggery of the evil refs. A summer off leaves the disappointments of a 16-15 season behind, and hope springs eternal. If I'm honest nothing really indicates a huge swing up in performance, but with a fresh new season lying ahead I'm ready to predict a chance for greatness and a surety of fun. BRING IT ON!
Roster Changes & Roster
Two scholarship players graduated from Bradley and completed their college eligibility in 2010. The first, Dr. Sam Singh, Emeritus, was at Bradley for at least 300 years (in actuality 6), honing his basketball skills and maximizing his talent. This means he averaged 14 minutes, 1.7 points, and 3.2 rebounds per game. To be perfectly honest, this was a little disappointing. It was a surprise when it was announced he'd applied for and received a medical waiver that allowed him to play a sixth season. We fans viewed it as kind of, "hmm, okay," since we were thin in the paint and it seemed like Sam would be able to improve on his 4.7 points and 3.2 rebounds a game from his fifth season. He didn't, and Bradley really struggled down low. Despite the fact that I like Sam Singh, I can't help but wonder if bringing him back didn't potentially stunt the growth of other post players without providing any particular value. I believe his departure will not affect Bradley's performance and may actually help a little.
The other graduating player was 6'4" Chris Roberts a fan favorite wing guard. Chris Roberts was an athletic monster-- the kind of guy who would occasionally leap out of the gym and electrify the fans. He's probably most famous for a 75 foot game winning jumper he hit during a postseason contest in his first (junior) season as a Brave. He was a solid contributor on offense (9.2ppg/2.2apg) and an very good on-ball defender. I thought he offered his best contribution at the 2, but almost always played at the 3 where he was a little undersized. I'm sure we'll miss Chris at times, but Bradley is pretty deep at his position so the net performance loss may not be that great.
Eddren McCain also left the program, or I suppose it should be said, was kicked off the team. He got himself into legal trouble involving drugs and a prostitute. He'd also managed to play himself out of the lineup despite a promising freshman season. It's too bad that's the way it turned out, but it should have no affect on the 2010-2011 season.
Incoming are two freshmen: Center Andrew Davis (6'10" from Oklahoma) and 6'3" athletic guard Walt Lemon, Jr. of Chicago. Andrew Davis was a late signing who'd previously committed to Army before deciding to reopen his recruitment. It's hard to say anything either way about Davis as he's relatively unknown. Post players often take a long time to develop, so I'm going to go into the season with the expectation that he's a project and we won't see him on the floor too much during the regular season.
Walt Lemon, Jr., on the other hand is a little bit better known. You can see some videos from earlier in his career with mixed results. He comes from the Chicago Public League, a known source of quality talent. He's got a reputation as a point or combo guard, depending on who you ask. I normally wouldn't expect much from a freshman either way, and I've been burned but the hype machine, but... BUT, the "insider" hype on this kid has been pretty strong. Things like, "I heard Dick Versace said he was the best guard in the CPL!" and (despite being loaded with three senior guards-- two of which are all-conference candidates) "he could push the seniors for playing time." Anyway, we'll see how it all shakes out, and I can't exactly predict a major contribution from a freshman in a rotation of guards as strong as Bradley has... But, it'd sure be fun if he was awesome.
Not really newcomers here, but post man, Jordan Prosser (one of the highest rated recruits Bradley has ever had) is coming off of a freshman redshirt and Dodie Dunson returns from medical redshirt. Dodie was a strong contributor after transferring to Bradley two years ago but missed most of the last campaign due to injury. I suspect he'll be our starting shooting guard as he's returned to health and a talented defender and scorer. It's premature since he hasn't played yet, but Prosser could be the key to Bradley's season. An emergeance of another post player that could see Taylor Brown moving to his natural "3" position could be an incredible breakthrough for the Braves. Either way, it'll be nice to have both of these guys contributing this season.
Guards
1 - Dodie Dunson
4 - Jake Eastman
5 - Sam Maniscalco
24 - Andrew Warren
25 - Walt Lemon, Jr.
32 - Dyricus Simms-Edwards
Forwards
3 - Taylor Brown
34 - Milos Knezevic
44 - Jordan Prosser
54 - Will Egolf
Centers
23 - Andrew Davis
41 - Anthony Thompson
Coaching Changes
It was a busy off-season for Coach Les and newcomer-AD Michael Cross. Alvin Brooks III took a job back home in Texas creating a vacancy for the "recruiter" assistant coaching position. Also, (son of Bradley legend Chuck) Eric Buescher left or was fired. It was publically positioned that he left, but heavily suggested he was shown the door. I can't honestly say anything first-hand about if he was or wasn't qualified or if he was or wasn't contributing to the staff. It is widely believed, however, that he maybe couldn't quite handle the job and that Les was left to handle almost all tasks required of a coaching staff.
Bradley made, at least as far as I'm concerned, a couple of very good hires. They first brought in Jim Platt, hired from the staff at Army (and probably the reason why Andrew Davis is coming to Bradley), who is known as a defensive expert and is a very experienced college coach (31 years, including 9 as a head coach at Arkansas-Little Rock and Charleston Southern). Bradley has struggled with defense and rebounding, and most believe Coach Platt may help the Braves a great deal in those areas. Platt is Les's top assistant and Les has confirmed that Platt has complete responsibility on the defensive end of the floor.
Bradley also hired Willie Scott, a former Bradley point guard, and most recently the head coach at Chicago JuCo, Malcolm X College. He was successful at Malcolm X, with the program experiencing a complete reversal from perennial loser to a winning program. He's recognized also a strong recruiter with good ties into Chicago, a recruiting pipeline Bradley has long coveted but only rarely succeeded in.
Schedule
The "big deal" schedule-wise came when Bradley announced a game at Duke for the upcoming season. As far as playing the best goes, this is a great development. Bradley's also involved in an exempt tournament for this season, the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. This thing used to be a big deal when it was the unofficial start of the basketball season and one of a very few exempt tournaments on the scene. As it happens, this year they struggled to even put the thing together with teams dropping out here and there. The way it's structured now, I don't think it's even really a tournament with a tree, but instead just a series of games. Bradley got games in Peoria against D2 Texas A&M-Kingsville and Loyola Marymount, as well as games in Springfield, MA, against USC (a big name, but a bad basketball program) and TCU. The Mountain West-MVC challenge is back this season with Utah visitng Peoria. Other than that Bradley has home games against Northern Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Jackson State, and Detroit Mercy, and an away game at Western Carolina.
Prediction
Non-Conference (including Bracket Buster) - 11-1
Conference Record - 12-6
Overall Record - 23-7
RPI - 50s
Post-season - NCAA Invitation
I'm always optimistic, so sue me. Seriously though, I feel the Valley is up for grabs, and the non-conference schedule isn't weak, but there is only one nigh-on unwinnable game on it (@ Duke). Bradley has a trio of talented senior guards who have one last chance for glory as well as an extremely talented forward in Taylor Brown who has a bit to prove to himself and fans this season (due to discipline problems he got little respect all-conference wise despite being one of the league leaders in scoring and rebounding). Bearing usual caveats (injuries, discpline, meteor impacts), I feel like some things are aligning to position Bradley for a run this season.
Projected starting lineup:
PG - Sam Maniscalco
SG - Dodie Dunson
SF - Andrew Warren
PF - Taylor Brown
C - Will Egolf
Significant contributors - Dyricus, Prosser, Thompson
This is my safe prediction for starting lineup, based on our recent history with Coach Les as well as the known quantities on the roster. As for reserves, Dyricus is in there over Eastman because I think DSE showed a great deal more in his freshman season. Thompson and Prosser get minutes just based on the need for play in the paint. What I'd really like to see (which requires an unknown conversion of talent into performance) is Taylor Brown at the 3, and two "bigs" muscling in.
Starting lineup I'd love to see:
PG - Sam Maniscalco
SG - Andrew Warren
SF - Taylor Brown
PF - Will Egolf
C - Thompson or Prosser
Significant Contributors - Dodie, Dyricus, Milos, plus whoever isn't starting between Thompson and Prosser.
Such a lineup would give us great depth at all positions, and get rid of our traditional size disadvantage. In fact, that lineup, would be well above average size wise. It does absolutely rely, however, upon Thompson or Prosser proving they can provide a good 20 minutes in the paint, something that hasn't happened yet.
Winning and the Beer Consumption Model
When asked how I thought the season would go, I've often answered well, they're going to win or lose and as a result I will drink more beer one way or the other. Taken in those terms it becomes interesting to ask does winning or losing lead to more consumption of beer? I've spent many years gathering data and pondering this important question. After years of painstaking research my foundation is ready to share their results:
I was surprised that neither result seems to indicate increased beer consumption. While a bad game drives you to drink early, the depression and desire to return quickly home eliminates post-game fesitivies (other than a beer or two to cry into). Contrast this with a good game that shows you paying great attention (requiring less consumption) to the stellar play of your favored team, this temporary situation is replaced by extensive post-game festivities with your friends and fellow fans. Granted there can be outliers, such as a great game lost inexplicably, or a game you think you're going to lose that you managed to pull out in over time. Other factors such as Brave Club backed pre-game parties rife with free beer or huge games like the historic Michigan State game can also skew results, however over time results normalize and you get this result.
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