Blog NOT Dead, and Butler Wins!

Technically speaking, this blog is now not-dead.  And there was much rejoicing.  Yay.

Another long and tough Bradley season has ended (this time with the firing of 9-year coach Jim Les), but at least it's Butler time. My mid-major tendencies had me excited coming into March Madness with a pretty strong field of representatives. San Diego State was a 2-seed. Old Dominion and George Mason were seemingly under-seeded, but pundits thought they'd take care of business anyway. And there was the matter of the great injustice that ODU's seed saw them playing mid-major royalty Butler (who were seeded about right at an 8). My thinking filling out a bracket was that all that was probably okay... Butler was having something of a rough season, and I thought ODU would take them out and then proceed on to the Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight. Oops. ODU did give Butler the toughest game of the tournament so far, but Butler won and and since left top seed Pitt and Big Ten powerhouse Wisconsin in their wake to make it into the Elite Eight. GO BUTLER! Next opponent is Billy Donovan's Florida. Keep it up!


Oh yeah, and Duke bought the farm last night. N C A A YES! Down Duke! Viva Butler! And other such fanfare.

Maniscalco Lost for Season / WCU Preview

Bad news for the Braves today as team leader and tough as nails fan favorite senior guard Sam Maniscalco will miss the rest of the season with a bad ankle that's been bothering him since surgery performed over the summer break.  Combined with the earlier loss of Taylor Brown the Braves have now lost two of their three best players.  For me this means all preseason expectations are kind of shot.  The Braves are left with ten players active, with one (freshman big Andrew Davis) still appearing to be a redshirt candidate. 

So far, Coach Les has been playing lots of 4-guard alignments as he hasn't appeared confident in any of his bigs.  That seems all but impossible as the Braves only have five guards active now.  The bigs and sophomore PG Dyricus Simms-Edwards are going to have to grow up quick.  I'm mostly interested in seeing Bradley focus on working through the development of an inside game and a good gutsy effort from the team for the rest of the season.  Anything over .500 would be a great success, I think... And yajusneverknow, sometimes when a team has to sink or swim, they find out they can swim. 

Tonight's game is against Southern Conference member Western Carolina Catamounts (or Catamites as we took to calling them) who beat Bradley in Peoria last season.  They had a quality team with good seniors and caught us on an off night.  They are 3-4 and are not expected to be a tough team.  No way to predict how the Braves will handle the loss of their spiritual leader and related/necessary shift in team philosophy.  GO BRAVES.

Yuck, Bradley loses to Eastern Illinois

In my first Carver Arena action Bradley put together a real stinker to lose to NCAA bottom feeder Eastern Illinois.  The Braves have a strong tendency to make bad teams look pretty good, and while they couldn't make the Panthers look good, they made them look okay-ish.  There's nothing to say here, really, other than that the Braves looked awful and did not deserve to win.  I have a feeling this may be something like our worst home loss, maybe ever, in terms of quality of opponent lost to.

Bradley started off down 8-0 based on poor shooting and ineffective defense.  They never got over the hump despite tying it up near the end of the game.  In the last few minutes they were fouling to try to catch up, which didn't work.  Bright spots: Andrew Warren (23 pts, 8 rbs) had a very nice game... Uhhh, Dyricus Simms-Edwards showed some signs that maybe he's emerging from his slump a bit with 8 points scored in the first few minutes.  Shockingly, Sam Maniscalco had one of the worst games of his career with 8 turnovers and 3 points.  During the second half it felt like he turned it over every time he touched the ball.  I'm really starting to worry about his ankles... If he's going to be unhealthy or ineffective the Braves don't have a great shot at having anything like a decent season.

Next up: away game at Western Carolina on Tuesday.

Tipoff Tourney Recap

Bradley split their games in Springfield, MA, on Saturday and Sunday.  Through the magic of streaming video I was able to watch both games.  The streaming was provided by JumpTV (same as the much reviled Bradley offering B.TV), and it was relatively poor quality.  Picture was small and pixellated and the only audio was the PA announcer.  There was no scoreboard, real-time stats, or even clock.  It wasn't worth $6/game, but I'm dumb I guess.

Anyway, Bradley won their first game in Springfield against the University of Southern California in just about the most ridiculous fashion ever.  They played awfully for pretty much the entire way, but because USC also played poorly Bradley hung in there.  With time nearly expired Bradley had managed to get a two point lead and things were looking okay.  Then Will Egolf fired up one of his signature stupid fouls and put a USC post player on the line.  To make matters worse, the Bradley Bench received a technical for reasons no one has yet been able to identify.  The USC player made all four of his free throws and things looked bleak.  Bradley pushed the ball up the court and didn't score, the very same post player was fouled as USC counterattacked and he missed both free throws.  With just a few seconds left the ball was inbounded and Maniscalco tried to make space before unleashing a desperation three at the buzzer and missed.  However, the whistle blew, he'd been fouled!  A review by the referees confirmed that he got the shot off before the buzzer and that it was from 3-point territory.  Sammy proved as cold as ice and sunk all three in succession.  0.3 seconds were put on the clock and USC lobbed the ball down the court to no avail.  BU win.

Sunday's game against Texas Christian University was an interesting one.  TCU was probably the toughest opponent Bradley has faced to this point in the season and another close victory was just not in the cards.  Paradoxically, of the games I've watched, Bradley looked their best in this contest but didn't pull out the win.  They'd built up a 4 point lead at the end of the second half when TCU made a nice little run and Bradley seemed to run out of gas/luck and TCU sealed the win.  Bradley's record goes to 4-1, a nice start all things considered.

Tonight marks the first home game I'll actually be able to be in attendance for versus the hapless Eastern Illinois Panthers.  Year-in year-out EIU is one of the worst teams in Division I so Bradley must take care of business tonight.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Another Day, Another Game

My unable to watch Bradley games streak continued last night (now at 2)... On the road for work, and the hotel doesn't support ESPN3.com so I couldn't get the game.  Bradley beat Northern Illinois 66-63.  Sounds like they struggled quite a bit at times, but managed to put together a win.  In the post-Taylor Brown world that the 2010-2011 season has become a win is a win is a win.  It's going to be a tough transition for the Braves to make, though I expect them to get better together as the season goes on and they get used to missing TB.  As a side note, Will Egolf was suspended for the first half for being late to practice.

In a strange scheduling situation, Bradley has back to back games with Loyola Marymount in town tonight.  This is our first legit opponent and I hope Bradley can put together a win.  I'm still on the road but I have a shot at watching the game at a buddy's house, so we'll see if I finally get to see a game.  I have no data or reason to make this prediction, but I'm calling BU 71, LMU 59, with the Braves coasting.  Probably just wishful thinking, but GO BU anyway.

Bradley Completes Signings of entire 2011 Class

Bradley had four verbal commitments for the 2011-2012 class and all four have submitted their signed National Letters of Intent.  Here are a few details of each below (listed in order of verbal commitment):

Sean Harris - SF - 6'7 - It seems like ages ago that Sean verbally committed to join Bradley after completing his freshman season at JUCO Yuba College (the path to Bradley taken by Zach Andrews and Lawrence Wright).  As it happens Sean is a Mormon and still had to complete his missionary work.  Due to timing and other factors that means that Sean will arrive on the hilltop with three years of eligibility left.  He's considered to be most like Taylor Brown, with decent perimeter skills, good rebounding, and a high motor. 

Donivine Stewart - PG - 5'10 - A popular local talent from Limestone HS of Peoria decided to stay at home over offers from power conference members DePaul and West Virginia.  He was a prolific scorer throughout his high school career, and from what I've heard the only D1 talent on his team.  I've never seen him play, but by reputation D-World (as he's known) is a lead guard who makes up for physical deficiencies with excellent skills and basketball IQ.  Been hearing about him for years, and always happy when local talent stays home.

Remy Abell - SG - 6'4 - A very exciting 3-star recruit out of Kentucky.  He's recognized as a versatile wing good at most aspects of the game-- athleticism, shooting, ballhandling, defense, and may even be able to contribute some at the point.  He's a top 5 player for this class out of Kentucky and a candidate for Mr. Basketball.  Good stuff.

Nate Wells - C - 7'1 -  A late-blooming giant who apparently may grow another inch or two, Nate Wells  was recruited as a project.  His signing confirmed also that he'd redshirt for the 2011-2012 season.  A lot of fans seem to not much like another project in the paint, but to be realistic, I just don't think there's that many giant centers ready to contribute as freshmen.  As a player, Wells plays on a terrible 4A team in Iowa, but led his league in blocks.  He didn't block or rebound much.  Reports seem to indicate he's not a bad athlete but still learning to play basketball.  He may have a long road, but Bradley's set him out with a lot of time to get ready.

2011-2012 Bradley Roster Breakdown:

Point/Combo Guards - Dyricus Simms-Edwards (Jr, 6'3), Walt Lemon, Jr (So, 6'3) Donivine Stewart (Fr, 5'10)

Wing/Shooting Guards - Jake Eastman (Jr, 6'5), Remy Abell (Fr, 6'4)

Forwards - Taylor Brown (Jr/Sr, 6'6), Milos Knezevic (Jr, 6'8), Jordan Prosser (So, 6'9), Sean Harris (So, 6'7)

Centers - Will Egolf (Sr, 6'9), Anthony Thompson (Sr, 6'10), Andrew Davis (So, 6'10), Nate Wells (R/S, 7'1)

It's an interesting roster, to be sure with five guards and eight "bigs."  It's definitely on the big side, which leaves me t wonder if all of our forwards or centers will be with the team next season.  That or Les really wants to start playing big.  It's much too early to say or speculate and we'll find out in due time. 

Taylor Brown and the TAMK game.

I missed the first official game of the season against D-II opponent the Texas A&M - Kingsville Javelinas as I was taking a long overdue vacation with my wife.  Anyway, because I am who I am she got to listen to the second half of the game over internet radio (courtesy of WMBD) on my cell phone in the hotel room.  All things considered, it sounds like the Braves adjusted to circumstances well and put TAMK down, 66-55.  It's hard to have any useful impressions without having seen the game, but I'll take a win considering circumstances.  In other news Walt Lemon, Jr. had a sweet breakout game. 

The circumstances I keep mentioning darkened my little vacation significantly.  We were spending a few days in Sarasota and had just an incredible lunch at the locally recommended out-of-the-way Star Fish Company.  Well stuffed with delicious fresh seafood, we'd retired to our hotel room for a midday siesta.  I woke up, and checked Bradleyfans to see a developing story/rumor regarding Taylor Brown.  It sounded like something was up, and the mods at Bradleyfans had started pulling posts.  I worried it was injury or suspension for bad behavior, and that's the way the rumors were tending.  I decided to go back to sleep, and drifted off a little angry.  I woke up a few minutes later and saw the official story broken, TB out for season with some kind of heart problem. 

What terrible news, for all involved.  The fan's prerogative says I was worried about Bradley going forward, and I sure am.  All that aside though, what terrible news for a talented young basketball player.  The story starts with the tragic death of Bradley baseball player Phil Kaiser a few weeks ago.  Phil died of a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and as a result the university decided to check all their players at the Mayo Clinic for any unknown heart issues.  Turns out Taylor Brown has one... Not sure even what it is, but it entails him engaging in no sports activity for three months before he can be retested.  I hope it turns out he's got nothing or can be treated for whatever the condition is.  At this point, it's uncertain if Taylor can ever play basketball again, so I wish him all the best however it all turns out.  I feel very sorry that he has to spend a season on the bench cheering on his team instead of playing.  Good luck and get well soon, Taylor!

Thoughts on Bradley's Exhibition vs. Quincy

Losing to a D2 school, even in exhibition, is not acceptable for a program with aspirations with Bradley.  That being said, it was just an exhibition, I guess.  I will say the refs were an abject disaster in this game and contributed to Bradley's loss, though it's a cliche to say the refs are never an excuse.  Hopefully this gets to be our only WTF-brand loss this season.  Here are my impressions:

Player impressions:
Andrew Warren had a very good game, I thought. Not much more to say on this one, thought his defense was a little more "in your face" than it has been in the past.  I think he had 26 points.

Dodie Dunson had a very nice return to lineup. He was sneaky good in his scoring and showed some offensive fearlessness. Good face-up D still part of his game.

Dyricus Simms-Edwards got the start at the point, but struggled quite a lot I thought. He's one of my favorites and I'm going to say he just reached a little in this game and let some nerves get to him.  He's our PG heir apparent and will probably start if Sam Maniscalco's injury holds him out.  He needs to slow down and take what the defense offers.

Will Egolf had a pretty nice game except for two things... The foul he fouled out on was just a dumb foul-- unfortunately he had 4 already, at least 2 of which were completely phantom fouls. Also, the next time I see a Luol Deng-style long range three out of Egolf it'll be too soon. He took about 39 of them and I think only 1 went down. Even if Will was accurate from that range, it's just too much work for only 2 points. Get a step farther out and take a 3. Or if you're a post player, play in the paint.

Jordan Prosser was up and down. Sometimes he looked bad from a positioning standpoint, but no one was pushing him around. He had a couple of sweet putbacks and played with good leverage on defense in the post. Excited to see him on the court, and expect he'll be a solid player for us during his freshman season.

Jake Eastman was a big disappointment for me in this game. He kept sagging in on help and leaving Quincy shooters unguarded and was directly responsible for a whole pile of Quincy points. I honestly believe he was a big part of "bad" Bradley D. He offered essentially nothing on offense, showing a slow trigger. He's still pretty quick to the rim, but he's supposed to be a shooter and if someone gets him the ball with space to shoot he needs to take (and make) the perimter stuff. If he can't do that, then I don't see many minutes from him with the play of WL.

Walt Lemon Jr., for first time on a college court, we excellent. He forced some bad shots and didn't look confident outside. However, on the dribble drive he showed excellent quickness and good finishing ability. On defense he was kind of a revelation, since I'm pretty sure he was the best man-to-man defender I've seen in Bradley gear since DR. That could be a reflection on Quincy's talent, but he was a better defender than DSE, AW, and even DD. Whenever he was matched up with their PG (#32) the guy literally had nothing to do and no where to go.

Anthony Thompson was unspectacular. He looked stronger, and gave up less inside, but also looked a little out of shape running the floor, and I didn't notice him contributing much as a rebounder, defender, or on offensive post play.  He's going to need more than a cool nickname to avoid turning into a total bust.

Milos Knezevic didn't get to play much. I'm pretty sure the ref bulldogged him when he put up the three that was called out of bounds. Was pretty close and he looked solidly in bounds, but I wasn't sure. He looked less lost on D, but didn't contribute anything on O (especially if he was out of bounds on that three he put up). Calling for MK to redshirt is now impossible barring injury (doubt MK would want to RS as a soph anyway) as he's played in an exhibition and, I believe, is therefore ineligible for a non-injury redshirt.

Andrew Davis, Taylor Brown, and Sam Maniscalco didn't play. Was surprised not to see Davis, even if he's going to redshirt, because as a freshman he can play in an exhibtion and still get the redshirt. Get well soon, TB & SM, we'll be needing you.

General impressions:
The defense was up and down. I don't agree with some of the posters who have claimed it looked the same. It did not, the level of pressure placed on an individual level by Bradley players was, I thought considerably higher. There were stretches where the defense looked very tight, both in man and in zone. Other times it completely broke down (including, seemingly to me, every time Eastman was on the floor) and they looked bad. I'm going to apply the work in progress tag, if they looks smothering as they did at times, I think they'll be a good defensive squad. If they "give up" and resort to old habits more often, it'll be tough to watch.

Rebounding wasn't great. Some gritty rebounds by Simms-Edwards and Dunson, notwithstanding, people weren't boxing out all that well, in particular Egolf. Prosser did a better job boxing out, but didn't look like he knew where the ball was going and so was out of position or took bad angles/leaps on some rebounds I thought he should have gotten.

The offense, I'll agree, hasn't changed much. They had big guys out there, but Egolf was hovering around the perimeter a lot. There was a significant stretch where all 5 guys were just rotating around the 3 pt line. At other times, particularly when Prosser was in, there was a pretty constant low post presence.

Sucks to lose to a D2, but let's see how they look with a full lineup against TAMU Kingsville friday before pulling the trigger.

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.

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.

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). 

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.

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:

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.

Bulls Update

The Bulls off-season seems to winding down.  For an off-season so focused on attracting D-Wade or LeBron James and not getting either one, I think the Bulls had a pretty decent off-season and have constructed a roster that will compete for top honors in the Eastern Conference.  Returning from last season are Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, and D-League James Johnson.  Free agent additions so far include Carlos Boozer, Ronnie Brewer, Omer Asik, Kyle Korver, CJ Watson, and Kurt Thomas.  That leaves two open roster spots that they will have to fill to get to NBA minimum roster size of 13.  They're taking a close look at swingman Tracy McGrady and are expected to add another combo guard type of player before they're finished. 

It's amazing how far T-Mac has fallen, as he was once a max contract sort of player who now seems almost an afterthought.  He had microfracture surgery to fix an ailing knee that got him a reputation for being completely soft.  Who knows if he is or not, but he's visiting the Bulls on Monday.  They're looking at him as a bench kind of player, and as far as I'm concerned there's only really upside.  If he's healthy and doesn't have ridiculous money demands, then I think he's a good risk.  If he's 85% the player he was before he could really be a big deal for the Bulls. 

My thoughts on the NBA SuperFriends landing in Miami

This is very dated at this point, but it's something I thought a lot about so I'm going to go ahead and subject you to my thoughts on Chris Bosh and LeBron James signing with the Miami Heat.  Chris Bosh, back before it seemed realistic for LeBron to be a serious free agent or a Bulls possibility was my own personal "top target" for the Bulls.  I though him combined with Rose and Noah would make for a powerful NBA squad... So when he signed with Dwyane Wade in Miami it was a little disappointing for me, but it was a move that made some sense.  Bosh and Wade could easily do a lot of damage together and make for a good fit.  Not, maybe, quite as good as Bosh on the Bulls, but like just about everyone else I'd become fixated on the suddenly available LeBron James.  LeBron is the most talented player in the NBA and any time you have a shot at a player like that, you take it.  So, with Wade and Bosh ostensibly taking down maximum salaries in Miami there just wasn't enough cap space for the Heat to sign LeBron...

I got excited.  At that point there was no better place for LeBron than Chicago-- except maybe LeBron's hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.  If he decided to stay home, well I figured, that's life.  I could never bring myself to criticize a player for deciding to play for hometown pride, even if it went against the "logic of winning."  But, if LeBron decided he wanted to go to a team set up to win for a long time, then Chicago made the most logical team by a long shot.  Chicago, having missed out on Bosh, moved quickly to snap up LeBron's former teammate and rebounding demon Carlos Boozer.  Boozer signed for a bit less than maximum so the Bulls had plenty of space to add LeBron to a lineup that includes a very young all-star PG (Derrick Rose), a center who can take out the trash (Joakim Noah), a tough rebounder and post scoring threat (Carlos Boozer), and a dangerous if overpaid small forward (Luol Deng).  Throw LeBron into that lineup and you'd have a hard time projecting anything other than an appearance in the NBA Finals to face the LA Lakers.  Nothing could make more sense to me, in terms of basketball, than LeBron taking a max contract in Chicago.  Oh, what could have been, I guess.

News started coming out that LeBron would announce "The Decision" on a national primetime broadcast on ESPN.  Though I was on vacation with my in-laws I decided to ensure I'd be in the hotel to watch The Decision.  That morning sources started to indicate LeBron was leaning towards joining the Miami Heat.  "No," my brain said, "He can't get a max contract there.  If he does sign there they'll have literally nothing else on the roster.  It just doesn't make sense."  Then, as the program kicked off on ESPN even Chicago's own Michael Wilbon essentially conceded that everything he knew said Miami.  I started to lose hope, despite the fact that him doing so just wouldn't make any sense.

Well, I guess to LeBron it did.  He, looking unhappy and uncomfortable, told the nation that he was going to join the Heat because it offered him the best chance to win now and later.  It was at that point my respect for LeBron took a nose dive.  I don't believe it's because he's not a Bull-- despite my obvious allegiance... It's because it doesn't offer him the best chance to win now.  It seems basketball stupid to me, and it seems like LeBron took the easy way out.  Dwyane Wade orchestrated all this, and he's The Man, while LeBron, who we used to call The King (I'm thinking he just got demoted to "landed gentry") is just lurking in the back, peering from the shadows over Daddy Dwyane's shoulder.  If they win, it'll probably work out.  If they don't, I think this will turn ugly fast...

And I'm betting on ugly.  I don't see the Heat winning more than 55 games, which will be enough to get them into the playoffs, sure, but I don't think they'll beat a lot of the actual TEAMS they'll face in the playoffs.  The Heat have managed a couple of decent free agent signings in SG Mike Miller and post player Udonis Haslem.  That's about it, though.  Their bench will be awful, and a single injury will render them almost ordinary.  I think they'll struggle against complete teams, and I think they're not ready for the fact that everyone will hate them and every player who isn't on the Heat will be gunning just to show they are not what they think they are.  I think if they win 55 games this year, they'll win 45 or 50 the next and it's going to turn bad.  I could be wrong, and they could prove that out of your 13 required roster spots you only really need 3 players... We'll just have to see.  And that's my problem with this thing, as for winning now, there was no better option for LeBron than Chicago so he either doesn't see that, or it's not about winning for him.  Either way, he just lessened his stock for greatest ever as almost everyone seems to have dismissed him as having taken the easy way out with erstwhile greats like Jordan, Magic, and Bird all saying they'd have never made such a decision.  So, I'll be watching D-Wade, Bosh, and Landed Gentry, but I'll be rooting against them in every game.

Bradley Basketball Doings and Transpirings

Speaking of minding my dust... This is a post from June 27, that I managed to delete from both blogs.  Here it is as restored from the Google cache.  Thanks, Google!

Atlanta media sources are reporting that a guard named Jordan Brown (pictured here) will attend Bradley this next year as a preferred walk-on on an academic scholarship.  According to the guys over at Bradleyfans.com NCAA rules are such that a player who receives financial aid, was recruited by the university out of high school, and will walk on to the basketball team must take his freshman year as a redshirt.  Jordan Brown's "commitment" to Bradley on these terms is interesting for a couple of reasons.  First is that it seems if they're taking a player as a walk-on that they may have considered a full scholarship for, they're likely to use that scholarship on another player... Michael Ocherobia, or perhaps a transfer?  I think that's good news, personally, since I don't have interest in "banking" a scholarship for a year when three major minute-contributing guards (Warren, Maniscalco, and Dunson) will graduate.  The second thing is that this guy is hitting lists as a top 20 player in Atlanta.  I try to ignore, when I can, hype in Bradley recruiting because hope is always springing eternal, but what is a top 20 Atlanta player doing as a walk-on?  That could be a ridiculous steal for our program... He plays on the same nationally recognized team, Atlanta Westlake HS, as highly rated (#1 in Atlanta on many lists) Marcus Thornton.  That team went 30-3 and lost the state championship game after Thornton hurt himself in warmups.  Again, trying to discount the hype, but the last player we got out of Atlanta who played on a good HS team but was overshadowed by a more highly recruited teammate was Taylor Brown.  And Taylor Brown is good!  In any case, welcome to the family, Jordan!

Here's Dave Reynold's article in the PJ Star.  That article also quotes an unnamed official confirming that the final scholarship is being reserved for Michael Ocherobia.

In other news...
Chris Roberts is "drafted" by the Harlem Globetrotters. 

Also the posters at Bradleyfans.com have begun reporting on Bradley recruiting for the 2011 class in earnest.  Here's a list of targets and a link to the Bradleyfans discussion.

Remy Abell, 6-4 SG, 3 stars.  Louisville, KY.
Max Bielfeldt, 6-8 PF, Unrated.  Peoria, IL.
Quinton Chievous, 6-5 SG, Unrated.  Niles, IL.
Jamarlas Demas, 6-2 PG, Unrated.  Garland, TX.
Justin Gant, 6-8 PF, 3 stars.  Terra Haute, IN.
Toddrick Gotcher, 6-3 SG, 3 stars.  Garland, TX.
AJ Price, 6-3 SG, Unrated.  Lewisville, TX.
Jacob Williams, 6-5 SF, 3 Stars. Chicago, IL. 

Looks like a good group of recruits to me.  Would be nice to pull in another point, and an off-guard, and a wing, as far as I'm concerned.  Also interesting, if you follow the link to AJ Price you'll see that the conversation includes someone who is a family member of AJ's posting on bradleyfans. 

Bulls Free Agency Musings

It's midday July 3.  Third day of free agency in the NBA, and the day on which LeBron will meet with the Bulls delegation in Cleveland.  I'll be anxiously watching the news to see what rumor we can gleam from comments made by seemingly everybody.  The Bulls appear to have had some positive developments yesterday when they met for a second time with Dwyane Wade who's now reported to be on the fence about Chicago or Miami.  Another interesting tidbit is that Chris Bosh reportedly joined the Bulls and Wade for that second meeting.  D-Wade is a great player, and he wouldn't make the Bulls a worse team if he joined them by any means, but I think LeBron is still the prize and best fit.  Dwyane Wade is the ultimate combo guard, and  most experts seem to agree he doesn't need to play on a team with a great creative point guard.  I agree with those experts and think that Wade and Rose on the same team puts you in a position where you "waste" a portion of either player's maximum performance potential by having them on the floor at the same time. 

Incidentally, I know that LeBron also handles the ball at times and definitely likes to distribute, but he doesn't have to have the ball to play his game and is at least as good away from the ball.  As such, I kind of feel that if you put Rose and LeBron on the same roster you have a chance to multiply the talents of both with Rose handling the ball most often but LeBron giving you a hugely different look from time to time.  A D-Wade/D-Rose combo would be hard to defend, but a LeBron/D-Rose combo would be even harder to defend as far as I'm concerned.  That's all ignoring the defensive advantages that I believe LeBron offers over D-Wade.

The Bulls have also reportedly met with David Lee and Carlos Boozer.  Both a talented offensive power forwards who rebound well and have defensive problems.  Both would be decent fits in Chicago and probably command less than a maximum deal.  I believe Boozer (as much as I enjoy watching him at times) is a lesser player and injury prone to boot so I don't know that I want him regardless of what develops with Bosh.  Bosh, I think, is the obvious prize for low-post scoring but I think he wants to get paid so a sign-and-trade is probably required.  I do believe the Bulls are fairly well positioned to make a sign-and-trade but I think that if it doesn't work out David Lee would be an excellent fall-back option.  Rose-James-Lee is only a little less attractive than Rose-James-Bosh as long as Joakim Noah is still on the roster to do all the dirty work in the paint.

Anyway, it should be a lot of fun as it unfolds, and I'm still hoping for my "ultimate" outcome of Bosh and LeBron joining the Bulls along with another free agent to handle outside shooting duties (Mike Miller seems like an excellent potential fit)... Stay tuned, or whatever.

Bradley gets the Blue Devils on their Schedule

In an exciting piece of news Bradley has secured a game with last year's National Champion Duke Blue Devils!  As far as I can tell it's just an away game... It was never likely we'd get a home-and-home with Duke, or a two-for-one deal for that matter.  According to reports Coach Les was able to leverage his relationships in the Duke organization to arrange the game.  My hope is that he will be able to leverage them again in the future for the possibility of playing them at a neutral site-- such as in Chicago (a recruiting boon for both programs).  Actually, scratch that, my hope is that we kick Duke right in the ass which would mean they'd never play us by choice again... But assuming we lose the game at Cameron, a return game at a neutral site would be great.  As far as that goes, it's great news for a team like Bradley however you cut it.  TV details have not been announced yet, but I hope we get to play on the Deuce, or on ESPN Prime for that matter.

Bulls Make Aggressive Salary-Dump Trade

Just before the NBA Draft was set to commence on June 24, news that the Bulls had traded Kirk Hinrich and their 17th pick in the draft to the Washington Wizards for... apparently nothing... started coming out.  The move was heralded as an excellent salary move that puts Chicago in a position where they can sign two max-salary players.  Some of the talking heads think that taking such a risky move (trading a decent role player and a valuable pick) indicates great confidence on the Bulls' part.  I hope so, since that could indicate that LeBron is coming to Chicago... Maybe Chris Bosh (or I guess Joe Johnson) too.  That result should position the Bulls as NBA favorites for several years running.  I can hardly wait to see what's happening come this Thursday (July 1, the beginning of the NBA free agent period).

Bradley 2010-2011 Preseason Prospectus is Out

The initial version (still to be updated with any more recruiting and scheduling changes) of Bradley's 2010-2011 Basketball Preseason Prospectus is now published on Bradley's athletics website.  It's a cool guide with some history and recap stuff from last year as well as a bunch of  player profiles, traditional stats, and really interesting "weird" stats such as record on specific TV stations and the like.  If you're interested in Bradley basketball, you should definitely take a look.