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.
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