This year

[Da Coach]

I expect Andrew to play in every game this season, average just under 30 minutes a game, and start all but the first few games. Also, he will be one of the top 3 scorers in the MVC.

[BradleyBrave]

Not to be the Negative Nelly around here, but this is the exact same thing we heard last year leading up to the opener, when we all saw him in street clothes as we arrived at Carver Arena. I'm going to take the 'wait and see' approach, and know that without him last year we still had a pretty good season.

[Da Coach]

Not exactly the same thing. AW was still having a lot of pain as last season's practices started. He was not able to practice, and had more pain when he did. Though he was cleared to play, and the hope was he would be able to play, he never was able to get on the court without pain. He hasn't started to practice yet, but the pain issue is already much better at this point than it ever was last year. That's the reason for my optimism.

[shaunguth]

I posted it. I wasn't trying to get a rise out of anyone. i'll leave that to folks on this board

I was referring to posts like the 1st one in this thread: "Warren will be a Top-3 scorer"

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12870

or this one where a couple people feel he will win POY

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12400&highlight=andrew+warren+poy

So......as I said.......there are some prominent posters on here that have Warren pegged for stardom this year. Isn't that another way of saying he's going to be heavily relied upon or no?

Yes.....a healthy Warren could very well "be a top-3 scorer".

I'm still not sure who said Warren and Egolf would be our two best players this year. Kinda silly for someone to say that when they're the two players coming off injuries. I just don't see any informed poster on this board making such a statement.

[shaunguth]

I think it would be silly to not count AW as a major threat in the MVC if he's 100%. If AW is 100% I don't think anyone in Bradley nation would deny right now that AW should be relied on heavily and could do great things. I don't think many people think WE will be a top 2 type of player for Bradley but from the snapshots we saw last year most know that there is potential for him to be the best 5 man we've had since POB. I'm not saying he's as good as POB..I'm saying he has the potential to strengthen a spot that has been our Achilles for the past 3 seasons.

AW if 100% yes a top 2 player to be relied upon and probably the best player with MVC POY potential

WE IMO won't be a someone that gets a lot of awards or accolades this year but he'll do things for us that don't show up on the stat sheet like we saw in the few games last year. He had good post moves and he knew how to draw some defenders and dish it back out. He may not be a stat machine this year but if he's feeling alright and confident with the knee he could give us some much needed balance. Not a top 2 player however.

If Brazil is any indication I would say the players to most look out for are TB and CR. SM will about the same as last year, very good and dependable but not phenomenal.

I think I touched on our 5 likely starters if all healthy.

Thank you!

[shaunguth]

This is the mentality we're dealing with......"I guess I've misread their board then. I always read that Egolf is very highly thought of. Will the Thompson kid finally see the floor this year or is he still a year or two away?"

So because Egolf is "very highly thought of" he's also expected to be our best player not named Warren?

I believe Thompson will see the floor this year, but that's to be expected to see more playing time as a sophomore. I also don't expect to see much of Eastman or Edwards this season, but probably more of them in 2010-11.

[tornado]

I think we agree that no Valley team is filled with All Stars, and even the hands-down league favorites, UNI, still have some question marks.
I still feel better about our guys and our question marks, than the teams who only have 5-6 returnees.

http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=137789#post137789

[RaiderOfBradley]

This trip to Brazil was for the team to gel and for the coaches to get a look at the players in a nearly game speed situation and determine what they still need to work on. Let's not get too worked up over losing to a Brazilian professional team.

I personally look at the team this year with a great deal of optimism and that's even if Andrew Warren and Will Egolf don't come back at full speed. Chris Roberts, Taylor Brown, and Edge McCain all got valuable time on the floor last year which will only make them better players this year. Add in the contributions of yet another year from perennial senior Sam Singh and Sam Maniscalco and we have a solid five players. Bradley could conceivably get by with these five and contributions from Warren, Egolf, Prosser and some other players (Thompson? Other freshmen?).

Bradley becomes dangerous IF Warren and Egolf are fully recovered. Egolf was beginning to make a serious impact before he went down last year and, if he can return with the same tenacity this year, expect great things from Will. Everyone remembers what Andrew was doing for the team two years ago...he was on the verge of becoming one of the beacons of light for the team. IF his foot is solid again and Andrew has the ability to fully trust it is healed, I expect him to be a major player.

The sky isn't falling, gang...but it is too darn long to wait for the season to begin!

[houstontxbrave]

I look at Warren this way. He has missed a year of actual game competition and all summer of work with his teammates. Regardless of how much work he has done physically, nothing replaces game situations, ie cutting, running, sliding and shooting in motion or with a defender.

I do not expect his offensive game to come around until much later in the season. Before he got hurt his game was so much more then 3pt shooting, his ability to go to the rim and finish was just unfolding. But his defense was more then anything the biggest part of his game. The ability to get his length into the passing lanes, especially when guarding 2,3's was something we sorely missed last season.

If he is able to regain his explosiveness and his quickness then the wait on the return of his shooting will be no issue, because he will contribute on both ends on the boards and defensively.

I really have no issues with this team playing 3 guards because regardless of the 3rd guard that guard is going to have size... Roberts, Warren or even Brown. What is going to be important is NOT playing one of those 3 at the 5. This program has gotten hammered the last couple of years because we were playing undersized often 3's or 4's at the 5. Regardless of how hard Wilson or Salley worked they were always to small to go 40 minutes against 5 position size.

Prosser is the key to that position, because if he can give us 10-20 minutes nightly at the 5, even if the 5 is on the defensive end, then that will limit the minutes of Singh, who I know we all respect but long amounts of time at the 5 by Singh is not a good sign. So, I guess more then anyone our successes do hinge on the health of Egolf but there is a big huge sign flashing for somone else to have his lightbulb go off and contribute and pick up the much needed slack and minutes that are right there to be taken....

Anthony Thompson.

[tornado]

I agree....sitting out a full year never seems to be all that helpful....
even though players do it all time time "voluntarily" as redshirts in order to get better and stronger...or because of injury, they still seem to struggle a while to get beck into the flow.
...all you have to do is look at Lance Stemler, AT, Jeremy Fears, Ryan Thornton, for Creighton - Chad Millard, for Drake - Adam Templeton, for Evansville - Zach House, for ISU - Sead Odzic, Crawford for InSU, Cornelius for SIU, and several others.
The only few exceptions coming off a year's layoff are the guys who are mature, seniors, who have had a ton of past experience and work like SIU's Tony Freeman and ISU's Oguchi.

But I think Andrew fits that latter category while Will Egolf more fits the former.

[Bradleyguy10]

Personally, I'm not the slightest bit worried about the lack of game time he's had over the past year. My concern is health and I think some people put too much emphasis on in game experience. I do think game experience is important for younger players, but AW has played DI now for 2 years and he hasn't forgotten what it's like in 1 year. I think it does become worrisome when you are dealing with a player that doesn't want to improve or use that time productively. I for one believe AW used that time wisely to work on other facets of his game and used that time to mature physically and mentally and maybe get a better "feel" for the game. I only say this because with soccer I was injured and missed a good bit of time and when I came back I felt like I was better mentally in the game. I wasn't in as good of shape I should've been in but my mind slowed down a lot and took control of the game and I actually became more skilled. If a player doesn't want missing game time to affect their play then it won't happen. It's just a mental thing. I believe AW's lack of play for the past year won't have any affect on his "skill". Now fitness is a different story but he has practice to deal with that. In game situations is like riding a bike for true athletes, you just don't forget it.

[dogsrus]

I think it would be silly to not count AW as a major threat in the MVC if he's 100%. If AW is 100% I don't think anyone in Bradley nation would deny right now that AW should be relied on heavily and could do great things. I don't think many people think WE will be a top 2 type of player for Bradley but from the snapshots we saw last year most know that there is potential for him to be the best 5 man we've had since POB. I'm not saying he's as good as POB..I'm saying he has the potential to strengthen a spot that has been our Achilles for the past 3 seasons.

AW if 100% yes a top 2 player to be relied upon and probably the best player with MVC POY potential

WE IMO won't be a someone that gets a lot of awards or accolades this year but he'll do things for us that don't show up on the stat sheet like we saw in the few games last year. He had good post moves and he knew how to draw some defenders and dish it back out. He may not be a stat machine this year but if he's feeling alright and confident with the knee he could give us some much needed balance. Not a top 2 player however.

If Brazil is any indication I would say the players to most look out for are TB and CR. SM will about the same as last year, very good and dependable but not phenomenal.

I think I touched on our 5 likely starters if all healthy.

Well said...the ONLY thing I would dispute is I think SM will NOT 'be about the same as last year"...IF thats the case we are in trouble. I expect SM to be much improved.

[real fan]

Andrew Warren will make everyone better when he is on the floor as he will draw a lot more attention which will get better open looks for the rest of the team.

[BradleyBrave]

Well said...the ONLY thing I would dispute is I think SM will NOT 'be about the same as last year"...IF thats the case we are in trouble. I expect SM to be much improved.

Really? How so? I think Sam is about at his ceiling. The only ways I can see him improving on his game is by shooting the ball better from 3, and not getting toasted on defense. If he can do those things he will be improved. If AW is healthy and playing, SM's production naturally decreases IMO.

[romar]

Really? How so? I think Sam is about at his ceiling. The only ways I can see him improving on his game is by shooting the ball better from 3, and not getting toasted on defense. If he can do those things he will be improved. If AW is healthy and playing, SM's production naturally decreases IMO.

I agree & disagree - I think SM's percentages increase with AW but his shot volume decreases. I say this because with AW getting most of the defensive attention I think he'll get fewer shots but better looks. His D will hopefully improve just by the mere fact that he will be a known factor to the ref's in the MVC and may be able to get away with a little more handchecking. If that doesn't happen, he will probably be toast, because he simply doesn't possess the great foot speed. Where's Don Beebe when you need him?