Lewis recap.. BU 68 Lewis 63

[Beninator]

I would not be at all surprised to see a different starting line-up come Friday. Five days and we shall see.

There will definitely be a different starting lineup this Friday

[Da Coach]

I have talked to a couple people who didn't go to the game, and they wonder how it could have been this close.
For anyone who didn't see the game, Bradley finally got on a run midway through the second half, and stretched the lead out to 11 points and it would have been more. Coach Les pulled all his starters, and played 4 freshmen down the stretch. Lewis continued with all their starters in the game, except Toth, who had fouled out.
In addition, Dennis Thomas, who is a nice player, got hot and struck for several 3-pointers in the last 3 minutes to make it appear closer than it was. He was only 1-7 from three against Notre Dame.
Recall that this Lewis team played at Notre Dame, and was tied until late in the game when ND pulled away.
Notre Dame's starters all played 35 to 37 minutes in that game, and finished the game with their starters on the floor. Bradley's starters only played about 20 minutes a game.

[Da Coach]

Game recap from BradleyBraves.com

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=19332&SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=204829929

a slight slip of the word processor- it says Andrew Warren redshirted the 2009-1010 season, and of course, should read the 2008-2009 season.

[bigdaddystuck]

This was an exhibition, with everyone getting meaningful minutes. Coach obviously wanted to look at different lineups in a game situation. This is a chance to see what areas need work, maybe try a few things that you probably wont see every game, etc...

The 2 positives that I saw were AW and TB. Both really seemed into the flow of things and neither really forced anything. I felt that WE started out kind of pressing things and made some silly mistakes...came out calmed down and played much better later on. CR also struggled today. I felt that AT played well, nothing really fancy or jaw dropping, but steady.

IMO....

SM
TB
AW
WE
CR

will start @ BYU

[Beninator]

From my perspective, it appeared that Milos must have earned the right to be the first of the freshmen off the bench and into the game. He appears to be a little ahead of JP so far. All the freshmen looked a little nervous at first, and I am sure they'll get over that quickly.

In a true game situation yes. But what we saw today was not a game. It was a scrimmage in the truest form. From what I saw, JP is quicker than most of our bigs. I think that we should have given JP some minutes with our returning players to get JP just that much more experience.

[amckillip]

4 players earned their starting positions for friday nights game against BYU,
A.Warren
C.Roberts
T.Brown
W.Egolf

I see no reason why Egolf cannot play the 4 as well as the 5 because of his athletic ability.

What made you think WE 'earned' his spot? I only listened but I was not impressed with WE. Was there something I couldn't capture while listening that WE did? (I hope so). I don't think anyone played the 5 better, but thats different than earning your spot.

Exact same comment for CROB - though he did have a couple of nice defensive plays.

I was not particularly impressed with either SM or EM, though I think EM's technical foul is embarrassing to BU. Sam probably played better 6 A, 3 TO's vs 1 A, 0, TO. Neither shot particularly well either. This is an area I thought I wouldn't have to worry about this year...

[Out of Balance]

4 players earned their starting positions for friday nights game against BYU,
A.Warren
C.Roberts
T.Brown
W.Egolf
The point guard position was not played very good today except for DSE as he made the best decisions and also played great defense.
I was not happy that we continue to double down low on defense and left their 3 point shooters wide open and we paid for it.
We also continue to play small which is fine until you play against top notch teams.
I see no reason why Egolf cannot play the 4 as well as the 5 because of his athletic ability.
I realize this was an exibition game but it was the last tuneup before our first game and we seemed to be scrambling to come up with the right combinations , it does not look good when your staff is not set on who should be playing by now as that is what practice should have determined by now.
I did see a lot of good things but I also saw the same weaknesses we have had for several years.
I sure hope we play much better against BYU or we will be in for a long night.

Agreed

[Beninator]

What made you think WE 'earned' his spot? I only listened but I was not impressed with WE. Was there something I couldn't capture while listening that WE did? (I hope so). I don't think anyone played the 5 better, but thats different than earning your spot.

Exact same comment for CROB - though he did have a couple of nice defensive plays.

I was not particularly impressed with either SM or EM, though I think EM's technical foul is embarrassing to BU. Sam probably played better 6 A, 3 TO's vs 1 A, 0, TO. Neither shot particularly well either. This is an area I thought I wouldn't have to worry about this year...

IMO Will started off a little shaky but he is our best option at the 5. I think that he will get better. I agree with you on CROB.

[BradleyFan07]

I really dont think you can say you werent impressed with will if you did not see the game. For a guy coming off major knee surgery I was pleased. He wasnt great but a solid performance from him and he will only get better

[amckillip]

I really dont think you can say you werent impressed with will if you did not see the game. For a guy coming off major knee surgery I was pleased. He wasnt great but a solid performance from him and he will only get better

Thats why I asked...

[tornado]

Things that I liked to see...

TB was 6-13
WE was 2-4
AW was 6-7
Jake Eastman was 1-1
DSE was 1-2
AT was 1-1
and all the rest of the fershmen missed only ONE shot..

so I'd say the guys we expected to be rusty or shaky did just fine...

Roberts, Dodie, & AW were a combined 15-16 from the FT line...another positive,

With all the freshman minutes, we still outrebounded and very experienced club...and the starters had just THREE turnovers total!! McCain had NO TURNOVERS.

[SFP]

I just listened to part of the 1st half and it seemed to me like JL was using this game to see what type of lineups he could use for certain match ups. As I said in an earlier post there was no way that JL was going to show his hands before the BYU game . I expect us to probably go 8-9 deep because and only because we'll see 3 guys play the 5. Also did we press any tonight?

[Beninator]

I just listened to part of the 1st half and it seemed to me like JL was using this game to see what type of lineups he could use for certain match ups. As I said in an earlier post there was no way that JL was going to show his hands before the BYU game . I expect us to probably go 8-9 deep because and only because we'll see 3 guys play the 5. Also did we press any tonight?

SFP, I was thinking this during the game. See my earlier remark about this game being difficult for anyone to scout. No press.. I think that the back door cuts will be there for TB and Crob. IMO a lot of alternatives for JL to use as the players get more experience. Given the right lineup match up, the four guard lineup is there for us.

[BU_EMT128]

What made you think WE 'earned' his spot? I only listened but I was not impressed with WE. Was there something I couldn't capture while listening that WE did? (I hope so)

WE was constantly fighting and bouncing people around in the lane. He fought for some rebounds and was a presence. It looked much better than David Collins standing down there letting people run him over. There were a couple times WE settled for a spin out jump shot instead of pounding it to the hoop, but other than that I was impressed with his game. In a similar fashion, you said SM had a solid night earlier in the thread, where as i saw he looked to be trying to force many moves and shots in person, IMHO. Just the difference between watching and listening to the game. Hope to see ya in Peoria for a few this year.

[tornado]

Will Egolf was just fine and I think he has clearly earned the starting "5" spot...he was hampered by 2 really early, ridiculous foul calls by some overzealous ref just trying to exercise his prowess in his first game of the season.
His 6 pts, and 4 rebs and pretty good defense and a nice block and a steal were all in several very short segments that added up to only 15 total minutes because Coach Les didn't want him to pick up more fouls.
The careful strategy worked...and Will didn't pick up another foul the rest of the way...

Keep in mind, that SS, AT, and JP combined for the other 24 minutes as the "5", and they combined for 4 pts, 4 rebs, and 6 TO...while WE's 15 minutes combined for 6 pts, 4 rebs, and one TO.

We have a luxury....we are at least a little deep at the 5-spot and won't get hurt there this year!