Tweet
Man - I missed the girls, how did Boogie's sister (The Jazmanian Devil) look tonight?
-
Jasmine looked good. She made some outside shots, and was mixing it up inside for some points and rebounds. -
BU link again--
Sorry to miss talking to some of you guys. I sat on the chair-seat side to get some better pictures. Got to talk with a couple posters, bu fan 9 and MacabreMob, though.
I also was pleasantly surprised with many of the performances. I thought their defensive intensity and effort was great. They played a little out of control at times, but what do you expect for a scrimmage? So here's my take. First, the new guys--
Saihou was the biggest surprise. He has a nice soft shot, and will help this team on offense and rebounding. He defense was a little disorganized, and that may detract from his playing time, but he has the most athletic body I can recall ever seeing on any Bradley player. I hope the coaches stick with him, as he is still just a freshman eligibility-wise. He could bequite a talent by the time he's done at Bradley.
Matt Salley looked a bit more polished and skilled than I had been hearing. He will be a solid player this year.
Andrew Warren has great skills, but will have to keep getting stronger. He should give Bradley some good backup minutes. His shot was a little off tonight, but I saw him play in high school, and he can really light it up.
Jeremy Fears looks like a potential pro some day. He has a big body for someone with the point guard skills he has. He had a bunch of steals and gets to the basket with ease. I look forward to watching him play next year.
Daniel Ruffin looked very good, and will score more this year. He is just as quick as ever, and drove the lane a lot, and got to the line a few times. It would be great to see him keep doing that.
Ray Brown has really bulked up. He appeared to have gained more muscle than just about anyone. His game looked very good. He will be a major player on next year's team.
Zach played his usual solid game. I predict he will be in the top 10 nationally in rebounds this year, but not in free throw percentage.
Jeremy Crouch looked great. I think he needs to be less unselfish, and shoot more.
JJ Tauai played steady and smooth. He, like all the guards, looked good on defense.
Will Franklin was also solid on offense and defense. He is one of about 7 or 8 guys that could lead this team in scoring on a given night.
I think this team will be fine, especially if Sam can recover and play.Comment
-
Not much else to say. I agree with about everything said. Attendance was 2,700, maybe a little less than I expected coming off the Sweet 16, but then my wife reminded me there was a World Series final game being played, and the weather was lousy.
This team does lack size, and that could hurt against a team with some 6'10" or bigger players. We'll have to play a fast tempo to negate other teams' size.
The other thing I would worry, is that we seem to be a mostly perimeter shooting team. When the shots aren't falling, the inside game has to come through.
Overall, I really liked what I saw tonight!Comment
-
PJ Star stories
Men's report by Dave Reynolds- http://pjstar.com/stories/102806/BRA_BBBUBFRD.080.shtml
Women's report by Dave Reynolds- http://pjstar.com/stories/102806/BRA_BBBUBCK5.080.shtml
Story about Bruce Weber's appearance in Peoria at the Rotary Club by Greg Stewart-
Report by John Supinie about Derrick Rose's visit to Illinois scrimmage Friday night-
Comment
-
Didn't SIU do just fine playing most of the time with a 6'6" guy at center last year?Originally posted by BU BillComment
-
Hey - who posted that for me... it wasn't me.Originally posted by MacabreMob
Or are there two of me?Comment
-
Attendance?
2700?!
That is so sorry! I know it's always been that way, but that is pathetic after last year's success! With 5000+ students and a population of 125,000 Peoria should do better!
That's a disgrace!
Comment
-
Re: Attendance?
Yes and no. Remember, it is just exhibition and they were competing against the high school football playoffs and the Cardinals winning the World Series!Originally posted by Braves4Life2700?! That is so sorry! I know it's always been that way, but that is pathetic after last year's success! With 5000+ students and a population of 125,000 Peoria should do better!
That's a disgrace!
Comment
-
Just in case anyone is interested, here are some reports on how the other teams have done in their open scrimmages:
Wichita State scrimmaged in front of over 6,000 fans last Saturday. Their guards did fine, but they were said to have a lack of inside play. Here are numerous observers' comments:
The Shockers did at time have trouble scoring, and the score in the 20 minute scrimmage was 34-24. Returning guard, PJ Couisnard was perhaps the most impressive player.
The scrimmage was apparently overshadowed by the unveiling of their new mascot costume which got more news coverage than the game itself.
SIU: The Salukis scrimmaged last Saturday night.
The players scrimmaged in 4- four minute periods.
Outside shots were not falling but several players got to the hoop for dunks. Lots of aggressive, hands-on defense, especially by Tyrone Green.
Newcomers were nervous, returnees seemed confident even though shots were not falling.
Chris Cornelius has a bad knee injury and may miss the season.
The 7-1 walk on won't contribute much.
Their 6-11 recruit for 2007, Nick Evans was apparently there and is planning to redshirt.
Northern Iowa held media day last Wednesday, and supposedly had a closed scrimmage last night. They apparently didn't want to hold any events that would draw fans from their football games.
Missouri State scrimmaged last Saturday. Here are a bunch of eyewitness reports
They played 40 minutes and the score was 100-93.
Nobody can say Missouri State is unable to score.
Ahearn can fill it up, you will have to guard him!
By about the third page of the discussion, a few posters begin talking about how weak the defense is at times, and how they will give up a lot of points.
Several of their players have minor injuries, including Ahearn who is practicing on a sprained ankle.
Indiana State didn't have an open scrimmage. They spent Labor Day in Canada doing a preseason tour. They went 2-1 against Canadian teams.
Illinois State had their Hoopfest back on Oct. 15.
From the reports it wasn't really competetive, just players repeatedly lobbing passes for alley-oop slam dunks. very few actually hit shots.
Porter Moser will open Monday's practice to the public.
They play their first exhibition on Nov. 1 against Missouri-St. Louis.
Drake had the Blue-White game last Saturday night, Oct. 21.
By reports, the players looked good and the shots were falling. Klayton Korver was shooting very well from outside, but sat down and didn't play in the 2nd half. He is recovering from knee surgery.
The scrimmage went on for 40 minutes, players got tired, then the game got a bit sloppy with turnovers and weak defense.
Final score 77-63. Al Stewart had six assists, many of the players played nearly all of the 40 minutes.
Creighton plays their first exhibition on Thurs. Nov. 2.
They have plans for an open scrimmage on Monday night, Oct. 30. http://www.gocreighton.com/sports/co...articleID=5351
and again, here's the release on the Bradley scrimmage
Comment
-
Re: Attendance?
Originally posted by Braves4Life2700?! That is so sorry! I know it's always been that way, but that is pathetic after last year's success! With 5000+ students and a population of 125,000 Peoria should do better!
That's a disgrace!
B4L, I know at least a dozen people who would have gone, except they were big time Cardinals fans, so I am sure that held the numbers down.
Also, I recall the past few years, and these Red-White scrimmages rarely draw in more than 2,000-2,400.
Given the situation, I am actually sastisfied with the 2,700!Comment
-
Quite a difference from last year. It used to be methodical offense that tried to feed the post. Now it is make a few passes and jack up a shot. There were some good assists by the guys you expect to run the offense.
Lack of size is really going to hurt this team. What happens when Zach Andrews has to sit? Hopefully Sighn can be effective when he comes back.
It's a full court team at both ends. Lots of points are going to be scored.1996 & 2019Comment
-
I found a little bit on one other "closed scrimmage" of note.
Instead of holding open exhibition games, schools can have a closed scrimmage against another D-I team. Illinois State is doing one such closed scrimmage later this week against Iowa, but the results are not supposed to be made available.
However, yesterday, Bob Huggins' Kansas State played Marquette in a closed scrimmage.
Just through word of mouth, the results are said to have Kansas State beating Marquette 82-76.
It was said that lots of lineups were interchanged (as you'd expect in a scrimmage.)
Marquette is #17 in the preseason polls, and one poster on the K-State board reported that the leading scorers in the game were:
KState: Lance Harris 15 points
Marquette: Dominic James 21 pointsComment
-
I did not go when I heard they were only going to play 20 minutes.Originally posted by BU BillComment
Comment