Bradley 90 - Winona State 77

[tornado]

Great game, BU really has some fine players.

First and foremost, it was great to see so many fine posters.
squirrel, ChuckyT's, Mike Radigan, Big Mike, Da Coach, O&B, and BU Bill....nice to see you all and chat.

Great atmosphere, as this is likely the final time we'll be seeing BU in the Fieldhouse.

Scoring for Bradley
Saihou Jassey 3 pts......did OK still learning the game, very athletic, can play D

Will Franklin 14 points and outstanding ball handling, defense, and some extras that make him probably one of the best point guards in the MVC.

JJ Tauai 2 pts...usual fine defense and nice passing.

Jeremy Crouch 18 pts, virtually owned the first half...caused the defense to open up and it payed off for Zach
Also nice "D" and good ball handling

Daniel Ruffin 21 points, superb point guard skills. The other coach must be shaking his head wondering how this kid got by the BCS guys.
Can definitely score when he is needed.

Zach Andrews 26 points, scored from everywhere except half court.
Has a nice jump hook, and numerous slams. Boy is he quick and grabs rebounds too.
Zach is my co POG with DRuff

Matt Salley 6 pts, didn't shoot much, played decent defense given he was asked to cover someone who is 6-8 or 6-9 all the time.

Andrew Warren played a bunch, doesn't look like a freshman.
Will only get better.

Winona State is a good team and would easily finish above 2, 3, or even 4 MVC teams.
They played nice defense and they go 10-11 deep and yet BU scores 90 on them even though we held the ball much of the final 3-4 minutes and could have easily pushed the score to 100 had they wanted to.

At least 3 of their kids could play D-I
John Smith is a 6-8 Matt Schneidermann for those of you who know Northern Iowa from a few years ago.

Zach Malvik is a 6-2 PG that's as good as all but 3-4 PG's in our league

Jonte Flowers and Quincy Henderson (both 6-5) both could fit well on an MVC roster and both reminded me of John Little or Erik Crawford.

This is a nice start, as Bradley pulled out to a double digit lead midway through the 2nd half and never let the lead drop to less than 10-12 the final 15 minutes or so minutes.

This was a fine game by BU and they can even get better.
Good job Braves and coaches, I really enjoyed this one.

[BradleyBrave]

T - Beating Winona State doesn't prove any doubters wrong. It doesn't prove anything. I'm still a doubter, sorry. My goals of .500 and staying out of Thursday remain the same.

Don't forget ZA's 26 pts and 10 rebounds.

JC was a ton, with 18 pts on 4 of 5 from 3, and a team-high 4 steals. I expect him to be there all year. He's stronger, quicker, and meaner than he was last year. Get used to stat lines like this.

A little disappointed in Salley offensively, but I think it will come to him. Sam Singh's return will help a lot in the middle.

Defense still leaves a little to be desired, although BU did cause about 25 turnovers or so. So does our ball handling. I think we had nearly 20 turnovers. Possessions are going to be very valuable for this team, we need to take better care of the ball. Ruffin and Franklin were very solid though.

All in all, about what you want out of an exhibition against a good DII team. Again, we treated them the way were supposed to. This proves nothing other than we have some things that looked good, and that we have some things to work on. Back to work tomorrow.

[BuBraves55]

i have a terrible feeling for philly on the bench this year- i just hope at least he gets a good chant like the one big HEEMY got last year to maybe consider getting Phillips/Lavin in the game this year

[it's boogie time]

Some good and some concerns for me.

Ruffin, Andrews and Crouch came to play tonight. It looks like Crouch just had a sophomore slump. Hopefully this continues for him.

Some early concerns for me are defensive rebounding. It looked like Winona State beat us on the boards (I didn't hear the numbers). The guards are going to have to help.

[BradleyBrave]

Some good and some concerns for me.

Ruffin, Andrews and Crouch came to play tonight. It looks like Crouch just had a sophomore slump. Hopefully this continues for him.

Some early concerns for me are defensive rebounding. It looked like Winona State beat us on the boards (I didn't hear the numbers). The guards are going to have to help.

I agree wholeheartedly boogie. I forgot to throw that in. I think that's a bigger concern than the ballhandling or defense IMO, because I can see that being a problem all year. Defintely something that needs to be worked on, but hopefully Sam will help in that area.

[mike radigan]

The starters were Andrews, Ruff, Salley, JJ, and JC.

I don't know about not much of a game. Winona St got it down to single digits late. They have a nice ball club. IMO they had 3 really nice players.

Zach had his little jump hook working big time in the 2nd half. I have to wonder if JL didn't challenge him at the half.

I don't think Andrew Warren scored, but he was one of the first off the bench and got a lot of minutes. His shot was a little tentative which is understandable for a freshman.

Not tentative was JC. He was looking to score. He is starting his shot higher than before which I think he needed to do. He doesn't need to clear so much room.

Sam Singh warmed up and was running during the warm ups. I did notice during the 2nd half he had ice on his knee and was limping. Hope nothing happened but soreness.

[Da Coach]

i have a terrible feeling for philly on the bench this year- i just hope at least he gets a good chant like the one big HEEMY got last year to maybe consider getting Phillips/Lavin in the game this year

I don't think a walkon freshman is expecting to be given minutes. He's just happy to be part of the team.

This was fun to see. Zach was dominant.
Ruffin looked great. 14 assists, and very few mistakes. He had a couple turnovers that weren't his fault. 2 passes in front of the Bradley bench sailed out of bounds because the other player didn't come out to get the pass.

JC looked like he will be our go-to shooter. 4 of 5 from 3 point range. And his defense was great. Will was his steady, opportunistic self and he played excellent defense, too.
Salley looked a little less impressive, but he played a lot of minutes and the coaches expect him to be a big contributor.
Andrew Warren was the #1 guy off the bench tonight. That was a surprise. He played well but did not score. Jassey still has work to do on defense, but made a nice 3 pointer late.

I was also impressed with the poise and skill of WSU. I wouldn't be surprised if they repeat as National champs.

Bring on NWMSU

[MacabreMob]

Not tentative was JC. He was looking to score. He is starting his shot higher than before which I think he needed to do. He doesn't need to clear so much room.

That is great to hear.

Sam Singh warmed up and was running during the warm ups. I did notice during the 2nd half he had ice on his knee and was limping. Hope nothing happened but soreness.

Only guessing here... still icing the injury area (which is good); the limp may be from not necessarily favoring but making sure nothing gets tweaked.

But don't quote me, I am not a sports doctor... but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[Da Coach]

Sam's ice was just a usual precaution after the workout. The limp was just from the ACE bandage and the ice that kept him from bending the knee. He's OK.

[MacabreMob]

Sam's ice was just a usual precaution after the workout. The limp was just from the ACE bandage and the ice that kept him from bending the knee. He's OK.

Tks DC. I suspected it wasn't bad news.

[Big Mike]

JL told Snell on the radio that Sam should be ready by DePAUL but would have to wait and see how many minutes he would get! JL also said they were going to treat Sam like a QB and make sure no-one hits him or throws him off-balance for a week or so to get him ionto BBall shape!

As far as the game tonight I believe that WS is a team that could beat half the teams in the Valley on a given night and I try noit to be so-harsh on the teams real 1st game against outside comp!

ZA...DR....and JC stood out......I also thought JJ would look to score more and at least for tonight he didn't! WF played good and AW looked like a freshman on the O but would grade out a lot better on D! I need a few more games to assess MS though........SJ didn't really get into the game much only making 1 trey!

[BU Bill]

Just 1 post before I get to bed.

I was pleasantly satisfied with the play of Bradley tonight. Everyone took care of their roles and played good defense. I am sure the coaches will still find things to keep improving on.
Daniel Ruffin played a great game. He is fun to watch.

[MacabreMob]

........SJ didn't really get into the game much only making 1 trey!

This surprised me a little... coming off the praise from the Red/White.

Wasn't his 3 the last bucket made by the Braves? Was it ill-advised?

[BradleyBrave]

........SJ didn't really get into the game much only making 1 trey!

This surprised me a little... coming off the praise from the Red/White.

Wasn't his 3 the last bucket made by the Braves? Was it ill-advised?

It was ill-advised, and I don't think the coaches really trust Saihou yet. He's still very raw and it still looks like he has trouble grasping the flow and nuances of team basketball. There's no denying his athletic ability, but I think it's his head that might keep him sitting more than playing. That 3 at the end of the game is a perfect example.

[MacabreMob]

That 3 at the end of the game is a perfect example.

Agreed.

Even though he made it, I was like... 'what in the world? - GOOD!"