Official Red-White Scrimmage Updates/Thoughts/Analysis Thread

[basketball nut]

Just my observations
SS was impressive-went to the boards and hustled-R/W game doesn't tell you much but if he plays all year like tonight he could be a steal.
WL is a lot like last year-extremely quick but needs to slow down in order to play point
DSE-is exactly what he is billed as-BU's best player
AT & MK-thought both played more relaxed-AT very active and MK showed he can shoot the outside shot and wasn't playing stiff.
JP played very good and rebounded well. Still has a ways to go but I thought that could be from not playing since last spring. He will do great in the middle.
JE looked a lot like last year-lots of hustle and went for every rebound no matter who had the ball.
JC, DS, & DH-showed they have a long ways to go but other then DH they showed they will be able to play. DH looked very rusty

I think I got everyone for my observations. One of the big things I liked tonight was the guys seemed to be having fun and the biggest thing I liked was the way they went to basket for rebounds-somehing we havn't had for a while.

[lightsout]

This year??™s Braves team should be a very athletic team and lots of fun to watch. Ran into Theron Wilson early in the night and Daniel Ruffin later very nice to see those two. Wish either one of those guys had a little more eligibility left.

[Da Coach]

BTW- there were no recruits at tonight's scrimmage.

Some former BU players were there- Theron Wilson, Daniel Ruffin, Danny Adams to name a few.

[LittleBrave]

There were some encouraging signs and some discouraging things. That seven man rotation that Coach Ford mentioned seemed about right.

If Wells is going to play this year, the best time to get him minutes is in the preseason and the early season games. I can't see someone redshirting with this frontline.

Wasn't at the game - nor did I hear it, but I would think that we may go with 9-man rotation.

TB, JP, DSE, WL, 2YOK
JE, MK, AT, JC

I was hoping we'd see a different MK & AT this season, and by the things I heard from the scrimmage, at least some good signs.

[tornado]

Some observations...

The good-
for a VERY early preseason effort - we shot OK - not good - as you'd expect in most preseason scrimmages. The total of 20 minutes of a running clock is more like 10 minutes of real game time, since the clock ran even when the ball was out of bounds, when we were making subs or shooting FT's.
So - for us to score a total of 56 points is pretty impressive.
(BTW - Bobby, the box score accounts for only 55 points but the final score on the board was 35-21)

I am thinking we might have three or four of the most athletic players in the league with Walt, Shayok, and even Jalen ...and I think Jordan Prosser has shown a ton of improvement. JP was very active around the hoop, got good position, and looked solid.
Walt & Shayok looked good but took several shots 5 seconds into the possession.... I know coach wants to play uptempo but....

Anthony Thompson looked much improved as well, and I agree with Da Coach that Donivine looks to be our best ball handler - especially in traffic - he made good passes and had NO turnovers.
Walt is speedy but he sometimes forgets the ball.

DSE's outside shooting was not on but he's gonna get his points. Jake will give solid play, Milos will get spot action and hopefully can drain a few threes.
Devon Hodges is a big body and can still help when our other bigs get fouls.
Those who said Nate Wells was a project are wrong..he could play in the MVC right now and be a plus -- if he chooses to redshirt, he could be good enough to start in 2012.
Jalen Crawford, like Shayok & Walt - all got several "deflections" and caused trouble on passes...Donivine likewise was credited with four steals, leading to a few fast breaks.

One last good thing - nobody got injured!

All in all I do not believe this is a 10th place team in the MVC.


The bad-
Like Geno - I am bothered by 16 turnovers. Any way you look at it 16 TO in 20 minutes is pretty sloppy. Sure, it's early in the process, and maybe we can look at it as good defense since our guys were harassing every pass - but we have to take better care of the ball.
So...the two thinks you'd fear the most if we play uptempo would be turnovers and poor shot selection - and we saw both - so we have a little work to do.

I know we can shoot better from 3-pt range or at least I hope we can. Shots seemed to be rushed but I would have expected that in a shot game where everyone wanted to get in the action. We will miss Andrew Warren's & Sam Maniscalco's clutch FT shooting.

Student turnout was disappointing. There were about 10-20 Red Sea members and another maybe dozen or two students....so I'd say the total student attendance a bit less than hoped.

Leaving the parking deck after the game is going to be a recurring issue, although I realize not many men's events are going to be there. First - every car has to leave the deck via the same single exit lane, then you immediately encounter all the people leaving the arena and crossing the exit lane in front of the cars to get to their own cars.


And finally - there may not have been any "recruits" there - but there was some recruiting going on with regards to some guests who were there.

[Old Coach]

Thanks for the notes tornado.

If Wells really is a plus player already in the MVC, then he won't get to make the decision to red shirt.

Second, I don't think the team can shoot the three better than it did last night. What you see is what you get.

[tornado]

we have to get someone hitting 3's -- i know DSE can and Milos ..but it would help a ton if someone hits at least 35-40%

[Bradleyguy10]

What is the deal with Devon Hodges..I thought this kid was a Wisky recruit?

[Da Coach]

That was when he was a sophomore in HS. He had barely played at all the past 2 years because of issues with residency and eligibility. He appears a bit out of shape and timid. Though we need depth among our big men, judging from the short exhibition, DH may be the one who would benefit most from a redshirt.

[Bradleyguy10]

You think it's an easy fix (getting into shape) or is his skill set just not up to par?

[Big Mike]

You think it's an easy fix (getting into shape) or is his skill set just not up to par?

My hope is that its just a matter of playing with D1 talent and getting used to the pace and strength of the college athlete. I'm giving him the benefit right now since it will even still be some time before TB is up to speed after sitting out a year.

[real fan]

You put Taylor Shayok and Jordan across the frontline and it is very good, Hodges will be fine after he adjusts more to college ball as he has skills, Wells can help us this year even if it is for 5 to 8 minutes a game, Thompson played well and is good in a fast paced game, DSE, W.L. J.C. and J.E. are 4 good guards and will look much better when on the floor with their 1st team players, Milos can shoot but still needs to be wide open, D.S. has a lot of work to do as he is way behind the 4 guards I mentioned, Prosser will also look better when he is on the floor with S.S. and Taylor.
It will be easier to evaluate them after the first exb. game when Geno will be playing a true rotation plus it is always harder scrimmaging agaist your teamates.

[Beninator]

My impressions.

For a brand new facility, the sound system is ATROCIOUS! The system sounds as if it was purchased used from a small junior high school that was looking to upgrade!

As for the team:


Milos has bulked up and his footwork looked vastly improved. I think there is a good chance he contributes this year.

DS is ok but is clearly behind the other guards at this point. He handles the rock very well. Perhaps it was a case of the jitters, but he missed a few wide open shots.

So far I like what I see from Crawford.

Hodges looks rusty and completely lost. From what I had read, I thought that Hodges would have been a little bulkier. Hope he improves, as we could use him.

During layup drills, I thought that Wells was a 7 foot division 3 player, but he showed me something during the scrimmage. He runs the floor very well for a big guy. I know we have depth issues, but Wells really should redshirt.

It is very tough to evaluate the big guys and most of the team for that matter until they are seen against some competition.

That being said, I will throw out a semi-comparison.

The player I was most impressed with last night was Shayock! For anyone out of the area, Shayock has major upside I was texting a friend last night during the scrimmage and he was asking for a comparison. He asked if Shayock was comparable to Theron. I responded no. We need to see him play against competition, but I texted that Shaycok is reminiscent of a very young JJ Anderson. I am not saying that SS will be as good as Anderson in any way, but the ability to create, the mid range and I think long range shot is there, and SS has the basic skill set as a Freshman to become a very good player for us. Oh and he likes to rebound!

Beninator over and out for a while....

[BU RICK]

Video...I guess 30 seconds is better than nothing...

http://www.centralillinoisnewscenter.com/sports/Bradley-Red-White-Scrimmage-132115598.html

[jasonpeoria911]

I think the only thing that is going to get students to the game immediately is the team winning or free giveaways such as food or beer. A previous last place team isn't going to get students motivated to come to the game. I highly doubt the season game on campus will have much more student attendance than the Red/White scrimmage.

Jason