Observations from the Red-White scrimmage

[tornado]

just a few things...

-the women's scrimmage was entertaining - they have some bulk

-the ladies won the 3-pt shootout

-then the men took the court
-Will Egolf & Dyricus Simms-Edwards did not play
-everyone else looked OK, we still have no deadeye shooters
-Jake has more confidence, slightly quicker and can score a bit
-Prosser still lacks the kind of touch inside and everything clanks off
-Nate Wells will help with his size
-Milos works hard but isn't a lot different from last year
-Walt Lemon has some good moves
-Shayok a little bulkier but may not help much on scoring
-Tyshon Pickett barely taller than Jake - but is strong around the hoop
-Jalen seems to be one of Geno's favorites but nobody was shooting all that well
-Omari & Fields are solid Fields esp with ball handling but both tried on too many occasions to make an ESPN-Top play and were a bit sloppy
-
and then the GOOD news..
-Ka'Darryl Bell is good, very quick - solid ball handler - just what we need so I hope he gets to play point guard and doesn't sit the bench and then transfer to SIUE next year..
one of the walk-ons was fun to watch - Jimmy Gavin is pretty danged good -- he is quick and has some surprisingly good jumping ability.....people will be surprised because standing still he does not resemble Michael Jordan.
The rest of the walk-ons played but I really didn't think they are going to get any court time...... the one that was supposed to be the shooter - Alwan, didn't seem to hit his shots.

the crowd was small and ....ahem - a little less than enthusiastic

Talked with Sam Maniscalco - deciding on a couple different pro options and may pull the trigger in 1-2 weeks.

[tornado]

I saw only one potential recruit - may have been others but I did not see any others -
the guy I saw will likely be in juco this season and next and I doubt he's a legit D-I-er

[Beninator]

Ok, I was the guy who said he wasn't going to go. I ended up winning free tickets by answering a trivia question (ahem thanks Braves4life) on the Bradley Athletics facebook page. I have to admit that I liked the setup with the Volleyball game at the beginning of the event.

Ladies winning three point contest over the guys=

Pickett has a chance IMO to be a gamer.

Grier and Fields are solid players. I really like Fields.

Wells looks as if he will contribute this year. We are going to need him!

Early impression is that it is going to be a long year. If Pickett, Wells and Shayok continue to develop, and we get a decent recruiting class, the foundation is there talent wise starting next year.

[lightsout]

-Tyshon as T said is a little shorter than I thought he would be but will be a force for us this year in the paint.

-Bell also has a pretty solid build and hopefully will earn plenty of minutes this year at the point.

-The game was pretty sloppy overall but nice to see the new guys and still excited for the upcoming season.

-My wife and I showed up toward the end of the volleyball match and still were able to walk down and get front row seats.

-Lastly if you still haven't had a chance to check out the Hayden-Clark
Alumni Center take some time and walk through. A extremely impressive building from the outside and it doesn't disappoint inside either. Interactive clips from some of the biggest moments in Bradley history and my personal favorite the miniature dioramas of the dorm rooms throughout the years and so much more.

[LongTimeFan]

http://ilprepbullseye.com/Oct_12-14_Visits.html

"Campus Visits For Weekend Of Oct. 12-14 From Amongst Illinois-Based Recruits."

Class Of 2014 rumored to be visiting this weekend

Josh Cunningham 6'6 WF Chicago (Morgan Park)
Tyquone Greer 6'6 WF Chicago (Orr)
Marlon Jones 6'9 C Chicago (Orr)
Paul Turner 6'4 2G Westchester (St. Joseph)
Tevin King 6'1 PG Chicago (Providence-St. Mel)
Victor Law 6'7 WF Chicago (St. Rita)

Moderators, please correct if this is not supposed to be posted like this.

[Da Coach]

For what it's worth, here is my report on the night's events-

The women's volleyball team played really well in their 4th set to tie SIU 2-2, but then ran out of steam halfway through the 5th set, and lost the match to SIU 3-2.

The women's team has already been practicing for a week, and it looks like they will be playing a more aggressive, in-your-face defense. They do have some increased size with freshmen Shelby Mustain and Jenny Smith. But they still need to solidify their ball handling and outside shooting. But Sophomore Michelle Young and Senior Katie Yohn looked good shooting the ball tonight. My guess for the starting five might be Katie Yohn, Kelly Frings, Shronda Butts, Catie O'Leary, and either Brooke Bisping or Kelsey Budd.

The men's team- as mentioned, 2 likely starters Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Will Egolf, did not play. Junior college transfer Tyshon Pickett was the high scorer with 16 points and 5 rebounds. He was clearly the most game-ready player on the floor tonight. So much for summer conditioning (he missed the summer because he was finishing classses at his juco). His points all came on inside shots, mostly putbacks, and free throws. He looks like he is a reliable finisher when close to the basket. But although he is listed as 6'6", he is more like 6'5". He also fouled a little too much.
Ka'Darryl Bell was very comfortable at the point, though he did not attempt many outside shots, and missed the couple I recall seeing. Darrion Harris played a lot of point guard, and looked like a very good ball handler and passer. He also didn't take many shots. And Anthony Fields was very quick and a very good ball handler and passer as well. Omari Grier played some point and 2-guard, and looked very good.
As mentioned, Jake Eastman looked stronger, and more aggressive. Shayok Shayok was much stronger, but needs more time to adjust to the 4 position. He forced up a lot of shots. Nate Wells played pretty well, and looked like he can give us a few minutes each game. Walt Lemon was the other player that impressed me the most tonight. He looked quicker, and more confident shooting. Jordan Prosser finished well around the basket and rebounded well. And Jalen Crawford, and Milos Knezevic looked about the same as last season. The other 2 walkons, Mason Alwan and Jimmy Gavin were steady, and not shy about shooting the ball. They both looked like they could play some if needed.
As most might expect, the weakest area looks to be outside shooting.

The players listed by LongTimeFan must have been among 2 groups of kids sitting to the right of the south bench (section 14) or behind the scorer's table (sec 16). I saw those groups, but thought they might be Bradley students.

[LongTimeFan]

Another reference to recruits at the Red/White tonight and BU this weekend.

https://twitter.com/cavwalsh/status/256966899605319680

It mentions an additional name name or two.

[basketball nut]

A couple of thoughts from last night. We already know what we have coming back but a couple of guys impressed me last night.
I thought WL played under control more tonight and even when pushing the ball up the court was not out of control like we would see last year. Just felt he looked more comfortable and under control.
JE looked like a seasoned veteran, which he should. Handled the ball well and was always looking for his teammates and the ball.
SS is much bigger but still is very raw-wil help but still learning.
NW will be a help w/ his size & runs the floor well for his size.
Among the new guys TP is going to help. He has a nose for the ball. Didn't see much on outside shooting but very relentless going after the ball-never seen him give up on a ball, even when he shot it himself-the reason for his points and rebounds last night.
JG might be a walk on but looked very comfortable and I could see him getting some playing time. If you didn't know he was a walk on you would have thought he was a very good recruit.
The two transfers also looked good especially Fields-very quick. It will take some time for his teammates to learn what he can do w/ the ball-made some great no look passes-as good as or maybe even better then DR would make when he was here.
Over all we still have a long way to go but then this was the first official night of practice and we were missing 2 key components of the team. IMOP we still are lacking in outside shooting but are deeper then last year should be improved. Does that mean more wins? Only time will tell.

The girls scrimmage showed they are a very veteran team and were already used to the coach. They loked like they have some good freshman coming in also. They will play in your face "D" and set some rock solid picks. Should be fun to watch.

I really enjoyed the format as I brought 4 of the grandkids and they had a lot of fun although the 5 & 6 year old were getting pretty restless by the end of the night. My 10 y/o granddaughter really enjoyed the volleyball and the more she watches it the more she wants to play (makes me real happy as she wqould rather play volleyball then soccer so I don't have to watch soccer "YEA"-no offense to you soccer fans but it is the one sport I have trouble watching-to boring for me)

[wily coyote]

That doggone Capt. Kirk must have slept through the events last night if he missed a chance to drill us. Or maybe just maybe the media and our staff trust each other,unlike past staffs.

[Da Coach]

That doggone Capt. Kirk must have slept through the events last night if he missed a chance to drill us. Or maybe just maybe the media and our staff trust each other,unlike past staffs.

First, I did not see KW at last night's events, was he there? And I doubt our staff truly "trusts" anyone in the media. Maybe this staff differs from the last staff, as all coaches are different, and they seem to cooperate more with the local media. But don't you think that will change if the media start attacking them like the last staff got attacked?
But there were a bunch of recruits at the game last night and it was known earlier in the week when Geno mentioned recruits would be at the game, and yet the media was never told who the recruits would be until after they were here. In fact, bloggers from Chicago were actually the ones to identify the visiting players first, not the local media. Anyway, I doubt many fans care so much about this...I thought it was all about wins?

[wizard1]

Observations----Kirk Wessler

KW was at the Red & White last night. He sat in the first row behind the press table.
Observations IMO:
1. We still have a long way to go. No outside shooting.
2. Fields is super quick and a great passer---He will be fun to watch.
3. TP will be a starter and a force once the season gets underway.
4. Bell will see lots of time at the point and could be a starter as the season progresses.
5. JE was very impressive---Mucho improvement.
6. Nate W. can help some but still needs lots of development---He is half a step too slow and needs to play with much more energy and intensity. Also, he was used mostly to set picks and didn,t really post up much. He needs to post up and want the ball much more.
7. SS looks bigger and stronger but still seems "lost" at times. Could be improved but only time will tell.
8. My guess for starting lineup:
Egolf
Pickett
lemon
DSE or Bell
SS or JE

And finally, I hope that next year they drop the idea of having womens vollyball and basketball preceed the Red & White. Lets have a true R & W with a full 40 minutes so we can get a good pre season view of the team.

[tornado]

2. Fields is super quick and a great passer...

I too like how he played - but we have had "good passers" in the past, but a good passer is only as good as the "finisher" and we have had precious FEW good finishers in the paint...
I recall all the "blown assists" we saw happen after fine passes from Billy Wright, Rob Dye, DRuff, etc....

[bu fan 9]

It's going to be another long year!

[Gary the Gargoyle]

I think that the defense will be better, but the team will continue to struggle with its perimeter shooting.

[tornado]

Here's a nice piece on Tyshon Pickett by the BU Scout!

http://www.bradleyscout.com/sports/pickett-leads-red-white-scrimmage/