How will Bradley do in 2013-2014

[wily coyote]

I actually thought that the Valley was a little weaker than usual this year outside of the top 2 teams
but now the Valley loses potentially their best player (McDermott) then their next two top guys who have some NBA potential (Carmichael & Colt Ryan)...
Then almost every other MVC team also loses their top scorer or best player...Early, Simons, Tyler Brown, Downing, Sonnen, Koch, Carl Hall...

Bradley is one of the teams who return their top scorer - but don't discount how badly we played when Egolf, or DSE, or even Jake were not in games...
their losses will hurt and I am still uncertain about who is gonna fill their shoes - but thankfully we still have a couple open rides...

If we don't bring in better people than we are losing we will be in for a long season. Don't think it will be hard to replace 2 out of the 3 and not totally sold we can't do better than the third.IMO Gonna miss DSE's defense but the other end of the floor might not be as hard to replace. Guess we'll have to wait and see who shows up this summer and fall. WE WILL NEED bigs and thats a fact.

[SFP]

I'm waiting for a poster called Chicken Little to voice their opinion.

[mrcoachdude]

If we don't bring in better people than we are losing we will be in for a long season. Don't think it will be hard to replace 2 out of the 3 and not totally sold we can't do better than the third.IMO Gonna miss DSE's defense but the other end of the floor might not be as hard to replace. Guess we'll have to wait and see who shows up this summer and fall. WE WILL NEED bigs and thats a fact.

DSE had a pretty good season and I think will be a tough replacement...but if what I have heard is true...the incoming players should be able to step in and fill the spots pretty well...again...I would normally say "get the best player available"...but we sure need some help with boards...

[Braves4Life]

I'm waiting for a poster called Chicken Little to voice their opinion.

I'm sorry but that's just funny stuff SFP. Love it brotha!

[Braves4Life]

I actually thought that the Valley was a little weaker than usual this year outside of the top 2 teams

Funny, but I actually find myself agreeing with you some tonight tornado. And I think it will be weaker still next year due to the player losses. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see a renaissance (no pun intended) in the Valley beginning 2-3 years from now.

[Bravesfan]

I actually thought that the Valley was a little weaker than usual this year outside of the top 2 teams
but now the Valley loses potentially their best player (McDermott) then their next two top guys who have some NBA potential (Carmichael & Colt Ryan)...
Then almost every other MVC team also loses their top scorer or best player...Early, Simons, Tyler Brown, Downing, Sonnen, Koch, Carl Hall...

Bradley is one of the teams who return their top scorer - but don't discount how badly we played when Egolf, or DSE, or even Jake were not in games...
their losses will hurt and I am still uncertain about who is gonna fill their shoes - but thankfully we still have a couple open rides...

Well, when the Valley's last place team has 6 wins (the most for a last place team in over two decades), either the Valley was weaker than expected, or it was very deep with a lot of good teams that just beat each other up. It's hard to tell, but of course it depends on whether we are a Power 6 conference or not. If the Valley were the Big Ten, of course this year would be strong with 5 teams making the NCAA Tournament. But since we are not a BCS conference, the pundits of course are saying the Valley (and the Mountain West for that matter) were "not as strong as they thought earlier in the season".

I personally think the Valley was as strong as it has been since 2006, though obviously not even close to the strength of that year. However, the fact that most Bracketologists have CU and WSU still in the tournament fairly comfortably despite several questionable losses shows that they still respect the Valley. Obviously though, if a third team is to make the tournament, it will have to be someone other than those two teams that wins Arch Madness.

[Braveman]

Number one- didn't Bradley finish 7th this year? Incremental improvement... Next year is a complete unknown... Grier and Fields will be good additions, and I think Grier can exceed DSE's points....

We still need some shooting help, but I see things going in a better direction...

As far as the league, we cannot do much, as there aren't many better opportunities out there for Bradley. The MVC will always be a #5-10 league, with blips up and down based on personnel. I think the league has good coaches overall, though, so who knows?

Go Braves

[tornado]

tied for 7th, tied for 8th, and tied for 9th - but not 7th seed..
certainly is better than 10th seed.....

[alczervik75]

Here's the earliest preseason preview for next year...

Between 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 Bradley really only lost one player (Taylor Brown) and we returned everyone plus brought in
Ka'Darryl Bell, Tyshon Picket, and in a way brought in another starter in Will Egolf who was not available in 2011-2012 -
and yet we went from 10th to being picked 9th and ending up right about there.

Next fall - Bradley loses THREE starters (Will, Jake, Dyricus)...so we will need to find production out of four different areas...

good breakdown of the league. I'll admit I post these opinions having only seen about 8 games this year, but also being a little bit of an advanced stat geek.

First, I think it's terribly misleading, while completely accurate, to say we went from 10th to about 9th in the league this year. 2011-2012 was a historically bad season, with 2 wins and tempo free efficiency rankings in the 270's, it was probably the worst team the Valley had seen in at least a decade, and probably the worst Bradley team ever. This year we had over triple the conference wins, played some top teams tough and saw efficiency rankings increase into the 160's. This year is still not an "acceptable" year for Bradley, but it is absolutely a major, major improvement.

For my money, I think there are reasons to believe next year should continue to improve. To me that means efficiency rankings near 100 and hopefully 9 conference wins.

We are returning our best two offensive players, one guard and one who plays inside. It seems clear Walt is best as a combo guard, and hopefully removing a little pressure will cut the TO's some, as well as set him up for more open shots. I think Walt can be a *plus* three point shooter if he can get a higher percentage of shots in "catch and shoot" situation as opposed to his creation. Of course this assumes Fields will be a competent PG, and that is tough to rely on, but I have high hopes.

Also, teams that rely heavy on ball screens need 3 pt shooters for spacing. If Grier is the shooter he was as a freshman, that will create a lot more lanes for Walt as well.

Losing Egolf certainly hurts on defense, and particularly defensive rebounding. Prosser brings more offensive upside, imo, and I would expect we'll see his minutes. When forced to play purely the 5 in the past, his defensive rebounding was good enough, so I expect we'll see that return next year.

Obviously it would be great to get a big that can contribute a lot next year, and Tucker is an X factor as well. I think next year we continue to see positive trajectory, but the following year (2014-2015) could be a cause for concern.

[mvcfan]

I honestly believe Bradley is a good big man away from being a strong middle of the pack team next year. However they get that big man (juco) is up to geno

[real fan]

If we don't bring in better people than we are losing we will be in for a long season. Don't think it will be hard to replace 2 out of the 3 and not totally sold we can't do better than the third.IMO Gonna miss DSE's defense but the other end of the floor might not be as hard to replace. Guess we'll have to wait and see who shows up this summer and fall. WE WILL NEED bigs and thats a fact.

I would hate to think that we will not bring in better talent then the ones that are leaving, DSE was great on defense this season but all of these players had one thing in common, none of them were consistent on offense and they were not very good shooters from the outside, we need help as far as a decent center inside and another pf to help Pickett but I really think we have better outside shooters for next season, just waiting to see what the rest of the group will be as far as who we will sign this spring.

[tornado]

Here's the earliest preseason preview for next year........

good breakdown of the league......I think next year we continue to see positive trajectory, but the following year (2014-2015) could be a cause for concern.

well - since we ended 2012-13 - we've seen gobs of changes..so I thought I'd update this thread...

-First & foremost - Creighton is now gone from the MVC and Loyola is added...

-Second - Bradley has lost their most highly touted incoming player (Tucker) and shuffled the roster with Crawford & Shayok leaving and numerous other new players on the roster (Shaw, Blake, Barnes, Swopshire, Taylor)

-then the first of the major sites to post a preview for the Valley - picks Bradley at 3rd...

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=281566&postcount=1

-Drake hires a new head coach and ISU loses even more than we knew back in March - they lose nearly everyone

-the words used by those who have observed our players so far this summer are...

"a lot more athletic" and "more talented all around" (that the past few years) and "more athletic than in recent seasons" - "tougher" -

http://www.pjstar.com/bradleyhoops/x1002427944/Reynolds-Bradley-men-more-talented-all-around

"stellar recruiting class" - "in..23 years .. there have been only two (recruiting) classes that rivaled this one"
".. will seriously upgrade the program’s talent level. ... good times will soon be rolling again on the Hilltop.." -

http://blogs.pjstar.com/pressrow/2013/05/15/will-history-repeat-itself-with-stellar-bu-recruiting-class/

[Buesch N Chips]

I'll take 3rd.

[Old Coach]

I'll take 3rd.

I would be elated with a 3rd place finish this year.

[AZ BU Fan]

12 x MVC Conference wins in 2013-14 would make me real HAPPY!
And, make the pain of getting there worth it!!!

Landing another talented big (> 6'8") in 2014, would make me
Happier!!!