How will Bradley do in 2013-2014

[tornado]

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...
-those players who were our bench - but they were inconsistent and not real productive
-those that are "redshirting" and sitting out - Anthony Fields & Omari Grier kind of unknowns at this pont
-possibly we can get something out of the two remaining open scholarships that have yet to be filled - time will tell,
but we haven't had a freshman come in and start or fill any key role since 2004 (although Sam M. had a pretty good freshman year)
-or from the two players known to have signed LOI's - Michael Tucker & Stefan Zecevic

I hope we have a great improvement but I just don't see where all our points are going to come from.
I know Walt will provide a punch & Tyshon and Prosser return down low, and Ka'Darryl should be more consistent,
but we still need help in the paint and a shooter. Barring injuries - how does everyone see us...do we stay out of Thursday?



Here are just some early observations of the other Valley teams.

Creighton- they lose Gibbs, Wragge, & Echenique (their 3 best scorers other than McDermott) and maybe McDermott.
If McDermott stays another year he risks dropping considerably in his draft stock if he gets injured, plus other experts don't think
he'd ever do any better enough to raise his draft stock given 2014 looks to be a stronger year - so some say he has a lot to lose and little to gain.
Anyway - they may be in the Big East so it might be a moot point. What they do have returning in Dingman, Chatman, Artino - a good group but not a championship group.

Wichita- they bring back Cleanthony Early but oddly Early has been way less effective once people got to see him and prepare defenses for him.
He averaged 17.6 ppg before MVC play started and only 11.8 ppg after that.
They also lose their next three best scorers as well.....so they could be off a bit but they still have weapons.

UNI- they lose James, Koch, Sonnen - they really don't bring back anyone but Tuttle & Mitchell with much starting experience
or scoring ability - so on paper they also look to lose a lot and maybe be down next year.

Evansville- the Aces continue the trend of losing a lot of their production with the loss of Colt Ryan, Jones, Taylor, Cox...
that's four of their best 5 players with only one guy returning that nets more than 5 ppg.

Indiana State- The Sycs should be OK - they return just about everyone of significance - so I think everyone will pick them at the top..

ISU- The Redbirds lose a ton - Carmichael & Tyler Brown - one of those two guys pretty much accounted for every win they had this year.
They also lose Wilkins...a consistent starter and whatever happened to Ekey that has made him all but disappear - he only has one more season.

Missouri State- they lose Downing & Pickens - that may be more than can be accounted for with stats -
since they are the team's leaders..they do return a bunch of young guys - but we've seen examples of where that didn't always pan out as hoped.

Drake- gotta believe they will be about the same maybe worse - they lose Simons, Hines, & Clarke -
who are probably their three best players

SIU- will be improved - but they lose Early & Brown-Surles but have Jackson & a couple other starters -
so I suspect they won't be in last place - it'll be interesting to see who will...

[lake Camelot]

Too Early to tell

How are you supposed to know at this point? We don't even know what the team will look like next year. I have no answer for you. Then again I thought we'd win 8 or 9 games this year so I am not one to ask.

[Da Coach]

If McDermott leaves (or maybe if Creighton leaves) it looks like the conference will be more wide open next year than in many years. Even if all 10 teams remain intact, there is no clear #1 team. A month ago, I might have thought Indiana State stood to be the top team since they have no seniors on this year's team, but they really faded this last month of the season. They lost their last 5 Valley games to drop from 1st place to 5th.

We will have to wait to see what happens with McDermott, Creighton, and maybe Wichita State, then evaluate all the new recruits, transfers, redshirted players, and other incoming players before anyone can make an educated guess.

[bradleyfan124]

Fields will take over at point and Walt will move to off guard teaming with Bell. We also will have back up at guards in Stefan and Omari. I also think Jimmy Gavin if he can stay healthy will contribute. So I think we will be set at guard. The key as I see it is the inside game. We need to recruit a big man for inside and How well we improve in that area will determine how far we will go. And depending on how hard kids work during the offseason will make a difference. I personally think we will much improved over this year. But I am usually pretty positive about things till something proves me wrong. I have been told I could find a white pony in a pig pen full of s**t so time will tell

[molar50]

I picked Bradley to finish 9 this year. At times they have looked like they had improved and had given me hope for the future. However, we finished 8th and finished poorly. I predict we finish 8 next year. I just do not see much improvement in next year's team (except for Bell). The number one factor for Geno's future is his ability to recruit. He needs to recruit like Dick Versace did in order to turn this program around. I will give Geno a pass on next year, but if he does not finish at least 5 by year 4, we will be talking about another coaching change.

[SFP]

Without a big we'll be worse and I'm still not sold that we have shooters on this team. Crawford and Bell have the skills to become much better shooters so there is a bit of hope. WL going to the wing position should help our turnovers and I'd expect his shooting percentage to go up. With a big we can be competitive but we'll still need shooters unless we get depth where we can then pressure the ball for 40 minutes.

Our D is pretty good on this team if the players are fresh and you cannot stay fresh throughout a season without depth.

AS I have said time and time again that at this level recruiting is huge.

[Bravesfan]

Wow, Tornado. The Valley looks like it will be pretty weak next year! But I agree that Indiana State probably gets the preseason pick for Valley champions. Wichita State loses a lot again this year, but I had no clue they would play as well as they did with all the player turnover and injuries. Marshall probably finds a way to keep WSU in the top 3 next year.

Otherwise, every other team has a chance to finish between 3rd and 10th. I actually think SIU could be a threat next year as they lose relatively little, and have been one of the hottest teams in the Valley for the past month. Also, Bradley could be a wildcard in all of this depending on how quickly the new players gel, though right now I think it's a tossup where they finish.

[DeltaBrave03]

Interesting you make note that every team is losing a lot. That's how the valley is, its a junior senior dominated league. I think Bradley has some nice potential in our sophomores this year and we are 2 juco bigs away from being top 3 next year. Next year I think we are a more rounded team not having to rely on 2 players for most of our scoring.

[Bravesfan]

If McDermott leaves (or maybe if Creighton leaves) it looks like the conference will be more wide open next year than in many years. Even if all 10 teams remain intact, there is no clear #1 team. A month ago, I might have thought Indiana State stood to be the top team since they have no seniors on this year's team, but they really faded this last month of the season. They lost their last 5 Valley games to drop from 1st place to 5th.

We will have to wait to see what happens with McDermott, Creighton, and maybe Wichita State, then evaluate all the new recruits, transfers, redshirted players, and other incoming players before anyone can make an educated guess.

Indiana State had a bad last few weeks too. But they showed how good they can be, and another offseason of practice may help them gain the consistency they need to actually finish the job, though I would still not count them out in St. Louis this year either. Right now Indiana State gets my preseason pick for Valley champs next year until someone else can prove otherwise during recruiting season.

[Old Coach]

Do you mean how will they do, or what will their record be?

[stevebu91]

It will be a tight race.... BU will be lumped in a group with La Salle, Detroit, Valpo, Loyola, Duquesne, Richmond, Fordham, Fairfield, and George Washington vying for the title!!!

In jest, of course....I don't think we'll see these type of changes until the 2014/15 school year.

We'll see...

[Braves4Life]

How are you supposed to know at this point? We don't even know what the team will look like next year.

We will have to wait to see what happens with McDermott, Creighton, and maybe Wichita State, then evaluate all the new recruits, transfers, redshirted players, and other incoming players before anyone can make an educated guess.

I would like to second the opinion of these two reasonable posters. With the Valley in a major rebuild next year Yajusneverno.

[Old Coach]

What I know is that Bradley will be more talented and vastly more athletic than they are this year. How that relates to their record, or in what place they finish, I'm not yet sure.

[tornado]

The Valley looks like it will be pretty weak next year...

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...

[sportsnut2]

I think the Valley was strong this year. In fact if we see a team like ISU (either one), UNI, Evansville win the tourney I think there will be 3 teams from the conference in the NCAA. I think CU and WSU are locks, as long as they win their quarterfinal game, which doesn't bode well for Creighton for when we knock them out on our way to winning 4 straight in about a 72-76 hour span