Next up: Deshawn Delaney & Chris Blake

[tornado]

Jake Eastman - even at little more than 6-4 - still gave us something we needed - extra rebounding -
I would love to still land DeShawn Delaney for the scoring & rebounding (he got 8.1 rpg at VU) he can give us from the wing spot.

[LongTimeFan]

Even if we rebound by committee we still need to shore up defense in the paint. I have seen Pickett mentioned as a possible option at the 5. Pickett had a lot of problems staying on the floor playing against less physical players than likely encountered at the center position. I wonder if staying on the floor while playing center would be even more of a problem.

It appears our best option would be a new recruit that could provide minutes there. I guess Prosser injured his foot /ankle during the season. Does anyone know when this was done? This could have affected his ability to play defense.

[Old Coach]

Jake Eastman - even at little more than 6-4 - still gave us something we needed - extra rebounding -
I would love to still land DeShawn Delaney for the scoring & rebounding (he got 8.1 rpg at VU) he can give us from the wing spot.

Jake was a great rebounder for his height. 6' 4" is being generous. Great nose for the ball and a lot of effort.

[ph]

Dave's article on Blake:

http://www.pjstar.com/bradleyhoops/x709246496/Chris-Blake-commits-to-Bradley

Chris didn??™t score a lot for us, but we had a very talented team. So opportunities to score were limited,??? King said. ???Chris doesn??™t have to have the ball in his hands to affect the game. He blocks shots, defends, rebounds. He??™s like a junkyard dog. He does a little bit of everything for you.???

[Da Coach]

It looks like Blake grew an inch since this afternoon. He is listed as 6'7" in Dave's most recent article, but was 6'6" in his previous articles. I hope he's right.

[Chico]

It looks like Blake grew an inch since this afternoon. He is listed as 6'7" in Dave's most recent article, but was 6'6" in his previous articles. I hope he's right.

Let's hope Dave keeps writing, the Braves might have the 6'10" guy they been looking for.

[Da Coach]

Deshawn Delaney is still strongly considering Bradley. But New Mexico, who was one of the other schools that was interested in him, just got a commitment from another junior college forward last night, and is no longer pursuing DD.

One other school that was vying for Deshawn Delaney may also now be out of the running. Texas A&M got a commitment yesterday from Jamal Jones, a 6'7" wing forward from Lee College (a teammate of Chris Blake).

Wisconsin-Milwaukee appears to be the remaining competition, and it has been reported that DD was to visit them this weekend.

[bravetime33]

no... we lose Egolf & Shayok - two guys who are a solid 6-8 & 6-9 and who did get playing time at the "5" position both offensively & defensively...
... and we really replace those two with just 6-6 Blake..

seems rather schizophrenic how we've seen tons of criticism over the past two years about not having size, bulk, & depth down low...
then suddenly we land a single 6-6 post player to replace Egolf & Shayok - and we get praise like this...
".. rebounding and post play are not all about size...." - smh - well - we're about to see if we can do just as well without size...

Maybe Blake can step in and grab 8-10 rpg and be a stud like Eric Coleman was...but he grabbed 6.7 rpg (not points as the DR article says) at the juco level...
Carl Hall (9.6 rpg) and Cleanthony Early (10 rpg), and even Chadrack Lufile (8.5 rpg) are all a few inches taller and more active on the boards - that's what we're up against..

Pickett tied for the team lead in RPGs @5.5 I would take 10 guys on the team with his work ethic,hustle, and determination. At 6'6" or even 6'5" if some think he is undersized so be it he overachieved I think that Geno has a pretty good idea of the players he wants based upon his past success I am excited where this program is headed and will not judge until Geno has a full roster of just his guys

[wily coyote]

Pickett tied for the team lead in RPGs @5.5 I would take 10 guys on the team with his work ethic,hustle, and determination. At 6'6" or even 6'5" if some think he is undersized so be it he overachieved I think that Geno has a pretty good idea of the players he wants based upon his past success I am excited where this program is headed and will not judge until Geno has a full roster of just his guys

I would take more guys like 6'6" or 6'5" Pickett also. AT was 6'10" and how'd that work out for us. If CB gives us anything like Pickett we're gonna be much improved in the so called big arena. Now lets get DD and seal that deal. I think Geno has done a great job putting this roster together.

[Da Coach]

I would take more guys like 6'6" or 6'5" Pickett also. AT was 6'10" and how'd that work out for us. If CB gives us anything like Pickett we're gonna be much improved in the so called big arena. Now lets get DD and seal that deal. I think Geno has done a great job putting this roster together.

I understand what you are saying, and I support our players too. But bringing up another reference to a Jim Les recruit, as you keep doing, isn't going to make Geno's recruits better or taller.

Since you brought up AT, how about Zach Andrews and Patrick O'Bryant? They helped lead Bradley to the first Sweet 16 in over 50 years. It's nice to have hard-working 6'5" and 6'6" guys, and we all loved Dwayne Funches and Marcus Pollard too, but IMO we cannot compete for championships (wasn't that the stated goal?) with frontline players 6'6" and under. Just look at the teams at the top of the MVC who were successful (CU and WSU) who had the skilled big men versus the teams at the bottom (SIU, MSU, and DU) that didn't.

[tornado]

Pickett tied for the team lead in RPGs @5.5 I would take 10 guys on the team with his work ethic,hustle, and determination. ...

I like his work ethic & hustle, too but he does have limitations - if he's the biggest guy we have playing out there we're gonna get get clobbered a lot of the time..
We sure could use more height...
In MVC league play he only averaged 4.5 rpg and was barely inside the Top 20 in the league....so even tho he might have outhustled them - almost all the guys ahead of him were taller guys....
Down the stretch - from BracketBuster on - he only averaged 2.6 rpg in league games - and for a guy whose forte is rebounding - he LED THE TEAM in rebounding only once between December and our final game on 3/26...


Next season we lose HALF the rebounding from a team that was outrebounded by our opponents -

[wily coyote]

I understand what you are saying, and I support our players too. But bringing up another reference to a Jim Les recruit, as you keep doing, isn't going to make Geno's recruits better or taller.

Since you brought up AT, how about Zach Andrews and Patrick O'Bryant? They helped lead Bradley to the first Sweet 16 in over 50 years. It's nice to have hard-working 6'5" and 6'6" guys, and we all loved Dwayne Funches and Marcus Pollard too, but IMO we cannot compete for championships (wasn't that the stated goal?) with frontline players 6'6" and under. Just look at the teams at the top of the MVC who were successful (CU and WSU) who had the skilled big men versus the teams at the bottom (SIU, MSU, and DU) that didn't.

I was not bringing AT up because he was a JL recruit. I was bringing him up to show even at 6'10" he was not much help. I'll go all the way back to Bayo who was a MO recruit to show you I'm not picking on JL. Bayo gave us 1 and 1/2 years of very good basketball at 6'8" or 6'9".

P.S. I loved POB and Zach hope that makes you feel better.

[BU freak]

Deshawn Delaney is still strongly considering Bradley. But New Mexico, who was one of the other schools that was interested in him, just got a commitment from another junior college forward last night, and is no longer pursuing DD.

One other school that was vying for Deshawn Delaney may also now be out of the running. Texas A&M got a commitment yesterday from Jamal Jones, a 6'7" wing forward from Lee College (a teammate of Chris Blake).

Wisconsin-Milwaukee appears to be the remaining competition, and it has been reported that DD was to visit them this weekend.

Based upon what is going on with Delaneys twitter account today it appears he is close to making a decision. Says "Mind full of thoughts" and others are chiming in to "do what is best for you and your family". Given the recent backing out of New Mexico and the A&M commitment personally I feel we are in a good spot. His twitter handle is @dedpippen33 if you want to follow.

[BUBalum05]

His twitter handle is @dedpippen33 if you want to follow.

Correction: Its @dedepippen33

https://twitter.com/dedepippen33

[alczervik75]

I understand what you are saying, and I support our players too. But bringing up another reference to a Jim Les recruit, as you keep doing, isn't going to make Geno's recruits better or taller.

Since you brought up AT, how about Zach Andrews and Patrick O'Bryant? They helped lead Bradley to the first Sweet 16 in over 50 years. It's nice to have hard-working 6'5" and 6'6" guys, and we all loved Dwayne Funches and Marcus Pollard too, but IMO we cannot compete for championships (wasn't that the stated goal?) with frontline players 6'6" and under. Just look at the teams at the top of the MVC who were successful (CU and WSU) who had the skilled big men versus the teams at the bottom (SIU, MSU, and DU) that didn't.

I also think Geno should identify 7 footers that don't even have 2 stars that blossom into lottery picks. It happens at least once a decade in CBB, so we're almost due for another one. Les absolutely deserves a ton of credit for that, but I'd hesitate to make that a plan for sustained success.

I think "skilled" is the key phrase, and if the choice is skilled 6'6" with attitude or unskilled 6'10", I'll go with "skilled" 6'6". There are plenty of examples of very good college basketball teams who make deep runs in the tourney or win conferences with a frontcourt without beats (or 6'5" guys listed at 6'8"). There is a reason why the B1G is full of Myke Henry and Deshaun Thomas types playing the 4, there are a lack of true big guys, and most are either 1 and done, or take 3 years to develop. For next year, while Hamilton will be nice, it's unlikely he is a major contributor. Shaw has legitimate size similar to Early or Hall, and will be here in 2 years. I doubt there is anyone available with legit size that can help us more next year than the guys we are adding.