Bradley Bahamas Preview scrimmage and lunch event today

[lefty]

I think the difference this year will be that the absence of Will's outside shooting threat, and Dyricus' ability to drive to the basket will make it harder for us to score, until other scoring options (beside Walt) develop. The first 13 games include at least 10 pretty weak teams, we should be able to overcome the lack of outside shooting, and maybe by the time the MVC games start, a couple guys will emerge as reliable secondary scorers.

I think the depth will more than compensate for WE and DSE

[tornado]

Het T hope you count your money ....

probably not - but I counted the exact number of fans in seats in the main room when the activities such as Geno speaking and people eating were occurring...
sorry if my actual count seems to cause so much hysteria and loss of sensibilities - but I guess if you count the Board of Trustee members (there were some there) and the administrative people (easy to see a couple in the picture below), the staff members of the Athletic Department, the Compliance department staff (seen standing against the wall in the photo), the servers, caterers, players, trainers, newspaper reporters, and the team managers, photographer, and other invited guests from the community then maybe it is closer to 90 - but I chose not to count those people or exaggerate the number that I did come up with.
It is possible some also came & went & missed getting counted, but if you look at the pics of the people in the courtside seats during the scrimmage you get the same count...

Anyway...I frequently see things people say or opinions they express which I disagree with, but somehow I seem able to control my sensibilities without going ballistic when I disagree - oh well ...it was a very nice event, I said NOTHING but good things about it and about the players but if people wish to invent things to get their blood pressure up then it hardly surprises me since it has kept me in business for 3 decades.

[Da Coach]

I think the depth will more than compensate for WE and DSE

Depth alone isn't going to be enough to compensate for the loss of 2 double digit scorers, one who was the top 3-point shooter and the other the MVC Defensive MVP.

[mrcoachdude]

WE and DSE were two of my favs the last few years...but from what I have seen with the new guys..the cupboard is not bare

defense can be a learned thing and I think I saw enough desire in the new guys that they will be ready to step it up...thinking Walt will be a leader in that step...

WE stepped up his shooting, but we have more shooters now...I am really looking forward to seeing Barnes...saw some of his old video...I am thinking he will be a pretty good player for BU...could fill that 3 point shooting role as well as a couple others.

[tornado]

I think if the games in the Bahamas could be streamed - we'd get closer to a unanimous vote that this year's squad has filled more gaps that created..
I am optimistic that after a 3-year bottoming out period, we might climb out of Thursday

[wily coyote]

I think if the games in the Bahamas could be streamed - we'd get closer to a unanimous vote that this year's squad has filled more gaps that created..
I am optimistic that after a 3-year bottoming out period, we might climb out of Thursday

I agree don't think we'll be watching the Braves on Thur. this yr.in STL.

[lefty]

Depth alone isn't going to be enough to compensate for the loss of 2 double digit scorers, one who was the top 3-point shooter and the other the MVC Defensive MVP.

So you don't think we will be better this year then?

[Da Coach]

So you don't think we will be better this year then?

As I have predicted, our record (overall and MVC) will be better, because of another weak pre-conference schedule, and the significant dropoff in the quality of the MVC. We should finish higher in the Valley, but that will be because there are more weak teams this year. I do not think this year's team will be much better than last year's team overall because we have lost 3 quality starters, our best perimeter shooter, and our best defensive player. We will rely too much on Walt for scoring, and defenses will key more on him than they could last year. We also have too many new guys and lack consistent outside shooting.

[tornado]

you have a point - year in and year out - the teams that have been at the top of the Valley (WSU, CU, UNI..) have been the teams that keep & develop players for several years...or maybe a few quality juco kids - even some juco All-Americans in their senior seasons, and I cannot recall if any team (at least in recent memory) with 6, 7, or 8 new players has ever competed for the title.


Example - when SIU started last season with so many new guys they looked OK playing a horrible - even worse-than-Jankovich- schedule of Nicholls State, SIUE, Springfield-Benedictine (yes, they played them as a regular season game), Fresno State, and New Orleans (they played them twice while UNO was coming off their self-imposed drop to D-II status)....
but as soon as they began to play teams with better than 300 RPI, they proceeded to lose 11 of their next 12.
There are some who praised how well Missouri State played last year with an all-new lineup - but let's be a bit more objective and reasonable - sure their guys played hard and maybe better than expected - but they were still
11-22 against a weak overall schedule, didn't win a single game against a D-I opponent in their pre-conference season - and didn't beat a single D-I non-conference opponent at home.

[lefty]

so if we win and do well in the conference it will be because the other teams are weaker.....I see

[tornado]

so if we win and do well in the conference it will be because the other teams are weaker.....I see

no - I think what he's saying is that INDEPENDENT of whether we win or lose - the rest of the Valley IS weaker..

If you think the Valley is stronger this season - then please give your reasons why..but I think you will be way out on a limb by yourself in saying so...

-first - we have Loyola replacing Creighton - that alone will drop the MVC's overall strength or RPI a few notches...
Remember - we picked up a "W" against a Horizon team last year that finished 4 games ahead of Loyola in the Horizon, but we got killed by Creighton both times we played them..
This fact alone might give us 1 or 2 wins where we had two solid losses each of the past few seasons.


-then it is clear that almost every other team in the MVC lost a huge hunk of their starters & production - especially all the teams ahead of us...
everyone else who has commented to date has noted the Valley WILL be down this year


-the early preseason rankings & countdowns say the same thing--
CollegeSportsMadness (previously known as CollegeHoopsNet) has only FOUR Valley teams in their TOP 144 countdown!! And there will be only 3 in the TOP 100 (in 2006 ALL TEN MVC teams had final RPI's in the TOP 144!)
They have never before had fewer than SEVEN Valley teams and in some prior seasons they had all TEN. so this is dramatic proof that barring some real surprises,
they think the Valley has way FEWER quality teams. Of course it could turn out differently better or worse - but this is what everyone thinks.
(btw- read the CSM countdown - they are picking Evansville at #117 but 4th in the MVC but they also see the Aces starting three sophomores,
a freshman, and a junior at center who averaged 3ppg! They seem to be admitting they don't have any idea how Evansville is going to do it but...
that they admit ...
"Coach Simmons does have work to do with this group"...and that there are
"questions about who is going to step up and score"...
and that "By January, the scorers will be found and Evansville will finish in the top half of the MVC."
That is the most incredibly WEAK endorsement of a team finishing fourth I can imagine!!!)

[LittleBrave]

so if we win and do well in the conference it will be because the other teams are weaker.....I see

To some degree, I think that is correct.
As I mentioned yesterday, other than the Shox, the #2 spot in the Valley is pretty much up for grabs among 2-3 other teams. I give the edge to the Panthers, but they lost 3 quality starters.

Indy-Blue has 1 more year with Odum, which is the only reason I think they have a chance to snag 2nd/3rd place.
Missou St. has some good young talent - can't take them lightly and their head coach is a diamond in the rough IMO.
UE will have to carry on after the CR era and they never have seemed to get over the middle-pack hump.

Aside from these 5 teams, the bottom half (projected) is average at best and might hurt the league, though there's usually 1 team projected to finish in the bottom 4 who rises up into the top half of the league.

Drake, SIU, and ISU-red will be in rebuilding mode with 1st/2nd year head coaches, and Loyola gets its feet wet in a new conference and will likely struggle.
No reason we shouldn't finish ahead of these 4 to stay out of Thursday, and I believe we have better talent and depth than UE.

I see us finishing anywhere between 4th and 6th...
but wouldn't be terribly surprised (but a little surprised nonetheless) if we sneak out the 3rd spot with the top teams in the league being significantly down this year.

[Da Coach]

so if we win and do well in the conference it will be because the other teams are weaker.....I see

So do you think the MVC will be just as strong this year as last?

[lefty]

So do you think the MVC will be just as strong this year as last?

I don't know really.....other than Creighton being gone. Every year there seems to be surprises. If you notice I don't get into the long term prediction stuff. I just think our depth which will be better than years past and will compensate for Will and DSE....

[Mikovio]

The Valley is definitely going to be weaker this year. WSU and Indiana State may be strong and contend for an at large, but Drake/SIU/ISU Red/Loyola may all be awful. Bradley returns a POY candidate and an All-Newcomer which on paper puts them head and shoulders above those four plus Evansville, and ahead of UNI and MSU. If we finish below 5th I'd be extremely disappointed.

As for outside shooting, it should be a lot better, which should open up the lane for Walt and others. Let's look at the stats.

DSE shot 27.9% from the perimeter.
Eastman shot 31.1%.
Egolf shot 35.6%.

So our starting shooting guard couldn't shoot, and neither could our slow white guy. Egolf could, but the problem with sending your center to wander out on the perimeter to launch bombs is you won't get many of the rebounds. This caused a lot of problems for last year's team. DSE was a hard worker and made up for his shooting with excellent defense, but a few steals per game doesn't offset all the missed scoring chances.


By contrast, here's the perimeter shooting for incoming Braves' most recent seasons:

Auston Barnes: 42.4% at Odessa CC
Grier: 40% at FAU
Fields: 9% (only 11 attempts) at WFU
Swopshire: (Can't find his attempt #s his senior year at Montrose Christian but he did shoot 80% on FT)
Zecevic: Can't find it either

So we've got two guys who would've been far and away our best shooters last year, and from what I hear Zecevic was brought in for his shooting prowess, although I can't find any statistics to confirm it. But even if Swop, Fields and Zecevic are all terrible we should have greatly improved shooting, the likes of which we haven't seen since Crouch and Warren.