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How about some info on how the team looked?
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Here is a picture of some of the recruits sitting in the courtside seats across from the north bench. Bradley commit Donte Thomas is in the center with the gray sweatshirt and the afro hair. Josh Cunningham is seated 3 seats to the right of him with the white shirt.
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Here is my personal recap-
The scrimmage was enjoyable. The attendance was not what I expected (I estimate around 800-900), and I heard there were some people associated with Bradley who were disappointed considering all the promotion, and the Chet Walker appearance.
The women scrimmaged for two 8 minute periods and the played against a makeshift team comprised of 2 former players (Katie Yohn & Leah Kassing) plus a bunch of short, white men (?students). The opposition team played virtually no defense, and both teams shot poorly. The women's team struggled with their ballhandling and shot poorly from outside. Unless some players step up and shoot better, this could be an area of weakness for the women, too.
The men played three 8 minute periods, and they changed personnel for each period. Walt Lemon was in midseason form, and seemed to be able to drive and score whenever he wanted. His outside shot was falling, too. Omari Grier missed badly with his first couple shots, but then hit some threes as the scrimmages proceeded. Anthony Fields did not play. Stefan Zecevic did play and showed a lot of hustle, as advertised. His shot was not consistent. Jordan Swopshire looked perhaps the best of the freshmen and he has a stron body for a freshman. He shot the ball well, and got to the free throw line more than anyone. Xzavier Taylor runs the floor well, and shows athleticism around the basket, but his offensive game is not there yet. Auston Barnes has nice form on his shot, but did not score much, and he seemed foul prone. Chris Blake is a workhorse around the basket and will help us with rebounding, but he has little offensive game. And Mike Shaw played and looked very fluid, even though his shot was not falling much, either.
The other returning players looked about like expected, except Ka'Darryl Bell, who impressed me with a better handle and a better shot than he had last year. He also appears to have bulked up a little. Tyshon Pickett also looked real good.
Here is a recap from BradleyBraves.com-
And a recap of the women's scrimmage-
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Seeing a 2017 on the list is just weird to me. That's just a freshman! My son is a 2018 and 5'11. Didn't get an invite though.Originally posted by midstateknowitall View Post
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The entire Peoria Irish AAU team was there with their coach- Bradley is not recruiting most of those kidsComment
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Da Coach already provide a great recap just wanted to add my two cents.
Chet was great, I was able to get a piece of the Fieldhouse floor I had signed by him. I have plenty of Chet "The Jet" Walker mini posters if anyone needs one. The full size Walt Lemon Jr. poster is FANTASTIC! Great large picture of Walt going up for a dunk with the full schedule on the side.
Lemon Jr. and Pickett are both primed for BIG years.
I really believe Jordan Swopshire and Xzavier Taylor have a chance to be special players at BU.
Ready for the season to start!Comment
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Reynolds: Red White scrimmage.....
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good height - and has BU ever had a player from Hillsboro before? - LINKOriginally posted by midstateknowitall View Post
anyway - I think the fans (and I agreed with Da Coach that the crowd was way smaller than hoped for maybe more in the 600-700 range) saw what we've been seeing since the team prepped for the Bahamas..
This is a tall, athletic team that doesn't consistently shoot well. They are going have to have pound it inside and I hope we don't have a lot of those games where we go 1-7, 2-13, or 2-16 from the arc - as we seem to ready to launch from deep early in the shot clock.
Walt will be fun to watch, Tyshon will be tenacious, but JP as somewhat invisible last night. Xzavier was energetic and getting things to happen around the hoop (6 pt/6reb). Nate Wells probably still won't play much but I liked his presence down low that definitely changed shots.
Despite the hype - I can't see where Fields & Grier (the two guys that were hyped as difference makers by our media) are going to be the difference makers. I think the keys are the new guys - Swop, SZ, XT, and the juco guys.
Lastly - thanks to Chet Walker for making it for the game - too bad it couldn't have been a packed house for the ISU game with 10,000 people honoring Chet - most of the people who actually saw him play (in the pros) - or who were at Bradley when he played here - are the folks who fill the lower bowls (gray hairs) regularly but many don't make it to a scrimmage.Comment
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Dave Reynolds says "before a crowd of 1302"
Tornado and DaCoach both say roughly half that.
I wasnt able to attend, but thats a huge difference...Not like 10K to 11K, even though thats a difference of 1000 people yet only 10%...You guys are saying a 50% difference from what the JS beat writer reported. Just curious, even though it doesn't really matter, I think most BU fans are just excited for the season to start and are thrilled with the state of the programComment
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we counted butts in the seats - and one of the arena personnel told me early on that entire sections in the corners flanking the band were set aside for students - probably meaning several hundred students were ticketed and expected to be there...guess what -- they weren't - the student crowd was 50 at best.
anyway - I didn't spend much time describing what we had to sit thru to see the men's game...
The BU women's team got thoroughly killed by a bunch of kids who looked like the supporting cast of Saved by the Bell... so many bad passes, airballs, and missed shots..
If this was the best they could show the fans - they should have done it behind closed doors - that display is not gonna boost ticket sales.
The 7-29 shooting that was in the newspaper stats was generous - I didn't think it was even close to that. in a fast paced, fast-breaking game --
no possession lasting more than about 10 seconds - to make only 7 baskets in 20 minutes of play was pretty hard to watch.Comment
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When it started it was probably in the 750 range. By the time the men started we were up to closer to what Dave reported I imagine. It did fill up more over time.
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My estimate was based on an actual count of butts in the stands at the time the men's scrimmage started. Also, I talked to several people who planned to leave after waiting in the line to see Chet, and were not planning on staying for the scrimmagesComment
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[DaCoach]The attendance was not what I expected (I estimate around 800-900),Originally posted by tornado View Post
[Tornado] and I agreed with Da Coach that the crowd was way smaller than hoped for maybe more in the 600-700 range
You say you both counted butts in the seats, yet you report different numbers and you say "estimated" and "maybe"
Not alot of credibilty and then of course DR is reporting nearly double the number that you report.
And Im not looking for an argument, I am just looking for a clarification. But as I said earlier, its not that big of a deal but just wonder how there can be such a discrepancyComment
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BUBeam - it's a message boards - take what you want - The butts in the seat varied because some people didn't arrive 'til late and some left after seeing their hero Chet Walker...
.... the BU Red-White used to routinely draw 2500, and even as much as 3500 & 4000 -
the crowd last night was 1/4 of that - if it bugs you then take it to the people responsible - don't shoot the messenger.
I was there with guests - sitting right behind the men's bench supporting the team - were you? A lot of people who regularly call themselves top fans were not...Comment
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