Next year's team

[Da Coach]

As it stands now, here is the roster for next year, 2014-15.

2014-15 roster-
Auston Barnes
Ka'Darryl Bell
Chris Blake
Anthony Fields
Omari Grier
Darrion Harris
Mike Shaw
Tramique Sutherland
Jordan Swopshire
Xzavier Taylor
Donte Thomas
Nate Wells
Stefan Zecevic

I realize there will likely be changes to this roster before next season, but as it stands now-
What is our starting lineup, and who are the top players off the bench? And how does this lineup stack up against the other 9 returning teams in the MVC?

The starting five seem fairly obvious, IMO-
Sutherland
Grier
Barnes
Shaw
Taylor

The top reserves appear to be Bell, Blake, Fields, Swopshire? ouch

I think this lineup is very weak, and will not fare well in the MVC next year. We lack scoring again, and shooting will be a big problem. There is some size and rebounding there, but I am not sure the defense will be any better. And the vaunted depth that our friends at the PJ Star have ballyhooed, is pretty pathetic unless there is more upgrading to come.
My early prediction (and I was pretty accurate with my prediction for this season) is that we are looking at 7th place or worse, and another date with the Thursday play-in games in March of 2015.

[Da Coach]

And one other thought- I have heard many fans say that we can expect that some of those players on our projected roster next year will leave and we will replace them with players who can change our fortunes next year.

But let me point out that we dismissed 2 players from last years team, Jalen Crawford and Shayok Shayok. And though those 2 are not stars, I believe they could have helped us this season. Maybe we could have stayed out of Thursday's games with an additional athletic shooting guard who actually shot better than our starting 2-guard this season, and an additional power forward who's rebounds per 40 minutes were better than all but 1 player on this year's team?

Note that with those 2 scholarships that opened late, we were able to sign Chris Blake and Jordan Swopshire. Those 2 recruits were non-factors, and that hurt Bradley this year.
So re-tooling the roster this late in the recruiting cycle does not guarantee better success.

[Dubl R 1]

1st impression of that team is we have no depth, and are really lacking in the post. You plug Sutherland and Shaw in for Walt and Tyshon... And even if they are as good as them (doubtful) you have the same guys back off the bench who were non factors this year, minus Prosser.

I think Shaw will be good, but not sure he's gonna be the low post guy we need, I expect Taylor to improve, but still be somewhat inconsistent, and beyond those two we are in deep trouble for big men next year. We have to find a true big, a space eater who can control the boards and not be pushed around.

Oh and still need shooters too

[tornado]

one injury will leave us with either no depth or no experienced post player at all - we absolutely need another big body

[Biff]

1st impression of that team is we have no depth, and are really lacking in the post. You plug Sutherland and Shaw in for Walt and Tyshon... And even if they are as good as them (doubtful) you have the same guys back off the bench who were non factors this year, minus Prosser.

I think Shaw will be good, but not sure he's gonna be the low post guy we need, I expect Taylor to improve, but still be somewhat inconsistent, and beyond those two we are in deep trouble for big men next year. We have to find a true big, a space eater who can control the boards and not be pushed around.

Oh and still need shooters too

I am in full agreement- we look very weak inside and outside, and we still haven't corrected the biggest deficiency we've seen the last couple years>> shooting the ball.

I just have to wonder how we let ourselves get into this position? Aren't coaches supposed to recruit to prevent this? We are one of the weakest teams in a weak league, and yet we appear to be losing more than just about any team with little to replace them with. This cant help but knock us own another notch or 2, and it sure doesn't look like we are getting better.

But it really makes me laugh to read what our experts said about the recruiting just 10 months ago, and how last year's class was called "stellar", and "all solid players who will seriously upgrade the program’s talent level", and "The good times will soon be rolling again on the Hilltop. With so many new bodies gelling with Walt Lemon, Tyshon Pickett, Jordan Prosser, Ka’Darryl Bell and Nate Wells it may not occur immediately. But I’m convinced it will happen sooner rather than later."

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

How could this have been so wrong?

[mvcfan]

Swopshire's play had to be a big disappointment. I personally thought he would provide more. Fields also is a mystery to me that he was not effective. His history of injuries might be the main factor. Bradley definitely needs to be in the market for a shooter and a banger.

[peoriaspitfire]

Ouch at first glance. My first thought is that we??™ll be able to plug-n-play by swapping in Tramique and Shaw for Walt and Picket, but if that only gets us a date with Thursday again, then I don??™t want just that! It seems we always have high hopes for new recruits, just like myself and others had for Fields last year. I still don??™t have a good read on Fields, but every time I saw him last year, he didn??™t look comfortable at all. We have to keep trying to recruit any and all and hope we can eventually hit on a difference maker or two. We also have to trust that the coaching staff can coach up what we have now and if they can??™t, we??™ll have another new coach in two years or less.

[wily coyote]

And one other thought- I have heard many fans say that we can expect that some of those players on our projected roster next year will leave and we will replace them with players who can change our fortunes next year.

But let me point out that we dismissed 2 players from last years team, Jalen Crawford and Shayok Shayok. And though those 2 are not stars, I believe they could have helped us this season. Maybe we could have stayed out of Thursday's games with an additional athletic shooting guard who actually shot better than our starting 2-guard this season, and an additional power forward who's rebounds per 40 minutes were better than all but 1 player on this year's team?

Note that with those 2 scholarships that opened late, we were able to sign Chris Blake and Jordan Swopshire. Those 2 recruits were non-factors, and that hurt Bradley this year.
So re-tooling the roster this late in the recruiting cycle does not guarantee better success.

You know this is scary , I agree with you on this post. AS I've said b4 Blake needs to go and I've heard that will probably happen and I'd give Swop one more year. I still think he has potential but it better show next year.
I do think both Crawford and SS could have helped this team and if we do end up losing a few people , I hope we can bring in better people than what we did last year. We do need to bring in another big but I'm more satisfied with our returning bigs than our returning shooters. I think Shaw will be a capable replacement for TP and if we can find a big who can breath, catch a pass, and jump high enough to sprain an ankle ,he'll be better than the other one we're losing. Now all we have to do is wait and see who leaves. My bet is 3 but would like 4. Again the key is if HAVE to bring in better people than we lose.

[BuB]

I keep hearing that Shaw doesn't want to play in the post. He wants to play more on the perimeter. Illinois recruited him to be in the post..... Same spot he played in high school right? What position does he play for us that keeps anyone from saying he is playing out of position? Is it the 4?

If that is/was an issue with Shaw I hope Geno has already addressed it and put it to rest. I get tired hearing we always have players playing who are "out of position." Egolf, Eastman, Lemon, etc. Coaches have to make decisions that are best for the team. Sometimes that may mean it is not what is best for the player (or what the player wants).

[bradleyfan124]

All this forecasting is leaving out one thing: coaching. The players did what they did this year because the coaches allowed them to do it. Was it out of necessity or a grand plan? Will they change their plan next year due to different personnel or try to exercise the same offensive options that we saw this year?

[BUfan39]

All this forecasting is leaving out one thing: coaching. The players did what they did this year because the coaches allowed them to do it. Was it out of necessity or a grand plan? Will they change their plan next year due to different personnel or try to exercise the same offensive options that we saw this year?

There's your ultimate key to our entire success

[Big Mike]

Besides the obvious .....shooting guard, I hope the staff does not overlook the center position.....Taylor needs help with short playing time from fouls....Shaw is a 4 not a 5 so please bring in some help!

[Da Coach]

I keep hearing that Shaw doesn't want to play in the post. He wants to play more on the perimeter.....What position does he play for us that keeps anyone from saying he is playing out of position?

I don't know, but maybe this is a clue....the only time he played and the public was able to see him was in the Red-White game last October 18, 2013.
Here is the box score-

http://www.bradleybraves.com/pdf9/2555617.pdf?ATCLID=209287359&SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=3400

I recall the game pretty well, and I don't know what position he was supposed to be playing, but Mike Shaw spent very little time playing around the basket, and most of the time on offense he was playing on the perimeter.
Shaw was only 1-9 from the field, and 0-4 from three, by far the worst offensive performance of the night. Nearly all of his shots, as I recall, were perimeter shots, and the only basket he made was a slam dunk when he got the ball down low one time. He played 19 minutes, which is about what everyone played, but he got only 3 rebounds, compared to 6 for Xzavier Taylor, 5 for Chris Blake, and 4 for Tyshon Pickett. Jordan Prosser only played 11 minutes coming back from his knee injury last spring, and he had 3 rebounds in about half as much playing time.
So who knows how next year will play out, but the reports of him preferring to play the perimeter and launch threes seemed to be reflected by what we saw last fall.

[bu fan 9]

Next year will be more of the same. Bad coaching, cup cake non conference, no shooters, and I really don't think Sutherland Is the answer at the point guard.

[PapaBear22]

Next year will be more of the same. Bad coaching, cup cake non conference, no shooters, and I really don't think Sutherland Is the answer at the point guard.

Unfortunately I agree bu fan 9--- likely our attendance will drop to another level of low & we can book our rooms now for our 5th straight Thursday game in St. Louis as many other conference teams will improve--we are likely to decline