Scoring?

[Biff]

As is usually the case this time of the year, I have heard several BU fans with overly optimistic projections for the new incoming players. I believe Bradley will have some trouble scoring when they play good competition. They only have 2 returning players who have shown they can score at the D1 level...Barnes and Grier, and neither showed the ability to create their own shots or shoot an above-average percentage. Grier shot 32% and Barns 34% from three.
I like what I have heard and read about the freshmen and junior college players, but when was the last time any new player, freshman or juco, came in and was a reliable scorer his first year? Sommerville was the last one I can recall, and he was a Top 100 recruit out of HS and a juco All American. I don't believe any of the juco recruits we now have were All Americans.
Again, I like the new recruits, but I'd be very surprised if any of them scored double figures.

[tornado]

Shaw will be the leading scorer I think because Geno will let him take a lot of 3's.

I hope you won't be disappointed if Shaw does NOT fire up a bunch of threes... I think he'd love to play on the wing but he won't be allowed to - we have other guys for that.
I think Geno used up 2-3 scholarships just to get some better 3-pt shooters, so he won't be using Shaw for that purpose...and a lot of quotes in the past year indicate Shaw is working hard to be ready to play the low post.
Shaw has been practicing for over a year with the team already and reports from people who have watched practice indicate Shaw is being groomed to play the 4-5 position and is doing quite nicely.

Also - I have to think a player of Josh Cunningham's status would have wanted to know the realistic chances of playing right away and even starting right away from the schools that were offering.....
well - he chose Bradley - so FWIW he has to believe he has a good "CHANCE" of starting - so don't be surprised if it "works out that way"...

Anthony booker was the last top 100 recruit that came to mind in the valley. He was #80 according to espn. ....

He was ranked in the 20's by scout.com (Dave Telep) - but as they always do - they instantly dropped him to #71 with their next ranking after selecting a mid-major.
Rivals likewise had him at #29 then later dropped him downwards after verbaling to a Valley schools - LINK

[Chico]

I agree that he will, or at least should, be a starter. If he does, I would hope he would average more than 8 ppg.

[Rhino65]

I see us being a lot more dynamic on offense this year then in years past. We have the athleticism at each position to be able to push the ball and with Sutherland distributing the ball hopefully things flow well. By running the floor we should be able to get more easy buckets leading to an uptick in scoring. I also think we can have more of a physical presence in times where we need to slow it down. Lineups with Taylor and Morgan down low should give us the ability to pound the ball down low.

As for actual scoring numbers I'll predict we end up with at least 75 in more games then games where we score in the 50's. Last year we scored over 75 four times compared to 11 games with 59 or less. I'll say we average somewhere around 68 points for the season. As for a surprise I'll go with Kendahl Amerson as our leading scorer averaging around 15.

[Buesch N Chips]

My expectations are very tempered for Mike Shaw. He did nothing at Illinois, and there have been a lot of underwhelming players who looked good in practice.....

[Da Coach]

My expectations are very tempered for Mike Shaw. He did nothing at Illinois, and there have been a lot of underwhelming players who looked good in practice.....

I agree. The reason Groce didn't like to play him despite his severe lack of big men, was Shaw's tendency to launch threes and play away from the basket. His sophomore year, in limited playing time, 67% of his shot attempts were from three. Hopefully, he can adjust and play the typical 4 or 5 position.

[LittleBrave]

Unfortunately, I see this season as one to build momentum for next season to finally finish Top 3 in the league.

Will be tough with so many newcomers...we need a deeper bench - something we've struggled with since about 6-7 years ago.

[BU Bill]

We need to develop a perimeter game to go with an inside game. No team can win consistently without both. The last few years, we really have not had either, and have been forced to take bad shots and play the 1 on 5 game way too much. Bradley has finished 10th, 7th, and 10th in shooting percentage these last 3 years, and was dead last in assists last season. That will be better with a true point guard, but BU needs to be in the upper half of the league in all these kinds of stats to be competitive.

[wufan]

I just think freshmen in the MVC face a tough task -
I just checked the past THREE seasons in the Valley and not once has a true freshman been in the top 20 in scoring over those 3 seasons (a RS-freshman did once finish 8th)

If you check four seasons ago Doug McDermott and Rayvonte Rice were both in the top 6.

[tornado]

so .. maybe happens once every five years - that was my point not exactly something to expect every year

[wufan]

so .. maybe happens once every five years - that was my point not exactly something to expect every year

If you go back five years, you will see that there is about 1 every two years. Rice and McDermott make 2 in 4 years. Toure Murry makes three in six years and so-on. If you add in red-shirt freshman it is basically one per year. See Marcus Marshall and Milton Doyle for two RS freshman in the past two years.

[tornado]

I am going to revise my numbers - I think given all the injury & eligibility issues we've had already (Morgan, JC, Warren Jones, Omari, Donte..)
I think one or two kids redshirt ... possibly either JC or Donte then Warren Jones who had the ligament injury

[tornado]

.... - although injuries might take a toll on some guys' numbers..........

Barnes 12ppg
Sutherland 12ppg
Grier 10ppg
Shaw 8ppg
Cunningham 8ppg
Amerson 7ppg
Bell 7ppg
Morgan 4ppg
Taylor 2ppg
Jones 2ppg
Thomas 2ppg
Fields 1.5ppg
Harris 1ppg
Wells 0ppg....

even thos we don't start playing games 'til November - I am going to revise my guesses based on who's been injured


Barnes 12ppg
Sutherland 10ppg
Grier 12ppg
Shaw 6ppg
Cunningham 4ppg
Amerson 5ppg
Bell 7ppg
Morgan 5ppg
Taylor 2ppg
Jones rs
Thomas 5ppg
Fields 1.5ppg
Harris 1ppg
Wells 0ppg....