Bradley Commit-Duke Deen

[Da Coach]

Cody "Duke" Deen finally posts his commitment on his twitter page-

https://twitter.com/Ogduke2/status/1517949272754425857

https://twitter.com/Ogduke2

[Da Coach]

Dave Eminian's article from yesterday about Cody "Duke" Deen's commitment to Bradley, but he has updated it this afternoon with comments from Deen-
https://www.pjstar.com/story/sports/...ey/7418124001/

He had offers from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Appalachian State, Longwood University, UIC and Cal State Fullerton in addition to Bradley.

[Tommy]

Yep happy with this one even tho he's very small could play like dbj and I'm all for that. Now on to a Big. Don't trust Hannah or linke in an important game for 1 second so get a backup that can play a few minutes a game and not turn the ball over, set good screens, and play D. That's it. Don't need any more production from the backup big than that. If one of those two would do that we wouldn't need a big but so far they have shown 0 sign of doing all three of those things. Usually just one for each

Hey CC! I'd like to see us land another big, too. Still, I am not as down on Hannah and Linke as you seem to be here. Stat wise, Hannah is a beast on the boards and blocks per minute, and effort wise, they are both high effort guys. The extremely limited time that Linke got last year, I thought he looked really good defensively. Now offensively, I think they both need some work. Linke is hard to know for sure since his minutes were so limited, but Hannah was definitely a liability on the offensive end, though I honestly thought he showed improvement by the end of the season.

Really believe that Hannah and Linke are good young men that are hard working and think they are both going to be be contributors this year (but don't quote me as I'm wrong a lot!).

[Cousins Cuts podcast]

Hey CC! I'd like to see us land another big, too. Still, I am not as down on Hannah and Linke as you seem to be here. Stat wise, Hannah is a beast on the boards and blocks per minute, and effort wise, they are both high effort guys. The extremely limited time that Linke got last year, I thought he looked really good defensively. Now offensively, I think they both need some work. Linke is hard to know for sure since his minutes were so limited, but Hannah was definitely a liability on the offensive end, though I honestly thought he showed improvement by the end of the season.

Really believe that Hannah and Linke are good young men that are hard working and think they are both going to be be contributors this year (but don't quote me as I'm wrong a lot!).

Oh I don't disagree that they do some things well. Hannah plays tremendous defense at times and Linke showed some nice things in that area too. The problem I have is when you have a turnover every other time you touch the ball. Play great defense fine but then you give it right back 5 seconds later. That's why a player more like Boya I would prefer. Honestly just a guy that doesn't turn it over to back up the 5 and I'm happy. There were some games where Hannah in particular had 2, 3 turnovers in like 10 minutes. That's pretty ridiculous. Like I said tho maybe I'm wrong and they fix that but I don't think that will happen.

[Tommy]

Oh I don't disagree that they do some things well. Hannah plays tremendous defense at times and Linke showed some nice things in that area too. The problem I have is when you have a turnover every other time you touch the ball. Play great defense fine but then you give it right back 5 seconds later. That's why a player more like Boya I would prefer. Honestly just a guy that doesn't turn it over to back up the 5 and I'm happy. There were some games where Hannah in particular had 2, 3 turnovers in like 10 minutes. That's pretty ridiculous. Like I said tho maybe I'm wrong and they fix that but I don't think that will happen.

Can’t argue with that!

[BRAVE82]

This is a huge pickup for Bradley. Deen and Weathers most likely our starting backcourt. Both can handle the ball, both can penetrate and score. Davis the sharpshooter off the bench. Deen and Davis 3 point threats. I hope we can get a PF that can rebound and score around the basket, doesn't have to be super tall. Just someone with some bulk and is aggressive in the paint. I thought Kent was too tentative around the basket. Congrats to Wardle, he has had to recruit non-stop to keep our roster full. Not easy these days being a mid-major coach.

[bradleyfan124]

This is a huge pickup for Bradley. Deen and Weathers most likely our starting backcourt. Both can handle the ball, both can penetrate and score. Davis the sharpshooter off the bench. Deen and Davis 3 point threats. I hope we can get a PF that can rebound and score around the basket, doesn't have to be super tall. Just someone with some bulk and is aggressive in the paint. I thought Kent was too tentative around the basket. Congrats to Wardle, he has had to recruit non-stop to keep our roster full. Not easy these days being a mid-major coach.

I actually thought he was ok around the basket but in re-watching some of the games he was not that accurate on 3 pt shooting

[Cousins Cuts podcast]

This is a huge pickup for Bradley. Deen and Weathers most likely our starting backcourt. Both can handle the ball, both can penetrate and score. Davis the sharpshooter off the bench. Deen and Davis 3 point threats. I hope we can get a PF that can rebound and score around the basket, doesn't have to be super tall. Just someone with some bulk and is aggressive in the paint. I thought Kent was too tentative around the basket. Congrats to Wardle, he has had to recruit non-stop to keep our roster full. Not easy these days being a mid-major coach.

I don't know about them both starting. If you want to get bodied constantly then sure. They are 5'9" and 6' at best. Not saying they can't both play together at some point but to me that's awful small. Plus I think Conner will improve a bit this off-season. How long you think either of those guys can stop a taller guard like Isaiah Mosley? I'm good with both of them playing a lot of minutes but the height is very worry some to me

[bradleyfan124]

I don't know about them both starting. If you want to get bodied constantly then sure. They are 5'9" and 6' at best. Not saying they can't both play together at some point but to me that's awful small. Plus I think Conner will improve a bit this off-season. How long you think either of those guys can stop a taller guard like Isaiah Mosley? I'm good with both of them playing a lot of minutes but the height is very worry some to me

I think Wardle will play them the same way he played Terry Roberts and Mickey Howell. He interchanged them and that worked out pretty well. Kept them rested

[Cousins Cuts podcast]

I think Wardle will play them the same way he played Terry Roberts and Mickey Howell. He interchanged them and that worked out pretty well. Kept them rested

Probably but Terry was 6'3" and Mikey was 6'2". Big difference

[egib52]

I don't know about them both starting. If you want to get bodied constantly then sure. They are 5'9" and 6' at best. Not saying they can't both play together at some point but to me that's awful small. Plus I think Conner will improve a bit this off-season. How long you think either of those guys can stop a taller guard like Isaiah Mosley? I'm good with both of them playing a lot of minutes but the height is very worry some to me

I totally agree with this. I cringed when I read the height for both of them. Offensively I'm definitely less concerned, but defensively they will both be at a disadvantage. Let's hope they are both super quick. I trust Wardle though.

[Big Mike]

I don't know about them both starting. If you want to get bodied constantly then sure. They are 5'9" and 6' at best. Not saying they can't both play together at some point but to me that's awful small. Plus I think Conner will improve a bit this off-season. How long you think either of those guys can stop a taller guard like Isaiah Mosley? I'm good with both of them playing a lot of minutes but the height is very worry some to me

If memory serves Danny Ruffin 5'10", Will Franklin 6'.......they made it to the Sweet 16!

[Nashville Cat]

Let's not lose sight of Max Ekono in this discussion. He's long with good ball handling and can potentially guard three positions. As for Connor Hickman, he put up similar numbers to Deen but in a better conference.

[bradleyfan124]

Let's not lose sight of Max Ekono in this discussion. He's long with good ball handling and can potentially guard three positions. As for Connor Hickman, he put up similar numbers to Deen but in a better conference.

I think Connor has a tremendous upside. He is going to be a very special player by the time he is a senior

[️ Fanatic]

I think Wardle will play them the same way he played Terry Roberts and Mickey Howell. He interchanged them and that worked out pretty well. Kept them rested

There were many times Howell & Roberts were on the court at the same time... Coach will work out a rotation with Hickman, Ville, Weathers, Dean & Eckno: with the fewest turnovers staying on the court most. Defensively, we may see Wardle go back to more zone defenses this season with Leons at the top of a 3-2 coverage.