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I was just snooping around on the Wright St. message board.
This guy has really done his homework, his assessment of Bradleys play so far this season is about the most comprehensive I have seen, everything he sais is spot-on, up until the last paragraph of course, where he predicts a Wright St. victory. (see below)
"My take on the Bradley Game:
Last year's meeting at Bradley, the first in the series between the 2 teams, was total domination by Bradley 88-49. They put on one of the best performances the Raiders saw last year, the passing was near perfection which led to a lot of open looks from 3 and they buried them. The good news is only 2 starters from that team return, 5'10" Sr. guard Daniel Ruffin and 6.5" Sr. guard Jeremy Crouch. The bad news is both are very capable scorers. Ruffin leads the team averaging 16.4 points/game, while 3pt specialist Crouch scores 14.6 pts/game shooting 46.5% from 3, which is a little down from last year (50%). Also you do not want to foul these two guys as they have only missed 3 shots in 43 attempts.
Although Bradley is pretty balanced in scoring, the key to stopping Bradley is to stop Ruffin and Crouch, as they are what make Bradley's offense go. To stop Ruffin you want to make him put the ball on the floor, and not give him any open looks from outside. Ruffin on the other hand is much more difficult to stop as he is pretty quick and can drive, and shoots 39.3% from three. However I think the Raiders will put Duggins on Ruffin and I think Vaughn's relentless hustle, size and speed will frustrate Ruffin, who can be coaxed into making some bad decisions both in passing and taking really difficult shots. Hopefully this is the case for the Raiders. Look for Bradley to clear out for Ruffin to create something if they are really deep into the shot clock, similar to what WSU would do with D. Wood last year.
Bradley and WSU are similar in that both are trying to assimilate a bunch of new faces into their rotations. This may be one of the few teams WSU faces that actually has more new guys than the Raiders as Bradley has 4 JC players and 4 freshman new to the team. So both teams are going to get better as the season progresses. Bradley is also facing some of the same challenges with these new bench players. Most of the new guys have not developed their game on both sides of the ball yet, the good offensive players, seem to lack on the defensive side and vice versa.
Bradley doesn't start a lot of size, as they basically play 4 guards and a forward, but 3 of the guards are 6'5", but their biggest starter is only 6'7" and 230 lbs forward Matt Salley, who has fouled out of 2 games this year. The other two starting 6'5" guards are Theron Wilson and Andrew Warren. Wilson, a solid all around player that can shoot from 3 (43%) but takes most of his shots from inside the arc is versatile and a good rebounder. Finally the last guard Warren has been inconsistent, he takes half his shot from beyond the arc but only hits 28% of them, but can have a good game on occasion.
Bradley does bring some scoring and size off their bench with a 7' center in David Collins and 2, 6'9" forwards. Bradley's bench scores about 22 pts/game featuring the 7' Collins, the JC transfer is pretty good on the offensive side averaging 7 pts/game, but at only 240 lbs. needs to hit the weight room, and it shows in his defense, and strength with the ball. Only one of the 6'9" players is really consistently solid off the bench, that is 256 lb. Sam Singh, the other a freshman is probably a year or two away from making an impact. Bradley also brings 2 new guards under 6' off the bench that are quick but still learning the system.
I think this game will be more up tempo than the Butler game and the score will be in the 60s. I have seen odds from different places going +2 to -2 for each team, which shows these two teams look pretty even. I like the match ups for Wright State, assuming Duggins stays out of foul trouble against Ruffin, and WSU can keep it's two senior forwards on the floor, where I think they can get out duel Bradley's guys on the glass, which hopefully leads to some second chance points. The other thing of note between the 2 teams is the 3 point shooting percentage, overall if you take the percent made and the percent given up by each team, the difference is only a minimal .6% advantage for WSU. But when WSU is at home and Bradley is on the road the percentage favors WSU by 7%. So basically what I am saying is that WSU being at home will make the difference in this game. I say WSU by 3-5 pts. My point spreads have been pretty accurate but my final scores have not, but I will make one anyway. My prediction 61-65 in favor of the Raiders."
This guy has really done his homework, his assessment of Bradleys play so far this season is about the most comprehensive I have seen, everything he sais is spot-on, up until the last paragraph of course, where he predicts a Wright St. victory. (see below)
"My take on the Bradley Game:
Last year's meeting at Bradley, the first in the series between the 2 teams, was total domination by Bradley 88-49. They put on one of the best performances the Raiders saw last year, the passing was near perfection which led to a lot of open looks from 3 and they buried them. The good news is only 2 starters from that team return, 5'10" Sr. guard Daniel Ruffin and 6.5" Sr. guard Jeremy Crouch. The bad news is both are very capable scorers. Ruffin leads the team averaging 16.4 points/game, while 3pt specialist Crouch scores 14.6 pts/game shooting 46.5% from 3, which is a little down from last year (50%). Also you do not want to foul these two guys as they have only missed 3 shots in 43 attempts.
Although Bradley is pretty balanced in scoring, the key to stopping Bradley is to stop Ruffin and Crouch, as they are what make Bradley's offense go. To stop Ruffin you want to make him put the ball on the floor, and not give him any open looks from outside. Ruffin on the other hand is much more difficult to stop as he is pretty quick and can drive, and shoots 39.3% from three. However I think the Raiders will put Duggins on Ruffin and I think Vaughn's relentless hustle, size and speed will frustrate Ruffin, who can be coaxed into making some bad decisions both in passing and taking really difficult shots. Hopefully this is the case for the Raiders. Look for Bradley to clear out for Ruffin to create something if they are really deep into the shot clock, similar to what WSU would do with D. Wood last year.
Bradley and WSU are similar in that both are trying to assimilate a bunch of new faces into their rotations. This may be one of the few teams WSU faces that actually has more new guys than the Raiders as Bradley has 4 JC players and 4 freshman new to the team. So both teams are going to get better as the season progresses. Bradley is also facing some of the same challenges with these new bench players. Most of the new guys have not developed their game on both sides of the ball yet, the good offensive players, seem to lack on the defensive side and vice versa.
Bradley doesn't start a lot of size, as they basically play 4 guards and a forward, but 3 of the guards are 6'5", but their biggest starter is only 6'7" and 230 lbs forward Matt Salley, who has fouled out of 2 games this year. The other two starting 6'5" guards are Theron Wilson and Andrew Warren. Wilson, a solid all around player that can shoot from 3 (43%) but takes most of his shots from inside the arc is versatile and a good rebounder. Finally the last guard Warren has been inconsistent, he takes half his shot from beyond the arc but only hits 28% of them, but can have a good game on occasion.
Bradley does bring some scoring and size off their bench with a 7' center in David Collins and 2, 6'9" forwards. Bradley's bench scores about 22 pts/game featuring the 7' Collins, the JC transfer is pretty good on the offensive side averaging 7 pts/game, but at only 240 lbs. needs to hit the weight room, and it shows in his defense, and strength with the ball. Only one of the 6'9" players is really consistently solid off the bench, that is 256 lb. Sam Singh, the other a freshman is probably a year or two away from making an impact. Bradley also brings 2 new guards under 6' off the bench that are quick but still learning the system.
I think this game will be more up tempo than the Butler game and the score will be in the 60s. I have seen odds from different places going +2 to -2 for each team, which shows these two teams look pretty even. I like the match ups for Wright State, assuming Duggins stays out of foul trouble against Ruffin, and WSU can keep it's two senior forwards on the floor, where I think they can get out duel Bradley's guys on the glass, which hopefully leads to some second chance points. The other thing of note between the 2 teams is the 3 point shooting percentage, overall if you take the percent made and the percent given up by each team, the difference is only a minimal .6% advantage for WSU. But when WSU is at home and Bradley is on the road the percentage favors WSU by 7%. So basically what I am saying is that WSU being at home will make the difference in this game. I say WSU by 3-5 pts. My point spreads have been pretty accurate but my final scores have not, but I will make one anyway. My prediction 61-65 in favor of the Raiders."
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