Here's the earliest preseason preview for next year...
Between 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 Bradley really only lost one player (Taylor Brown) and we returned everyone plus brought in
Ka'Darryl Bell, Tyshon Picket, and in a way brought in another starter in Will Egolf who was not available in 2011-2012 -
and yet we went from 10th to being picked 9th and ending up right about there.
Next fall - Bradley loses THREE starters (Will, Jake, Dyricus)...so we will need to find production out of four different areas...
good breakdown of the league. I'll admit I post these opinions having only seen about 8 games this year, but also being a little bit of an advanced stat geek.
First, I think it's terribly misleading, while completely accurate, to say we went from 10th to about 9th in the league this year. 2011-2012 was a historically bad season, with 2 wins and tempo free efficiency rankings in the 270's, it was probably the worst team the Valley had seen in at least a decade, and probably the worst Bradley team ever. This year we had over triple the conference wins, played some top teams tough and saw efficiency rankings increase into the 160's. This year is still not an "acceptable" year for Bradley, but it is absolutely a major, major improvement.
For my money, I think there are reasons to believe next year should continue to improve. To me that means efficiency rankings near 100 and hopefully 9 conference wins.
We are returning our best two offensive players, one guard and one who plays inside. It seems clear Walt is best as a combo guard, and hopefully removing a little pressure will cut the TO's some, as well as set him up for more open shots. I think Walt can be a *plus* three point shooter if he can get a higher percentage of shots in "catch and shoot" situation as opposed to his creation. Of course this assumes Fields will be a competent PG, and that is tough to rely on, but I have high hopes.
Also, teams that rely heavy on ball screens need 3 pt shooters for spacing. If Grier is the shooter he was as a freshman, that will create a lot more lanes for Walt as well.
Losing Egolf certainly hurts on defense, and particularly defensive rebounding. Prosser brings more offensive upside, imo, and I would expect we'll see his minutes. When forced to play purely the 5 in the past, his defensive rebounding was good enough, so I expect we'll see that return next year.
Obviously it would be great to get a big that can contribute a lot next year, and Tucker is an X factor as well. I think next year we continue to see positive trajectory, but the following year (2014-2015) could be a cause for concern.
