Funny that y'all should mention Wake Forest in this forum. They have reminded me of Bradley in a lot of games this year. Those young guards are super quick, great shooters and play some tenatious D. Both Ish and Teague have qualities to their game that are fun to watch and at times both remind me a lot of Daniel Ruffin. However, they also have had a lot of problems (in the TV games I have watched) similar to Bradley:
- Lack of inside presence (that is beginning to change as their bigs gain experience)
- Turnover prone: Ish and Teague move and think quicker than the rest of the team creating turnovers
- Taking bad shots too early in the shot clock
- They live and die by the three
- They are prone to long stretches of bad shooting. Sometimes, game-long stretches.
It's been fun though to watch these young men develop as players. For the first time this year (well, not counting their preseason cupcakes), they have put together a full 40 minute game and performed well on both ends of the floor. And yes, their recruiting class next year is not only the best in the nation, but it completely addresses all their deficiencies as a team. I agree that in two years, they just may be the best team in the nation.
And in an amazing coincidence, it was also fun to watch Bradley put together one of their best 40 minute performances against Creighton. That's where you need to be this time of the season. You need to play a full 40 minutes of basketball and not have glaring deficiencies in any of the major offensive or defensive aspects of the game.
I do see Bradley heading in that direction too...with the 6 game winning streak and a wonderful performance against a very good Creighton team. However, the Illinois State game was very disappointing. That's what I mean about showing glaring deficiencies this late in the season. While one can hope, I do not see either team showing the kind of consistency to make the kind of run they need (esp facing difficult remaining schedules) to make the NCAA tournament. However, both teams have shown amazing progress and have been fun to watch develop. I wouldn't be surprised if these two very similar teams cross paths in the NIT for an exciting game.