Warren helps Bradley to win over Drake in conference opener

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All wins are not really equal. So while Bradley (6-5 overall, 1-0 MVC) didn't put together its best performance against Drake, any road victory is huge in Missouri Valley Conference play.

Junior guard Andrew Warren carried the team in the second half, finishing with 24 points (8 of 12 from the floor) and eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Taylor Brown responded after a couple of poor games with a double-double for the Braves (17 points, 11 rebounds).

For as balanced as Bradley generally is on offense, this game had all but 12 points scored by three players - Warren, Brown and junior guard Sam Maniscalco (14 points, 5 assists). In some situations this might have been a bad plan, but the ineffectiveness of the rest of the team facilitated those results.

Maybe the best thing that came from the game was that the Braves finally closed out a game with good free throw shooting. Drake (5-8 overall, 0-1 MVC) went into "foul mode" with about 1:30 to play and could have come back from a 10-point deficit if it weren't for Bradley making all eight attempts from the line in the closing minutes.

For the game, Bradley made 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) and limited the Bulldogs to just 10 free throw attempts.

Some of the other concerning traits of this team still persist. Overall, the Braves still are taking too many forced and quick shots in its half-court offense. And on the other side, Drake had way too many open looks but simply didn't knock them down.

Against the better teams in the Valley (since Drake will likely be near the cellar), these problems will be exploited more often. So while numerous problems need to be ironed out if Bradley expects to finish in the upper half of the conference, this was not a bad game. Progress was made and the team is looking better, not worse (which couldn't be said after the last three games).

Tough week

The first week of conference play continues with a Friday evening game at home against Southern Illinois. Then Bradley has a very quick turnaround and has to play Wichita State in Kansas on Sunday afternoon.

Both teams were in lopsided conference openers Tuesday. Southern Illinois outscored Indiana State 44-24 in the second half win by 18 at home 70-52, while Wichita State was handled easily by Illinois State in Normal, 72-57.

Some good information going into conference play

I was going to go through all of the teams before conference action starts tonight, but USA Today has done a really impressive job of providing information about each team in this article:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/mvc/home.htm?csp=34

Bradley heads to Drake tonight for its first game of the conference season. Nobody can really be too sure what to expect. Will the team that beat Illinois and looked good against BYU show up? Or will the squad that had two bad home losses (Western Carolina, Loyola) and a road beatdown (at Iowa State) wimper out of Des Moines with another loss?

It's anyone's best guess really, but after some intense practices over Christmas break, I'd expect a pretty good response from the Braves. Outside of the Iowa State game, most of Bradley's best basketball has actually been away from Carver Arena so far this season.

This will truly be a "measuring stick" game, as if the Braves hope to compete for the upper level of the conference, a victory is the only acceptable result. Drake should be a "play-in" team this season in the Missouri Valley Conference, so Bradley should be able to take care of business. If they don't, who knows where the Braves may finish?

Prediction: Bradley 76 Drake 70

Game Twenty-Three Recap: Bradley @ Drake

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For the people who regularly check my site, you might be wondering why you don't see a recap from the Bradley-Drake game.

Well, unfortunately this game had the unbeatable combination of being played while I was unable to watch the game and not archived on BUBraves.tv. I wasn't even aware (until after the fact) that this was an MVC-TV game, so it wouldn't be streamed online. My oversight cost me an opportunity to see the Braves fall bitterly to defeat in Des Moines, IA.

Reading through the recaps and message board posts though, one thing was pretty clear - Bradley played poorly. This wasn't a Drake team that just came out and took it to the Braves. And after taking care of the ball well for a nice stretch, Bradley turned it over 19 times, which is never a recipe for success.

With a big game tonight at Creighton, Bradley had better be ready to play against a much better Bluejay team. Otherwise the Braves' slide will continue and the team will really be muddled in the middle the pack in the Valley.

5. Drake

Preseason poll: 4th

Drake escaped the world of Missouri Valley Conference mediocrity last season in a big way. The same type of success can't be expected again, but this team should still be pretty good overall.

The Bulldogs lost significant members of their 28-5 conference championship team. Start with former head coach Keno Davis, who deserted the program for a bigger offer at Providence. Arguably more important are the losses to graduation of three key players: MVC Player of the Year Adam Emmenecker, Leonard Houston and Klayton Korver.

Luckily for Drake, two of its best players from the Cinderella season do return. Guard Josh Young (6'1" Jr.) averaged 15.9 points per game last year and that will likely rise even higher in 2008-09. Outside of Illinois State's Osiris Eldridge, Young should be considered one of the top candidates for conference Player of the Year.

Forward Jonathan Cox (6'8" Sr.) should help alleviate some of the added pressure put on Young. "Bucky" averaged 12.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season. In addition to his rebounding ability, Cox shoots well from the line (77.8 percent) and beyond the arc (44 percent).

New head coach Mark Phelps will have to find others to fill out three spots in the lineup. Transfer forward Adam Templeton (6'5" Jr.) may be one of the more intriguing new faces in the Drake lineup. Templeton now is eligible after sitting out a year for transferring from UC Irvine. He averaged eight points per game in 2006-07 and should provide valuable Division I experience to the Bulldogs.

Drake will have a three player battle to fill Emmenecker's spot. Guards Josh Parker (6'0" So.) and Jacob Baryenbruch (6'0" Sr.) have experience with Drake's system. But, transfer guard Craig Stanley (5'11" Jr.) might be the best suited to initially hold down the point.

Maybe the most important factor in Drake's success or failure this season will be the depth provided by returning players. Forwards Brent Heemskerk (6'8" Sr.) and Bill Eaddy (6'5" Jr.) are two examples of men who will need to have a bigger role this season.

One great season can help recruiting and catapult a team from the dredges of a conference for a few years. Drake must hope that its 25-win season will do that and help build the program up to prominence again.