Since taking over the beat in 1990-91, Dave Reynolds has covered 569 straight Bradley games, 146 of them last March and April in the College Basketball Invitational. My streak is 117.
Q: What is behind Bradley’s recent changes to the starting lineup?
A: After a poor start at Southern Illinois, Jim Les decided the Braves
needed to develop a stronger defensive mindset at the beginning of the
game. So Dodie Dunson and Darian Norris replaced Chris Roberts and Sam
Maniscalco. The results were excellent. BU opened the Northern Iowa game
with a 13-2 burst and started the Indiana State game by forcing five
turnovers in the first six minutes. And Maniscalco has been an offensive
spark off the bench, averaging 13.5 points in the two games.
Q: Out of necessity, Jim Les remade the Braves from a three-point
shooting team to a driving team. How did he do it so quickly?
A: When Bradley didn’t have Andrew Warren available from the start, it
became apparent that the strength of the team was more driving to the
basket than shooting threes. It almost helped not having him at all because
it gave a new team a chance to find its own way. Jim did a good job
recognizing that as the non-conference season wore on and began to
de-emphasize the three and promote the players’ strengths.
As with most everything, a balance is usually best and the Braves’ best
games have come when they have knocked down enough threes to keep the
defense honest. But it’s pretty clear they don’t have the knockdown
shooters of a year ago with Warren out and the graduations of Jeremy
Crouch and Daniel Ruffin.
Q: At the halfway point, pick your MVC Player of the Year. Did Drake’s
Adam Emmenecker ruin it for every good player not on the championship
team?
A: He may have although if Northern Iowa continues its pace, I’d be
hard-pressed to pick one guy off that team who is as critical as
Emmenecker was for Drake. Kwadzo Ahelegbe would be the closest and may
well become the POY although I’m sure Osiris Eldridge, Josh Young,
Theron Wilson, Bryan Mullins and Shy Ely may have something to say about
that before it’s all said and done.
Q: When Bradley wears its 1985-86 throwback jerseys, do you wear your
Miami Vice jacket or your button-down Oxford cloth shirt with penny
loafers?
A: I was never that cool in the ’80s when I was kind of young so I’m not
going to pretend to be cool when I’m pretty old. Some might say, though,
the sweater I wore that night was kind of like those worn by Nolan
Richardson in the ’80s. Without the polka dots.