I didn’t look forward to this matchup, especially after the Murray State loss last week. Despite Bradley being the near unanimous preseason favorite to win the MVC (where Murray was picked 3rd) they are so well coached. They have 3 players named to last years All-MVC team’s and guy who look like they were left off that list for the sake of parity.
Duke Deen (#21, 5’8” PG) was the Preseason MVC Player of the Year. If he’s not scoring (12.7 ppg) he is distributing to one of his 5 other teammates that average over 9 ppg. Deen averages nearly 5/2 A/TO. Darius Hannah (#35, 6’9” F), another MVC Preseason 1st teamer is shooting it at a 75% clip in the early going and leading the Braves in points with 13.7 ppg. Almar Atlason (#1, 6’8” C) was MVC All-Freshman LY and is off to a strong 9.5 ppg in the low post. Atlason is undersized for the post and I wasn’t impressed defensively in the Wright State game but don’t worry, they have a 7’1” 250lb Ahmet Jonovic (#14) they can bring off the bench. This just scratches the surface but this lineup doesn’t stop and it is a deep bench to say the least.
It’s hard to find a weakness for this team if I’m being honest — I may be grasping at straws with this scout. Their lone loss was at Washington State and the outliers on paper was the 3 point shooting and rebounding of the Cougars. WSU shot 10/31 from deep and out rebounded Bradley 38-30. Even those numbers aren’t convincing when they beat Wright State on Friday allowing 51.9% FG and 47.4% 3FG. It doesn’t matter how well you shoot the ball against Bradley, they have an elite offense where they are 4th in CBB at 61.4% eFG. Washington State was their worst shooting game of the season (54.6% eFG) by 5 points to their second worst (59.7% eFG vs. UTSA). Defense is critical to even have a chance in this one. They are balanced — scoring in the paint and from behind the arc. Can’t allow uncontested shots anywhere. Obviously winning the rebounding battle will help their chances because giving great shooting teams a second chance will do you in quickly. I don’t love this matchup but if we see the same team we saw in Friday’s first half, we could be in for a good one!
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