How long has it been since you?ve heard the men?s basketball coach at Bradley utter these words?
?I?m excited about the frontcourt,? BU coach Geno Ford said. ?It will be the strength of the team. We have several big, active bodies who can play.?
While there have been brief periods throughout Bradley?s history when the latter sentence applied ? most recently, the Sweet 16 team of 2005-06 when Marcellus Sommerville, Patrick O?Bryant, Zach Andrews and Lawrence Wright patrolled the interior ? the team?s guards have usually carried the day.
One must go back to the early 1980s when bigs Mitchell Anderson, David Thirdkill and Donald Reese were the Braves? top three scorers and rebounders for back-to-back seasons and could accurately be described as the strength of the team. From 1980-82, the trio scored 63 percent of the team?s points and grabbed 59 percent of its rebounds.
While any three from among the current frontcourt of Mike Shaw, Xzavier Taylor, Jermaine Morgan, Josh Cunningham, Auston Barnes and Nate Wells may not post such gaudy numbers, they may well help the Braves possess more quality frontcourt depth than those teams of yore.
?We?re trying to be like Wichita State last year,? Taylor said. ?They had four crucial bigs and that?s why they were winning every game. That?s what we?re bringing this year. We?ve got a lot of bigs who are tough and aggressive who can play.?
The 6-foot-9 Taylor has gained about 15 pounds of muscle from his freshman year when he started 18 games and showed flashes of great play, but was often overmatched physically. His 9.1 fouls per 40 minutes led the nation.
?I?ve addressed that a lot,? he said. ?Being a freshman, I came here not knowing very much on defense and I wasn?t as strong as the other guys. This year I?m a lot smarter, a lot stronger and I know where I?m supposed to be on defense. That?s all I need.?
Still, having missed much of the early preseason when a stress fracture in his foot, Taylor felt he?d been passed up upon his return to practice.
?I saw Jermaine coming in here doing all the right things,? he said. ?I was kind of jealous, and the jealousy was bringing me back wanting to prove myself.?
Even if Taylor?s penchant for fouling continues, it won?t be as costly this year.
?Foul trouble is always a concern,? Ford said. ?But we have enough guys, we should be able to expect to turn to somebody else and have quality statistics.?
Barnes, Shaw and Morgan have been among the team?s most productive players in the preseason. Once Barnes returns from his three-game suspension to begin the season, he?ll likely settle in as the starting small forward who can easily swing to the power forward if needed.
Shaw and Morgan are interchangeable at the power forward and post positions, which are essentially interchangeable within the BU offense.
?Mike gives us a big body you can run offense through,? Ford said. ?He?ll be more of a playmaker for us than teeing up a bunch of 3s.?
Cunningham and fellow freshman Donte Thomas are pushing hard for playing time, though, allowing Ford numerous options within the three spots. Cunningham can play both the small and power forwards, while Thomas is exclusively a small forward.
?They can all give us low-post scoring and very, very good rebounding,? Ford said. ?There?s no excuse for us not to be one of the best rebounding teams in the league. And we have to score inside. Combined, we can get a lot of tangible statistics from that group.?
Rarely has that been the case for Bradley in the last three decades.
?We have a lot of talent (inside) and we?re all close,? Shaw said. ?What we do will determine the outcome of the games.?
?I?m excited about the frontcourt,? BU coach Geno Ford said. ?It will be the strength of the team. We have several big, active bodies who can play.?
While there have been brief periods throughout Bradley?s history when the latter sentence applied ? most recently, the Sweet 16 team of 2005-06 when Marcellus Sommerville, Patrick O?Bryant, Zach Andrews and Lawrence Wright patrolled the interior ? the team?s guards have usually carried the day.
One must go back to the early 1980s when bigs Mitchell Anderson, David Thirdkill and Donald Reese were the Braves? top three scorers and rebounders for back-to-back seasons and could accurately be described as the strength of the team. From 1980-82, the trio scored 63 percent of the team?s points and grabbed 59 percent of its rebounds.
While any three from among the current frontcourt of Mike Shaw, Xzavier Taylor, Jermaine Morgan, Josh Cunningham, Auston Barnes and Nate Wells may not post such gaudy numbers, they may well help the Braves possess more quality frontcourt depth than those teams of yore.
?We?re trying to be like Wichita State last year,? Taylor said. ?They had four crucial bigs and that?s why they were winning every game. That?s what we?re bringing this year. We?ve got a lot of bigs who are tough and aggressive who can play.?
The 6-foot-9 Taylor has gained about 15 pounds of muscle from his freshman year when he started 18 games and showed flashes of great play, but was often overmatched physically. His 9.1 fouls per 40 minutes led the nation.
?I?ve addressed that a lot,? he said. ?Being a freshman, I came here not knowing very much on defense and I wasn?t as strong as the other guys. This year I?m a lot smarter, a lot stronger and I know where I?m supposed to be on defense. That?s all I need.?
Still, having missed much of the early preseason when a stress fracture in his foot, Taylor felt he?d been passed up upon his return to practice.
?I saw Jermaine coming in here doing all the right things,? he said. ?I was kind of jealous, and the jealousy was bringing me back wanting to prove myself.?
Even if Taylor?s penchant for fouling continues, it won?t be as costly this year.
?Foul trouble is always a concern,? Ford said. ?But we have enough guys, we should be able to expect to turn to somebody else and have quality statistics.?
Barnes, Shaw and Morgan have been among the team?s most productive players in the preseason. Once Barnes returns from his three-game suspension to begin the season, he?ll likely settle in as the starting small forward who can easily swing to the power forward if needed.
Shaw and Morgan are interchangeable at the power forward and post positions, which are essentially interchangeable within the BU offense.
?Mike gives us a big body you can run offense through,? Ford said. ?He?ll be more of a playmaker for us than teeing up a bunch of 3s.?
Cunningham and fellow freshman Donte Thomas are pushing hard for playing time, though, allowing Ford numerous options within the three spots. Cunningham can play both the small and power forwards, while Thomas is exclusively a small forward.
?They can all give us low-post scoring and very, very good rebounding,? Ford said. ?There?s no excuse for us not to be one of the best rebounding teams in the league. And we have to score inside. Combined, we can get a lot of tangible statistics from that group.?
Rarely has that been the case for Bradley in the last three decades.
?We have a lot of talent (inside) and we?re all close,? Shaw said. ?What we do will determine the outcome of the games.?
