The Braves actually looked halfway decent for the first 10 minutes yesterday and pulled out to a 15 point lead. The man defense was intense, guys were diving all over the floor and effort seemed like night and day, even if there was a bad pass and a failure to box out on rebounds here and there. Then Ford decided to fix all of that and go to a zone, and this Pryor guy for RMU immediately began finding space and sank 6-7 from beyond the arc. Ford went away from the lineup and the defense that had been working great and the lead completely disappeared by halftime.
One of the most baffling things is how well we're shooting after being so terrible last year. God help us if we ever experience a slump.
Auston Barnes returns from his suspension now, and he might legitimately be our best player. We desperately need something from inside and I'm not sure if he's the guy who can provide it. He will though take minutes from frosh Cunningham and Thomas who clearly aren't ready to be starting. If he's any good Sutherland will be a big upgrade from Bell running the point. Bell had 4 assists and 5 turnovers, and his assists were from all handing it off to others on the wing to launch 3s. He can't get it inside although to be fair it's not as if our bigs would do anything with it, except maybe Taylor, who isn't even starting.
I expect this team to win the next couple games against some legitimately bad teams, and lose to everyone else except Eureka, UIC and maybe CMU next month. If Sutherland (JUCO AA) lives up to the hype and Barnes plays to his abilities Bradley can still finish in the middle of the pack and be the dreaded RPI killer in conference season. That wouldn't surprise me, and it would be enough to keep him around another year, for better or worse (probably worse).