SMITHFIELD, R.I. – A year can make a lot of difference, although not all by itself. One team that has used that time to make good improvements appears to be the Bryant Bulldogs, especially if their exhibition game on Friday night is any indication.
One can only take so much out of such a game, as minutes and substitution patterns are designed to get a good look at a number of players and lineups. But the Bulldogs shot over 69 percent from the field in their 88-55 blowout win and appeared to click on all cylinders. If you want to get into a psychological aspect, the Bulldogs lost their second exhibition game last year, so getting a win only helps.
Most important of all is how they looked, and that was decidedly good. There’s no question the players and coaches feel it, as there’s a different energy and optimism this time around. A lot has to do with the team’s newcomers, but the holdovers looked good as well and that’s also aided by the newcomers.
“We knew the freshmen we brought in could play,” said senior guard Chris Birrell, a starter on last season’s team. “We make them better, they make us better. We’re just trying to get better every day.”
One freshman, Claybrin McMath, looks like he’ll be an instant impact player. He’s active, athletic and will make plays often, and at 6’8″ he’s one of the players who adds a good deal of size to this team. Another, Vlad Kondraytyev, should be a fixture in the lineup whether he starts or not and he also checks in at 6’8″. Add in point guard Raphael Jordan, a point guard who led the Bulldogs with 18 points on 7-8 shooting on Friday, and UMass transfer Papa Lo, who made all three of his shots and should be a shot-blocking presence inside, and it’s clear the newcomers will give this team a different look.
“I am excited about this team,” said senior guard Cecil Gresham, the team’s leading scorer last season.
“You don’t want to be too optimistic, but in terms of being competitive, it’s a huge leap forward for us with our size and our athleticism,” said head coach Tim O’Shea.
Jordan will play behind Birrell and give the Bulldogs a classic contrast at the position. There’s the senior leader who knows the offense and initiates it in Birrell, and there’s the young and exciting player with a higher ceiling but less experience in Jordan. Both have Gresham to get the ball to on the wing, as the senior had a good year in the team’s inaugural Division I season and should be better with a better support cast around him. He should get better looks and opportunities to create with more size on the team now, as will players like Sam LeClerc (who will likely see time at the point as well) and Adam Parzych who also play off the ball.
“It opens it up a lot more,” Birrell said of the added size. “(Opponents) have to respect us down low, and they can’t really press up on us as much because we do have a post presence.”
Besides McMath, Kondraytyev and Lo, the Bulldogs also have a holdover on the inside in Nick Pontes. The senior has come back in much better shape, a clear beneficiary of the team changing up its off-season workouts. He made a couple of plays at the defensive end that he simply would not have made last year, and now that he doesn’t have to play center should be better off at both ends.
The Bulldogs have a more manageable schedule this time around. While there are still tough road games against teams from power conferences, gone are the guarantee games they have to hope on one plane after another for. The longest trips for non-conference games are to Indiana and St. John’s, and they will leave New England just once in November. With a better roster in terms of talent, athleticism and size, they aren’t saying they’re going to win but know they’ll have a much better chance this time around.
“We’re going to be very competitive,” said O’Shea. “A year ago, we were in survival mode. But now, we can play some of these bigger schools, and with our size, it’s going to be a different game.”
After playing 14 games against Northeast Conference foes a year ago, the Bulldogs will play a full slate of 18 games that will count in the standings. They won’t be eligible for the conference tournament until the transition to Division I is complete, but they will affect the standings and are eligible for individual awards. A year ago, they went 6-8 against Northeast Conference foes and know they can do better with the current roster.
“We expect to be at the top of the conference,” said Birrell. “We were 6-8 last year, and with the additions we made this year there’s no reason we shouldn’t be at the top of the conference.”
Coming a year after the team lost an exhibition and was being physically overwhelmed quite often, that right there shows what a difference a year has made for Bryant.
