It’s not often a team’s leader in minutes played comes off the bench. That has been the case for Bradley guard Sam Maniscalco the last two games.
As one might expect, the BU co-captain says he’s OK with it.
“Whatever’s best for the team, I’ll do,” he responded when asked about his recent role.
How is it better for the Braves?
After BU got down early at Southern Illinois, coach Jim Les shook up the lineup for his team’s next game, at Northern Iowa.
At the start, he sat Maniscalco and Chris Roberts, both of whom had subpar games at Carbondale. They had combined for nine turnovers, only totaled six points and were exposed several times defensively.
Replacements Dodie Dunson and Darian Norris both were productive in the game at SIU. Besides combining for 22 points (18 by Dunson), they brought more of a consistent defensive presence to the backcourt, Dunson more by his on-the-ball defense and Norris more by his big plays (three steals).
With those two in the lineup at UNI, the Braves jumped to a 13-2 lead and held the hottest-shooting team in the Missouri Valley Conference without a point for the first seven minutes of the game.
Although the Panthers came back to win 66-61, they struggled offensively against the Braves’ quickness and tenacity.
Les used the same starters Saturday against Indiana State. The Sycamores are much more offensively challenged than the Panthers, but again the Braves established a defensive tone. Bradley ended with 15 steals and helped force 22 turnovers in its 68-56 victory.
“Our defense is getting to a level of consistency that I like,” Les said. “If we think we’re going to show up and outscore people, try to put 80 on the board and hope we can hold them to 79, we’re in trouble. We proved that in the nonconference season. But when we’re making plays defensively, it’s a great boost to our offense.”
Maniscalco was the offensive recipient of that process Saturday, when his two 3-pointers in the final 19 seconds of the first half ignited the Braves.
It was also reminiscent of the kind of player the sophomore was a year ago, when his nightly assignment usually was to provide a spark off the bench.
“Last year, I tried to be an energy guy and give what we needed when I came in, but mostly provide energy,” he said.
That mind-set has changed a bit now that he’s a team leader.
“I’ll sit next to (assistant coach Eric Buescher) and survey my matchup, the flow of the game and the energy level,” he said.
And when Maniscalco gets in, he usually doesn’t come out much. Still the team leader in playing time (31.0), he has averaged 27.5 minutes in his two reserve roles.
MORE WILKINS: Bradley recruit John Wilkins, now enrolled at Southeastern (Iowa) Community College pursuing his associate’s degree, almost certainly won’t land at BU before he has his two-year degree in hand. His exact grades from one of his high school years in Belgium can’t be located.
“The school told me the records they had just included pass or fail marks for that year and not his actual grades,” said Jeff Wilkins, the recruit’s father. “Well, the NCAA wants to see the actual grades, and John’s mother doesn’t have the (report card), either. The girl from the NCAA told me that even thought he had good SAT scores, he wouldn’t be eligible until they saw (and evaluated) those grades.”
After receiving this news, the elder Wilkins sat down with his son and explained he wouldn’t be able to go to Bradley until he went to a junior college first. The plan is for the younger Wilkins to take classes and practice with the Blackhawks the rest of this semester, play at SCC next season and then receive his degree to gain eligibility to Bradley for the fall of 2010.
“He took it pretty hard,” the father said. “This whole thing has taken a toll on him. But I think he’s pretty happy at Southeastern now. He’s gotta work his tail off, but I think he can get his degree in a year and a half.’’
If so, he would have three years of eligibility remaining at Bradley.
When asked if his son had been contacted by any other schools in the past few months, Jeff Wilkins replied: “Not at this point. But anything can happen. You never say never. But right now, it’s Bradley.”
J-ROB’S RETURN: Former Bradley player Jerome Robinson, the Braves’ leading scorer in 2000-01 when he was first-team all-MVC, came back for Saturday night’s game for the first time since graduating from BU. After six years playing professional ball overseas, most recently in France, the 30-year-old Toronto native has retired.
“It was a great experience,” he said. “We got to see the world and experience different cultures.”
But, he admitted, his life wasn’t conducive to raising a family, which is what he and his wife, former Bradley student Beth Leigh, are doing now in their Pontiac, Mich., home. The couple has a girl and a boy — 2-year-old Anaiyah and 6-month-old Lyria. Robinson is working with his father-in-law to start a computer software business.
DAVE REYNOLDS is a Journal Star sports reporter. He can be reached at dreynolds@pjstar.com or 686-3210.
