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Warren leads Bradley to exhibition win
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Don't write off Bradley's 68-63 victory over Lewis as meaningless. True, the Braves played much like the Chicago Bears did in their unimpressive 30-3 beatdown of the Cleveland Browns a week ago… not able to put away a team that they shouldn't struggle with. But the warm feelings to take away from this contest came from the outstanding play of Taylor Brown, and the triumphant return of Andrew Warren.
As you may remember, Warren was supposed to be healed from a broken foot, and ready for the regular season in 2008-09, but suffered setback after setback and ultimately missed the entire season. Again, he went through foot surgery and rehabbed in the offseason. When it was determined that Warren wouldn't be playing on the Brazil trip in August, it felt like the same old bad song. Doubts began to creep into the brains of fans, wondering if we were ever going to see number 24 at full strength again.
Warren was cleared to practice after having the boot removed from his foot, and prepared rigorously for today's game… his first in a Braves uniform since March 2008. He hit 6-7 shots, and 6-6 free throws to finish with 21 points in 24 minutes. He looked sharp on both ends of the floor, and proved that he is ready to be the leader of this team. Warren adds to the healthy problem in the backcourt, with not enough minutes to go around for him, Dodie Dunson, Sam Maniscalco, Eddren McCain, and Chris Roberts. Coach Les brought Warren and Maniscalco off the bench today, but all five will see 20+ minutes, with Roberts and Warren playing primarily out of the small forward position.
Brown often looked lost on the floor last year, but was still able to produce 3.4 points and 3.0 rebounds per game in just 11.5 minutes. He showed flashes of his talent late in the season, and looked poised to have a strong 2009-10 campaign. The 6-6 forward scored 16.3 points and led the Braves in rebounding on their 4-1 Brazilian road trip, and proved to Coach Les that he deserved a starting spot in the thin frontcourt. Today, Brown tallied 12 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes and turned the ball over just once. At 25-30 minutes per game, he could quickly develop into one of the better forwards in the Valley.
So while the final tally wasn't impressive, several positives should be pulled from the game. Adding Warren will go miles toward replacing the leadership and scoring of departed forward Theron Wilson, and with a healthy Will Egolf supplementing a much-improved Taylor Brown, things are looking up for the Braves.
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