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Pjs kw........

Nice to see that we have gotten the annual Kirk Wessler "don't believe the optimism you hear from Jim Les, because we can't expect anything significant out of freshmen and juco players" article out of the way!

This paragraph pretty well sums up KW's whole column--
"It's a fact of life in Division I. First-year players who hit the ground running and maintain consistency from the start of the season to the finish are rare."

Now we can just enjoy the season, except for the occasional reminders of the same message by the media that will, no doubt, resurface several times during the season.

By the way, if it is indeed so rare, then how do you explain Theron Wilson's and Sam Maniscalco's success for Bradley last year? Or P'Allen Stinnett, Cavel Witter, or Booker Woodfox for Creighton?
Maybe just a few of the "rare" examples.:D
 
I won't read KW anymore... but I have a question. Does the local rag in C/U have write ups similar to this? I don't know. (and if they do, how many positive articles do they have to offset the negative article... I bet it is 8 to 1 down there) I don't read that local rag either. But if KW thinks of himself on a large enough scale... oviously larger than Bradley cause he "calls out" Bradley many times... maybe he'd find himself a much better job doing what he does - cause he does it so well... therefore he'd wind up at the next level. We all know he isn't there yet because he is still doing op-eds to rile up people to hopefully sell the local rag here in Peoria and it is dying.

My suggestion - forget weenies like KW. Turn the page if you have to... but honestly DON'T BUY THE LOCAL RAG AND READ THE CRAP.
 
Does the local rag in C/U have write ups similar to this?
Click to expand...

I don't know about C-U, but I thought I would see what the Omaha newspaper says about Creighton for a comparison. Omaha is also a 1-newspaper town (The Omaha World Herald). I looked back a couple months to find all the Creighton basketball articles I could find.
They are listed below, and they are 100% positive and supportive of Creighton! In fact, they are so far over-the-top with positivity and optimism, they could have been written by the PR people in the Creighton Athletic Department! You would think every player they mention will be an All American, and that Dana Altman will surely have them in the Final Four!
See if you can find anything negative or any pessimism anywhere in these articles..--
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=3924&u_sid=10463268

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=3924&u_sid=10454186

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=3924&u_sid=10457304

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=3924&u_sid=10462245

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=10447287

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=10438747

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=10426054

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=10417327
 
I thought it was pretty fair and accurate. Most new players dont do well right away and relying on them for major contributions doenst get you a league title. I am more optimistic about DD than any of the other new guys and hope he can be a difference maker on both ends for us.
 
KWs perfect preseason interview...

KW....Jim, what do you think of the team this year and more importantly how are the new guys coming along.

JL....Well honestly I just dont expect much out of the team this year, you know we have five new guys and one more that hasnt played D1 ball yet. The fact of the matter is if I was a fan I would probably wouldnt show up to any games until well after the first half of the season because by the then we may be average.

KW...it was my understanding Jim that AT was looking pretty good and has some pretty good moves around te basket?

JL...no, I expect nothing out of him to be honest.

KW... but when you let me watch practice I thought he looked pretty good running the floor?

JL...no.

KW...really?

Jl...no

KW...well I would expect DD would be of some help with having played some D1 ball at Iowa State.

JL...once again I expect very little out of him this year as he is new to the system and he is a Jr College kid. I may wait until next year to put him in a game.

KW...but then he would be a Sr and only have one year left, wouldnt that be a waste?

JL...you know you are right, maybe I will just use him as a practice player for the next two years.

KW.....so you dont have any hopes for any of the new guys this year?

JL....none.

KW....and you dont think you will be very good this year?

JL....why get my hopes up just to be let down. Expect nothing and be happy if we win a game all year.

KW....Wont your attitiude hurt the players self confidence?

JL...thats their problem, I am not their Mother.

KW....so dont you think this could help other teams that you play, I mean if they know you think that you may not be very good?

JL....I dont want to think about the other teams right now, they kind of scare me.

KW.... really?

JL....some times I dont sleep at night.

KW....really?

JL....can we change the subject, I am developing a twitch.

KW....well Jim I plan on writing in the paper tomorrow that the new guys are pretty bad and that overall the team may not be very good. I will have to point out that some or most of the new guys are not very good and that you dont plan on playing them this year. But I will put in the write up that you are an honest and frank Coach. I just cant say how good it is to finally hear a Coach admit his team sucks before they have played their first game.

JL...well KW I am just doing my job!!!
 
Lakeview Brave said:
I thought it was pretty fair and accurate. Most new players dont do well right away and relying on them for major contributions doenst get you a league title. I am more optimistic about DD than any of the other new guys and hope he can be a difference maker on both ends for us.
Click to expand...

"Most" I would agree with and I think most fans would, too. If that's what he had said, I would be asking why he feels he has to tell us that, since everyone knows it. But that's not what KW said. He stressed it was "rare" for a freshman or a juco to contribute consistently their first year. But then in the same article he admits that juco Theron Wilson was a success last year and that one of the only 2 true freshmen on the roster last year, Sam Maniscalco, "also made a relatively seamless transition in his first season". That in itself shows that he's wrong and it is not "rare" if 2 of your regular starters and key players are first year guys.
So it seems he is admitting his own opinion isn't accurate. My point is that there will be plenty of time for negative columns later, it just seems gratuitous to start now.
 
I think it is fair to say that new players tend to struggle for consistency early in the 1st season. It remains to be seen what happens this year. Fans know what to expect from Warren, Maniscalco, Wilson and probably Singh. All should improve from last year. The rest are unknowns in my opinion, including Collins and Egolf. If the bigs can contribute like the guards, it could be a special year.....if not it will be another year of middle of the pack.

I am not concerned what KW says or the writers from Champaign or Omaha, these articles win or lose zero games. I am not even concerned about any individual players. I am concerned about defense, rebounding and consistent intensity. Any player can have a bad game or a bad few weeks, but it is the team that wins and loses. Unless the rebounding, defense and intensity are improved, the preseason optimism will be just that.

Do I think BU is recruiting better and bigger players...yes. I am happy about that because it looks good for the future. However, it is results that matter. In the end it doesn't matter what we or KW or DR says, it is finishing at the top of the conference and or winning the Valley tournament. Sooner or later BU needs to take the next step to be at the top of the conference. I am hoping this team is the start, but at this time there are a lot of question marks.

Won't be long and many of these questions will start to be answered.
 
Da Coach said:
Nice to see that we have gotten the annual Kirk Wessler "don't believe the optimism you hear from Jim Les, because we can't expect anything significant out of freshmen and juco players" article out of the way!
Click to expand...

DC, this is exactly what I thought when I read KW's article. Oddly enough I was hoping for an insightful article about practice or even a player or two, but instead we got the annual rehased "are you experienced" article.
---it must have been a slow week for advertising sales at the PJS???--;-)
 
tornado said:
At least he admits that his definition of "news" is when something bad happens with the BU basketball players...

here's what he says.........
"we get the annual platitudes on attitudes from Bradley coach Jim Les.
"Great group." "Fun group." "Camaraderie." "Great energy and enthusiasm."

Nice to hear, but not exactly news. News would be a basketball player on any campus
showing up the first day with an obvious bad 'tude."
Click to expand...

You don't agree with that? YOu really think that Jim Les saying this is a "great group," "fun group," etc. is news? OK, whatever. Then again, you probably think anything JL says is news. This is KW just saying no news is good news when it comes to the offseason. Oh, what's that? He did!

At least in that sense, no news is good news.

tornado said:
then his comment about being right last year is downright dishonest...
note he says this...
"But they were hyped a year ago, too, and I was not optimistic then.
...That roster bore seven Division I virgins"

BUT did Kirk Wessler write about the seven "D-I virgins" back before the season started??
NOPE...that column was from well after the conference season started....nearly the middle of January...when BU was in the throes of a 6-game losing streak with Daniel Ruffin sidelined.

That comment about the D-I virgins not being ready for D-I had nothing to do with his lack of preseason optimism....it was written in the middle of the season as an effort to criticize BU and JL's recruiting of so many new players!
Click to expand...

Actually, I specifically remember him mentioning that in a "potshots" column or something of the sort before the season. So you are wrong. You are correct, however, in saying that he did write about it later in the season and in greater length.

tornado said:
But just when the topic of Theron Wilson comes up, one of the supposedly ill-prepared "D-I virgins", here's what he says......
"But Wilson is an exception"

yeah....right........instead of giving JL credit for a good job of scouting & recruiting, he simply blows off Theron as some sort of anomaly!!
Click to expand...

Ummm ... looks like he did give JL credit:

Les says Wilson's work ethic, how hard he played, was immediately evident when Bradley was recruiting him out of Seward County Community College in Kansas. "That's what gave Theron his leg up," Les says. "He knows one speed to go."


And then there's this:
I am more optimistic about Bradley's chances this year because the Braves' veteran core is deeper

Call me crazy, but it seemed to me like a pretty cut-and-dry column from KW. Shocking, I know. :-o I don't get people on here freaking out about everything he says. Doesn't look to me like it's the doom-and-gloom column some think it is.
 
I don't see freaking out by anyone. That comment seems a little condescending to me. I see reasonable discussion and comments.

I think the biggest problem is the Bradley team has already had 2 days of practices, but the writer still posts an article that could have been written 3 months ago. There is not one bit of news in KW's column today. Zero. Unless he actually made the effort to watch a practice and report something of value, why not just save the ink.
 
I can"t believe anyone is concerned about an article KW wrote and Dave Reynolds is the one that should be giving us progress reports on practice each day.
 
One Mike Nadel is enough for any newspaper. But what do you expect from the local rag. Look at the rest of the columnist they have.
 
Egolf didn't give us much but he has some potential and we all hope it comes to fruition THIS year...just what KW said....

Thompson is an unknown, appears to have potential....just what KW said.

Wilson and Sam excelled...just what KW said.

Scott and Austin were busts...just what KW said.

We SEEM to have some decent newbies but in Dunson and Roberts but of those two ONLY Dunson has D1 experience and is as close to a sure thing as you can get for a newbie...basically what KW said.

Collins started out OK....fizzled bigtime but showed some signs of life real late. Just like Egolf we will have to see if he figured it out....basically what KW said.

Three freshman are three freshman....you NEVER count on freshman and if they do contribute like SM you feel blessed and lucky.

From what I read KW nailed it. But wether he did or didn't nail it it doesn't matter becuase I don't need his article to tell me what I allready knew. I think his articles are for the casual fan and not the more "educated" fans like most of US are.
 
Dogs,

I agree that the article said what most fans I talk to on a regular basis see. Most would also say that when you have so many new players it takes a while for the team to gel and the coaching staff to figure out where and when to use everyone. I think this is why DR made the statement about too many Jucos. I have no problem with Jucos to fill holes, I just think more 4 year players leave the team with less holes to fill.

Soon the season will start and all of the speculation will end.......oops wrong!!!

I read all of Ts arguments about the virgins form last years team, in my opinion none of that matters. What matters is reults. We will see soon.

I think that BU is improving the talent level. As I have said many times, the defense, rebounding and intensity needs to improve also.
 
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