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Hot Seat

M

Murph

New member
There is a very good discussion going on on the PJ Star board about Jim Les being on the hot seat, Kirk Wessler is posting and making some very good points. Another poster thinks BU should drop down to DII. As usual the ISU guys are joining in on the discussion.

The first post starts out like this....

JL is now 118-101 in his career, no MVC regular season or tournament titles. Little chance of either for this year. At most high-profile programs this gets you fired.

A Kirk Wessler quote....Bradley needs to step up and become an elite program within the Valley -- not just in the minds of its own fans, but in the product it puts on the court. Because it brings nothing of value to the TV table, I believe Bradley must position itself as consistently high quality, to be prepared for the inevitable day when NCAA Division I basketball gets officially redefined. Otherwise, BU could get packed off to D-II, or something like it.


http://www.pjstarforums.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=71729
 
JL is not on any hot seat. He has done a very good job this season to adjusting to the personal he has and was not anticipating using for the balance of this season. He also has shown to be a confident recruiter and wants nothing more then to win games. I hate the injury excuse, but this season it is definite as it was the year Gilbert was hurt. But you play the hand you are given.

Lowery is on a hot seat because the fans in Carbondale are "NUTS". Other then him I dont think any Valley coach is on any type of hot seat.

And BU going anywhere near D2 is just stupid talk.
 
Well it doesn't look like the discussion was started by a frequent poster to the board, and the consensus is that he is not on the hot seat.

But it is an interesting thread to read.
 
houstontxbrave said:
JL is not on any hot seat.

And BU going anywhere near D2 is just stupid talk.
Click to expand...

I agree, Les is safe for a few more years at least.

If you read Wesslers DII comment that I quoted him on he's saying Bradley may have no say in the matter...

I believe Bradley must position itself as consistently high quality, to be prepared for the inevitable day when NCAA Division I basketball gets officially redefined. Otherwise, BU could get packed off to D-II, or something like it.
 
Right... out of the 343 (ish?) D-I programs... BRADLEY is in danger of becoming D-II? Wade through the garbage posts, folks... Theres arguably 200-250 other groups that would become D-II first.

Unbelievable that any of this is even any bit of discussion... disappoints me that some people can't think slightly logically. Respect level = down.

And yes, I know some of you are just reporting what you saw on the PJStar board... but some of you buy into that post's hype.
 
Murph said:
I agree, Les is safe for a few more years at least.

If you read Wesslers DII comment that I quoted him on he's saying Bradley may have no say in the matter...

I believe Bradley must position itself as consistently high quality, to be prepared for the inevitable day when NCAA Division I basketball gets officially redefined. Otherwise, BU could get packed off to D-II, or something like it.
Click to expand...

This is just my personal opinion but I have said it before on here, eventually the NCAA is going to just go BCS and a few (very few) select others for D1 or whatever they want to call it. Memphis, Gonzaga, Butlers etc who bring in viewers and money might be included. I understand what Wessler says because I do not think it is all the far off or far fetched.

BU and the Valley simply do not bring the attention or better said money that the BCS's of the world bring or want or demand. And the Valley takes this money from the BCS. They do not want to share. The upgrading the profile is essential to Bradley to stay with the "Jones's" of college basketball.

The NCAA tourney within 10 years will not reflect what we see today. It is a prediction that I believe they want, ESPN, CBS also wants. The haves tourney and the have not tourney.

Just like College Football... they have the haves, (including the Bowl games) and the others IE the teams that dont play in bowls but play in a 16 team play off.
 
Bradley would have to be borderline retarded to fire Les unless he has a couple losing seasons in a row. We are not UCLA. We are one of the better programs in the Valley regardless of what the won-loss record shows. We aren't at the Creighton level but we aren't that far away from having great seasons.
 
lake Camelot said:
Bradley would have to be borderline retarded to fire Les unless he has a couple losing seasons in a row. We are not UCLA. We are one of the better programs in the Valley regardless of what the won-loss record shows. We aren't at the Creighton level but we aren't that far away from having great seasons.
Click to expand...

Explain.
 
What programs would you consider "better"?
I'll accept CU and SIU, though SIU is way down this year.
ISU has had 2 decent years, with no NCAA tournament, and only 1 postseason win to show for it. Prior to that there were a bunch of last place or near-last place finishes. If this was Bradley's situation most here would not be happy.
UNI has been down for several years, though this season they have surprised, but I don't see them going anywhere in the postseason.
Drake has had one miracle season, and one-and-done in the NCAA. No way I would take their situation over BU.
MSU is way down.
WSU hasn't done anything since their Sweet 16 season.
UE and InSU surely aren't in this discussion.
 
southpaw nothin said:
Well it doesn't look like the discussion was started by a frequent poster to the board, and the consensus is that he is not on the hot seat.

But it is an interesting thread to read.
Click to expand...

Thank you....ONE poster that said he has been a BU fan for 50 years pointed out "BU is not what they used to be" and in his opinion we can't recruit or compete at the D1 level. I told him he must have missed the KU and Pitt games.....:) Most fans responding to his contention or suggestion of dropping to D1 quickly shot him or that idea down.

Kirk wrote a very good post in response.
 
Explanation

Explanation

I think Creighton is the only program above us. I think SIU has been for a few years but not over the long haul. The only other program I consider close is Wichita. They have nice facilities,great fan support and have just been down for a few years. It hasn't been that long since they were good.

So I think we have a program in much better shape than most of the Valley.
 
lake Camelot said:
I think Creighton is the only program above us. I think SIU has been for a few years but not over the long haul. The only other program I consider close is Wichita. They have nice facilities,great fan support and have just been down for a few years. It hasn't been that long since they were good.

So I think we have a program in much better shape than most of the Valley.
Click to expand...

What do you term 'the long haul'? SIU went to 6 straight NCAA Tournaments, and then an NIT last year. They also made a Sweet 16 during that run. They've dominated the league and gained national recognition over the last decade. If that's not the 'long haul', I don't know what is.
 
By the way

By the way

That doesn't mean I think everything Les does is right. I would change a lot of things he does, but there is no need to change. Why AT gets no playing time when we will need him next year I really don't get. Even if he is not good enough at this point. It would help to get him some minutes.
 
Yeah looking at the records, it looks to me like SIU's been a fairly "top" MVC program since they've joined the conference. Ignoring this year, I'd say their program is ahead of ours-- particularly when you look at the last 10 years.

But after CU and SIU, you have, I guess, BU and WSU in the second tier. As far as basketball goes anyway.
 
I'm not advocating a firing, and quite frankly think any talk of that is stupid. However, the more schools that take home conference titles and make NCAA appearances before we do will make that drum beat louder. If we haven't won the league or the conference tournament by the time Andrew Warren graduates, we may need to assess where this program is heading. Right now, I think the arrow is pointing up, I really do.
 
jeffsu said:
Right... out of the 343 (ish?) D-I programs... BRADLEY is in danger of becoming D-II? Wade through the garbage posts, folks... Theres arguably 200-250 other groups that would become D-II first.

Unbelievable that any of this is even any bit of discussion... disappoints me that some people can't think slightly logically. Respect level = down.

And yes, I know some of you are just reporting what you saw on the PJStar board... but some of you buy into that post's hype.
Click to expand...

BU is top 50-100 all time in wins, attendance, and post season appearances
...add to that a very, very large, strong and LOYAL fan base...

They won't be DII anytime soon...much to the dismay of the guy who started that thread...
 
BradleyBrave said:
I'm not advocating a firing, and quite frankly think any talk of that is stupid. However, the more schools that take home conference titles and make NCAA appearances before we do will make that drum beat louder. If we haven't won the league or the conference tournament by the time Andrew Warren graduates, we may need to assess where this program is heading. Right now, I think the arrow is pointing up, I really do.
Click to expand...

That would be my take also. Warren's unfortunate injury does decrease program turnover a little, and with the recruits we have on the way it seems like the arrow is very much "up." If it turns out it's not, then we need to take stock. Before then, though, as far as I'm concerned Les' seat is cold. Given the adversity of this season, I believe this has been his best year so far. If he can keep it up for the next two seasons we should have a strong enough roster to make some real noise (or his recruiting needs to be evaluated anyway).
 
I DO worry about the NCAA requiring football or something like that for D1 status at some point down the road. That would mess us up pretty good (though I think we'd put together a bad football program to stay in D1), but I think the NCAA would really be shooting itself in the foot. A fair amount of attention is given to March Madness just because of the presence of cinderellas and the like... And I think they'd lose at least some portion of their audience and the interest in the brackets each season as a result.

To take this off in a different direction:
I am one of the conspiracy theorists that believes that the MVC could reshuffle and create two strong basketball conferences (one of state -- these guys playing football -- and one of private schools) with a few key members of other (possibly oversized) conferences.
 
tornado said:
BU is top 50-100 all time in wins, attendance, and post season appearances
...add to that a very, very large, strong and LOYAL fan base...

They won't be DII anytime soon...much to the dismay of the guy who started that thread...
Click to expand...

I would agree. The split would probably be the top 10-15 conferences in DI, and then the rest would be the I-AA equivalent IMO. That wouldn't bother me one bit actually. I don't think BU would be in any jeopardy of being sent down to a lower division. If they are, then so are a host of other private, non-football schools.
 
BTW, just read the original thread at PJ Star forums, and for those who don't pay a lot of attention to that board (like me), it's an interesting thread and the KW posts in there are very well written and contain good information.
 
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