I dont blame the coaching

[Da Coach]

That guy, Bradley does not have any recruits signed now, but they do have recruits they are following and will sign. If a coaching change is made, those will disappear, as will a number of current players. It happens with every coaching change, so it will happen, and maybe there are some fans who are OK with that.

Surely the next coach will bring in far better players? Maybe the fact that a new coach will have the new facilities to boast about will help. But then maybe it will help Jim Les if he stays.

 

[SaintLouBrave22]

That guy, Bradley does not have any recruits signed now, but they do have recruits they are following and will sign. If a coaching change is made, those will disappear, as will a number of current players. It happens with every coaching change, so it will happen, and maybe there are some fans who are OK with that.

Surely the next coach will bring in far better players? Maybe the fact that a new coach will have the new facilities to boast about will help. But then maybe it will help Jim Les if he stays.

What exactly do we have to lose though if we at least fire all the assistants?


As I state again, who exactly has Brooks landed?!

H*ll! Flash Flannagan has landed us better recruits than Brooks!

 

[SaintLouBrave22]

That guy, Bradley does not have any recruits signed now, but they do have recruits they are following and will sign. If a coaching change is made, those will disappear, as will a number of current players. It happens with every coaching change, so it will happen, and maybe there are some fans who are OK with that.

Surely the next coach will bring in far better players? Maybe the fact that a new coach will have the new facilities to boast about will help. But then maybe it will help Jim Les if he stays.

And who says a new coach couldn't keep the talent that is here?

IF a better system is put in place and the players believe they could finish higher than 5th, why wouldn't they stay?


Besides, could guys like Taylor and Will really afford to leave?! I don't expect DSE to leave regardless of what happens, or JP for that matter...


The rest of them, what really would we be losing?

 

[SFP]

Blame the coach if you like because we do not have a real 5 to clean up the boards otherwise he did a good job getting these guy prepared. I will not blame the refs for the lost but one of those SM drives late in the game OE was hanging on him and no foul called. Those fouls on WE were ticky tacky and him going out made a huge difference.... even with those calls we had a chance. The other thing that I noticed is that our guys 1/2 way through the 2nd half looked gassed or out of energy. The ability for ISU to 2nd chances all night and pound it was the real issue. We get a 5 next year or the good teams will continue to exploit this weakness. To me it is that simple. Our bench is a bit slim without EM and DD to be ably to run and press and so teams with bigs can slow it down and pund us when our guys get tired.

 

[That Guy]

I never said anything about my opinion being #1 or better than anyone else's. Where did you get that?
My reference was to the fact that I have more posts here than anyone, except maybe 1 other poster, so for someone to accuse me of shying away from giving my opinion, which is what was done, is just plain silly.

And I appreciate where you and others are with their opions. I just happen to have a different perspective.
If we are going to put as much weight on Jim Les' first couple years as we do for the last 3 or 4 years, then maybe he deserves firing. But I don't think most people would consider things that way.

Actually I think the last 4 years since the Sweet 16 run are what is most fresh in people's minds. Probably the part about how we have gotten progressively worse and worse. Also, if we have more talent than anyone else in the league, yet still can't finish top 3 - it is even more of an indictment against the coaching staff.

 

[BradleyBrave]

That guy, Bradley does not have any recruits signed now, but they do have recruits they are following and will sign. If a coaching change is made, those will disappear, as will a number of current players. It happens with every coaching change, so it will happen, and maybe there are some fans who are OK with that.

Surely the next coach will bring in far better players? Maybe the fact that a new coach will have the new facilities to boast about will help. But then maybe it will help Jim Les if he stays.

Jankovich didn't have a problem with guys leaving, and Les really didn't either when he got here. Tisby and Tucker were probably already gone, and Granger, well, who knows with that guy. So I have to ask, is that really a reason to keep a guy? Sure, some guys might leave. Guys might be leaving anyways. But that didn't keep us from letting Molinari go, and we a had a lot more talent on that team than Jim has on this one. I am pretty confident that Maniscalco, Warren, Dunson, Egolf, and Prosser aren't going to leave. Warren and Dunson would have no eligibility left. Maniscalco isn't going to sit out the year before his senior year. Egolf just sat out a year. Prosser isn't going to want to sit out 2 years in a row. That's a pretty solid nucleus that isn't going anywhere. Thompson is a question mark even if Jim stays. Perhaps Taylor Brown leaves? I'm not sure he would want to sit out a whole other year either, considering he didn't really play his first year out of school, and had only a small role last year. But he would be the only guy I would really be worried about. With no one signed for next year, the remaining guys on the team all have a shot at significant playing time, which is incentive to stay.

With the nucleus I mentioned above that really can't go anywhere, there is a chance to win right away next year, whether Jim is leading us or not. The last 8 years tells us that it's more likely than not that we'll underachieve next year with the status quo. Why not roll the dice? Do we have zero faith in our university to make a good decision?

 

[BradleyJD]

I never said anything about my opinion being #1 or better than anyone else's. Where did you get that?

I got that from this statement.

You are wrong. Nobody here has voiced their opinion any more clearly than I have.

My reference was to the fact that I have more posts here than anyone, except maybe 1 other poster, so for someone to accuse me of shying away from giving my opinion, which is what was done, is just plain silly.

Giving your opinion and answering my question are two different things. Anyone could give an opinion, but not answer a direct question. I think that is what the other poster meant by saying my questions would not be answered.

And I appreciate where you and others are with their opions. I just happen to have a different perspective.
If we are going to put as much weight on Jim Les' first couple years as we do for the last 3 or 4 years, then maybe he deserves firing. But I don't think most people would consider things that way.

The bottom line, to me, is this. This program does seem to be "trending" towards mediocrity. I do not think the numbers show anything else.

One more year, one more year, one more year is getting a little tired, IMO.

I do certainly respect your right to disagree though.

 

[Out of Balance]

I am praying that the UNC fans or the UCLA fans are as miserable and hard to please as fans "elsewhere" and then we can go after and hire Roy Williams or Ben Howland

I absolutely hate being compared as a Bradley fan to Chicago Cub fans, and unfortunately that is what being a Bradley Basketball fan is coming to...


Very sad...

Come On SLB, wait till next year:lol: You made it back OK:doubt:

 

[JMM28]

With the nucleus I mentioned above that really can't go anywhere, there is a chance to win right away next year, whether Jim is leading us or not. The last 8 years tells us that it's more likely than not that we'll underachieve next year with the status quo. Why not roll the dice? Do we have zero faith in our university to make a good decision?

I don't think you can use players leaving as an excuse to keep a coach or not. It wasn't a factor, under a different admin, in Coach Mo. That team had 10x the talent this team does.

I would wager that more players have transferred in the last 2 years than would leave the program if there were a coaching change this offseason.

 

[BradleyJD]

I don't think you can use players leaving as an excuse to keep a coach or not. It wasn't a factor, under a different admin, in Coach Mo. That team had 10x the talent this team does.

I would wager that more players have transferred in the last 2 years than would leave the program if there were a coaching change this offseason.

Regardless of any of this. A change at coach is never about 1 player leaving or coming.

A change at coach is about a systemic problem, a foundation problem, or a program problem. You cannot keep a coach because someone MIGHT leave. If you believe the coach or program needs the change, you do it.

You do it for the good of the program in the long run. Not the player in the short term.

 

[BradleyBrave]

I don't think you can use players leaving as an excuse to keep a coach or not. It wasn't a factor, under a different admin, in Coach Mo. That team had 10x the talent this team does.

I would wager that more players have transferred in the last 2 years than would leave the program if there were a coaching change this offseason.

Agree 100%. Plus nearly half the team can't really transfer to DI without losing their eligibility anyways. If discussions are had regarding the leadership of the program next year, I doubt this will come into play very much.

 

[wizard1]

I don't blame the coaching

I don't blame the coaching

Coach--- I agree with what you are saying regarding JL. Let's finish the season( I hope we don't succumb to playing in another "nothing" tournament), get our recruits signed (Hopefully including Wilkins) , evaluate the situation and our results over the past 8 years, set some objectives for the program, then give JL ONE MORE YEAR TO TURN IT AROUND.

Regarding players leaving after a change---I have been thru 4 coaching changes at BU and closely involved in a couple of them. I can't recall losing a significant player after any of them although we almost lost Hawkins to Villanova and most of the rest of the team elsewhere after Abegg ran Versace off.

Fortunately, Ron Ferguson stepped in and saved the day by convincing everyone including HH to stay.

We always seem to hear the excuse that a new guy may be worse that the current guy. Same thing happens in business when a CEO or top management change is made. Obviously sometimes it works out very well and sometimes it doesn't but you'll never improve a poor situation if you don't have the fortitude to make a change when it is needed.

 

[Da Coach]

I got that from this statement....

I never meant to imply my opinion was superior to anyone else's. The 13,962 number to the right of my name means I have posted 13,962 times here, a large number of those very opinionated posts and anyone who wants to know where I stand can look back and see it. It's funny that I get criticized for voicing my opinion too much by some, and shying away from it by others. I guess I can't please everyone.:lol:

 

[BradleyDU4]

Coach--- I agree with what you are saying regarding JL. Let's finish the season( I hope we don't succumb to playing in another "nothing" tournament), get our recruits signed (Hopefully including Wilkins) , evaluate the situation and our results over the past 8 years, set some objectives for the program, then give JL ONE MORE YEAR TO TURN IT AROUND.

Regarding players leaving after a change---I have been thru 4 coaching changes at BU and closely involved in a couple of them. I can't recall losing a significant player after any of them although we almost lost Hawkins to Villanova and most of the rest of the team elsewhere after Abegg ran Versace off.

Fortunately, Ron Ferguson stepped in and saved the day by convincing everyone including HH to stay.

We always seem to hear the excuse that a new guy may be worse that the current guy. Same thing happens in business when a CEO or top management change is made. Obviously sometimes it works out very well and sometimes it doesn't but you'll never improve a poor situation if you don't have the fortitude to make a change when it is needed.

When you say dont succumb to a nothing tournament (CIT, CBI), what are your honest expectations at this point in the year? Do you think the NCAA or NIT are likely and if not would you rather play in no tournament at all?

 

[houstontxbrave]

This whole Jim Les thing is overblown by all of us. He is exactly like this program, average. He got very hot for about a month in 06. Other then that this program and its coach is about as average as average gets.

Until he develops/recruits anyone who can handle the lane and get defensive rebounds this program will continue down the average path.

You can not get out rebounded by 13 and by 11 on the offensive boards and expect things to change... even if we would have won, this getting blown out on the boards is a joke. But when you bring off the bench a 6th year unathletic senior and 2 guards I guess rebounding is not high prioriety nor is the development of big 5's.

 

[That Guy]

I don't think people criticize you for voicing your opinions, but for not giving direct answers when people ask you to answer them.

 

[chitown fanatic]

DC, I haven't said anything about your opinion other than the idea that we don't have a good home record because we don't practice there is absurd. I will say that about your opinion because the facts don't back it up. we've played there for almost thirty years and compiled a more than 3-1 win to loss ratio during that time. those are facts and they carry more weight than anyone's opinions, and when they prove an opinion wrong, they deserve to be called out. I'm glad you support BU, all of us do. And I'm not saying changing the coach will save the day, either at the end of the season, or in the future for that matter. My misery is largely based on opinions that people think the things you stated(tophalf finishes, 20 win seasons,etc) are good enough. It's akin to believing C's are acceptable. To people who have opinions like mine, average is NEVER acceptable, no matter what you do. AVERAGE is for LOSERS. This isn't being negative and it isn't meant to attack. It's written over and over by me because I can't believe others can feel the opposite. It's clear you do, but claiming we enjoy this misery is just flat out wrong.(and you never directly answered his question, just more hyperbole)

 

[Fetz86]

When you say dont succumb to a nothing tournament (CIT, CBI), what are your honest expectations at this point in the year? Do you think the NCAA or NIT are likely and if not would you rather play in no tournament at all?

I would rather play in no tournament at all this year unless we win the Valley Tournament. Postseason play is a reward for a good regular season, which is not what we have had.

 

[Da Coach]

If you felt your position has been made clear many times, and you got attacked every time you gave an opinion or answered a question, would you want to keep responding?

 

[Beninator]

This whole Jim Les thing is overblown by all of us. He is exactly like this program, average. He got very hot for about a month in 06. Other then that this program and its coach is about as average as average gets.

Until he develops/recruits anyone who can handle the lane and get defensive rebounds this program will continue down the average path.

You can not get out rebounded by 13 and by 11 on the offensive boards and expect things to change... even if we would have won, this getting blown out on the boards is a joke. But when you bring off the bench a 6th year unathletic senior and 2 guards I guess rebounding is not high prioriety nor is the development of big 5's.

I agree with your post Houston. Additionally, (not a knock against the current guys) but we also need to shell out the $$$$ to get some assistant coaches!