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Jim Les gets a contract extension
- Thread starter Da Coach
- Start date
WEEK TV and Mark Strauss just said the contract extension has been agreed on, but the length and details of the compensation were not announced.
This news broke in an interview on WMBD radio. Here is the link--
http://wmbd1470.com/archives/2006/04/27/les-verbally-agrees-to-stay-at-bradley/
This news broke in an interview on WMBD radio. Here is the link--
http://wmbd1470.com/archives/2006/04/27/les-verbally-agrees-to-stay-at-bradley/
Jim spoke at the South-West Kiwanis today, where that interview took place. It was a great talk and he said while he wishes he knew what the situation with POB would be, that they were still looking.
He also said that XC is ahead of where POB was at the same stage in high school, but the question would be what is his upside and will he be able to contribute as a freshman next year.
IT was an upbeat talk and an overflow crowd... Had a chance to chat a bit afterwards and catch up, since he has been on road...
He also said that XC is ahead of where POB was at the same stage in high school, but the question would be what is his upside and will he be able to contribute as a freshman next year.
IT was an upbeat talk and an overflow crowd... Had a chance to chat a bit afterwards and catch up, since he has been on road...
I don't think people understand how bad POB must have been in high school. For Jim Les to say that XC is ahead of POB at that stage of POB's career doesn't surprise me. Why do you think we got POB? Why do you think the top schools recruiting POB were Bradley, SIU, and Nebraska to name a few? If you remember, POB came a long way over the summer to be able to contribute because Jim Les had to adjust his game plan to include him his freshman year. Even POB himself said that he didn't think he'd be putting up the number he put up his freshman year until the end of his sophomore or junior year.
Why do I think he said these things? To SELL TICKETS!!!!!! With a hefty maintenance and seat cost, past on to season ticket holders recently, he's not going to say, " we have limited big men, maybe 3, with questionable skills. We are extremely limited at the shooting guard position."
All I know is Southern, Wichita, and Creighton appear to be loaded and right now, We are not!
Everybody but Indiana St. has at least, on paper, significantly mproved themselves. We have not!
Even E-Ville has all 5 starters back including Matt Webster an the 2 first team all newcomer guards.
We could be headed for a long-long season.
All I know is Southern, Wichita, and Creighton appear to be loaded and right now, We are not!
Everybody but Indiana St. has at least, on paper, significantly mproved themselves. We have not!
Even E-Ville has all 5 starters back including Matt Webster an the 2 first team all newcomer guards.
We could be headed for a long-long season.
Braves4Life
New member
NIT
NIT
For the record I'll say we'll be top 5 or 6 in Valley with 15 or 16 W's and get NIT bid. I'd consider that a success (of course, that's without POB).
NIT
For the record I'll say we'll be top 5 or 6 in Valley with 15 or 16 W's and get NIT bid. I'd consider that a success (of course, that's without POB).
tornado
New member
Grassman said:
I'll take this one....
So you think Evansville will be good, maybe better than BU?
Their point guard, Jason Holzinger was a good freshman, but that's only because the Valley was very, very weak in freshmen this year. But Holzinger had almost as many turnovers as assists (he led the league in turnovers), and I suspect Bradley will be far, far better at the PG position with DRuff.
Their SG was Shy Ely. Maybe he had a decent year for a freshman, but I won't waste my time trying to even argue that he is in the same league as Will Franklin or even Ray Brown.
Their SF/SG was Anslinger, and he is also decent, but I cannot recall ever seeing a game in which he made much of a difference.
Despite playing the 3rd most minutes of anyone on the team, he led them in scoring (in a game) only twice in the whole conference season and never led in rebounding.
Of their front court, Strickland is no better than Zach Andrews and Webster is the only guy that might be better than what BU puts on the floor in that position.
But they have no bench, and in the end...they are still Evansville, and they have a tradition of underperforming, losing key players right as the season starts, and of playing even worse on the road than BU ever did.
I wouldn't trade our chances for theirs.
Let the eternal optimists begin:
At present we have 3 big men, of which one is questionable and one is a recruit, to fill two positions the 4-5 spots. We are an injury away from having the 6 ft. 6 in. unproven Jassey as our center.
We do not have a proven 3 spot man and our 3 best returning guards have yet to prove they can score consistently.
You want to talk bench? What bench? Pick your 5 starters, if you can, and the bench gets really confusing.
Remember last year we returned over 90% of our scoring and over 80% of our rebounding. This year pales in comparison.
and give it up folks, OB, unless he has a Dee Brown type injury, is GONE!
Jim Les will earn his money next year.
NIT, only if the NCAA expands to 96 teams.
At present we have 3 big men, of which one is questionable and one is a recruit, to fill two positions the 4-5 spots. We are an injury away from having the 6 ft. 6 in. unproven Jassey as our center.
We do not have a proven 3 spot man and our 3 best returning guards have yet to prove they can score consistently.
You want to talk bench? What bench? Pick your 5 starters, if you can, and the bench gets really confusing.
Remember last year we returned over 90% of our scoring and over 80% of our rebounding. This year pales in comparison.
and give it up folks, OB, unless he has a Dee Brown type injury, is GONE!
Jim Les will earn his money next year.
NIT, only if the NCAA expands to 96 teams.
Da Coach said:
Well after reading Tornados post and that we may actually be better than Evansville, IF EVERYBODY stays healthy, IF Holsinger, Anslinger, and Ely don't improve, and IF Strickland end of season hot streak was a fluke. We may finish 8th.
However, IF as other pollsters believe, Ray Brown and Jeremy Crouch become the players we thought we were getting, and IF XC is the second coming of OB, IF J. J. Tauai regains his shot, IF Jassey " Gets It", and IF we recruit a 6ft. 8in. power forward with "skills", we may finish as high as 5th.
But the thats a whole lot of IFING.
MacabreMob
New member
Wow, Grassman - you are depressing. You need to lay off the 'Doggie-Downers' dude. Maybe you need to get some 'Puppy-Uppers'.
To some - the glass is half full, to others - it is half empty, but to you... you throw the glass on the floor letting it shatter and splash all over.
To some - the glass is half full, to others - it is half empty, but to you... you throw the glass on the floor letting it shatter and splash all over.
YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was only calling it as I see it! I am realistic, and we are certainly lacking in D1 experience in a league with many experienced D1 players.
Easily 1/3 of our team, 4 players if we get a JUCO, will have never played D1 ball and 2 Crawford and Jassey have not played a meaningful game in almost 3 years.
Others, Brown-Crouch, Have limited experience and there is a reason for that. Last year, they were not that good!
OB is all but gone. Singh is extremely doubtful for a major part of the season.Also, after a 1 1/2 year layoff, how much can he contribute.
It does not take an Einstien to figure out "Bradley we have a problem!"
I was only calling it as I see it! I am realistic, and we are certainly lacking in D1 experience in a league with many experienced D1 players.
Easily 1/3 of our team, 4 players if we get a JUCO, will have never played D1 ball and 2 Crawford and Jassey have not played a meaningful game in almost 3 years.
Others, Brown-Crouch, Have limited experience and there is a reason for that. Last year, they were not that good!
OB is all but gone. Singh is extremely doubtful for a major part of the season.Also, after a 1 1/2 year layoff, how much can he contribute.
It does not take an Einstien to figure out "Bradley we have a problem!"
Grassman said:
Sure if you look at things that way it's easy to think the wheels are coming off, but I remember the year Painter took over at SIU. Everyone thought they would fall to the middle of the pack & look what happened. I remember the year Rabey & Robinson were going to be Seniors at BU and no one thought Rabey was coming back & everyone questioned where the offense would come from. BU had Robinson and a couple of promising Freshman step up and that team overacheived and made it to the NIT.
So next year you have Andrews, Ruffin, Tauai & Franklin, all of whom played significant minutes last year. Then you have JC who played alot his Frosh year and Adams who you can count on for all out effort. Now you add Brown, Jassey, Warren, Crawford and potentially another recruit (could be the Salley kid or possibly someone else, but my guess is it will be a JUCO). Also, you still have the possibility that the top NBA prospect in the MVC may return in POB.
That said, I think that the most promising thing is that these kids have bought into the intense D that BU played in the 2nd half of the season and they saw where it got them.
Yeah, maybe the tanks low, but BU definitely isn't running on E quite yet.
MacabreMob
New member
Grassman said:
OK, that's all fine and dandy.
Now let me tell you how I see it.
I understand where you are coming from. We may have a rough year ahead of us. With that in mind, I think some players are gonna play pretty loose. The pressure of Les producing a post-season team is gone. I am not suggesting it is acceptable to go back to 11-17 seasons for the next 3-4 years. We will have to swallow one next year. I think we will win a game or two that surprises some, but I do believe we will lose quite a few games. What do you expect when you lose 3 seniors that lead you to the Sweet16, a back up 7ftr, your next-in-line Center to injury (again), and most likely lose your starting center to the NBA? I know we are not Duke so reloading is pretty difficult. Heck - we are just now trying to get in the same category as Creighton or SIU who reload pretty good. So next year will be rough. But let's not get off the Bradley bandwagon yet. Let's take our 'rebuilding' year. Les is hot on the trail for some top recruits for the following couple of years. Yes, we lost out on a few great ones late this year for next season, but let's not cry for Les' head yet. He landed us where we wanted to be and he is working hard on getting us back there very soon.
Just hang tight G-man and look for the positives in Bradley's future in the long run.
MacabreMob said:
Wow Mac. I have never screamed for Les's head, lately. I thought Jim Les would make a great Coach before Mo was ever excommunicated.
What I am saying is the Bradley ship could be headed for some rough seas next year. However, I fully expect it to recover and sail into the sunset in full sail in the long term!
Your explanation reached the same conclusion as mine, you just approached it from what we lost , rather than what we have!
Ahoy, Matey! Go Braves