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Outstanding coaching in the face of multiple starters lost to injury

BTW -- I will take no credit for advancing this argument that Bradley (and Coach Les) have been faced with injuries and player losses of a magnitude that no other Valley team has ever had to face.....

This is what one of the players' dads related and was even more enthusiastic about how well Jim Les has done under the circumstances...

His points included that had Coach Les notdone so well given circumstances, gotten 20 wins each year from 2006-2009...then kids like Dyricus, Walt, Jordan, Jake, Remy, and Donivine may well have been headed elsewhere as we'd have been abysmal and would have gotten no interest from those guys....
Plus...... our ability to schedule and get Duke, Michigan State, Illinois, BYU instead of Presbyterian every year or Penn State or Air Force...


All I ask -- don't just knee jerk to our current situaiton -- look at the bigger picture...
If BU is lousy next year with a full roster - then so be it -- but Coach Les hasn't had the chance to show what he can do with a full roster...
and he hasn't once complained about it...
 
TheAsianSensation said:
The point is, just because BU has the worst injury luck doesn't mean Les has done a good job in response. In truth, sometimes he's done good, sometimes he's done adequate, and some times he's failed.

So it's OK to use the injury excuse - but only if you feel the response to the injury was positive by the team.
Click to expand...

And I think most of us agree that the 0-11 start in the Valley season was not solely due to the lack of talent, as we are seeing how much talent we have the last 10 games. Not trying to discount the fine job that Les has done lately, and of course, our guys have needed time to adjust to the new gameplan without TB & SM. But it just makes ya' go hmmmmmmmm.....
why'd it take us so long to win 1?
 
tornado said:
Plus...... our ability to schedule and get Duke, Michigan State, Illinois, BYU instead of Presbyterian every year or Penn State or Air Force...
.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised you don't mention it more often - Les' biggest strength, IMO, is that the dude can schedule. That's actually my biggest fear of a coaching change - losing those marquee opportunities, or, heaven forbid, hiring a Jank. :lol:
 
tornado said:
BTW -- I will take no credit for advancing this argument that Bradley (and Coach Les) have been faced with injuries and player losses of a magnitude that no other Valley team has ever had to face.....

This is what one of the players' dads related and was even more enthusiastic about how well Jim Les has done under the circumstances...

His points included that had Coach Les notdone so well given circumstances, gotten 20 wins each year from 2006-2009...then kids like Dyricus, Walt, Jordan, Jake, Remy, and Donivine may well have been headed elsewhere as we'd have been abysmal and would have gotten no interest from those guys....
Plus...... our ability to schedule and get Duke, Michigan State, Illinois, BYU instead of Presbyterian every year or Penn State or Air Force...


All I ask -- don't just knee jerk to our current situaiton -- look at the bigger picture...
If BU is lousy next year with a full roster - then so be it -- but Coach Les hasn't had the chance to show what he can do with a full roster...
and he hasn't once complained about it...
Click to expand...

You make a very strong case, and I definitely think Les deserves another season to balance out his body of work before I make some kind of knee jerk reaction and/or fully informed decision, but there are plenty of times when I watch certain players (especially a few select post players) who seem to have absolutely no idea what to do in a given situation, and they never seem to improve in those frequent situations... That's coaching (even if it's stupidity on the part of the player, the coach can bench the kid or bring in subsequent recruits with higher basketball IQ), so I can see why some fans are fed up.
 
tornado said:
All I ask -- don't just knee jerk to our current situaiton -- look at the bigger picture...
If BU is lousy next year with a full roster - then so be it -- but Coach Les hasn't had the chance to show what he can do with a full roster...
and he hasn't once complained about it...
Click to expand...

Very true T.

I look at the 2 seasons in the past 5 where we basically had everyone healthy (at least our top 3 guys) for most of the year.

2006-'07: We overachieved led by Coach Les
2009-'10: We underachieved led by Coach Les

The years aside from these will be viewed subjectively, especially due to key injuries. It would be nice to say, "IF we don't get hit by injuries next season..." But the injury excuse just won't fly next year (I don't think).
Now IF we have a healthy roster, will we see the overachieving coach or underachieving? Maybe we'll see MORE of the LES we've seen in the past 9 games (???) I just don't see how you can argue that he's done an EXCELLENT job in terms of team achievement, or else we would have at least made the NIT since our last appearance and such inconsistency in play throughout the season.

He deserves 1 more year, but it won't be easy, especially if we lose one of our top 3 guys again.
 
I was just going to ask, what happens now that we lose Dunson and Warren and if we lose say Simms-Edwards, Lemon, or one of the big time recruits to injury next year?

Does and should Les get another year?


Just stating that while you provide good points, that argument could be pulled in either direction...

My concern is the team we saw Sat and last night is NOT the team we have seen most of the year, so why is it that he can NOT get these guys to play like this and for him more consistently?!
 
SaintLouBrave22 said:
I was just going to ask, what happens now that we lose Dunson and Warren and if we lose say Simms-Edwards, Lemon, or one of the big time recruits to injury next year?

Does and should Les get another year?


Just stating that while you provide good points, that argument could be pulled in either direction...

My concern is the team we saw Sat and last night is NOT the team we have seen most of the year, so why is it that he can NOT get these guys to play like this and for him more consistently?!
Click to expand...

Agree its not the same team as earlier in the season...it shouldn't be...you want gradual improvement...

Lets not talk about anyone else getting injured already.. :)
 
The problem is, everyone in the world knows JL is the world's most unlucky coach when it comes to injuries.

But, his recruiting philosophy leans toward high-end potential rather than solid mid-major players that results in a few "misses" on the roster
And his coaching philosophy is to play the "best 7" guys so bench players are not quite as developed. (I'm glad JL was forced to play JP so much this year, because JP needed the playing time for his development)

So, while that recruiting/coaching philosophy is OK for some coaches, it does require a degree of luck to work. JL knows he does not have luck on his side, and hasn't made the changes needed to rise above the challenge in-front of him.
 
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