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Report of Jim Les firing

I wouldn't take anything said by players or those close to the players tonight or in the next few days as "fact". Emotions are no doubt high right now and I'm sure lots of things are being thrown around. In the coming days, cooler heads will prevail, they will examine the situation from all angles and hopefully decide that leaving BU isn't the best choice.

We've got a great group of smart kids with good families and support systems that will make sure they keep their wits about them and make the right decision for their future, and I guarantee it won't be something decided purely on emotion or anger.
 
FortyTwo said:
I wouldn't take anything said by players or those close to the players tonight or in the next few days as "fact". Emotions are no doubt high right now and I'm sure lots of things are being thrown around. In the coming days, cooler heads will prevail, they will examine the situation from all angles and hopefully decide that leaving BU isn't the best choice.

We've got a great group of smart kids with good families and support systems that will make sure they keep their wits about them and make the right decision for their future, and I guarantee it won't be something decided purely on emotion or anger.
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Da Coach said:
We have heard the Cuonzo Martin example a hundred times, and I commend him for what he has done. But in the end, other than winning a regular season title with Barry's recruits, he did not accomplish anything more than Barry did there..
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I'd love to give you some credit, but the only Hinson recruit in their lineup was Weems as 2 players were JuCo's and 2 were transfers...

Also, I don't recall Barry winning a conference title...
 
Da Coach said:
We have heard the Cuonzo Martin example a hundred times, and I commend him for what he has done. But in the end, other than winning a regular season title with Barry's recruits, he did not accomplish anything more than Barry did there. And it may be too early to fully judge Martin, as things do not look so good next year. But for every case like Martin, there are multiple examples like Rick Majerus at St. Louis, Todd Lickliter at Iowa, Greg McDermott at Iowa State, Jim Whitesell at Loyola, and many more.
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Speaking of Loyola, there are some rumblings that Whitesell could be on the hot seat there. That might not be a bad place for Les to land should he decide to continue in coaching. It would be back home for him and in a similar conference to the Valley. I have no clue if Loyola has a good nucleus of players coming back next year or not, but that could be a place Les could try for depending on his future plans and if indeed the head coaching spot opens up there.
 
AE Braves Fan said:
Hey cool MSU got 1st place. They'll get an NIT home game out of it - great for them. Personally I'd rather enjoy a sweet 16 appearance.
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The sweet 16 season was great, but riding a 3 week hot streak on the back of a fluke lottery pick doesn't earn you a lifetime repreive from mediocrity.

And I primarily use the MSU example because it's currently happening, it's in our conference, the situations are very similar and my brother/sister are MSU alums.
 
SaintLouBrave22 said:
Well, while they may all have their own reasons, I think it's pretty ridiculous to just up and leave before a coach is named like some have speculated...


Besides, a couple that were mentioned would either have to go DII or just up and quit...

I just have a hard time with people being ok with guys deserting their teammates, fan base, and university just because the coach got fired when he clearly was not improving the program in the present.


It really says to me more about the player in that they'd rather have someone they like leading them than someone who achieves results.


Look at Lawson at Creighton...he went from the best returning player at Creighton to their 6th man, but didn't whine or complain one bit, just played basketball, and all to be a Bluejay...


Like I said, when did it all become playing so much for yourself and a coach than the overall entity that you committed to?!

I can say that I went through coaching changes when I played...and let me tell you, if I had told my father I wanted to leave a school to go elsewhere for any reason, he wouldve told me:

You committed to this program, you suck it up, and you stick it out...it will benefit you somewhere down the road.
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Maybe the best post I've read and I'm on page 9.When SM thinks about what happened ,then thinks about all hes losing (teammates he loves, fans who love him,being once a Brave always a Brave,kids who wear his number and look up to him,and last but not least no senior night for him.) That might be stretching it a bit but it is important to real Braves. Ask Duane Brousard if selling out his alma mater was a good decision. He might say Once a Brave always a Brave but I doubt we will ever see him back on the hilltop and thats to bad.My guess is JL will try to talk everyone into staying and recruits to honor their committment. At least I hope so .
 
SaintLouBrave22 said:
I'd love to give you some credit, but the only Hinson recruit in their lineup was Weems as 2 players were JuCo's and 2 were transfers...

Also, I don't recall Barry winning a conference title...


But hey, dont give credit where its do to the fine job Cuonzo did!
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Well, sorry, but you are wrong. Even if it was just Weems, he is more than enough to make the difference between a 1st place team, and a middle of the pack team.
But Will Creekmore transferred while Barry was the coach, and backup center Isiah Rhine was also a Hinson recruit.
I commended Martin, but as usual, you have to pretend I didn't to make your case.

Bottom line is that Cuonzo Martin did not get MSU to the NCAA (yet), and his RPI is worse than Barry's was in both 2006 and 2007. And he did it with the Player of the Year, among others, who was recruited and signed by Barry Hinson.
Let's see how happy the MSU fans are next year when they are fighting with Bradley for 9th or 10th place.
 
What's done is done and we need to keep an eye on the future and keep the flames pretty high on the Administration. They took a high risk and we need to keep them fully responsible for their decision. I hope this was a move made by thoughtfulness and not by someones emotional status.

I'll always support BU. We are all stockholders and have a voice albiet some have more then others.
 
Da Coach said:
Well, sorry, but you are wrong. Even if it was just Weems, he is more than enough to make the difference between a 1st place team, and a middle of the pack team.
But Will Creekmore transferred while Barry was the coach, and backup center Isiah Rhine was also a Hinson recruit.
I commended Martin, but as usual, you have to pretend I didn't to make your case.

Bottom line is that Cuonzo Martin did not get MSU to the NCAA (yet), and his RPI is worse than Barry's was in both 2006 and 2007. And he did it with the Player of the Year, among others, who was recruited and signed by Barry Hinson.
Let's see how happy the MSU fans are next year when they are fighting with Bradley for 9th or 10th place.
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Da Coach-I've never heard (I guess I should say read) you sound so emotional with a response. 9th or 10th place next year? If we don't lose Sammy and Taylor (your response leads me to believe you maybe know something most following BU don't) we should at worst finish 6th, and at best finish somewhere 1-3.

What gives?
 
CE Braves Fan said:
Da Coach-I've never heard (I guess I should say read) you sound so emotional with a response. 9th or 10th place next year? If we don't lose Sammy and Taylor (your response leads me to believe you maybe know something most following BU don't) we should at worst finish 6th, and at best finish somewhere 1-3.

What gives?
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General consensus is that neither player will be returning given the recent news.
 
FortyTwo said:
I hope 3 years from now were having a discussion about how the new coach doesn't deserve any credit for our 2013/14 Valley championship because Remy Abell (valley player of the year) was a Les recruit.

Oh, and don't forget, you can't use this MSU argument about hold over players as well as the one where all the players leave with the fired coach because those arguments contradict each other, and you wouldn't to do that, would you?
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You are free to believe anything you want. But I believe my opinion is based on some pretty reliable information. If we are talking about Remy Abell being MVC POY in 3 years, I'll give you my season tickets.
 
dc- you also we pretty sure earlier this year that JL was going to be back next year....

i am pretty sure that the team will not change as much as u think
 
just another thought........

just another thought........

I dont think this was a good "business" decision by the administration or JG, i believe this was a personal decision made by JG because of the relationship between Jim and JG. The 20 loss season just gave her the final reason and opened the door and i think she has full right to fire without input from the trustees. I also believe JG could care les about the money lost, she wanted jim lost. Plus, The money that will not be renewed next year will not be surprising let alone what they will have to pay Jim and the new coach. Just my opinion. We will see about season tickets, ticket maintenance, sponsorship revenue etc. next year, the money maker of the Dept is the Mens program period. Not to mention what this may do to the relationships of past players? Hawk? AP? and the list goes on.. Where will the loyalty lie and how long will that last? after JG leaves? If she wants to make it personal maybe others will do the same thing, just my opinion. By the way does anyone know what the average salary in Div 1 last year? i heard $900,000!? wow, interesting. What do you think the new coach will want??? 5 or les? ha ha. Anyone ready for the Princeton weave?

I sincerely hope I did not give out any personal info that has to be deleted, i mean that. I just need to get some of this off my chest because of how i really feel this went down.
 
Da Coach said:
The team next year will bear very little resemblance to anything we now see.
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After finishing tied for dead last (even with all the injuries), that might not be such a bad thing. Literally, there is no where to go but up.

It wasn't too long ago when people on this board were talking about conference expansion and change and dropping then bottom dwellers Indiana St. and Evansville, and look how those teams performed this year. BU will rebuild and come back, just going to take some time.
 
Da Coach said:
The team next year will bear very little resemblance to anything we now see.
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Will Egolf too, huh? I have a hard time believing they're all going to pack up and leave...they have a good chance to be really good next year.

The only reason I would think could happen is that something weird has occurred and it hasn't been reported yet.

I really hope that doesn't happen. Because if there is a mass exodus, BU basketball will be 3-5 years away from being competitive again.
 
budu said:
Not to mention what this may do to the relationships of past players? Hawk? AP? and the list goes on.. Where will the loyalty lie and how long will that last? after JG leaves? If she wants to make it personal maybe others will do the same thing, just my opinion.
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I respect your opinion budu but BU has let other Bradley alums go and survived -- Stowell and Albeck. I think (and hope) BU will be OK again someday soon. :)
 
Tonight my family and I returned from our 17th consecutive MVC tournament. We have been very ardent Bradley fans for as long as I can remember, and we have only missed a handful of games in the last 12 years. Jim Les, as a player and then a coach, has led our team to the two highest peaks the program has seen in my lifetime. He is a childhood hero to me and many, and I will never forget the special memories he helped bring to life.

Having said that, Goodwill Industries is about to recieve a large donation of Bradley gear which I have already started sadly to box up. After the decision made today, to me this administration has transformed Bradley Basketball into something unrecognizable from the program I fell in love with.

It just isn't the same anymore.

I have enjoyed reading many of the thoughtful comments of the posters on this board, and enjoyed games with many of you at the arena and sports bars around the area. Moderators - thank you for your hard work as well.
 
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