I agree with the second sentence.
I realize that progress has been somewhat stagnant under JL. I have no problem wanting more. I have questioned the use of timeouts and the experience of the staff on these boards, but I also acknowledge that the staff knows more than me, and that there is a heck of a lot more involved in JL having success than KW. I don't give JL a pass, I just don't blame him every time a player misses a free throw.
KW puts it on paper and he's done. If people hate him, he is doing his job. JL has to get kids to do what he wants, against a coach and 5 other kids trying just as hard. If you don't see the difference in their jobs, you are blind. I'm sure Kirk would acknowledge it as well.
My biggest problem in the whole debate, on both sides, is that people are not being objective. They are taking their opinions on him being hired in the first place, and either loving him or hating him based on that, then trying to defend their position with whatever bits of data help their argument. To the haters, whatever he has accomplished is unimportant, and whatever he hasn't is crucial. To the lovers, it is the exact opposite. Yesterdays game to the people who support JL was proof positive he is great, to the haters UNI just played bad and we fell into a win. Both sides lack credibility because of their bias.
I'll be honest, no one likes mediocrity, but who at BU has been able to rise above it in the modern era, say Stowell and up? The times we were most successful, we had a jewel in the rough who surpassed expectations that everyone could count on (JJ, Hawk). Versace had them on his best teams, and some would say he ran a dirty program. If those guys hadn't become more than they were recruited as, you would be looking at 40 years of mediocrity. Maybe the problem goes higher than the coach. Are we going to blame all of the mediocrity of the past 40 years on bad coaches? I love when we do well, but there might be more needed than a change of coach to rise above the precedent we have set.
By the same token, JL has not been able to rise above, so maybe he needs to be a little more receptive to adapting to what needs to be done to be successful. Maybe a new staff would help him with that. Maybe not. Get some guys in here whom he trusts and can add to the program. From what I see, which isn't much, JL has to change for that to happen. If he refuses to add quality assistants or refuses to listen to them when he gets them, he is hurting his own program.
That's what I see from the upper bowl.
