Where are the hypocrites?

[bu fan 9]

I've been saying sine the first game Geno coached at BU he's a bad coach. It's not hard to see.

 

[TheAsianSensation]

Why keep bringing up the JL era? Let's stop trying to justify the failures of the last 3 1/2 years by saying "we weren't so well off with the last coach". This era was promised to be far better, with an $800,000 a year coach, millions more spent on the program for recruiting, assistants, etc, and of course, a $50+ milion investment on infrastructure. These were supposed to the return of the glory years.

I agree to stop bringing up the JL era...but for God's sake, look at the first post in this thread. At the risk of sounding like a juvenile, you started it :lol:

 

[bravetime33]

I know some people do not like me reminding them that I predicted all this fallout 3 1/2 years ago, so I apologize if this offends you. Please stop reading if it does.

But it was obvious that we were headed in the wrong direction, and those in charge were clueless how to build a successful, winning program.
Here we are at the start of year 4 of their so-called "rebuild", and things are worse than ever. We saw the smallest Civic Center crowd last night in the history of Carver Arena, except for the infamous "snow game" Jan. 31, 2011.
Fan support is at an all time low. Revenues are dropping like a lead balloon. The games aren't on TV any more, and the once massive, loyal, and generous fan base has been squandered.

Recall that over 8 years ago, some "fans" started this thread-
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=57

And note that was in year 4 of the previous coach, with a team loaded with talent that would go on to a 22-win season (playing a far stronger schedule), a Top 40 RPI, and a Sweet 16, and one of the most successful seasons in Bradley history. Now we are mired in a stretch of 3 straight seasons of playing and losing on Thursday in St. Louis, and a team that is projected for another 9th place finish, if we're lucky, and unable to beat or even compete with a D3 team that would finish 11th in the MVC. Funny that we don't see any of the same demands for change now. That's called hypocrisy.

So the question is obvious- is this program on the right track? Is it time for some wholesale changes? Do we keep going and expect things to suddenly get better? How many more fans will bail out?

Yea but les did not win a conference tournament game his first 3 years same as Geno yet he inherited a much stronger team than Geno

 

[bu fan 9]

The conference now is a lot weaker. Geno started with better players than Les did.

 

[mexicobufan]

The season hasn't started yet and everyone is done? A lot of new guys, we didnt have our PG and our best big. It isnt over guys. Give it a month or so and if they are not winning then give up!

 

[Da Coach]

I agree to stop bringing up the JL era...but for God's sake, look at the first post in this thread. At the risk of sounding like a juvenile, you started it :lol:

OMG- the first post is about how horrible the Bradley basketball program has become, and how we used to have people, especially in the media who were not scared sh**less to actually point that out instead of covering up for the ineptitude of the current regime, and making excuses for them.
Maybe you are happy with the way things are, then you need to return to the make-believe world on another board where delusional people think things are wonderful, and they are blind to the realities of how far this program has fallen.
I have been right about everything else that has happened these last 3 1/2 years, now, finally others are realizing it. Sorry if you don't like reading the truth.
Unfortunately many of the people who have supported this program are fed up and are pulling their support. I have already heard from a bunch of them today, as so has Mike Cross and JG.
The clock is now ticking....

 

[TheAsianSensation]

The previous coach had 5 straight winning seasons, and over 100 wins in those 5 straight seasons, compared to the unprecedented number of losses the last 3 years. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but IMO, you are wrong. There is nothing in the years previous to the coaching change to suggest we couldn't have returned to winning seasons and respectability, as was the case 5 of those last 6 seasons.

The only losing season in the 6 seasons prior to the coaching change was when the team was without 2 All-MVC players. Even our administration admitted that the coach could not be held responsible for that unsuccessful season.

Oh, and by the way, even in that 2010-2011 season with Taylor Brown and Sam Maniscalco out, the RPI was still not a bad as it was last year, and likely will be this year as well.

If the only defense the apologists can muster now is "Well we'd still be worse off if we didn't make a change", then that shows how pathetic their argument is. This athletic department has spent millions of donors dollars to hire a new coaching staff, millions more on massive increases in recruiting budgets and promotion, and marketing, and it is a total failure and an embarrassment.
We were promised by our Athletic Director that we would be competing for championships every year. Now all we have is weak excuses.
No wonder thousands of fans were AWOL last night, and most of them are not likely to return. This program is in the worst state in the last 70 years, and without major changes, it will not get better.
And people can differ in their opinion, but again, sorry to remind, but I have been right almost 100% about what I have predicted, and most people know I am right about this. Tell me where there is even a glimmer of a reason to think they know how to build a winning and successful program?

Fair, we have a difference in opinion on if we would've gotten back to the "baseline level" (for lack of a better term) that was established by JL in his best years. I think not, you think so, nothing we say will convince the other.

I have no issue with anyone who wants to criticize the admins. Right now, it's fair to criticize the results of the MBB program. But when some have criticized them for multiple years, nonstop, it's kind of like a "boy cries wolf" situation. Even if you're right, you were so premature on the call, you lose the credibility in the argument.

For the record, the "Well we'd still be worse off if we didn't make a change" argument...it's always been there. It's not just showing up today.

And congrats for being right on everything you predicted. Must be proud of that.

 

[Da Coach]

I love being right, and thanks for acknowledging it. I have no doubt thjat I am right now in saying things will not get better without major changes.
I hate losing and being an embarrassment in men's basketball, and nearly every other sport. That is what we've clearly become. Maybe you don't mind.
Other schools at least have the sense to realize when they have hit rock bottom. Here we have apologists who close their eyes and whistle past the graveyard.
This experiment has been a disaster, and the ship is sinking.
Time for a major change.....

 

[Da Coach]

As several people here know, the Board of Trustees were all at the Bradley game last night, and it was not a social event. They was there for a specific reason, and I have heard from at least one of them that they were disgusted at a number of things. They weren't the only ones.

 

[Chico]

Can anyone tell me who, besides Bradley, would fire a coach after a 32-3 season? Our program has gone down ever since.

 

[Da Coach]

Can anyone tell me who, besides Bradley, would fire a coach after a 32-3 season? Our program has gone down ever since.

Or one who averaged over 20 wins per season. We have averaged 12 wins per season since.

 

[mexicobufan]

Very much appreciate this board over the last few years and appreciate the folks that built it and have paid for it. I am out of here considering the current tone that is allowed to take place here. Not a big poster so you wont miss much. I will be pulling for this coach and team as long as they are around. Thanks

 

[tornado]

Yea but les did not win a conference tournament game his first 3 years same as Geno yet he inherited a much stronger team than Geno

Really?
I disagree - some of the players Les inherited were roughly equal in talent to Taylor Brown, Dyricus, Walt...
but by YEAR THREE Jim Les had already recruited and added the following to the roster...
Marcellus Sommerville, Tony Bennett, Patrick O'Bryant, Jeremy Crouch, Daniel Ruffin, Lawrence Wright, Danny Adams, JJ Tauai..

Then by YEAR FOUR, right where Geno is now, he also had:
Zach Andrews, Will Franklin, Daniel Ruffin...all adding up to the nucleus of a team that was going to win 86 games over the next four years and make a Sweet 16 run.

I wish I had the same feeling about this current group as I had in 2005 about the group we had then.


The exhibition we played in 2006 was vs. the top DII in the nation and there were predictions we'd lose but we beat them soundly
...strangely, one of the first posts in this thread was from a doubter who said we were bad and would be under .500 and play Thursday
..wonder how that same person, if he even comes to Bradley games any more, feels about losing to a DIII?
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1727


Here's the report from the Red-White in 2007 -
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5421

 

[Toyota12]

That question has one answer JG. It is time to let her go! Lets just tell the truth she ran off the best AD we had and it has been down hill ever since!! All the discussion about what coach is better is mind numbing madness. The biggest loss was Ken Kavanaugh period!

 

[Da Coach]

Yea but les did not win a conference tournament game his first 3 years same as Geno yet he inherited a much stronger team than Geno

So again, for the hundredth time, we see the only argument anyone can make is that we're really not much worse than Jim Les was his first 3 years.
But we were promised so much more, better teams, and championship experiences.
Many millions of dollars of donors money was spent to try to insure that we would compete for championships, we have the highest paid head coach, and the highest paid assistant coach, and we have state of the art facilities.
Lofty assurances were made that are not even close to happening.

I already posted the demands of some fans to fire JL just 1 month before we started our Sweet 16 run in 2006-
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=57

So are you saying that despite a much worse record, and a dismal-looking team in year 4, we should all just shut up and accept failure?

 

[tornado]

yeah - Geno is making about $$ 3-4 times what JL was making in year-four - so we ought to get 3-4 times as many wins (JL had 22)

 

[CubbieBear]

That question has one answer JG. It is time to let her go! Lets just tell the truth she ran off the best AD we had and it has been down hill ever since!! All the discussion about what coach is better is mind numbing madness. The biggest loss was Ken Kavanaugh period!

+1...until heads at the very top roll and we have the trickle down effect --we will continue to regress and students and locals will continue to lose interest and attendance will continue to decline

 

[Chico]

Very much appreciate this board over the last few years and appreciate the folks that built it and have paid for it. I am out of here considering the current tone that is allowed to take place here. Not a big poster so you wont miss much. I will be pulling for this coach and team as long as they are around. Thanks

Leaving again? Most of us on this board are pulling for this coach and team as long as they are around. Guess we just need better results.

 

[bigjimmy]

When this site results in Da Coach and T making comments that normally would be censored by them, it speaks decibels. By the way the ladies BB team beat their Division 3 exhibition opponent Eureka 90-31. I'm guessing they didn't overlook their opponent like the guys team did. Is it as simple as getting rid of all of the people responsible for the position we currently find ourselves in? YEP! We're as close to ground zero that we can be at. A change has to be made, just like it needed to be made 4 years ago, though the circumstances for that change just wasn't only basketball related. Does it mean abandoning the BB team because we're losing? NO! If I can still cheer for a team that hasn't won a World Series for 106 years or a team that hasn't won a Super Bowl in almost 30 years I think I can still cheer for a team who hasn't been in the NCAA tournament for 8 years and I will be in the upper bowl Friday cheering them on.

 

[tornado]

Very much appreciate this board over the last few years and appreciate the folks that built it and have paid for it. I am out of here considering the current tone that is allowed to take place here. Not a big poster so you wont miss much. I will be pulling for this coach and team as long as they are around. Thanks

sorry mex, we're at the point where this needs to be discussed...
there's nothing here except the truth - may be harsh but it's not the personal, hateful attacks that were ubiquitous here back in the JL era, or on other boards right now as we speak.

We can't keep supporting the current status quo until the crowds dwindle to 1000 and the games are all moved to the Ren-Col to save money.
...it almost seems as if 'some' are happy to accept all the losses and embarrassment with some deluded idea
that it is STILL better than what we'd have if we didn't make all these changes.