Myth Busted - Butler vs. Bradley

[SaintLouBrave22]

Here here! The last person on Earth that has ever made excuses is Jim Les, and that's what has made him overachieve at everything he's ever done. Why we feel we need to make excuses is beyond me.

Maybe not from his players...


But what are "his" excuses...

[Da Coach]

Well maybe your ardent defense is why BU is mired in mediocrity. Maybe if some of the big donors decided to care more about a winning program than how nice the coach is to them things would improve.

Please, this is the silliest thing that keeps coming up from the uninformed negative nellies. This misdirected anger is pathologic. The donors that support Bradley are not the ones you should be blaming. If not for them, Bradley could easily be playing against the likes of Lewis and Illinois Wesleyan Division II or III, or be mired in a low level of D1 like Chicago State or EIU. People should give thanks that Bradley does have the generous donors and supporters that they have.


So criticize the coaching or the recruiting, or the schedule if you want, but please don't make ridiculous statements like the BU donors are to blame.

[SaintLouBrave22]

Please, this is the silliest thing that keeps coming up from the uninformed negative nellies. This misdirected anger is pathologic. The donors that support Bradley are not the ones you should be blaming. If not for them, Bradley could easily be playing against the likes of Lewis and Illinois Wesleyan Division II or III, or be mired in a low level of D1 like Chicago State or EIU. People should give thanks that Bradley does have the generous donors and supporters that they have.

I agree, the donors are certainly not to blame...

Although, didn't a whole lot of ppl want McClain here?

[pfunk880]

This is a funny thread.

[Da Coach]

I agree, the donors are certainly not to blame...

Although, didn't a whole lot of ppl want McClain here?

Would we be in a better place now if he was hired?

I think you hit the nail. Many of the anti-JL people now are the ones who wanted WM. I believe the program would be worse off if that had happened. 7 years later, he is still in the lower level assistant slot at the same school, despite some impressive success that school has had, and the fact that many of the other assistants that have been there with him have moved on to better jobs, several as head coaches.
Maybe this is a question for another thread, but why have no other offers ever come to WM?

[Scouter]

Would we be in a better place now if he was hired?

I think you hit the nail. Many of the anti-JL people now are the ones who wanted WM. I believe the program would be worse off if that had happened. 7 years later, he is still in the lower level assistant slot at the same school, despite some impressive success that school has had, and the fact that many of the other assistants that have been there with him have moved on to better jobs, several as head coaches.
Maybe this is a question for another thread, but why have no other offers ever come to WM?

Where is this anti-JL faction I keep hearing about? I've never met anyone who's anti-JL, but I know plenty of people who are ant-mediocrity.

[amckillip]

Guys, your both 'Right.' Indy_BB we are not as 'young' as Butler by age. but if you total the D1 minutes of our lineups, I think the opposite would be true. Only TW, SM and DD have any real experience in D1, and at that, only 1 year. No one else on our team has any significant D1 minutes. T's right, they are more experienced in that regard.

However, Butler is a better program at the moment, as is UW-M. Both have conference championships under there belt recently, both have had multiple NCAA appearances recently, and Butler is better coached. I love JL, and DO NOT think he should go anywhere, but to he just isn't great at X's and O's for a coach at this level. He is a great recruiter, is charismatic and a wonderful ambassador for BU Basketball, but I do believe for him to be successful he needs a CB behind the scenes to teach many things. I hope JL is here for many many years, because I truly feel he embodies what it means to be a Brave. I do hope however we get an assistant who knows the game even close to what CB does. A huge part of being a good leader is surrounding yourself with people who make you better...

[BradleyBrave]

Where is this anti-JL faction I keep hearing about? I've never met anyone who's anti-JL, but I know plenty of people who are ant-mediocrity.

I actually know a few folks who were anti-JL when he got hired because they thought Coach Mo got undermined, and WM got the shaft. Some of them still can't let it go to this day, and take pleasure out of seasons like this one.

[MacabreMob]

I actually know a few folks who were anti-JL when he got hired because they thought Coach Mo got undermined, and WM got the shaft. Some of them still can't let it go to this day, and take pleasure out of seasons like this one.

BradleyBrave - I call those people Schadenfreudes.

[Da Coach]

Where is this anti-JL faction I keep hearing about? I've never met anyone who's anti-JL, but I know plenty of people who are ant-mediocrity.

I know a number of people who were longtime season-ticket holders, and even some who were big boosters and donors to the program, who never renewed after the 2002 coaching search/hire, have never come to another game, and still will not profess support for Bradley. (sorry, but I won't name them publically)
On the other hand, there are some who were very anti BU for a while, but who have returned, and made very public statements of support for the current coaching staff.

[JC43]

Please, this is the silliest thing that keeps coming up from the uninformed negative nellies. This misdirected anger is pathologic. The donors that support Bradley are not the ones you should be blaming. If not for them, Bradley could easily be playing against the likes of Lewis and Illinois Wesleyan Division II or III, or be mired in a low level of D1 like Chicago State or EIU. People should give thanks that Bradley does have the generous donors and supporters that they have.


So criticize the coaching or the recruiting, or the schedule if you want, but please don't make ridiculous statements like the BU donors are to blame.

Who decides weather a coach stays or goes? We have been told by allegedly informed people that the "big money" will dry up if Jim Les leaves. Doesn??™t this indicate that the "big money" has an influence over who the coach is? If they have influence to effect weather a coach stays then they must have influence to effect if a coach goes. We have been told that ALL of the big money donors are completely satisfied with our situation. What would happen if all of the donors were unsatisfied? Id imagine if all of the members of the BSS called for a change it would happen and happen quickly. So what are the expectations of the people who have the most influence? I think that is a fair question.

[lefty]

I agree with the poster who said this was a silly thread...but I'm here anyway.

Butler is 9-1 and Bradley is 5-5.....they are both young teams but this is the only stat that counts. Butler is a better program right now. Hopefully we will get there.

[Da Coach]

Who decides weather a coach stays or goes? We have been told by allegedly informed people that the "big money" will dry up if Jim Les leaves. Doesn??™t this indicate that the "big money" has an influence over who the coach is? If they have influence to effect weather a coach stays then they must have influence to effect if a coach goes. We have been told that ALL of the big money donors are completely satisfied with our situation. What would happen if all of the donors were unsatisfied? Id imagine if all of the members of the BSS called for a change it would happen and happen quickly. So what are the expectations of the people who have the most influence? I think that is a fair question.

I won't deny that "big money" may have an influence, but so does overall attendance, season-ticket renewal rate, overall donations to the university, character issues and graduation rates of the athletes, and many other factors which are not controlled by "big money donors". It is just one part of the overall picture. Blaming them is like blaming the average guy who buys a ticket to watch a game with his kid.

Also, "All the big-money donors" don't agree on everything you have suggested, just as any collection of Bradley fans or boosters will not unanimously agree on anything.

This program would be infinitely worse off if the BSS or the "big-money" donors were gone. The current coaching staff has done nothing but represent the university with dignity and class, they have had 3 winning seasons in a row with over 20 wins and the program has reached new heights in money raised, and they have good students who do well in class, thanks to the current coach. Most supporters see that this program is in good hands, and don't blame the coaches for the injury situations which last year kept them from a top 2 or 3 MVC finish and an NCAA bid, and could cost them the same this year.

[BUBraves2006]

I'm still trying to understand why criticism = being anti BU/Les/the school/the Civic Center/the beer (maybe not the last one )

Why would be people be frittering their free/work time looking and posting on this board if they didn't want BU to succeed?

I'd like to think that people don't post hundreds of times that have an axe to grind. Those people might post one thing and then leave.

If my boss/customers/co-workers think I'm doing a bad job, I'd expect him/her/them to tell me what I'm doing wrong. If they don't say anything, they obviously don't care. The people who DO care are the ones who are willing to give and take criticism in order to do the job better.

Everyone who's a regular poster wants BU to win. That's the most truthful statement in this whole thread.

[lefty]

I won't deny that "big money" may have an influence, but so does overall attendance, season-ticket renewal rate, overall donations to the university, character issues and graduation rates of the athletes, and many other factors which are not controlled by "big money donors". It is just one part of the overall picture. Blaming them is like blaming the average guy who buys a ticket to watch a game with his kid.

Also, "All the big-money donors" don't agree on everything you have suggested, just as any collection of Bradley fans or boosters will not unanimously agree on anything.

This program would be infinitely worse off if the BSS or the "big-money" donors were gone. The current coaching staff has done nothing but represent the university with dignity and class, they have had 3 winning seasons in a row with over 20 wins and the program has reached new heights in money raised, and they have good students who do well in class, thanks to the current coach. Most supporters see that this program is in good hands, and don't blame the coaches for the injury situations which last year kept them from a top 2 or 3 MVC finish and an NCAA bid, and could cost them the same this year.

I'm thinking the other Valley teams had something to do with BU not finishing toward the top of the Valley.

I don't think JL has done a great job and I don't think he's done a bad job..