Disturbing comment from Coach Les

[BradleyBrave]

BU's transformation this season into a defensive team has been nothing short of amazing and encouraging. That's why I found this comment by Jim Les in response to repeated backdoor layups yesterday so disturbing.


Said Les: ???That??™s going to happen. We tell the guys you??™re going to give up some backdoor layups and by the end of the night, the pressure of our deflections will outweigh the backdoors. We can??™t be overly concerned about that because it takes away our aggressiveness on the defensive end.???

I kind of understand where JL is coming from, but I don't think that saying it's OK to give up backdoor layups is a good thing. We've done such a great job this year becoming a good defensive team, that I would hate to see us take this step backwards. Good to get off the schnide yesterday though and still have an outside shot at the #3 seed.

[Bravesfan]

BU's transformation this season into a defensive team has been nothing short of amazing and encouraging. That's why I found this comment by Jim Les in response to repeated backdoor layups yesterday so disturbing.


Said Les: “That’s going to happen. We tell the guys you’re going to give up some backdoor layups and by the end of the night, the pressure of our deflections will outweigh the backdoors. We can’t be overly concerned about that because it takes away our aggressiveness on the defensive end.”

I kind of understand where JL is coming from, but I don't think that saying it's OK to give up backdoor layups is a good thing. We've done such a great job this year becoming a good defensive team, that I would hate to see us take this step backwards. Good to get off the schnide yesterday though and still have an outside shot at the #3 seed.

I don't know, I don't find that comment disturbing, and I personally don't care what method they use. If we are matched up against a team that plays poor defense, we can show our versitility by playing a more aggressive offensive scheme, as long as we have players that can shoot the ball and get into the post. But against most Valley teams that play stingy defense, then yes we have to play aggressive defense, and these type of backdoor plays can happen.

I think in the wake of our team having problems finishing games Les is trying to say that we need to play more aggressive defense and not worry if we give a quick basket or two. I think this team has a tendency to tighten up when we give up a few baskets and we therefore play not to lose instead of finishing off a team. I think this is the message Les is trying to send to the team when he makes a comment like that.

[houstontxbrave]

BU's transformation this season into a defensive team has been nothing short of amazing and encouraging. That's why I found this comment by Jim Les in response to repeated backdoor layups yesterday so disturbing.


Said Les: ???That??™s going to happen. We tell the guys you??™re going to give up some backdoor layups and by the end of the night, the pressure of our deflections will outweigh the backdoors. We can??™t be overly concerned about that because it takes away our aggressiveness on the defensive end.???

I kind of understand where JL is coming from, but I don't think that saying it's OK to give up backdoor layups is a good thing. We've done such a great job this year becoming a good defensive team, that I would hate to see us take this step backwards. Good to get off the schnide yesterday though and still have an outside shot at the #3 seed.

You honestly think this team has tranformed into a good defensive team?

I think the quote from Les, says he knows backdoor lay ups will occur but our length and quickness will eventually close the passing lanes that allow for easy scores. That great if it happens but with the home CU game it never happened.

I understand what he is saying but I am not seeing that very often transform onto the court. And over playing passing lanes can lead to what happened at home v UNI, open uncontested 3's.

I personally do not think this team is really very good defensively, I think it has improved substancially rebounding wise, but as far as being a hard working, night in night out defensive team, nope. We give up to many easy shots, allow way to much penitration from guards and allow bigs to good of position on the blocks. Defense is more then creating turnovers, its also about positioning by all 5 players and aggressiveness. I think we are out of position to often and we do not bring 40 minutes of intense pressure nightly.

[ER3]

I agree...this is a horrible thing to hear from a coach. Getting back doored as much as we do is inexcusable...You actually can be a solid, aggressive defensive team and not give up back door layups...and Les makes it sound as though that is an impossibility.
His obsession with deflections is extremely annoying...Last time I checked, a bock door layup given up counts as two points for the other team, and a deflection, more times than not, simply results in the ball out of bounds for the other team...that's not a trade-off I want to make all game long.

[BradleyBrave]

You honestly think this team has tranformed into a good defensive team?

I think the quote from Les, says he knows backdoor lay ups will occur but our length and quickness will eventually close the passing lanes that allow for easy scores. That great if it happens but with the home CU game it never happened.

I understand what he is saying but I am not seeing that very often transform onto the court. And over playing passing lanes can lead to what happened at home v UNI, open uncontested 3's.

I personally do not think this team is really very good defensively, I think it has improved substancially rebounding wise, but as far as being a hard working, night in night out defensive team, nope. We give up to many easy shots, allow way to much penitration from guards and allow bigs to good of position on the blocks. Defense is more then creating turnovers, its also about positioning by all 5 players and aggressiveness. I think we are out of position to often and we do not bring 40 minutes of intense pressure nightly.

I guess it's all relative. Compared to where we were earlier in the year, and compared to where we were last year, I think we have been fundamentally better defensively since conference play began. Part of that is because of our increased offensive discipline, but I do think that we are a good defensive team this year. I couldn't say that last year or really at any point during the regime outside of a late season run in 2006. That's why hearing this 'backdoor layups are OK' comment bothers me.

[bu fan 9]

It was hard to play defense because of the way the game was called.If you looked at someone they called a foul.

[Beninator]

I guess it's all relative. Compared to where we were earlier in the year, and compared to where we were last year, I think we have been fundamentally better defensively since conference play began. Part of that is because of our increased offensive discipline, but I do think that we are a good defensive team this year. I couldn't say that last year or really at any point during the regime outside of a late season run in 2006. That's why hearing this 'backdoor layups are OK' comment bothers me.

IMO, I think that we are a decent defensive team with the exception of the "5" spot... No matter who plays this position recently. If our center would maintain their positioning and not go up to double team an incoming player to the lane, a lot of the backdoor layups would at least be more contested.

[Da Coach]

No offense, but I think anyone who is too upset by this is making a mountain out of a molehill. If it truly deserved attention and scrutiny, I can assure you Kirk Wessler would be all over it.

If Bradley had lost, maybe it would seem inappropriate. But Bradley won the game.
Bradley lead for virtually the entire game, except for a 1 point lead by Evansville at 15:02 of the first half.
Bradley was in control of the game. If they hadn't been, then maybe the coach stops what he's doing and tries something different. Maybe if Bradley doesn't make their shots, and falls behind, they go to a zone, or a different defense and none of the backdoor layups happen. I think it's all relative to the outcome of the game.

Winning is what matters, that's what people always used to say on the bulletin boards when Jim Les lost more than he won.

[BradleyBrave]

No offense, but I think anyone who is too upset by this is making a mountain out of a molehill. If it truly deserved attention and scrutiny, I can assure you Kirk Wessler would be all over it.

If Bradley had lost, maybe it would seem inappropriate. But Bradley won the game.
Bradley lead for virtually the entire game, except for a 1 point lead by Evansville at 15:02 of the first half.
Bradley was in control of the game. If they hadn't been, then maybe the coach stops what he's doing and tries something different. Maybe if Bradley doesn't make their shots, and falls behind, they go to a zone, or a different defense and none of the backdoor layups happen. I think it's all relative to the outcome of the game.

Winning is what matters, that's what people always used to say on the bulletin boards when Jim Les lost more than he won.

Winning is definitely what matters. We need to do more of it. Not sure anyone would disagree with that.

[lefty]

I noticed the comment as well. It would be hard for me to believe that coaches want to give up the back door layup. You certainly would want to adjust if it happened too much.
I think JL feels the results of pressure may wear out an opponent during the game and payoff later in the game.

Many teams press across the country all the time and know they are going to give up some easy baskets but in the long run it pays off by wearing the other team down.....we are not accustomed to hearing a coach that we know we are going to give up layups

[bert notorius]

It is a fairly well known fact that one by product of overplaying a team on defense can result in back door cuts, because the defensive player has less time & room to react. Sounds like Les is saying that the good things will outweigh the bad.

[romar]

It is a fairly well known fact that one by product of overplaying a team on defense can result in back door cuts, because the defensive player has less time & room to react. Sounds like Les is saying that the good things will outweigh the bad.

Exactly - I think the steals BU has gotten from shutting down the passing lanes has definitely outweighed the backdoor layups they have given up. Also, I think that DC is improving his D at the 5. He's been a much more aggressive shot blocker as late than in any other point in his career. IMO.

[ER3]

this was also the first team in a while whose big men didn't hurt us at all..

just maybe whatever strategy Coach Les used was pretty darned effective??

Well, I think this had much more to do with the fact that Evansville's big men are the absolute worst in the conference.

Van Tongeren is immobile, unskilled, and a complete non-option in their offense...I'm pretty sure that Les knew going in that Evansville was not even going to try to run plays for their post players.

We knew that everything their offense ran was going to run through Ely, Holsinger, and Garner. Showing up to the game on Saturday was all BU had to do to insure that Evansville's big guys weren't going to hurt us. If it was Les' strategy to show up for the game...then I guess you are right, his strategy was, in fact, very effective in limiting the effectiveness of Evansville's bigs.

[ER3]

not if you believe what a few folks have been saying about Bradley's big guys...

i believe our bigs have been fairly ineffective as a whole..

But Evansville's are completely useless...utter non-factors on both ends of the floor.

[Braves4Life]

IMO, I think that we are a decent defensive team with the exception of the "5" spot... No matter who plays this position recently. If our center would maintain their positioning and not go up to double team an incoming player to the lane, a lot of the backdoor layups would at least be more contested.

Agreed. Not too many teams with a 7-footer in the middle give up uncontested backdoor layups. If we still had POB in the middle Les would look like a defensive guru.