Pathetic

[lefty]

I guess I didn't think the booing was directed at the players....but more an act of frustration at the outcome than anything

[Da Coach]

I like Les but I must admit that he did get outcoached at the end of the game (and it also did not help that BU's players failed to execute).

JL's coaching did not lose this game. Turnovers late and clutch shooting by SIU is what lost it. I don't see how that's the coach's fault.

[Braves4Life]

JL's coaching did not lose this game. Turnovers late and clutch shooting by SIU is what lost it. I don't see how that's the coach's fault.

I thought the full court defensive switch that Lowery sprung on the Braves at the end was critical, as was Lowery's set offensive plays to get the open shot at the end of the game. I know BU's players did not execute well at all but I particularly thought that Lowery's play calling helped to win this game for SIU. JMO


Also, lefty made a great post in another thread..........

We left 3 pt shooters open several times tonite. The last play for SIU where Dillard was isolated to draw the D and we let Freeman wide open in the corner. Anyone should have helped other that whoever was guarding Freeman...I think it was SM...it was a great play that CL drew up

[thefish7]

The coach's part in the loss is his assignment of sm to Freeman. The last two minutes sm needed to be sitting. I think he's hurt, and I think he aggrivated the nagging injury in this game. He's looked slow all year but at the end of the game he could t do anything.

[lefty]

JL's coaching did not lose this game. Turnovers late and clutch shooting by SIU is what lost it. I don't see how that's the coach's fault.

Couple of things I wonder DC....how we handled the press twice wasn't very impressive and one of those was right after a timeout and we knew they were going to press. Someone left SM out to dry in the backcourt all the rest of the team was down floor. Making sure you don't leave Freeman at the end of the game. Anybody else should have helped other than SM on the play.

[shaunguth]

For those that had called for EM's minutes to get cut, maybe you can find a spot next to him for SM?

[shaunguth]

CB said " kids should never be booed. News flash CB the boos were not aimed at the kids. I've always heard we had knowledgible fans and I think we surely do. I have never booed a Coach, official or player but our fans were booing the TICKING TIME BOMB. That last 4 minutes were very poor. The first 36 the best we have played.

I certainly hope nobody was booing our players tonight! Anyone that was should just stay home and find something else to do.

[Bravesfan]

Well most posters on here know where I have stood regarding Jim Les. He has been a decent coach, and obviously he has knowledge of the game or we wouldn't be talking about four consectutive postseason appearances, regardless of what level of postseason we are talking about. And I'm certainly not calling for his firing since this team will be back together next year for the most park. But I know what I saw tonight, and this loss is on him! Okay, maybe not 100% of it. The players themselves should share the blame too, minus the booing of course which probably wasn't directed at them anyway. But Les is the field boss, and he is in charge of reeling his players in when things get tight.

There is no excuse for blowing three straight home games after building double digit leads in all three of them! Once, I can live with. Twice......maybe. But three times is absolutely unacceptable!

My problem is not with his motivational skills. You can only scream at a team so much to make them play a full 40 minute game. It's not with the team's effort. It was there tonight, even if it did not look like it the last five minutes. My problem is with Les's substitution patterns. WHY does he INSIST on taking out players when they are playing well, or not playing the combinations that work the best together? Someone answer that question! That is absolutely a fundemental coaching philosophy that ALL good coaches follow when the team is playing well. You NEVER take out players and ruin the continuity and flow of a game when things are going right, other than for brief periods of rest, and most certainly not during the most critical points of the game.

Lowery has taken some heat the last year or two, but he kept Dillion and some of his other top players in the game for 35 minutes plus. Why is Les not doing this? And where were the plays drawn up for AW the last five minutes? This has nothing to do with good coaching. This is common sense! Even a bad grammar school coach should know this!

Again, I'm not saying kick Les out to the curve. But someone associated with the team, Les or otherwise needs to answer this question. Then maybe we can understand why he is making these types of calls.

The reason I'm so frustrated is this is not a team that was expected to rebuild this year. This is a talented team that yes, has not played a lot together, but individually has experience and talent. Yes the national pundits picked them sixth in the Valley, and maybe they are seeing something I'm not. But I do think we have the talent to if not finish above .500, to at the very least be able to close out games at home like we are supposed to! That is my biggest gripe with this team. Not so much the record, but how we are getting to this record, which lately has been garbage!

I understand that some may think that I am making knee-jerk comments, but this is three straight home losses in this manner, which is something that should never happen outside of very young teams that are just learning how to win at the Division I level. I think this team is past that stage, and that is what is really bothering me.

Now I hope Bradley can prove me wrong, and maybe this game is what motivates them to pull off a huge upset at Wichita St. on Sunday, and get to that 2-1 record the hard way which I had predicted anyway. If they win, great. Lesson learned hopefully for the next home game. But right now I'm not counting on it. Hopefully this team from the players and coaches on up can take something away from this debacle tonight and turn it into something special on Sunday night and beyond. But these meltdowns at home have to stop immediately or this could be a very long couple of years for this team.

Braves, prove me wrong!

[wily coyote]

Yes! JL needs a seasoned bench coach! EM should have played more and we should have ran our through AW! If he was not hitting his shot he was being fouled. EM was putting pressure on their guards and disrupting any flow thay had on O.

Alot of people will probably disagree with you but I agree 100%. EM can't throw a ball in the ocean but he will guard you and rebound. SM isn't doing either right now. EM should have been in there until the last 2 minutes then we would need SM because he will make free throws. This bench needs a complete overhaul.We have to have the weakness staff in the NCAA. TICK TICK TICK

[bigdaddystuck]

I have not read any other post game posts on here...and not sure I want to! I told my brother at half time that IMO our defense was sketchy at best and that if we didn't tighten it up that we could still lose the game.

We didn't play defense all night and their shots started to fall in the second half. They did tighten up on defense and we struggled late offensively.

However....we still had a 4 point lead late in the game and all we had to do was break pressure and they would have had to foul to stop the clock. A miscue between AW and SM lead to a turnover and points for them! Still up 2, we inbound to SM and instead of pushing the ball up to break pressure, he let the defense trap him and he traveled, turning the ball over and leading to 2 more points.

IMO, TB should not have been taken out when he got his 4th foul with a few minutes to go...SM was not there tonight and should have been out in the end..

Every team is going to make a run, especially in conference, so I can handle them coming back a little. But the mental mistakes made at the end of the game are/were just sad. If it is a coaching decision thing, then it needs to be fixed. If it is the players in at the end not performing, then it needs to be fixed!!

Signed,

So flippin' FRUSTRATED!!!!!

[Buesch N Chips]

Who's idea was it to have Ryan Phillips guard Carlton Fay for 5 minutes?

Taylor had a good game, but he got selfish at times.

Where has Chris Roberts gone?

Warren is close to being back to 100%, but he was pretty invisible 2nd half.

Great crowd, and for the third game in a row they leave pissed off. Pretty soon they will stop coming.

[lefty]

Who's idea was it to have Ryan Phillips guard Carlton Fay for 5 minutes?

Taylor had a good game, but he got selfish at times.

Where has Chris Roberts gone?

Warren is close to being back to 100%, but he was pretty invisible 2nd half.

Great crowd, and for the third game in a row they leave pissed off. Pretty soon they will stop coming.

Those are good points. I'm not sure why Phillips was Fay there. That's a tough matchup for RP.

We seem to do fairly well when TB,AW,CR drive into the lane for a short jumper. I would like to see us take advantage of matchups to do this more often.

[shaunguth]

I wouldn't go that far. It has nothing to do with style over substance (you must be a Rush fan though! ) I'm just looking for a little more common sense type of coaching (see my above post).

Besides, I'm sure the pres and the new AD are watching this. They may not make any knee-jerk moves, but I'm sure they are watching how this team will progress this year, good or bad.

The new AD started today, didn't he? Hmmmmm......nice timing.

[Bravesfan]

The new AD started today, didn't he? Hmmmmm......nice timing.

Oh, I thought he started already. I did not know that. Well, what a ghastly way to start the new year for him!

[jasonpeoria911]

Pathetic isn't the word for it, perhaps the most mind boggling choke job i've ever seen. Well, except for the bartman Cubs incident LOL.

This was another game where Les just thoroughly confuses me. He plays walk on Phillips 4 minutes in the 1st half for 3 fouls, 1 rebound and 1 assist.

Les plays Singh for 16 minutes for 2 points, a block, a turnover and a foul.

Les even had Singh and Egolf in the lineup at the same time late in the game when we desperately needed points. Did it ever occur to him that Milos is 1 of our best bench shooters and about as good defender.

Is Les trying to run Milos off the team by bringing in a flippin walk on to play 4 of his minutes? Combined game time of 3 minutes in the last 2 games for Milos. I wouldn't be surprised if Darian Norris and him are chattin a bit. He's one of our best bench shooters, PLAY HIM.

Still no Thompson again for the 2nd straight game and only 10 minutes combined in the 2 games before that. His season is all but wasted now, no use in trying to get him in game shape again.

All in all, those turnovers at the end of the game didn't cause us to lose the game, it was more questionable coaching and rotations. After all, we got smoked by 18 points in the 2nd half. A couple end of half turnovers doesn't make a difference. At this point, I don't see how this team will finish higher than 6th in the Valley.

Jason