If Les is less, then who is more?

[dogsrus]

just a couple weeks ago the board was filled with posts about how Missouri State has turned their program around in just a couple years and how we should have hired a coach who would do exactly what MSU and Cuonzo is doing....or that Chris Lowery is doing so great at SIU, surely we could have found someone who'd have done as well....there were even some mentions of how Indiana State was doing...anyone remember??

Well....currently...
Bradley 5-6 - SOS 43
Missouri State 5-6 - SOS 156
SIU 4-6 - SOS 189
Indiana State 4-6 - SOS 59

are they all going to fire their guys?

Thats just it...nobody knows and few care what "others" are doing.

We are BU....whats good for US. What are WE going to do.

[afan]

naive

What makes you say that the administration doesn't think JL is the guy? Have you been in on meetings with them? As far as I know there has been no public reprimand of JL. The only ones that think he isn't the guy are the people who are on this board who say so and the 500+ ppl that boo at the games.

It is not my intent to be personal, but how in the world can you be so naive to think that only people on this board and 500 people that boo at the games are the only ones that think that JL is not the guy? It is a proven statistic that most of the people dis-satisfied never speak up. I wish only the best for JL. But, as another poster so accurately stated, the support should be first for the program, not for the coach. And, for thoses posters that think that there is no replacement better than JL, that is absolutely ridiculous. The replacement cannot be named at present as there has been no serious search or feelers put out. There are many qualified coaches out there that could be possible candidates. Jake Eastman's father has already been mentioned(not to say that he would accept). Don't you think that 8 years has been enough to show some kind of performance improvement? How long are we going to talk about the 20+ game winning streak when we all know it was accomplished by winning games in non-recognizd tournaments? How many people on this board would still have their jobs after 8 years of mediocre perfromance and not achieveing their goals (surely finishing better than fourth has been a goal). How long are we all going to continue to accept mediocrity? Please..............

[jasonpeoria911]

I'm giving Les another yr to produce a top 3 finish but if the offseason happens like I think it will then I think Glasser and company will have no choice but to fire Les. It's gonna get nasty out there.

Jason

[electricmayhem]

What makes you say that the administration doesn't think JL is the guy? Have you been in on meetings with them? As far as I know there has been no public reprimand of JL. The only ones that think he isn't the guy are the people who are on this board who say so and the 500+ ppl that boo at the games.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I didn't say the administration doesn't think he's the guy. I said IF they don't think he's the guy, then why wait?

And I know what your response will be - "Why would the administration think that after 86 wins in four seasons" - or something like that. My take all along is that we shouldn't settle. Yes we won 86 games, but like I said in the article; when it takes you 142 games to do it, the great feeling of accomplishment isn't there.

I know JG likes her own people, and I know that We still haven't finished better than fourth in JL's eight years. It could happen this season, but are you honestly happy with the way the program has progressed since the Sweet 16?

Again, I believe that with top assistants and continued excellent recruiting, that JL can have a successful career.

Where's Al Biancalana when we need him?

[Beninator]

Quote from Electricmayhem's article:

"While I'm not convinced that Les needs to update his Monster.com profile, it's no secret that the Braves have been mired in mediocrity since the departure of Dick Versace. Combine the records of Stan Albeck, Jim Molinari and Jim Les, and you come up with a hardly thrilling 385-339 mark. The Braves have won the Missouri Valley regular season title once since 1988, and have finished better than fourth in the conference in just four other seasons. As I stated in April in my first Examiner article, there hasn't been a major difference between Les and his predecessors."

First off Electric, I think that this is a well written and reasoned article. I disagree with the "Depaul solution" that you stated for numerous reasons. About a month ago, I posted that I thought that BU needs to look inward and ask questions as to why the program has had limited success over the past few years. As we all know, we have had 3 coaches since DV. I think that 2 out of the 3 were/are decent college coaches. The one thing that is constant during the era of the record that you cited is the Bradley institution. I don't pretend to have inside knowledge about this, but I think that the 385-339 record since DV's departure speaks volumes that Bradley first needs to look inside as to how to improve things aside from the completion of the new facilities.

[BradleyJD]

We do have a decent group of players who will almost all return next year (except one senior and one super-senior)....
We lose only 20% of our scoring, 18% of our rebounding, and we even get back an experienced guy in Dodie who sure helped us win games when he was healthy!
There is no talk from anywhere but some of the blogs and message boards of a coaching change...

Wait til next year!

Cubs slogan or BU's????

[Da Coach]

It is not my intent to be personal, but how in the world can you be so naive to think that only people on this board and 500 people that boo at the games are the only ones that think that JL is not the guy? It is a proven statistic that most of the people dis-satisfied never speak up.....

afan, this is not true- if anything, what's proven is that the majority of people who are not unhappy with a situation are usually silent. It is much more likely that if someone is displeased, he will voice that displeasure.

I can also speak as the administrator here, that I get many PMs from members who don't post, or emails from guests on this board and the overwhelming majority are not the angry, unhappy fans you think they are. They generally condemn all the negativity here, and ask us to keep things more positive.
Nobody likes losing, and before the negative posters try to spin my words and suggest I am saying that these fans are happy to support mediocrity, that's not at all the case. But there are a lot more fans who will continue their support of Bradley that you think. And as long as there is solid support of the current coach, don't expect to see a change.

[BradleyJD]

afan, this is not true- if anything, what's proven is that the majority of people who are not unhappy with a situation are usually silent. It is much more likely that if someone is displeased, he will voice that displeasure.

I can also speak as the administrator here, that I get many PMs from members who don't post, or emails from guests on this board and the overwhelming majority are not the angry, unhappy fans you think they are. They generally condemn all the negativity here, and ask us to keep things more positive.
Nobody likes losing, and before the negative posters try to spin my words and suggest I am saying that these fans are happy to support mediocrity, that's not at all the case. But there are a lot more fans who will continue their support of Bradley that you think. And as long as there is solid support of the current coach, don't expect to see a change.

I am glad so many remain optimistic, however I would wonder why all these people PM you but refuse to post these optimistic views on the forum.

I STILL support Bradley basketball, but that does not mean I want to keep the coach and our .500 finishes either.

[Beninator]

I am glad so many remain optimistic, however I would wonder why all these people PM you but refuse to post these optimistic views on the forum.

I STILL support Bradley basketball, but that does not mean I want to keep the coach and our .500 finishes either.

I for one have not posted as much on this forum recently as I don't have the time to get in a p****** match with other posters. I am not singling you out on this by any means, but I am responding to your question on this post. Since I started posting on forums, I think that it is extremely clear that certain posters have agendas and are silent until something bad happens. Then these posters come out of the woodwork with the "I told you so posts" which get very tiring to look through. JMHO.

I think that there things to be optimistic about with this program and I believe that there are some changes that need to be made. I am sure that JL, the new AD, and the Prez realize this as well.

[flipper]

i am curious, cause i dont remember. who were the group of players that coach mo left behind when he was let go. were they any good?

[BradleyJD]

I for one have not posted as much on this forum recently as I don't have the time to get in a p****** match with other posters. I am not singling you out on this by any means, but I am responding to your question on this post. Since I started posting on forums, I think that it is extremely clear that certain posters have agendas and are silent until something bad happens. Then these posters come out of the woodwork with the "I told you so posts" which get very tiring to look through. JMHO.

I think that there things to be optimistic about with this program and I believe that there are some changes that need to be made. I am sure that JL, the new AD, and the Prez realize this as well.

THe only reason I haven't been posting is because I broke my finger recently.

I wish JL would win more, but I do not think he can.

[BradleyBrave]

There are plenty of very good coaches and assistant coaches across the the country who would jump at the opportunity to coach at Bradley. If you don't believe that then you are really selling BU short.

[Braves4Life]

First off Electric, I think that this is a well written and reasoned article. I disagree with the "Depaul solution" that you stated for numerous reasons..........I think that the 385-339 record since DV's departure speaks volumes that Bradley first needs to look inside as to how to improve things aside from the completion of the new facilities.

I agree Mayhem.... Nice article! But I, too, HATE the "Depaul solution".

Regarding BU's long term problems Beni I think a lot of it comes down to what BU is willing to pay to ensure that the basketball program is successful. Paying a coach $400,000 might seem like a lot to some but in the world of college basketball it is not (and I can only imagine how little we pay the assistants). I'd love to see us find a guy like Siena found in Fran McCaffery. I watched him build a quality team at UNC-Greensboro before Siena plucked him. It was rumored that UNCG was only able to pay him about $75,000/year; he now is rumored to be making close to $1 Million at Siena with a strong buy out clause. You get what you pay for.

[Braves4Life]

THe only reason I haven't been posting is because I broke my finger recently.

I wish JL would win more, but I do not think he can.

No excuse!!!!!! I type with my right and left index finger and if I broke it I'd simply type with my middle finger

[Beninator]

I agree Mayhem.... Nice article! But I, too, HATE the "Depaul solution".

Regarding BU's long term problems Beni I think a lot of it comes down to what BU is willing to pay to ensure that the basketball program is successful. Paying a coach $400,000 might seem like a lot to some but in the world of college basketball it is not (and I can only imagine how little we pay the assistants). I'd love to see us find a guy like Siena found in Fran McCaffery. I watched him build a quality team at UNC-Greensboro before Siena plucked him. It was rumored that UNCG was only able to pay him about $75,000/year; he now is rumored to be making close to $1 Million at Siena with a strong buy out clause. You get what you pay for.

Well said. I agree.