If Les is less, then who is more?

[Bravesfan]

Any hire is a crapshoot, nothing is guaranteed whether you're hiring Jim Les or Roy Williams.

Not sure there's any evidence to support your theory since I would say about 99% of head coaches were assistants prior to becoming the head coach.

Yeah, but all I have been saying is that unless we hire Coach K or Roy Williams, we are probably better off keeping Les for at least another year then bring some unproven "talent" in here and going in the same direction. I don't think we would get any better with a new coach next year due to player defections and rebuilding into a new system. That's the point I have been trying to make.

[Bravesfan]

With all due resepct I don't think that any one of those coaches save for UNI has really proven themselves quite yet.

DU, nice little winning streak.....WSU has yet to go where we want JL to go and MSU is FAR from at the top.

I agree. Drake has basically the same record we have and are only one game ahead of us in the standings. Yet some here rave as if they are the "new" Creighton and in first place! Who's not to say that this is going to be their best stretch of the season. Ditto with MSU. They can't win squat on the road. And while WSU is pretty close to at-large contention, they have to finish strong to get consideration at the end.

So yes, third place, and even second place is still up for grabs, and anyone of five or six teams could still take it. But none of these teams have proven anything yet.

[real fan]

I will throw this out there just like I have mentioned before... It also will fit right in with the name of this thread..


If Les is Less, Who is More?

How about Howard Moore????

Assistant @ Wisconsin University. Been there for a while under a very successful Head Coach. He has great ties to Chicago as well as the state of Illinois. Plus, he knows all about Bradley since he was here under Molinari and I believe a year under Les....


I think this would be a good move, any thoughts?

He was at BU under Molinari and now at Wisconsin under Ryan, both of those coaches play a very slow and boring game with scores in the 50"S or low 6o"s, most of the fans complained more about the style of play under Molinari then his wins and losses.

[Fetz86]

Who do you see as potential defections though?

[squirrelgotdead]

Yeah, but all I have been saying is that unless we hire Coach K or Roy Williams, we are probably better off keeping Les for at least another year then bring some unproven "talent" in here and going in the same direction. I don't think we would get any better with a new coach next year due to player defections and rebuilding into a new system. That's the point I have been trying to make.

I don't agree. There are a lot of instances where a first year guy instills confidence, discipline (which preserves chemistry and stability), and gets it turned around the first year because the players also feel liberated and play without the added pressure of trying to save a guy's neck. You can still salve a good season, while allowing the new staff to get a head start on their new direction by recruiting.

The bigger problem in staying the course is that you run into a potential lame-duck situation where if by mid-season things aren't going in an acceptable direction recruiting effectively stops, assistants start looking for their next gig instead of game planning, you miss out on scheduling opportunities, etc. That could dig you a hole that all but ensures the next guy needs two years to climb out.

By making a change this offseason, you might have one year of adjustment (year 2) instead of 3, because year 3 your year 1 recruits are already juniors.

I tend to think we're going with the direction of the 2nd scenario anyway, in all likelihood, so we'll get to see that play out.

[SFP]

I don't agree. There are a lot of instances where a first year guy instills confidence, discipline (which preserves chemistry and stability), and gets it turned around the first year because the players also feel liberated and play without the added pressure of trying to save a guy's neck. You can still salve a good season, while allowing the new staff to get a head start on their new direction by recruiting.

The bigger problem in staying the course is that you run into a potential lame-duck situation where if by mid-season things aren't going in an acceptable direction recruiting effectively stops, assistants start looking for their next gig instead of game planning, you miss out on scheduling opportunities, etc. That could dig you a hole that all but ensures the next guy needs two years to climb out.

By making a change this offseason, you might have one year of adjustment (year 2) instead of 3, because year 3 your year 1 recruits are already juniors.

I tend to think we're going with the direction of the 2nd scenario anyway, in all likelihood, so we'll get to see that play out.

You make it sound like the house is on fire and we live in a house made of hay. I do not think that the season is over, what we have is a bunch of kids learning to grow up in front of our eyes. This can be quite painful occasionally. If perhaps you came int these discussions with a little compassion and not with an apparent agenda from the get go you would have a much stronger voice in these discussions. I'd hardly would say that JL is digging a hole! I'd say quite possibly the opposite. The foundation seems to be quite honestly made on bedrock and sound.

[real fan]

I think there are a lot of people ready to or already at the panic mode, this season has not gone as expected but it is not over yet plus we are returning a great nucleus of players next season so the future looks much better, if we are having the same conversation next year at this time then I would say that there definitely needs to be a change.

[Beninator]

You make it sound like the house is on fire and we live in a house made of hay. I do not think that the season is over, what we have is a bunch of kids learning to grow up in front of our eyes. This can be quite painful occasionally. If perhaps you came int these discussions with a little compassion and not with an apparent agenda from the get go you would have a much stronger voice in these discussions. I'd hardly would say that JL is digging a hole! I'd say quite possibly the opposite. The foundation seems to be quite honestly made on bedrock and sound.

I agree SFP. I think the main thing that is needed is a good core of Assistants under JL. By saying this, I am not bashing our current assistants in any way. IMHO, we need to step up and hire 2 additional assistants and increase our pay scale to attract very qualified people.

[Garland 22]

I agree. Drake has basically the same record we have and are only one game ahead of us in the standings. Yet some here rave as if they are the "new" Creighton and in first place! Who's not to say that this is going to be their best stretch of the season. Ditto with MSU. They can't win squat on the road. And while WSU is pretty close to at-large contention, they have to finish strong to get consideration at the end.

So yes, third place, and even second place is still up for grabs, and anyone of five or six teams could still take it. But none of these teams have proven anything yet.

I think the thing you fail to put in your post is that Phelps is in his 2nd year, Martin in his second year with 8 new players, Marshall in his third year.

Les in his 8th year. This is the time we should be pounding these new inexperienced coaches. In my opinion there is no way we should be tied with a team (MSU) that has 8 (6 with 0 Div 1 experience) new players and a 2nd year coach.

Where will they be in 2 years and where will we be in 2 years. Did I mention we had 0 signings in the early period. When is the last time you remember us not getting someone in the early signing period when we had an open scholly.

[Grassman]

I hear a lot of next year will be our year, well maybe but------------Wichita St. Southern Illinois, Indiana St, Drake,Mo. St. and even Evansville have considerable talent comong back In fact the only two schools that seem to get hurt by graduation are Northern Iowa and Our friends up the Interstate.

[BradleyBrave]

Yeah, but all I have been saying is that unless we hire Coach K or Roy Williams, we are probably better off keeping Les for at least another year then bring some unproven "talent" in here and going in the same direction. I don't think we would get any better with a new coach next year due to player defections and rebuilding into a new system. That's the point I have been trying to make.

Come on, seriously - What are we afraid of? Recall that when Jim Les was hired, he said on more than one occasion that 'the cupboard wasn't bare', implying that it wouldn't take long to right this ship. Were you of the mindset back then that it would be better off keeping Molinari than bringing in some unproven 'talent'? I think it would be impossible to hire someone any more unproven than Jim Les was when he was hired. The cupboard would appear to be more full now than it was when JL was hired, so again I ask the question - What are we afraid of? Honestly, I think it's the success another guy might have with the current group of players. Heaven forbid someone else can win at BU....

[Bravesfan]

Who do you see as potential defections though?

Well we can say that this, this and this player will stay because they are seniors and/or have limited eligibility left. But sometimes you just don't know who will bolt when a new coaching regime comes in. I guess you would be right that most of our juniors and seniors would stay since they would lose what little eligibility they have left. But you never know, and it's tough to say how they would adopt to a new style. Maybe they would be better, but there are a lot of variables that would have to be dealt with.

[Bravesfan]

You make it sound like the house is on fire and we live in a house made of hay. I do not think that the season is over, what we have is a bunch of kids learning to grow up in front of our eyes. This can be quite painful occasionally. If perhaps you came int these discussions with a little compassion and not with an apparent agenda from the get go you would have a much stronger voice in these discussions. I'd hardly would say that JL is digging a hole! I'd say quite possibly the opposite. The foundation seems to be quite honestly made on bedrock and sound.

I totally agree! This season is far from over. Now I'm not saying we will necessarily make an NCAA Tournament run this year, but we still can make a nice run toward respectibility.

We have five home games left. I think we win four of those five. We should be able to beat Drake tomorrow night, and I think we beat ISU red as well. I think we will beat Drexel rather easily in the BB, and split the two games between UNI and WSU. ISU red is a bad road team, and while CU was too, you got the feeling with CU that they were ready to the turn the corner ever since P'Allen was benched. With ISU red though, I think what you see with them is what you get. I also think that while Drake has been playing great of late, they are still no better than we are record wise, so I think we should be able to handle them too.

As far as are remaining road games our concerned, we should be able to beat Evansville, ISU blue is a toss-up and CU will be very difficult. But even with a worse case scenerio of 4-1 at home and 1-2 on the road, we can still finish at worst 15-14 and 9-9 in the Valley. I think it's possible though they can get a second road win and finish 16-13, and 10-8. Now while that does not represent any improvement from last year, it certainly doesn't mean we are that far from a good year next year either. Two more conference wins next year should get us a top 3 finish and an NIT bid, while five more wins overall and three more conference wins probably puts us in the running for a Valley title and NCAA Tournament bid. Frankly, that's not a huge jump we have to make next year to hit the "Promised Land" that everybody is hoping for!

Obviously the key to next year is to finish strong this year. If it means another year of a CIT/CI.com type tournament, so be it, but at least we finish with some momentum this year because if we don't, then we may have to make a big leap to get into contention next year. But it has happened before (ask Drake or Bradley under Coach Mo or Les in 2006), and it can happen again. I just don't think we need a coaching house cleaning to do it next year.

[Bravesfan]

I think the thing you fail to put in your post is that Phelps is in his 2nd year, Martin in his second year with 8 new players, Marshall in his third year.

Les in his 8th year. This is the time we should be pounding these new inexperienced coaches. In my opinion there is no way we should be tied with a team (MSU) that has 8 (6 with 0 Div 1 experience) new players and a 2nd year coach.

Where will they be in 2 years and where will we be in 2 years. Did I mention we had 0 signings in the early period. When is the last time you remember us not getting someone in the early signing period when we had an open scholly.

I don't care that any of these coaches are in their second year. Let's see where they will be in their third or fourth year. If they retrograde or stay stagnant, no one will care how "great" they did in their second year.

I seem to remember that Evansville's Marty Simmons had a decent second year last year.

I know it's not entirely his fault, but ask him how he feels this year!

[Bravesfan]

Come on, seriously - What are we afraid of? Recall that when Jim Les was hired, he said on more than one occasion that 'the cupboard wasn't bare', implying that it wouldn't take long to right this ship. Were you of the mindset back then that it would be better off keeping Molinari than bringing in some unproven 'talent'? I think it would be impossible to hire someone any more unproven than Jim Les was when he was hired. The cupboard would appear to be more full now than it was when JL was hired, so again I ask the question - What are we afraid of? Honestly, I think it's the success another guy might have with the current group of players. Heaven forbid someone else can win at BU....

I'm not afraid of anything. It's just that you feel a change should be made right now. I don't. That's my only point.