Report of Jim Les firing

[FortyTwo]

It doesn't really matter now, but my thought process was he should be allowed to succeed or fail on a full team, so there would be no debate. If he was so bad before this year, he should have been fired then. Since he was retained after last season, he was fired based on this season's results, which I think is unfair. I think he was owed that based on all he has done for BU, as a player and coach.

I can agree with this. I for one thought going into the year that we should compete for and possibly win the Valley. It is a shame that it ended like this with "what if's" hanging out there. With that said, I had seen enough over 9 years to feel like it was time for a change. We may find out that we had it pretty good with coach Les and regret this, but until proven otherwise I'm trusting our administration and the process.

Look no further than Missouri St. A very similar situation to this played out when Hinson was let go without just cause in many MSU fans eyes, but all is beyond forgotten now with Cuonzo leading them from worst to 1st in 3 years.

[Bradleyguy10]

I'm so out of the loop hahaha. Would this info be released in the next few days or weeks, or should I just forget about it? lol

Let's put it this way....one way or another you are going to find out. So right now I would just forget about it because there's nothing anyone can do about it...that is if the deleted post in question was factual. According to DC some of it was "100% true" but he deleted even his own post.

Again, one way or another, in time, we'll find out soooo \/\/\/\/\/\/

[Da Coach]

We have heard the Cuonzo Martin example a hundred times, and I commend him for what he has done. But in the end, other than winning a regular season title with Barry's recruits, he did not accomplish anything more than Barry did there. And it may be too early to fully judge Martin, as things do not look so good next year. But for every case like Martin, there are multiple examples like Rick Majerus at St. Louis, Todd Lickliter at Iowa, Greg McDermott at Iowa State, Jim Whitesell at Loyola, and many more.

[bigjimmy]

I wanted to post my thoughts without reading any of the other posts on this thread so I apologize if I'm repeating people's thoughts. I thought with the consecutive winning records that after the year we just had that Jim would be given another year because of not having Sam and Taylor. It's pretty clear to me that Madame President had it in for Jim from almost Day 1. She just couldn't fire him unless we had a losing season. This is her oportunity to stamp her legacy on this program. She will be getting input from Dr. Cross and others but this is her hire. No one else. This hire needs to come pretty quickly or we might be facing a mass exodus of current and soon to be current players. I'll be curious to see if some of those soon to be players who decide not to come will be released from their letter of intent. With the new facilities we have the next coach will be facing the most pressure to win now than any other coach in BU's history. I'll be curious to see what the length on the contract will be. I'm both sad and not sad to see Jim no longer be the head coach. I'm sad because I don't think we've ever had a coach who cared more about BU on and off the court than Jim did. I'm not sad because we've had 9 years of not finishing above 4th in the Valley, 9 years of guys needing to "Buy in", 9 years of doubling down on the post when we don't need to and leaving a guy a wide open look from the 3-point line, 9 years of "Potential big man recruits" that don't quite pan out. I just hope whoever the next hire is will remember that at Bradley "Once a Brave, Always a Brave".

[AE Braves Fan]

Hey cool MSU got 1st place. They'll get an NIT home game out of it - great for them. Personally I'd rather enjoy a sweet 16 appearance.

[FortyTwo]

I wouldn't take anything said by players or those close to the players tonight or in the next few days as "fact". Emotions are no doubt high right now and I'm sure lots of things are being thrown around. In the coming days, cooler heads will prevail, they will examine the situation from all angles and hopefully decide that leaving BU isn't the best choice.

We've got a great group of smart kids with good families and support systems that will make sure they keep their wits about them and make the right decision for their future, and I guarantee it won't be something decided purely on emotion or anger.

[Bradleyguy10]

I wouldn't take anything said by players or those close to the players tonight or in the next few days as "fact". Emotions are no doubt high right now and I'm sure lots of things are being thrown around. In the coming days, cooler heads will prevail, they will examine the situation from all angles and hopefully decide that leaving BU isn't the best choice.

We've got a great group of smart kids with good families and support systems that will make sure they keep their wits about them and make the right decision for their future, and I guarantee it won't be something decided purely on emotion or anger.

like

+1

[SaintLouBrave22]

We have heard the Cuonzo Martin example a hundred times, and I commend him for what he has done. But in the end, other than winning a regular season title with Barry's recruits, he did not accomplish anything more than Barry did there..

I'd love to give you some credit, but the only Hinson recruit in their lineup was Weems as 2 players were JuCo's and 2 were transfers...

Also, I don't recall Barry winning a conference title...

[Bravesfan]

We have heard the Cuonzo Martin example a hundred times, and I commend him for what he has done. But in the end, other than winning a regular season title with Barry's recruits, he did not accomplish anything more than Barry did there. And it may be too early to fully judge Martin, as things do not look so good next year. But for every case like Martin, there are multiple examples like Rick Majerus at St. Louis, Todd Lickliter at Iowa, Greg McDermott at Iowa State, Jim Whitesell at Loyola, and many more.

Speaking of Loyola, there are some rumblings that Whitesell could be on the hot seat there. That might not be a bad place for Les to land should he decide to continue in coaching. It would be back home for him and in a similar conference to the Valley. I have no clue if Loyola has a good nucleus of players coming back next year or not, but that could be a place Les could try for depending on his future plans and if indeed the head coaching spot opens up there.

[FortyTwo]

Hey cool MSU got 1st place. They'll get an NIT home game out of it - great for them. Personally I'd rather enjoy a sweet 16 appearance.

The sweet 16 season was great, but riding a 3 week hot streak on the back of a fluke lottery pick doesn't earn you a lifetime repreive from mediocrity.

And I primarily use the MSU example because it's currently happening, it's in our conference, the situations are very similar and my brother/sister are MSU alums.

[wily coyote]

Well, while they may all have their own reasons, I think it's pretty ridiculous to just up and leave before a coach is named like some have speculated...


Besides, a couple that were mentioned would either have to go DII or just up and quit...

I just have a hard time with people being ok with guys deserting their teammates, fan base, and university just because the coach got fired when he clearly was not improving the program in the present.


It really says to me more about the player in that they'd rather have someone they like leading them than someone who achieves results.


Look at Lawson at Creighton...he went from the best returning player at Creighton to their 6th man, but didn't whine or complain one bit, just played basketball, and all to be a Bluejay...


Like I said, when did it all become playing so much for yourself and a coach than the overall entity that you committed to?!

I can say that I went through coaching changes when I played...and let me tell you, if I had told my father I wanted to leave a school to go elsewhere for any reason, he wouldve told me:

You committed to this program, you suck it up, and you stick it out...it will benefit you somewhere down the road.

Maybe the best post I've read and I'm on page 9.When SM thinks about what happened ,then thinks about all hes losing (teammates he loves, fans who love him,being once a Brave always a Brave,kids who wear his number and look up to him,and last but not least no senior night for him.) That might be stretching it a bit but it is important to real Braves. Ask Duane Brousard if selling out his alma mater was a good decision. He might say Once a Brave always a Brave but I doubt we will ever see him back on the hilltop and thats to bad.My guess is JL will try to talk everyone into staying and recruits to honor their committment. At least I hope so .

[Da Coach]

I'd love to give you some credit, but the only Hinson recruit in their lineup was Weems as 2 players were JuCo's and 2 were transfers...

Also, I don't recall Barry winning a conference title...


But hey, dont give credit where its do to the fine job Cuonzo did!

Well, sorry, but you are wrong. Even if it was just Weems, he is more than enough to make the difference between a 1st place team, and a middle of the pack team.
But Will Creekmore transferred while Barry was the coach, and backup center Isiah Rhine was also a Hinson recruit.
I commended Martin, but as usual, you have to pretend I didn't to make your case.

Bottom line is that Cuonzo Martin did not get MSU to the NCAA (yet), and his RPI is worse than Barry's was in both 2006 and 2007. And he did it with the Player of the Year, among others, who was recruited and signed by Barry Hinson.
Let's see how happy the MSU fans are next year when they are fighting with Bradley for 9th or 10th place.

[SFP]

What's done is done and we need to keep an eye on the future and keep the flames pretty high on the Administration. They took a high risk and we need to keep them fully responsible for their decision. I hope this was a move made by thoughtfulness and not by someones emotional status.

I'll always support BU. We are all stockholders and have a voice albiet some have more then others.

[CE Braves Fan]

Well, sorry, but you are wrong. Even if it was just Weems, he is more than enough to make the difference between a 1st place team, and a middle of the pack team.
But Will Creekmore transferred while Barry was the coach, and backup center Isiah Rhine was also a Hinson recruit.
I commended Martin, but as usual, you have to pretend I didn't to make your case.

Bottom line is that Cuonzo Martin did not get MSU to the NCAA (yet), and his RPI is worse than Barry's was in both 2006 and 2007. And he did it with the Player of the Year, among others, who was recruited and signed by Barry Hinson.
Let's see how happy the MSU fans are next year when they are fighting with Bradley for 9th or 10th place.

Da Coach-I've never heard (I guess I should say read) you sound so emotional with a response. 9th or 10th place next year? If we don't lose Sammy and Taylor (your response leads me to believe you maybe know something most following BU don't) we should at worst finish 6th, and at best finish somewhere 1-3.

What gives?

[amckillip]

Da Coach-I've never heard (I guess I should say read) you sound so emotional with a response. 9th or 10th place next year? If we don't lose Sammy and Taylor (your response leads me to believe you maybe know something most following BU don't) we should at worst finish 6th, and at best finish somewhere 1-3.

What gives?

General consensus is that neither player will be returning given the recent news.