Comings, goings on Hilltop - DR

[Da Coach]

IMO, it all started when Jim was hired. kw didn't approve of the hiring, he wanted someone else, and was anti BU until Jim was fired.

I agree chico. The press coverage here was negative from day 1. Jim was always very open to other people, and members of the media were frequently invited to watch practices.

[BradleyJD]

I agree chico. The press coverage here was negative from day 1. Jim was always very open to other people, and members of the media were frequently invited to watch practices.

I disagree with this, but you are entitled to your opinion. I have many articles up in my poker room that are about BU, under Les, that are completely, 100% supportive.

Jim was open to SOME people. To others, they felt differently.

[BU RICK]

More unfortunate fallout...
A report this morning from a source in Kentucky says that Remy Abell-
"signed with Bradley in November, but after the Braves fired Coach Jim Les last month, Abell is getting his release from Bradley and will reopen his recruitment."

I've deleted a couple replies to this before clicking the submit button...
but I don't agree with the wording "unfortunate fallout", JMO.
It would be more like, "it's unfortunate we couldn't get him, he would have thrived playing for our new coach"...if he actually decides not to come play for us.

[BradleyJD]

I've deleted a couple replies to this before clicking the submit button...
but I don't agree with the wording "unfortunate fallout", JMO.
It would be more like, "it's unfortunate we couldn't get him, he would have thrived playing for our new coach"...if he actually decides not to come play for us.

BU Rick, some people prefer to see the glass as half empty.

I agree with you, though. It's unfortunate if the young man doesn't chose to come to BU, but life goes on and Bradley's future looks bright regardless.

[Da Coach]

There are some uninformed fans who mocked and ridiculed others who predicted that some players would leave, and some highly talented recruits would back out. As expected, it has happened, and we may not have seen the end yet. It is unfortunate we won't get to see Sammy running this team next year, and it is just as unfortunate that Bradley fans may not get to see Remy Abell in a Bradley uniform (I hope this report is wrong). I haven't met anyone who doesn't agree that we would have been a much better team next year with Sammy and Remy.

[BradleyJD]

There are some uninformed fans who mocked and ridiculed others who predicted that some players would leave, and some highly talented recruits would back out. As expected, it has happened, and we may not have seen the end yet. It is unfortunate we won't get to see Sammy running this team next year, and it is just as unfortunate that Bradley fans may not get to see Remy Abell in a Bradley uniform (I hope this report is wrong). I haven't met anyone who doesn't agree that we would have been a much better team next year with Sammy and Remy.

Could we be better? Yes that is possible. However, some have chosen to jump ship. Everyone is free to make their own choices.

Coach Ford obviously wants players who are dedicated to his vision. If a player doesn't want that, then CF has to move on with those who do.

I think some uniformed fans thought the wheels would fall off an BU would barely be functioning without JL and his "Band of Boosters". Thankfully, BU fans stayed the course and have joined with Coach Ford and the players who are dedicating themselves to improving the program.

[Da Coach]

So you aren't concerned about losing Sammy and possibly Remy and maybe more? You don't think the loss of those guys isn't significant?
Fans who knew that would happen were "uninformed"? I think it is the exact opposite. There were fans who predicted that, and were attacked and ridiculed, but now they were proven right.

[Bravesfan]

B N C I think you are right on the money with what went wrong between the PJS and JL. Heres hoping the Geno era will go as good as it seems to presently. If that happens I'm sure the relationship between his staff and the PJS will be fine and we will be more informed on things we all enjoy to read. We must remember though there are things we may want to know but it is not in the programs best interest to be made public. I'm thinking more about recruiting then everyday things. I think its great to hear about recruits when they visit and I think we will hear more about that kind of info with this staff then the PJS got from the previous staff. Just my opinion.

I hope the Geno era goes well too, but if what BNC said is true, you can interpret things in more than one way. Maybe JL wasn't as open as some in the media would have liked, but the media aren't saints here either. They made it clear from the get go that they didn't like JL as a coach due to his lack of coaching experience. Next, the media does not have the right to dictate how a coach should handle the media. If JL wanted to do things his way, then tough! Most of the time I believe the media in general has way too much power on how they believe people should think (ie: influencing presidential candidates, politics, etc.), and the politics of sports are affected as well.

And finally, why should the media care about how JL handled the Daniel Ruffin situation? That does not involve them at all. That should have been between Les, the administration and Ruffin. But for the media to dislike someone because they disagreed with how they handled a situation goes WAY beyond the scope of their duties.

So yes, if Geno is more open of course the media will like him more. But that still doesn't answer the question of why the media always has to take sides with people. The objective of a journalist is not to "make the world a better place" or influence others on what to think. Their sole objective is to report the news. Yes KW can give out his opinion as a columnist, but the rest of the media fraternity needs to report objectively without the bias. And again, this goes far, far beyond just the PJStar.

[BradleyJD]

So you aren't concerned about losing Sammy and possibly Remy and maybe more? You don't think the loss of those guys isn't significant?
Fans who knew that would happen were "uninformed"? I think it is the exact opposite. There were fans who predicted that, and were attacked and ridiculed, but now they were proven right.

Am I concerned? What would that accomplish?

Do I wish people would have stayed and given Coach Ford a shot? Yes, but those guys left. Time to move on.

Those same fans "who knew" predicted all the big money boosters would pull out also. They predicted the President and A.D. would be in trouble. They said DSE was sure to leave, etc.

This isn't a pi$&ing contest.

All that matters is that Coach Ford and the players who WANT to be here will be on the court next year and playing games. You can either accept that and move forward with them or you can continue to predict more ominous events, player defections, and booster walk-outs.

I, for one, would like to give the new coach and the players who are dedicated a shot moving forward.

[Buesch N Chips]

And finally, why should the media care about how JL handled the Daniel Ruffin situation? That does not involve them at all. That should have been between Les, the administration and Ruffin. But for the media to dislike someone because they disagreed with how they handled a situation goes WAY beyond the scope of their duties.

The Ruffin situation I was referring to was when he was hurt and JL was less that forthcoming on his playing status, and KW almost seemed like he was entitled to that information, and wrote about it.

[BU RICK]

I'm happy with what we've got coming back and coming in to play for us.
I don't think we've lost much. But okay, I'll say Go Illini now that he is playing for ''em' man. Here's a question, will DR's quotes of Geno when the word them is in the quote, will it read 'em or them. Did JL talk in 'ems. Does Geno talk in 'ems or thems or does using 'ems rather than them make the article faster to write. That's what inquiring minds want to know. I got 'emed out reading some of those quotes. Got to make 'em buy-in to the game plan.

[TheAsianSensation]

I think it's important to recognize that we're talking about the program as a whole with these changes. No one player, whether it's Sammy or Remy, is bigger than the program, and if one decides that a change has to be made, you can't let individual player fallout prevent you from that action.

Look at it as an equation. The people who supported the change believe the following:


(Geno - Abell - Sam) > (Les + Abell + Sam)

The change from Les to Geno adds more to the long-term future of the program than the loss of RA and SM take away. Now, of course, reasonable minds could argue that it's the other way around: the combination of Les, RA, and SM could be greater than the combination of Geno with neither player. But, either way, I think we're making a mistake by not recognizing the dominant variables in that equation are Geno and Les.

[Bravesfan]

There are some uninformed fans who mocked and ridiculed others who predicted that some players would leave, and some highly talented recruits would back out. As expected, it has happened, and we may not have seen the end yet. It is unfortunate we won't get to see Sammy running this team next year, and it is just as unfortunate that Bradley fans may not get to see Remy Abell in a Bradley uniform (I hope this report is wrong). I haven't met anyone who doesn't agree that we would have been a much better team next year with Sammy and Remy.

I agree that I want to wait for an official announcement that RA is gone before we write him off. But if he does choose BU, then things won't be that bad. But losing Sammy certainly hurts. If it turns out that he is the only major player defection though, I think we will be in much better shape than I honestly thought we would. And hopefully we will be wrong DC regarding our player defection predictions, but it would not be shocking if we lose some more players before this is all said and done. But prove me wrong BU!

[Bravesfan]

Am I concerned? What would that accomplish?

Do I wish people would have stayed and given Coach Ford a shot? Yes, but those guys left. Time to move on.

Those same fans "who knew" predicted all the big money boosters would pull out also. They predicted the President and A.D. would be in trouble. They said DSE was sure to leave, etc.

This isn't a pi$&ing contest.

All that matters is that Coach Ford and the players who WANT to be here will be on the court next year and playing games. You can either accept that and move forward with them or you can continue to predict more ominous events, player defections, and booster walk-outs.

I, for one, would like to give the new coach and the players who are dedicated a shot moving forward.

As one of those people who predicted mass player defections, I most certainly feel that GF will do a great job here. But I'm also one who felt that JL would have done as good a job with a full team next year as well. I'm sure he would have been more than capable of guiding this team to a top 3 finish next year. And while I feel GF could do the same, he will be a bit more hanstrung with Sammy and possibly RA gone next year. But agreed that DSE staying here is a big gain for us!

[Da Coach]

Coach Ford has shown that he wants to win right away, and that he is not averse to talking Coach Les' players into staying, and recruiting Coach Les' recruits. Let's be happy and give him credit for this, as it is not the norm among new coaches, from what I have seen. We don't know if he has made a trip to Louisville yet. Let's hope he's headed there this week.