Kirk Wessler column about Coach Geno Ford

[Da Coach]

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/wessler/x401386916/Wessler-Talking-up-Bradley-s-new-boss

[Braves4Life]

Let's hope Geno's relationship with the media lasts and ends as well as it has started. If so, Bradley fans will get something they've sorely missed out on for much of the past 10 years..... Plenty of positive, enlightening, and informative articles on "the only game in town".

Thanks Kirk!

[kds]

Last paragraph, still throwing jabs at Jim. Let it go Kirk Jim Les is gone. The rest of us have moved on.

[AZ BU Fan]

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/wessler/x401386916/Wessler-Talking-up-Bradley-s-new-boss

Nice job. Sounds like somebody has developed a man-crush.

Aw, it was just a first date DC.....Give it some time...

Since KW is not the beat writer, he will put more of his personal feelings/bias into his columns....That's ok, even if he doesn't always represent the die hard BU fan base. You know that is what you will get from him. I have different expectations from DR as a beat writer.

Could KW have been more bent out of shape that BU couldn't land a coach of GF's pedigree back in 2002, vs anything personal with JL at that time? There was more than one person in Peoria who thought JL was a stretch at that time, but, he was the better overall candidate than the alternatives BU had at the time.

This does raise a thought (or argument?) provoking, though meaningless, question (which is why there are sports forums btw).

Who would the BU faithful had preferred in 2002 if it came down to the then JL vs the present day GF

..
..

[Braves4Life]

Last paragraph, still throwing jabs at Jim. Let it go Kirk Jim Les is gone. The rest of us have moved on.

I did not see it that way kds. I thinks it's fairly clear to anyone reading without an agenda that KW meant BU finished last because they clearly lacked talent. He even alluded that there was no "quick fix" by adding jucos and that that is why Geno went after quality four year players instead; I'm not sure I agree with this, however. This was NOT a shot at Les, IMO.

[Buesch N Chips]

I thinks it's fairly clear to anyone reading without an agenda that KW meant BU finished last because they clearly lacked talent.

I do not have an agenda and I thought it was a shot at JL.

[Da Coach]

...I thinks it's fairly clear to anyone reading without an agenda that KW meant BU finished last because they clearly lacked talent....

Please, let's not insult anyone who has an opinion and accuse them of having "an agenda".
If there was anyone with an agenda, it was the staff of the PJ Star.

[Braves4Life]

I do not have an agenda and I thought it was a shot at JL.

I respect your opinion BnC. Here's the quote:

"But I like Ford’s approach.

He wants to build for sustained success. If Bradley were one player away from seriously challenging for a Valley title next season, Ford would have hit the junior colleges hard to land the missing link. But the Braves tied for last in 2010-11 for more reasons than a couple of injuries. The new coach doesn’t want to rustle up a quick fix. He wants to establish a core that can win, and then win again."

I just don't see this as a shot at Les. If anything, just the opposite. It is clear to me that he is implying that due to a lack of talent BU needs more than a quick fix juco. I don't happen to agree with KW as I think we have enough talent to have a shot at a top 3 finish..... Of course, I say that every year.

[Braves4Life]

Please, let's not insult anyone who has an opinion and accuse them of having "an agenda".
If there was anyone with an agenda, it was the staff of the PJ Star.

I apologize for my wording DC. My intent was not to insult anyone..... Unfortunately, I did.

[Da Coach]

Thanks. For the record, I agree with you and do not think KW meant it as a comment directed toward the previous coach.

[ancona flash]

I'm just finding it fun and refreshing to see the PJS being a bit more active in their reporting on BU hoops. Nutjobs like us who follow this stuff in the middle of May don't need much to get us excited, but for the non-diehard crowd, this can only help in planting the seeds for future interest in the program come November.

That being said, the new penny always shines brightest. Hope this love-fest can hold up after a 3 game losing streak or some off the court player issue. So far, it seems like it would. Sure hope so.

[Beninator]

Glad that we put the quote out there. Ever since the PJS started to charge for their content, I haven't bothered to click on their site.

[Bravesfan]

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/wessler...ley-s-new-boss

Nice job. I've met Coach Ford, and everything Kirk says about him is accurate.

Hards to believe DC that we actually disagree on KW, but in the opposite direction we would normally disagree with him on!

While I do agree that KW does offer up some solid information on GF that many people did not know about, and while KW defintely does like GF much more than he ever did with Les, you can kind of tell from his tone that he could turn on GF in the future and throw him under the bus if Bradley stumbles for any length of time. Note that KW is "cautiously optimistic" and stated that talk will only get a coach so far. Based on those comments, I don't see KW's "love affair" with GF lasting too long if Bradley stumbles to another last place finish next season, even if he backs Ford's long term plan for building a consistent winning program over short term success.

[tornado]

I have a hard time believing we are going to see fair and unbiased coverage of Bradley basketball when we are reading this stuff even before the Braves have taken the floor..

"I met Bradley’s new basketball coach...

..I liked what I had seen of his Kent State team

.. Bradley beat reporter, Dave Reynolds, hit it off with the new coach immediately.

Media colleagues were unanimous: “You’re gonna love him.”

Five minutes in, we were talking like guys who’d known each other for 20 years.

..simultaneously entertaining and informative.

... if Ford is as good a basketball coach as he is fun to talk to, Bradley has itself a terrific coach.

His resume is sound. He got the job done at Kent State

I don’t get jacked up about recruits before I’ve seen them play.
(but I guess the same doesn't hold true for the coaches?)"


By comparison -- recall the words that met Jim Les when he was hired...they were non-stop cheap shots, criticisms, attacks, and insults....

So -- someone out there try to convince me the PJS doesn't hold strong biases??

[Braves4Life]

-- recall the words that met Jim Les when he was hired...they were non-stop cheap shots, criticisms, attacks, and insults....

I keep hearing about these so-called first articles that took cheap shots at Les immediately after he was hired. I don't recall them as cheap shots, but rather statements of fact as to his background and experience. I'd really love to re-read these articles to compare their tone to the articles on Geno. I know someone must have a "treasure trove" of these articles as a testament as to all that is evil about the PJS.