How surprised?

[DeltaBrave03]

Lefty, please don't state my opinions for me. I am happy to see the improvement we have seen. But to suggest that we are vastly improved just because of the number of wins is shortsighted, would you agree? And to compare this year with last year and imply or state that this shows the improvement over Jim Les is silly. Jim Les was not here last year.

The fact that everything Geno accomplishes is instantly compared to Les or what Les could have done is silly. Kind of sad that some are so hung up on a former coach they can't enjoy some BU hoops but that's their lose. I wish Jimmy the best, I like Geno a lot, and I believe BU is moving in the right direction.

[DeltaBrave03]

I have no gripe with anyone who believes that. And I am fine with the direction we are now headed. But there are a lot of people who did not think a change needed to be made. Thousands of those people have apparently sworn off Bradley basketball judging from the lack of attendance this season. That unfortunately is part of the fallout.
If it takes 4 or 5 years to get back to where we were, will that have been worth it?

That is unbelievable. Thousands have not sworn of bradley basketball they have found other things to do since BU was not winning. Maybe a few friends of jimmy and not Bradley fans swore off the program but thousands have not.

[Bravesfan]

You know... I liked JL. I even wanted to see JL given one more year here to see what could be done with the recruits to go along with the rest of the team we had. But, I was getting sick of seeing us run the archaic weave, running out on the floor a 3,4, or even a 5 guard offense and wonder why we couldn't rebound, sitting JP during long stretches in the second half of the UNI game where we could have used him, and really tired of seeing JL pick up technical fouls towards the end of a game in situations that killed any chance for us to win! When during the JL era did we have an immediate contribution from a JUCO player? It didn't happen very often after the Sweet 16 season. We have no doubt played a softer schedule and I have no problem with that. But, remember, two years ago we lost to QUINCY in a pre season game. Let's move forward and embrace the improvement that we have noticed since last year.

Just a hypothetical comment from me. Bob Knight used to run the same motion offense just about every year during his coaching career, and he won most of the time with it. Earlier in his career he had better recruits, but later on towards the end of his time at Indiana, and especially at Texas Tech he often won with players that would have trouble making the Drake starting five (maybe a slight exaggeration, but you know where I'm going)! So it's not always the system that's the problem. Remember Les did retool the offense after POB left, and the Braves had a couple pretty decent years before the injury bug hit. I don't know if Les could have tweaked the offense a bit more in his last few seasons, but I don't think any offense would overcome the injury issues he went through.

And regarding the Quincy game, I couldn't care less if we lost a pre season game other than if our effort was poor. Some coaches don't even care if their team wins these type of games as long as they use the game to work on fundamentals.

[Gary the Gargoyle]

You know who I imagine doesn't give 2 squats about any of these opinions - Geno Ford.

[Bravesfan]

If you had stopped there I would have said fine. But the rest I have to say I don't agree. I think attendance will be back up as soon as we win consistently.

And as far as 4 or 5 years to get back were we were. I think we are at or above were we were. And it isn't were I want to be. We need to add at least a couple more T Pickett level players so we can compete at the top level of the Valley.

Or really? We are better than we were in 2009 and 2010 when we finished above .500 in both seasons? Not quite!

We are better than we have been the last two seasons....so far. Well, we will have more wins than those two seasons. But when I assess a season, I also look at the quality of teams we have beaten. That's why I don't like making an assessment until I see a larger body of work. That's why I will wait until mid-February until I have a much better idea of how improved we are this year.

[BradleyJD]

You know who I imagine doesn't give 2 squats about any of these opinions - Geno Ford.

Agreed....Geno doesn't care about Jim Les. Why would he? His goal and focus is in rebuilding the program from the bottom of the Valley.

This process is still in its infancy....long way to go.

Keep up the good work!

[Bravesfan]

That is unbelievable. Thousands have not sworn of bradley basketball they have found other things to do since BU was not winning. Maybe a few friends of jimmy and not Bradley fans swore off the program but thousands have not.

Then why the sharp drop off DB?

[Buesch N Chips]

Lefty, please don't state my opinions for me. I am happy to see the improvement we have seen. But to suggest that we are vastly improved just because of the number of wins is shortsighted, would you agree? And to compare this year with last year and imply or state that this shows the improvement over Jim Les is silly. Jim Les was not here last year.

So, DC, do you think Jim Les should still be the coach at Bradley? Do you think of Jim Les, because of his Bradley ties, is a "lifetime contract" type of coach? Those type of guys certainly exist.

I truly understand allegiances to a coach that some fans got to know on a personal level, I really do. I think it shows that you are a good friend. In addition, the fact that UC-Davis is within 50 points of Bradley in the kenpom in a much weaker league certainly shows that Jim Les knows how to coach basketball. Lord knows what will happen to some people around here if they pass us. I hope his successes continue, but I certainly don't hope they pass us.

I think we need to be careful and make sure Coach Ford knows he has support. He made a comment on the radio after the Missouri State game implying the season ticket holders across from him in the arena don't have the greatest opinion of him. Was he just being self-deprecating, or was he making a statement?

On the other hand, I agree with you, this is Geno's team, not Jim Les'. What this team does is a direct result of the coaching the boys have received from Coach Ford and his staff. Jim Les 2000+ miles away no longer has any influence on our results, for better or worse.

[Bravesfan]

You know who I imagine doesn't give 2 squats about any of these opinions - Geno Ford.

I think you are 100% right Gary. But we still have the right to post our opinions even if Geno doesn't read them.

[lake Camelot]

Or really? We are better than we were in 2009 and 2010 when we finished above .500 in both seasons? Not quite!

We are better than we have been the last two seasons....so far. Well, we will have more wins than those two seasons. But when I assess a season, I also look at the quality of teams we have beaten. That's why I don't like making an assessment until I see a larger body of work. That's why I will wait until mid-February until I have a much better idea of how improved we are this year.

I could see your point on this. But my feeling by Jim's last season the arrow was pointed down. We were getting a little worse each year. We could not get any big men. Each year we were a little weaker in the middle. So I think we are a little better with the arrow pointed up. (Still a long way to go). I would assume we may be around 16-16 this year by the time it is over. Not great not bad. But exciting to compete a little.

[Bravesfan]

So, DC, do you think Jim Les should still be the coach at Bradley? Do you think of Jim Les, because of his Bradley ties, is a "lifetime contract" type of coach? Those type of guys certainly exist.

I truly understand allegiances to a coach that some fans got to know on a personal level, I really do. I think it shows that you are a good friend. In addition, the fact that UC-Davis is within 50 points of Bradley in the kenpom in a much weaker league certainly shows that Jim Les knows how to coach basketball. Lord knows what will happen to some people around here if they pass us. I hope his successes continue, but I certainly don't hope they pass us.

I think we need to be careful and make sure Coach Ford knows he has support. He made a comment on the radio after the Missouri State game implying the season ticket holders across from him in the arena don't have the greatest opinion of him. Was he just being self-deprecating, or was he making a statement?

On the other hand, I agree with you, this is Geno's team, not Jim Les'. What this team does is a direct result of the coaching the boys have received from Coach Ford and his staff. Jim Les 2000+ miles away no longer has any influence on our results, for better or worse.

I can't speak for everyone, but I don't think anyone is saying Les should have been guaranteed a "lifetime" contract just because he has ties to Bradley. But you don't fire a coach after a season when injuries greatly impeded the progress of their team. I understand Greg Marshall is an exception to that rule as his team overcame the injuries and the loss of five starters. But that is usually the exception. As I have said before, if the administration wanted Les fired, they should have done it after their second "EIEIO" tournament appearance, but not in season's 8 and 9 when the injuries were at their worst. If he came back for a tenth season, and the team finished last again with a full roster with no serious injuries, then one could have made a better arguement for his removal.

Regarding Geno's comment, if true that's really unfortunate. I think we can all be in full support of Geno even if we disagreed on Les's firing. Les is gone, and there is nothing that can be done about that whether people agreed with his firing or not. This is Geno's team now, and for these "fans" to not be giving Geno 100% support is garbage!

Interesting that you admit that Les is a good coach based on the job he is doing at UC Davis (albeit he's still under .500 but on the upswing as of late). If he's a good coach, then why did we get rid of him?

[Bravesfan]

I could see your point on this. But my feeling by Jim's last season the arrow was pointed down. We were getting a little worse each year. We could not get any big men. Each year we were a little weaker in the middle. So I think we are a little better with the arrow pointed up. (Still a long way to go). I would assume we may be around 16-16 this year by the time it is over. Not great not bad. But exciting to compete a little.

I agree the arrow is pointed up. But I think the arrow would have been pointed up under Les if he didn't have those injuries to deal with. That's why it never looks good to fire a coach after an injury riddled season (see my above post discussing this).

[TheAsianSensation]

I will say this: I expect Ford to be at the Les baseline in year 3 (18-14 ish, 150 non-con SoS, 10-8 MVC, postseason somewhere), and for him to exceed it in year 4. Those are my expectations.

And we actually have a chance to get there this year, minus the bad non-con (which is bad. For a reason perhaps, but bad. Let's not make excuses there)

[Da Coach]

Nobody is entitled to the job.

Can you or anyone give an example of a coach fired after 1 losing season, when the main reason was injuries? Especially following the most successful 5 year run in the last 50 years?
And that doesn't even touch on all the other things the coach did to make the program better.

[TheAsianSensation]

I have no gripe with anyone who believes that. And I am fine with the direction we are now headed. But there are a lot of people who did not think a change needed to be made. Thousands of those people have apparently sworn off Bradley basketball judging from the lack of attendance this season. That unfortunately is part of the fallout.
If it takes 4 or 5 years to get back to where we were, will that have been worth it?

I want to comment on this particular line because the opposing viewpoint always seems to get misinterpreted.

Yes you're right. If it takes 5 years to get back to Les' apex, it's not worth it. Bradley will have failed with the move.

But the move was made to EXCEED where we were 5 years ago. The move was made to get past Les' peak.

I don't mind the pro-Les arguments here, I really don't mind people who think he was right, but those people need to understand moves were made to try to exceed his peak, not to get back to his peak. It so often feels like we're trying to judge Geno's ability to get back to that peak instead of a new peak we all want.