Wessler excuse extravaganza

[Old Coach]

So now the demand for firing Geno is official.

[wily coyote]

One thing, tho, that I can appreciate about KW's column is that at least the hits one thing right on the head...

that there is a serious undercurrent of trouble - problems with this current team that is about to cause an implosion....
It took two years for KW to finally see what many here have already known for a long time - this team has major, serious chemistry, coachability, and cerebral problems...what KW calls instincts & savvy...
KW tires to mask it but still, he puts it...
"other problems .. and the evidence was everywhere.." ...
"it??™s not like they haven??™t practiced what they were supposed to do."
"Why the chaos...not enough .. savvy.... everyone .. lacks the confidence..."
Then he sums it all up as "recruiting misses" - but recall he had cupboard full of kids he didn't have to recruit - they fell into his lap...those players have accounted for virtually every win he's gotten in his 3 years at Bradley!

Then he slips back to this incredibly lame line that shows just how confused KW really is -- "There is more talent on this team than there was on Ford??™s previous two Bradley rosters"

You've got to be kidding - I guarantee ya Geno doesn't think so and come year's end we'll see proof of that...

But at least in some sense, finally Kirk has taken off his anything-but-JL blinders and now even he sees it...

He sees that many if not most players on this team are not playing like they were recruited to play, they don't do what the coach tells them to do, and there seems at times like there's utter chaos out there...
They are wrong guys, playing the wrong positions, in the wrong system - but KW blames the players!

And you can read it on Geno's face - clearly he'd love to bench them all and put Will Egolf, Dyricus, Simms-Edwards, Jake Eastman, and even Charonn Woods out there but he doesn't have those guys any more...
He has a bunch of guys that I believe he seriously regrets bringing in here.

Look for ongoing evidence of this chaos -- so far, all we have for this MVC season is a few days of giddiness by easily tickled and naive fans over one single home win against the team picked LAST in the MVC!!
We will see GF desperately using more and more switcheroos to find a lineup - more and more players relegated to the deep bench where Fields has been lately and where Chris Blake now sits...
then come seasons end - a total makeover just like last spring - all new guys and starting over again with the same people in charge who messed this up royally the last three times in 2011, 2012, and 2013...

I certainly hope a total makeover is in order for this Spring. How many is the most we can send packing. I say keep XT, AB and OG then start from scratch for the rest. Can't be worse than we're seeing now.

[LongTimeFan]

So now the demand for firing Geno is official.

No, I still think he should get at least one more year and probably will get all two years to finish the job. He seems to have recruited guards that can help next year. Thomas may not be able to help for a year or two except for spot minutes.

Unfortunately Bradley is not an easy place to recruit players. The reasons have been stated many times.

I will comment that this thread is echoed by many on another Bradley fan board, at least as discussing the team and the future.

[LongTimeFan]

I wonder why he would write so enthusiastically about the team if he did not feel that way. We are all up for a new season but most of us will not predict a first division team when we know it is not one. Any other comments about this type of writing is best kept to myself.

[bravetime33]

This just keeps getting funnier each column, and this one is really good for a laugh.
After 2 1/2 years of telling us we were a "light year or two" better, and heaping over-the-top praise on everything from the stellar recruiting classes that rank up there with the best ever to the unprecedented depth and talent this team had, now our esteemed expert tells us he was just pulling our leg and he never really expected much in year three and that we need to be patient because it will take years more to rebuild.

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140108/SPORTS/140109246/10963/SPORTS

Will they ever get tired of creating excuses and trying to put lipstick on pig?
What we are seeing is the massive fallout that was created by people like Kirk Wessler, and his demands 3 years ago to change coaches, then trust a whole group of people who have never had the experience nor shown the ability in the past or now to build a successful sports program of any kind.

So at least we agree on one thing: by the end of year three, we will be no better off than we were 3 years ago (just exactly as I predicted 3 years ago!). And now he says we will need to trust the same people who failed to rebuild the last 3 years and have never shown any ability to build a winner, to begin the rebuilding process all over again. Unfortunately, there will be few fans left if or when it ever happens.

Interesting points you try to make. There was no love lost between Les and Wessler that was a fact on BOTH sides Wesslers point was the same as many: no championships, average won loss record no higher than 5th etc
I was curious to why we have not gotten updates by some on this board as to how the former coach at BU was doing the last 3 years in Cal UC Davis. To my surprise his current won loss record is 24-54 at Davis to date WORSE than Geno's 32-53 at BU
Les career is 178-194 vs Geno 151-122
When Les was hired he had NO college coaching experience and no recruiting experience Geno won 2 conference championships, 2 coach of the year awards, and post season success in just 3 years He had a proven record Les had not
I am not going to be part of the growing crowd of change because of a tangible record of success

[Da Coach]

Interesting points you try to make. There was no love lost between Les and Wessler that was a fact on BOTH sides Wesslers point was the same as many: no championships, average won loss record no higher than 5th etc
I was curious to why we have not gotten updates by some on this board as to how the former coach at BU was doing the last 3 years in Cal UC Davis. To my surprise his current won loss record is 24-54 at Davis to date WORSE than Geno's 32-53 at BU
Les career is 178-194 vs Geno 151-122
When Les was hired he had NO college coaching experience and no recruiting experience Geno won 2 conference championships, 2 coach of the year awards, and post season success in just 3 years He had a proven record Les had not
I am not going to be part of the growing crowd of change because of a tangible record of success

Your Les-hatred is showing
What the heck does any of your rant against Jim Les have to do with this topic? or anything? He's long gone (though he is still cashing Bradley's checks). You and Kirk, and all the vitriol-spewing Jim Les haters should be the happiest people on the face of the earth! You have everything you wanted. You should be loving what's going on!
Yet here we are in year three and your guru KW is telling us we need to be patient and expect many more years of rebuilding because of "recruiting misses".

Most fans I have talked to would give anything to go back to the days when we were winning 20+ games every season, playing good non-conference opponents, being competitive and not getting blown out by 20 or 30 points or more every time we played a decent opponent, and filling the Carver Arena with 9,000-10,000 screaming fans who were filling Bradley's coffers with a constant stream of revenue that has all but dried up now. Also dried up are the post-season successes, the recruiting successes, and any hope for the near future for many fans. Unless you and Kirk plan on buying a thousand season tickets next year, expect that number to drop another thousand or more.