Dave Reynolds 1/30/14 column

[Da Coach]

Dave Reynolds:
Still a long road ahead for Braves

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140130/SPORTS/140139894/10963/SPORTS

Considering the team’s disappointing 5-8 nonconference season, a 4-5 league mark and a three-way tie for fourth place is encouraging.
“We’re still in the thick of it,” said BU coach Geno Ford. “Tied for fourth is an awfully good spot to be in. But we’re also one game out of last. Three through 10 is awfully jumbled and up in the air. The question is who’s going to play well to get a good seed in St. Louis.”


Sounds to me like Dave and Geno are pretty encouraged with the season so far.

[Buesch N Chips]

There is nothing inaccurate in that quote. Why are we Looking for controversy where there is none? Some people are so worried when we lose, then when we win they are still worried about the losses. We played great at the end last night. We are a game out of 3rd. Our expectations for this year were no higher than that. Could we still muck it up? Sure. Seems like we blame every loss
on a bad Bradley and blame every win on a bad opponent. A few years ago this site blamed every loss on a good opponent and every win on a good bradley. I miss the optimism. Where is the balance in your comments that you so crave from the PJS? Schtick getting tired.

Last night ended well, and we are still playing meaningful games in February. Let's hope it carries over to the weekend.

[Da Coach]

I am happy for those who are optimistic and encouraged by Bradley's season so far, and I would expect a coach to be. I am sorry that I am not as encouraged, though I am still a fan and I will continue to support the team.
But I am being objective, unlike some who believe we are loaded with impact players, or better by a light year or two, or "a BU team seemingly on the verge of vastly changing its fortunes".

For the record, I was not questioning the coach's quote. But I do not expect a journalist to be so "pie-in-the-sky" about putting lipstick on a pig.
I am certainly not the only fan disappointed by where we are. The fact that we have trouble drawing fans to the games is evidence there are many who feel the same.
They have greatly lowered the bar- they used to expect the team to show improvement and compete for championships, but now it's "encouraging" to be below .500 and competing to stay out of Thursday night.
If the PJ Star was inclined to comment on where the baseball team was picked, I guess they would say that it was "encouraging" that apparently at least one voter did not pick them to finish last.

[lefty]

There is nothing inaccurate in that quote. Why are we Looking for controversy where there is none? Some people are so worried when we lose, then when we win they are still worried about the losses. We played great at the end last night. We are a game out of 3rd. Our expectations for this year were no higher than that. Could we still muck it up? Sure. Seems like we blame every loss
on a bad Bradley and blame every win on a bad opponent. A few years ago this site blamed every loss on a good opponent and every win on a good bradley. I miss the optimism. Where is the balance in your comments that you so crave from the PJS? Schtick getting tired.

Last night ended well, and we are still playing meaningful games in February. Let's hope it carries over to the weekend.

I agree..nothing inaccurate..It doesn't sound like everyone is all giddy about where we are at but more about where we can end up??¦.the opportunity is out there??¦.

[bigjimmy]

Having won 3 of the last 4 games it's possible that Geno is trying to build their confidence up as they go on the road for their next 2 games. Nothing else has worked so far so why not. The fact of the matter is 8 teams are within 2 games of one another. All 8 teams have shown to be flawed and capable of some really bad basketball. No matter how frustrating this team has been to watch I'm at the point where any positive outcomes are good. We have as good of chance as anybody to finish in the top 6th.

[tornado]

... “Tied for fourth is an awfully good spot to be in. ...

OMG - how things have come full circle -- tied for fourth was the rallying cry of everyone who HATED THE LAST STAFF AND WANTED THEM RUN OUT OF TOWN ON RAILS

..."tied for fourth" was a phrase used over and over in a derogatory way to mean we are not just underachieving but we are bad!
But we're not tied for fourth with a chance to do any better - we're tied for fourth because the Valley is so danged bad and we're a game from DEAD LAST!!! But DR still touts it a a great achievement!!!

[lefty]

OMG - how things have come full circle -- tied for fourth was the rallying cry of everyone who HATED THE LAST STAFF AND WANTED THEM RUN OUT OF TOWN ON RAILS

..."tied for fourth" was a phrase used over and over in a derogatory way to mean we are not just underachieving but we are bad!
But we're not tied for fourth with a chance to do any better - we're tied for fourth because the Valley is so danged bad and we're a game from DEAD LAST!!! But DR still touts it a a great achievement!!!

Pretty sure the phrase was never finishing better than 4th in 9 years??¦.big difference .. depending one's agenda the interpretation is always different??¦..

IMO??¦.we have played so bad at times that to be tied for 4th at this point is a good thing??¦..I certainly wouldn't want it to be like this every year??¦.just like I wouldn't want the MVC to be this bad every year. The goal every year is to win the conference??¦..as the season goes the goal changes and it looks like 2-10 is up in the air??¦??¦..personally I think the MSU game is the key game??¦.if we could win that I think we could finish fairly strong??¦.if we don't I see us losing to Loyola as well and playing Thursday night.

[LittleBrave]

OMG - how things have come full circle -- tied for fourth was the rallying cry of everyone who HATED THE LAST STAFF AND WANTED THEM RUN OUT OF TOWN ON RAILS

..."tied for fourth" was a phrase used over and over in a derogatory way to mean we are not just underachieving but we are bad!
But we're not tied for fourth with a chance to do any better - we're tied for fourth because the Valley is so danged bad and we're a game from DEAD LAST!!! But DR still touts it a a great achievement!!!

Man, did you take this out of context or what? He pointed this out likely in reference to the fact that we have not played well and still find ourselves in 4th place. But he says immediately after that we are 1 game out of last place.
You are clearly reading this from an anti-journalist POV. Where did he tout this as a great achievement???

[tornado]

I took nothing out of context...

"tied for fourth place" was always something seen as very bad by media and fans..
but now "tied for fourth is an awfully good spot to be in" -- not just a decent spot - not even a good spot but an "awfully good spot"

[lefty]

I took nothing out of context...

"tied for fourth place" was always something seen as very bad by media and fans..
but now "tied for fourth is an awfully good spot to be in" -- not just a decent spot - not even a good spot but an "awfully good spot"

Really?…..tied for 4th in the middle of the season was ALWAYS seen as very bad by the media?….not at all…

Like I said before the claim was never finishing higher than 4th…big difference…why do you choose to ignore that?

[tornado]

how do I ignore something I have heard 1000 times - 4th was always considered bad - now it's awfully good

[AZ BU Fan]

IF BU doesn't finish higher than 4th in the MVC after 9 years under GF, I will be disappointed. Unless, of course, BU has an absolute miracle run from 4th in the MVC to two incredible upsets in the Dance.

Right now, we are in year 3 of GF's term at BU. A poor memory indicates that was comparable to year 3 of another 'great' coach's term at BU...

Right now, continuing to win and win on the road are my main interests for BU. Could care less about DR's tone/opinion or the great anguish many had over the best coach in BU history having been let go after 9 years of 4th place.

When someone fed us kool aid for 9 years (I envision championships - many), best big man ever recruited, best recruiting class ever, BU on the verge, etc. many on this Forum ate that up. Me included.
Every preseason I bought the promise, bought the "great" recruiting classes, bought the buy in promise, only to throw up kool aid at the end of another dismal MVC season, except, of course, one season, when kool aid provided a high better than narcotics ever could.

After having listened to a head coach say every bad loss was on him, and there were many, listened post game how he couldn't understand/remedy his team's inability to compete for 9 years, I decided to hang my hat on a new head coach and am prepared to give him 5 instead of 9 years, unless of course, BU can make another miracle run from 4th place in the MVC to two wins in the Dance.... We can revisit this topic at the end of the 2015-16 season....

BTW Has BU lost to UMKC yet under Ford?

[Buesch N Chips]

It makes no sense to make points about either coach by pointing to specific wins or losses by either coach. Geno might not have lost to UMKC, but he hasn't beaten Kansas, either. You could do that all day and not get anywhere.
Geno is giving 100%, as did Jim Les, and both of them have forgotten more about D1 coaching than any of us will ever know. At some point, with both regimes, it falls on the effort and eventual ceiling of the players, which is hard to predict.

[Da Coach]

Dave Reynolds reported that the Bradley team plane was grounded yesterday because of the weather. They had to take a bus to Springfield, Missouri, and did not arrive until well after midnight.

[bravetime33]

IF BU doesn't finish higher than 4th in the MVC after 9 years under GF, I will be disappointed. Unless, of course, BU has an absolute miracle run from 4th in the MVC to two incredible upsets in the Dance.

Right now, we are in year 3 of GF's term at BU. A poor memory indicates that was comparable to year 3 of another 'great' coach's term at BU...

Right now, continuing to win and win on the road are my main interests for BU. Could care less about DR's tone/opinion or the great anguish many had over the best coach in BU history having been let go after 9 years of 4th place.

When someone fed us kool aid for 9 years (I envision championships - many), best big man ever recruited, best recruiting class ever, BU on the verge, etc. many on this Forum ate that up. Me included.
Every preseason I bought the promise, bought the "great" recruiting classes, bought the buy in promise, only to throw up kool aid at the end of another dismal MVC season, except, of course, one season, when kool aid provided a high better than narcotics ever could.

After having listened to a head coach say every bad loss was on him, and there were many, listened post game how he couldn't understand/remedy his team's inability to compete for 9 years, I decided to hang my hat on a new head coach and am prepared to give him 5 instead of 9 years, unless of course, BU can make another miracle run from 4th place in the MVC to two wins in the Dance.... We can revisit this topic at the end of the 2015-16 season....

BTW Has BU lost to UMKC yet under Ford?

I agree with everything you said
My take on the down turn in the program since the run in 2006 which I feel cannot be discounted is the growing impact and influence by the president of BU
Basketball
There are several factors that I am aware of which was not going to impact the program for further success
It started with the previous AD resigning for another position at another university because of reasons I cannot say
Denying certain individuals admission to BU which would thereby have a domino effect of other high level recruits from not even considering BU
And finally a CLASH of egos the size of the grand canon between jL and the president was not healthy
A perfect storm as I see it and from I have heard from a friend who is a helluva smarter and more knowledgable about the inside this is the deal at bu and it starts at the top