Where are the hypocrites?

[lefty]

But we all know why he was fired. His bosses didn't like him personally, and wanted to remake the basketball program, and athletics in general over in their own image. How is that that working so far? (37-62 and no quality wins in 3 years, and projected for 9th place)

Of course if it was up to me Mo would still be here....fired one season after
averaging over 18 wins a year the previous 8 with a 1st place finish,4 2nd place finishes and never less than .500 in conference...one NCAA appearance and 5 NIT's......

 

[CABUFan]

can you name another head coach besides JL who got fired for their first losing season over a six-year span and their first and only losing season in a nine year tenure - after having all their own players recruited and who never had a single losing season in which all his assistants were actually of his own choosing?

How about Barry Hinson? He had far more success in the MVC than Les and still got fired because he couldn't get Mo St. to the next level.

 

[tornado]

good example - Barry had one down year (just above .500) and was canned...
One difference is that Barry did not have any post-season success.....
but dozens of media gurus came to Barry's defense and called his firing unwarranted...

 

[Canton BU fan]

It seems to me that JL was a victim of his own success.

 

[CABUFan]

good example - Barry had one down year (just above .500) and was canned...
One difference is that Barry did not have any post-season success.....
but dozens of media gurus came to Barry's defense and called his firing unwarranted...

And it may have been (especially since his teams arguably got screwed over by the Selection Committee a couple times), but at the end of the day, if you're not at least semi-regularly making the only tournament that matters, you're not a relevant college basketball team. As great as the Sweet 16 run was, JL wasn't able to get us there his last 5 years (or even anywhere close the last 4), so I understood the administration's decision to move on. I think I was on record at the time saying I'd have given him one more year to get back on track, but in retrospect, I think it would have just delayed the inevitable.

Whether Geno is the answer is obviously a completely different story. I've seen very little over the last 3 years that makes me believe he is, but I think he was always going to get a minimum of 4 years, and I'm hoping he makes the most of this season.

 

[Buesch N Chips]

And it may have been (especially since his teams arguably got screwed over by the Selection Committee a couple times), but at the end of the day, if you're not at least semi-regularly making the only tournament that matters, you're not a relevant college basketball team. As great as the Sweet 16 run was, JL wasn't able to get us there his last 5 years (or even anywhere close the last 4), so I understood the administration's decision to move on. I think I was on record at the time saying I'd have given him one more year to get back on track, but in retrospect, I think it would have just delayed the inevitable.

Whether Geno is the answer is obviously a completely different story. I've seen very little over the last 3 years that makes me believe he is, but I think he was always going to get a minimum of 4 years, and I'm hoping he makes the most of this season.

I agree on Les. From an outsiders perspective, it would have made more sense to fire him a year earlier. With the patchwork team he had to work with his final year, seems like it would have been tough for anyone. I would have fired him a year earlier or let him stay with more of a full team to judge him. That's from an outsider's perspective. Now, if JL made his bosses mad or something similarly insubordinate that we are not privy to, it might have made perfect sense to fire him. We will never know.