Coach Les gets a raise

[tornado]

it was definitely exciting with fans standing & roaring - for about 5 minutes down the stretch..
but we still miss those games where we play well wire to wire...

I give kudos to the BU faithful who braved some pretty lousy weather last night and showed up in numbers BETTER than I had personally expected...
however - the crowd of 6000 announced (and really only about 4000) really dismayed the Wichita beat writer into saying this...

"Smallest crowd at Bradley in my 10 seasons coming here. Sad to see.
Great basketball town with fans beaten down by a lot of losing."

https://twitter.com/PaulSuellentrop/status/563140706215419905

but he's only partly right - we've seen losing before - but he fails to recognize that there's a whole lot more going on than just losing


btw - the guy also takes a swipe at the quality of Bradley's players by wondering if their deep sub at the end of the bench would start for Bradley

https://twitter.com/PaulSuellentrop/status/563124849783349248

[tornado]

Just saw a discussion as to why the NCAA is moving very rapidly in their investigation of Hawaii...

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/20150130_ncaa_alleges_serious_violations_by_mens_basketball_program.html?id=290400891

..and it is rumored that they committed lots of violations involving impermissible benefits and some of the players they have could somewhere down the road be ruled as ineligible.
No matter how fast NCAA moves, it is still gonna be a couple months, and won't change anything this season.

[Da Coach]

Hawkins is injured and out for the UCD game at Cal-Irvine.

[tornado]

UC-Davis is up 35-25 with 1:30 left 1st half -they are a good team even without their leading scorer


...edit - that is the halftime score 35-25

[Da Coach]

UC Davis playing on the road at UC Irvine, and without the Big West's leading scorer Corey Hawkins, still dominated the game and lead by as many as 25 points in the 2nd half to win easily 75-56.
UC Davis, the #4 team in FG% in the country, shot 53.8% on the road.
They are the #1 shooting 3-point shooting team in the country, and they shot 70% tonight from three, despite not having Hawkins who is the #1 three point % shooter in the country.
Josh Ritchart had 22 points on 10-11 shooting. Tyler Les had 18 points and was 3-3 from three.
UC Davis held UC Irvine to just 30.4% shooting, their lowest percentage of the season (they are normally a top 20 team and were shooting 48.4% coming into the game). UCD improved to 17-4 overall, and 7-1 in the Big West. They are 7-4 in road games this season (for comparison, Bradley has won just 6 road games in 4 seasons)..

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400595976

UC Irvine beat Bradley earlier this season on a neutral court in Las Vegas, 55-47

[tornado]

I know it seems to upset some people if we talk about this subject - but keep in mind we have several threads going that talk about the current happenings of dozens of other past Bradley Brave players - so bear with me....

But for anyone who has not seen UC-Davis play, let me summarize a couple things...

-No, they are not Duke or Gonzaga - but they are a very good team and there's a distinct reason they keep winning, even against decent teams on the road.

-They pass well, they typically log a lot of assists,

-They run an active motion offense that is fun to watch - they don't stand around or spend gobs of time dribbling, faking, then rush a shot at the end of the shot clock.
They know what they are doing, they have their opponents well scouted, they are prepared, they get open looks very quickly in each shot-clock and they take decent shots.

this is obviously reflected by the fact that EVERYONE on the team shoots well, and they are the best shooting team in the nation from 3-pt and among the best (Top 10) despite NOT really having a lot of depth down low.
Most teams that have high shooting percentages are those like Duke that feed to an Okafor and get layups all day long.

-they never have dry spells - they never go long without scoring and their guards shot 20-29 (69%) last night!!

-dis all you want but they are setting all kinds of records for wins (17-4), wins on the road, they are in first place and they even won last night, on the road, against the hottest team in their league (had won 6 in a row, 9 of 12, and had only lost twice all year at home - AND UC-Davis won without Corey Hawkins - their very best player & team leader.
PS - they have a couple good guards coming n next year that would be decent recruits even for the MVC and they have a 7-footer transfer from BUTLER, who was on some rankings a TOP 100 recruit nationally (although we have seen how Top 100 can be occasionally misleading.)

-Tyler Les had a career night going 4-5, 3-3 from the arc, 7-7 from the line, 18 pts (on just 5 shots total!), plus 5 rebs.

-their fan base is energized and ecstatic. They have NOT lost at home this year and they are filling their arena and breaking attendance records.
Their average attendance so far this season is more than double what it was in the years before JL got there.

-Bottom line - this is a fun team to watch and where some schools' attendance is dismally dropping to half of what it's always been - there's a reason theirs is doubling!
And they have lots of Central Illinois connections (JL, Tyler, Corey, Vogt, and even assts Mark Darnall and Chris Davis)

They average almost 72 points per game - way more than even the TOP team in MVC conference play averages - they are a very fun offense to watch.

[lefty]

I don't known why anyone would be upset......the thread is about Coach Les

[Chico]

I don't known why anyone would be upset......the thread is about Coach Les

If you know of any other ex-Bradley player, or coach, who is coaching somewhere you are free to keep us all informed on their team. Many of us are interested in not only JL's team but his son and all time favorite, Hersey, son are doing. Again, if you don't like a thread don't read it.

[valleyclimber]

I think coach Les got a raw deal at BU. How many times have you seen schools oust a proven winner coach because the school thinks they can be better, then a couple years later that program will be in the dumpster? MSU had brief success, but now awful, while BU has not been anywhere near as good since coach Les was kicked to the curb.

It's great to see coach Les building a good program at UC-Davis. It's like BU West (except the western BU is a winner). Looks like coach Les has got it rolling. Good for him, and I think there are probably more than a few BU fans who are cheering for him.

[tornado]

so far Coach Les is the only candidate currently being mentioned for the Big West Coach of the Year - it is his to win or lose - but as with most smaller schools, the talent does not run that deep - so a whole bunch of injuries could still sink him & his team....
just as happened last year when 3 starter-caliber players sat out the whole year and Corey Hawkins also had nagging injuries..


They were picked at the mid-to-bottom of the Big West and barring a major collapse in the next 3-4 weeks, he's gonna finish way better than anyone expected.

[lefty]

If you know of any other ex-Bradley player, or coach, who is coaching somewhere you are free to keep us all informed on their team. Many of us are interested in not only JL's team but his son and all time favorite, Hersey, son are doing. Again, if you don't like a thread don't read it.

Not sure what you are getting at.....maybe I should have used the quote function


I was responding to the start of T's post


"I know it seems to upset some people if we talk about this subject"

[Chico]

Not sure what you are getting at.....maybe I should have used the quote function


I was responding to the start of T's post


"I know it seems to upset some people if we talk about this subject"

Nothing sarcastic about your post I guess.

[tornado]

Article about the 3-pt shooting success of UC-Davis and the link between JL & Hersey..

"Corey Hawkins, son of former Philadelphia 76er Hersey Hawkins, is leading NCAA Division I in 3-point percentage
and leading UC Davis on a historic trey bombing run coached by his dad's old college teammate.
...the coach there is one of the greatest shooters in the history of the game and .. his UC Davis Aggies are assembling one of the most accurate 3-point shooting seasons

UC Davis Aggies are assembling one of the most accurate 3-point shooting seasons in college basketball annals.

The Aggies are shooting .460 as a team from 3-point....no one has hit as high as .460 since Wisconsin-Green Bay, led by current Virginia coach Tony Bennett, hit .467 in 1992."

http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/02/sons_of_hersey_hawkins_jim_les.html

But here's a tidbit from that article I don't think had previously been noted...
When Bradley was hiring in 2011....
"... initially offering the job to Ed DeChellis, then at Penn State. DeChellis turned Bradley down and the job was eventually given to Geno Ford who is likely headed for dismissal himself after this season ends."

[tornado]

apparently this report is true...Ed DeChellis stepped down from Penn State in March 2011 and wanted to coach somewhere else - he reportedly pursued the Bradley job and was offered it then he turned it down and took the Navy job.

[tornado]

Good news for Coach Les' Aggies
UC-Irvine 34 - Long Beach State 27 at half