Kirk Wessler blames everything on the players...again

[Da Coach]

You knew this was coming- another column by Kirk Wessler blaming everything wrong with Bradley on the players-

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150113/SPORTS/150119632/12701/SPORTS

Braves looking like quitters

This is what happens when one team has basketball players and the other does not.

That’s great balance. That’s a winner. And it’s a far cry from what Bradley puts on the floor.

not nearly consistent enough to make up for gross shortcomings on offense.

Bradley’s defense quickly caved, and the Braves’ offense didn’t find any gear until 30 minutes had been played.

UNI has twice, maybe thrice, as many scorers.

Bradley has only three regulars who’ve made 40 percent from anywhere.

But a few good pieces aren’t nearly enough.

Memo to KW- teams aren't dealt players like in a card game or a lottery.
If you are going to try to blast Bradley players, point out every deficiency, and lay every bit of the blame for every loss on the players, then maybe at some point in year 4 of this regime, maybe you need to consider just how Bradley got dealt such a collection of offensively inept players, and why do they seem to regress and get worse instead of better.
And BTW, the coaching does have something to do with it- just ask Marty Simmons. He told people privately after the BU-Evansville game that Bradley's offense is so simple and predictable that they are the easiest team he's ever played to guard. But then the PJ Star wouldn't know that because they don't bother asking, and would rather take the easy way out and just sit back and blame the players.

[tornado]

... and why do they seem to regress and get worse instead of better. ...

..AND why do we have our worst 3-point shooters regularly jacking up another 2 or 3 attempts every game?
..and why do the other team's best 3-pt shooters get far more wide open shots than we ever see?
..and even when we are playing zone, other teams regular pass or dribble right into the lane for uncontested layups & even dunks?
..and why do we have players constantly playing out of their regular position (like Walt Lemon & Ka'Darryl Bell at PG and Auston Barnes dribbling the ball upcourt into defenses & losing it, or our best rebounder out on the periphery jacking up unmakeble three's, or, as KW also noted. all the players even before halftime hanging their heads and walking back on defense? Even coming out of the locker room at half - our guys looked like a funeral procession.)

[Buesch N Chips]

Aren't the players lack of ability an indictment of the coach? I'm not exactly sure what you want KW to say.

[tornado]

it goes higher than the coach...

but virtually all of this...
the current observations by KW, the demise of essentially every sport at Bradley, the lack of talent, the lack of intensity, the shrinking attendances, the loss of revenue, the last place finishes, the record bad RPI's, the terrible scheduling, the fan dissatisfaction...etc...

ALL of this was precisely predicted 3-4 years ago -
Every one of these columns that seem like Kirk Wessler is waking up from a 4-year slumber and just now realizing the disaster that he's instead been calling top notch recruiting and top notch coaching - they all could have been written any time over the past four years by any one of us here on BradleyFans since we have all seen this coming years ago and have been laughing at the PJS' ridiculous spin and outright lies & errors...
This has to be the most massive case of "We told ya so" I have ever encountered - especially coming at such a high level of both athletic and academic ineptitude that we are now seeing.
But they not only ignored our "I told ya so"'s they ridiculed and mocked anyone who didn't see it their way...

They called us "uninformed", "uneducated", or downright "unnecessary" as fans...
Seems the facts are quite the opposite.....so now who are the uninformed??

[BU Bill]

Aren't the players lack of ability an indictment of the coach? I'm not exactly sure what you want KW to say.

So by blatantly blaming the players, you're saying Kirk is actually blaming the coach? I don't buy it. He never had a problem with naming and blaming Jim Les for a million things he perceived were wrong. These are the same players Kirk and Dave told us were such an upgrade over past players. Now suddenly they don't know how to play the game.

This is not rocket science. Bradley has been the worst offensive team every year for 4 straight years now, even when they had better players. Now that they don't, the offense has gotten even worse. The players change, but the offense and the coach are the only things that stay the same.
So let's just point the blame where it belongs. Stop telling us what great players we have, then finding fault in everything they do and blaming them for losing.

[tornado]

..poor recruiting, poor game preparation, poor in-game coaching, poor manner of dealing with refs, of utilizing time-outs, too many jucos, too many DI-virgins, not enough local recruits, not recruiting Chicago, lack of honesty with the media - in fact downright lying about his starting lineup, plus intensely personal attacks about his dealings with others, calling him arrogant, attacking him when TCS' father lied about events, and when the PJS lied about the facts of the Daniel Ruffin case, and calling his team a "renegade program", for beating the drum to get him out of here as early as his 2nd year...etc...

These are only a small number of the harsh, personal attacks our local media heaped on the prior coach on a regular and daily basis...
There are more, but I think you get the picture...
...I guess I am astounded there are people who do NOT see the difference the way the current staff are handled with kid gloves...

[Da Coach]

Other instances include accusing him of tampering to get Marcellus Sommerville from Iowa, even though Sommerville and his father said that was not true. That absurd charge was never retracted.
Neither was the accusation that Jim Les surrounded himself with people who prefer the expedient way instead of the principled way (whatever the heck was meant by that stupid line).
Then there was the whole accusation by Kirk Wessler that the 2002 coaching search was a "sham from the beginning", and was orchestrated by boosters to hire Jim Les from the start. That was never the case, as Jim Les was told after his first interview that he would not be getting a call back because they intended to go with a candidate with head coaching experience. But because of the circus caused by a member of the search committee, all their other candidates pulled out and left them with Les and McClain.

I have a lot more, too if anyone is interested.

[Buesch N Chips]

...I guess I am astounded there are people who do NOT see the difference the way the current staff are handled with kid gloves...

I see the difference in the coverage, in fact I have complained about it. There is a huge difference.

But let's not indulge in fantasy. If that same article had been written about a Jim Les team, I think some here would have believed KW was slamming Les in the article.

Not everything ever written about Jim Les was negative, and not everything written about Geno is positive. There was nothing positive about Geno in today's article. KW's tweets during the game were also very negative.

[Da Coach]

KW's tweets during the game were also very negative.

Did any of his tweets, or anything in any of his articles specifically lay blame on the coaching?
Like he did in many of his columns from 2002-2011.
This one was published the day Bradley played and beat Drake in the 2011 MVC Tournament, calling for him to be fired for the hundredth time, and specifically blaming numerous things squarely on Coach Les.-

http://www.pjstar.com/x407384926/Wessler-Out-of-optimism-for-Jim-Les

Unfortunately, that old article has been removed by the PJ Star. I have a copy of it, and maybe a cached copy of it can be accessed somehow-

https://www.facebook.com/bradleyhoops/posts/194511270570996

[AZ BU Fan]

Why Couldn't GF Succeed At BU?

When things go wrong, can't fire all the players, but can fire the coach.

This axiom has been around sports teams, particularly basketball, since they used peach baskets.

Not to worry about KW and what he thinks. GF's numbers at BU don't lie.

Similar to what I said with the previous BU regime, either the head guy can't recruit, or, he can't coach, or both.

I was willing to roll the dice with a new BU coach to try and improve on annual 4th or worst in MVC and EIEIO post seasons.

Looks like I crapped out with GF.

Not looking back, the decision is a sunk cost as all you accountants like to say.

Unless GF is able to get his players playing hard, playing smart, giving their all, being unselfish, an improving over the balance of THIS season, time for a change at the Hilltop. The GF experiment didn't work out.

It is one thing to not be able to recruit top talent, as this is a crap shoot at the mid major level.

Being able to recruit kids who can grow their skills, play hard/smart/unselfish, and/or, being able to coach them to do this, are
the minimum requirements for BU's MBB Head Coach.

GF has not been able to do this over almost 4 seasons, so, perhaps time to try again.

With an upper class loaded team for next year, my guess is BU will keep GF through the 2015-16 season, but, without a contract extension beyond that, lame duck status will only hurt recruiting.

It is hard to believe GF would struggle so hard at BU... Look back at the announcement of his hiring, looked like a good fit..

3/2011 PEORIA, Ill. -- Geno Ford, the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year the last two seasons at Kent State University, will become the 13th head coach in Bradley Basketball history when he is formally introduced to the public during a noon press conference Monday in the Renaissance Coliseum arena.

In his third season at the helm of the Kent State program, Ford, 36, became the first men's basketball coach to lead his team to consecutive, outright MAC regular-season titles in 48 years. After winning the 2009-10 title with a 13-3 league record, Ford welcomed back only three returning players for the title defense, but successfully navigated the season with 10 newcomers to earn the repeat MAC championship in 2010-11 with a 12-4 conference mark.

Denied a trip to the NCAA Tournament after losing in the MAC Tournament championship game, Kent State won NIT contests on both coasts - at Saint Mary's (Calif.) and Fairfield -- before dropping an 81-74 decision at No. 1 seed Colorado in the quarterfinals to finish the season with a 25-12 overall record.

Ford produced a 68-37 (.648 ) record in his three seasons at Kent State, including a 35-13 (.729) ledger in the Mid-American Conference. In addition to his two MAC Coach-of-the-Year Awards, Ford was the 2009 NABC District 14 Coach of the Year. Including previous head coaching stints at NAIA Shawnee State (22-10 in 2001-02) and NCAA Division III Muskingum (29-22 from 2005-07), Ford comes to Bradley with a six-year career record of 119-69 (.633).

Ford earned his bachelor's degree in organizational communication from Ohio University in 1997 and his master's degree in athletic administration from Ohio in 1999. He was a high-scoring guard for the Bobcats from 1993-97, finishing his career as the fifth-leading scorer in school history with 1,752 points and earning second-team All-MAC honors in 1995-96 and first-team honors in 1996-97.

Ford quickly earned his first head coaching position in 2001 when he took over the NAIA program at Shawnee State, and he was named the American Mideast Conference Coach of the Year in his lone season after guiding the Bears to a 22-10 record and 10-win improvement compared to the previous season.

He returned to the MAC the next season, however, with a three-year stint as an assistant coach at Kent State. From 2002-05 as an assistant for the Golden Flashes, Ford helped Kent State to a 62-31 (.667) record, a pair of MAC East Division titles and a trio of NIT appearances.

Ford began his second stint as a head coach in 2005 at Muskingum and immediately produced the program's best record in 15 years by guiding the Muskies to a 17-9 record in 2005-06. He followed with a 12-13 mark in 2006-07, before returning to Kent State as an assistant in 2007-08.

Leading the recruiting effort that landed 2008 MAC Player of the Year Al Fisher, Ford helped Kent State to a 28-7 record in 2007-08, which culminated in a sweep of the MAC regular-season and tournament titles and a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the best tourney seed in KSU history. In seven seasons as an assistant coach at Ohio and Kent State, Ford helped the two MAC schools to a combined 149-72 (.674) record, meaning his teams boast a 268-141 (.655) record in his overall, 13-year college coaching career.

Ford's teams also have excelled beyond the hardwood. In his first year as Kent State head coach, his players combined for the program's best semester grade point average during the 2008 Fall semester and five of his student-athletes have been honored at the Judith K. Devine Athletic Academic Honors Dinner each of the last two years.

[bigjimmy]

Thought it was funny that Kirk's article did have quite a bit of positive comments, from UNI's coach. I just don't understand Kirk's reluctance to criticize Geno by name. Some of the things he has said are true like Josh needing to stay closer to the basket and not jack up 3's but too often when he talks about no offense and not enough defense there is never any reference to Geno. Ultimately it comes down to this. Geno is the one who brought in these players, he's the one who designed this offense that is ranked 338th in scoring, 337th in FG % and 336th in assists. This is supposed to be a point guard friendly offense. Doesn't seem so friendly does it. Players do have to execute but coaches have to put them in situations to execute and we rarely do. I've said it before, name me any player in the 4 years that Geno has been here who has improved

[Rhino65]

Just read through Kirk's tweets and you'll see how he really feels. Whether we like it or not part of his job is to support what is going on with the university. If you take the time to realize what position he's in I think we can all understand where his thoughts come from. Both Kirk and Dave, who I know everyone rips on a lot, are writers we can't take for granted. They're both class acts and we could do a lot worse. They both do a heck of a job for our community and I think they're completely unappreciated.

I've been a Geno supporter since the day he was hired. I don't think anyone can complain that he didn't have the resume to take over the program. We have more than enough talent on this team to compete with every team in the conference. Frankly, I don't want to admit it, but the development we have seen over the past year and the in-game coaching this year have been pitiful. I'm a current student at Bradley, and even I couldn't sit through the first half of the UNI game.

A change won't, and in my opinion shouldn't, be made regarding Coach Ford. We've all heard the rumors of possible administration changes, and I believe it's all but confirmed publicly that some sort of change will be made. However, we have so much talent on this basketball team that it isn't worth it to just let it all transfer out with a coaching change. On this team alone, we have at least eight players that are more than skilled enough to lead us to a minimum of a top four conference finish.

I know a lot of people are pining for it, but regardless of how the rest of the season plays out, Coach Ford will still be on the sidelines come next year.

[Vent]

Just read through Kirk's tweets and you'll see how he really feels. Whether we like it or not part of his job is to support what is going on with the university. If you take the time to realize what position he's in I think we can all understand where his thoughts come from. Both Kirk and Dave, who I know everyone rips on a lot, are writers we can't take for granted. They're both class acts and we could do a lot worse. They both do a heck of a job for our community and I think they're completely unappreciated.

I've been a Geno supporter since the day he was hired. I don't think anyone can complain that he didn't have the resume to take over the program. We have more than enough talent on this team to compete with every team in the conference. Frankly, I don't want to admit it, but the development we have seen over the past year and the in-game coaching this year have been pitiful. I'm a current student at Bradley, and even I couldn't sit through the first half of the UNI game.

A change won't, and in my opinion shouldn't, be made regarding Coach Ford. We've all heard the rumors of possible administration changes, and I believe it's all but confirmed publicly that some sort of change will be made. However, we have so much talent on this basketball team that it isn't worth it to just let it all transfer out with a coaching change. On this team alone, we have at least eight players that are more than skilled enough to lead us to a minimum of a top four conference finish.

I know a lot of people are pining for it, but regardless of how the rest of the season plays out, Coach Ford will still be on the sidelines come next year.

I think you are accurate on some points and way off base on others. We don't have enough quality players to compete for a top four place in the standings. We've gotten beat by teams in the preseason, that wouldn't compete in the Valley this year. We still don't have anybody that is a consistent shooter or scorer. Those are two different types of players. If you can't shoot free throws you can't shoot with a hand in your face. It's that simple. A lot of players that can shoot (not on this team) can't score. By that I mean, create their own shot. Geno is a likable guy but he is not a basketball coach. In the time he has been here, he has failed to recruit players that can either shoot or score. Recruiting is 80% of coaching at the college level. I don't care if Ford is being paid $100,000 a year or $800,000 a year, he has failed miserably. Shooting is just one aspect of this train wreck. There is no discipline, defense or leadership on this team and that starts at the coaching staff.

[Da Coach]

Just read through Kirk's tweets and you'll see how he really feels. Whether we like it or not part of his job is to support what is going on with the university. If you take the time to realize what position he's in I think we can all understand where his thoughts come from....

I also can't agree with you here. I do not believe it has ever been and shouldn't be "his job is to support what is going on with the university". He is a Bradley grad, and he entitled to his own personal opinions and feelings toward Bradley, but if he can't separate those personal feelings and be objective, then he isn't a very good writer. If you are currently a student, maybe you don't remember, but Kirk was 180?° different 4 or more years ago. He ripped the coach mercilessly, and blamed him for everything that was wrong and he had no problem labeling him a bad coach, even though Bradley was never as bad as they are now.

[Local Brave Fan]

Local Brave Fan

Kirk is part of the problem with Bradley. Writers sway opinions and that is just what he did. He roasted JL until he got him fired. He was on him from day one because he did not want him as coach. He doesn't roast Ford because he is here because of Kirk's work. Kirk got what he wanted, and now he knows this was a terrible move so to roast Ford would admit that he was wrong about JL. Look what he has done at lowly UC Davis. Was JL a great coach, no. He lacked head coaching experience, but he surrounded himself with quality people and took Bradley to the sweet sixteen for the first time in 50 years. A lot of Bradley's decent was caused by Kirk.