The new President of Bradley has been chosen

[Chico]

They were both good for Bradley. One had a better record and was well liked by the majority of fans. The other had a good record, not quite as good as the previous coach, but kept the attendance up and raised the financial support and was also well liked except by those who favored another coach they wanted hired. Don't think anyone here was putting down Coach Molinari.

[Da Coach]

I didn't conveniently leave out anything. The "unprecedented" criteria was based on post-season appearance and a 20-win season. I didn't set the criteria.

I'm not stating that anything that happened during Geno Ford's time at Bradley was better than any previous coach nor have I ever posted it was so the use of "now admit" is quite amusing.

My comparison was Molinari years to Les years just to show Les' time was not unprecedented. I'm not sure why the Les' years are vigorously defended and compared to Ford years instead of addressing the Molinari comparison.

The only part that makes those 4 seasons "unprecedented" is teams were allowed to play more games and make it possible for mediocre teams to get to 20 wins.

But you are including the 2006 & 2007 teams and calling them "mediocre", teams that won 22 games each, made it to the NCAA and Sweet 16, and the NIT, had a lottery pick and several other quality All-MVC and pro players, and that had back-to-back RPI's in the 30's.
I doubt many BU fans would agree with your categorizing those 2 teams as "mediocre". But I also understand there are a handful who will continue to try to diminish those years to excuse the awful blunders of the last 4 painful years.

Recall that I predicted that changing coaches could backfire and turn into a disaster. I predicted that it would take years to get back to where we had been, and a couple people skewered me and used my quotes in their signatures to mock those predictions. I have been right with virtually every prediction I have made (and I am sorry that irks a few people), including the prediction that Jim Les would have success at UCD before Bradley ever built back up to a successful team. So here is my newest prediction- The changes the Board of Trustees have made since January will finally result in a Bradley program the fans can be proud of again, and the previous regime will forever be a stain on Bradley's great tradition.

[BSSFan#1]

They were both good for Bradley. One had a better record and was well liked by the majority of fans. The other had a good record, not quite as good as the previous coach, but kept the attendance up and raised the financial support and was also well liked except by those who favored another coach they wanted hired. Don't think anyone here was putting down Coach Molinari.

Thank you, Chico, for clarifying and seeing what I am stating.

[BSSFan#1]

Da Coach - I'm not quoting since that would take a whole page but in addressing your reply it seems as if you never address my points but instead continue to go back to the last 4 years.

Once again, I agree the last 4 years were horrible for Bradley basketball.

I do find a MVC record of 74-88 mediocre. Do you realize that until Ford that Jim Les' MVC record was the worst of any Bradley coach other than 2-year coach Bob Vanetta? Even Stan had a significantly better MVC record. Jim Molinari won 110 games while losing 88.

I really don't think our standard of excellence should be defined by a 46% winning percentage.

[tornado]

but the issue I think is important here isn't whether you were satisfied with the JL era - it's that when we decided to make a change we handed the reigns to a bunch of outsiders with less than mediocre credentials, allowed them unlimited cash to throw at truly far-less than mediocre coaching hires, then re-defined "good" by lowering the bar....

Now some want to take a program that's in its 5th year (VB) and doing record poorly (2-26, 15 match losing streaks, etc.) and redefine that as looking good for the future.
I anticipate, given what we've seen from Dr. Chris Reynolds, that Bradley won't tolerate this level of losing much longer. I don't know the contract situation but if our VB coach has anything fewer than 3 more years - I'd be checking on some other resumes.

[lefty]

Bradley was ready for a change and hired the wrong guy. The administration made some colossal mistakes during the process and made it even worse. I doubt that was their intent but it happened??¦??¦

Maybe I'm an "always looking to the future guy" but I don't see why continuing to bring up the worst 4 years and Les's years before that does anyone any good. There are varying degrees from everyone how bad/good it was under Les but I think everyone agrees it was terrible under Ford??¦.

P.S??¦??¦.I'll be glad when the season starts so we can post about the the games, players,coaching staff??¦??¦..

[Da Coach]

Lefty, I happen to believe it is always good for the truth to be known, even if our friends in the media refuse to print it.

The only part that makes those 4 seasons "unprecedented" is teams were allowed to play more games and make it possible for mediocre teams to get to 20 wins.

We seem to be talking about completely different issues. Now you are changing the topic to the entire 9 years that JL was coach. But earlier, you said those 4 years of 20+ wins were "mediocre". The 2006 & 2007 seasons were not mediocre by any definition of the word. That is what I am arguing.

If you want to combine the entire 9 years into one record and call that mediocre, OK. But realize his tenure was cut short after the administration undermined him by firing 2 of his assistants, and insisting he play the 2010-11 season without his best players, even though Taylor Brown was cleared to play by every doctor he saw, and Sam Maniscalco was tricked into redshirting with an assurance that the coach would be brought back for at least another year. That is why the Maniscalcos felt betrayed and left Bradley.
Basically, the President engineered the 2010-11 disaster so she could fire the coach. Note that Michael Cross' own written recommendation was to give Jim Les one more year, but the Pres. fired him anyway since she knew it might not be easy if he came back with his full team and had a winning season.

There is so much more to that story that most people don't know, because the media never wanted to tell the truth about her. Bradley interviewed or offered their coaching job to over 10 coaches, who all turned us down. The reason was that when they made a few calls and found out about the meddling, they did not want to deal with that, even though Bradley was offering salaries of $700K to $850K, which was 2 to 3 times what they were earning. In the end, we settled for our 12th choice and the rest is history.

[Chico]

Thank you, Chico, for clarifying and seeing what I am stating.

You took me wrong. I was suggesting you thought others were putting down Jim Molinari. IMO, you are putting down Jim Les.

[Chico]

Da Coach - I'm not quoting since that would take a whole page but in addressing your reply it seems as if you never address my points but instead continue to go back to the last 4 years.

Once again, I agree the last 4 years were horrible for Bradley basketball.

I do find a MVC record of 74-88 mediocre. Do you realize that until Ford that Jim Les' MVC record was the worst of any Bradley coach other than 2-year coach Bob Vanetta? Even Stan had a significantly better MVC record. Jim Molinari won 110 games while losing 88.

I really don't think our standard of excellence should be defined by a 46% winning percentage.

One of the most revered coaches in BU history to some, Coach Stowell, I believe had a below .500 MVC record. Would you consider Joe mediocre?

[BSSFan#1]

You took me wrong. I was suggesting you thought others were putting down Jim Molinari. IMO, you are putting down Jim Les.

Thanks. You got it.

I've never apologized for Glasser or Ford. Things go both ways though and Les treated many people as poorly as some say he was treated.

[Da Coach]

I've heard that before, mostly from people who didn't even know him. I knew him pretty well, and I never saw him treat anyone badly. He was always a gentleman, and went out of his way to do good deeds for others. The only animosity I ever saw was from Ms. Glasser, and many people will confirm that (especially now that she is gone and they don't have to worry about retribution).

[LongTimeFan]

I'm agree with Lefty in I'm just looking forward to the future. We just need for games to start and then we can discuss other things in detail.

[PhiAlphaBoy]

One of the most revered coaches in BU history to some, Coach Stowell, I believe had a below .500 MVC record. Would you consider Joe mediocre?

I loved Stowell for all he did for Bradley over his long and loyal tenure. You are right Senior Chico that Stowell could be perceived as mediocre but I think that would be an unfair characterization of his record since expectations and resources were substantially less. Wouldn't you agree?

[Chico]

I agree Joe is a great guy and has given a lot of his time to Bradley and is well liked my all. However, IMO, Joe had as you say, less resources but so did many others back then. His overall non-conference schedule was weak and outside of a few, the quality opponents were usually played on the road or a neutral site.