Chris Lowery named MVC Coach of the Year

[chitownBUB]

Who's it going to be?
The top dog, Lowery because his team has done so well, or Jim Les because he really has done the best coaching job this year hands down.

Remember in the Big Ten in 2003-2004, Bill Carmody won the Coach of the Year with his Northwestern team ending 8-8 but they had been picked next to last and had no seniors. Meanwhile that season, many thought Bruce Weber should have won by leading the Illini to their first outright Big Ten title in over 50 years in his very first year as head coach.
But the voters looked beyond just the W & L's and realized who really had done the better job with the team he had.

[mexicobufan]

At what time today do they announce the Coach of the year?

[Da Coach]

It was just announced, and it is Chris Lowery--

http://www.mvc-sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7600&ATCLID=810527

Jim Les was 2nd in the voting.
Lowery got 33 of 40 1st place votes, Les got 7 1st place votes.
Lowery got a total of 113 points, Les was 2nd with 63 points.

[BUBraves2006]

Absolute joke.

How could it possibly be that one sided? This isn't a "homer" thing but Les should have won it and at least should have made the race close.

[Majik45]

Who are the 8 people who didn't vote Les either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd??

[smitty]

As most people know, there are some people in the Valley who do not think Les "has paid his dues". He could have gone 31-0 and there would be some people who would leave him off their ballot entirely.

[Dubl R 1]

As most people know, there are some people in the Valley who do not think Les "has paid his dues". He could have gone 31-0 and there would be some people who would leave him off their ballot entirely.

Lowery is deserving, but has he "paid his dues" as a head coach. First of all, paying your dues should have nothing to do with it. 2nd of all, that argument can't stand up because Lowery has not been there that long(as a head coach.)

[CLBravesfan]

Anyone can win with talent, it takes a great coach to take less talented kids and make them winners. The job JL has done is far superior to that of Lowery, just too bad the voter voted because of a team record rather than what the award was meant for.

Les may not be coach of the year to the MVC but he is to us at Bradley, no one, and I mean no one, has done a better job than JL. For that reason he is Coach of the Year.

[BUBraves2006]

This just gives Bradley a chance yet again to stick it to those who doubt them. Last year it was Packer/Nance/etc...This year, we can stick it to the voters by winning the MVC championship or at least getting to Saturday and taking out the supposed "Coach of the Year" and his Salukis!

Jim Les can prove how good of a coach he really can be this weekend. He's had a week to prep for UNI. SIU's style never changes so the prep isn't going to take that much time if we can get past the Panthers.

It's up to our players and coaches to keep proving the critics WRONG!

[New Guy]

Like most that have posted here I thought Lowrey would win with the high ranking his team has acheived but the gap is larger than I predicted. I have never been a big fan of individual awards for team sports anyway. I think this is just another chance for BU to prove em wrong. I kind of like the fact that 8 people left JL off the ballot. More motivation for a team that thrives on motivation.

[Lakeview Brave]

Anyone can win with talent, it takes a great coach to take less talented kids and make them winners. The job JL has done is far superior to that of Lowery, just too bad the voter voted because of a team record rather than what the award was meant for.

Les may not be coach of the year to the MVC but he is to us at Bradley, no one, and I mean no one, has done a better job than JL. For that reason he is Coach of the Year.

The notion that "anyone can win with talent" is absurd. Its the same nonsense people say when they try and discredit Phil Jackson and to a lessor extent Pat Riley. Do good players make good coaches of course it helps but not "anyone" can win. Second unlike the NBA college coaches recruit there own talent so the talent on a team is directly related to a coaches ability to recruit. Before you tell me Lowery wast there to recurit all the players, he did recruit Young and Tatum and he didnt lose any players when he came. Finally what great "talent" does SIU have, there are no NBA players, no one who will even be invited to camp. There best big man is 6'7 and there point guard cant shoot. Its not like Lowery is walking out there with a 7'0 center and the ninth overall pick in the NBA draft. His team was picked 2nd they came in first, they are ranked 11th in the country, the highest ranking to end a conference season sicne 86. Its no joke the he deserves coach of the year. Les is deserving of second and has done a fantastic job this year. Hopefully he has 3 more neutral court wins left.

[OrangeandBlack74]

Who are the 8 people who didn't vote Les either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd??

Quick comments from the vote totals.....

1. The 7 voters who voted JL 1st also voted Lowery 2nd.
2. All but one of the MVC coaches (Turgeon from WSU) received votes.....Dr. Tom received 2nd and 3rd place votes, and Merfeld and Royce received 3rd place votes!
3. It's apparent that a media/SID/coaching bias against JL continues to exist within the league. Since the coaches could vote for themselves, I suspect the primary source of this bias are the schools and their representatives from the state of Indiana.

[numbr_9]

Anyone can win with talent, it takes a great coach to take less talented kids and make them winners. The job JL has done is far superior to that of Lowery, just too bad the voter voted because of a team record rather than what the award was meant for.

Les may not be coach of the year to the MVC but he is to us at Bradley, no one, and I mean no one, has done a better job than JL. For that reason he is Coach of the Year.

The notion that "anyone can win with talent" is absurd. Its the same nonsense people say when they try and discredit Phil Jackson and to a lessor extent Pat Riley. Do good players make good coaches of course it helps but not "anyone" can win. Second unlike the NBA college coaches recruit there own talent so the talent on a team is directly related to a coaches ability to recruit. Before you tell me Lowery wast there to recurit all the players, he did recruit Young and Tatum and he didnt lose any players when he came. Finally what great "talent" does SIU have, there are no NBA players, no one who will even be invited to camp. There best big man is 6'7 and there point guard cant shoot. Its not like Lowery is walking out there with a 7'0 center and the ninth overall pick in the NBA draft. His team was picked 2nd they came in first, they are ranked 11th in the country, the highest ranking to end a conference season sicne 86. Its no joke the he deserves coach of the year. Les is deserving of second and has done a fantastic job this year. Hopefully he has 3 more neutral court wins left.

I don't think that Lowry was undeserving of the award, but I do think that JL being left off 8 ballots is a travesty. CL has done a great job with a good team. And you can't hardly say they don't have any talent, nor can you say that they don't have any experience. IMO the experience of the SIU squad is partly why they have been so good, especially down the stretch.

Certainly JL was deserving as he took a team that lost most of its production and completely re-tooled the offense to suit the team. I think next year will be interesting, as he'll have a little more size to work with. I wonder if he'll continue to go small or once again change the team's play style to suit its talent.

If JL can get BU into the hunt for the reg. season championship next year I think he has to be considered a front runner for the award.

That being said, Whos ready for St. Louis???? Yay!

[Lakeview Brave]

Anyone can win with talent, it takes a great coach to take less talented kids and make them winners. The job JL has done is far superior to that of Lowery, just too bad the voter voted because of a team record rather than what the award was meant for.

Les may not be coach of the year to the MVC but he is to us at Bradley, no one, and I mean no one, has done a better job than JL. For that reason he is Coach of the Year.

The notion that "anyone can win with talent" is absurd. Its the same nonsense people say when they try and discredit Phil Jackson and to a lessor extent Pat Riley. Do good players make good coaches of course it helps but not "anyone" can win. Second unlike the NBA college coaches recruit there own talent so the talent on a team is directly related to a coaches ability to recruit. Before you tell me Lowery wast there to recurit all the players, he did recruit Young and Tatum and he didnt lose any players when he came. Finally what great "talent" does SIU have, there are no NBA players, no one who will even be invited to camp. There best big man is 6'7 and there point guard cant shoot. Its not like Lowery is walking out there with a 7'0 center and the ninth overall pick in the NBA draft. His team was picked 2nd they came in first, they are ranked 11th in the country, the highest ranking to end a conference season sicne 86. Its no joke the he deserves coach of the year. Les is deserving of second and has done a fantastic job this year. Hopefully he has 3 more neutral court wins left.

I don't think that Lowry was undeserving of the award, but I do think that JL being left off 8 ballots is a travesty. CL has done a great job with a good team. And you can't hardly say they don't have any talent, nor can you say that they don't have any experience. IMO the experience of the SIU squad is partly why they have been so good, especially down the stretch.

Certainly JL was deserving as he took a team that lost most of its production and completely re-tooled the offense to suit the team. I think next year will be interesting, as he'll have a little more size to work with. I wonder if he'll continue to go small or once again change the team's play style to suit its talent.

If JL can get BU into the hunt for the reg. season championship next year I think he has to be considered a front runner for the award.

That being said, Whos ready for St. Louis???? Yay!

I completely agree and Im not taking anything away from Les but Lowery is deserving of the award. Next year if and when Bradley wins the regular season as I expect then Les will be coach of the year. I am leaving for St. louis in 5 hours. Cant wait!

[BUBraves2006]

So if we got picked to finish in the top 3 next year and Les does what is expected (finish at the top), that automatically makes him the Coach of Year because he did what he was supposed to do?

The guy who does the best coaching job is the one who exceeds expectations, not just meets them. The best coach for a given season also deals with adversity and change.

1. Les took his squad to a position MUCH higher in the standings than originally anticipated.
2. He had to completely rework the offense of the team because of graduation/NBA consequences.
3. He had to keep his team playing well in spite of your most prolific scorer going down (Crouch would have gotten Player of the Year consideration if he hadn't gone down, you can bet on that).

Lowery plays the exact same style as SIU plays every year. He returned his whole starting lineup. He was supposed to be successful and was. Why does that make him Coach of the Year? If you worked at McDonald's, do you get Employee of the Month for just doing what you're supposed to???