Overall Program Thoughts

[squirrel]

Of course I want to do better.....but before I get too upset, I will remind myself that right at this exact point in time,
we are where we were on Feb. 8, 2006.
We had just lost to Indiana State, we were underproducing, and we were looking like we were going to have another disappointing year.
BUT-- I trust JL to turn this season in the right direction as he did in 2006, and I am anxiously looking for a fine finish in 2008, and the 2008 MVC Tournament Championship.

I understand the end result is the ultimate goal. But what are your limits on "underproducing" and what should us fans expect, and more importantly, when can we expect them?

[Da Coach]

Thanks for your thoughts, srw.

Just a couple responses from me--

One correction- Daniel Ruffin committed to Bradley in January of his senior year at Peoria Central. He did not have "grade" problems. His grades were good. I have heard he was B-student. And he had taken the ACT test for a 2nd time, as a senior, and got a qualifying score. It was a no-brainer to sign Ruffin to a LOI. It wasn't until the ACT board refused to accept the 2nd test that issues of his eligibility arose. Ruffin took the test 2 more times in the spring and summer and got qualifying, high-enough scores again, but they found out that once the ACT disqualifies any test score, they apparently do not accept scores from future tests, so DR was screwed. He did nothing wrong, but had to sit out his freshman year. I don't see why this is hung around Jim Les' neck as some kind of failure.

The issue about Jim Les not having a player come in as a freshman and make All Conference.-- First, if we have All Conference players, who cares whether they were freshmen, transfers, or jucos? Most fans, including srw, I seem to recall, have said that they don't care where a player comes from (HS, prep, or juco), as long as they are quality players.
Jim Les has had several All MVC players, and we should be congratulating him for recruiting those guys.
Also, since it is very uncommon for underclassmen to be named All MVC, the fact that Jim Les hasn't had a 1st team All MVC player has more to do with the fact that he has only been here 5 years, and he didn't have a chance to recruit for his 1st year. So he has really only had a total of 1 (one) senior class (last year's) with players he recruited as freshmen! That is simply too small a sample to be making any sort of judgement here!
Daniel Ruffin was 2nd team All-MVC last year (which was his 4th year, and might have been his senior season if he hadn't been ineligible), and likely will be 1st team this year. Patrick O'Bryant would likely have been 1st team All MVC last year and this year if he had stayed. Jeremy Crouch should make All-MVC this year, and unfortunately, Sam Singh was seriously injured. I just thought those players (and many more) deserved mention for their accomplishments at Bradley. And the future looks good with freshmen Sam Maniscalco, Anthony Thompson, and Will Egolf, and soph Andrew Warren.

I agree with the part about too many jucos this year. I think even Jim Les admits that we had to go stronger with juco kids this year than we wanted because of the failures with DeAaron Williams, Jeremy Fears, and Dwight Buycks. But I disagree with your premise that we should not have taken a chance on Buycks because of the risks inherent with the other 2. I think you always try to land quality players, and you don't back off because of what might happen with another player.
But those were the kind of difference makers that all of us want Jim Les to try to land (and anyone who thinks it's easy to recruit those players to BU is naive). I can't fault him for trying to get them. Other than Anthony Parker (and he developed into a difference-maker, he wasn't that kind of player out of high school), how many of those type of players has Bradley had in the last 20 years?
IMO, Jim Les should continue to pursue those kinds of players, and I think he has the support of 98% of fans on that.

Thanks again for your thoughts!

[MacabreMob]

.....right at this exact point in time,
we are where we were on Feb. 8, 2006.
We had just lost to Indiana State, we were underproducing, and we were looking like we were going to have another disappointing year....

I understand what you mean, but....

Feb 9th 2006, Bradley's RPI was 66th.

Feb 15th 2008, Bradley's RPI is 109th.

2006 - Bradley went on to win their last 5 regular season games and then 2-1 in the MVCT finishing with an RPI of 33.

2008 - Bradley could win their last 5 regular season games and then go 2-1 in the MVCT and I doubt we'd finish in the Top40 of the RPI.

We got a long way to go.

[srw]

Thanks for your thoughts, srw.

Just a couple responses from me--

One correction- Daniel Ruffin committed to Bradley in January of his senior year at Peoria Central. He did not have "grade" problems. His grades were good. I have heard he was B-student. And he had taken the ACT test for a 2nd time, as a senior, and got a qualifying score. It was a no-brainer to sign Ruffin to a LOI. It wasn't until the ACT board refused to accept the 2nd test that issues of his eligibility arose. Ruffin took the test 2 more times in the spring and summer and got qualifying, high-enough scores again, but they found out that once the ACT disqualifies any test score, they apparently do not accept scores from future tests, so DR was screwed. He did nothing wrong, but had to sit out his freshman year. I don't see why this is hung around Jim Les' neck as some kind of failure.

The issue about Jim Les not having a player come in as a freshman and make All Conference.-- First, if we have All Conference players, who cares whether they were freshmen, transfers, or jucos? Most fans, including srw, I seem to recall, have said that they don't care where a player comes from (HS, prep, or juco), as long as they are quality players.
Jim Les has had several All MVC players, and we should be congratulating him for recruiting those guys.
Also, since it is very uncommon for underclassmen to be named All MVC, the fact that Jim Les hasn't had a 1st team All MVC player has more to do with the fact that he has only been here 5 years, and he didn't have a chance to recruit for his 1st year. So he has really only had a total of 1 (one) senior class (last year's) with players he recruited as freshmen! That is simply too small a sample to be making any sort of judgement here!
Daniel Ruffin was 2nd team All-MVC last year (which was his 4th year, and might have been his senior season if he hadn't been ineligible), and likely will be 1st team this year. Patrick O'Bryant would likely have been 1st team All MVC last year and this year if he had stayed. Jeremy Crouch should make All-MVC this year, and unfortunately, Sam Singh was seriously injured. I just thought those players (and many more) deserved mention for their accomplishments at Bradley. And the future looks good with freshmen Sam Maniscalco, Anthony Thompson, and Will Egolf, and soph Andrew Warren.

I agree with the part about too many jucos this year. I think even Jim Les admits that we had to go stronger with juco kids this year than we wanted because of the failures with DeAaron Williams, Jeremy Fears, and Dwight Buycks. But I disagree with your premise that we should not have taken a chance on Buycks because of the risks inherent with the other 2. I think you always try to land quality players, and you don't back off because of what might happen with another player.
But those were the kind of difference makers that all of us want Jim Les to try to land (and anyone who thinks it's easy to recruit those players to BU is naive). I can't fault him for trying to get them. Other than Anthony Parker (and he developed into a difference-maker, he wasn't that kind of player out of high school), how many of those type of players has Bradley had in the last 20 years?
IMO, Jim Les should continue to pursue those kinds of players, and I think he has the support of 98% of fans on that.

Thanks again for your thoughts!

To amend. Daniels grades were not the issue, but there was a lot of discussion at Peoria High on overall NCAA qualification. You are correct there was no grade issue that I ever heard about.

I have amended my thoughts on "where they come from" I agree that I have said in the past I didn't care. But as I have been more critical of the data, I think we need to be looking to keep players on campus for 4 years. I believe that I was wrong in not looking at the area as relevant. Because it seems the further from Peoria they are, the less likely they will be to stay here for 4 years


On Buycks. I am saying take a chance on 1 or 2 of the group...Not all three at the same time.

I believe it to be inherant to look at the program as a whole (to give credit, sort of like the scholarship grid on this board)

[it's boogie time]

I think the program is heading in the right direction because of some of the off the court activities. If a new practice facility, rec center and arena wasn't in the mix, I'd have a lot of doubts about the program. But I'm happy with where the program is heading.

I think the loss of two assistant coaches didn't help anything this year. I think it will be nice to have some continuity with the coaching staff in the offseason.

[Da Coach]

Someone more familiar with recruiting has told me there are other factors that relate to why there may be more junior college players in Division I, and why many colleges are recruiting them more--
There is simply more talent at the juco level now than there was a few years ago, and there are other benefits for the D1 schools to go after jucos now. Now, most major schools recruit jucos, where very few of the top schools did in the past. There are many high D1 coaches who never went after jucos in the past, but now are very involved with juco players.

Also, more stringent academic requirements in the past few years have caused a lot more talented kids to go the juco route. And the Graduation rate numbers that the NCAA uses also makes it favorable to go after a juco, rather than for a college to take a chance on academically marginal high school kids. I have also heard that a lot of kids who may have played football in the past, are now concentrating on basketball, because even if they don't have great grades, they can still go the juco route, and eventually get into a 4-year school with a basketball scholarship. While some jucos do play football (not nearly as many as play basketball) there aren't as many colleges that recruit juco football players. So this has pushed a lot more athletes into junior college to play basketball.

The trend to recruit jucos is not just with Bradley, it's increasing everywhere.

[mexicobufan]

It seems to me from afar (Mexico) that some of the enthusiasm at home games has been lost of late. What happened to the white/red outs and other promotions. I know the season has not went the way it was expected but I am concerned about the lack of interest and as I said overall enthusiasm at the games. Over the internet you have been able to tell a big difference the last few weeks and this includes games when we where in a six game winning streak and getting back into the race. I dont know what the problem is but fans have been crazy at Bradley home games when we had a worse record than we have now. Again I am a long way away but what are the thoughts of people that have been at the games?

[ph]

From a fan's perspective, It is fustrating to not see small steps of improvement within players. We're never discussing, well, "DC's jump-hook is looking smooth, now in comparison to the beginning of the year."

Bradley seems to overall run a complex enough system where a player looks Very Good, Good or Bad. There's really no "OK". So while a player is making strides, we never see it. There just seems to be some magical time (usually summer) or event (like JJ) where a player goes from being bad to good or great.

I guess it does not mean there are no improvements (sometimes coaches talk about improvements in practice that show up weeks later in games), but a fan likes to be able to talk about seing improvements when things are not doing fine.

[georgethedog]

This is what I believe that needs to be done in order for BU to compete yearly for championships:
1) Start by getting at least 3 freshman recruits each season
2) Recruit jr. college players only if they are projected to be impact players.
3) Get back to having an inside game.

Real fan... you could not be more right!!! 1.2.3. perfect summary of what is needed. Especially, #3!!! I am so sick of seeing 4 guards and a small forward on the floor at the same time and then the coaching staff acts as if they can't figure out why we get killed on the boards and points in the paint? I honestly think Les would play 5 point guards if he could.

[Big Mike]

I want a clean program 1st and I want to win 2nd(this statement means I'm not from indiana).......I still trust the coach's with what they put on the floor even though the results lately have not been good! The team needs a leader on the floor and DR or JC do not have that quality!I had hoped that Merfeld would take the place of Chuck B as a coach with major experience to get JL thru the games....Merfeld might still be finding his way or is hesitant not to make waves his 1st season....not sure but JL sure misses Chuck B on the bench! The in game substitutions have been very confusing and seem to lack a purpose......this team has the talent to compete in this league but has not lived up to it's talent level come game-time! Let's all hope things turn around for the last few games and get this ship back on course! I am also tired of the 6'6-6'5 line up that gets pounded on the glass on a nightly basis....we need to play at least 2 BIGS at a time......news flash , TW is not a BIG IMO! I bet DC could get 4 fouls a game-3 pts and 3 rbs in the same # of mins Salley gets.....BOOK IT! Welcome to the board SRW!

[Chico]

SRW, one of the most respected coaches in Bradley basketball history, Joe Stowell, had a MVC record of below.500.

[sam hannam]

It seems to me from afar (Mexico) that some of the enthusiasm at home games has been lost of late. What happened to the white/red outs and other promotions. I know the season has not went the way it was expected but I am concerned about the lack of interest and as I said overall enthusiasm at the games. Over the internet you have been able to tell a big difference the last few weeks and this includes games when we where in a six game winning streak and getting back into the race. I dont know what the problem is but fans have been crazy at Bradley home games when we had a worse record than we have now. Again I am a long way away but what are the thoughts of people that have been at the games?

Tomorrow is a "Red Out". All fans will receive a Red Bradley T-Shirt.

[MacabreMob]

It seems to me from afar (Mexico) that some of the enthusiasm at home games has been lost of late. What happened to the white/red outs and other promotions. I know the season has not went the way it was expected but I am concerned about the lack of interest and as I said overall enthusiasm at the games. Over the internet you have been able to tell a big difference the last few weeks and this includes games when we where in a six game winning streak and getting back into the race. I dont know what the problem is but fans have been crazy at Bradley home games when we had a worse record than we have now. Again I am a long way away but what are the thoughts of people that have been at the games?

Looking back thru the home schedule:

2-6 vs Mo St - the weather was absolutely horrible. I drive in about 40-45 miles from the sticks... and the roads in Peoria were a little bad (some mighta thought they were bad), but outside of the city, my goodness, they were the worst I'd been on in over 20 years (ice covered, wind blowing 20-30 mph, drifting snow).

1-30 vs Indy St - Not a bad crowd, but not a great opponent to draw for a midweek game. Attendance still listed over 9000.

1-23 vs ISU - Sold out, LOUD, HUGE CROWD. Ruffin made his "surprise" return.

1-19 vs Eville - Attendance 10,000+. No Ruffin, but team finding itself without him.

1-16 vs Drake - Great crowd and great game (without Ruffin), though only about 9000.

We went 4-1 in that stretch (only loss a tip in at the buzzer to Drake of course.

Btw - Isn't the game with Creighton a Red/White out? I better check the game thread, as I don't recall. (although, I will be at home for this one - probably in the chat room with ya Mexico )

[Beninator]

The team needs a leader on the floor and DR or JC do not have that quality!

I had hoped that Merfeld would take the place of Chuck B as a coach with major experience to get JL thru the games....Merfeld might still be finding his way or is hesitant not to make waves his 1st season....not sure but JL sure misses Chuck B on the bench!

I am also tired of the 6'6-6'5 line up that gets pounded on the glass on a nightly basis....we need to play at least 2 BIGS at a time......news flash TW is not a bigimo!

Nice post Big Mike. I highlighted a couple of areas in your post that I wanted to make additional comments.

1. Agree. This team needs a leader on the floor. Starting next year, Sam Maniscalco will be that leader.

2. Nice point about Merf. Merf's contributions or inability to contribute may have been lost in the shuffle with everything that has gone on concerning the team this year.

3. Agree... unless the matchups dictate we use a small team which is rarely the case. TW is a 3 and we need to make more use of his abilities at that position.

[Da Coach]

Regarding recruiting--
A lot of fans think the problem with Coach Les is that he can't land any 4-star or a 5-star recruits, and settles for lesser talent.
Maybe some fans think it's easy to land 4 and 5-star recruits at midmajor colleges?

So I tried to look up all the recruits that have been recruited, signed, and played in the MVC over the past 5 years (the period that Jim Les has been at Bradley). And I will pose this question--
According to Scout.com, who I believe to be about as accurate as any recruiting site in evaluating recruits, how many 5-star recruits have there been?

Answer: None

How many 4-star recruits have there been?

Answer: One.
Kenny Lawson, a 2006 recruit at Creighton--

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=1817828

and he redshirted his first season, and so far this season he is averaging 14.7 minutes per game, and 6.1 ppg and 3.7 rpg.

If I am missing anyone else that may have been rated 4-stars or better, let me know.

My point is that it's nice to see Jim Les recruiting 4-star recruits, and it's nice to see them mention Bradley. And we should celebrate if Coach Les ever lands such a Blue-Chipper, but it is extremely rare for any midmajor school, like the MVC, to land one, and even rarer for any of them to actually dominate or make their team better.