Courtney Lee- almost a Bradley Brave

[tornado]

How about competing for a regular season valley title and winning in St. Louis? Is that asking too much? ...

no, I can say I want that, I know the coach and the players want that...we have no debate in this area...

the debate is what PRECISELY would you do differently or additionally to bring that about.

Personally I have no such answers, since as Da Coach said, we simply aren't going to get the Blue Chipper...

It's easy to sit and criticize when you don't get what you'd like to see..but I personally think we have the right people on the job and they are heading toward that end better than anyone else could do.

[BradleyBrave]

How about competing for a regular season valley title and winning in St. Louis? Is that asking too much? Do you need 4 and 5 star players to do that? How about being competitive in the other sports we already play? I don??™t think it??™s asking too much to occasionally finish first in any sport other than soccer.

Agree 100%. It's not asking too much, and success breeds success...and money. Certainly none of the other sports will ever generate the kind of money that basketball does, but the soccer team is proof positive that if BU wants to be good at something other than basketball it can be. Successful baseball, tennis, and golf programs would generate more revenue and more donations for those sports. I know there are alumni who played the 'other' sports at BU who would be more than happy to donate to that sport if BU ever made any type of effort to be good. Every time there's an excuse for us being terrible at sports, I point to Creighton and ask 'why not us'?

[tornado]

I point to Creighton and ask 'why not us'?

so you want us to become Creighton, or should we quit being BU fans and become Creighton fans?

seriously, what would you do any differently that we are presently doing?
If it's upgrade our facilities...then that criticism would only have been valid for 50 years ending when JL was hired.
If it's go after higher rated recruits...then how can you argue that isn't being done....BU is competing for the highest level recruits on a consistent basis since I have been a BU fan.
If it's get to the post-season, win some games, and build on that, I think we are already on the way....

what more to do??

[tornado]

hey--- hypothetical question....

what if you were the fan of a midwestern mid-major...
and your team was 6 years into the era of a new head coach,
and so far he had a 7-win, a 14-win, a 15-win, an 18-win, a 22-win, and a 23-win season thus far..
but very, very little post-season success yet (ONLY ONE post season win!)...and only ONE Valley finish in 6 YEARS above 4th place!!
and almost no really top caliber recruits, and the fan base is grumbling and wants more..

then - even though the head coach in his first 6 years has an overall 55.9% winning pct....(keep in mind that Jim Les has a 55% overall wining pct. at Bradley), then...
let's say you were presented with the opportunity to jettison that coach and maybe get a better one...would you have done it??


If you answer "YES"...the mouse over the next line to see what you just accomplished...

You just fired Dana Altman from Creighton after his first 6 years....
the very school you say we want to be just like...

[BradleyBrave]

so you want us to become Creighton, or should we quit being BU fans and become Creighton fans?

seriously, what would you do any differently that we are presently doing?
If it's upgrade our facilities...then that criticism would only have been valid for 50 years ending when JL was hired.
If it's go after higher rated recruits...then how can you argue that isn't being done....BU is competing for the highest level recruits on a consistent basis since I have been a BU fan.
If it's get to the post-season, win some games, and build on that, I think we are already on the way....

what more to do??

I'm talking more about the other sports. There's a lot that can be done differently with the other sports to keep us from bottom feeding like we annually do.

As far as basketball goes, for the most part in my time as a fan, I have not had a problem with the talent we bring in. Facilities didn't keep us from getting 3 NBA players to campus over the last decade, and I would be shocked and amazed if we produced 3 NBA players in the next 10 years after these things go up. We just need to be win more games and start competing for conference titles. If we do that, everything else will take care of itself.

[BradleyBrave]

hey--- hypothetical question....

what if you were the fan of a midwestern mid-major...
and your team was 6 years into the era of a new head coach,
and so far he had a 7-win, a 14-win, a 15-win, an 18-win, a 22-win, and a 23-win season thus far..
but very, very little post-season success yet (ONLY ONE post season win!)...and only ONE Valley finish in 6 YEARS above 4th place!!
and almost no really top caliber recruits, and the fan base is grumbling and wants more..

then - even though the head coach in his first 6 years has an overall 55.9% winning pct....(keep in mind that Jim Les has a 55% overall wining pct. at Bradley), then...
let's say you were presented with the opportunity to jettison that coach and maybe get a better one...would you have done it??


If you answer "YES"...the mouse over the next line to see what you just accomplished...

You just fired Dana Altman from Creighton after his first 6 years....
the very school you say we want to be just like...

Are we really doing this again?

[Lakeview Brave]

Did anyone mention Jim Les? Nobody is advocating firing him in this thread and we are talking about all Bradley sports not just basketball. However if you want to talk about basketball specificly. It is impossible for you to say that no one could have done a better job and nothing more could have been done. That implies that at no point in the last 15 years could Bradley have finished first in the Valley or won in St. Louis, I refuse to believe that. I would argue that the sweet 16 team was the most talented team since Hersey Hawkins played and it was healthy. There is really no excuse for that team not to have won the valley or won in St. Louis. You can??™t tell me that something couldn??™t have been done better during that season.

No one is asking for miracles and im not saying we should compete to win national championships or make the tournament every year but finishing first OCCASIONALY is not asking allot from any of our sports.

[Beninator]

Agree 100%. It's not asking too much, and success breeds success...and money. Certainly none of the other sports will ever generate the kind of money that basketball does, but the soccer team is proof positive that if BU wants to be good at something other than basketball it can be. Successful baseball, tennis, and golf programs would generate more revenue and more donations for those sports. I know there are alumni who played the 'other' sports at BU who would be more than happy to donate to that sport if BU ever made any type of effort to be good. Every time there's an excuse for us being terrible at sports, I point to Creighton and ask 'why not us'?

Well first off, if we talk about the soccer team, I think that we have to look at the big donation that has led to their playing facilities. IMO the new basketball facilities represents an "effort to be good". I understand that we arent going to land all 4-5 star recruits with the new facilities, but I expect to land better all-around players in the future. If we want our coach to land the occasional recruit who is being courted by a Big 10 school, we best show this kid that BU is commited to the modern era of college basketball or the coach's words on the recruiting trail will be meaningless.

[Da Coach]

Are we really doing this again?

I think what is being asked is for suggestions how you would do anything differently. If anything is overdone here, it's the criticisms. I would be willing to bet that even if it was never mentioned again, everyone here knows that Jim Les hasn't finished in the top 3 in the MVC. It seems to be brought up in most threads, including many that have nothing to do with that.

Some don't want to hear this, but for the last 2 years, injuries to key players have had a lot to do with it.

Instead of criticisms and putting demands on the team's performance, I would like to hear what anyone would do differently.

there are no more excuses. None.

For the record- I have never heard Jim Les use the injury issue (or anything else) as an excuse.

[leebiddlecome]

Instead of criticisms and putting demands on the team's performance, I would like to hear what anyone would do differently.

This isn't really directly related to the success on the court--and this is a personal thing of mine in all sports--but I want to see less talk and hype and more results.

Don't tell us "we could be special" or "this team is the most this or that" or "this player is the best this or that since"...we aren't dumb fans. We all know the history of the program. We shouldn't be easily sold or influenced by random talk and comments. Some people do eat this stuff up though.

Just win more and win some championships and we all be able to figure out how good and special teams were. I also must admit I am as about anti-hype, promotion, etc. as it gets.

Don't tell me or sell me on what will or might happen--just get it done and then talk about it after. That would be the best.

I understand talk/hype sells a program but winning sells it more.

[tornado]

I think what is being asked is for suggestions how you would do anything differently....

yup...all we ever see is criticisms and things people do not want to do...nobody actually ever says what they would do...

[Lakeview Brave]

I think what is being asked is for suggestions how you would do anything differently. If anything is overdone here, it's the criticisms. I would be willing to bet that even if it was never mentioned again, everyone here knows that Jim Les hasn't finished in the top 3 in the MVC. It seems to be brought up in most threads, including many that have nothing to do with that.

Some don't want to hear this, but for the last 2 years, injuries to key players have had a lot to do with it.

Instead of criticisms and putting demands on the team's performance, I would like to hear what anyone would do differently.




For the record- I have never heard Jim Les use the injury issue (or anything else) as an excuse.

Nobody here is paid to coach the team however most people here help pay the coach in someway or another so its his job to figure out what to do. If I was hired to do the job then I would figure out what to do and I wouldn??™t expect my fans to make excuses for me.

Do you think that Bradley had no opportunity with any team in the last 15 years to win the valley or win in St. Louis?

Also is it asking a lot for our other sports to compete for first in the Valley?

[real fan]

I am not making excuses on why Bradley has not won Valley championships since Jim Les has been coach, the one thing I will say is if you think that the new facilities will not make a difference in the recruitment of a player then you just don"t understand what kids expect these days. Old is out and new is what is important to young people. I want us to win as much as anyone and I am not satisfied with 0 championships but I also believe we are on the right track to obtain these goals.

[leebiddlecome]

I am not making excuses on why Bradley has not won Valley championships since Jim Les has been coach, the one thing I will say is if you think that the new facilities will not make a difference in the recruitment of a player then you just don"t understand what kids expect these days. Old is out and new is what is important to young people. I want us to win as much as anyone and I am not satisfied with 0 championships but I also believe we are on the right track to obtain these goals.

I understand but they won't be playing a single game (save for an exhibition) in the new facility or arena. I actually think the facility issue will help teams like women's hoops and volleyball more than men's basketball. They will be playing there.

It is a new basketball practice facility and certainly its newer/nicer but when it matters most, game time, things wont change. Everything is still happening downtown.

I don't know if having a new practice facility matters. Are kids excited about where they practice?

[BradleyBrave]

yup...all we ever see is criticisms and things people do not want to do...nobody actually ever says what they would do...

How is it a criticism to say that all of our sports outside of basketball and soccer routinely finish near the bottom of the league?

Here's what I would do - Hire better coaches. The baseball hiring was nothing short of a joke, and not the kind of hire that an athletic department (or more accurately a university president) that is committed to winning would make.