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Coach Mo
- Thread starter tornado
- Start date
I don't deny injuries have certainly impacted BU's season in a large way. But I also see what is transpiring without those players.
Comparing Mo and Les pretty much comes up equal:
One has 1 valley title, 0 tour. titles, 0 ncaa wins 11 seasons
Other 1 sweet 16, 0 conf. titles, 0 tour. titles 9 seasons
The thing they have in common is mediocre programs that started out with good attendance and ended with lots of empty paid for seats.
One has 1 valley title, 0 tour. titles, 0 ncaa wins 11 seasons
Other 1 sweet 16, 0 conf. titles, 0 tour. titles 9 seasons
The thing they have in common is mediocre programs that started out with good attendance and ended with lots of empty paid for seats.
I don't deny their injuries are hurting Bradley's overall record either. But, we were led to believe that this team was a contender for the Valley championship when we had all of our players available. And although we did lose two albeit excellent players to injury, for our "contending" team to completely self-destruct the way they have is absolutely mind boggling! I can live with a 3-5 conference record and a 9-10 overall record with the possibility of some lower level postseason tournament still within with the injuries at this point, but 0-8 is just absolutely inexcusable! A team that still is stocked with veterans should never have collasped the way they have.
Yes we have a few younger players still developing, but we have more than enough veterans that should have been able to lead this team to at least a few home conference wins by now. The fact that this team looks like a deer in headlights tells me that either fundamentals are not being emphasised in practice and/or Les has not recruited enough skill players for the bench, though he obviously has done a great job recruiting solid starters over his tenure.
Irregardless of Les's past success here, something is not working this year, and an 0-8 conference record is just an absolute train wreck at this point. And Coach Mo has a better record at this point with his injury issues! And of course Indiana St. is not doing too badly either with their injury issues, though I never expected Bradley to be 7-1 either, though that tells me how well prepared ISU seems in comparison to the Valley bottom feeders.
I don't know if firing Les is the answer right now. And I would support whomever the administration decides to go with next year. But again, despite past successes, a team that is playing as poorly as Bradley is this year is reflected on the coaching and recruiting, whether fair or not. We are MUCH better than this, and it will be up to the coaching staff to turn this team around at least into a semi-decent team by the end of the season. If not we will still be a team that has to rebuild their confidence next year, irregardless if we have our full contingent of players back next year or not. And that could mean another VERY long year!
Sorry, but Les has not recruited very good players. Egolf is a national leader in fouls per game and cannot make a layup. Milos had not developed to be an outside shooter. AT has not developed into a center. Eastman is overmatched. We have small guards. except for Warren. I am not sure why Prosser is not playing more in that he is likely the future for next year. I think we will be a little better next year (assuming that SM and TB are back healthy), but I do not think we will finish higher than 6 in the Valley. If TB is not back, we will likely be 8 to 10 in the Valley.
You see, I was trying to differentiate where his strong points versus his weak points in recruiting are and you still thought that I said he's an excellent recruiter.
To clarify my previous post, I said he has recruited some excellent starters, like POB, AW, SM, TB, etc. I think we agree though that he has not much of a bench, though he does have a few players who can still develop into solid players.I think WE and Posser have great potential, Egolf if he could just stop fouling people.
Yes, I guess we will have to just accept continued mediocrity and not attain the upper reaches of the MVC conference. Just sit in the seats and watch the tv and hope for 4th place each year. Wow!!!! I can't believe that through all these years that people are CONTENT with this type of consistent product.
NOVEL IDEA: DEVELOP A PRODUCT (SPORTS TEAMS) THAT HELP THE UNIVERSITY ATTAIN ITS NATIONAL BRAND & REPUTATION. THIS APPLIES TO ALL SPORTS.
NOVEL IDEA: DEVELOP A PRODUCT (SPORTS TEAMS) THAT HELP THE UNIVERSITY ATTAIN ITS NATIONAL BRAND & REPUTATION. THIS APPLIES TO ALL SPORTS.
Well I guess you're right about that. But it was under his watch and I'm sure he had imput in the decision.
Still as bad as things are, he did recruit a decent core of players on this current team. It's just that he apparently did not do a great job recruiting enough skill players on his bench. If that's the wrong assessment on my part, I apologize. Then it comes down to preparing his team to play well when injuries happen. Again, if this team was at least 3-5 now I would have a lot more faith in the direction we are going. But at 0-8, it's really hard to detect any positives with this team right now. Maybe things can at least start to change for the better before the end of the year, but right now things are looking really bleak.
Hey, excuse me! I never said accept mediocrity! I said we can excuse a mediocre year because of two major injuries to veteran players. But I CERTAINLY will not excuse 0-8! I just said 3-5 or better at least leaves us with hope of some sort of postseason tournament this year as a springboard to a first place run next year with a full team intact.
Please read my posts with a little more effort before you jump to an inaccurate conclusion.
EDIT: Sorry if I came across flippant towards you steve. I did not mean to do that, but if you were directing this post towards me, I most certainly don't accept continued mediocrity. However, with the two major injuries, the chances of competing for a Valley championship certainly become a lot less likely. However, I certainly did not expect, nor accept a veteran team collapsing like we have as well! There are some major issues that need to be addressed before next year, and yes, we have to shoot for at least a top 2 or 3 finish on a yearly basis if we want to build a strong program. Injuries account for some influence on the win/loss record, but they should not be affecting the record to the point it has this year.
Hopefully we can continue a civil discussion of these issues with at least an understanding where each person stands.
Last edited:
SaintLouBrave22
New member
In all fairness BF, I think he was going on all the collective posts and not trying to single you out, but I do have to agree...
Its becoming commonplace to excuse him from poor starts to games, poor starts and finishes to seasons, poor recruiting decisions, transfers and defections supposedly out of his control, and outright mediocrity...
Well I didn't mean to spout off, but I'm guessing some of his post was directed at me since I had posted several recent comments regarding this thread.
And I certainly agree with you that the excuses have to stop. BUT, I don't think anyone would expect BU to be 7-1 without their major players like ISU is/was. And I'm sure you read my posts spewing against this 0-8 start which is absolutely inexcusable, and which was a response to another post above. I just meant that playing around .500 would at least show that the coaching is making somewhat of an impact to the remaining players, many of who are veterans. But if we can't even have one win by this point, then we have major issues here, injuries or not. So I think we definately agree on this SaintLouBrave.
And I just edited my above post with an apology to steve.
BRADLEY FAN 49
New member
YES!!!!!
One sweet 16 in my opinion is worth more than multiple N.C.A.A. apprearances with no wins.
You know, I have to agree with you up to at least a certain point on this one. Of course a Sweet 16 run is a far bigger accomplishment than winning the conference. But, of course the Valley is not usually as strong as it was in 2006 where you had the first fifth place teams ever from the Valley making the NCAA Tournament. That won't cut it most years, and of course we do need to win championships from time to time, which we have not done under Les and only once under Coach Mo.
My point is that there are some here who think winning the Valley "outweighs" a Sweet 16 appearance, which of course is patently ridiculous! Many teams win their conferences year after year and are one and out of the tournament. Obviously you have to win conference championships to make the tournament, but winning games in the tournament will ALWAYS outshine winning a conference championship!
I do not buy that going to the Sweet 16 trumps making the NCAA year in and year out. So you would rather have what we accomplished lately then the multiple NCAA appearance and league championships by CU? Sorry, if you look at it, one year of glory does not equal a decade of consistency of challenging for a league title. I have always felt winning the league title is of the upmost importance, followed by winning down in St Louis. an NCAA win from there is a sweet bonus.
While I agree mostly, you need to win games in your conference and be in contention for titles most years to have even a shot at getting to the NCAAs let alone making a sweet 16 run. Like you said, a 4-5 place finish isnt going to get you into the tournament 9 years out of 10. Im not discounting the Sweet 16 run because that was awesome, but that should be the rule, not the exception IMO. I guess I will put it this way - We want to be like Butler, not George Mason.
Absolutely agreed.
Its one of the many reasons why I continue to push for Dan Muller...
Im afraid if we don't seriously look at someone like him, we will be facing him about 40 miles to the southeast in 2 years or less.
I didn't say year in and year out. I was just agreeing with the poster who said in any given year a Sweet 16 is better than just winning the conference an making the tournament. I agree though that our goal is to try to win the Valley on a yearly basis, something that seems far from our grasp for now.
Very true.