Comings, goings on Hilltop - DR

[ancona flash]

And count me as one that is optimistic about our chances at getting Abell. I think Geno can sell, and his track record and style of play have to be appealing to a slasher/athletic type like RA.

I REALLY like the thought of DSE, WL, RA, and DS running the back court, especially by the 12-13 season if they develop.................really good times may be had!

Remy- You've got a great cast around you and fan base that wants you in Peoria. We need you in Peoria!

 

[Bravesfan]

That was a good thought that came true...everything that has happened since the season ended has caused me to be very optimistic for this coming season and we've even got a good preseason schedule working. Looking forward to watching the players respond to a new improved game plan and how the new players fit in. And from what I've recently read there is going to be a new openness with the press, the more information the better for us fans. Go Braves

It's too bad we didn't see this openness of the press when Les was here. Maybe some of it was anti-Les bias, maybe a lot of it stems from sinking newspaper sales, but whatever the reason, good to see a newspaper doing what they are supposed to do for a change! Better late than ever.

 

[Bravesfan]

This is what I said six weeks ago.....



Let's just say I'm pleasantly surprised and very happy to have been wrong if NW is still coming and RA is still in play!

Oh.....and great article by Dave Reynolds!

Agreed on all counts! But let's make sure RA coming here is official. Looks like there is still some work to be done there, but let's just say it looks as if things are trending in the right direction.

Nice to have NW coming, and even if he's a bit of a project, at least he provides us with some desperately needed inside presence. This is great to hear as well.

 

[Bravesfan]

You touched on it, but I really believe one of the things that killed us last year, and in years past was our lack of depth. Yes, I know the injuries were there, but we had numbers, just not the quality we needed. The deeper we are with quality players, the better this season will go.

Like you said, RA and DS (especially DS) may not necessarily be starters, but provide good production and depth to prepare them to emerge as sophs and beyond.

That's a great point ancona. A little more depth would have given us at minimum 3 to 5 more wins this past year. Not that would have been a huge deal, but going into the next season finishing 5th or 6th with maybe a CBI appearance would have looked a lot better than finishing tied for 9th. That said, we still finished strong and I enjoyed watching this team gel the last month. I was very proud to be a fan of this team despite the adverse circumstances, and in spite of that horrid 11 game losing streak were I almost gave up for the year.

So while I still think a 4th or 5th place finish this coming season would be good if we get the players here that I hope we do, I agree that a little more depth most likely prevents us from finishing anywhere near the bottom of the league again.

And I have to admit that's a lot better assessment than what I gave this team a few weeks ago!

 

[Da Coach]

Highlights include...

Remy Abell is still thinking about Bradley and Coach Ford will be meeting with him and his family next week and make one last pitch for BU!

More unfortunate fallout...
A report this morning from a source in Kentucky says that Remy Abell-
"signed with Bradley in November, but after the Braves fired Coach Jim Les last month, Abell is getting his release from Bradley and will reopen his recruitment."

 

[wily coyote]

It's too bad we didn't see this openness of the press when Les was here. Maybe some of it was anti-Les bias, maybe a lot of it stems from sinking newspaper sales, but whatever the reason, good to see a newspaper doing what they are supposed to do for a change! Better late than ever.

Have you ever thought you have it backwards. Just maybe it was BU and JL that did not want the PJS to get information???Maybe JL made it very difficult for DR and KW to do their jobs.. for whatever reasons I can't answer only JL and Bobby P can and I don't think they will. I think we will see an entirely different working relationship with the PJS and Geno unless other people at BU make it impossible. I don't look for that to happen. Hope not it's been nice reading the articles DR has written. Keep up the good work DR and BU we all win when we can trust.

 

[BradleyJD]

Have you ever thought you have it backwards. Just maybe it was BU and JL that did not want the PJS to get information???Maybe JL made it very difficult for DR and KW to do their jobs.. for whatever reasons I can't answer only JL and Bobby P can and I don't think they will. I think we will see an entirely different working relationship with the PJS and Geno unless other people at BU make it impossible. I don't look for that to happen. Hope not it's been nice reading the articles DR has written. Keep up the good work DR and BU we all win when we can trust.

Good point Wily. I do know a couple of people who felt Jim would not talk to people if they were not "on board". I am not sure what that means exactly, but I think I get the point.

I also believe Coach Ford will be a little more accessible, but only time will tell.

 

[Buesch N Chips]

Have you ever thought you have it backwards. Just maybe it was BU and JL that did not want the PJS to get information???Maybe JL made it very difficult for DR and KW to do their jobs.. for whatever reasons I can't answer only JL and Bobby P can and I don't think they will. I think we will see an entirely different working relationship with the PJS and Geno unless other people at BU make it impossible. I don't look for that to happen. Hope not it's been nice reading the articles DR has written. Keep up the good work DR and BU we all win when we can trust.

I've always been led to believe that the JL/KW feud began when JL was a little less than open in the early days. He spoke to the media on his terms, not theirs, which might have been different than what Mo did, and they took offense. Then the Ruffin injury soap opera, then the renegade program article, and after that there wasn't much good between them, as far as I know.

Here's to hoping we don't have those same problems again.....

 

[wily coyote]

I've always been led to believe that the JL/KW feud began when JL was a little less than open in the early days. He spoke to the media on his terms, not theirs, which might have been different than what Mo did, and they took offense. Then the Ruffin injury soap opera, then the renegade program article, and after that there wasn't much good between them, as far as I know.

Here's to hoping we don't have those same problems again.....

B N C I think you are right on the money with what went wrong between the PJS and JL. Heres hoping the Geno era will go as good as it seems to presently. If that happens I'm sure the relationship between his staff and the PJS will be fine and we will be more informed on things we all enjoy to read. We must remember though there are things we may want to know but it is not in the programs best interest to be made public. I'm thinking more about recruiting then everyday things. I think its great to hear about recruits when they visit and I think we will hear more about that kind of info with this staff then the PJS got from the previous staff. Just my opinion.

 

[Chico]

IMO, it all started when Jim was hired. kw didn't approve of the hiring, he wanted someone else, and was anti BU until Jim was fired.

 

[Da Coach]

IMO, it all started when Jim was hired. kw didn't approve of the hiring, he wanted someone else, and was anti BU until Jim was fired.

I agree chico. The press coverage here was negative from day 1. Jim was always very open to other people, and members of the media were frequently invited to watch practices.

 

[BradleyJD]

I agree chico. The press coverage here was negative from day 1. Jim was always very open to other people, and members of the media were frequently invited to watch practices.

I disagree with this, but you are entitled to your opinion. I have many articles up in my poker room that are about BU, under Les, that are completely, 100% supportive.

Jim was open to SOME people. To others, they felt differently.

 

[BU RICK]

More unfortunate fallout...
A report this morning from a source in Kentucky says that Remy Abell-
"signed with Bradley in November, but after the Braves fired Coach Jim Les last month, Abell is getting his release from Bradley and will reopen his recruitment."

I've deleted a couple replies to this before clicking the submit button...
but I don't agree with the wording "unfortunate fallout", JMO.
It would be more like, "it's unfortunate we couldn't get him, he would have thrived playing for our new coach"...if he actually decides not to come play for us.

 

[BradleyJD]

I've deleted a couple replies to this before clicking the submit button...
but I don't agree with the wording "unfortunate fallout", JMO.
It would be more like, "it's unfortunate we couldn't get him, he would have thrived playing for our new coach"...if he actually decides not to come play for us.

BU Rick, some people prefer to see the glass as half empty.

I agree with you, though. It's unfortunate if the young man doesn't chose to come to BU, but life goes on and Bradley's future looks bright regardless.

 

[Da Coach]

There are some uninformed fans who mocked and ridiculed others who predicted that some players would leave, and some highly talented recruits would back out. As expected, it has happened, and we may not have seen the end yet. It is unfortunate we won't get to see Sammy running this team next year, and it is just as unfortunate that Bradley fans may not get to see Remy Abell in a Bradley uniform (I hope this report is wrong). I haven't met anyone who doesn't agree that we would have been a much better team next year with Sammy and Remy.

 

[BradleyJD]

There are some uninformed fans who mocked and ridiculed others who predicted that some players would leave, and some highly talented recruits would back out. As expected, it has happened, and we may not have seen the end yet. It is unfortunate we won't get to see Sammy running this team next year, and it is just as unfortunate that Bradley fans may not get to see Remy Abell in a Bradley uniform (I hope this report is wrong). I haven't met anyone who doesn't agree that we would have been a much better team next year with Sammy and Remy.

Could we be better? Yes that is possible. However, some have chosen to jump ship. Everyone is free to make their own choices.

Coach Ford obviously wants players who are dedicated to his vision. If a player doesn't want that, then CF has to move on with those who do.

I think some uniformed fans thought the wheels would fall off an BU would barely be functioning without JL and his "Band of Boosters". Thankfully, BU fans stayed the course and have joined with Coach Ford and the players who are dedicating themselves to improving the program.

 

[Da Coach]

So you aren't concerned about losing Sammy and possibly Remy and maybe more? You don't think the loss of those guys isn't significant?
Fans who knew that would happen were "uninformed"? I think it is the exact opposite. There were fans who predicted that, and were attacked and ridiculed, but now they were proven right.

 

[Bravesfan]

B N C I think you are right on the money with what went wrong between the PJS and JL. Heres hoping the Geno era will go as good as it seems to presently. If that happens I'm sure the relationship between his staff and the PJS will be fine and we will be more informed on things we all enjoy to read. We must remember though there are things we may want to know but it is not in the programs best interest to be made public. I'm thinking more about recruiting then everyday things. I think its great to hear about recruits when they visit and I think we will hear more about that kind of info with this staff then the PJS got from the previous staff. Just my opinion.

I hope the Geno era goes well too, but if what BNC said is true, you can interpret things in more than one way. Maybe JL wasn't as open as some in the media would have liked, but the media aren't saints here either. They made it clear from the get go that they didn't like JL as a coach due to his lack of coaching experience. Next, the media does not have the right to dictate how a coach should handle the media. If JL wanted to do things his way, then tough! Most of the time I believe the media in general has way too much power on how they believe people should think (ie: influencing presidential candidates, politics, etc.), and the politics of sports are affected as well.

And finally, why should the media care about how JL handled the Daniel Ruffin situation? That does not involve them at all. That should have been between Les, the administration and Ruffin. But for the media to dislike someone because they disagreed with how they handled a situation goes WAY beyond the scope of their duties.

So yes, if Geno is more open of course the media will like him more. But that still doesn't answer the question of why the media always has to take sides with people. The objective of a journalist is not to "make the world a better place" or influence others on what to think. Their sole objective is to report the news. Yes KW can give out his opinion as a columnist, but the rest of the media fraternity needs to report objectively without the bias. And again, this goes far, far beyond just the PJStar.

 

[BradleyJD]

So you aren't concerned about losing Sammy and possibly Remy and maybe more? You don't think the loss of those guys isn't significant?
Fans who knew that would happen were "uninformed"? I think it is the exact opposite. There were fans who predicted that, and were attacked and ridiculed, but now they were proven right.

Am I concerned? What would that accomplish?

Do I wish people would have stayed and given Coach Ford a shot? Yes, but those guys left. Time to move on.

Those same fans "who knew" predicted all the big money boosters would pull out also. They predicted the President and A.D. would be in trouble. They said DSE was sure to leave, etc.

This isn't a pi$&ing contest.

All that matters is that Coach Ford and the players who WANT to be here will be on the court next year and playing games. You can either accept that and move forward with them or you can continue to predict more ominous events, player defections, and booster walk-outs.

I, for one, would like to give the new coach and the players who are dedicated a shot moving forward.

 

[Buesch N Chips]

And finally, why should the media care about how JL handled the Daniel Ruffin situation? That does not involve them at all. That should have been between Les, the administration and Ruffin. But for the media to dislike someone because they disagreed with how they handled a situation goes WAY beyond the scope of their duties.

The Ruffin situation I was referring to was when he was hurt and JL was less that forthcoming on his playing status, and KW almost seemed like he was entitled to that information, and wrote about it.