Exactly right! I didn't understand that comment at all! :roll:
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Exactly right! I didn't understand that comment at all! :roll:
That's how I read it as well. I'm not sure where the confusion was.
Why wouldn't it make sense to leave when you've graduated? I'm not sure that's what "Once a Brave, Always a Brave" is really about.
I most definitely would never lose respect for someone who has been at Bradley four years, considered a team leader, and left once he had graduated (even if his coach did return). That's HIS decision. I believe WE and AT will graduate as well and I would not lose respect for either of them if they decide to move on with their lives.
I believe that's also true if there is no coaching change. Why aren't these kids (SM, WE, AT) free to do whatever they think is best for them after they graduate?
AZ BU Fan
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Warning! Do Not Read If You TOTALLY BELIEVE THE ABOVE POST!
Assuming SM and TB come back, why would BU be favorite to win the league next year without AW and DD, when they were only picked to finish 5th this year with AW, DD, SM, and TB?
Will the MVC really suc* that much more next year?
For all those who predict significant leaps in individual player results next year I present the opposition argument: MS, SS, DA, DC, WE, AT, MK...there is no sure thing players will have significant leaps in ability with time ...
I really enjoy the doomsday predictions with a potential coaching change. If BU hires another former player who has never coached a day in his life, probably. If BU hires a dynamic up and comer, with a proven track record, and the support of all the fans who will back BU's AD/Prez decisions all the time, why would any of the players/recruits leave BU?
Particularly if BU is a favorite to win the MVC next year and a legitimate NCAA team
Coaches don't win/lose games, only players right? ;-)
Did it ever occur to anyone the reason some BU players and recruits left after Mo may have been because they were shocked/dismayed with the selection of someone who had never coached/recruited in his life?
Continue with the current staff and the result is (or said more accurately, could be) more 4th place finishes in the MVC.
Feel free to continue to Drink The Kool Aid if you want to.
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BradleyBrave
New member
There's zero evidence to suggest we would contend for a league title next year if the entire staff and players returned, and 9 years of evidence to suggest that we wouldn't.
This is a long-term question and answer. No way do you look at next year hypotheticals when making a decision of this magnitude. If the powers that be feel the long-term future of the program is best in Jim Les' hands then that is fine. But don't make a decision based on what may or may not happen next season.
I would have to agree. You are losing Andrew and Dodie and, hypothetically, adding Sam and Taylor to the mix. I just don't see that as enough to take a team from 9th to 1st.
Nobody said BU would be the favorite to win the MVC. I said I thought they could win the MVC next year, not that they would be picked #1 or the favorite. Where do you think they would be picked? A lot of people on this board thought 5th was way too low this year.
You seem to diminish the team's chances based mainly on losing AW and DD. But teams lose players every year. And to count on no player getting better next season is illogical. I expect much greater contributions next year from JP, WL, JE, MK, DSE, even WE. Add a healthy SM and TB to that, and I don't see many teams any better or more experienced in the MVC. Plus there will be an infusion of new talent.
And we can all dream that every player will stay, but it almost never happens. I'll take anyone's bet in the event we have a new coach, that multiple players who have started will leave, as well as most of the recruits.
In the case we do have a coaching change, I would also bet we finish no higher than 9th for the next couple years. Long-term enough?
I would take this bet. What's the wager?
Every single time Bradley has fired a coach or made a change the new coach improved by his second year. To think the new guy (if there is one) wouldn't be any good and wouldn't win his first two-three seasons seems like a rather doom and gloom scenario and not based on any fact.
Obviously its your opinion but I would wager you on that.
So I'm square--you are predicting 1st place if Jim Les coaches next year, 9th or worse if someone else does?
I would take this bet!
AZ BU Fan
New member
As with most situations, knowledgeable people can see the same picture quite differently!
If a BU Coaching change is made after this season, it can go either way, IMO, depending on who BU might select.
As Jon Voight said in the movie HEAT, "Hey, its a free country man"
Everyone is entitled to their opinion here!
PS
If BU chooses to stay the course, cause it wouldn't be prudent to change, I hope you are right.
If a BU Coaching change is made after this season, it can go either way, IMO, depending on who BU might select.
As Jon Voight said in the movie HEAT, "Hey, its a free country man"
Everyone is entitled to their opinion here!
PS
If BU chooses to stay the course, cause it wouldn't be prudent to change, I hope you are right.
Hmmmmm....
Jim Molinari
Yr #1: 7-23, 3-15 in the Valley, 10th
Yr #2: 11-16, 7-11 in the Valley, 7th
Jim Les
Yr #1: 12-18, 8-10 in the Valley, T-5th
Yr #2: 15-16, 7-11 in the Valley, T-6th
Yr #3: 13-15, 6-12 in the Valley, 8th
Now we all know how well Coach Mo did in his third year and Les did in his fourth year. But that's my point exactly. Even good coaches need time to rebuild programs, especially at the mid-major level. As a matter of fact, it was so bad during Coach Mo's first year that I remember him apologizing to the fans for his team's performance on Snell's radio show! So again, Bradley fans have to be prepared for a potentially lengthy period of growing pains if we go with a new coach.
And let's not forget for comparison sakes that it took the "great" Dana Altman four years just to get Creighton into the NIT and five years to start his run of NCAA Tournament appearance, which granted I'm sure was worth the wait for their fans, but his track record is certainly not guaranteed by every coach. And of course Valparaiso coach Homer Drew had five hideously bad seasons before he finally got his team playing winning basketball. They were so bad he was almost at the point were he was contemplating quiting the profession! Again this illustrates how there are no guarantees in life.
lake Camelot
New member
Coach Mo had no players his first year. I can see things differently than other people, but I have to say I don't see any possible way a new coach could finish ninth for two years. Not even in the realm of possibility to me.
Thanks everyone on how to post pictures. I was only able to put them in with the html IMG code. I finally figured out my account was set as simple text box, not standard I changed it and now I finally see the little icon I was being told about by some. Thanks.
Thanks everyone on how to post pictures. I was only able to put them in with the html IMG code. I finally figured out my account was set as simple text box, not standard I changed it and now I finally see the little icon I was being told about by some. Thanks.
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phyneous_j_whoopie
New member
Are we lamenting the possible loss of JL based on his coaching ability or because he was a great player for BU in the 80's?
If any other coach who didn't happen to be one of the most heralded players in BU history had the same record as JL, would people still be fighting to keep him?
If any other coach who didn't happen to be one of the most heralded players in BU history had the same record as JL, would people still be fighting to keep him?
phyneous_j_whoopie
New member
JL took us to the S16. It had been 50 years since we last did that. 50 years.
I don't want to wait that long again. Some are worried a change would mean another 50 years.
(Especially when the pro-change people keep pointing to the "good old days" with no S16's)
pjw, no, I don't see anyone making their decision on what you suggest. Perhaps you have been fooled by the attempts of some posters here to distort and exaggerate the opinions of pro-Jim Les fans to believe this, but this has nothing to do with their support of him.
The 2 most significant factors supporting the retention of Jim Les:
Jim Les was handicapped by having the worst facilities in the MVC to recruit to, and to work with until the last 1 year+. Not coincidentally, the quality of player recruited has taken a step up. As these players develop, it will be visible as improved finishes. I think there are a lot of reasonable fans who feel that since Jim Les had a lot to do with raising the funds to build the new athletic facilities, he deserves a chance to coach and take advantage of them.
Point 2 is that it is unfair to blame him for everything you see negative about this season, and to some extent previous couple seasons. It's too bad it needs to be repeated so many times because JL's detractors would like to completely ignore this, but Bradley has had to play this season without 2 preseason All-MVC players. I cannot find any previous season where any MVC team had to play the entire season without 2 preseasn All-MVC players and finished in the top half of the standings. And recall that we were affected by similar injuries for extended periods in the previous seasons to Dodie Dunson, Andrew Warren, Will Egolf, Daniel Ruffin, and Jeremy Crouch.
Fans are free to make their own minds up, but it is disingenuous to suggest that Jim Les has not been handicapped by a serious string of bad luck injuries that have harmed his chances of success. IMO, with a healthy team, Coach Les is as capable, if not more so, of turning this team into a successful postseason team (see 2006). He has proven he can be successful, it is not as if he has had a losing program every season as some imply.
Note- we have heard all the arguments for both sides, so I ask the pro-coaching change people not to tell me I am wrong or try to refute all this as always immediately happens.
Buesch N Chips
New member
Probably, because he has done some good things here. You can find stats to support retainment just as you can find stats to support termination.
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