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Should Bradley fans expect more out of Coach Jim Les?
With the warm and fuzzy feeling of an NCAA Sweet Sixteen berth fading in the rearview mirror, the Bradley Braves are still awaiting a return invitation to the most glorious of all the dances. With the NCAA introducing a new postseason tournament seemingly every season, the Braves have found a place to park their bus of mediocrity for the past three seasons.
It's time the Bradley faithful demanded more from Les.
Coach Jim Les inherited most of a team that finished 9-20 in the final of Jim Molinari's 11 seasons at the helm. While Les tinkered with lineups and learned his way around a college sideline, the team posted a paltry 40-49 record his first three seasons, including 21-33 in the Missouri Valley. Many insiders questioned whether the right man had been hired to earn BU annual dance tickets.
Enter the magical 2005-06 season.
Losses to Loyola-Chicago and Butler stained the non-conference schedule, and the suspension of Patrick O'Bryant dashed early hopes of a strong season by the 7-foot sophomore. The league season unfolded like many others, with the Braves unable to beat a strong opponent on the road, and holding serve at Carver Arena. Bradley finished an unglamorous 11-7 in Missouri Valley play, tied for fifth in the league.
After wins over Creighton and Wichita State in the MVC Tournament, the Braves succumb to the defensive suffocation of the Southern Illinois Salukis. Bradley had done just enough to earn a 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and crashed the party by upsetting Kansas and Pittsburgh to advance to their first Sweet Sixteen since 1955. Cinderella was sent home by Memphis, and the predictions for a repeat run in 2006-07 immediately began flying, but O'Bryant would leave the hilltop for the NBA, and the team would also lose team leader Marcellus Sommerville and guard Tony Bennett to graduation.
The 06-07 outfit would finish 22-13, and win one game in the NIT, and the Braves made it three consecutive 20+ win seasons with a 21-17 mark in 2007-08. An invitation to the newly-created College Basketball Invitational allowed BU to pad its win total, as was the case in 2008-09 when they participated in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. After beating several mediocre opponents, BU lost in the title game to Old Dominion, finishing the season with a 21-15 mark.
Back to the mediocrity claim… in seven seasons driving the bus, Coach Les has compiled a 61-65 record in the Missouri Valley, and hasn't finished better than fourth in the conference in any season. His overall mark of 126-105 compares quite squarely with Molinari's 115-92 mark at the same juncture, although Coach Mo's boys had already appeared three times at the NIT and once at the Big Show. In his first 231 games as head coach, Molinari was victorious 130 times.
While many fans gave Les the lifetime pass after the Sweet Sixteen run, and he's become the handsome, boyish-looking face of the school, his record in the ensuing years proved his failure to build on the success. Fans will point to the fact that he has posted four straight seasons of 21 or more wins, which is true. Basketball number geeks will remind them that the Braves lost an average of 14 games during those years. And while O'Bryant has carved out a niche in the NBA, Les has failed to recruit anyone in the last four seasons who would be mistaken for a pro prospect. The teams have looked more like basketball quilts; many holes patched with different parts, including junior college transfers and freshmen alike.
Molinari's eighth season produced a 17-12 record, and his fourth trip to the NIT. What Coach Les will bring to the table in 2009-10 remains to be seen. With several good recruits in the hopper, and the return of 2007-08 leading scorer Andrew Warren from injury, the Braves should compete for a top spot in the Missouri Valley. But if they don't, is it time to assess the situation on the sidelines?
Bradley is hoping that Les brings a little more to the hilltop this season.
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