The Sweet 16

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#126      

IlliniKat91

IlliniKat91
Chicago, IL
IlliniKat91
JFGsCoffeeMug said:
Yeah, I read it through the page source.

The problem with this approach is that the intended play is so transparent. Before media is given access to TSJ, it is the most innocent thing in the world to bang the "we just want to talk to your best player" drum. But as soon as he is made available, you just know the questions will go way beyond the bounds of basketball and the upcoming game or the game that was just played.

It just takes one person to preface any one of their questions with the phrase "You've been charged with rape" and that will either force us to shut down a press conference or force TSJ to dodge the question (probably by saying "no comment"). And then what happens? Then articles are written about how our team and school are complicit in shielding TSJ and how we have shamefully prioritized winning over everything else. And TSJ is criticized for being anything less than completely forthcoming (i.e., an innocent person wouldn't have anything to hide, blah blah blah).

No, thank you. We don't need that sort of circus while our team is trying to focus on winning basketball games at the end of the season.
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#127      

Illini in OC

Illini in OC
In. The. Alley.
Illini in OC
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Yep, I think now that the Sweet Sixteen monkey is off his back, there can be no denying what a smashing success he has been at Illinois. We don't need to recap post-Dee/James Bruce Weber and John Groce, but our program was in the worst shape it's been in like 40 years when Brad Underwood decided to leave Oklahoma State - a program with a great tradition in its own right and that had just made the NCAA Tournament - to come here. I think two things prevented some from TRULY appreciating the turnaround:

1. COVID cutting our 2020 season short just as we were hitting our stride (we had just beat a very good Iowa team at home to get the double bye in the BTT and looked slated for a #6 seed in the NCAA Tournament). If we even make the Second Round that year, #2 is POSSIBLY avoided...

2. The Loyola loss. Our meteoric rise from a losing season to a #1 seed and what should have been 2 Big Ten championship banners in one year seemed like a fever dream. Not only that, but our 2021 team was playing some of the best basketball I have ever seen an Illini team play in history as it cruised through the end of the regular season and BTT, beating top 10 teams away from Champaign left and right. Then it came crashing down in one loss.

2022 was what it was ... we lost a generational talent in Ayo, along with Miller and Giorgi. We also dealt with more player absences from games than anyone in the country, IIRC. While our dreams of a long Tournament run were slim by mid-March, we got the Big Ten regular season championship that the previous team deserved ... mission accomplished.

2023 is just a normal rebuilding year that we all give Brad a pass for in a previous era. Instead, he proved that this program can recruit with literally ANYBODY in the Big Ten and reloaded to have a preseason top 25 team after losing all five starters?! It didn't end up working out, but it was a gamble ... and he would have taken slack from people if he didn't hit the portal hard.

Upsets happen in the Tournament, and #1 seeds go down in the Sweet Sixteen quite frequently. So, let's pretend for a second that our Sweet Sixteen appearance (which, don't get me wrong, is hopefully way more than that after a win tonight!) occurs in 2021 with a #1 seed and we don't have the psychological scar of the Loyola game. THIS is an impeccable record the last five seasons:

Record: 116-48 (.707)
B1G Record: 69-31 (.690)
NCAAT Appearances: 5 (counting 2020, as they would have made it)
NCAAT Finishes: 1 Sweet Sixteen (at least), 3 Second Round appearances
Big Ten: 1.5 regular season championships, 2 BTT championships
AP Poll Finishes: #21 - #2 - #19 - NR - #10
Preseason AP: NR - #8 - #11 - #23 - #25

I included that last part to remind everyone that Brad has actually now improved on the preseason ranking his team had in 3 of 5 seasons. Super happy to have him, and we better open up the war chest to pay the man to keep him forever!
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I love this entire thread started by Illini88.
We are built to last.
Great college players will like the (adapted) style of hoops we play and the atmosphere in which we do it.

Let's not forget this guy for raising the $$ to BU and staff and funding awesome facilities.

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#128      

ever

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ever
JFGsCoffeeMug said:
The key word here is "request." Requests can be denied. I'm sure they were made. I'm sure they were denied.
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Indeed, and "authority to request" could be construed many different ways.

It's unclear whether the entire document is even enforceable and/or whether NCAA would attempt to enforce it if they thought they could. There's enough in that document that makes it look like the NCAA thinks all players should be available for interviews in the locker room. The fact that they haven't pressed the issue with TSJ yet makes it seem like they either know they don't actually have an enforceable contract compelling student athletes to conduct media interviews, or they are choosing not to go that route.
 
#129      

ever

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ever
I've already spent too much time in this rabbit hole, but I found what appears to be an interview rule document from a previous men's bb tournament stating "The host media coordinator will have the authority to designate and require any student-athlete to attend any news conference, but should work with the participating institution’s head coach and SID, as well as a designated member of the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) to select postgame press conference participants."

So they've backed off their language somewhat in recent years (at least for games before the elite 8)
 
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