Pregame: Illinois vs Minnesota, Saturday, February 4th, 3:00pm CT, BTN

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#26      

The Dave

The Dave
CA
The Dave
Konnie said:
Coming down from Chicago for the game. Planning on two good things: a late lunch at Papa Del’s and an Illini victory.
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oh...Papa Del's...my mouth is watering. Damn you for putting that in my head!
 
#27      

IlliniOllie

I
IlliniOllie
Adnarel said:
Personally, I'm going to stick with the "tourney or bust" gun. Even considering the mediocrity of the past several seasons, firing a coach on a hot streak with a great incoming class would at least feel pretty rotten.
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Even in the extremely unlikely event that we do go on a streak, no thanks. A hot streak in a small sample size is what got Groce this job in the first place. The body of work for the last 4-3/4 seasons is plenty. I've seen enough.
 
#28      

Berg88

B
Berg88
I will remain foolishly optimistic until our 9th loss. Gotta have this one.
 
#29      

FeelYourPaign

FeelYourPaign
So Cal
FeelYourPaign
Konnie said:
Coming down from Chicago for the game. Planning on two good things: a late lunch at Papa Del’s and an Illini victory.
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I have to warn you that they are very busy on game days.
Allow at least an extra hour beyond what you need anyway.
I tried to call in an order to get it started and they wouldn't do that because they were too busy to be sure that I would have a seat when they had a pizza ready.

But, man, that pizza is good ! You're making my mouth water.;)
 
#31      

Illiniaaron

I
Geneseo, IL
Illiniaaron
For some reason I have a feeling the Illini win this one. The Gophers are pretty flawed as well and I think home court will make the difference. Illinois 74, Minnesota 66. If Illinois loses this one the season will be in free-fall for sure.
 
#32      

JoseyWales83

JoseyWales83
JoseyWales83
I'm just going so I can take a picture with the trophy since I was at Game 7. Let's get a victory and give me a sliver of hope for the rest of the season.
 
#34      

Adnarel

A
Adnarel
IlliniOllie said:
Even in the extremely unlikely event that we do go on a streak, no thanks. A hot streak in a small sample size is what got Groce this job in the first place. The body of work for the last 4-3/4 seasons is plenty. I've seen enough.
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I forgot to include my addendum that I would require a shuffle in assistant coaches. Something to complement Groce's weaknesses (in-game communication to players, player development).
 
#35      

OrangeAndBlues

O
Indianapolis
OrangeAndBlues
Adnarel said:
I forgot to include my addendum that I would require a shuffle in assistant coaches. Something to complement Groce's weaknesses (in-game communication to players, player development).
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Ah, the old "move the peas around the plate so mom thinks you ate some" trick.

Pass.
 
#37      

Adnarel

A
Adnarel
OrangeAndBlues said:
Ah, the old "move the peas around the plate so mom thinks you ate some" trick.

Pass.
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*shrug*

This move is used in football a lot. I know it's not the same sport, but why shouldn't the same principle apply? This is all rather moot anyhow... I don't expect this team to get an NCAA berth.
 
#38      

westcoastillini

W
westcoastillini
I still love the orange and blue; still going to watch the games; sucks to be focusing on player progress again instead of tourney talk.

Go illini and beat the gophers.
 
#39      

OrangeAndBlues

O
Indianapolis
OrangeAndBlues
Adnarel said:
*shrug*

This move is used in football a lot. I know it's not the same sport, but why shouldn't the same principle apply? This is all rather moot anyhow... I don't expect this team to get an NCAA berth.
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Because, as you said, it's not the same sport.
 
#40      

IlliniOllie

I
IlliniOllie
Adnarel said:
I forgot to include my addendum that I would require a shuffle in assistant coaches. Something to complement Groce's weaknesses (in-game communication to players, player development).
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No thanks to that, too. We tried that with Zook - hire assistants to help with (or do) the coaching that he can't handle. The time for Groce to do that has passed - it would just be shuffling deck chairs.
 
#41      

CoalCity

C
St Paul, MN
CoalCity
jrichisamazing said:
I think you are assuming 2 things.

1) We can attract someone clearly better than Groce.
2) Groce can't learn from his mistakes and improve as a coach.

IMO if we make the tourney we have to keep him because I'm not confident we can attract someone else that is clearly better. Plus, I do believe Groce is young and can learn on the job.
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1) I think that's highly likely.

2) That appears to be a correct assumption. With few exceptions he continues to do the same things on offense and defense, makes poorly timed timeouts and substitutions and there's no real indications that he's teaching proper fundamentals like how to set and run off a screen or rebound. He's had 4 seasons to learn. I just don't see it happening. I like him but watching these kids do the same thing over and over and expecting different results is just maddening. And it's not working.
 
#42      

jbr1997

J
jbr1997
I think if they lose this game they fire John but if they do I think some of the big boys that he have ready to sign will go away
 
#43      

IlliniOllie

I
IlliniOllie
jrichisamazing said:
I think you are assuming 2 things.

1) We can attract someone clearly better than Groce.
2) Groce can't learn from his mistakes and improve as a coach.

IMO if we make the tourney we have to keep him because I'm not confident we can attract someone else that is clearly better. Plus, I do believe Groce is young and can learn on the job.
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He can learn on the job somewhere else. Maybe he'll figure it out in the years down the road, but he's lost the fanbase here.

Maybe some extra people will show up to see the World Series trophy this Saturday, but I think we'll see a pretty marked decrease in attendance over the next month. We've lost enough fans already.
 
#46      

illiniguy24

illiniguy24
illiniguy24
Adnarel said:
"Tourney or bust" is the mantra I've heard bandied about. It would be interesting to see what those voices started to proclaim in the unlikely scenario that we do end up continuing to soil the sheets in the conference season but win the BTT.

Personally, I'm going to stick with the "tourney or bust" gun. Even considering the mediocrity of the past several seasons, firing a coach on a hot streak with a great incoming class would at least feel pretty rotten.
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Considering we haven't won back to back B1G games in two years, I think we would all feel euphoric about winning the BTT and give Groce another year. Unless we finish the regular season 2-6 here in out.


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#47      

OrangeAndBlues

O
Indianapolis
OrangeAndBlues
illiniguy24 said:
Considering we haven't won back to back B1G games in two years, I think we would all feel euphoric about winning the BTT and give Groce another year. Unless we finish the regular season 2-6 here in out.
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No, we absolutely wouldn't. You might. I would be incredibly upset because it's the worst case scenario: he does just well enough to save his job but nothing would change. We would be bottom dwellers in the B1G even longer.
 
#48      

Golfer63

G
Golfer63
Anybody looking for an epic free fall like Weber's last year is not going to see it. These players love Groce and will fight until the end of the year to salvage the season. Heck they even pulled off a great win in the BTT over Iowa last year with their injury depleted roster.
 
#49      

LurkLongandProsper

L
C-U
LurkLongandProsper
Golfer63 said:
Anybody looking for an epic free fall like Weber's last year is not going to see it. These players love Groce and will fight until the end of the year to salvage the season. Heck they even pulled off a great win in the BTT over Iowa last year with their injury depleted roster.
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17-15, 6-12 seems like a pretty realistic potential outcome for this season, which would match Bruce's last year. The teams are pretty danged similar on KenPom right now, too. So it's really not that hard to imagine. This Minnesota game should be a good indicator of how the rest of the season will go.
 
#50      

illiniguy24

illiniguy24
illiniguy24
OrangeAndBlues said:
No, we absolutely wouldn't. You might. I would be incredibly upset because it's the worst case scenario: he does just well enough to save his job but nothing would change. We would be bottom dwellers in the B1G even longer.
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I think it would then depend on if we won a game or two in the NCAA tournament


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