2017 Coaching Carousel

[ILLHangOut]

CHANGE OF SUBJECT

If we could do the 2000 and 2003 hires over again, in hindsight, who do you think would've been the best realistic hires?

It's interesting that after luring a P5 final four coach in Lon away from Florida we dipped into the mid-majors for the next two coaches while the program was on an upswing.

 

[mattcoldagelli]

If we could do the 2000 and 2003 hires over again, in hindsight, who do you think would've been the best realistic hires?

It's interesting that after luring a P5 final four coach in Lon away from Florida we dipped into the mid-majors for the next two coaches while the program was on an upswing.

Bill Self was obviously the best 2000 hire.

In 2003? I know Thad will be a popular pick but it might really have been Dana Altman.

 

[LurkLongandProsper]

I'm glad that many people here see Keatts as the savior, for what reasons, I have no idea. Nobody here has watched UNC Wilmington's games so in my honest opinion, all of your opinions are no better and no worse than my opinion. There is no need to go back and forth because we will be spending hours dissecting a coach who isn't even coming to this school. Mark those words. I am willing to admit I'm wrong if he becomes our coach but that's just not happening. It is just as likely that Tony Bennett becomes our coach as this guy.

I take issue with the basis upon which you've deemed him a sure-fire projected failure at this level. Also, I've watched UNCW games this year out of interest, S&C and I had a chain of posts about how to watch those games earlier in this thread, actually. You just really like to make claims, not back them with data, and drop random anecdotes and/or comparisons that aren't super relevant (Underwood was a lock! Did you watch his teams play pre-NCAAT last year? Still waiting!).

Betting on our next coach being from 'the field' rather Keatts doesn't make you sentient, the odds obviously favor the field. I would make that same bet, it doesn't mean Whitman doesn't find Keatts to be a solid candidate, and it doesn't mean Keatts isn't a solid candidate. You can't come in, make baseless claims, and then say "he won't be our coach, so i'm right and you're wrong". It's counterproductive to discussion, amongst other things.

I think you misunderstand. People are not claiming that Keatts is the savior. They are taking issue with your conclusion of him being a failure in the B1G based on UNCW not being strong on defense this year. I absolutely agree with you that Keatts is not guaranteed to be a success at Illinois.

As has been stated, nobody is a guarantee, or we wouldn't have to argue about who our coach would be unless there were TWO guarantees, and who knows what would happen then

My energy level for this will not be sustained. :hand:

No kidding, I just want evidence and concrete logic in the discussions in the interim, but at the end of the day, I want to not have this thread and get to a new coach who can get me back to being excited to sit down and watch our games at the end of the day.

 

[ILLHangOut]

A few names that would be interesting to think about...

Mark Few was hired by Gonzaga in '99 maybe he would've left back then.
Thad Matta makes a lot of sense in '03
Bob Huggins
Billy Donovan would've been amazing.
Mike Brey
Ben Howland left Pitt for UCLA in 2003.

 

[jmilt7]

In an article in something called "Fansided" (which I know nothing about), Rees Witherspoon, er, I mean, Woodcock names 5 people he would recommend to be the new head coach at Illinois. Four of them have been mentioned previously but the fifth I have not seen here yet and I have been following this thread for at least the last 100 pages (although my memory is not what it used to be so I might have missed it). The four that he mentions that have already been discussed are: Kruger, Tim Jankovich (whom I think S&C has touted, no?), Dan Muller, and Hoiberg. The one that I haven't seen is Norm Roberts who seems kind of interesting as he was here with Self 2000-03 (and is currently with Self at Kansas). Roberts took over a St John's Red Storm program that the year before went 6-21. He helped build them into a team that could compete again until being let go for Steve Lavin. The following season the team went to the NCAA Tournament. I don't know, though, if he was doing so well, why was he let go?

 

[ILLHangOut]

Bill Self was absolutely the best hire Illinois could've gotten. A complete HR hire. As for Bruce, notsomuch. There were whispers that Billy Donovan was interested, but Guenther thought he'd be another job-hopper. And I SWEAR there was a time Calipari was interested, but that might've been before his time at Memphis. Regardless, Guenther had the chance to get another HR hire and failed.

Donovan would've been the best possible hire if that was ever on the table, IMO. Coaching Illinois would probably be Cal's only chance of the NCAA ever punishing him. lol

 

[PlayAZ]

Tim Floyd is making some noise at UTEP?

 

[PlayAZ]

C. Martin and staff watching ILLINI, lean? Smith from E-Ville...kind of makes you wonder if C. Martin and Whitman are whispering behind the doors already...Hell maybe even Groce knows as well and that is why there are rumors he is not hounding the hottest recruit in the nation right now?

 

[haasi]

The one that I haven't seen is Norm Roberts who seems kind of interesting as he was here with Self 2000-03 (and is currently with Self at Kansas). Roberts took over a St John's Red Storm program that the year before went 6-21. He helped build them into a team that could compete again until being let go for Steve Lavin. The following season the team went to the NCAA Tournament. I don't know, though, if he was doing so well, why was he let go?

Roberts had a really mediocre run at St. Johns. 81-101 record, 32-70 in conference. perennial cellar dwellar in big east.

 

[MadSeason]

In an article in something called "Fansided" (which I know nothing about), Rees Witherspoon, er, I mean, Woodcock names 5 people he would recommend to be the new head coach at Illinois. Four of them have been mentioned previously but the fifth I have not seen here yet and I have been following this thread for at least the last 100 pages (although my memory is not what it used to be so I might have missed it). The four that he mentions that have already been discussed are: Kruger, Tim Jankovich (whom I think S&C has touted, no?), Dan Muller, and Hoiberg. The one that I haven't seen is Norm Roberts who seems kind of interesting as he was here with Self 2000-03 (and is currently with Self at Kansas). Roberts took over a St John's Red Storm program that the year before went 6-21. He helped build them into a team that could compete again until being let go for Steve Lavin. The following season the team went to the NCAA Tournament. I don't know, though, if he was doing so well, why was he let go?

I would hate everyone of those hires except for maybe Hoiberg.

 

[Illwinsagain]

Donovan would've been the best possible hire if that was ever on the table, IMO. Coaching Illinois would probably be Cal's only chance of the NCAA ever punishing him. lol

Ouch! But, history says you are right.

 

[Adnarel]

In an article in something called "Fansided" (which I know nothing about), Rees Witherspoon, er, I mean, Woodcock

Do yourself a favor and just stop reading his stuff. It's almost uniformly subpar writing. Every time I try to give one of his pieces a chance, I regret it.

 

[FatGreg]

Just a couple of names that popped into my head tonight: Dan Majerle (who has been discussed a bit in this thread) and Mark Jackson (former NBA head coach and all star point guard; current analyst).

Majerle has been doing a terrific job at Grand Canyon - 27-7 last year, 15-9 this year. Mark Jackson was a tremendous player and coached the Warriors to a 51-31 record the year he was let go. Both of these guys would have instant credibility walking into a recruit's living room.

I'm sure they're both very unlikely, but what do you guys think? I haven't heard anything about Jackson being a candidate, but I can't think of why he wouldn't be.

PS: I realize the big knock on Jackson is that he's a feisty personality that has trouble getting along with others. From a basketball knowledge perspective, though, he would seem to be top notch.

 

[Orangetool]

C. Martin and staff watching ILLINI, lean? Smith from E-Ville...kind of makes you wonder if C. Martin and Whitman are whispering behind the doors already...Hell maybe even Groce knows as well and that is why there are rumors he is not hounding the hottest recruit in the nation right now?

This is an interesting post.

 

[Bailey]

Welp. This has been a very entertaining last few pages. opcorn:

Man, really? We have different barometers for entertaining. Feels like this whole thread could be condensed down to 1/10th it's size.

 

[blmillini]

Man, really? We have different barometers for entertaining. Feels like this whole thread could be condensed down to 1/10th it's size.

That is pretty much every thread for the last year. Pages and pages of nothing most of the time.

 

[LurkLongandProsper]

Man, really? We have different barometers for entertaining. Feels like this whole thread could be condensed down to 1/10th it's size.

That is pretty much every thread for the last year. Pages and pages of nothing most of the time.

A lot of it could be condensed, that's partially why I am so interested/pushy about getting data involved because at least it gets us different talking points than just:
"I like [coaches name]"
" me too!"
" well I DONT!"

repeat x1000

 

[SescIllini]

By what measure did Cuonzo upgrade Tennessee from Bruce Pearl? He wasn't even close to what Pearl achieved there on the court!

This is just ridiculous guys. How do you take that statement at face value?

Pearl at Tennessee: 2 sweet 16s, an E8, 2 r32s, i loss in first round, 0 misses. 1 conference championship, 146-61 (.701) and 63-31 (.677) over his time there, 6 years.

Cuonzo at Tennessee: 1 sweet 16, two tournament misses, one 2nd place conference finish, 63-41 (.606) and 32-20 (.615) in 3 years.

I'm not going to dig into recruiting rankings. It's entirely possible he recruited better than Pearl, but claiming Cuonzo was better by tourney appearances, wins/losses, etc is objectively incorrect.

The rest of your post loses all credibility to me when you start with something that is that far away from the facts. Nobody is questioning the dude's ties to the area. Literally nobody. But recruits don't matter if the talent doesn't translate to wins, and that is why people are hesitant to deem him the best coach for the job. High floor, low ceiling based on his career thus far. Guessing at what he can do locally is just conjecture.

I challenge you to give me something that supports the argument Cuonzo was better than Bruce Pearl at Tennessee, other than recruiting. Best I can do is that Cuonzo's worst overall win-loss season at UT had more conference wins.

Another brain surgeon who would rather have Bruce Pearl as their coach. You can keep that dirt bag and his cesspool that trails behind him. Like I mentioned in my post, C Martin will do very well at Illinois. If I was hiring for Arizona or UCLA I would possibly bump him down, but at Illinois and at this time he would be an outstanding hire. Martin is an "insider" when it comes to Illinois hoops. He came in late on Charlie Moore's recruitment and landed him, that speaks volumes.

I don't have to defend my credibility, I stated my reasons based on my experiences. So stick to Wiki or Google or pay a premium for inside info.

 

[Orangetool]

Another brain surgeon who would rather have Bruce Pearl as their coach. You can keep that dirt bag and his cesspool that trails behind him. Like I mentioned in my post, C Martin will do very well at Illinois. If I was hiring for Arizona or UCLA I would possibly bump him down, but at Illinois and at this time he would be an outstanding hire. Martin is an "insider" when it comes to Illinois hoops. He came in late on Charlie Moore's recruitment and landed him, that speaks volumes.

I don't have to defend my credibility, I stated my reasons based on my experiences. So stick to Wiki or Google or pay a premium for inside info.

Yup.


I'm with you friend.

 

[blmillini]

It sure sounds to me like the consensus is that Cuonzo is the safe bet. He doesn't feel like the kind of pick Whitman would make. It makes me think he would have to change his mantra from #WeWillWin to #WeWillWinEnough. At least on the basketball side anyway. I don't think Whitman will make his hire out of fear like Guenther always did.

 

[SescIllini]

http://deadspin.com/5870586/recruit...eautiful-girl-to-tell-him-to-attend-tennessee

Do you need more reasons why Martin was more successful than Pearl at UT. Success is defined by more than who won an extra game in the NCAA. Pearl is a scumbag, no comparison to Martin.

 

[Illini1221]

With all of the garbage going on at Baylor, I wouldn't be surprised to see Scott Drew jump at the opportunity to leave Waco if a great job opportunity arises.

 

[PostersLastStand]

Are we looking at this the right way? Maybe the question is not who we want, but what do we want. A fast, up tempo exciting style offense with a decent defense or a methodical offense and crushing defense. And for my two cents before taxes. Sorry, no Gene Keady motion offense like Cuonzo Martin. As an Illinois prep player loved him. I like Bob Huggins style, but we aren't getting him or Frank Martin. Is Brad Stevens ready to return to college? I like Illinois State's style. Dayton's, UCLA...

 

[MadSeason]

http://deadspin.com/5870586/recruit...eautiful-girl-to-tell-him-to-attend-tennessee

Do you need more reasons why Martin was more successful than Pearl at UT. Success is defined by more than who won an extra game in the NCAA. Pearl is a scumbag, no comparison to Martin.

The point isn't whether Pearl is scum. He is. It's also not about who you would rather have Martin vs Pearl because Pearl can't come here.

The question was whether Martin continued or bettered the on court success at Tennessee after Pearl was fired.

 

[PostersLastStand]

With all of the garbage going on at Baylor, I wouldn't be surprised to see Scott Drew jump at the opportunity to leave Waco if a great job opportunity arises.

Like it was mentioned before with Coach Calipari, Scott Drew comes here and the NCAA comes a knockin' with sanctions just as soon as the ink is dry on his contract.