2017 Coaching Carousel

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#7,052      

Illinoiser33

I
Illinoiser33
Today was an absolute choke against a terrible team and when we needed to win in the worst way. We need a guy that stomps opponents out in situations like this. JG is a good man and I wish him well but we need a closer not a choker.
 
#7,054      

illini80

illini80
Forgottonia
illini80
I'm yet to be confident convinced he is gone. I know JW likes him. If we flop our first BTT game he may not have a choice but play well and win a couple and I still think he stays.
 
#7,055      

ILLHangOut

I
ILLHangOut
illini8507 said:
Find the money, hire monty. Keep walker on staff. Bring in Deon, or Rev to coach the bigs. Get a former head coach for the other assistant spot. Hit the ground running
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Agree 100%. I suspect all of our current recruits would stay in that situation and if they don't we'd be a top destination for transfers looking to sniff the NBA. Long-term ceiling in this scenario is incredibly high.
 
#7,057      

chrisRunner7

chrisRunner7
Spokane, WA
chrisRunner7
Cuonzo Martin can't be a candidate if Cal doesn't make the NCAA tournament. Makes it look like Illinois has given up and resigned itself to being a mediocre program. People would laugh about firing a coach "for not making the NCAA tournament" and then hiring a new coach who had the exact same failure this year.
 
#7,059      

TCTORNADO

TCTORNADO
TCTORNADO
chrisRunner7 said:
Cuonzo Martin can't be a candidate if Cal doesn't make the NCAA tournament. Makes it look like Illinois has given up and resigned itself to being a mediocre program. People would laugh about firing a coach "for not making the NCAA tournament" and then hiring a new coach who had the exact same failure this year.
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I know I posted this pic before, but thought it timely to do it again.
 

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#7,061      

Burt Toast

B
Burt Toast
TIME TO MOVE ON

SO READY FOR A CHANGE...John Groce got the job based on 1 good season and a sweet 16 run. There was nothing in his uneven coaching track record that said he could succeed at Illinois. His teams have never done anything particularly well and he essentially has been a coach in training in a Power Conference. JG is a nice guy and a PR dream but a complete work in progress in almost every coaching category.

Inconsistency and underachievement in Recruiting, Offense, Defense, leadership, and player development will be his sad legacy at Illinois. Today's game is indicative of who he is as a coach - stubborn, inconsistent, unprepared, semi-reactive, ultra-conventional in game planning, incapable of making adjustments, predictable in schemes, illogical with his substitution patterns, and overly permissive in accepting chronic player failures.

Time to cut bait and hire a coach with a proven track record, winning pedigree, and an actual coaching identity. Somebody whose team's embody the core strengths of that identity that will lead to program success. Somebody who can restore and enhance a culture of winning for our beloved program. Make the move, Whitman! :shield:
 
#7,062      

MrOizo

MrOizo
Chicago
MrOizo
Here are my questions with Cuonzo:
- How is his system?
- Is his offense motion a la Keady/Bruce? Different?
- Is his defense man to man 100% of the time a la Bruce?
- When he had a team that implemented his system, what are they known for? Offense? Defense?
- Are they fun teams to watch?
- Who has he put in the NBA?

I'm going to pursue answers to these questions myself, but these are some of the questions I want to answer...
 
#7,063      

MrOizo

MrOizo
Chicago
MrOizo
Cuonzo Martin Coaching Record:

Missouri State looks like a great story. Not sure what they looked like before his arrival, but:
Y1: 11-20
Y2: 24-12 (won conference tourney)
Y3: 26-9 (won conference)

What happened in the Tennessee years? Did he have talent that was squandered his first two years? How can those first 2 years be explained otherwise?
Y1: 19-15 (bad)
Y2: 20-13 (bad in SEC)
Y3: 24-13 (Sweet 16)

This article answers the pre-Cal years fairly well:
http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2014/4/18/5623480/cuonzo-martin-cal-basketball-stats-efficiency-offense-defense-kenpom

At Cal, what was the state of the team that he took over? Why was the first year so bad? What is the reason they are a bubble team this year? Unlike his last two stints, the team in year 3 is worse than in year 2 it seems.
Y1: 18-15 (bad)
Y2: 23-11 (NCAA tourney)
Y3: 19-10

Anyone with better insights on the above record?
 
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#7,064      

Burt Toast

B
Burt Toast
chrisRunner7 said:
Cuonzo Martin can't be a candidate if Cal doesn't make the NCAA tournament. Makes it look like Illinois has given up and resigned itself to being a mediocre program. People would laugh about firing a coach "for not making the NCAA tournament" and then hiring a new coach who had the exact same failure this year.
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I think people are already laughing...especially after today's choke job. If Cuonzo is the best candidate to re establish our program as a national Power then I think you can overlook 1 season of missing the NCAA. California has more challenges than Illinois in many respects and his overall track record has been pretty good. Personally, I think you stretch for 1 Big-Time Power Coach and if that doesn't happen Martin, etc. should be strongly considered. That being said, I would take Martin over Groce any day
 
#7,066      

MadSeason

MadSeason
MadSeason
I really wanted to sneak in and do some damage in tourney even if it meant more Groce for a couple years. As is, he cannot return as coach. You cannot present this option again to your stakeholders who are rapidly leaving the State Farm Center in apathy.

It is a transition period of sorts anyway losing all those seniors, so the timing is right to make a move.
 
#7,067      

illinois_hustle

illinois_hustle
illinois_hustle
Sorry if this has been discussed recently, and could we somehow pull Tim Jankovich away from SMU? He was an Illinois assistant coach under Bill Self so he has some ties, and I've had the chance to see SMU several times this year and they play the game right ... movement, aggressive defense and rebounding, unselfishness, passing/cutting like crazy, and team solidarity. I haven't seen much of that under Groce, and it's really fun basketball to watch.

I know that SMU isn't Big 5 but these guys can play, and they only have 7 scholarship players on the roster due to Larry Brown's shenanigans. Pretty amazing.
 
#7,068      

MrOizo

MrOizo
Chicago
MrOizo
haasi said:
Just going to the whole discussion of sample sizes and avoiding recency bias- the objection to cuonzo shouldn't just be that he's crapping out this year. It should be that he's made tourney 2 of 8 seasons before this and got eliminated in first round one of those two times. (Edited for typo)
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Counter to the tourney in 2 of 8 seasons:
- First three seasons (0/3): The team he took over a team that lost 5 seniors. Missouri Valley hadn't won the MVC Tourney since 1992. They were runner ups in his last year there. MVC dominated by Northern Iowa, Creighton, Wichita State.

- Next three seasons: (1/3): "After Bruce Pearl was fired, Tennessee lost four of their five top options from a team that finished 7th in the SEC". Another bad situation in which two years later he had them at 24-13.

- Final two seasons (not counting this year): (1/2): Not sure what type team he took over, but they were bad in year 1 (18-15). Made the tourney the next year.

So the "NCAA in 2 of 8 years" paints a misleading picture, at best.
 
#7,070      

Tempo34

Tempo34
Tempo34
MrOizo said:
You're right - I just can't find any of them in this beast of a thread... I think I'm still happy with a Cuonzo hire.
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Pass. If the money can be drummed up, go for broke. If that doesn't work, just grab Kevin Keatts. Looks like a winner.
 
#7,071      

EJ33

E
San Francisco
EJ33
We need a post-game picture of Whitman.
 
#7,072      

MadSeason

MadSeason
MadSeason
Looks like Cal is going down and will miss tourney barring a miracle. I was a proponent of Cuonzo earlier in this thread but the way they have finished this season has soured me and he isn't on my list anymore.

I just don't think you can argue his resume is strong enough.
 
#7,074      

Tempo34

Tempo34
Tempo34
MadSeason said:
Looks like Cal is going down and will miss tourney barring a miracle. I was a proponent of Cuonzo earlier in this thread but the way they have finished this season has soured me and he isn't on my list anymore.

I just don't think you can argue his resume is strong enough.
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Cuonzo would be acceptable, but fairly bottom the barrel type acceptable.
 
#7,075      

muskyman99

M
muskyman99
I want Groce gone but I want more than a minor upgrade. If JW can't find a home run hire keeping Groce one more year has one positive. A better roster for an incoming coach. We have six players coming back and four freshman coming in. If we add Smith a new coach will have a roster of eleven for 2018-2019.
 
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