Illini Basketball

[ChiefGritty]

Millennial here. I don't need to be coddled and, generally speaking, neither do my peers. We handle candid feedback as well as anyone.

I'm a millennial too. And you're right "candid feedback" is the perfect way to say what we expect and need from authority figures, which seems just obvious to us but isn't always natural to older people who came of age when different leadership styles were more common.

I think BU connects with players on that level in a way that, to choose an example, Bruce Weber often struggled to.

But I've also had football coaches who thought it was "tough love" to flip their lid over every little thing and that just sucked and made the game less fun and didn't really develop us as players at all. I dunno. The question isn't about coddling or whether "being a man" means you need to be able to "handle it", it's about what gets the most out of people in a competitive environment.

Hate to break it to some, but Millennials are no longer "young people". Most are middle aged.

This is a microaggression. I'm offended. You're canceled.

 

[Illiniindian]

Good article. BU has proven he can build a team and win here. He hasn't proven he can do it consistently and he hasn't won in March. If we go say 10-10 in league play next year and show the same weaknesses we did this year, what are currently whispers will become louder. He can survive a few more seasons of average results, but within the next few years it would be good to see a decent NCAA run and a run at a Big 10 title to show the Ayo/Kofi years weren't a fluke.

If those whispers grow louder, it just means we have a group of fans, who I would love to see disappear as we don’t need them. BU has won a Big Ten championship and the Big Ten tournament.

 

[AyoDos11]

There's definitely some truth in what he/she said. Maybe not Millenials as much, but Gen-Z (the generation of our recruits/players) is probably the most lazy generation ever. And I say that as someone who is in the older half of Gen-Z.

 

[Chickenmane]

There's definitely some truth in what he/she said. Maybe not Millenials as much, but Gen-Z (the generation of our recruits/players) is probably the most lazy generation ever. And I say that as someone who is in the older half of Gen-Z.

Every generation thinks the next generation is lazy and entitled.

It’s one of the biggest cliches in history.

 

[GrayGhost77]

Yeah, but you don't actually have to say that out loud. Sheesh.

(I say as one such, slowly decaying millennial.)

I'm saying this lovingly as a Gen-Xer, who would now be considered by more people than not, "old". (it pains me to say that)

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I'm saying this lovingly as a Gen-Xer, who would now be considered by more people than not, "old". (it pains me to say that)

Imagine us now ancient Boomers! BUT, we got to see an amazing string of great bands in the Assembly Hall - (basketball in my era- not so much! ) My now massive hearing loss started with experiencing Humble Pie playing in a relatively small room in the Union my freshman year. A wall full of Marshall amps that almost blew me back out of the room - and I loved it!

 

[ChiefGritty]

Every generation thinks the next generation is lazy and entitled.

It’s one of the biggest cliches in history.

My experience of Zoomers is that they are extremely and unusually responsive to concrete incentives, more than their predecessors.

Zoomers will work all night if they have genuine stakes in something and will blow off just about anything if they don't.

Whereas I think my generation is more show up, do your bit, go home.

Humans are humans and human nature never changes, but the experience of entry into the world of work and the norms of adulthood has changed a lot and continues to change.

 

[Ill in Cols]

I think BU connects with players on that level in a way that, to choose an example, Bruce Weber often struggled to.

Orangefever was relentless in pointing this out. Lorenzo Romar!!

 

[illinistephen]

If those whispers grow louder, it just means we have a group of fans, who I would love to see disappear as we don’t need them. BU has won a Big Ten championship and the Big Ten tournament.

I think I'd rather keep the group of fans who wanted to move on from Ron Turner and Bruce Weber even though they both won a Big Ten championship. It seems that group's been right about our coaches over the last few decades a lot more than they've been wrong. Got to still love the fans with the abundance of optimism that believe next year will be the year.

 

[sacraig]

My experience of Zoomers is that they are extremely and unusually responsive to concrete incentives, more than their predecessors.

Zoomers will work all night if they have genuine stakes in something and will blow off just about anything if they don't.

Whereas I think my generation is more show up, do your bit, go home.

Humans are humans and human nature never changes, but the experience of entry into the world of work and the norms of adulthood has changed a lot and continues to change.

And while every generation is different culturally, the generation before them (or really, 2+ generations before them) interpret that as laziness (instead of simply difference) and decry how the world is falling apart. It's a tale as old as time.

"The telephone is going to ruin society! How will kids know how to write a letter to a loved one if they can just pick up the phone and talk! So lazy!"

 

[IlliniKat91]

When I went to school, respect for authority was the default setting for most students.

I attended one school that was run like a prison, and another where the admins, teachers, and coaches tried to be our buddy.

The best schools found a middle way.

It's a hard balance to strike, but my line with kids is that we're friendly, but not friends. I have a job to do and that comes first. Period.

People like boundaries and consistency at any age. As long as you're fair and don't play favorites, kids will fall in line and they'll usually like you too. At least in my experience

 

[sacraig]

It's a hard balance to strike, but my line with kids is that we're friendly, but not friends. I have a job to do and that comes first. Period.

People like boundaries and consistency at any age. As long as you're fair and don't play favorites, kids will fall in line and they'll usually like you too. At least in my experience

This is a really hard needle to thread, sometimes, because I am relatively young among my peers, so the kids I teach often approach me as if I am more their buddy and I have to work to make sure there is a professional distance there without writing them off.

 

[Ryllini]

View attachment 24397

 

[Roundball Sage]

I don't think this is just "young people." They learn it from their elders, and society as a whole has rebelled against authority and experts in recent years.

This is true. This tendency goes back one generation further at least... or in some cases, more (at least back to the Swingin' Sixties).

 

[IlliniKat91]

This is a really hard needle to thread, sometimes, because I am relatively young among my peers, so the kids I teach often approach me as if I am more their buddy and I have to work to make sure there is a professional distance there without writing them off.

It is! It's also hard because you're bound to have favorites and you want to help them. I always have to remind myself that I'm doing them a disservice if I do that. They have to learn to bail themselves out and how to handle deadlines, otherwise they'll be absolutely shell-shocked when they hit the real world

 

[FAR Penthouse]

I think this is meant to be witty but what the whole Bob Huggins coaching tree is with kids is really candid and honest. They are not standoffish or aloof or holier-than-thou as was common for authority figures in generations past, they're very real with the kids, that's a constant refrain you hear about BU. Millennials and now zoomers aren't accustomed to and might not always respond great to the tirades, but they will always recognize and appreciate that genuine connection.

Huggins, Frank Martin and Underwood all also combine that candor with a really acidic sense of humor so the press loves them too. That's another handy weapon for a coach.

If so, he'd best not pursue a career in standup. Did anyone else notice how similar Underwood's demeanor was this season compared to his first couple of seasons here, as opposed to the last 4 when to me he dialed the yelling back. Just might have something to do with him saying earlier this season that he didn't want to have to start coaching effort.

 

[AyoDos11]

Every generation thinks the next generation is lazy and entitled.

It’s one of the biggest cliches in history.

Well yes, but I'm saying it about my own generation, as someone who has actually experienced it firsthand. Most people my age or slightly younger would rather spend hours mindlessly scrolling on TikTok than learn in a classroom for instance.

 

[Chickenmane]

Well yes, but I'm saying it about my own generation, as someone who has actually experienced it firsthand. Most people my age or slightly younger would rather spend hours mindlessly scrolling on TikTok than learn in a classroom for instance.

Your personal experience is not sufficient to generalize an entire generation of people.

But if we are on the topic of personal experience, I’m not a zoomer, but as a millennial I can assure you there were plenty of people not paying attention in class when I was in high school and at U of I.

 

[ChiefGritty]

If so, he'd best not pursue a career in standup. Did anyone else notice how similar Underwood's demeanor was this season compared to his first couple of seasons here, as opposed to the last 4 when to me he dialed the yelling back. Just might have something to do with him saying earlier this season that he didn't want to have to start coaching effort.

100% the difference was very very noticeable.

And it's not as if our 2020-21 team didn't have moments during the season where they were wobbling or playing badly. There were times when I would watch and hope and expect BU to get more heated than he did, frankly. But calm, cool, collected was his approach to that group, and hard to say it didn't work.

 

[ChiefGritty]

Well yes, but I'm saying it about my own generation, as someone who has actually experienced it firsthand. Most people my age or slightly younger would rather spend hours mindlessly scrolling on TikTok than learn in a classroom for instance.

To paraphrase an iconic Gen X movie, it's not that they're lazy, it's that they just don't care.

 

[nmillini]

I am glad generations change as I grew weary of paying taxes to Caesar.

 

[InDaAZ]

That would get us out of our 3-point funk.

Still too soon, bruh…

 

[IMPE ALL STAR]

Can anyone actually verify if Brad has any other leadership methods other than yelling?

Well there’s some legend of a treadmill.

 

[WyattEarp]

Well there’s some legend of a treadmill.

 

[Illini in Italy]

I'm a millennial too. And you're right "candid feedback" is the perfect way to say what we expect and need from authority figures, which seems just obvious to us but isn't always natural to older people who came of age when different leadership styles were more common.

I think BU connects with players on that level in a way that, to choose an example, Bruce Weber often struggled to.

But I've also had football coaches who thought it was "tough love" to flip their lid over every little thing and that just sucked and made the game less fun and didn't really develop us as players at all. I dunno. The question isn't about coddling or whether "being a man" means you need to be able to "handle it", it's about what gets the most out of people in a competitive environment.


This is a microaggression. I'm offended. You're canceled.

You may retreat to your safe space now Gritty.