Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread

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#526      

WyattEarp

WyattEarp
WyattEarp
WyattEarp said:
Was OA mildly miffed he breezed and Brad him put him in charge of the offense?…after it had been him and Geoff the year before.

Or just a weird dude. Lol
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Learn to type you fat-thumbed goon. Geez.
What was that supposed to be an actual sentence?

Were you trying to say: Antigua was mildly miffed that Gentry breezed in and Brad put him in charge of the offense?

You’re like a walking typo, dude.
 
#527      

IlliniwekKDR

IlliniwekKDR
Colorado Springs, CO
IlliniwekKDR
WyattEarp said:
Learn to type you fat-thumbed goon. Geez.
What was that supposed to be an actual sentence?

Were you trying to say: Antigua was mildly miffed that Gentry breezed in and Brad put him in charge of the offense?

You’re like a walking typo, dude.
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I was absolutely appalled at this until I noticed you were replying to yourself. Then I simply wrote off talking to yourself as completely normal.
 
#531      

PepeSilvia

P
PepeSilvia
Second place is 1st loser said:
To be fair, outside of Podz...which one of those names above did we truly miss based on great successes after they left?
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Smith, Griffin, and Jones went on to all be good college players and they would have been on that 2021 #1 seed team.

That team was good and would have been a lot deeper and better with those guys(especially Griffin). All three were fairly big guards and that Illini team lacked size outside of Kofi.
 
#532      

Illini92and96

Illini92and96
Austin, TX
Illini92and96
SkyysNotFalling said:
This roster feels like when you’re waiting for 2k to load and it’s stuck at 99% and just freezes on you. Damn shame with the amount of talent & experience we have 2-5. A kid like Mulcahy or Kriisa or (gulp) RayJ and we’re all probably talking about an elite 8 or big ten championship with this group… unbelievable.
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I wish this were 2k and we could edit our PG rating to 90!
 
#533      

PepeSilvia

P
PepeSilvia
redwingillini11 said:
The difference is whether Josh Whitman is using these other gigs, like Iowa hypothetically, to get leverage over the University of Illinois to get pay raises. I don't think there is any reason to believe that he tried that at all. Like Indy said, you can't blame the guy for throwing his hat in the ring to become one of the top 10 most powerful people in sports, and you can't blame other schools for reaching out to him since he is that good of an AD. But is he shaking down the university at each one of these turns? No.

Now, coaching is a different game for sure, and you have to be a hustler to get anywhere in the industry. But Brad got one bite at that apple, and he got rewarded. You can't turn around the next few years and expect everyone to be ok with your focus on other jobs and gaining leverage. Win meaningful games and you will be handsomely rewarded.

I don't expect Illinois to really be anyone's dream job they could never be lured away from. Maybe the Reverand, maybe Dee. But that's it. It is a cutthroat industry and you have to look out for yourself. But Brad's judgment appears to be lacking, he seems distracted, and his priorities do not seem to be aligned to maximize winning the most meaningful games as possible. Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying he doesn't want to win. I am saying he's getting in his own way.
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I'm really curious to see how the Rev ends up at Valpo. Tons of connections to Chicago area recruiting, spent a bunch of time working with Bryce Drew at Valpo and Vandy before coaching at Gonzaga for several years.

Fairly impressive resume and will likely be on power conference head coaching radars if he succeeds at Valpo.
 
#534      

Bacon Butkus Swanson

B
Bacon Butkus Swanson
IlliniwekKDR said:
I was absolutely appalled at this until I noticed you were replying to yourself. Then I simply wrote off talking to yourself as completely normal.
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Hey!!

Take it Easy on Joe...... (Wyatt Earp) If you drink more tequila at sunrise, you'll have a more peaceful, easy feeling. If that doesn't work, I've got a hotel in California I can recommend.

PS: We still need a PG
 
#536      

Second place is 1st loser

S
Second place is 1st loser
PepeSilvia said:
Smith, Griffin, and Jones went on to all be good college players and they would have been on that 2021 #1 seed team.

That team was good and would have been a lot deeper and better with those guys(especially Griffin). All three were fairly big guards and that Illini team lacked size outside of Kofi.
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It's a bit of a moot debate, but Smith was average. I believe that he transferred a second time, to KSU in 2021-2022. Don't think they were any good. Jones played at Southern Utah...not sure anyone can makes heads or tails out bot that and Griffin was one and done at Syracuse. If I HAD to pick one to say...yeah, he would have helped, it would have been Griffin. He was a good fit. Can't really blame him for heading closer to home however.
 
#538      

john1952

john1952
john1952
WyattEarp said:
Learn to type you fat-thumbed goon. Geez.
What was that supposed to be an actual sentence?

Were you trying to say: Antigua was mildly miffed that Gentry breezed in and Brad put him in charge of the offense?

You’re like a walking typo, dude.
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1687375887816.png
 
#539      

Mojoman

Mojoman
Mojoman
PepeSilvia said:
Smith, Griffin, and Jones went on to all be good college players and they would have been on that 2021 #1 seed team.

That team was good and would have been a lot deeper and better with those guys(especially Griffin). All three were fairly big guards and that Illini team lacked size outside of Kofi.
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Griffin was a problem child, but really very good for us in 19/20 season.
 
#541      

Grandpa

G
Grandpa
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Even if you want to say he owns a couple of extra losses due to that defensive style, it is frankly ridiculous and shows a clear bias against him to say he owns the whole situation. That 20-15 team was our first team to not beat a SINGLE top 25 team all year in 40 years, and Underwood lost Tracy Abrams, Coleman-Lands and Malcom Hill before he set foot on campus. The 2017-18 team would have been awful with Groce or anyone else at the helm, as well.

The fact you are throwing the "all-time loss leader" out there so often speaks to a bias, IMO, as well. That team (2018-19) was bound to take a step back, as well, losing Finke and most importantly Leron Black and having to rely heavily on freshmen and newcomers. And by the end of the year, they were showing signs of improvement, knocking of #13 Maryland and #9 Michigan State, not to mention Ayo turning into a young star. The 2018-19 team was building up to the 2019-20 success, and absolutely everybody knows that.

You can knock on Underwood for the 2020-21 upset and last year all you want; there is plenty of ammo. However, holding the first two years against him is completely insane.
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I thought that the nasty people were on the other Illini forums.

You say "The FACT that I say "all time loss leader" so often. I am surprised to read that. Have I said it more than twice? Are you keeping track of everything said on here? Did you comb through my past posts? Heck, I don't even post often! I think that you need to look in the mirror considering the fact that you throw the "insane" word out so often. IMHO it shows a bias.

Did I knock on the 2020-21 upset or last year? Where does that even come from?

It's completely insane to blame all of the uncontested dunks and layups on Groce when he wasn't coaching. Playing awful defense cost more than a couple of games and it's completely insane to say otherwise.
 
#542      

Second place is 1st loser

S
Second place is 1st loser
DAM1298 said:
Chris Johnson (Kansas decommit) is down to Arkansas, Texas and Washington, so I guess we’re out
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I don't think that we were ever in. I honestly believe that Brad is comfortable with what he has and is going the development route. If it works, great, we have our guy for the next few years, but if not....not so great. I'm all about building and development within vs creaning and turnover. That can't be sustained.

I feel like he's just done with filling up his roster with portal players and constant negotiations. There are some coaches who just won't get involved and want continuity. The thing there is that you have to stick with that process and not lose 5 guys a year.
 
#543      

PepeSilvia

P
PepeSilvia
Mojoman said:
Griffin was a problem child, but really very good for us in 19/20 season.
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I don't know a ton about him personality wise but he was a good college player. Good size, good athlete, good shooter. He would have been a huge add to that 21 team.

Jones was a volume scorer after he transferred but was an extremely good athlete and had a decent shot so I feel like he could have been a very effective small ball 4 next to Kofi.

Trent, Ayo, Griffin, Grandison/Jones, Kofi with Damonte, Miller, and Curbelo off the bench would have been a way more dynamic and explosive team tham the one that actually existed and was good enough for a 1 seed and top 3 kenpom ranking. That combo of Trent, Ayo, and Griffin might have felt a little bit like Dee, Deron, Luther though not as good.
 
#545      

Manual3for4peat

M
Manual3for4peat
Second place is 1st loser said:
I don't think that we were ever in. I honestly believe that Brad is comfortable with what he has and is going the development route. If it works, great, we have our guy for the next few years, but if not....not so great. I'm all about building and development within vs creaning and turnover. That can't be sustained.

I feel like he's just done with filling up his roster with portal players and constant negotiations. There are some coaches who just won't get involved and want continuity. The thing there is that you have to stick with that process and not lose 5 guys a year.
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I think this is the kind of gamble that might get him fired.

I’ve been a Brad supporter, but the point guard situation is getting to John Groce and Weber (after Selfs guys leave) level of bad.
 
#547      

Flight33

F
Flight33
Maybe he's waiting on the Reeves issue to decide itself. Again, still a waiting risk...
 
#549      

frozenrope9190

frozenrope9190
Aurora, IL
frozenrope9190
Question... If we had beaten Loyola in the 2nd round in 2021 and lost the next game (to Oegron State, I believe it was.) And everything else in Brad's tenure was exactly the same, would we be having similar "hot seat" discussions? I know we would have the same dearth of PG discussions. But there's your second weekend, which so many have used as the strongest measuring stick for success on this board (which is strange because Ive rarely heard of that before Brad got here).
 
#550      

HensonHall71

H
HensonHall71
I know we all want a traditional PG- but I like the notion of Ty facilitating the offense and I feel a lot more comfortable with an entire off season to prepare with that in mind then everyone being thrust into new roles mid season last year.

Ty doesn’t need to be a three point shooter- just get us into the offense, occasionally get in the lane, create opportunities for others and be the defender/rebounder he already is- he becomes the Scottie Pippen role to TSJ’s MJ in that scenario and I think he will do well in it
 
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