Amen to thatThis game is a perfect example of why having guards who can take care of the ball gives you a chance in any game
And we certainly need one for next year.
Amen to thatThis game is a perfect example of why having guards who can take care of the ball gives you a chance in any game
I love this so much. This is a wonderful thing about sports. Schemes to overcome mismatches will never get old to me.
Do we not want the program to go to new heights? That's what I'm saying. We've been where Purdue is. We've been higher than that. We're capable of more than that. Why settle for our historical water level?Ye of low expectations. 2 B1G titles a decade is not enough for you. We have had 18 in the 117 years since 1906. Lou Henson won 1 in 20 years and his name is on the court.
Not suggesting we trade BU for Painter. But Painter has won the B1G 4 times in the last 14 years. Harry Combes is the only Illinois coach to win it 4 times, ever. Painter has gone to NCAA tourney 14 of 17 years and made the second weekend 6 times, the Elite 8 once. Your expectations are not real, because if we get rid of BU the odds are we are not going to get someone even as good as Painter.
We had a period of 8 years where we played like a blueblood - Kruger won 1 B1G title, Self 2 and Weber 2 in that period - but that is not sustainable long term. If you want to cherry pick the best 8 year period in the 117 year history of Illinois basketball and have that be your standard by which to judge any coach, then don't plan on being a happy fan.
Who wants Painter over Underwood now? I guess nobody in the first place.Purdue's last two NCAA tournament games:
- loss to No. 15 seed Saint Peter's
- loss to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson
Think of those calling for Underwood's job after the last 3 NCAA's by Purdue.Oof, that is beyond brutal
We had a period of 8 years where we played like a blueblood - Kruger won 1 B1G title, Self 2 and Weber 2 in that period - but that is not sustainable long term. .
clearly FDU is much more efficient with their neck length
Here's another crazy stat:Crazy stat to think about after yesterday:
Only one of previous 4 to win in the first round was Wisconsin in 2014, who ended up making it to the Final Four.
7 Sweet 16s in 25 years - 6 B1G titles in 25 years. Yeah, that can be sustained. The original poster I was responding to claimed 2 B1G titles every ten years was not acceptable - that is about what we averaged in the period you discussed.There was a 25 year period (82-83 to 06-07) where we made the tourney 21/25 years (2 of the misses were due to Pearl), 1 NCAA title game appearance, 4 E8's, 7 S16's, 6 Big Ten titles, and 2 BTT titles. Of course it *can* be sustained. Wisconsin sucked in everything for 60 years, then got an AD that was competent and prioritized on field success, hired great coaches and remain one of the premier athletic programs in the country to this day.
The only reason it's proven unsustainable here is because Illinois had zero interest in prioritizing winning on the field under the most incompetent AD in all of college athletics that let the world pass him by, prized loyalty above competence so he wouldn't have to do the actual work of hiring coaches, was fine treating a B10 program as a small regional program, and ultimately just wanted to sip warmed cognac with small time donors from Tolono.
Guenther sat and watched Weber spend 5 years destroying what he was handed - even after the signs were in clear view from the onset, watching him pull disastrous recruiting classes in 2005 and 2006 even while having the most exciting team in the nation on display nightly. Hell, the idiot AD gave him another extension in the middle of that 5 year run after the title game
Wisconsin could have continued with Brad Soderberg and clucked about success not being sustainable. But because they weren't run by an absolute moron, they immediately moved on after 26 games and brought in Bo Ryan.
If the admin and fanbase don't care about success, of course success won't be sustainable.
Luckily it appears we now have an AD that cares about on field success.
Well, in the last three years that BU hasn't got out of the first weekend, which is apparently unacceptable to you - he has finished above MSU and they haven't got out of the first weekend either.Do we not want the program to go to new heights? That's what I'm saying. We've been where Purdue is. We've been higher than that. We're capable of more than that. Why settle for our historical water level?
Give me what Michigan St. has. That's what I want. Not Purdue.
I'm an Illini, Bears, and Cubs fan. "Being a happy fan" isn't something I'm super familiar with. I'm good at passion, desperation, and loyalty though.