Brad Underwood Intro Press Conference

#76      

Larken24

Larken24
Florida
Larken24
Based on the press conference, here are a few things I noticed/took away from this.
1. The guy looks like he has the personality of Huggins and Martin, whether or not he'll have the same post game talks like Martin will be interesting to watch.
2. He definitely has more drive and more passion than what I saw in Groce from his Press conference
3. Loved the Brian Cook reference he made!
4. I think he's similar to Whitman in that he has seen Illini Basketball in its golden days and knows what the program is capable of.
5. I thought it was clever on him when he talked about recruiting, talked more about what will fit his system. Knowing what he did when he worked with Frank Martin who just so happened to have a few McD AA on those K-State teams when he was there.
6. I think what we saw last with the USC and Duke game shows what kind of style we could potentially see, I know the OK state defense wasn't as good as the offense, but I think it would have gotten better in year 2 had he stayed, I wouldn't worry about the defense stuff until November when the team plays.
 
#78      

Centennial Illini

C
Centennial Illini
I saw every game Rick George played in high school, every home game he played in college. Great guy, successful, everything he touched got better, bleeds O and B, would have loved him as AD.

But in the best year of Rick George's life, he could not have done what Josh Wittman has done.

We have our Don Canham and all success must start with the top man and our top man is a winner.
 
#84      

PlayAZ

P
PlayAZ
Dan said:
[YOUTUBE]61R7v9mBMGw[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]5LidxEHAjyE[/YOUTUBE]
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Gotta say based on comments, profile, history, want, and desire to build something, somewhere that has always seemingly captured his heart, makes me more excited with Brad Underwood and our future as a program, than I ever felt with Groce EVER....

Not a knock, just a reality:chief:
 
#87      

Whitmans Sampler

Whitmans Sampler
Eastern Iowa
Whitmans Sampler
Second and Chalmers said:
Lucas is the obvious one. I'm not so sure about Black either.
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Gonna have to respectfully disagree with you on that :D

I agree with FiveStar in that it's the mental buy-in. I guess we'll just have to wait and see because I don't think it's right to have preconceived notions about any of our players in that regard.
 
#88      

FiveStar

F
FiveStar
Second and Chalmers said:
Lucas is the obvious one. I'm not so sure about Black either.
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Whitmans Sampler said:
Gonna have to respectfully disagree with you on that :D

I agree with FiveStar in that it's the mental buy-in. I guess we'll just have to wait and see because I don't think it's right to have preconceived notions about any of our players in that regard.
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I can agree that black could be a stretch because he doesn't seem to have a well rounded enough game. But he does fit the high post spot well. Good screener, good rebounder, can hit the elbow j.
 
#89      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
Whitmans Sampler said:
Gonna have to respectfully disagree with you on that :D

I agree with FiveStar in that it's the mental buy-in. I guess we'll just have to wait and see because I don't think it's right to have preconceived notions about any of our players in that regard.
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It's not like good players suddenly become garbage. But Lucas' innate feel for the pick and roll is going to be of much less use to him, and his relative weakness for finishing at the rim becomes a much bigger hole. Plus there is a freshman coming in next year who is a hand-in-glove fit at his position.

What Lucas can do is pressure the ball at a high level, and he's got natural court awareness and vision and a sense of timing that ought to make him an above-average passer in any scheme.

And regardless of the scheme, but especially so now, the next step of evolution in his game needs to come in his jump shot.
 
#90      

Calvin

C
Calvin
Anyone care to share thoughts on his recruiting?

Having been associated with Frank Martin and Huggins, gotta believe he's fully aware of how sausage gets made. I'm not trying to imply anything with that statement, just that he's been around the block enough to know how rough and tumble it is. I do wonder what sort of recruiting chops he has, though.
 
#92      

OldGreg

O
OldGreg
Second and Chalmers said:
It's not like good players suddenly become garbage. But Lucas' innate feel for the pick and roll is going to be of much less use to him, and his relative weakness for finishing at the rim becomes a much bigger hole. Plus there is a freshman coming in next year who is a hand-in-glove fit at his position.

What Lucas can do is pressure the ball at a high level, and he's got natural court awareness and vision and a sense of timing that ought to make him an above-average passer in any scheme.

And regardless of the scheme, but especially so now, the next step of evolution in his game needs to come in his jump shot.
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What? I don't think you could be more wrong. This coaching change will benefit Lucas maybe the most. TJL loves to get the ball and run upcourt but Groce would often run that high dribble hand off to Malcolm and then Lucas would go stand in the corner. TJL is at his best when he pushes the pace. Also, Underwood still uses the p&r just as much as Groce. Did you watch the Mich game? Evans was running all around off ball screens the whole game. Also, TJL is already smart and aggressive in the passing lanes. With better coaching, a summer in the weight room and his basketball IQ, I think he'll get better at the defensive end as well. He definitely could stand to get better around the basket but I think his shooting will improve and he's already an incredible passer in the paint.
 
#93      

Chase3

C
Chase3
Just was reading the OK State board to get their reactions, this post was by far the most laughable.

Illinois offer: 6 years, $19mm, higher cost of living, higher property taxes, less tradition, worse arena, unknown talent
OSU offer: 5 years, $13mm (and may have gotten better had underwood engaged in scheduled discussions), lower cost of living, lower property taxes, significant tradition, better arena, known talent and recruits
OSU and it's administration were financially in-line, especially given the mediocre results and lack of major college experience. Underwood was never interested in our school and players, and past pay is irrelevant given how he left. He fell in love with his press clippings, and was only interested in money.

Less tradition?? Come on now...
 
#94      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
The full Whitman/Underwood presser

[youtube]hZVSZzFezUE[/youtube]
 
#95      

Roundball Shaman

R
Roundball Shaman
Chase3 said:
Just was reading the OK State board to get their reactions, this post was by far the most laughable.

Illinois offer: 6 years, $19mm, higher cost of living, higher property taxes, less tradition, worse arena, unknown talent
OSU offer: 5 years, $13mm (and may have gotten better had underwood engaged in scheduled discussions), lower cost of living, lower property taxes, significant tradition, better arena, known talent and recruits
OSU and it's administration were financially in-line, especially given the mediocre results and lack of major college experience. Underwood was never interested in our school and players, and past pay is irrelevant given how he left. He fell in love with his press clippings, and was only interested in money.

Less tradition?? Come on now...
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From the OK State U website:

“The treasured history of basketball at Oklahoma State University is one of the richest amongst all major programs in college basketball today. Oklahoma State was the first school to claim back-to-back NCAA championships in the sport, and Mr. Henry P. Iba - the architect of those championships - is arguably the most influential coach in the history of the game. With two national championships, six Final Four appearances and one of the game's grandest old cathedrals, Cowboy Basketball is steeped in tradition.”
http://www.okstate.com/sports/2015/3/17/GEN_2014010122.aspx?path=mbball

Look, everybody wants to feel good about their program. Nothing wrong with that. Maybe Oklahoma does have a lower cost of living and lower taxes. More “tradition” than Illini program? I don’t recall anybody calling Oklahoma the Original Home of March Madness. Let them have their tradition. We have ours. Neither side has to dump on the other. It’s all about the future. And as we all know, WE got NEXT. But we do have a better shade of Orange and a whole lot less fracking going on.
 
#96      

KrushCow31

KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
Chicago, IL
KrushCow31
Roundball Shaman said:
From the OK State U website:

“The treasured history of basketball at Oklahoma State University is one of the richest amongst all major programs in college basketball today. Oklahoma State was the first school to claim back-to-back NCAA championships in the sport, and Mr. Henry P. Iba - the architect of those championships - is arguably the most influential coach in the history of the game. With two national championships, six Final Four appearances and one of the game's grandest old cathedrals, Cowboy Basketball is steeped in tradition.”
http://www.okstate.com/sports/2015/3/17/GEN_2014010122.aspx?path=mbball
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Yah, they won 2 national championships. I hear Harry Truman himself handed the trophies to them just before he dropped the atom bomb.
 
#97      

haasi

haasi
New York
haasi
OldGreg said:
What? I don't think you could be more wrong. This coaching change will benefit Lucas maybe the most. TJL loves to get the ball and run upcourt but Groce would often run that high dribble hand off to Malcolm and then Lucas would go stand in the corner. TJL is at his best when he pushes the pace. Also, Underwood still uses the p&r just as much as Groce. Did you watch the Mich game? Evans was running all around off ball screens the whole game. Also, TJL is already smart and aggressive in the passing lanes. With better coaching, a summer in the weight room and his basketball IQ, I think he'll get better at the defensive end as well. He definitely could stand to get better around the basket but I think his shooting will improve and he's already an incredible passer in the paint.
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So one thing I take away from superficial viewing of SF Austin then OK state is that Underwood allows flexibility based on personnel. With Evans this past year, there seems to have been a lot more letting him create off the dribble and create his own mid range or deep shot than there was at SFA, which relied a lot more on guards cutting to basket, guards posting, reversing the ball etc. in order to get layups and uncontested looks. Underwood's rep and evidence suggest that he's a creative offensive mind who can adapt his system to his personnel, so if he thinks that we're best on the court with TJL having the ball in his hands a lot, he may take our offense that way. That said, Evans is a first round pick and TJL isn't, and we have some other good guard options coming in that may shift the analysis.
 
#100      

IlliniinIowa

I
IlliniinIowa
carmelillini said:
He has said already that he is giving Jamall space for him to deal with the major issue at hand which is the GAME tonight. They will have a discussion after the Illini season is complete.
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Couldn't disagree more with going this way about it. Wouldn't walker feel more comfortable knowing he has a job when the season is over? Having to sell his house and uproot his family is a major distraction while also planning for a nit game. If he's staying, tell him!! Let him coach worry free.

Don't get this...