Bruce Weber resigns as Kansas State coach
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FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
I keep reading this but I don't get it. The guy threw his own players under the bus every time the water got warm. That is not a"great guy"
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Yeah, I don’t even cheer for mine in anything or I wouldn’t have an account here!
Groce was a bottom quartile P5 coach
Groce to me was the good guy. He knew that kicking Nunn out was the end of his Illinois run, but knew he had to do it.
Epsilon
M tipping over
- Pdx
Well, this has been an interesting conversation to drop into. That said, it all reminds me of the ABS signs I used to read on I-90 headed up towards Wisconsin. They are in this business and always had the funniest slogans.
ABS Global's punny slogans over the years
ABS Global, a DeForest-based bovine genetics company that provides frozen bull semen to customers around the world, has changed slogans on its double-sided "bullboard" on I-94 near Madison monthly since the mid-1960s.
archive.jsonline.com
Weber was the first Illini basketball coach that I witnessed as a teenager. His 04-05 team got me hooked on the Illini and the university, where I would eventually attend. He's an Illini legend in my mind.
Also wanted to add the guy's 65 yrs old. If I were him, I'd either retire or coach a mid-major program that's struggling to stability - give it a few years - and then retire. A mid-major program probably won't demand he get four to five stars consistently to win, so it'll balance out his recruiting weakness. College basketball is truly cutthroat where results matter. Weber has done quite well for himself, with his last two gigs at major land grant universities where basketball isn't small time.
If he handled his finances with some frugality and investing he's set for retirement, purchase a nice boat for him and wife and can probably pay for all of his grandkids' college and graduate schooling.
Also wanted to add the guy's 65 yrs old. If I were him, I'd either retire or coach a mid-major program that's struggling to stability - give it a few years - and then retire. A mid-major program probably won't demand he get four to five stars consistently to win, so it'll balance out his recruiting weakness. College basketball is truly cutthroat where results matter. Weber has done quite well for himself, with his last two gigs at major land grant universities where basketball isn't small time.
If he handled his finances with some frugality and investing he's set for retirement, purchase a nice boat for him and wife and can probably pay for all of his grandkids' college and graduate schooling.
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He is a good guy, just overmatched coaching in the Big 10.
I think people use his overall record to make him sound like a better coach than he was. He inherited one of the best teams that didn't win a championship and got a ton of wins from those guys. Not only was the program mediocre after that, but he also lost control of his teams. I think Bardo said that once a team quits on you, it's really hard to bring them back, and I think that was true of Weber's many bubble teams. Kruger and Self had buy-in. Weber had buy-in early, and a lot less late in his run here. Having guys quit on you is bad enough, but with the ugly brand of basketball he played...ugh.
I don't want to take anything away from the guy as a person --clearly he had a squeaky clean image and worked his butt off. And the Deron/Dee/Head team was magical and THE team of that entire season once they whooped Wake Forest. But that was his zenith. I don't think anyone had faith in him reaching another FF or anything close, and the bubble-watch nature of his teams along with the recruiting was maddening.
Not a hard guy to like, but overall a mixed bag as a coach, with a bad ending. Strange how similar it went at KSU --lotta people predicted as much.
One thing I can say about Weber. He didn't beat us in the title game. He didn't have to. The refs did the dirty work.
It's probably just me, but I didn't really have much of an issue with it when I first saw it. I then re-watched it and found it hilarious. I mean, not much better than Pep Guardiola's speech.
It’s awful, that’s not going to fire anyone up lol
I’m just not tracking with the guys who keep calling BW mediocre or worse yet below average. He has a very nice(not stellar) coaching record. As stated above, he made the tourney in 6/9 seasons AND was ranked in the top 25 at some point during 8/9 seasons. I think his biggest flaw was that we as a fan base expected more. The reality is, the Illinois basketball program isn’t a blue blood. Being in or around the top 25 with an occasional run in the tourney is about what we should expect. We can hope for more, but there are about 350 D1 basketball teams with the same goal.
RE: his time at KSU. Similarly unrealistic expectations. He won the conference twice during his time at KSU. No other Kansas State coach has won the conference in the past 40 years! Sound pretty mediocre and below average to me.
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I think you have to look at it in context though. Far and away his most successful teams were ones he didn't recruit. It always slid backwards as time went on.
He got a lot of mileage out of those teams. Enough to sustain him through several disastrous seasons that followed.
Was anyone even listening to that? Good grief, it's enough to put you to sleep. And it's plagiarized from an old Coach K pregame talk.
This is true. BW went on the title run in his 2nd season with Bills recruits. Self was only at Illinois for 3 seasons. Do we disqualify Self’s BT wins because he won them with Krueger’s recruits?
You certainly could, except he went on to win like 47 straight league titles and a NC with his own guys as KU. Again, context.
He’s had a nice run at Kansas, but he didn’t build KU. Basketball was literally invented by KU’s first coach. Roy Williams had just spent 15 seasons at Kansas and played in 2 national championships. Kansas was already a blue blood when Self got there. They were even tournament runner up the season before he arrived. You are correct. Context matters.
If you want more context… let’s not forget the Adidas scandal and 5 level 1 recruiting violations. Bill’s a cheater.
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He was a baby. Couldn’t stand his Illini press conferences. Best wishes!
For those saying Webber can't coach unless a team is handed to him already loaded.
Webber resurrected a floundering SIU basketball program. He put them on the map, winning multiple MVC conference and tournament titles. Left for Illinois after taking SIU to the sweet sixteen. Handed over the reins to Painter who the left it for Lowery who drove it into the lake. During that time period SIU made 6 or 7 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament and were often mentioned as one of the top mid majors along with Gonzaga. He was one of the first coaches I remember utilizing a three gaurd lineup, with no real big men. I think he realized he wasn't going to get very many if any top centers to come play in the MVC. He worked his !!! off coaching them up and taught them to play hard nose defense. Maybe thats the situation he is better off coming into. Despite how things ended for him he took both the Illini and KSU to achievements they had never gotten before. Unfortunately for him he couldn't sustain the early success he had at them. If you don't do it again every 3 to 4 yrs they start calling for your head. I did think it was time for him to move on from Illinois. Not sure about KSU, probably just figured it was time for a change.
Webber resurrected a floundering SIU basketball program. He put them on the map, winning multiple MVC conference and tournament titles. Left for Illinois after taking SIU to the sweet sixteen. Handed over the reins to Painter who the left it for Lowery who drove it into the lake. During that time period SIU made 6 or 7 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament and were often mentioned as one of the top mid majors along with Gonzaga. He was one of the first coaches I remember utilizing a three gaurd lineup, with no real big men. I think he realized he wasn't going to get very many if any top centers to come play in the MVC. He worked his !!! off coaching them up and taught them to play hard nose defense. Maybe thats the situation he is better off coming into. Despite how things ended for him he took both the Illini and KSU to achievements they had never gotten before. Unfortunately for him he couldn't sustain the early success he had at them. If you don't do it again every 3 to 4 yrs they start calling for your head. I did think it was time for him to move on from Illinois. Not sure about KSU, probably just figured it was time for a change.
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Wish we won in 2005. Should had played Randle in that championship game to lock up McCants.
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Who's Webber?
I'd say MVC was the right level for him.
You guys, my bad.
Remember BAM took KSU to an elite 8. What has Illinois done in March since he left? I think BU is better all around as a coach and will produce in March. There were a lot of fans that never liked the Weber hire and never gave him a chance
Weber’s biggest problem was he didn’t get the right players for his style. He also had attitude issues with players. I don’t think Snacks helped that situation at all. Weber tried to recruit Chicago kids who didn’t want to come here for various reasons to satisfy people and failed to have a back up when they went elsewhere at the last second
If IDKWTI came to Illinois instead of Sampson calling him on his cell Weber probably would had success with his players
Before Self won his NCs his KU 2 seed lost to a 15 seed. So don’t tell me how great of a coach Self is. If Self was still here the NCAA would have given us the death penalty for what KU has been accused of
Weber in 2004 showed how good of a coach he was keeping the team together with Head’s discipline issues.
Weber’s biggest problem was he didn’t get the right players for his style. He also had attitude issues with players. I don’t think Snacks helped that situation at all. Weber tried to recruit Chicago kids who didn’t want to come here for various reasons to satisfy people and failed to have a back up when they went elsewhere at the last second
If IDKWTI came to Illinois instead of Sampson calling him on his cell Weber probably would had success with his players
Before Self won his NCs his KU 2 seed lost to a 15 seed. So don’t tell me how great of a coach Self is. If Self was still here the NCAA would have given us the death penalty for what KU has been accused of
Weber in 2004 showed how good of a coach he was keeping the team together with Head’s discipline issues.
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