Coaching Carousel (Basketball)

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#126      
Battle89
OrangeBlue98 said:
Isn't that what practices are for? You develop the structure for in-game adjustments at that time.

I'm all in favor of a philosophy. But that merely sets the vision and guardrails. Once you have that philosophy, then you develop what you need to do. "Plan A, but better" isn't a philosophy. It's stubbornness.

The staff has plenty of time now to figure out what went wrong this season and to fix it. At a minimum, we have to do more than pick and roll with guys standing around the perimeter on offense and just doing drop coverage (which I hope we launch into the sun) on defense.
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Only silver lining of the last 24 hours is that "Plan A, but better" and "This game could have been an email" are now in my lexicon.

I'm appropriating pie while pie's passing.
 
#128      
ugottabjoshinme
CoachHooleyHoo said:
Hearing Hamer is likely to stay.
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Tom Hardy Bait GIF
 
#129      
Roundball Sage
PortalGiant said:
On Brad this season wore on me a bit just got real tired of all the excuses. Sorry my guy but you built this roster that you had. Nobody to blame but yourself there.
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Since the Illini once again hit that glass Tournament ceiling that they still haven't broken through for 20 years... this has to be dogging Coach because he knows that fact as much as anyone. As a Coach you want to gain a personal reputation to be one who can get his team to the Promised Land -- and not one that keeps bouncing off and down off that glass ceiling. The difference between being a Good Coach and an Elite Coach.

PortalGiant said:
Need a veteran PG who knows how to handle an offense and distribute without turning it over.
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The Illini had a point guard for most of the season that turned out to be a turnover machine. The telecast commentator was a bit kind in saying he is a, "High Risk, High Reward" kind of guy. Well, you don't really need risk (that much) to be a core tendency for your leader point guard. The Illini recently had a guy whom Coach called a Savant who also turned out to be a too-much-risk guy on the floor.

Boswell really stepped up at the end to try to take command on the floor. He rose to the occasion and did his best to pull the Illini out of the erratic floor game and settle things down. But yesterday The Beloved had just dug too big a hole to get out of -- and Kentucky with that winning pedigre attitude wasn't about to let the Illini back into the game.

With the Portal ability to rebuild your roster every year there is the opening to quickly fix your needs and weaknesses. But to do that the Illini have to be firmly established in the Baller-Minds to be a place you want to come to (and pass up other places) to show off your talents and excell quickly on the floor. The Illini still have work to do on that score.
 
#133      
WyattEarp
sacraig said:
Just a terrible infatuation with hiring alumni/former players. It reeks of Michigan or Indiana, which is how you end up with Brady Hoke or Mike Woodson.
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Or Matt Painter or Mark Pope or Bob Huggins or John Scheyer….

* But yeah, most of the time you’re right. It doesn’t prove to be the way to go.
 
#134      
OrangeBlue98
PortalGiant said:
After sitting back on things I get both sides of the table with Brad. Personally I don't want to see him go but if this entire staff comes back in same positions I am ready for him to go.

On Tyler I dont think he is the problem. The problem was the complete rebuild to going younger with talent but not the talent that was going to win now. Anyone who watched KJ highlights before he even came here should of known he was going to be a high turnover guy. That was obvious in everything that was seen from highlights and box scores. He wasn't coming here and turnovers weren't going to stop. The staff missed on way to many of the other pieces to go with the youth. When no ability to hit 3s even wide open it turns the offense into looking around and hoping. Couldn't really work inside because nobody really respected this team to shoot 3s.

On Hamer this guy is completely lost and has no clue what he is doing and doesn't need to be back at all. To many times his drop coverage ended up being burned and burned and burned. So many big games from the other team because left shooter wide open that actually make them. Sure easier in practice when your team can't make them than when in a game where other team can make them. Team was constantly burned on screen and roles. Not having a true defensive center hurt as well. Rez was the best on that side but he got called for some dumb fouls and his motor got him in foul trouble at times as well. This team while had the talent just wasn't going to be a strong defensive team to begin with but the scheme setup for them made them look worse.

On Brad this season wore on me a bit just got real tired of all the excuses. Sorry my guy but you built this roster that you had. Nobody to blame but yourself there. The well this team is young excuse at end of last game was just as bad. It was you who went and built this team on youth after saying need to stay older. Bright side with this is I believe brad knows his faults this year and will fix them with the roster.

Now time to get a few players back mainly to keep some structure and add some experienced older players to go in the mix with them and Dame. I love the international feel that's been coming in but need a better job of mixing that in and realize that international is great but also they don't play the physical style that's played here. Need a veteran PG who knows how to handle an offense and distribute without turning it over. Need a backup big because when foul trouble comes there is no one to play the spot. Need some 3pt makers and not just shooter like this team had. For the offense concept to work and for Dame to get what he needs going to have some real threats from 3 that can't just be left open. Get these things and a defensive minded coach that knows how to scheme a defense I believe Brad can make a second weekend at worst next season.
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I agree with quite a bit in this post. I also agree that Tyler isn't the problem and actually does a lot of good things. Sure, there are always things to consider and improve (see some of my posts in the post-game thread for my opinions), but it's hard to argue with the offensive metrics. I just think there needs to be an extra wrinkle or two in the toolkit, and I hope those come to light in the offseason. Plenty of video across college basketball to access. Defensively, it's a completely different story. Not much more to add there that myself and others haven't already said.

The comparisons to the of Calipari's time at Kentucky does seem pretty applicable. Roster construction in this era is still very much in its infancy, but it feels like one and done players are more like the final piece than around whom you build a team unless it's a player like Cooper Flagg. Had Illinois been able to keep a few players from last year's team and then added players like Riley and KJ, I think the bedding-in would have gone a lot more smoothly. All done now - we just have to hope the right learning and adjustments will be made between now and the start of practice.
 
#137      
illini510
AirNeazy said:
A lot of the online chatter from Xavier fans I've seen is that they're not too happy with Sean using them to rehab his image and bolt for the first good opportunity shown his way. Seems like they want someone who doesn't see them as a stepping stone........wonder if Mack realizes how good he had it and would stay there long term.
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Xavier fans are delusional. Their school is very much a stepping stone and it always has been. That's just unfortunately how it has been historically. Pete Gillen, Skip Prosser, Thad Matta, Sean Miller, and Chris Mack. 6 coaches who have all gone on to bigger programs after having success at Xavier. You'd probably need a former alum to keep that coach there for a long period of time.
 
#140      
ILL21
illini0440 said:
Did you not see him kick the scores table yesterday? or him leave the sideline interview and chew them out? or the report from the halftime locker room?

or earlier in the year when he cut up and bruised his right hand so bad he had it wrapped up in a towel and couldn't use it to shake hands after a game? He is still the same Brad.
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That’s my coach!
 
#141      
PepeSilvia
illiniguy24 said:
After a night of dwelling…

I can’t emphasize enough how badly we need a top level strategic assistant on this staff.

It’s frustrating with how much money Brad makes and how long he’s been in the business that he hasn’t evolved in game strategically. There have been plenty of games the last few years where it’s just completely obvious how much better the other teams game plan is. Either from the jump or after half time.

Love Brad and grateful for him. Program is in a great spot. But we clearly need a X’s and O’s guy on the bench for us to reach final four potential.
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Why not bring in an offensive and defensive coordinator at this point? High school recruiting is less important than ever plus you already have Orlando and Geoff.

Can let Orlando handle domestic recruiting and Geoff can lead internationally. Then have a coach dedicated to the offense and defense.

Not saying that's all these guys do but it's very apparent that something is missing.
 
#142      
OrangeBlue98
BashCtIllini said:
My ideal would be Alexander gets a head coaching job. Then our staff becomes Antigua, Boynton, Yaklich, I'll bite on this Samarippas guy, and Tyler.

That sounds like a pretty elite staff. I agree with those that have said we don't look to have a Charlie Weis-esque decided schematic advantage (sidenote: as a life long Catholic, Charlie Weis made me dislike Notre Dame) in pretty much any game.

I have said this many times before, but in an NIL world, I don't think you need a staff of recruiters anymore. Underwood has shown he's a very strong recruiter, Antigua is a great recruiter, my proposed staff has plenty of recruiting firepower. You do need to have solid Xs and Os. You buy the roster, then coach them.

If you look at the Sweet 16, I think you've got some great tactical coaches: Beard, Painter, Izzo, Sampson, Barnes, McCasland, Golden, Oats, Lloyd, etc. If I wanted to spend the time, which I don't, I bet most of the staffs have either the head coach as a Xs and Os brain, or a former head coach that may not be a recruiting star but always knew their Xs and Os. When everyone can buy the talent, it is the actual coaching that will separate teams going forward.
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You just described Jeff Linder at Texas Tech. Linder was the head coach at Wyoming and left that position to join McCasland (his long-time friend - sometimes, it helps to build relationships!!) at Texas Tech. The Athletic had a great article on their relationship a couple of weeks ago. McCasland has completely delegated the offense to Linder, so Linder is basically Ben Johnson at Detroit before he came to the Bears. (Side note - if you forced me to pick a team to support the rest of the way instead of just hoping Auburn and Houston lose, I'd probably go with Texas Tech. I just really enjoy watching that team play.)

If Illinois could find a Jeff Linder-type but for defense, I think that would do a world of good for the Illini staff.
 
#143      
PepeSilvia
mhuml32 said:
He took over an awful situation and was intentionally misled on the severity of the investigation. Then he had one of the most bizarre situations unfold where a staffer was blackmailing him. He might be the poster boy of tough breaks.
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Yeah Mack was never bad at Louisville. They were a Kenpom top 10 team and 4 seed before the COVID cancelled year. Then had the weird post COVID year and then he was gone.

The guy got Xavier to a #1 seed in the tourney. I know they lost in the 2nd round but still.
 
#145      
Grandpa
AirNeazy said:
I've still yet to hear a legit reason from people regarding why Tyler needs to be demoted? We had a top 5 Kenpom offense last year and a top 15 offense this year.

If we're going to (justifiably IMO) lay the defensive scheme blame solely at Hamer's feet since he took "DC" responsibilities last year, then its only fair to give Tyler his due credit for orchestrating top offenses since he took over "OC" duties last year.
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Because there is no flexibility in his approach. If we aren't hitting 3s we lose. We will never win a NC with this offense. No way to win 6 in a row against top teams when we have to be on from 3 every game.
 
#147      
AirNeazy
Grandpa said:
Because there is no flexibility in his approach. If we aren't hitting 3s we lose. We will never win a NC with this offense. No way to win 6 in a row against top teams when we have to be on from 3 every game.
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Sorry but this doesn't jive with reality. Tyler was integral in the move to bootyball midseason last year as reported in the Athletic. Then he switched up our offensive philosophy to the 5-out, spam 3's offense this year. If anything, you could make the argument that he was too quick to jump the gun with changing to a different offensive scheme after bootyball worked so well for us last year.
 
#149      
BashCtIllini
OrangeBlue98 said:
You just described Jeff Linder at Texas Tech. Linder was the head coach at Wyoming and left that position to join McCasland (his long-time friend - sometimes, it helps to build relationships!!) at Texas Tech. The Athletic had a great article on their relationship a couple of weeks ago. McCasland has completely delegated the offense to Linder, so Linder is basically Ben Johnson at Detroit before he came to the Bears. (Side note - if you forced me to pick a team to support the rest of the way instead of just hoping Auburn and Houston lose, I'd probably go with Texas Tech. I just really enjoy watching that team play.)

If Illinois could find a Jeff Linder-type but for defense, I think that would do a world of good for the Illini staff.
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this probably describes Luke Yaklich.
 
#150      
ginabackes00
I voiced this before, but i don't see our offense as a problem. A lot of teams will have shooting struggles, but very good defense can help offset it. When you turn the ball over a lot, you cannot run sets. When you shoot poorly, you rely on your defense to possibly generate turnovers or defensive rebounds.
Most teams playing against us didn't worry about our defense outside of Boswell. They had confidence they could score against us.
 
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