Name doesn’t fit.
Duke 110, Illinois 67 Postgame
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Without going into a long winded blog, hopefully, my sentiment goes like this.
Excited about the hire, soured a bit on the player choices, early tenure. Benefit of doubt given, BU had a significant brand and product rebuild, warm bodied recruits were needed. Sideline demeanor (F.T.R, I like intense coaching styles) /W & L record, roster turnover, & a seemingly fluid, inconsistent yearly philosophy, style.
Recruiting picked up, Assistant Coaching improved, wins and success came, I rejoined the BU fan club.
Not sure exactly where I stand on making a change, I guess I could take it, or leave it, RIGHT NOW. Of course, that would depend on options.
For me, something just doesn’t pass the body of work smell test. Overall NCAA success, seemingly unusually high player and coach turnover, X’s & O’s head scratching, reluctance to adjust schemes soon enough, historically bad big stage losses, and a general feeling of what is the brand going to look like next year.
Izzo has been mentioned a lot here (former MSU season ticket holder, no choice I married into it) not many months ago the fans were saying the game has passed him by, and his time is up. Now look, he has a very consistent culture, philosophies, recruits he goes after, etc. Sure, even so, any coach will have down years, but if you stay true to your beliefs, they won’t last long.
Appreciate all BU has accomplished, I will never take them away from him, and tip my cap to him. Illinois fans have been able to chest pound many times over recent years, just like the good old days.
Something just doesn’t feel right for me.
Excited about the hire, soured a bit on the player choices, early tenure. Benefit of doubt given, BU had a significant brand and product rebuild, warm bodied recruits were needed. Sideline demeanor (F.T.R, I like intense coaching styles) /W & L record, roster turnover, & a seemingly fluid, inconsistent yearly philosophy, style.
Recruiting picked up, Assistant Coaching improved, wins and success came, I rejoined the BU fan club.
Not sure exactly where I stand on making a change, I guess I could take it, or leave it, RIGHT NOW. Of course, that would depend on options.
For me, something just doesn’t pass the body of work smell test. Overall NCAA success, seemingly unusually high player and coach turnover, X’s & O’s head scratching, reluctance to adjust schemes soon enough, historically bad big stage losses, and a general feeling of what is the brand going to look like next year.
Izzo has been mentioned a lot here (former MSU season ticket holder, no choice I married into it) not many months ago the fans were saying the game has passed him by, and his time is up. Now look, he has a very consistent culture, philosophies, recruits he goes after, etc. Sure, even so, any coach will have down years, but if you stay true to your beliefs, they won’t last long.
Appreciate all BU has accomplished, I will never take them away from him, and tip my cap to him. Illinois fans have been able to chest pound many times over recent years, just like the good old days.
Something just doesn’t feel right for me.
I was talking about Brad saying that was an insane statement by him.
I'm not worried about spending money. I'm worried that about getting a better coach than Brad because their are probably only like 10-15 of were looking at proven guys.
Likely will be some young and upcoming guys that end up being better than him but if you that route you can end up getting a guy like Weber or Groce.
I think Beard is a better coach but he comes with own baggage. You would have a younger ascending coach like Golden who also comes with his own baggage. Miller gets floated a lot but I don't know if he's any better than Brad. McCasland is maybe the best pick but I don't think Illinois has the money to outbid Texas Tech if we are being honest.
Who else is there thats a realistic target that really excites you? Miller? Moser? Hodge? Jans? Byington? Mack? DeVries? Odom?
Nobody really knows what happened with TA other then he wanted a salary to match OA despite being paid very very well.
Also, I don't know if Anderson really got TJ. TJ was going to go to Michigan until his admission fell through and then he fell into our lap.
Also, I don't think the team you created is any better than the current one. KJ is struggling but still better than Fears imo and you're dropping your next two best players in Riley and Ivisic.
Now it's another story if you could have got something like.
Kasparis
Fears
Ty
Coleman
Ivisic
Bench: (would be better swapping Boswell for a wing/forward imo)
Morez
Riley
DGL
Boswell
Davis
RJ is actually playing pretty well for a pretty good Mississippi State team. He never really reached the ceiling that I thought he was capable of, but his size and athleticism on the wing would be very useful to the current Illini team.
Mayer was also a very good college player(good role player on a great title team) and that team doesn't even make that tournament without him. It's not Mayers fault that he was asked to do way too much because the freshman guards brought in sucked.
Mayer would have been a monster if he was on last years team wasn't asked to be the primary ballhandler and initiator of the half court offense. Put him in the Guerrier/Ty role last year where he can play defense and provide some rim protection while spotting up, slashing, and rolling to the basket.
If we lose to Iowa, then that's a whole different discussion.
Lil Debbie?
I have no love for Duke. But as an honest roundball fan I have to respect that they do whatever is necessary to always stay relevant and at or near the top of College Ball year after year, decade after decade.
Sure, they always get some of the very best talent each and every year. But that’s the point. The ultra-talented guys from around the Nation believe in their program and its direction and want to go there. That’s the gold standard level where the Illini should always be – get some of the very best talent from around the World who likewise believe in the Illini program and want to be a part of it. Make Final Fours something of frequency rather than once-in-a-lifetime or so.
Brad has done a great service to the Illini by raising up the program from the doldrums it was in and making it respectable. And that word, ‘Respect’. His best quality in my opinion has always been that he has great respect for Illini ball and its rich history. It’s important to have that quality in the person at the top.
But from the last couple years we’ve seen him hit is own personal glass ceiling as a coach with the Beloved. While last year was great there still was a clear separation between where the Illini were as a team and where the very best were. We saw that separation again last night.
If the Illini were to surprise and make some noise in the Tournaments that would take some of the heat off for now. But has the team given up on him? If so... that's a hard thing to recover from.
Either way, there’s still that glass ceiling thing. Doesn’t seem likely that will go away.
You can also thank IZZO. He doubled teamed JK and we made no adjustments for help. Duke must have watched Mich St. game.
They came out and doubled from tip off. We were exposed in the Mich St. game, big time. A better team such as DUKE responded
and made us look really bad.
Might beat Iowa but, I don't see another win including Big 10 tournament. NO NCAA this year. I do not see any adjustments being made.
If you can't hit a 3 or a barn, go inside and score. Johnson being out is just too much to overcome.
I like Underwood but, he is a little stubborn on game plans.
They came out and doubled from tip off. We were exposed in the Mich St. game, big time. A better team such as DUKE responded
and made us look really bad.
Might beat Iowa but, I don't see another win including Big 10 tournament. NO NCAA this year. I do not see any adjustments being made.
If you can't hit a 3 or a barn, go inside and score. Johnson being out is just too much to overcome.
I like Underwood but, he is a little stubborn on game plans.
He can buy a lot of yoga pants with that, which he really needs.
I’m a little surprised you took that comment here…but here we are…
I thought RJ had some great tools. I appreciate that Brad stuck by him through his struggles. His length and athleticism are as appealing now as they were then…BUT as you said…he ever really put it all together. If he’s here, you know as well as I do….he’s told to do little more than stand out on that damn wing and shoot it. He struggled shooting then. And he struggles now (26%-ish)… If RJ is here he doesn’t even move the needle. He might have been some use on defense.
Matthew Mayer was misused here. Sure, I’ll give ya that. Definitely. That was obvious then. The lack of schematic creativity was a clear problem with that team. But to be fair, it was hard to tell where the mutiny/dysfunction began and the complete lack of offensive creativity ended.
Matthew Mayer was a great leaper. He had good athleticism, a nice pull up, a quick release that he could get off against almost anyone …good court sense/high IQ…He was tall and wiry; and tough as hell when he wanted to be. For his all his tools/skills on his lengthy wiry frame…coupled with the athleticism…you could probably argue that he underachieved. Coleman too. Go ahead and roast me on that. I don’t care.
You’re right that Mayer was asked to do way too much. He needed a more clearly defined role…as did that whole team. As for the hypothetical of what he would have done on this team…I dont think I really care. He was a loon and a mixed bag. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest that his playing days are in the past.
After recruiting and buying new players that ran off most of our last years roster. Self inflicted problems count as a negative on him. Can’t use it as an excuse when he did it to himself.
Except a 16 seed would come closer than that
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
I wonder how many times I've watched the post game conference this year where Brad says something like "we'll get it figured out"...including after this game. Um....Bruh. It's mid February! Sad thing is I really like Brad but I think he's one of those coaches that get mediocre players that are 100% "in" and dedicated and gets the best out of them. That's drastically different than getting a guy that already has NBA potential and developing them.
So we should pay them more?
No shooters? Yep, proven by our 24-25 team.
Worse? Hard to do.
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