Duke 110, Illinois 67 Postgame

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#652      
NashvILLe05
24 hours later…let’s make Iowa feel this Tuesday.

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#653      
illiniguy24
I’ve read all the posts from you all and have tried to think of a post that shares how I’m feeling. CFact of the matter is, my level of care is just too low to even get worked up about where this team is at right now. We’ve been out scored by 82 points in 2 1/2 games since the TSJ jersey hanging embarrassment.

Last night was so predictable, imo, which made it hurt less for me. I’ll start to care again when the team and staff does.

I have faith we will find a way to win one of the last 3 games to get in the tournament. Which is my only goal for this team at this point.

That’s all I got. Hang in there Loyalty.
 
#655      
PasadenaIllini
Roundball Sage said:
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.
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"Glass ceiling" is an completely inappropriate term for Brad's flaws that hold our team back. "Glass ceiling" according to Google is "a metaphor for the invisible barriers that prevent people from advancing in their careers due to discrimination." Despite whatever excuses Brad might make or the implied finger pointing that happened yesterday at his postgame press conference, the reason our team:

- all but certainly isn't going to achieve anything this season
- looks underprepared and disorganized on both ends of the floor during games.
- and doesn't have the personnel to overcome the injury and sickness issues we've faced

...are results of flaws in Brad's coaching and/or poor decisions he's made personally. There are no outside or discriminatory forces to blame.
 
#658      
jamie13197
He should have been fired we he put on those hoops shorts, with white yoga tightly. Gone.
 
#659      
Indy Illini Fan
Big Jack said:
Yes per Brads own mouth he told Tyler and other assistants he was not interested in Marcus until he saw the results of a personality trait test he took. Then he was all in on him, but not at first.

We are past the Webber Groce years and the program is in decent shape with the money we have getting a great coach is not going to be an issue.

Guessing you have not been watching Willard take Brad to the wood shed the past few years. do not like him but he can coach
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Ben & Booth must’ve got 100% on this “personality test” … 🙄

This “personality test” clearly doesn’t ask questions related to having that dawg factor or having the fire …
 
#660      
Olaf B
Brad brought this program back from irrelevance and raised the bar substantially in his time here. So much so that many of us are calling for his ouster since it doesn't meet these new lofty expectations.

He plays a brand of basketball that relies more on free flowing, read offense over set plays. Players really need to be advanced and confident and know their roles. Maturity is critical here (as well as on the defensive end). Immature players don't do well here & we don't do the basic set plays to build upon and hide flaws. Plus with NIL, it's hard to develop this YoY and get old, stay old.

But, at a minimum, as far as I'm concerned, Brad has more than earned the benefit of the doubt and should be given time and patience to try to right the ship over next couple years.

Do any of you really want to go back to the pre-Brad Underwood days? This is Illinois. Not some top national destination.

Yes, this season is likely toast. and the team and coaches look lost. And that sucks. But, we have had an incredible run of success after nearly a decade of suck. I care about Illini Basketball after being totally indifferent for a long stretch. I would rather care and be pissed than not care at all. "The opposite of love is indifference".

In Brad I trust.
 
#661      
PasadenaIllini
Olaf B said:
Brad brought this program back from irrelevance and raised the bar substantially in his time here. So much so that many of us are calling for his ouster since it doesn't meet these new lofty expectations.

He plays a brand of basketball that relies more on free flowing, read offense over set plays. Players really need to be advanced and confident and know their roles. Maturity is critical here (as well as on the defensive end). Immature players don't do well here & we don't do the basic set plays to build upon and hide flaws. Plus with NIL, it's hard to develop this YoY and get old, stay old.

But, at a minimum, as far as I'm concerned, Brad has more than earned the benefit of the doubt and should be given time and patience to try to right the ship over next couple years.

Do any of you really want to go back to the pre-Brad Underwood days? This is Illinois. Not some top national destination.

Yes, this season is likely toast. and the team and coaches look lost. And that sucks. But, we have had an incredible run of success after nearly a decade of suck. I care about Illini Basketball after being totally indifferent for a long stretch. I would rather care and be pissed than not care at all. "The opposite of love is indifference".

In Brad I trust.
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Yes it is. It's a place where we can afford to pay one of the top ten salaries for a coach in the country. We ARE "some top national destination." We don't have to settle for "good enough" here or worry about things going back to how they were 15 years ago. Ron Gunther isn't in charge anymore. Josh "M'Fing" Whitman doesn't settle for fatally flawed basketball coaching at Illinois. If a change needs to be made, he will make it.
 
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#663      
Illiniindian
Olaf B said:
Brad brought this program back from irrelevance and raised the bar substantially in his time here. So much so that many of us are calling for his ouster since it doesn't meet these new lofty expectations.

He plays a brand of basketball that relies more on free flowing, read offense over set plays. Players really need to be advanced and confident and know their roles. Maturity is critical here (as well as on the defensive end). Immature players don't do well here & we don't do the basic set plays to build upon and hide flaws. Plus with NIL, it's hard to develop this YoY and get old, stay old.

But, at a minimum, as far as I'm concerned, Brad has more than earned the benefit of the doubt and should be given time and patience to try to right the ship over next couple years.

Do any of you really want to go back to the pre-Brad Underwood days? This is Illinois. Not some top national destination.

Yes, this season is likely toast. and the team and coaches look lost. And that sucks. But, we have had an incredible run of success after nearly a decade of suck. I care about Illini Basketball after being totally indifferent for a long stretch. I would rather care and be pissed than not care at all. "The opposite of love is indifference".

In Brad I trust.
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Thank you. I am confident Whitman is intelligent enough to ignore the fan base that is demanding Underwood’s removal.
 
#664      
jmwillini
Some may be asking for his head, but most are asking him to lose the arrogance. He has 3 assistants who shouldn't be assistants. At least not a a major program.

Unless he admits that, yeah, he is on the hot seat and should be.
 
#666      
Captain 14
Roundball Sage said:
There was absolutely not one single positive thing that came out of this game. Except that it was over.

This was a full undressing of the Illini before a National audience – embarrassing for the players, coaches, their families and friends, and the entirety of Illini Nation.

But there is one fun fact that happened: Everyone who reads this forum hit as many Threes in this game as the Illini did for the first 24 minutes of play. (OK, maybe that’s not so much fun).

That was like a good varsity high school team taking on the local grade school’s 8th graders. It was that lopsided. And it looked it.

It also exposed our team’s Lottery pick. The defense completely took him out of this game and he played hurried, rushed, and forced.

Again, the Illini searched for a floor leader to lead this team out of the depths. And no one was there.

As for the Beloved... a loss like this can do one of two things. It can break your team and your spirit. Or, it will rally you to redeem yourself and show people that such a game is not who you are.

The rest of the way will prove what answer the Illini choose to make.
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As to your last point, that's what I thought after the Wisconsin game.
Oh right...and the second half of Sparty
 
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#667      
jmwillini
Addendum to previous post. If Brad doesn't address that he has 3 assistants WAY over their skis, he may lose one or both of the other assistants. Who could blame them?


"Hubris comes before the fall"
 
#668      
OrangeKrush1981
whiteturbo said:
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.
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This is something that bothers me a lot as well. We need to stop with the excuses, accept that bad mistakes have been made (several), and immediately start rectifying things.

Every game matters. Every practice matters. Every action matters.

It is never too late to take steps in the right direction, even if those steps don't lead to success right away. Just do it anyway -- going in the right direction will, sooner or later, get you where you need to go.
 
#669      
OrangeKrush1981
I agree with the major points you make. But ...

I believe in no coaches, ever. I believe in winning results. (I like Brad; I don't believe in him any more than I've believed in any other coach I've ever run into or heard of.)

Win.
 
#670      
Illini2010-11
Olaf B said:
Brad brought this program back from irrelevance and raised the bar substantially in his time here. So much so that many of us are calling for his ouster since it doesn't meet these new lofty expectations.

He plays a brand of basketball that relies more on free flowing, read offense over set plays. Players really need to be advanced and confident and know their roles. Maturity is critical here (as well as on the defensive end). Immature players don't do well here & we don't do the basic set plays to build upon and hide flaws. Plus with NIL, it's hard to develop this YoY and get old, stay old.

But, at a minimum, as far as I'm concerned, Brad has more than earned the benefit of the doubt and should be given time and patience to try to right the ship over next couple years.

Do any of you really want to go back to the pre-Brad Underwood days? This is Illinois. Not some top national destination.

Yes, this season is likely toast. and the team and coaches look lost. And that sucks. But, we have had an incredible run of success after nearly a decade of suck. I care about Illini Basketball after being totally indifferent for a long stretch. I would rather care and be pissed than not care at all. "The opposite of love is indifference".

In Brad I trust.
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Yeah, because a large NIL budget and possibility of being a top 10 coach is not a top tier destination. SMH.

It is fine wanting to keep BU around with appropriate assistant coaching changes. However, the thinking that we will default back to Groce and Weber eras is the thinking that will never get us to national championship contention.

We are currently paying national title contention money, and we have gotten a lot of success in regular season, but have not gotten consistent March success to be in the tier of national championship contention. That is the unfortunate reality, and my fear is that donor money will dry up rather quickly. 2 out of the last 3 seasons have been very disappointing underachievements.

Add in the nepotism, and patience is beginning to wear thin.
 
#672      
OrangeKrush1981
Brad Underwood is a very, very good coach. He is responsible for the recruiting success of the program, whether guys were brought in primarily by his (see how that works? His!) assistants or by his own persuasiveness. He has turned our program around and has had very significant successes in his first seven years in charge of the program.

He wants much more success than he has had. I want much more success for the program than he has so far managed as well. So I agree with Coach Underwood: win. But don't cheat, don't be a jerk, don't embarrass us, don't hurt our players. WIN.

Or be gone.
 
#673      
Yes33
Now that cheating is legal, it is not fair to compare Groce and past eras to today. We are now on the same level as the big dogs with facilities and $$$, can we win the coaching and people game.
 
#675      
Trueblue777
I’m not an insider and have no connections but if the problem was just financial and not personal , we should have paid the man. God knows we have it.
 
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