John Groce should have never been hired either.
Don’t trip on that bar!
John Groce should have never been hired either.
Underwood: FAU deserved to win the game. They were much better coached. They played much harder than we did.
Underwood: I was hoping this could become an identity game at half.
Underwood: We had 19 deflections at half. We had 4 in the 2nd half.
Underwood: We gotta get Kipper going. He's a good shooter. But right now, that thing's not close.
Underwood: Right now, we're immature. When that ball doesn't go in, we struggle.
Underwood: In our spread, we're over dribbling. We're over dribbling instead of passing.
Underwood: Basketball isn't all feel-good. It's not all rah rah… That's not real. Who are you going to be?
Underwood: I take a lot of pride in not losing games that you should win... This stings.
Underwood: Anthony Higgs is at home spending time with family. Obviously, knew he wasn't going to play. Nothing more than that.
https://twitter.com/DPiper247/
Your offense can’t be “give it to so and so and have them make a play”. That looks like what we run. No purpose to anything we do, and it results in difficult, highly contested shots. Even if they are at the rim, they are tough.
I knew earlier this year that from a systems standpoint I highly disliked Underwood’s philosophies. The only real offense is predicated on stops and run outs, and we give up layups and wide open threes all day, so no chance for run outs.
Clearly it was a big factor - but as I recall the announcers said FAU had their two leading scorers out - so even with missed layups - we should have been able to hold them to a low enough score to overcome that. We continue to get beat off the dribble and via back cut and we didn't pressure them until do or die. Why we can't run a trap or pressure full court with all of our guards is beyond me. BU is simply not a good in-game coach. The comments he makes after the game regarding what they 'should have done' or 'who should have been in the game earlier or more' tells you he only recognizes issues too late.I didn't watch the game, I was at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament, but did listen to the OT portion of the game. BU said Illini missed 19 layups. That isn't the coach's fault.
He’ll be coaching in the NBA before this job opens up.Eric Musselman your table is ready.........
They can't beat Florida Atlantic at home why would you think they could beat a Big Ten team?
I didn't watch the game, I was at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament, but did listen to the OT portion of the game. BU said Illini missed 19 layups. That isn't the coach's fault.
He’ll be coaching in the NBA before this job opens up.
A couple of days ago Facebook had the decency to show me the post I wrote after we got blown out by Maryland two years ago, in Groce’s last season. It was all about how little fun the team was having, how there wasn’t anyone on the court save for Malcolm who wanted the ball, how bad the energy generally was around the program. (Zero likes, zero shares.)
We’ve been seeing this same story play out for years now. No leadership, no engagement, no nothing. The guys didn’t even run the offense for a good chunk of the game. There’s such a pall around the whole program, and nothing has been able to lift it through, what, three coaches now?
Underwood got like a three-month honeymoon, and after a couple of tough losses and a recruiting miss it was over for him. I have no idea what it will take to change course at this point.
I wish they could have played a softer schedule to get these kids some wins this year. The team’s back just looks like it broke. No confidence, no trust in the coaches or each other, no nothing.
If/when Underwood goes in 2021, it will take a miracle for whoever comes next to turn it around. There’s just too much bad lingering in the air.
Yeah. He inherited a 12-20 team and went 20-13 and a trip to the tournament.Didn’t anyone watch Underwood's OSU teams? Same thing happened there.
TF goes off for a game, the other team can't make the game because of weather and forfeits. There are scenarios.
Seriously though, do they win a conference game?
Yes. They will win four.TF goes off for a game, the other team can't make the game because of weather and forfeits. There are scenarios.
Seriously though, do they win a conference game?
Exactly the same hereYou know it’s bad when I checked the score after the game and just laughed. 2-3 years ago I would’ve been pissed. Now I’m just numb to losing.
Why would we think Underwood would be a success? He jumped ship at SFA as soon as the stud he inherited graduated. He inherited a stable of studs at OSU, dreadfully underachieved, and left the program in a shambles with the FBI sniffing around. And now this. Pretending to be a basketball coach is perhaps the biggest con of all time.
That's a ridiculous read of Underwood's resume.
He went 53-1 in conference at SFA with a team that bore every possibly hallmark of having a genius coaching it, and then took an OSU team that had gone 12-20 the prior year to the tournament and the #1 offensive efficiency in the nation.
It was a home run hire. And is now a lesson in how much you actually know about the future the day you hire someone.
You don't just throw a resume into a machine and it starts spitting out wins. Underwood came in with a plan of how to move the program forward on the floor and in recruiting and hired a staff to execute that plan and has worked to guide and mold our roster toward that plan and it has been a total, unmitigated catastrophe. That can happen.
The future wasn't written the day Michigan hired Beilein or Kentucky hired Calipari or Texas Tech hired Chris Beard or take your pick. It's about all the decisions and practices and random flips of the coin that occur between that day and years down the line. You can increase your chances by making a "good" hire, but only by so much.
It's frustrating, but it is what it is. Whitman did everything right and epically failed.
No, this is not anywhere close to a great program. That narrative needs to stop. Rome was once a great civilization too.I completely disagree that we can sink any lower. This is a great program, great university and one of the best recruiting regions in the country. They could bring almost anyone in and they will not be as bad as this coaching staff and players are right now. The needle will only go up when someone else come in.
That's a ridiculous read of Underwood's resume.
He went 53-1 in conference at SFA with a team that bore every possibly hallmark of having a genius coaching it, and then took an OSU team that had gone 12-20 the prior year to the tournament and the #1 offensive efficiency in the nation.
It was a home run hire. And is now a lesson in how much you actually know about the future the day you hire someone.
You don't just throw a resume into a machine and it starts spitting out wins. Underwood came in with a plan of how to move the program forward on the floor and in recruiting and hired a staff to execute that plan and has worked to guide and mold our roster toward that plan and it has been a total, unmitigated catastrophe. That can happen.
The future wasn't written the day Michigan hired Beilein or Kentucky hired Calipari or Texas Tech hired Chris Beard or take your pick. It's about all the decisions and practices and random flips of the coin that occur between that day and years down the line. You can increase your chances by making a "good" hire, but only by so much.
It's frustrating, but it is what it is. Whitman did everything right and epically failed.
No, this is not anywhere close to a great program. That narrative needs to stop. Rome was once a great civilization too.
Did you watch underwood at OSU? I did. He Inherited an NBA roster and got depantsed by the other coaches in the Big 12, including our old Bruce Weber. I watched the actual games, nearly every one of them because I worked there. Home run hire my !!!. You watch too much ESPN. He was the flavor of the month and sold some airtime with his angry demeanor. His coaching ability is sub-par at best. His recruiting is terrible. His ethics appear to be below board considering what went on when he was at OSU. That alone should have been a red flag.
Like Rome, circumstances changed that led to Illini bball's basketball (i.e. lacking facilities, recruits becoming less localized in their colleges due to AAU). However, unlike Rome, Illinois can rise back to its former glory.