Illini Basketball 2021-2022
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Lou Henson #3? Are you to young to have watched Lou? You’re absolutely nuts. Lons a nice guy. Played softball with him, but he never took he’s teams anywhere. Brad hadn’t been here near long enough to out vote Coach Henson.
Tacomallini
- Washington State
Lon Kruger, we hardly knew ye.
For me you need to reverse that order....Lou...Brad..then Lon....never really liked Self even when he was here....he can recruit, but there are better coaches out there
Am I nuts? Possibly. I’m sure I’ve been called worse.
I AM old enough to remember Henson.I remember the ‘89 team… I WAS young though. I was in 6th or 7th grade I think. I remember the shot against Indiana vaguely
I remember the run in the tourney. I’m aware of his conference record. I know how great his staff was at recruiting. I know what Lou means to the University. I understand why it’s Lou Henson Court. I get it.
I was raised by a Bob Knight fan. We can’t help who are parents are. LOL. He was a good guy…just misguided.
I can still hear it: Henson stinks! Henson never wins the big ones…blah blah blah. Bobby Knight is the best coach of all time. A Season on The Brink is all lies etc. etc. One of the first things I did to rebel was to actually become an Illini fan. TRUE. Henson’s best years were sort of in the rearview by the time I broke away and became a full fledged Illini fan. I definitely like him though.Also, I said FAVORITE not best record or went the farthest. If that’s my critetia I’d have to pick Self (record) and Webber(went the farthest)… I ain‘t goin there.
If someone said Giorgi Feliz and Bardo are their favorite players it doesn’t
necessarily mean they think they’re better players than Nick, Derek, and Deon.
I mean can’t you just have a personal favorite just because?
It’s cool you played softball with Lon!
Lou was a good coach, but given the talent on hand should have had more success. Outside of the '89 team, he was more effective in coaching teams with average talent than teams with superior talent.
In terms of in-game coaching and preparation, Lon was the best and it isn't even close. The success he had with the '98 team is unparalleled in my lifetime as a UI fan. He was not a great recruiter but was good at putting together a roster - the '01 and '02 big 10 champs were his creations.
Self was a great recruiter and a better coach than he is given credit for; I think he would have won a natty here if he had stayed.
BU is the best at building a staff and is very good at player development; he is a below average game coach however. He really needs a strong bench coach to be successful
AND With the exception of Atlanta…he had TREMENDOUS success rebuilding programs everywhere he went.
I got to know Lou and Mary a bit back in the day, as we went to the same church. (First Baptist Church in Savoy.)
Amazing couple. So genuine and kind. Lou would just graciously visit with folks every Sunday. Such a great guy.
I remember the tragedy of Lou Jr. and how strong they were in their faith throughout that time.
“Couch” as I called him when we’d visit invited me to practice one day, which I took him up on. What a difference from his persona at church. No cursing, but he got after it. Man did he command respect and the players and coaches listened.
Got to know Coach Coomes pretty well over the years also. We would meet at The Hideaway perhaps weekly for quite a while and have a couple beers and chill. Some basketball talk, but more just hang out. It got to the point where I could walk in to any practice and just watch. Say hello, but just watch. Good times, great guys.
So, I’m a bit (lot) biased, but Lou clearly is #1 on my list if we are ranking the coaches.
Amazing couple. So genuine and kind. Lou would just graciously visit with folks every Sunday. Such a great guy.
I remember the tragedy of Lou Jr. and how strong they were in their faith throughout that time.
“Couch” as I called him when we’d visit invited me to practice one day, which I took him up on. What a difference from his persona at church. No cursing, but he got after it. Man did he command respect and the players and coaches listened.
Got to know Coach Coomes pretty well over the years also. We would meet at The Hideaway perhaps weekly for quite a while and have a couple beers and chill. Some basketball talk, but more just hang out. It got to the point where I could walk in to any practice and just watch. Say hello, but just watch. Good times, great guys.
So, I’m a bit (lot) biased, but Lou clearly is #1 on my list if we are ranking the coaches.
Thanks for posting this. That was neat to hear.
Fair Point.
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
I remember an Ervin Small quote about Lou how even though he didn't swear, he could make you feel so embarrassed when you screwed up.
It's the "Lou Henson" court, not "Lon".
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
Agreed! No one should ever earn a spot above Lou until he improves on his legacy, which will be VERY hard to do. My order
1. Lou
2. Brad Underwood
3. Tie between Self and Kruger - I couldn't rank one over the other, I was "torn" since they were both "in it for the long haul"
.Illinivek23
- Gurnee
Surprising since BU was known as a great Xs and Os guy coming in. Or so seemed
I like that order. My order isn’t exactly etched in stone. They’re all pretty damn good and what I know of them…all quality human beings.
I like Self’s High/Low offense. It’s hard to deny the effectiveness of it. He’s a better X‘s and O’s guy than he probably gets credit for.
What I really wanna know is that a rug or what? I‘ve heard from people that swear
that is. If it is…that is one heck of a toupee!
I think Brad is at least an A- or B+…Xs and Os guy. I really do. Some of the in-game
adjustments stuff…the jury might still be out on that. I’d give him the benefit of the doubt more often than not though.
That’s good stuff.
Without getting into a: Sam Gilbert is a crook, Who couldn’t win with their talent?
UCLA is evil…type debate. I gotta say it sounds similar to things former players of John Wooden have said. Like Lou, he never swore. But he could make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up just by looking at ya almost.
From a recruiting/putting together a roster standpoint, he did one thing. He convinced Sergio to come here. Griffin and Frank followed and so did the resurrection of the program leading to the 2005 season. We should be forever grateful.
But he was a very disinterested recruiter. He lost me when he took a commitment from Brett Melton after his sophomore year. pretty much an unconscionable move for a program looking to win championships.
I wish him the best. Glad he left.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
The Sergio thing is flat out wrong. Sergio was thisclose to wearing clown pants. Griffin was the kid that wanted to play for us (and not the loosiers), and he convinced his bud to pull the trigger.
While Kruger didn't love recruiting, but that's true for a lot of coaches. I don't think it fair to say he was disinterested. Chicago recruiting was shut down because CPL coaches felt Collins was snubbed. Not Kruger's fault. Kruger was fortunate that the downstate crop was strong early in his regime.
I will admit I hadn’t considered that. Lou was here forever and the other two boltedAgreed! No one should ever earn a spot above Lou until he improves on his legacy, which will be VERY hard to do. My order
1. Lou
2. Brad Underwood
3. Tie between Self and Kruger - I couldn't rank one over the other, I was "torn" since they were both "in it for the long haul"
after a fairly brief stint. I see how that could stick in the craw a bit.
It does kinda seem it was Kruger’s M.O. to NOT stay anywhere too long. Whereas, Selfish was apparently drawn to much dirtier muddy pastures. Lol
Michigan just announced that they be ok to play Southern Utah, Purdue Fort Wayne, and UCF from December 18-30, but they have to cancel the Michigan State, Purdue and Illinois games from January 8th - 14th for COVID reasons. The team anticipates it will be fine from January 15 - February 26th, but has canceled its games from February 27 - March 6 against Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio State for an anticipated COVID break-out.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
If Kruger didn't get a life changing offer, he probably would have been our coach for quite a bit longer.
WRT Kansas, most coaches would bolt for a blue blood. Add in the fact that Kansas is closer to home...I don't think he was quite as torn as was made out.
I doubt there are many bad D1 coaches . It seems some are more inclined to make strategic adjustments, while others feel you do what you. You need to get your guys to do it better. I’ve noticed some are better at getting points out of time outs than others. When Lou was here, I thought those inbounds ended up with a lob pass for an Efrem Winters dunk More often than not. As often as it happened , I thought it amazing the other team wasn’t ready for it.
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
Lou's weakness IMHO was his lack of in-game coaching adjustments. His strength was his ability to teach and develop.
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