Illini Basketball 2023-2024

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#101      

Chad Fleck

Chad Fleck
Eureka, IL
Chad Fleck
On the Inquirer sit down with Mike LaTulip today, Werner had Mike recount the buzzer beater against Indiana in 2013. Some interesting stuff I hadn't heard before. It's worth a listen, as always.


Which made me go find the game and watch the last 6 minutes or so of the broadcast. The announcers for that game were really good. Crowd was awesome, as it should be against Indiana as a #1 team.

I know why he didn't, but I've always wished Griffey could have dunked this ball instead of what he did. The moment would have been 30% more awesome.

 
#104      

ptgrd23

ptgrd23
ptgrd23
I love this years team. Like 1989 we can put 5 interchangeable 6'6" guys on floor that can rebound, play defense and score.

Luke is 6'7" but works hard on D and hustles for rebounds.
Harmon is only 6'4 and thin but he is on switches he makes the effort to guard big guys in the lane.

Like 1989 and 2005 we are vulnerable to a bruiser center like Edney - but so is every other team in country. We were able to contain Hunter D. I wonder why we don't try Quincy occasionally on the 5. He is big 6'9 and thicker than Coleman.

If Dain could up his defensive and rebounding energy level he could really help us vs muscle teams. JMO - he played much better last season with higher usage. I think he is confused in his role. I did like it when he runs the fast break.

Alternatively maybe give Amani 5 minutes per game once he gets healthy again. Not a quick leaper but strong!
 
#105      

CleverHandle1

C
CleverHandle1
I want BU to be the coach of the Fighting Illini. He has done a great job in making Illinois relevant again. Last year was rough for him and he has grown. He's become a better coach, and the hope is for him to stick around.

When the going got tough last year, was he more open and willing to look for another job as compared to the past? Can someone in the know answer that?

As I typed, I want him to stay because I am sensing years and years of great basketball, but if he's looking out for #1 (and he should) and leaves, then "don't let the you-know-what-hit-your-you-know-what on the way out."

One of these: "Thanks for all you've done for us, now it's time for us to move on as well." "And we'll get the best damn candidate we can get!"
 
#106      

RabidDawgClassic

RabidDawgClassic
RabidDawgClassic
CleverHandle1 said:
I want BU to be the coach of the Fighting Illini. He has done a great job in making Illinois relevant again. Last year was rough for him and he has grown. He's become a better coach, and the hope is for him to stick around.

When the going got tough last year, was he more open and willing to look for another job as compared to the past? Can someone in the know answer that?

As I typed, I want him to stay because I am sensing years and years of great basketball, but if he's looking out for #1 (and he should) and leaves, then "don't let the you-know-what-hit-your-you-know-what on the way out."

One of these: "Thanks for all you've done for us, now it's time for us to move on as well." "And we'll get the best damn candidate we can get!"
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I personally am of the belief that BU's agent wouldn't be doing his job if he wasn't shopping him around and gauging his value on the coaching market. It would be foolish and detrimental to his client if he didn't. And while it's no doubt frustrating to Josh, that's the price of hiring one of the best in the business who has continuous success. What we as fans can hope for is that Josh doesn't take that personally and react as Ron Guenther did with Bill Self before hiring Bruce Weber. Coach K was rumored for other jobs every other year (Mahomet, anyone?). The price of having a successful coach is that everyone is going to want him, whether realistically or in their imaginations.
 
#107      

Battle89

Battle89
Battle89
Chad Fleck said:
I know why he didn't, but I've always wished Griffey could have dunked this ball instead of what he did. The moment would have been 30% more awesome.

Click to expand...
I remember the discussions at the time. There was a desire to get the ball out of his hands ASAP due to the little time remaining. Was worried that a dunk would have run out the clock with him still touching the ball. Really intelligent play, I admired the thinking almost as much as the shot!
 
#108      

21ChampaignSt

21ChampaignSt
21ChampaignSt
RabidDawgClassic said:
I personally am of the belief that BU's agent wouldn't be doing his job if he wasn't shopping him around and gauging his value on the coaching market. It would be foolish and detrimental to his client if he didn't. And while it's no doubt frustrating to Josh, that's the price of hiring one of the best in the business who has continuous success. What we as fans can hope for is that Josh doesn't take that personally and react as Ron Guenther did with Bill Self before hiring Bruce Weber. Coach K was rumored for other jobs every other year (Mahomet, anyone?). The price of having a successful coach is that everyone is going to want him, whether realistically or in their imaginations.
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I still think there's a difference between BU and his agent listening to offers because he's a coveted commodity and BU and his agent actively approaching a school in the middle of the season to let them know they'd be interested in interviewing for the job (that isn't even open yet).

In my experience, if you're good at your job, you don't need to go on the offensive to find out what you're worth. People will come to you. So, I don't buy that excuse. He's either trying to get leverage for a raise/extension (which is a tired act, IMO) or he really doesn't think of CU as his forever home. (This is all assuming that his agent is acting in accordance with BU's wishes).

That said, I'm not worried about Louisville and as long as we keep making it easy for Brad to win here, I can't see him leaving for anything but a blue blood. And if he's on the short list for any future blue blood openings, that means he's done something really big here.
 
#109      

illini510

I
illini510
I think if he would've left, it would've been for the K State opening. He stayed and I believe this is where he will continue to stay at moving forward. He turned 60 yrs old. Do you really think he wants to start over somewhere else and build a program up for a couple yrs before getting it back to an elite level? He's got maybe 10-12 more yrs of this in him before he probably decides to move forward in life. After opting not to go to K State, I believe this is where he wants to end his coaching career at. This isn't Bill Self in his 40s looking for the next big opportunity or Lon Krueger deciding to jump at an NBA offer. This was a destination job for Underwood and I now believe him when he said that some years ago
 
#110      

Chad Fleck

Chad Fleck
Eureka, IL
Chad Fleck
Battle89 said:
I remember the discussions at the time. There was a desire to get the ball out of his hands ASAP due to the little time remaining. Was worried that a dunk would have run out the clock with him still touching the ball. Really intelligent play, I admired the thinking almost as much as the shot!
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Yeah, I get why.

The look of him putting his hands up to show the ref he got it off in time was just not....as showy, as I wish it could have been.
 
#112      

WyattEarp

WyattEarp
WyattEarp
sacraig said:
Above all else, Louisville's problem is coaching. I'm also not really on board calling them a blue blood. I'd put them one tier down with teams like Indiana and Arizona.
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Tonight Show Comedian GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
 
#113      

thechampishere

T
thechampishere
21ChampaignSt said:
I still think there's a difference between BU and his agent listening to offers because he's a coveted commodity and BU and his agent actively approaching a school in the middle of the season to let them know they'd be interested in interviewing for the job (that isn't even open yet).

In my experience, if you're good at your job, you don't need to go on the offensive to find out what you're worth. People will come to you. So, I don't buy that excuse. He's either trying to get leverage for a raise/extension (which is a tired act, IMO) or he really doesn't think of CU as his forever home. (This is all assuming that his agent is acting in accordance with BU's wishes).

That said, I'm not worried about Louisville and as long as we keep making it easy for Brad to win here, I can't see him leaving for anything but a blue blood. And if he's on the short list for any future blue blood openings, that means he's done something really big here.
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You honestly think he shouldn't get the market rate for his salary?
 
#115      

rtbritt

rtbritt
rtbritt
Chad Fleck said:
On the Inquirer sit down with Mike LaTulip today, Werner had Mike recount the buzzer beater against Indiana in 2013. Some interesting stuff I hadn't heard before. It's worth a listen, as always.


Which made me go find the game and watch the last 6 minutes or so of the broadcast. The announcers for that game were really good. Crowd was awesome, as it should be against Indiana as a #1 team.

I know why he didn't, but I've always wished Griffey could have dunked this ball instead of what he did. The moment would have been 30% more awesome.

Click to expand...
Listened to the Werner/Latulip video and at the 38:00 mark, listen to what Werner had to say about Crean. Hilarious.
 
#116      

Frank

Frank
Frank
thechampishere said:
You honestly think he shouldn't get the market rate for his salary?
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He’s a top 10 highest paid coach in college basketball. I don’t think anybody is saying he shouldn’t get the market rate — he already is, and perhaps more so, hence the statement that wanting even more is tired.

If he can take us to the Elite Eight, then I think another raise is on the table. As is, he is more than adequately compensated for what he’s done here.
 
#118      

SescIllini

SescIllini
SescIllini
Anybody been to the Target Center area/Minneapolis. Just wondering if worth the trip to hand out there for 2-3 days
 
#121      

sacraig

sacraig
The desert
sacraig
Frank said:
He’s a top 10 highest paid coach in college basketball. I don’t think anybody is saying he shouldn’t get the market rate — he already is, and perhaps more so, hence the statement that wanting even more is tired.

If he can take us to the Elite Eight, then I think another raise is on the table. As is, he is more than adequately compensated for what he’s done here.
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That's all a reasonable take. But if you firmly believe that, it also means you have to be prepared to let him walk it another AD at another school thinks he's worth more. That's how market rates work.
 
#124      

21ChampaignSt

21ChampaignSt
21ChampaignSt
Speaking for myself, the issue isn't that he's trying to get the market rate, it's the way he's going about it.

An employee taking a call from a recruiter is entirely different than an employee consistently perusing other job postings and sending out their resume.

If JW wants to give him a raise because another AD has come in with a higher offer, fine. I hope that he would. But if BU is trying to get a raise because he went out and attached his own name to another job, well that's kind of lame, IMO.

I say this as someone who wants to see BU retire here and is not worried about Louisville. But there's been enough smoke over the last few years to make me believe that this job still isn't checking all the boxes for Brad.
 
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