Illini Basketball 2025-2026

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#226      
skyIdub
Oh I'm sorry, I accidently logged into my Nebrasketball Loyalty account.

Please excuse.

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#227      
Illiniguy13
Iloveorangekoolaid said:
My frustration is not with Nebraska. It’s letting Nebraska come in mentally tougher and more ready to play. It’s already happened a few times this season. We’ve gotten away with winning some of those games. It’s burying ourselves down 10 plus points in both halves mostly due to effort and taking bad or lazy shots. It’s year after year of one player cooking us with either no adjustments or bad adjustments. This game hurts our chances at a regular season title, a top 4 seed in the B10 tourney, a top 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. It’s not a bad loss because it’s Nebraska. It a bad loss for a program that has high aspirations. Missing free throws has cost us 2 games this season already. We are probably going to be favored in either 7/8 or 8/8 next games depending on the Iowa game. Anything worse than 7-1 to that group of teams is completely unacceptable if this team wants to have a special season.
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Yup. I see 7-1 with a loss coming at Carver. If we take care of business otherwise, that would put us at 15-4 (5-2). I THINK that scenario would have us as a projected 3-seed. We'd be sitting pretty going into Mackey for an opportunity at a huge Q1 W or a loss that doesn't hurt the resume.
 
#228      
the juiceman cometh
Curbelo Fanboy said:
That Groce or Weber argument just drives me absolutely batsh!! crazy. Some of those people were using similar logic to want to keep Bruce around when his time had clearly run it's course. Illinois has the resources to be a consistent player on the national scene with demonstrable March success. One sweet 16 in 9 years isn't getting that job done IMO. Even if we pass his first 3 years cause he inherited a dumpster fire, 1 sweet 16 in 5 years is marginally passable.
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Hilarious to be dunking on a certain line of argument and use this as evidence.

Let's break this down. Of the 9 years - one of them is this current year. Precisely ZERO coaches have taken a team to a Sweet Sixteen this year. That leaves 8.

Another is the COVID year. Again, ZERO coaches took their team to a Sweet 16 that year. That leaves 7.

2 seasons were his first two seasons where he inherited a dumpster fire and nobody expected to even make the Tourney. We weren't criticizing him for failing to make the second weekend back then. We shouldn't be doing it now. That leaves 5.

So of the 5 seasons left, he made the tournament every single season, won three conference titles, and made one Elite Eight. I would agree that yes, I would have liked one or two more Sweet Sixteen's in that time span. But that's still a very good stretch, and I'm certainly not firing a coach over that.

Curbelo Fanboy said:
After what we saw Saturday does not most everyone figure if a Hoiberg had the Illini roster he would outperform what Brad is doing/has done in prior years. I have no doubt.
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You do realize that building a roster is one of the requirements of the job right? Do you think Brad had nothing to do with any of the players who've played for him over the last half decade?
 
#229      
Illinidrew
Man, some of the anti-Brad takes are just insane to me. Most Big10 wins in the last 6 years. An elite 8, 2 B10 tourney wins, and a regular season. Do I want more? Of course, but it is crazy to act like he is not doing a good job. The tournament is a crap shoot of match-ups and fluke results. Some team is on fire or you have an off night and your season ends. The key to success is to keep putting yourself in the mix. How many years was Purdue "awful in the tourney" and people ripped on Painter for it, but I am sure we can all agree he is an awesome coach. We are still top 20 in both the polls and the metrics. The sky is not falling and if that shot does not fall and we win in overtime suddenly Brad is a great coach for getting them to come back. You need to look at the overall program and not random close Q1 losses that happen to everyone.
 
#231      
BatteredWifeSchwartz
Slow day at work so I decided to look at some stats on 10 coaches (compare BU to his peers). I looked at Non-Conference record against Top 25 teams (at the time they played) NOT including the NCAA Tournament. Take a guess and see if you know which coach is attached to each record:

- Coach 1 8-5
- Coach 2 4-6
- Coach 3 8-9
- Coach 4 2-4
- Coach 5 9-9
- Coach 6 0-6
- Coach 7 3-6
- Coach 8 12-4
- Coach 9 6-8
- Coach 10 6-5

EDIT: Spoiler tags did not work as I had hoped :LOL: Hopefully this works better
 
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#234      
Curbelo Fanboy
the juiceman cometh said:
Hilarious to be dunking on a certain line of argument and use this as evidence.

Let's break this down. Of the 9 years - one of them is this current year. Precisely ZERO coaches have taken a team to a Sweet Sixteen this year. That leaves 8.

Another is the COVID year. Again, ZERO coaches took their team to a Sweet 16 that year. That leaves 7.

2 seasons were his first two seasons where he inherited a dumpster fire and nobody expected to even make the Tourney. We weren't criticizing him for failing to make the second weekend back then. We shouldn't be doing it now. That leaves 5.

So of the 5 seasons left, he made the tournament every single season, won three conference titles, and made one Elite Eight. I would agree that yes, I would have liked one or two more Sweet Sixteen's in that time span. But that's still a very good stretch, and I'm certainly not firing a coach over that.



You do realize that building a roster is one of the requirements of the job right? Do you think Brad had nothing to do with any of the players who've played for him over the last half decade?
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I did literally in my next sentence in that post give him a pass for his first 3 years & then just mentally skipped the covid year. Yes 2024 was great but 1 in 5 to the 2nd weekend should be at lower end of acceptable results at Illinois. I know the stretch from 07 to 19 really lowered the bar but to me it's reasonable to expect IL to make sweet sixteen maybe 4 years out of 10.

The Nebby game wasn't the be all/end all, it was just another in a troubling trend where there are several games each year where we seem unprepared to play both on the court and on the bench.

Legit top 10/15 programs should not lose at home to other than the top tier of the league. That used to be the standard at Illinois. Self lost 1 in 3 years at home. Weber's first 3 years were a high level also.

And yes, Brad builds a solid roster but he doesn't seem to be getting the results out of said roster on a consistent basis. Would a long March run change the perception. Absolutely it would. However these repeated odd losses raises my concern level that this will happen with Brad at the helm.

By no means calling for him to be fired & fully realize that wouldn't happen anyway. Just have some legitimate concerns based on the established track record. Has he done a good job at Illinois & improved the brand. Absolutely. Is he the guy that can deliver a title here someday. I have serious doubts. Would love to be wrong on that point. To me this program has a stature such that a title is a reasonable goal or expectation to shoot for & if the man in charge seems unable to deliver that, I start to question if he is the right guy for the job long term.
 
#235      
IlliniFan42
BatteredWifeSchwartz said:
Slow day at work so I decided to look at some stats on 10 coaches (compare BU to his peers). I looked at Non-Conference record against Top 25 teams (at the time they played) NOT including the NCAA Tournament. Take a guess and see if you know which coach is attached to each record:

- Coach 1 8-5
- Coach 2 4-6
- Coach 3 8-9
- Coach 4 2-4
- Coach 5 9-9
- Coach 6 0-6
- Coach 7 3-6
- Coach 8 12-4
- Coach 9 6-8
- Coach 10 6-5

EDIT: Spoiler tags did not work as I had hoped :LOL: Hopefully this works better
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I thought Underwood's record was better than it is so that's disappointing.
 
#237      
NarrowJ
Curbelo Fanboy said:
1 in 9 is factual.
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EDIT: 1 in 9 is factual but by your own admission it requires weaponized incompetence to use it as an argument due to the very factors you outlined yourself

Refer to:

the juiceman cometh said:
Hilarious to be dunking on a certain line of argument and use this as evidence.

Let's break this down. Of the 9 years - one of them is this current year. Precisely ZERO coaches have taken a team to a Sweet Sixteen this year. That leaves 8.

Another is the COVID year. Again, ZERO coaches took their team to a Sweet 16 that year. That leaves 7.

2 seasons were his first two seasons where he inherited a dumpster fire and nobody expected to even make the Tourney. We weren't criticizing him for failing to make the second weekend back then. We shouldn't be doing it now. That leaves 5.

So of the 5 seasons left, he made the tournament every single season, won three conference titles, and made one Elite Eight. I would agree that yes, I would have liked one or two more Sweet Sixteen's in that time span. But that's still a very good stretch, and I'm certainly not firing a coach over that.
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#240      
bigcityillini
Second place is 1st loser said:
I thought the same thing. I figured this was a topic we could cross off of the list of yearly debate.

I'm guessing only some, not all, are aware of how the contract is structured. Brad isn't allowed to go/interview anywhere else for greener pastures(also a source of off-season freak out) and he was extended basically until he retires. He'll be damn near 70 when this deal is up. It's security for both sides.

This has always been a source of freak out in the off-season, but a December buzzer beating loss triggered it four months early.

Never change Loyalty. Never change.
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If you think contracts matter in today's world of college sports you are crazy. The state of Louisiana is forking over 100M for two coaches' contracts lol. If a big enough name comes up Josh would tell BU how great it is to retire in Key West and send the checks with a smile every single month. We don't need a coach coaching for his retirement tour... how in the world is that acceptable?
 
#241      
EmeraldCityIllini
Curbelo Fanboy said:
1 in 9 is factual. I did also add in my post that I'd legit wipe out the first 3 years cause he did inherit a garbage program. And even eliminating the covid year he is at 1 sweet 16 in 5 years. Yes it was an elite eight but the way that run ended was so bad. I'd give 1 S16 in 5 years at IL to be at the passable level but certainly not what the program could achieve. Also, the 2021 end of year loss to Loyola was so inexplicably bad. Not the loss per se but Porter Moser made Brad look silly for 40 minutes that day.

This program could reasonable make a S16 3 or 4 out of 10 years & when clicking reach that level multiple years in a row. It has happened before.

I'm not calling for him to be fired. It certainly wouldn't happen barring a couple bad years in a row. It is very troubling though that there is a recurring pattern of buzzkill home losses every year under Brad. Games like Saturday where we appear woefully unprepared to play at the game's start. We did "right the ship" but still came up short. These losses turn a 2 seed into a 5, 3 seed into a 6, etc that leads to a much more difficult path in March for a coach that has not proven to be a tactical genius.

This season appears to be shaping up to be another one of those 24-10 type seasons. 6 seed & home by the first weekend. Not awful by any stretch but the program should aspire to more IMO.
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Out of curiosity, do you know how many teams have made the sweet 16 4+ times the last 10 years?

As an aside, I do find the sweet 16 cutoff somewhat funny, as if the goalposts wouldn’t then move to we need to get past the s16 - not saying you would. But many fans actually whine most about our elite 8 game
 
#242      
NarrowJ
bigcityillini said:
If you think contracts matter in today's world of college sports you are crazy. The state of Louisiana is forking over 100M for two coaches' contracts lol. If a big enough name comes up Josh would tell BU how great it is to retire in Key West and send the checks with a smile every single month. We don't need a coach coaching for his retirement tour... how in the world is that acceptable?
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This is pure delusion

Only the biggest of the biggest money schools do this, and its not even a thing in college basketball really (football, sure)

The record buyout for college basketball is (I believe) Patrick Ewing at $12.5M... that's the record, ever, forever, for any school

Brad's buyout is more than double that at $26M (far as I recall off hand)

EDIT: This entire conversation is ignorant anyway as he's not going to be fired for being constantly ranked in the top 20-25 and making the tournament every single freaking year with an occasional deep run, just forget about it
 
#243      
EmeraldCityIllini
bigcityillini said:
Id take a look at a few of these guys Ben McCollum, Otzelberger, Pat Kelsey.

Wish List would Will Wade, Hoeiberg, McCasland
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You feel pretty confident just shoehorning all those guys into the at minimum the success of underwood?

Mccasaland and Otz would be homeruns. But candidly, Otz didn’t even entertain Kentucky and the rumored buyout was one UK reportedly would struggle with. Mccasaland didn’t listen to Texas and Tech ain’t poor.

Illinois isn’t poaching lville basketball’s coach. And we’re spending a lot of time on underwood sweet 16 runs when as of now Kelsey just needs to focus on winning a (singular) tournament game
 
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#244      
the juiceman cometh
bigcityillini said:
Like i said you can nitpick guys here or there. But the short answer is no... Brad is not performing better than similarly paid coaches. Whenever BU coaches against elite coaches/rosters, he gets shellshocked. Why when we play the big boys... Uconn, Duke, etc. We look like we don't even look like we belong on the same court, yet out coach lives in the same neighborhood.
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Nitpick? Half of the guys on your list have done less than BU.
 
#245      
bigcityillini
NarrowJ said:
This is pure delusion

Only the biggest of the biggest money schools do this, and its not even a thing in college basketball really (football, sure)

The record buyout for college basketball is (I believe) Patrick Ewing at $12.5M... that's the record, ever, forever, for any school

Brad's buyout is more than double that at $26M (far as I recall off hand)

EDIT: This entire conversation is ignorant anyway as he's not going to be fired for being constantly ranked in the top 20-25 and making the tournament every single freaking year with an occasional deep run, just forget about it
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If only the athletic department just got a major donation... say 100MM? And listen the status quo may be good enough for you. I think you have been very clear about it. But a lot of donors are sick and tired of watching mediocre coaching. Talent is there; coaching is not. Cal got ran out of Kentucky for doing way more than Brad ever has. I know the expectations were very low around here when BU took over, however Josh is different, he's not going to get complacent. And that's exactly what BU is right now.
 
#246      
the juiceman cometh
bavanga3 said:
How are you gonna question the age of this guy's source because its from March, claiming the numbers change so this source isnt reliable, but then cite something from April 17th to give an idea on our NIL budget when our biggest piece wasn't even committed yet? Little more consistency please. Bottom line is Brad has all the resources he needs, its time for him to show he can get enough out of his players to be a factor in March. Just like all those other coaches have proven even some with far less support.
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Because it's the most recent information I can find. If you can find real info that puts us at top 15 in NIL that's more recent, I'd love to see it.
 
#248      
bigcityillini
the juiceman cometh said:
Nitpick? Half of the guys on your list have done less than BU.
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Dude... no offense that is one of the craziest statements ever. You need to actually do some research on these coaches. He's not even in the top 20 in career accolades. And you said "half my list". So which 9 coaches have done less than BU on this list?

self - Natty
hurley -Natty
Sampson - 3 FF's, 1 natty app
may- 1 FF
Izzo- natty
painter - 1 FF, 1 natty app
beard - 1 FF, 1 natty app
Cronin -1 FF
oats - 1 FF
Llyod - 3 sweet 16's
Pitino - 2 natties
golden - 1 natty
few - 1 FF, 2 natty app
Drew - natty
scheyer - 1 FF
cal- natty
barnes- 1 FF
McDermott - 1 EE, 2 sweet 16's
Kelsy - only guy you can say has done more than BU
 
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#249      
GoodePodzMelendez
Illinidrew said:
Man, some of the anti-Brad takes are just insane to me. Most Big10 wins in the last 6 years. An elite 8, 2 B10 tourney wins, and a regular season. Do I want more? Of course, but it is crazy to act like he is not doing a good job. The tournament is a crap shoot of match-ups and fluke results. Some team is on fire or you have an off night and your season ends. The key to success is to keep putting yourself in the mix. How many years was Purdue "awful in the tourney" and people ripped on Painter for it, but I am sure we can all agree he is an awesome coach. We are still top 20 in both the polls and the metrics. The sky is not falling and if that shot does not fall and we win in overtime suddenly Brad is a great coach for getting them to come back. You need to look at the overall program and not random close Q1 losses that happen to everyone.
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Illinois is not here to just win B1G games. Brad is paid to get to the second weekend or beyond. Brad is a Round of 32 coach. He has proved that time and time again. The one second weekend we got to was an easy Round of 32 win and the will of TSJ and Domask to get past ISU. I truly believe that Brad will ever get us to another 2nd weekend. He gets out coached easily and he rarely has in game adjustments. We have no motion in our offense. We are slow to the ball and we rarely make defenses work. We can score but we cannot keep stopping ourselves from jacking an immediate 3 when we are behind. We have the lineup of a high low motion offense. But we refuse to do it. The defense is horrid. We have a guy on the bench who can flat out guard but he cannot see the floor. I hope things change but Brad will stick to his system no matter how bade it could end up.
 
#250      
EmeraldCityIllini
GoodePodzMelendez said:
Illinois is not here to just win B1G games. Brad is paid to get to the second weekend or beyond. Brad is a Round of 32 coach. He has proved that time and time again. The one second weekend we got to was an easy Round of 32 win and the will of TSJ and Domask to get past ISU. I truly believe that Brad will ever get us to another 2nd weekend. He gets out coached easily and he rarely has in game adjustments. We have no motion in our offense. We are slow to the ball and we rarely make defenses work. We can score but we cannot keep stopping ourselves from jacking an immediate 3 when we are behind. We have the lineup of a high low motion offense. But we refuse to do it. The defense is horrid. We have a guy on the bench who can flat out guard but he cannot see the floor. I hope things change but Brad will stick to his system no matter how bade it could end up.
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You would have fired some pretty awesome coaches wayyyy too early.

And if you truly believe that he’s not capable of making another second weekend, id suggest another hobby for a decade or so because he’s not going anywhere
 
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