I'm glad I'm still in bitter that Illinois isn't playing mode. What a day
I get your point but on the other side of it I don’t think Fran really emphasized defense very much. Kid might turn into a dawg if pushedAmazing. I understood we wanted dawgs and defenders. But -- he can shoot, and he is not a freshman. And since we keep bleeding players like a battleship hit below waterline, I guess maybe. But ... are we turning into Iowa? All offense, no defense?
Sr has been show to be a liar, ask Piper.From Fighting Illini Facebook group:
Sorry for the long read, but, worth it…
Now that it's official, here's what has transpired. On Wednesday, I received a phone call from Morez Johnson Jr. We talked for 10 minutes before he brought his dad into the conversation. Here’s what took place.
Morez and his dad were genuinely upset with how Illinois used him as a player. In Morez Jr. words:
"Mr. Prince, I am not just a guy who can rebound, set picks, and dunk. I am more than that, but the person running the offense didn’t believe in me. No matter how many times I showed it in practice, it wasn’t enough. I can't allow my career to end up like Kofi (Cockburn) and Dain Dainja. Their development was hindered. If you remember, Kofi was asking to do more, but they wouldn’t let him. Look at the year Dain had, tell me they couldn’t have used that this season."
I replied by encouraging him to talk to the coaches and urged him to be patient.
Morez Sr. then added:
"No, we're not doing that. We played 30 games here, we know what they think of my son. Go back and look at the Kentucky game, KP. My son took his first mid-range shot of the season, missed it, and was immediately taken out. He sat for the next 9 or 10 minutes. They told Tomislav Ivisic to come back, and the offense ran through him again. Look at how they used the Gibbs boy, he could score, but they had him sit in the corner. Or Tre, he couldn't shoot mid-range shots only threes. Or Ty Rodgers, he can shoot, but they didn’t let him. I can’t put my son in that position again. We respect Coach Underwood, it’s not him he's a great coach, but he doesn’t control the offense."
Morez has received some bad advice from someone, which could lead to a poor decision if he ends up at a particular destination. He has already been offered $1.8 million. I’ll add more details as questions arise.
How did we get so close to greatness?Just insane man. I try to blindly support Brad and it just gets harder and harder. Program is so close to greatness and he just can’t make the right decisions to get over the mountain
Edit: let me rephrase, Brad can’t pull his head out of his !!!
They are disenfranchising the people with the money that runs the whole system. Let's just have the blue bloods play the games and be televised and shrink the pie to one less than the NBA's dying product. That's the future unless the power conferences realize it and make some changes and ditch the joke NCAA.Nil=good for players
Nil= bad for fans
New players every year. I miss seeing kids develop.
Maybe WBB will have a bit more stability. Now that we are attracting 4 and 5 star recruits, let’s see what happens.
There are emotional people posting. Have to ignore it. Right call by Brad here.I'll let the overreactions occur. It sucks for a number of reasons, but dad got involved and things went sideways. They have a plan and things will be fine. People can feel free how they want to but saying Brad is on the hot seat is a complete and utter joke.
I sure wouldn’t want to be a first team all American.The Kofi and Dain points are so hilarious...
Fan fiction nonsense.From Fighting Illini Facebook group:
Sorry for the long read, but, worth it…
Now that it's official, here's what has transpired. On Wednesday, I received a phone call from Morez Johnson Jr. We talked for 10 minutes before he brought his dad into the conversation. Here’s what took place.
Morez and his dad were genuinely upset with how Illinois used him as a player. In Morez Jr. words:
"Mr. Prince, I am not just a guy who can rebound, set picks, and dunk. I am more than that, but the person running the offense didn’t believe in me. No matter how many times I showed it in practice, it wasn’t enough. I can't allow my career to end up like Kofi (Cockburn) and Dain Dainja. Their development was hindered. If you remember, Kofi was asking to do more, but they wouldn’t let him. Look at the year Dain had, tell me they couldn’t have used that this season."
I replied by encouraging him to talk to the coaches and urged him to be patient.
Morez Sr. then added:
"No, we're not doing that. We played 30 games here, we know what they think of my son. Go back and look at the Kentucky game, KP. My son took his first mid-range shot of the season, missed it, and was immediately taken out. He sat for the next 9 or 10 minutes. They told Tomislav Ivisic to come back, and the offense ran through him again. Look at how they used the Gibbs boy, he could score, but they had him sit in the corner. Or Tre, he couldn't shoot mid-range shots only threes. Or Ty Rodgers, he can shoot, but they didn’t let him. I can’t put my son in that position again. We respect Coach Underwood, it’s not him he's a great coach, but he doesn’t control the offense."
Morez has received some bad advice from someone, which could lead to a poor decision if he ends up at a particular destination. He has already been offered $1.8 million. I’ll add more details as questions arise.
is it true indiana is in the lead? conwell and tucker devries are both all big10 level pieces to start with.We’re among the contenders …
Ok, fair?I'll let the overreactions occur. It sucks for a number of reasons, but dad got involved and things went sideways. They have a plan and things will be fine. People can feel free how they want to but saying Brad is on the hot seat is a complete and utter joke.
It shows what coaches are up against. If Morez thinks he is too good to set screens, rebound, and dunk; we are better off without him. Sounds like the dad resented the role Tomi played.Pretty damning
Multiple conf championships and one game away from final four is pretty goodHow did we get so close to greatness?
Would someone like to guess how many 3 pointers Dainja attempted at Memphis this season? Maybe you should prove you can make freethrows before being allowed to shoot from 3.“I don’t want to end up like Kofi… or Dain” - Morez
You don’t know about Ty Rodger’s shooting?Sr has been show to be a liar, ask Piper.
The offense was best when it ran through Tomi.
Tre shot a lot of midrange shots early in the year and was very successful.
The Gibbs boy lost any desire to play. The last game he scored was the Duke game. He was really good taking the ball to the basket, but he stopped doing that and shot only 3’s. He also played zero defense.
Don’t know about Ty Rodger’s shooting. He was very good around the basket, rebounded well and played good defense.
Do you think that Brad is the one writing the checks? He has to manage an entire roster and all he can do is play with the money he's provided. Not any of these coaches faults. The players, lawyers and agents run the show and the NCAA is helpless to stop it. No coach should ever take heat for this garbage. The courts got involved and now the horses are out of the barn.I’m sorry but if Tomi walks then I think Brads tenure here at Illinois should be done
I don't believe Chester was forced out but from what has been said about the situation he should have been fired.Beyond frustrating. We were so close after last year of building something. Then
Miss handle Morez in favor of Humrichous
Lose Tim Anderson
Force out Chester
And now we’re left with Hamer and nepo baby
Per espn play by play he got in like 4 minutes into the game.No wonder. In our last game against Kentucky, I believe Morez did not get in the game until over 8 minutes had elapsed in the first half.
We recruit a different type of player. There is NO ONE on Purdues roster that I want on our roster. Frankly, they can keep their guys because that is the best offer they can get. 4 star guys have more options then 3 star guys. John Groce's players would not have joined the portal, either.
Just like Humrichous would love to come back...