Mark Smith transferring from Illinois
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Maybe, all of that...but maybe, MS couldn't figure out the defensive end of the floor. Maybe MS decided that working extra hard on defense, to not get repeatedly burned on back door plays, wasn't in his DNA. Everyone is focusing on the offensive/point guard end of the floor. Is it possible that MS, not unlike JCL, just didn't have the defensive fortitude to work hard on D and stick it out???
None of us were there every day, so not one of us really "knows" anything. The folks against BU are going to try to hang the staff and the ones against the player(s) will try to hang the kid(s)... Continuous cycle, but both are pretty classless. Next season, we will be taking a very different roster to Hawaii. Let's just move on... Rebuilding sucks, and it is hard, but it will be worth it in the end.
Why? Who would you have running the PG spot during the 17-18 season? It is possible to have a plan for the future (recruiting talk) that doesn't actually come to fruition when the present actually happens. Should BU have just shoved MS into the starting PG role and left him there the entire season regardless of the outcomes on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor? Haven't we had too many coaches who wouldn't make adjustments in the past? Seems that BU made a pretty good adjustment at PG this season. Who on here had TF picked to be on the B1G All Freshman team before the season started?
Seems like one player (TF) seized an opportunity, while another player (Mr Basketball of Illinois) did not and chose to transfer. I'll take the fighter and wish MS the best of luck in the future. MS could have been something here, but he has chosen a different path...
Has there been any reports, quotes or even rumors outside of 75% of this thread that lends credence to Mark Smith's transferring due to Brad Underwood being too hard on his players?
Plenty of folks on this forum are saying just that...
haasi
- New York
Maybe, all of that...but maybe, MS couldn't figure out the defensive end of the floor. Maybe MS decided that working extra hard on defense, to not get repeatedly burned on back door plays, wasn't in his DNA. Everyone is focusing on the offensive/point guard end of the floor. Is it possible that MS, not unlike JCL, just didn't have the defensive fortitude to work hard on D and stick it out???
None of us were there every day, so not one of us really "knows" anything. The folks against BU are going to try to hang the staff and the ones against the player(s) will try to hang the kid(s)... Continuous cycle, but both are pretty classless. Next season, we will be taking a very different roster to Hawaii. Let's just move on... Rebuilding sucks, and it is hard, but it will be worth it in the end.
This is a great point. Sort of can’t believe we were so heavily focused on offense without even floating this. His issues were definitely on both ends of the floor, and although he came in definitely focused more on offense, I think defense in Underwood’s system was a very rude surprise to him.
Re recruiting- completely agree. It’s brutal. Again, just folllow my principle and you’ll never be disappointed: all bad news is presumptively true, all good news false. Eventually, we will be pleasantly surprised. It will be whatever the opposite of a nut punch is.
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The bottom line is if Mark Smith wants to be a PG at a P5 school and run the show, he is going to have to work hard....really, really......really hard. It doesn't matter what system or school it is. Best of luck to him.
He simply hasn't been basketball oriented enough, long enough, to be "the" PG at this level. He has the physical tools, but now he has to develop. Maybe he thinks he can develop more in a different system, who knows.
All this hand wringing about BU's style is amusing. Every time I watch his pre/postgame interviews I keep nodding my head in agreement as well as thinking how much he cares about these kids and this program.
+1
...and we crush their Final 4 dreams with a blowout win. :thumb:
You got it all wrong. Here's the reason --
At State Farm Center, last home game, the clock ticks down to halftime, 3, 2, 1, and Mark Smith throws up an impossible shot ... and it goes in! The crowd goes wild! TV runs replays of a magic shot. The teams go into their locker rooms, the Illini jubilant.
Sure enough, the refs huddle around the replay monitor. They must find a way to screw this all up. Sure enough, they wave it off!
Word gets back to the Illini locker room. Mark finds out his miracle shot is no good, and Illinois falls further in the hole.
THAT is where the decision to leave came from. Defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory.
At State Farm Center, last home game, the clock ticks down to halftime, 3, 2, 1, and Mark Smith throws up an impossible shot ... and it goes in! The crowd goes wild! TV runs replays of a magic shot. The teams go into their locker rooms, the Illini jubilant.
Sure enough, the refs huddle around the replay monitor. They must find a way to screw this all up. Sure enough, they wave it off!
Word gets back to the Illini locker room. Mark finds out his miracle shot is no good, and Illinois falls further in the hole.
THAT is where the decision to leave came from. Defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory.
Just the ones that are clueless
Deleted member 4333
D
Guest
I find it increasingly difficult to just watch college basketball because of the poor quality of the referees. Especially games I care about. Can't imagine how hard it must be to actually play and coach those games.
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TheFameProtector
- Champaign
What do pineapples have to do with this???
Look at the quote I was responding to.
Tacomallini
- Washington State
A back massage, maybe?
Poor attempt at satire? Only thought process I could think of to support the "transfer students are quitters" mentality.
Bubbles yells too.
Peoria Illini
- Peoria, IL
My kids all played for a soccer coach that didn't coddle them. When I've heard parents ask him why he's hard on players and yells at them, he tells them that when he stops yelling at their kid, that's when they should be worried. Meaning that he doesn't think the kid can improve anymore, and can't be pushed to another level.
Some kids can't handle that and they need to find a good fit for them. My kids were okay with it, and I think it's helped them learn how to deal with other coaches, teachers, bosses, etc. that they may not see eye to eye with.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
We’ll most likely never know the true reason Mark Smith decided to leave the program.
Though, as far as “tough coaching” goes:
I had a business mentor I essentially apprenticed under for 2 years, who was unbelievably hard on me. If my parents saw the way he spoke to me at times, they probably wouldn’t have liked it much & may have asked me to walk away.
But I’ll say this: today, at 27, I own a company with 15 employees on pace to do $7-$8 million this year & there’s no way I would’ve been prepared for this moment without the tough love I received from that mentor.
Mentorship like that may not be for everyone (there were times I didn’t think it was for me), but today, I’m forever grateful for it.
Though, as far as “tough coaching” goes:
I had a business mentor I essentially apprenticed under for 2 years, who was unbelievably hard on me. If my parents saw the way he spoke to me at times, they probably wouldn’t have liked it much & may have asked me to walk away.
But I’ll say this: today, at 27, I own a company with 15 employees on pace to do $7-$8 million this year & there’s no way I would’ve been prepared for this moment without the tough love I received from that mentor.
Mentorship like that may not be for everyone (there were times I didn’t think it was for me), but today, I’m forever grateful for it.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
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To continue on the topic, please to go the Transfers Thread
https://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=24440
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