Pregame: Illinois vs Kansas City, Friday, November 11th, 8:00pm CT, BTN

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#26      

21ChampaignSt

21ChampaignSt
21ChampaignSt
What a tragic twist of fate for Weber that he took us to our highest high yet 20 years later, a sizeable faction of fans still hold a decent amount of contempt for him.

(Not trying to debate whether BW was or wasn't a good coach. I've taken a stance on that before but this isn't the place. Just stating what a sad irony that is if you look at it from his pov.)
 
#30      

812Jamie

8
812Jamie
Watching Kansas City play LSU. Made me wonder how Ace would fit in with this current Illinois team.

I think the current team has the pieces to be really great and I'm not specifically missing him. It just made me wonder.
 
#33      

CalIllini66

C
CalIllini66
himynameisJoseph said:
I wonder if most people, Iike myself, are more dismayed about having to listen to his gravelly voice for extended periods than anything. Honestly, I think I'd rather listen to Crispin go on and on about Boeheim than listen to Bruce talk about anything. Dude's got just about the raspiest voice I've ever heard.
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If there is one thing that could diminish an Illini game it is having to listen to Bruce's voice all game long. It's almost as though someone with BTN is trying to punish Illini fans.
 
#34      

IllinoisssssssVarsity

I
IllinoisssssssVarsity
21ChampaignSt said:
What a tragic twist of fate for Weber that he took us to our highest high yet 20 years later, a sizeable faction of fans still hold a decent amount of contempt for him.

(Not trying to debate whether BW was or wasn't a good coach. I've taken a stance on that before but this isn't the place. Just stating what a sad irony that is if you look at it from his pov.)
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Met BW about 10 years ago at a coaches clinic. Told him I was an Illinois fan outside of coaching. He got noticeably anxious for a split second until I just said thank you for what you did for our program (meaning the 05 team).
 
#35      

Jimbo

J
Jimbo
I’ll always think of Weber as a coach who can do really well with good players, but refused to do what needed to be done to recruit those players. He’s not going to cheat and he’s not going to compromise himself to sign the top talent. I respect him for that, but in reality you have to play the game the way everyone else is If you want to compete with the top teams.
 
#38      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
doowink said:
I will be ok until Bruce screams.....MOVE Demetri!!!!
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The best way to listen to the Illni games is on Illini networks......There is a site called sync my radio or something like that that solves all the complaints posted here about announcers of Illini games..........Listening to Brian B. and crew really enhances my enjoyment of the games....It REALLY REALLY does...............
 
#39      

skyIdub

skyIdub
Winged Warrior
skyIdub
BfosterL said:
Nothing close to the damage Groce did to the program.
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Not to drag this out...but the "damage" was done before Groce got here. Weber had the chance to take this program to another level after the success of Self and the 2005 run. Just look at what BU is doing without making it past the 2nd weekend. Win the B1G three years straight and turn a couple of huge recruiting wins into a string of them.

Weber literally took the 2005 success, bound and gagged, threw it in the trunk of his car, drove it out past Bement, and dumped it in a corn field.

Then went back with gasoline and a match and incinerated it. After taking an axe to it. With malice.

Then he held a funeral.

Huh...I did drag that out.

BEAT THE CHIEFS OR WHATEVER GO ILLINI!!
 
#40      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
skyIdub said:
Not to drag this out...but the "damage" was done before Groce got here. Weber had the chance to take this program to another level after the success of Self and the 2005 run. Just look at what BU is doing without making it past the 2nd weekend. Win the B1G three years straight and turn a couple of huge recruiting wins into a string of them.

Weber literally took the 2005 success, bound and gagged, threw it in the trunk of his car, drove it out past Bement, and dumped it in a corn field.

Then went back with gasoline and a match and incinerated it. After taking an axe to it. With malice.

Then he held a funeral.

Huh...I did drag that out.

BEAT THE CHIEFS OR WHATEVER GO ILLINI!!
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kang02.gif
 
#41      

final4illini

F
final4illini
skyIdub said:
Not to drag this out...but the "damage" was done before Groce got here. Weber had the chance to take this program to another level after the success of Self and the 2005 run. Just look at what BU is doing without making it past the 2nd weekend. Win the B1G three years straight and turn a couple of huge recruiting wins into a string of them.

Weber literally took the 2005 success, bound and gagged, threw it in the trunk of his car, drove it out past Bement, and dumped it in a corn field.

Then went back with gasoline and a match and incinerated it. After taking an axe to it. With malice.

Then he held a funeral.

Huh...I did drag that out.

BEAT THE CHIEFS OR WHATEVER GO ILLINI!!
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One man destroyed illini sports and his name is Mike Thomas he single handedly killed illini sports for a very long time
 
#42      

RockfordIllini

R
RockfordIllini
Watched some of the LSU/KC game last night. KC looks to be a bit longer and more athletic than Eastern, but I think less skilled. Will be interesting to see if our defense is as disruptive against them as I felt like it was against EIU.

KC made a pretty good game of it, but was hard to tell how much of that was KC playing well vs LSU being trash. IMO, Miller was the only player even attempting to play team ball.

Think we handle business but game is a little closer than EIU and we may even get a bit of a scare the first 8-10 minutes or so. Excited to continue to watch this team develop.
 
#43      

21ChampaignSt

21ChampaignSt
21ChampaignSt
IllinoisssssssVarsity said:
Met BW about 10 years ago at a coaches clinic. Told him I was an Illinois fan outside of coaching. He got noticeably anxious for a split second until I just said thank you for what you did for our program (meaning the 05 team).
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I've met him before as well. I thought he seemed like a pretty awkward and anxious guy in general...albeit a good human by most accounts.

Frankly, I think he was allowed to stay here for a year or two too long. BUT, I would also like it if he could be welcomed back by our fans maybe for the 20th anniversary of the 05 team. I think both sides need that closure.
 
#44      

Battle89

Battle89
Battle89
skyIdub said:
Not to drag this out...but the "damage" was done before Groce got here. Weber had the chance to take this program to another level after the success of Self and the 2005 run. Just look at what BU is doing without making it past the 2nd weekend. Win the B1G three years straight and turn a couple of huge recruiting wins into a string of them.

Weber literally took the 2005 success, bound and gagged, threw it in the trunk of his car, drove it out past Bement, and dumped it in a corn field.

Then went back with gasoline and a match and incinerated it. After taking an axe to it. With malice.

Then he held a funeral.

Huh...I did drag that out.

BEAT THE CHIEFS OR WHATEVER GO ILLINI!!
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1668099241684.png
 
#45      

RichardKeenesCousin

RichardKeenesCousin
Richard Keene's Cousin
RichardKeenesCousin
skyIdub said:
Not to drag this out...but the "damage" was done before Groce got here. Weber had the chance to take this program to another level after the success of Self and the 2005 run. Just look at what BU is doing without making it past the 2nd weekend. Win the B1G three years straight and turn a couple of huge recruiting wins into a string of them.

Weber literally took the 2005 success, bound and gagged, threw it in the trunk of his car, drove it out past Bement, and dumped it in a corn field.

Then went back with gasoline and a match and incinerated it. After taking an axe to it. With malice.

Then he held a funeral.

Huh...I did drag that out.

BEAT THE CHIEFS OR WHATEVER GO ILLINI!!
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My early childhood memories take offence! lol. (we used to live next to a cornfield in Bement)
 
#46      

JMoser16

JMoser16
JMoser16
21ChampaignSt said:
What a tragic twist of fate for Weber that he took us to our highest high yet 20 years later, a sizeable faction of fans still hold a decent amount of contempt for him.

(Not trying to debate whether BW was or wasn't a good coach. I've taken a stance on that before but this isn't the place. Just stating what a sad irony that is if you look at it from his pov.)
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Weber struggled to adapt, and had a few unfortunate misses in recruiting (Gordon, Richmond, etc.). Ultimately, he couldn't meet the fanbase's unreal expectations after 05. Time heals all wounds, and that faction of fans will forget their contempt for him in the future.

I don't think anyone will forgive Groce though.
 
#47      

GoodePodzMelendez

G
GoodePodzMelendez
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I had absolutely no problem with Bruce until the very end. And, after all this time and our newfound success, I definitely would not say I still have a problem with him. I think the stress of this job - WAY more "high profile" than many of our fans even admit, especially with the aspect of dealing with Chicago - got to him, and some of his understandable frustration came across as whiney and self righteous at times.

With that said, I will be curious to see what his style is like as a color announcer!
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I hated the hire Day 1. But its old news as we are in a much better place than we were back then.
 
#49      

WyattEarp

WyattEarp
WyattEarp
JMoser16 said:
Weber struggled to adapt, and had a few unfortunate misses in recruiting (Gordon, Richmond, etc.). Ultimately, he couldn't meet the fanbase's unreal expectations after 05. Time heals all wounds, and that faction of fans will forget their contempt for him in the future.

I don't think anyone will forgive Groce though.
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I think it’s more like time wounds all heels. ;)
Fandom’s like a marriage. It’s about having all the same discussions/arguments for 40 years. Lol.

Like others have said…I feel like Groce set the dumpster on fire after Weber trashed it
in his last few years.

But if you wanna talk about…Who’s straight up, a better coach? It’s NOT even close.
Here’s all I need to know for that:
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AF510161-1617-424E-8C85-F90A84BF9003.jpeg


Look at the difference in their respective conference records prior to coming to Illinois. That really should have been all we needed to know about Groce…and it was right there in front of us the whole time. (JG had a crappier conference record in an arguably crappier conference than BW.) But of course, we hired him because; invariably it’s all about that tournament profile at just the right time. A disproportionate amount of coaching credibility comes from it IMO.
 
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#50      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
MTMinded said:
Many make the argument that it wasn't Thomas but the guy who held the position before him....
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RG’s small-time thinking, treating Illinois like it was a small private school that only alumni and people in Champaign would care about, and his lack of long-term planning set us on a path toward failure … but WOW, did Mike Thomas hold our heads underwater!

So glad we have Josh.
 
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