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

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#51      

alaskaillini

A
alaskaillini
final4illini said:
One man destroyed illini sports and his name is Mike Thomas he single handedly killed illini sports for a very long time
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This. Groce was a mid-major coach, paid $2 million less than BU a year, who staff probably also cost a small fraction of what we are now spending. I certainly don't think Groce is the same level of coach as BU, but had he had the support of Josh Whitman for his tenure here, I think he would have looked a lot better.
 
#55      

NJJ871

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NJJ871
MTMinded said:
Many make the argument that it wasn't Thomas but the guy who held the position before him....
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Nonsense, there's no comparing the two. Ron Guenther had numerous shortcomings, but he cared about the Illini and hired plenty of decent coaches during his tenure (Kruger, Self, Weber, Turner and Zook, Craig Tiley and Brad Dancer, Don Harden). With Mike Thomas, in addition to being hired by someone that should never have been charge of the University of Illinois (the disgraced Phyllis Wise), he was an complete !!!-hat who should have never been anywhere near the reins of a big time athletic program. Decent coaches (as well as most decent human beings) ran away from him as quickly as possible. In his final stint, he lasted 2 whole years at Cleveland State.
 
#56      

MTMinded

M
Fatigued
MTMinded
NJJ871 said:
Nonsense, there's no comparing the two. Ron Guenther had numerous shortcomings, but he cared about the Illini and hired plenty of decent coaches during his tenure (Kruger, Self, Weber, Turner and Zook, Craig Tiley and Brad Dancer, Don Harden). With Mike Thomas, in addition to being hired by someone that should never have been charge of the University of Illinois (the disgraced Phyllis Wise), he was an complete !!!-hat who should have never been anywhere near the reins of a big time athletic program. Decent coaches (as well as most decent human beings) ran away from him as quickly as possible. In his final stint, he lasted 2 whole years at Cleveland State.
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Didn't mean to insult your friend.

The original poster said "single-handedly". The trend was already set before Thomas was in the picture.
 
#57      

Battle89

Battle89
Battle89
WyattEarp said:
I think he’s probably still smarting over Keith Smart’s dagger all these years later. ;)

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#58      

grantlab

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grantlab
RockfordIllini said:
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.
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I watched a bit of the LSU-KC game too and actually thought they looked a bit less athletic than Eastern but seemed to move the ball around well and have some big bodies. I think if we can shut the water off on Shemarri Allen who went 2/4 from three and had 19 points (rest of the team was 2/21 from deep), we’ll be more than OK. Key will be not turning the ball over, because LSU looked extremely in-cohesive, and it allowed Kansas City to get within 6 late in the 2nd half. I think we’re better than LSU and should win by 20+
 
#60      

NJJ871

N
NJJ871
MTMinded said:
Didn't mean to insult your friend.

The original poster said "single-handedly". The trend was already set before Thomas was in the picture.
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No insult taken, sorry if the "nonsense" was a poor choice of words.
 
#61      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
"In addition, four former stars who stand among the most beloved players in school history are expected to attend the pregame ceremony, receiving their rings and helping raise a Big Ten banner to the State Farm Center rafters for the second year in a row:

Alfonso Plummer
Da'Monte Williams
Kofi Cockburn
Trent Frazier"

fightingillini.com

Former Illini Stars Returning for Big Ten Champions Pre-Game Ceremony - University of Illinois Athletics

Illinois will hold a pregame ceremony before Friday night's game, presenting rings and raising the 2022 Big Ten championship banner.
fightingillini.com fightingillini.com
 
#62      

eas23

E
eas23
I really wish we could get a campaign going to do something special for Trent. In part because he played starter's minutes for 5 full seasons, but also because of the way he played and how his career unfolded, you can literally say he gave as much of himself to this basketball program as any player ever has. I think I suggested last year when he battled through injuries that we should name the training room after him or something.

I'll add the note that Damonte played 5 full seasons as well.
 
#66      

altgeld88

altgeld88
Arlington, Virginia
altgeld88
skyIdub said:
Mahomes is a beast…..errr wait.
What’s the Royals pitching like?
No?

I’m out.
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The Kings, Sky. We’re playing the Kings. I think. I can never keep straight whether they’re playing their home games in KC or Omaha.
 
#69      

IlliniHardwood

I
IlliniHardwood
eas23 said:
I really wish we could get a campaign going to do something special for Trent. In part because he played starter's minutes for 5 full seasons, but also because of the way he played and how his career unfolded, you can literally say he gave as much of himself to this basketball program as any player ever has. I think I suggested last year when he battled through injuries that we should name the training room after him or something.

I'll add the note that Damonte played 5 full seasons as well.
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Start a GoFundMe account to get a bronze statue of T Frazier made, get it made, and leave it in front of SFC.
 
#73      

Bigtex

Bigtex
DFW
Bigtex
21ChampaignSt said:
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.
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Maybe have a funeral
 
#75      

Emerson Bigguns

Emerson Bigguns
Emerson Bigguns
grantlab said:
I watched a bit of the LSU-KC game too and actually thought they looked a bit less athletic than Eastern but seemed to move the ball around well and have some big bodies. I think if we can shut the water off on Shemarri Allen who went 2/4 from three and had 19 points (rest of the team was 2/21 from deep), we’ll be more than OK. Key will be not turning the ball over, because LSU looked extremely in-cohesive, and it allowed Kansas City to get within 6 late in the 2nd half. I think we’re better than LSU and should win by 20+
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Agreed. KC hung around because they played together. LSU was clearly more talented, but much like us, haven’t played a lot together. We can’t make the mistake of looking past these guys. That said, if we play defense the way we are capable, it should be a fun one for us.
 
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