Purdue 91, Illinois 68 POSTGAME

Hands Malone · Jan 18, 2017

Some great suggestions here and some not so great. Bottom line Groce is going to sink with his system or lack there of. I saw this last year along with the haphazard management of the extra curricular activity that went with this team too long and interfered with this teams chemistry. Some people should have gone sooner so additional help could have been added.

OrangeKrus28 · Jan 18, 2017

peace davids said:
I hate it for our guys, but I would be ok with this at this point. I want the decision to be an easy one.

This is a terrible thought. This isn't the Chicago Bears where if they tank, they get a high draft pick. John Groce is a good guy and nobody should be rooting for him to lose his job. We should be rooting for our team/school to get things turned around. A complete meltdown would be toxic for this program. It disappoints that there are people with this mindset.

bigruss22 · Jan 18, 2017

Second and Chalmers said:
That's a bit much. Before the injury he was a 22 year old 5th year senior who had never averaged more than 10 and 7, and that was in a mid-major league.

Kansas wanted him to be a big, tough complementary piece off the bench, not to be a star.

But he's definitely a step slower this year. The injury doesn't help, but one wonders whether the offseason program isn't a culprit as well. He's clearly larger than last year, and carrying more weight.

Werner commented once that he is like 2 lbs heavier than last year, so I don't think it's a weight problem but an overall big loss of quickness and athleticism playing on that leg.

peace davids · Jan 18, 2017

OrangeKrus28 said:
This is a terrible thought. This isn't the Chicago Bears where if they tank, they get a high draft pick. John Groce is a good guy and nobody should be rooting for him to lose his job. We should be rooting for our team/school to get things turned around. A complete meltdown would be toxic for this program. It disappoints that there are people with this mindset.

I think John Groce is a great guy. He will always have a job as a coach somewhere - making a decent living. I did not wish him harm.

I have rooted for him to succeed, just as I did Bruce. I have been close to the program in years past, and believe me, I want ILLINOIS to be successful.

But at some point, you have to judge the state of the program. Groce has said it himself that this is a results based business. His results are not good given a decent sample set. That is hard to deny.

OrangeKrus28 · Jan 18, 2017

peace davids said:
I think John Groce is a great guy. He will always have a job as a coach somewhere - making a decent living. I did not wish him harm.

I have rooted for him to succeed, just as I did Bruce. I have been close to the program in years past, and believe me, I want ILLINOIS to be successful.

But at some point, you have to judge the state of the program. Groce has said it himself that this is a results based business. His results are not good given a decent sample set. That is hard to deny.

I agree and I have a similar mindset on the whole matter and I have had serious concerns about this coaching staff since the 2nd half of Purdue/B10 tourney game vs. Michigan/NIT game at Alabama almost 2 years ago where they were pounded and pummeled in all 3 games. That was a pre-cursor of what was to come.

My point is, don't root for this team to go 4-14 in the B10, don't root for them to completely self-destruct just because you want the coach gone. I don't think it'll happen anyways. I think 7-11 is more likely than 4-14 but I also think 9-9 or 10-8 is within the realm of possibility if they start getting serious about defense.

Juice4 · Jan 18, 2017

I can understand DJ not playing in the Maryland game after missing practice but I was a little surprised he didn't play against Purdue, especially at least in the mop up.. Can't help wondering if his talk with Groce has him finishing out this year with the team but transferring over the summer.

Old Number 51 · Jan 19, 2017

The Dave said:
Well, besides the complete lack of defense, watch the offense.

First off, I have no idea what is supposed to be accomplished by the PG passing to a forward at the top of the key who then immediately hands the ball back to the PG. The forward then does "whatever".

Then watch when (if) they actually get in to their "offense". It is literally 1 guy dribbling the ball, 1 guy posting up, and 3 guys just kind of randomly running around. IF a screen is set, it is usually pretty weak and fails to open someone up. The literally look like their just running around and hoping the defense will get confused and someone will be magically open.

That's why we get in to so many late shot-clock ISO/hero-ball situations. Occasionally they try to set high screens for MH but if the defense switches they just pull it back out. There's no pick and roll, no real effort to get someone open. It looks like a grade school team offense out there.

Groce's offense is giving offense a bad name. Could we say it's offensive?:hand: The offense we ran in grade school was more complex and resulted in open shots if run correctly. This is NOT an offense.

On a lighter note..... There have been numerous mentions in this Maryland ( and other blowouts) post game thread about how hard it has become to watch this team/coaching staff get brutalized, especially on the road. I have a solution.

I happened to be in Vegas yesterday and though it pained me greatly to wager against my team, I went with my brain and not my heart.......

Bingo!!!! It helped to ease the pain considerably :thumb:

ChrisNMattoon · Jan 19, 2017

Bleed O and B said:
Dockich just asked a question during the scUM vs Wisc game. Rutgers is the worst team in the B!G. Which team is the second worse? He nominated OSU and Illinois....ouch.

I like to think we are better than somebody beyond Rutgers.
OSU, PSU, Neb, Iowa maybe but it is a scary question

I think he's right on. Can only assume we're better than OSU (we beat them) and Michigan (we beat them). Both were at home and we won't beat either again so...... I firmly believe this team is looking at a 4-14 conference record. 6-12 at the very best.

the national · Jan 19, 2017

ChrisNMattoon said:
I think he's right on. Can only assume we're better than OSU (we beat them) and Michigan (we beat them). Both were at home and we won't beat either again so...... I firmly believe this team is looking at a 4-14 conference record. 6-12 at the very best.

its unbelievable but you might be right. We knew this stretch of basketball was going to be tough but this is downright brutal. I have no idea how this team will be able to bounce back from so many beatdowns. this has the same feeling as Bruce's last year with each passing game. Groce tries to shield the fans from the tension with his generic post-game rhetoric but we only have to look at this teams energy during these games. We look beat and desperate for most possessions.

TCTORNADO · Jan 19, 2017

the national said:
its unbelievable but you might be right. We knew this stretch of basketball was going to be tough but this is downright brutal. I have no idea how this team will be able to bounce back from so many beatdowns. this has the same feeling as Bruce's last year with each passing game. Groce tries to shield the fans from the tension with his generic post-game rhetoric but we only have to look at this teams energy during these games. We look beat and desperate for most possessions.

We are close to Groce losing this team.

IllinoisBill · Jan 19, 2017

I have not been on here since I suggested Groce tell Cliff Alexander to take a hike and I got landblasted.....so its been a bit. I am certain the coaching staff does not see this...but I just watch and most on this board understand it a whole lot more. My thoughts were why do we consistently spot teams 14 or more points? It is kind of a trend....I watched bits and pieces twice and noticed Abrams takes 10-12 seconds to get to the half way point leaving only 18-20 seconds to develop a play....is that something I am missing that is not important? Second, we can all complain about these losses...and I won't....I watch most games and enjoy them win or lose...I am not a Cubs fan, but I figure if those fans could do it I can...so here it is: Take the two high energy guys Nichols and Lucas and try a full blown press early on...they have nothing to lose because the other team will score anyway..but mix it up...change strategy...everyone focuses on lineup. Look at the WV game, they stressed us out...so bb experts, am I out of line?

Calvin · Jan 20, 2017

OrangeKrus28 said:
This is a terrible thought. This isn't the Chicago Bears where if they tank, they get a high draft pick. John Groce is a good guy and nobody should be rooting for him to lose his job. We should be rooting for our team/school to get things turned around. A complete meltdown would be toxic for this program. It disappoints that there are people with this mindset.

We all want JFG to succeed. We've wanted that for the last 3 years during the crap-fest of bball, and we want it this year during what is probably his fourth and final crap-fest (I'm not counting his first year --he did a great job). The difference is that we see the long view of the program and are asking how to make it a better program than it is now. Put it another way, I wouldn't personally want a player to fail, but I would want to see a failing player benched to let another player get into the game. Groce should be benched. He'll have gotten something like $6 mil for his trouble, and if there's anything toxic about that IMO, it's what the fans have endured.

Nice guy. Hope he figures it out. If he can't get it done here, I hope he gets another coaching job and works on his weaknesses. Hard to say that's a toxic attitude IMO.

tpbradley · Jan 20, 2017

Calvin said:
We all want JFG to succeed. We've wanted that for the last 3 years during the crap-fest of bball, and we want it this year during what is probably his fourth and final crap-fest (I'm not counting his first year --he did a great job). The difference is that we see the long view of the program and are asking how to make it a better program than it is now. Put it another way, I wouldn't personally want a player to fail, but I would want to see a failing player benched to let another player get into the game. Groce should be benched. He'll have gotten something like $6 mil for his trouble, and if there's anything toxic about that IMO, it's what the fans have endured.

Nice guy. Hope he figures it out. If he can't get it done here, I hope he gets another coaching job and works on his weaknesses. Hard to say that's a toxic attitude IMO.

I don't think any of us, as fans, wants Illini bball to fail. It's just that it's looking more and more inevitable to the point that I would want the rebuild to start as soon as possible and not have it drag out. With each game, the writing on the wall becomes more clear, similar to Weber's end at Illinois.

Purdue 91, Illinois 68 POSTGAME

Juice4