I wasn't able to watch the whole game, but this is a chilling sentence to read. Thoughts, anybody else?
You don't get 7 years to get your program together in CBB.
Nor should you need it.
I wasn't able to watch the whole game, but this is a chilling sentence to read. Thoughts, anybody else?
My position is he doesn't have a single excuse now.If you are a blueblood you don't get that amount of time, but we are not a blueblood.
I'm not saying I am happy with the situation. I am trying to be realistic. I do not see a coach that Illinois could even think about bringing in at this point that can:
1. Keep the recruiting class we have coming in next season to stay.
2. Keep the recruiting up after.
3. And be a top flight X's and O's guy.
This is why I say 2 more years. Then he will not have a single excuse. Because as I said, the players we have right now could not be coached into a lock tourney team (which is what we want at Illinois) by Coach K, Izzo, Self, or Cal and I don't want to get into this pattern of hiring "the next shining star coach" only to be let down again. I am just trying to be realistic.
If you are a blueblood you don't get that amount of time, but we are not a blueblood.
I'm not saying I am happy with the situation. I am trying to be realistic. I do not see a coach that Illinois could even think about bringing in at this point that can:
1. Keep the recruiting class we have coming in next season to stay.
2. Keep the recruiting up after.
3. And be a top flight X's and O's guy.
This is why I say 2 more years. Then he will not have a single excuse. Because as I said, the players we have right now could not be coached into a lock tourney team (which is what we want at Illinois) by Coach K, Izzo, Self, or Cal and I don't want to get into this pattern of hiring "the next shining star coach" only to be let down again. I am just trying to be realistic.
A lot of fans may not. I am trying to be realistic. I do not want Illinois to get into this pattern of hiring "the next big name" just because of a couple wins in the tourney. If we keep doing this we will never get to where we want to be IMO.
My position is he doesn't have a single excuse now.
I understand your thought process.I just don't agree. If we can't hire someone better than JG this time there is no reason to think we could do it in 2 years. The job wouldn't be any different then. That's my take.
I'm all for cooling the fire JG talk until the 2nd half of the season. We will know soon enough if he's had his time here.
A lot of fans may not. I am trying to be realistic. I do not want Illinois to get into this pattern of hiring "the next big name" just because of a couple wins in the tourney. If we keep doing this we will never get to where we want to be IMO.
Today's game had a worse feel to it than the @Nebraska game in Weber's last year.
If there is any consolation at least the ranked BigTen teams are also losing. But they have BigTen coaches who know how to turn things around (including a Hall of Fame Coach Candidate in Izzo)...I was patient over 4 years but now I seriously have my doubts about JG being a bona-fide BigTen coach now and into the future.
There's a guy on GOEMAW who has a photograph of that as his avatar. In it, BW is striding past the bench with his hands in his pocket and a blank look on his face. In the background is a scoreboard.I think that's a bit too much... our NBA lottery pick was crying on the sidelines.
Maybe this has already been mentioned, but anybody remember the NIT game we played at Alabama a couple years back? I hadn't felt that demoralized until today.
I'm not saying I am happy with the situation. I am trying to be realistic.
This is why I say 2 more years. Then he will not have a single excuse. Because as I said, the players we have right now could not be coached into a lock tourney team (which is what we want at Illinois) by Coach K, Izzo, Self, or Cal and I don't want to get into this pattern of hiring "the next shining star coach" only to be let down again. I am just trying to be realistic.
I texted a buddy of mine exactly that right after the game.
I feel bad for Groce and I feel bad for the players. Even if it was bad luck, at a certain point it gets hard to break a habit and currently it's a habit of losing. We still have an opportunity to turn the season around but we have to beat a quality team or two before conference play to at least give us some confidence during the first stretch of conference games. Winthrop and WVU probably won't be bad losses at the end of the season but we need good wins, period. I won't watch the recording but I'm hoping that the meltdown is more because of WVU's strength and quality as opposed to incompetencies with our players and coaching staff. I still have hope, but it'll surely fade fast if we can't get a solid win in the next couple of weeks. I definitely don't blame fans for being upset or fed up. Regardless of what happens, this season is the where we'll find out for sure if Groce is the guy for the job or not. I hope he is but if he doesn't start winning, his likeability becomes meaningless. That's a tough thing to say about a terrific guy so I hope we don't have to cross that road.
They really were not good basketball players
I'd hate to see what we look like when we come up against a team of good basketball players.
This team was scared of WV and should be embarrassed. When WV was pressing they went backwards, sideline to sideline, and would catch the ball in the corners on in-bounds. All things anyone who played basketball for more than 2 years past the 4th grade know you don't do. You should definitely know this when you are playing D1 basketball. It shouldn't need to be coached.
I am tired of hearing that we have the players to be good, but not the coaching. Hill is very good, but not great. Our other seniors are average. Our sophomores and freshman have potential to be very good. These are not the types of players that even a Blueblood coach could turn into a sure- bet tourney team. If we are going to make the tourney we are going to have to win the games we are supposed to and steal a couple that we probably shouldn't that is obvious.
For everyone calling for a coaching change you will never be happy unless we find another Self and I don't see that type of coach anywhere right now. At least not one who would come to Illinois. I could be wrong because college sports are fickle, but IMO Groce has 2 years after this one to succeed or he will be gone. In that period of time he will have the players on his roster that will give him no more excuses. So we just need to enjoy the wins an deal with the losses.