gatnom Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:08 PM) I mean, Illinois is much worse off now than they were under Weber. I understand he wasnt going to sustain his success, but Groce has been pretty bad. Honestly they are on the same trajectory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 FWIW, Darius Paul is dominating his JUCO and seems to have his head on straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Groce has got a lot of mileage out of Kendall Marshall's fractured wrist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenksismyhero Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (gatnom @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:09 PM) Honestly they are on the same trajectory. Yeah I used to think the needle was pointing up with the potential, but we've been saying "get rid of the seniors, it'll be so much better with the young guys" since Shaun Pruitt. And not much has changed. Around the bubble every f'n year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatnom Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:11 PM) FWIW, Darius Paul is dominating his JUCO and seems to have his head on straight. It will be weird having a player who plays offense at the 5 next year. Seems like we've been watching Egwu forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenksismyhero Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:11 PM) FWIW, Darius Paul is dominating his JUCO and seems to have his head on straight. Tony Snell and McBuckets dominated the Summer League too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Where it all went wrong for Illinois is when they let Self walk. Of course all of my Illini friends did nothing but slam him after he left. He was a horrible game coach....everyone knew someone who actually saw him at fraternity parties hitting on girls, or had inside information from very credible sources he slept with cheerleader, he can't win big games...good riddance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenksismyhero Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (gatnom @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:13 PM) It will be weird having a player who plays offense at the 5 next year. Seems like we've been watching Egwu forever. "Can't wait until Mike Tisdale is gone. It'll be so much better!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenksismyhero Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:13 PM) Where it all went wrong for Illinois is when they let Self walk. Of course all of my Illini friends did nothing but slam him after he left. He was a horrible game coach....everyone knew someone who actually saw him at fraternity parties hitting on girls, or had inside information from very credible sources he slept with cheerleader, he can't win big games...good riddance. I don't think there was anything about "letting" him walk. I think they threw a ton of money at him and he still wasn't interested. It was his home league, his home area and f***ing Kansas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatnom Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:13 PM) "Can't wait until Mike Tisdale is gone. It'll be so much better!" Not necessarily better, just different Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clyons Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Just really pissed off right now. Fire Mike Thomas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesoxfan99 Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (gatnom @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:09 PM) Honestly they are on the same trajectory. Yep. Weber missed the tourney 3 out of his last 5 years and won one NCAA tourney game post Dee Brown. We are pretty much exactly where we were when he left which sucks but the program isn't trending down either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:14 PM) I don't think there was anything about "letting" him walk. I think they threw a ton of money at him and he still wasn't interested. It was his home league, his home area and f***ing Kansas. He agonized over the decision. If Illinois threw a ton of money at him, there's a decent chance he would have stayed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesoxfan99 Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:14 PM) I don't think there was anything about "letting" him walk. I think they threw a ton of money at him and he still wasn't interested. It was his home league, his home area and f***ing Kansas. It is pretty well known Guenther was pissed off and didn't do everything in his power to keep Self. Huge mistake which was compounded by making a bad hire in Weber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buehrle>Wood Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Illinois looking like they'll miss tournament 3 years in a row for pretty much the first time ever come next year. Nice job Groce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenksismyhero Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:20 PM) He agonized over the decision. If Illinois threw a ton of money at him, there's a decent chance he would have stayed. Of course he says that, but we all know that's crap. I don't have any inside knowledge, but I always thought for some reason that they matched Kansas' offer or even exceeded it but it wasn't enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:20 PM) It is pretty well known Guenther was pissed off and didn't do everything in his power to keep Self. Huge mistake which was compounded by making a bad hire in Weber. Self has been quoted as saying he had a great relationship with him up until 3 hours before he made a decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:19 PM) Yep. Weber missed the tourney 3 out of his last 5 years and won one NCAA tourney game post Dee Brown. We are pretty much exactly where we were when he left which sucks but the program isn't trending down either. Its stuck on the bubble, which is not where you want to be if you are a basketball school Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatnom Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 02:25 PM) Its stuck on the bubble, which is not where you want to be if you are a basketball school Illinois is a golf school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clyons Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (gatnom @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 02:38 PM) Illinois is a golf school. And gymnastics. Don't forget about gymnastics. But hey, it has awesome new facilities in which to showcase its underachieving "major" revenue sports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleHurt05 Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (gatnom @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 02:38 PM) Illinois is a golf school. I wasn't aware it stopped being a tennis school Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boogua Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (gatnom @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 01:09 PM) Honestly they are on the same trajectory. This isn't true. The trajectory with Weber was a perennial cellar dweller. If Groce got fired tomorrow, you couldn't honestly look at the team that Groce would leave behind and the team that Weber left behind and say that they're similar. I'm not giving up on Groce quite yet. On the surface, two straight bubble years is terrible, but looking deeper into both years one can see the problems that occurred. Last year the Illini got hot late and were a missed floater away from likely making the tournament. This was with the exact same projected starting 5 as this year and two of the guys were freshman. This year, he loses his best offensive big man to suspension, his starting PG to a torn ACL, his best player for an extended period of time due to hand surgery, and a key transfer losing his mind. Not to mention Nunn missed a lot of the offseason due to injury. Once the team started to gel after Rice went down (players had more defined roles), they looked like a tournament team. Rice came back and the team seemed to go to hell outside of the Northwestern game. I don't think that's a coincidence. Statistically Rice is an extremely efficient player, but the Illini are worse on offense overall when he plays. It's weird. I think the Illini would have had a better shot to make the tourney if Rice never came back. Just my opinion, obviously. All-in-all I think it's still too early to completely give up on Groce. There were some unfortunate events that occurred this year. If they don't make the tournament next year, for any reason, then I would want him gone though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 (edited) Is Iowa in if they lose to PSU? Edited March 12, 2015 by Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxbadger Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 The Weber thing is always strange from an outside perspective. When he was at Illinois I always thought they played Wisconsin pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 12, 2015 -> 03:07 PM) Is Iowa in if they lose to PSU? Yes. The one thing Alford was good at was the Big 10 Tournament. Fran.....not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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