2018-19 NCAA Basketball thread

[LittleHurt05]

1 hour ago, Buehrle>Wood said:

Zags Duke was an all time game.  Zags going to be new #1

And Illinois was a shot away from beating the new #1.  Funny game.

[Heads22]

I said a number of years ago I'd love to see an Illinois-Iowa State home and home. The fact the schools have only ever played 12 times is surprising.

[GGajewski18]

10 hours ago, Heads22 said:

I said a number of years ago I'd love to see an Illinois-Iowa State home and home. The fact the schools have only ever played 12 times is surprising.

Such a shame.  Ayo and THT should both be playing for Illinois right now.  And of course, THT destroys and dominates all game.

[Jack Parkman]

For all of my b****ing, moaning and whining about how much life sucks for people on the autism spectrum, (myself included) I'm glad that things are starting to get better for us. 

This young man is an inspiration. 

https://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2018/11/26/18112369/kent-state-kalin-bennett-autism-ncaa-basketball?fbclid=IwAR3yw480YDSwKPOXENQ4a0yuH9DAwF7204GKcsJ0_-fPrWK5ANM-QKvfKfE

[bigruss]

If Illinois doesn't win 10 games, is Underwood on the hotseat for next year?

[Buehrle>Wood]

2 minutes ago, bigruss said:

If Illinois doesn't win 10 games, is Underwood on the hotseat for next year?

For next year? Do you mean this year?  If you cant win 10 games at Illinois you should he fired on the spot. I dont know that finances would line up or that Whitman would have the balls to pull the trigger but there will be a lot of questions about his job in March of 2019 if that happens.

 

You cant go 3 years at Illinois and not make the tournament. Illinois wins single digits, that would require one of the biggest turnarounds in d1 history to happen in year 3. Doubt that would happen. If hes not the guy, hes not the guy. They should move on. 

[fathom]

I know he’s recovering from injury, but I think Konerko is faster than Adonis de la Rosa.  Against ND, the guy he was guarding was beating him down the court by 20 feet.

[bigruss]

26 minutes ago, Buehrle>Wood said:

For next year? Do you mean this year?  If you cant win 10 games at Illinois you should he fired on the spot. I dont know that finances would line up or that Whitman would have the balls to pull the trigger but there will be a lot of questions about his job in March of 2019 if that happens.

 

You cant go 3 years at Illinois and not make the tournament. Illinois wins single digits, that would require one of the biggest turnarounds in d1 history to happen in year 3. Doubt that would happen. If hes not the guy, hes not the guy. They should move on. 

Meant fired after year 3, I don't think Whitman fires him after year 2 unless we don't win another game and have a scandal or something crazy like that.

Buyout:

 

Termination Date	Liquidated Damages
03/18/2017 - 04/30/2018	$8,500,000
05/1/2018 - 04/30/2019	$7,400,000
05/1/2019 - 04/30/2020	$6,300,000
05/1/2020 - 04/30/2021	$3,000,000
05/1/2021 - 04/30/2022	$2,000,000
05/1/2022 - 04/30/2023	$1,000,000

[bmags]

So if you are the head coach at Iowa State are you nervous right now?

[bigruss]

Nah, Prohm has that program rolling again.  

[Jenksismyhero]

I'm all about moving on quickly (after this year) if the season continues like this. They have to do something before this spins any further. There's really not an excuse. Yes, they're shorthanded in the front court, but their offense right now consists of passing around the 3 pt line and then shooting contested jumpers. Their defense is beyond horrendous. I'm seeing absolutely no development from guys that were here last year under Underwood - Williams, Nichols and even Frazier. 

I hate to be down on Ayo so early, but he's clearly not the impact freshman we (or maybe just I) thought he would be. I really thought that with him and Trent they'd be able to hang with some good teams even without any low post presence. I expected them to be an NIT team with a shot at a tourney bid and they're nowhere close to that. Gonzaga was such an aberration...really just 3-4 crazy Frazier threes from losing another game by double digits.

But even more concerning is where do they go from here? How is next year going to be any different? If anything it'll be worse because one of their best early season scorers will be gone (Jordan). They still won't have much front court help. Right now their only recruit is a 3/4 star center...so another project that won't be reliable for at least 2 seasons, if ever. They're courting guys like Kofi Cockburn and Terrance Shannon....they aren't going to come to this dumpster fire. 

Yesterday afternoon was the first game I purposefully avoided watching since, i don't even know when. The mid-90's when I was in grade school? It's so depressing to watch. I thought the tail end of the Weber era - missing the tournament every other year - was going to be the low for the program. Then I thought the end of the Groce era (missing the tourney for 3 straight seasons) was the low. It was so unthinkable. Now, we're on season 6, probably 7 next. They're not just middle of the pack in the conference, they're the worst or second worst program. 

Illinois has officially become DePaul basketball. Utterly irrelevant.

[Heads22]

On 12/3/2018 at 9:40 AM, bmags said:

So if you are the head coach at Iowa State are you nervous right now?

Nah; I expect Fred to be a candidate when/if Prohm leaves or gets fired but I think he's much more likely to land back in an NBA front office.

[Heads22]

ISU should actually learn a lot from the Iowa loss; i.e. when going small doesn't work. 

[Chisoxfn]

2 hours ago, Heads22 said:

ISU should actually learn a lot from the Iowa loss; i.e. when going small doesn't work. 

Iowa needed that!

[Dick Allen]

On 12/3/2018 at 3:41 PM, Jenksismyhero said:

I'm all about moving on quickly (after this year) if the season continues like this. They have to do something before this spins any further. There's really not an excuse. Yes, they're shorthanded in the front court, but their offense right now consists of passing around the 3 pt line and then shooting contested jumpers. Their defense is beyond horrendous. I'm seeing absolutely no development from guys that were here last year under Underwood - Williams, Nichols and even Frazier. 

I hate to be down on Ayo so early, but he's clearly not the impact freshman we (or maybe just I) thought he would be. I really thought that with him and Trent they'd be able to hang with some good teams even without any low post presence. I expected them to be an NIT team with a shot at a tourney bid and they're nowhere close to that. Gonzaga was such an aberration...really just 3-4 crazy Frazier threes from losing another game by double digits.

But even more concerning is where do they go from here? How is next year going to be any different? If anything it'll be worse because one of their best early season scorers will be gone (Jordan). They still won't have much front court help. Right now their only recruit is a 3/4 star center...so another project that won't be reliable for at least 2 seasons, if ever. They're courting guys like Kofi Cockburn and Terrance Shannon....they aren't going to come to this dumpster fire. 

Yesterday afternoon was the first game I purposefully avoided watching since, i don't even know when. The mid-90's when I was in grade school? It's so depressing to watch. I thought the tail end of the Weber era - missing the tournament every other year - was going to be the low for the program. Then I thought the end of the Groce era (missing the tourney for 3 straight seasons) was the low. It was so unthinkable. Now, we're on season 6, probably 7 next. They're not just middle of the pack in the conference, they're the worst or second worst program. 

Illinois has officially become DePaul basketball. Utterly irrelevant.

Pretty shocking they drew only 5,300 to the United Center.

[Jenksismyhero]

Attendance has been really bad for several years now.

[bmags]

I don't think illini are nearly as bad as record. Kenpom has them about right. The big ten starting conference games so early makes it harder on a younger team. But, obviously a tough start to still make tourney from.

[Jenksismyhero]

5 hours ago, bmags said:

I don't think illini are nearly as bad as record. Kenpom has them about right. The big ten starting conference games so early makes it harder on a younger team. But, obviously a tough start to still make tourney from.

105 is pretty fucking terrible for a power conference team with Illinois' history.

[bmags]

1 minute ago, Jenksismyhero said:

105 is pretty fucking terrible for a power conference team with Illinois' history.

It appears they fell from when I last looked.

[GGajewski18]

Mark Smith might be the biggest b**** in college basketball.

[bigruss]

Oof, this game hurts.  Former Illini signed players are killing us.  I want Underwood to work out but man, this year is ROUGH.

[bmags]

Man that was some game from Javon Pickett. Xavier Pinson will be fun too if he develops on defense and limits his TOs. When Porter went down I just wanted a 500 season and that’s still likely but man what a run the last two games.

[Boogua]

24 minutes ago, bigruss said:

Oof, this game hurts.  Former Illini signed players are killing us.  I want Underwood to work out but man, this year is ROUGH.

That was awful. I just can't believe he continues to put De La Rosa out there. Illini were up 12-4 when he brought him out there. He can literally do nothing good on the court right now. Nothing.

No matter what Underwood will get another year. Any players that have the stench of Groce on them will be off the roster. If he doesn't make the tournament next year I think there could be a change.

[fathom]

34 minutes ago, Boogua said:

That was awful. I just can't believe he continues to put De La Rosa out there. Illini were up 12-4 when he brought him out there. He can literally do nothing good on the court right now. Nothing.

 

Said it a few weeks ago, but De La Rosa shouldn't see a second of playing time.  Ayo was simply horrible tonight as well.

[Boogua]

10 minutes ago, fathom said:

Said it a few weeks ago, but De La Rosa shouldn't see a second of playing time.  Ayo was simply horrible tonight as well.

100%. When the Illini went up by 1 in the second half he completely changed the game (in a bad way). Fouled Tilmon on an and-1 and then had I think two turnovers and an airball over the next three possessions. He's not an elite athlete, so I think he's just going through some growing pains, but terrible nonetheless.