NCAA basketball 2015-16 thread

[greg775]

He's gotten a few nice recruits but they split after a year for whatever reason.

 

Can the students save his job? He's a great guy.

[Rowand44]

long story short, he has absolutely sucked at his job, Greg. The end.

[Brian]

WTF are the students going to do? They just leave and the ones that stayed probably had no choice.

[greg775]

long story short, he has absolutely sucked at his job, Greg. The end.

What is wrong with his approach? Is he building a program?

[greg775]

Anybody going to Kentucky/Duke, Kansas/Michigan State on Tuesday? I may be coming in for the games if anybody wants to meet me in person for Sox chat in the U. Center. Hey has anybody used Uber for transportation to and from games? I know cabs sometimes don't want to go to the U. Center.

[LittleHurt05]

Anybody going to Kentucky/Duke, Kansas/Michigan State on Tuesday? I may be coming in for the games if anybody wants to meet me in person for Sox chat in the U. Center. Hey has anybody used Uber for transportation to and from games? I know cabs sometimes don't want to go to the U. Center.

 

Oh greg

[Kyyle23]

the U center is right in the middle of Chi-raq. People go in and never return. Those that return, are never the same

[RockRaines]

the U center is right in the middle of Chi-raq. People go in and never return. Those that return, are never the same

I've never seen the United Center abbreviated like that either so maybe its a new place ive never heard of.

 

And Greg-insider tip. Take a shuttle from one of the bars on madison. Its easier and they will take you back as well. Its also free.

[Harry Chappas]

Anybody going to Kentucky/Duke, Kansas/Michigan State on Tuesday? I may be coming in for the games if anybody wants to meet me in person for Sox chat in the U. Center. Hey has anybody used Uber for transportation to and from games? I know cabs sometimes don't want to go to the U. Center.

 

In 1970's and 80's you would be correct but nowadays whitie has moved in over there so an uber is not out of the question.

[Jenksismyhero]

Illinois loses another starter. Getting blown out. Gonna be a loooooooong year.

[Buehrle>Wood]

Groce is such a brutal coach

[GGajewski18]

Illinois loses another starter. Getting blown out. Gonna be a loooooooong year.

 

I wouldn't even qualify Tate as a starter. He is terrible offensively.

[whitesoxfan99]

Groce is such a brutal coach

 

We are going to have an entire new athletic department for the 2nd time in 5 years after this year. Thankfully the new coach will have more than 1 year worth of talent when he takes over but this program has now sucked for a full 10 years. The last legitimately really good team Illinois had was Dee's SR year. Guenther ran the athletic department into the ground (well the sports that matter), Weber destroyed basketball and Thomas and Groce did nothing to improve things.

 

This upcoming AD hire and getting Shad Khan involved in Illinois athletics determines whether Illinois is going to stay an also ran for a long time or not. They simply cannot f*** this set of hires.

 

Edit:

 

And I'll admit that there was a time I definitely though Groce was going to get it done at Illinois but I just don't see anyway that happens at this point. Coming off his strong first year when he landed Black and shortly thereafter got Snider I really though he was the guy for Illinois. But then obviously everything went completely off the rails on signing day and while the 2015 class is solid it wasn't the class he needed to turn things around when the 2016 class was never going to be a really strong one for Illinois.

Edited November 14, 2015 by whitesoxfan99

[gatnom]

Maybe they'll get better when they get Nunn and Black back. It's hard to give up an entire season after one game...

 

 

[fathom]

So GT scored 116 points tonight.....they struggled to score 40 at times the past two years.

[whitesoxfan99]

Western Illinois up 8 on Wisconsin with under 6 minutes left.

[GGajewski18]

Wisconsin losing to Western Illinois by 8 with 5 minutes left

[bigruss]

Wisky loses, makes me feel ever so slightly less s***ty.

[GGajewski18]

Wisky loses, makes me feel ever so slightly less s***ty.

 

Same. WIU is definitely worse than UNF.

[Brian]

Salukis 40-0

[Rowand44]

Salukis 40-0

Seems like a certainty at this point.

[whitesoxfan99]

Maybe they'll get better when they get Nunn and Black back. It's hard to give up an entire season after one game...

 

I think they will bet better and that this will be a decent team if healthy. The problem is that in year 4 simply being decent isn't good enough and the fact that before getting Lucas this year the best PG Groce had recruited was Tate is simply unacceptable. Tate wouldn't even be a decent mid major player. I've said since the end of last year that Groce needs to be gone for sure if he misses the tourney this year and that merely sneaking in to the tourney wouldn't be good enough for me. Groce had a good first year and nobody was winning in year 2 with the roster Weber left unless they brought in multiple 1 and done players but by year 3 and year 4 in basketball a good coach can have things turned around and I just don't see things really heading in the right direction. We are basically treading water and that just isn't good enough. Yes, we have injuries right now hurting us but I can't give him the benefit of the doubt on Abrams since Tracy wasn't supposed to be here anyways which would have left the best PG on the team as Jaylon Tate in year 4 which is a joke. Along with Jeff Jordan he is the worst guard that has actually played minutes for Illinois in my lifetime.

 

The bottom line is Mike Thomas correctly fired two bad coaches who should have been fired years before they were but replaced them with coaches who haven't made things any better which is why he was correctly dismissed. The sad thing is I just have no confidence in Illinois getting the next AD hire right.

[Jenksismyhero]

I think they will bet better and that this will be a decent team if healthy. The problem is that in year 4 simply being decent isn't good enough and the fact that before getting Lucas this year the best PG Groce had recruited was Tate is simply unacceptable. Tate wouldn't even be a decent mid major player. I've said since the end of last year that Groce needs to be gone for sure if he misses the tourney this year and that merely sneaking in to the tourney wouldn't be good enough for me. Groce had a good first year and nobody was winning in year 2 with the roster Weber left unless they brought in multiple 1 and done players but by year 3 and year 4 in basketball a good coach can have things turned around and I just don't see things really heading in the right direction. We are basically treading water and that just isn't good enough. Yes, we have injuries right now hurting us but I can't give him the benefit of the doubt on Abrams since Tracy wasn't supposed to be here anyways which would have left the best PG on the team as Jaylon Tate in year 4 which is a joke. Along with Jeff Jordan he is the worst guard that has actually played minutes for Illinois in my lifetime.

 

The bottom line is Mike Thomas correctly fired two bad coaches who should have been fired years before they were but replaced them with coaches who haven't made things any better which is why he was correctly dismissed. The sad thing is I just have no confidence in Illinois getting the next AD hire right.

 

Mostly agree with this. They need to make a move before recruiting dries up and the next guy has to start from scratch. Sadly we all know he'll get a pass this year given the injuries. Maybe that's fair since that would be 4 years with his guys.

 

I'm trying not to overreact after last night. Big programs lose to little guys every year in the first game or two and figure it out by the end of the year. I'm pretty sure UNC one year was upset by a nobody and eventually won the championship. Obviously not where Illinois is headed, but this doesn't have to be a precursor of things to come.

 

Re: Thomas, i'd disagree on Beckman. I mean the guy wasn't a good coach (clearly) but the program is in a better spot now than it was at anytime post 2006-7. They have depth. They have a solid core. They have decent players with a few really nice players. They went to a bowl and have a good chance to go again this year. Illinois isn't getting a coach that will make them title contenders in 2 seasons. They needed a guy to come right the ship and that's what they got.

Edited November 14, 2015 by Jenksismybitch

[gatnom]

I think they will bet better and that this will be a decent team if healthy. The problem is that in year 4 simply being decent isn't good enough and the fact that before getting Lucas this year the best PG Groce had recruited was Tate is simply unacceptable. Tate wouldn't even be a decent mid major player. I've said since the end of last year that Groce needs to be gone for sure if he misses the tourney this year and that merely sneaking in to the tourney wouldn't be good enough for me. Groce had a good first year and nobody was winning in year 2 with the roster Weber left unless they brought in multiple 1 and done players but by year 3 and year 4 in basketball a good coach can have things turned around and I just don't see things really heading in the right direction. We are basically treading water and that just isn't good enough. Yes, we have injuries right now hurting us but I can't give him the benefit of the doubt on Abrams since Tracy wasn't supposed to be here anyways which would have left the best PG on the team as Jaylon Tate in year 4 which is a joke. Along with Jeff Jordan he is the worst guard that has actually played minutes for Illinois in my lifetime.

 

The bottom line is Mike Thomas correctly fired two bad coaches who should have been fired years before they were but replaced them with coaches who haven't made things any better which is why he was correctly dismissed. The sad thing is I just have no confidence in Illinois getting the next AD hire right.

 

I'm not sure where I stand on Groce overall. I mean I totally get that he should be on a pretty warm seat right now, but over his tenure I can really only think of a few mistakes that he made: Starks/Cosby/Paul and not recruiting Tyler Ulis. And, the idea behind the transfers was a sold one as well: Weber left him little upperclassmen talent, so Groce tried to get some upperclassmen transfers to balance things out a bit. It made sense, but he obviously got the wrong guys. On the other hand, not recruiting Ulis might be the one thing that costs him his job. Obviously, there's no guarantee he lands him, but our roster with Ulis on it gives us a completely different outlook on the program's future, IMO.

 

Re: Thomas, i'd disagree on Beckman. I mean the guy wasn't a good coach (clearly) but the program is in a better spot now than it was at anytime post 2006-7. They have depth. They have a solid core. They have decent players with a few really nice players. They went to a bowl and have a good chance to go again this year. Illinois isn't getting a coach that will make them title contenders in 2 seasons. They needed a guy to come right the ship and that's what they got.

 

I 100% agree with this. From a roster perspective, the team is better now than when Beckman got it. Unfortunately, he was a bad coach overall and an even worse human being.

 

 

[whitesoxfan99]

Mostly agree with this. They need to make a move before recruiting dries up and the next guy has to start from scratch. Sadly we all know he'll get a pass this year given the injuries. Maybe that's fair since that would be 4 years with his guys.

 

I'm trying not to overreact after last night. Big programs lose to little guys every year in the first game or two and figure it out by the end of the year. I'm pretty sure UNC one year was upset by a nobody and eventually won the championship. Obviously not where Illinois is headed, but this doesn't have to be a precursor of things to come.

 

Re: Thomas, i'd disagree on Beckman. I mean the guy wasn't a good coach (clearly) but the program is in a better spot now than it was at anytime post 2006-7. They have depth. They have a solid core. They have decent players with a few really nice players. They went to a bowl and have a good chance to go again this year. Illinois isn't getting a coach that will make them title contenders in 2 seasons. They needed a guy to come right the ship and that's what they got.

 

I definitely overreacted a little bit last night but it is the general trend of us just even competing in Groce's last 3 games and the fact that far too often we have looked like there is no plan on defense (offensively the main issue is the lack of creators in an offense where creators are essential but you better recruit really well if that is the case).

 

Eh, by far the best place the program was in was in 09 (post 2007). An AD with a pulse and a brain fires Zook following that season and the next coach takes over a team with 9 win talent that Zook being "propped up" by coordinators only got to 6 wins for 2 consecutive years. But that goes back to RG being a f***ing joke the last 7 or 8 years he was at Illinois. The talent level is adequate but it still isn't particularly good. I guess you could say that I view both programs as basically treading water with football probably in a slightly better position than it was before Zook was fired.

Edited November 14, 2015 by whitesoxfan99