Hey! NU pulled a game out of their ass for once!

Hey! NU pulled a game out of their ass for once!

 

Id be furious but that was a great set executed play.

 

I've defended Beilien but he messed that up. Didn't call timeout after we got board with 10 secs left and puts Donnal on inbounds instead of Moe.

I jumped up and cheered for that one.

So much for home cooking for illinois. 7-0 foul disparity. MSU travels and Groce furious with no call and gets T'd up. #BigTenOfficiating

So much for home cooking for illinois. 7-0 foul disparity. MSU travels and Groce furious with no call and gets T'd up. #BigTenOfficiating

Groce turned his back on the refs to face the crowd and still got T'd. Impressive.

I jumped up and cheered for that one.

It reminded me of that last second long ball to Jared Sullinger a few years ago. I'm sure you remember that more fondly than I do.

Groce turned his back on the refs to face the crowd and still got T'd. Impressive.

 

I know this isn't a typical MSU team, and they've gone on a run beating some bad big ten teams, but wtf. Where was this energy level the last 5 months?

Worst ball handling Spartans team I've ever seen.

Wow, big win. They've pulled me back in. Win at Rutgers and put up a decent showing in the 1st big ten tourney game and i think they're in. No bad losses, 6 wins against the top 50. Much better resume than the other bubble teams.

 

I think that win probably got Groce another year too.

Edited March 2, 20179 yr by JenksIsMyHero

Wow, big win. They've pulled me back in. Win at Rutgers and put up a decent showing in the 1st big ten tourney game and i think they're in. No bad losses, 6 wins against the top 50. Much better resume than the other bubble teams.

 

I think that win probably got Groce another year too.

I highly doubt that win got him another year. He shouldn't even be back even if theyou somehow got into the tournament.

I highly doubt that win got him another year. He shouldn't even be back even if theyou somehow got into the tournament.

Sturdy hinted that Groce would likely be retained if he won last night and didn't even make the tournament. If he makes the tournament, with the current recruiting class, I would guess he has one more year.

Sturdy hinted that Groce would likely be retained if he won last night and didn't even make the tournament. If he makes the tournament, with the current recruiting class, I would guess he has one more year.

 

I saw Sturdy had a twitter exchange with another Illini guy on Twitter a few days ago, who said Groce is gone no matter what according to his source.

I saw Sturdy had a twitter exchange with another Illini guy on Twitter a few days ago, who said Groce is gone no matter what according to his source.

At this point I would probably be fine with either decision. Whitman seems to like Groce though and I don't think he'd fire him "no matter what" unless he had a big hire lined up (ala Lovie).

At this point I would probably be fine with either decision. Whitman seems to like Groce though and I don't think he'd fire him "no matter what" unless he had a big hire lined up (ala Lovie).

 

Yeah there are too many photos of them hugging each other after the last 2 games. No chance that's a guy that you've already decided to fire, or even want to fire.

 

They're back into the bubble conversation. They have a legit shot at making the tourney. Unless they totally screw that up against Rutgers, I think even a loss with a decent showing in the tourney gets them in. They're a completely different team from 2 months ago. They're playing well. The committee looks at that stuff.

At this point I would probably be fine with either decision. Whitman seems to like Groce though and I don't think he'd fire him "no matter what" unless he had a big hire lined up (ala Lovie).

 

I'm not fine with Groce staying even if they make the tourney but that is at least defensible. If they miss the tourney I'm done with Illinois basketball for a long time if Groce is brought back and the athletic department will have one less donor.

I'm not fine with Groce staying even if they make the tourney but that is at least defensible. If they miss the tourney I'm done with Illinois basketball for a long time if Groce is brought back and the athletic department will have one less donor.

 

I would prefer they move on, but it really has to depend on who else is looking for a coach. If Indiana fires Crean, as much as I hate to say it, we would play second fiddle to them. We have better short term prospects because of incoming recruits, but they have the better tradition/banners.

I would prefer they move on, but it really has to depend on who else is looking for a coach. If Indiana fires Crean, as much as I hate to say it, we would play second fiddle to them. We have better short term prospects because of incoming recruits, but they have the better tradition/banners.

 

I also would prefer they move on, but I'm fairly certain that if the Illini make the tournament, Groce is safe. The other issue here is that this season is no longer a dumpster fire. So if the Illini barely miss the tournament, what does the job look like to potential hires? If they have a slam dunk lined up, then by all means move on. If we go through the Shaka Smart/Brad Stevens saga that occurred when Webber was fired, well there's a pretty decent argument that the stability of Groce is a better spot than re-setting with your 3rd or 4th choice. Whitman has hopefully done his homework behind the scenes so that he has a sense of the market.

 

Biggest issue I have at the moment with Groce is why in the holy hell did it take so long for him to settle on the 8 man rotation he has playing now? I get that Lucas missed most of the offseason, and Nichols wasn't eligible until the Missouri game, but that really doesn't excuse how long it took Groce to realize that Thorne and Tate shouldn't be in the rotation.

Groce needs to go no matter what.

Groce needs to go no matter what.

Insightful as always.

The only thing I'm worried about is some of the chatter that Illinois has had zero success in gaining interest from a top level coach (Bennett, etc). So then it leaves us with Cuonzo Martin and Monty Williams as the leading targets, both have HUGE questions marks.

 

I'm not thrilled about keeping Groce, I still think it's the right move to get a new coach, but I think we are learning very quickly between the Groce hire and those who are interested now that this is not a top job anymore. So we are really going to have to rely on Whitman's ability to find the next guy, not so much as "guy x fell into our laps" or "pay this man what he wants".

The only thing I'm worried about is some of the chatter that Illinois has had zero success in gaining interest from a top level coach (Bennett, etc). So then it leaves us with Cuonzo Martin and Monty Williams as the leading targets, both have HUGE questions marks.

 

I'm not thrilled about keeping Groce, I still think it's the right move to get a new coach, but I think we are learning very quickly between the Groce hire and those who are interested now that this is not a top job anymore. So we are really going to have to rely on Whitman's ability to find the next guy, not so much as "guy x fell into our laps" or "pay this man what he wants".

 

I'd love Monty Williams, but I don't think that's a realistic scenario. I didn't like Martin as a candidate before his team started playing its way off the bubble, and it's even harder to get excited about him now. Hate to see him go to Mizzou, though.

 

 

College basketball has a dunk contest during the Final four and the last spot is done by fan voting. A guy from my alma mater (SEMO) is in the semi finals. If you could go to darkhorsedunker.com and vote for Antonius Cleveland that would be awesome! You can vote once per day per device.

Couldn't believe Iowa pulled that game out at Wiscy at the end. Figured they were dead in the water. Bubble hopes remain....they will be crushed when we lay an egg against Penn State on Sunday.

MSU seems safe, Michigan a bit less so.

Illinois and Iowa need to win at least two B10 Tourney games.....probably there ends up being a head to head elimination.

 

If they only beat Illinois once or closed out Minnesota, they'd (Iowa) be in the same position or better than Michigan.

 

Have beaten Iowa State, Wichita State (without Van Fleet), MD, Purdue, WI. MD and WI on the road.

This Iowa State-West Virginia game is something