Illini

[tornado]

The Illini basketball team falls to #23 in this week's AP poll...but this thread is really about the guy they fired last spring...


....interestingly, Kansas State has now gradually sneaked up to #16...and they haven't gotten hardly any real press or national hype & attention...unlike a few coaches whose teams are doing way worse than Bruce's
They are 13-2 with their only two losses to teams in the Top 10 (Michigan & Gonzaga)

I think this is somewhat SWEET vindication for Bruce Weber - who is taking a team with no real stars, who don't show up hardly anywhere near the top in the team stats or individual stats of the Big 12, that was barely picked to even be in the upper half of the Big 12, and was picked behind Baylor, Texas, & Oklahoma State...
..and he has made them quite successful..........Good for Bruce...

[lefty]

I'm happy for Bruce as well....I think many were ready to let him go and I could have gone either way.....he's getting 2 checks now so I think he's doing just fine.

[Tulsa Brave]

Teams 2-6 in the Big 12 are impossible to predict at this point in time. Iowa State, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Kansas State will battle all season for those spots. Oklahoma State Has already lost to both Oklahoma and K-State on the road. The team that can win a road game or two against the others in this group will be the one that gets 2nd. Iowa State let certain victory at Kansas slip away due to terrible decisions in the closing seconds of regulation. That would have been huge, as I doubt any of the others will win there. Pomeroy still has Oklahoma State 2nd highest in the Big 12, and K-State 6th. Sagarin has Oklahoma 2nd, and K-State also 6th.

[Rusty 54]

Glad that he is doing well. Sometimes a change of scenery is best for everyone.

[Gary the Gargoyle]

Bruce is a great guy. I'm real happy for his success.

[tornado]

and also - congrats to the two BU guys & two SIU guys they also have on their coaching staff!

[it's boogie time]

It is odd to look at the K State coaching staff and to know so many names like Brad Korn, Chester Frasier, Alvin Brooks III, Chris Lowery and Wayne McClain.

[tornado]

anyone watch the Illini beat Nebrraska?
two things stood out to me - one is that Nebraska has one pretty huge dude playing...
a kid named Andre Almeida - who looks like John Candy - 6-11 and about 325 lb

http://worldonline.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2011/01/15/ku_bkc_neb_18_t440.jpg?9e2a24ba44807f8f9b96aad7c4082bf6ded075dc

and what is Illinois' offensive game plan?...they bring it up into the frontcourt and the first open jumper no matter how long - they jack it up...
if someone is hot like DJ Richardson was last night, then they win - if they're cold then they might be in trouble..

[wily coyote]

anyone watch the Illini beat Nebrraska?
two things stood out to me - one is that Nebraska has one pretty huge dude playing...
a kid named Andre Almeida - who looks like John Candy - 6-11 and about 325 lb

http://worldonline.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2011/01/15/ku_bkc_neb_18_t440.jpg?9e2a24ba44807f8f9b96aad7c4082bf6ded075dc

and what is Illinois' offensive game plan?...they bring it up into the frontcourt and the first open jumper no matter how long - they jack it up...
if someone is hot like DJ Richardson was last night, then they win - if they're cold then they might be in trouble..

Agree ,I'd say that's their M.O. first open 3 and it's going up. If their going in they win ,if not well we've seen their results. Not exactly my idea of a good game plan but no one asked me.

[tornado]

Look - I am not a coach but I have watched basketball for a few years --
I again noted that when Illinois had a decent lead late in the game - and they should have been playing
a ball control game plan to eat up the remaining clock -- they still launched long threes early in the shot clock..
I see this a lot in college basketball and so I don't pick only on Illinois - but this is kind of universally held to be BAD basketball.

Check the play-by play - with 8 min to go Griffey hit a three 12 sec into the shot clock to put Illinois up 12, but eating up the clock should have been the game plan..

Then DJ did it again 30 seconds later just NINE seconds into the shot clock and despite those three point attempts - the lead after those shots was exactly the same as it was JUST before those shots -
(12 pt lead at 08:52 --> and 12 pt lead at 07:36 & 06:26..
but even later when Illinois was up 17 with 4 min left - Griffey throws up a bad 3-pointer when the shot clock still had 16 seconds left, just TWO seconds after coming out of a time out!
Oh well - Illinois won but there will be games that those shots will hurt you

[Bravesfan]

Look - I am not a coach but I have watched basketball for a few years --
I again noted that when Illinois had a decent lead late in the game - and they should have been playing
a ball control game plan to eat up the remaining clock -- they still launched long threes early in the shot clock..
I see this a lot in college basketball and so I don't pick only on Illinois - but this is kind of universally held to be BAD basketball.

Check the play-by play - with 8 min to go Griffey hit a three 12 sec into the shot clock to put Illinois up 12, but eating up the clock should have been the game plan..

Then DJ did it again 30 seconds later just NINE seconds into the shot clock and despite those three point attempts - the lead after those shots was exactly the same as it was JUST before those shots -
(12 pt lead at 08:52 --> and 12 pt lead at 07:36 & 06:26..
but even later when Illinois was up 17 with 4 min left - Griffey throws up a bad 3-pointer when the shot clock still had 16 seconds left, just TWO seconds after coming out of a time out!
Oh well - Illinois won but there will be games that those shots will hurt you

Kind of like prevent defense in the NFL. Just because most other teams are doing it doesn't mean it's right.

[Future Walk-On]

Look - I am not a coach but I have watched basketball for a few years --
I again noted that when Illinois had a decent lead late in the game - and they should have been playing
a ball control game plan to eat up the remaining clock -- they still launched long threes early in the shot clock..
I see this a lot in college basketball and so I don't pick only on Illinois - but this is kind of universally held to be BAD basketball.

Check the play-by play - with 8 min to go Griffey hit a three 12 sec into the shot clock to put Illinois up 12, but eating up the clock should have been the game plan..

Then DJ did it again 30 seconds later just NINE seconds into the shot clock and despite those three point attempts - the lead after those shots was exactly the same as it was JUST before those shots -
(12 pt lead at 08:52 --> and 12 pt lead at 07:36 & 06:26..
but even later when Illinois was up 17 with 4 min left - Griffey throws up a bad 3-pointer when the shot clock still had 16 seconds left, just TWO seconds after coming out of a time out!
Oh well - Illinois won but there will be games that those shots will hurt you

(This doesn't change anything but..) The 3 Griffey hit didn't count because of an offensive foul on Egwu... we are stat tracking him at 0 for his last 17 3 point attempts.

[Future Walk-On]

Illinois' gameplan is to shoot 3's when making them or to take it to the rack...

See the OSU game where they didnt hit anything from the outside (8-27 from 3)

they still shot alot but were able to get buckets inside and score 74 points.

Players like DJ (before last night), GRIFFEY, and Paul have been absolute garbage from outside lately.... players like Abrams and Paul can take it to the rack but Abrams turns it over alot and was hobbled for awhile last game.


Although the reason they really lose is their defense... because it sucks.

EDIT: but their defense was much better last night....

[SFP]

I have not watched an Illini game all year and I really do not care if I do but I'm betting that the coaches are playing to their strength. Also there is a school of thought in basketball where you should shoot the ball whenever you have an open shot. The coach that made this famous was a guy called Paul Westhead. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Westhead His style does make for entertaining basketball and I'm betting if you are recruit you'd be very interested in playing in that system.

Illini coach: Look at the system we are setting up. I bet you can score a bunch and help this team win a championship.

Recruit: It sure looks like fun and I can showcase my skills. I also believe I could get your program to the next level.

[BSSFan#1]

I'll start by stating I'm friends with a John Groce life-long friend. I've had the pleasure of speaking with John. He's a high energy, positive guy. I'm guessing Mike Thomas believes in John's coaching philosophy.

Illini style when leading is actually the anti prevent defense. Bruce Weber's style when leading was the prevent defense. Groce believes in continuing to attack which served Illinois well in many of their early games. Illinois under Weber would have held the ball 30-plus seconds and then chucked a bad shot or got no shot off.

Someone posted Griffey's current 3-point slump. That is exactly why John designed a Griffey 3-point shot after a time out with the Illini comfortably ahead. A good plan as he was trying to get Griffey a 3-point make with no game pressure on him. It didn't work but Coach Groce knew it wasn't going to cost Illinois the game.

Illinois shooting 19.4 ft's per game and 24.6 3's per game this year. Illinois shot 16.5 ft's per game and 19.1 3's per game last year.
Points per game this year - 72.8
Points per game last year - 65.6