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Further Fallout from Illini Win Over the Braves

tornado

tornado

New member
Illini coach Bruce Weber clearly brought Jamar Smith back too early because he was desperate to beat Bradley.
Jamar wasn't ready to play and the admissions from the Weber and Jamar himself confirm it.
Then in his next game, Jamar's inability to play the 2nd half cost Illinois the Maryland game,
now Jamar didn't even dress and it cost Illinois the Arizona game.

I hope BW values that win over the 9th place pick in the Missouri Valley, because it may cost him an at large bid come March.
 
Re: Further Fallout from Illini Win Over the Braves

tornado said:
Illini coach Bruce Weber clearly brought Jamar Smith back too early because he was desperate to beat Bradley.
Jamar wasn't ready to play and the admissions from the Weber and Jamar himself confirm it.
Then in his next game, Jamar's inability to play the 2nd half cost Illinois the Maryland game,
now Jamar didn't even dress and it cost Illinois the Arizona game.

I hope BW values that win over the 9th place pick in the Missouri Valley, because it may cost him an at large bid come March.
Click to expand...

You beat me to posting this, as I was thinking it the entire second half of watching the Ill. - Ari. game. Anyone that doesn't think Weber cared about beating Bradley BIG time can just look at this one now. He got one but lost two in the process (and maybe more). I guess BU isn't a bunch of chumps that the big names/schools make us out to be.
 
Re: Further Fallout from Illini Win Over the Braves

tornado said:
Illini coach Bruce Weber clearly brought Jamar Smith back too early because he was desperate to beat Bradley.

...it may cost him an at large bid come March.
Click to expand...

I agree. If he were to just let the Bradley game go, he could have boasted 2 wins this week over 2 ranked teams. The Illini would have definitely made the Top 25. Smith would be healthy. They would be looking at 3 very easy opponents over the next 2 weeks allowing them to have a ranking in the 12-18 range before playing Mizzoo (who could very well be ranked by then).

As I shake my head... tisk - tisk -tisk .... too bad.
 
T- why are you degrading us? "9th pick in the Valley"? Who cares what we were picked. You guys have a whole topic devoted to why Weber wanted to beat us. He wanted to beat us because we are in-state Sweet 16 basketball team. He used Jamar because i'm sure Jamar wanted to play being from Peoria and all, and that is not what cost Illinois 2 games. Illinois lost those games because Arizona and Maryland are better basketball teams. Thats it. Period.

BTW T- I know you are just being sarcastic
 
patrick_o'brian said:
Illinois lost those games because Arizona and Maryland are better basketball teams.
Click to expand...

I think Illinois could have won both those games. A healthier Jamar could have sealed the deal for them in both games. So why wasn't Jamar healthier?
 
Weber

Weber

Weber did the right thing by playing Smith against Bradley. I honestly believe that Weber knew/felt that a loss to Bradley would have been used against him later by the rabid Illini Alums. In other words, losing to Bradley would have cost him his job!
 
Re: Weber

Re: Weber

Braves4Life said:
Weber did the right thing by playing Smith against Bradley. I honestly believe that Weber knew/felt that a loss to Bradley would have been used against him later by the rabid Illini Alums. In other words, losing to Bradley would have cost him his job!
Click to expand...

I hope that's not the case. It seems that BW is too classy to put protecting his job ahead of what is best for his team.
 
I think the use of Jamar ahead of his schedule for returning is somewhat akin to other actions that show a college coach does what he has to do to win games.
Of course they care about the kids, but in any gray area, some coaches will tilt toward the greedy side, and the use of Jamar in a game that means less to Illinois' resume come March is an example.
I am convinced that BW valued the instate bragging rights more than any other factor last Saturday night.
Now he is seeing the fallout from that decision.
 
Re: Weber

Re: Weber

phyneous_j_whoopie said:
Braves4Life said:
Weber did the right thing by playing Smith against Bradley. I honestly believe that Weber knew/felt that a loss to Bradley would have been used against him later by the rabid Illini Alums. In other words, losing to Bradley would have cost him his job!
Click to expand...

I hope that's not the case. It seems that BW is too classy to put protecting his job ahead of what is best for his team.
Click to expand...

C'mon Phyn. Don't you see? BW thought protecting his job WAS the best for his team. They are interconnected.
 
So if he benches Jamar then we played a team missing two starters. Im sure BW wants to win every game. I for one am happy Jamar played and would rather play a team with its best players. We still had a chance to win and just didnt execute down the strech. To be honest had they had a fully healthy Jamar and Randle I think they would have led the whole game and won by 10 or 15. Those who think that his JOB was on the line with that game are nuts. As long as Randle and Jamar are ready for the big ten season I think IL will be just fine.
 
Re: Weber

Re: Weber

MacabreMob said:
phyneous_j_whoopie said:
Braves4Life said:
Weber did the right thing by playing Smith against Bradley. I honestly believe that Weber knew/felt that a loss to Bradley would have been used against him later by the rabid Illini Alums. In other words, losing to Bradley would have cost him his job!
Click to expand...

I hope that's not the case. It seems that BW is too classy to put protecting his job ahead of what is best for his team.
Click to expand...

C'mon Phyn. Don't you see? BW thought protecting his job WAS the best for his team. They are interconnected.
Click to expand...

Sorry Mob, poor attempt at sarcasm on my part. Boy, for a program that thinks Bradley should feel fortunate just to get to play on the same court as Illinois, they sure were worried...enough so to jeopardize their best player and maybe their season
 
I think BW knows what he is doing much better than any of us.

The only thing any of us know for sure is that Illinois beat BU and Smith definitely contributed.
There was no guarantee at all that Illinois wins against MD and AZ with Smith. It's all conjecture
Is everyone upset that Weber played Smith and BU lost...so what?
I don't get it
 
lefty said:
Is everyone upset that Weber played Smith and BU lost...so what?
Click to expand...

Don't need to get your orange&blue panties in a bunch.

Way back when the tournament was being put together, I didn't think BU would be good enough to get to the championship to face Illinois and if they did, I figured (a healthy) Illinois would run Bradley off the floor.

The only thing I know for sure is Smith came back too early and the Illini had to play without him in 'more important' games.

I'm just laughing - that's all.
 
lefty, If Jim Les had used one of the BU players ahead of the reported schedule, and that player got reinjured, requiring several more games missed, I am sure a point would have been made claiming JL mismanaged his injured player.
Why is Bruce Weber off limits when it comes to questioning why he did what he did.

It was apparent to me watching the Ill-BU game that Jamar was hurting and I wondered a out loud why he was in the game with so much at risk, so early in the season.
Sure enough, the time Jamar played against BU clearly had an impact on his lack of playing ability in the next couple games.
Now Jamar might not even play for another 3-4 games.
Was it worth it just to beat Bradley?
I just think it was silly gamble, a big risk for a game so early in the season. Why did he take that chance, and now he is paying for it with Jamar's absence, and the lack of good shooting from anyone else on the team?
 
tornado said:
lefty, If Jim Les had used one of the BU players ahead of the reported schedule, and that player got reinjured, requiring several more games missed, I am sure a point would have been made claiming JL mismanaged his injured player.
Why is Bruce Weber off limits when it comes to questioning why he did what he did.

It was apparent to me watching the Ill-BU game that Jamar was hurting and I wondered a out loud why he was in the game with so much at risk, so early in the season.
Sure enough, the time Jamar played against BU clearly had an impact on his lack of playing ability in the next couple games.
Now Jamar might not even play for another 3-4 games.
Was it worth it just to beat Bradley?
I just think it was silly gamble, a big risk for a game so early in the season. Why did he take that chance, and now he is paying for it with Jamar's absence, and the lack of good shooting from anyone else on the team?
Click to expand...

Why does it matter? What do you want Illini fans to say.. that the BU game was the most important one of the year, that the needed to win it? He was cleared to play and wanted to play so he played and played well. How was BW supposed to know the after effects if Jamar playing in that game? As as a BU fan do you care if BW is off or on the hook?
 
tornado said:
lefty, If Jim Les had used one of the BU players ahead of the reported schedule, and that player got reinjured, requiring several more games missed, I am sure a point would have been made claiming JL mismanaged his injured player.
Why is Bruce Weber off limits when it comes to questioning why he did what he did.

It was apparent to me watching the Ill-BU game that Jamar was hurting and I wondered a out loud why he was in the game with so much at risk, so early in the season.
Sure enough, the time Jamar played against BU clearly had an impact on his lack of playing ability in the next couple games.
Now Jamar might not even play for another 3-4 games.
Was it worth it just to beat Bradley?
I just think it was silly gamble, a big risk for a game so early in the season. Why did he take that chance, and now he is paying for it with Jamar's absence, and the lack of good shooting from anyone else on the team?
Click to expand...

Why do you feel you have to defend JL on a decision BW makes?
Maybe if JS doesn't play against BU and plays against MD and can't play against AZ. I mean BW made the decision and from what I understand JS was cleared to play...would have more rest been better? That's easy to say now. I'm sure if BW was told that JS won't be able to play for couple of weeks if he plays against BU he wouldn't have played him.


MM...I'm both an Illini and BU fan and I don't have any orange and blue panties
 
Re: Weber

Re: Weber

I know that the Chicagoland Classic was scheduled after Patrick O'Bryant was drafted. I was informed that Illinois was not considering this tournament if O'Bryant was still going to play for Bradley this season. Weber was smart enough to know the importance of this game against Bradley.
 
lefty said:
tornado said:
lefty, If Jim Les had used one of the BU players ahead of the reported schedule, and that player got reinjured, requiring several more games missed, I am sure a point would have been made claiming JL mismanaged his injured player.
Why is Bruce Weber off limits when it comes to questioning why he did what he did.

It was apparent to me watching the Ill-BU game that Jamar was hurting and I wondered a out loud why he was in the game with so much at risk, so early in the season.
Sure enough, the time Jamar played against BU clearly had an impact on his lack of playing ability in the next couple games.
Now Jamar might not even play for another 3-4 games.
Was it worth it just to beat Bradley?
I just think it was silly gamble, a big risk for a game so early in the season. Why did he take that chance, and now he is paying for it with Jamar's absence, and the lack of good shooting from anyone else on the team?
Click to expand...

Why do you feel you have to defend JL on a decision BW makes?
Maybe if JS doesn't play against BU and plays against MD and can't play against AZ. I mean BW made the decision and from what I understand JS was cleared to play...would have more rest been better? That's easy to say now. I'm sure if BW was told that JS won't be able to play for couple of weeks if he plays against BU he wouldn't have played him.


MM...I'm both an Illini and BU fan and I don't have any orange and blue panties
Click to expand...

This isn't about Jim Les. It is about Weber's decision to play Jamar Smith only 12 days after he was injured. He suffered a high ankle sprain in the Austin Peay game on Nov. 13. The Illni reported that he would be out 4-6 weeks.
http://www.herald-review.com/blogs/marktupper/?p=285

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/111406/PM__BBHG668O.075.shtml

Yet, because he wanted to win the Bradley game so much, he took a chance and allowed him to play Nov. 25 against Bradley for 17 minutes of uptempo action. He is the coach and that's his decision to make. It helped Illinois beat Bradley, but no doubt it set Smith's recovery back. He might have been available more against Maryland and Arizona. How much more time he will miss now is unknown. But to bring a kid back from even a minor ankle sprain in 12 days is risky, and this was more than a minor sprain.
Now Illinois is saying things like they- "would rather let sophomore guard Jamar Smith heal quickly than extend the recovery time on his high ankle sprain."
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/sports/stories/101965.asp

Funny, when he played against Bradley, Weber was saying he wasn't hurting anything by playing. Now he says he won't heal right until he gets some rest. Weber is paying the price for his actions, and even Illinois fans are right to question the move. I believe he will eventually regret bringing him back too soon.
 
RocketWatcher said:
Lakeview Brave said:
As as a BU fan do you care if BW is off or on the hook?
Click to expand...

For some reason BU fans like to criticize what seems like every aspect of Illinois basketball.

Hmm...
Click to expand...

Maybe some, but certainly not all.
I am an Illinois fan as well as a BU fan, and yet somehow just this very topic seems to have folks calling for it to be off limits?

lefty, I only made the comment about JL to show that it is a topic worth discussing, as it sure would be if it was any other coach.

And I am not being anti-Illinois by questioning the logic of playing a kid just a week and a half after an injury that was said to be going to take 4-6 weeks to recover.

Here, based on an official release from the university, Mark Tupper (quite possibly the most informed of guys who cover the Illini) says it will be 4-6 weeks (dated 11/16).
Then NINE days later Jamar logs 17 minutes against Bradley.
If you saw the BU-Ill game, then I an sure you noted Jamar was clearly hurting before the end of the game, limping down court, and they still left him in.
http://www.herald-review.com/blogs/marktupper/?p=288


I don't buy the sell-out that Weber was only doing what his advisors (trainers, etc.) told him. Just who is in charge?
I fully believe BW knew the risks and took them anyway.
That's fine, he's the coach, but now the discussion is about how that decision has hurt him, and has hurt Jamar. Clearly it has, and anyone who says otherwise, isn't being realistic.
Now they are saying Jamar might not return for another week.

This isn't the Illiniboard, where any discussion about Weber that exposes a bad move gets deleted.
This was a very bad move.

And Rocketwatcher....why do you think it is that some BU fans dislike the Illini?
And have you ever checked the Illiniboard, and seen the way they ridicule anyone they don't like?
Get real, the Illini are treated better on this board than any team I can think of is ever treated on any BCS team's board.
 
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