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Illinois vs. Michigan

Da Coach

Da Coach

Moderator
Staff member
Illlinois is struggling again on the road at Michigan. They are now down 14 with under 7 minutes to go. Tyler Griffey, who never got off the bench their last 2 games, and who has been the forgotten man all year, has been the star of this game for Illinois with 18 points so far. But Bruce Weber seems to think that he can play much of the time with a 4-guard offense in the Big Ten, and it's not working.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201202120357
 
As soon as Weber put Tyler Griffey back on the floor, the Illini quickly closed the gap to 7, 58-51. But now he's playing with 4 guards again, and I expect the margin to widen again.
 
Da Coach said:
As soon as Weber put Tyler Griffey back on the floor, the Illini quickly closed the gap to 7, 58-51. But now he's playing with 4 guards again, and I expect the margin to widen again.
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Against Michigan you can but not against OSU or MSU.
 
Illinois's offense is pathetic....standing around while one guy dribbles..no movement in the motionless offense
 
I noticed there were always 2 or 3 Illini players standing still while 1 posted, and 1 cut. Just too little motion.
 
BW's going to have to win out at home and steal 1 on the road to have a prayer of retaining his job. And even at that point, I'm not sure it's enough.

Good guy, clean program. A shame he can't make it work.
 
lefty said:
Illinois's offense is pathetic....standing around while one guy dribbles..no movement in the motionless offense
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Yeah - it resembled our offense a bit when we played Michigan earlier in the season. (at least the part I watched yesterday).

I am actually pleased at BU's progression on the offensive end of late. A lot more motion and better decision making. I think Walt has a lot to do with that in his penetration. We just need guys to MAKE the shots.

The Illinois offense is tough to watch. Not playing as a team - everyone trying to be Lebron James yesterday.
 
ancona flash said:
BW's going to have to win out at home and steal 1 on the road to have a prayer of retaining his job. And even at that point, I'm not sure it's enough.

Good guy, clean program. A shame he can't make it work.
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AND I believe they need to finish with 8 conference wins to have a shot at making the NCAA tournament. I think they're sitting at 5-7 right now? And this was after a surprising 4-1 start in the B-10.
They will need to finish 3-3 to even be on the bubble.
 
insane that I still saw people trashing Sammy - yet Sammy did NOT play this game having twisted his knee..

guess what Illini missed - ball handling, passing, and defense against tthe Michigan guards..
Brandon Paul had 7 turnovers trying to play point guard - which is NOT his natural position - Michigan got 19 points off Illinois' turnovers!!!
I'd say there's pretty good evidence that Sammy NOT playing was the difference in this game...
 
LittleBrave said:
AND I believe they need to finish with 8 conference wins to have a shot at making the NCAA tournament. I think they're sitting at 5-7 right now? And this was after a surprising 4-1 start in the B-10.
They will need to finish 3-3 to even be on the bubble.
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They are projected as a 13 seed with ESPN. They are going to have to play well to ensure a spot. I still think they make it.
 
tornado said:
insane that I still saw people trashing Sammy - yet Sammy did NOT play this game having twisted his knee..

guess what Illini missed - ball handling, passing, and defense against tthe Michigan guards..
Brandon Paul had 7 turnovers trying to play point guard - which is NOT his natural position - Michigan got 19 points off Illinois' turnovers!!!
I'd say there's pretty good evidence that Sammy NOT playing was the difference in this game...
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If he's healthy yes...but he's not. Even if his knee was fine his ankles are still a problem. I know you have strong allegiance to Sam but he really hasn't done much since the first of the year. It's not because of heart or toughness...he just can't right now. Paul has 5plus turnovers a game anyway, he didn't get 7 turnovers just playing point guard....the only area Sam makes a difference now is giving some guys( like Abrams) a rest....
 
Most Athletic Directors, as former Illinois AD Ron Guenther always did, will try to deflect the heat on their coaches during the season by giving them a vote of confidence, even if it isn't always sincere. But according to this ESPN article, the new AD at Illinois, Mike Thomas, answered questions from fans on a Champaign radio station Saturday morning, and refused to give Bruce Weber any vote of confidence, instead saying only that "I will assess the situation at the end of the season no different than I do with the other 18 sports, no different than I did for the football program".
http://espn.go.com/chicago/ncb/stor...-director-evaluate-basketball-coach-bruce-web
 
Da Coach said:
Most Athletic Directors, as former Illinois AD Ron Guenther always did, will try to deflect the heat on their coaches during the season by giving them a vote of confidence, even if it isn't always sincere. But according to this ESPN article, the new AD at Illinois, Mike Thomas, answered questions from fans on a Champaign radio station Saturday morning, and refused to give Bruce Weber any vote of confidence, instead saying only that "I will assess the situation at the end of the season no different than I do with the other 18 sports, no different than I did for the football program".
http://espn.go.com/chicago/ncb/stor...-director-evaluate-basketball-coach-bruce-web
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:eek: HOW DIFFERENT FROM THE FOOTBALL PROGRAM?????????
 
I have no dog in this fight, so I have no opinion of BW staying/going at Illinois.

IF, and its only an IF, BW becomes available, does he head back to SIU to revive their program :?:

Any other MVC school a good fit for BW if he ends up looking for a job :?:
 
It is well known that Bruce Weber is a friend of Chris Lowery's, and Lowery worked for Weber before he took the SIU job. If this scenario plays out like some propose, it will be interesting to see if the fact that SIU wants his friend fired would dissuade Weber from taking the SIU job. Weber will not be that desperate for a job.
 
Da Coach said:
It is well known that Bruce Weber is a friend of Chris Lowery's, and Lowery worked for Weber before he took the SIU job. If this scenario plays out like some propose, it will be interesting to see if the fact that SIU wants his friend fired would dissuade Weber from taking the SIU job. Weber will not be that desperate for a job.
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I agree...he can take his time getting back in with his buyout
 
lefty said:
I agree...he can take his time getting back in with his buyout
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Bruce Weber is only 55 years old, so I am sure he would want to coach again if he left Illinois. But in 2009, Ron Guenther signed Bruce to an extension through the 2014-1015 season at $1.5 million per year. This could be an impediment to any change the new AD might consider making.
http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/052109aab.html

http://www.dailyillini.com/index.php/article/2009/05/weber_recieves_pay_increase_amended_contract
 
Illinois lost a tough game last night at home to Purdue. But the bigger story is the Bruce Weber meltdown after the game. He was nearly in tears after the game, and then unloaded on his players, and others, and admitted his failures in a long post-game press conference.
It is an interesting listen if you haven't heard this already (the Chicago sports radio channels have been playing it all morning). Bruce sounds like he is ready to accept being fired, or maybe he's ready to quit?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDV2_HT-eA8
 
He gone! I was listening to The Score this morning and they had excerpts of Weber's press conference set to Frank Sinatra's My Way. I am sure that somebody will have a parody of this on youtube by the end of the day! :idea:
 
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