Illinois basketball fans

[ILLsmak]

I can tell what a doofus he looks like in that picture. The sad part is he looks like that all the time.

And there is nothing sad about firing a coach who has underachieved since his own recruits have set foot on campus. People already say BRUCE SUCKS> What planet are you on man.

The non fickle planet.

I don't care what people say. They were probably saying Bruce was the greatest coach ever, better than Self, when he took us to the NC. The truth lies somewhere between Bruce sucking and being great. He's a good coach. He doesn't look like a Doofus, he looks like he cares too much.

As Bruce said, he is too honest. He really does express himself honestly. Bruce is the coach of the Illini, to me, and I feel like Deron when he said, "I'll still support the program if they get rid of Bruce, but it'll be hard."

Except I didn't play for Bruce, so I dunno if I'd even last much longer beyond when BP graduates. It'll be interesting to see who they come up with if they do fire him.

-Smak

[ILLsmak]

I'm sure a lot of you guys'll crucify me, but Illinois seems to have a lot of illusions of grandeur. It's a good program don't get me wrong, but some of the demands people seem to have just don't match up with the reality of what Illinois has ever been.

And that's just a stupid headline meant to sell weekend papers.

I also agree with this. lol. It's like when were were ever this storied type of program? We are underachieving now, but we were overachieving for awhile, too.

I can't speak to much of the longtime fans, but my expectations of Illinois are this every year:

-Top 15
-Never lose more than 1-2 home games, if any at all
-Go to at least the sweet 16,
-Occasionally win the BTT
-Have a top 25-30 recruiting class.
-Graduate all our players

I think that's not really all that much to ask considering the wealth of talent in Illinois and the university's dedication to the basketball program.

Overall though, I think Bruce is well regarded as a smart coach who is a nice guy. But under him, shit went really crazy:

-Players rebelling and being malcontent (McCamey, Keller, Pruitt)
-Players leaving the program (Alex Legion, Jereme, Jeff Jordan, Crandall Head, Jamar Smith, Brian Carlwell)
-49-52 since the 05 season
-Assembly Hall is not being regarded as a hostile environment to play in


Something's afoot. Something's got to change. Bruce may have a heart of gold, but it's not a good fit for our program anymore. He's been with us for what, 8-9 years now? If he doesn't have it by now, he may never.

I think your expectations are too high. Top 25 maybe. You realize the Big Ten as a conference has gotten a lot better, too, of late. I am sad when we lose at home any time, but it happens. We shouldn't be losing to non powerhouse teams, though.

McCamey was trash. No matter what anyone said; that's why his ass didn't even get picked in the draft. He ruined our program for the years he was good. Jamar, Brian, and Jereme left because of some BS. Jeff jordan was shit and Crandall was stuck behind great guards.

I just feel like Bruce getting blamed for this shit is ridiculous. We were good then we struggled in 06-07 because of that Drunk Driving shit. Pruitt was ready to go absolutely beast mode but he got triple teamed because these guys couldn't hit threes consistently.

The next year we were great but remember Chester got injured so we lost in the tourney. Then we had McCamey sucking the life out of our team for two years...

And we are suddenly here, out of our codependent relationship, without a guard who can really help us. BP has taken over, but we need a PG. Sammy was supposedly our savior, but he's proven that he does dumb ass shit and throws away games.

So yeah, they are gonna fire Bruce more than likely but I don't feel its justified. He's bringing in good players. Such good players that someone like Crandall Head can't get PT. We've got a lotto pick C. Nobody gives Bruce's staff any credit for that. **** it.

-Smak

[DeuceWallaces]

I'm sure a lot of you guys'll crucify me, but Illinois seems to have a lot of illusions of grandeur. It's a good program don't get me wrong, but some of the demands people seem to have just don't match up with the reality of what Illinois has ever been.

And that's just a stupid headline meant to sell weekend papers.

I've had my posts deleted in this thread for saying the exact same thing last year or the year before. Something to the effect of you have a long ways to go before being in MSU territory.

[bootsy]

The non fickle planet.

I don't care what people say. They were probably saying Bruce was the greatest coach ever, better than Self, when he took us to the NC. The truth lies somewhere between Bruce sucking and being great. He's a good coach. He doesn't look like a Doofus, he looks like he cares too much.

As Bruce said, he is too honest. He really does express himself honestly. Bruce is the coach of the Illini, to me, and I feel like Deron when he said, "I'll still support the program if they get rid of Bruce, but it'll be hard."

Except I didn't play for Bruce, so I dunno if I'd even last much longer beyond when BP graduates. It'll be interesting to see who they come up with if they do fire him.

-Smak

LOL you are still hanging on to ol Brucie Bruce. "I love my Bruce"
Of course people were saying that: WE WERE WINNING BIG TIME. It didn't last. Bruce's demeanor on the sidelines is atrocious. The guy is an absolute embarrassment at time with his whining during press conferences, constantly yelling DURING THE GAME, making weird faces, etc. People can't stand this. Like I have always said I liked Bruce back when he first came to Illinois because he didn't do all the things I described but since after the 06 season when Dee and Augie left he has been a grade A tool. Calling players out in the media and throwing them under the bus constantly is not necessary and makes him look bad. You are one of the very few that is naive to this. Almost every Illini fan I come across can't stand Weber's actions. You are on a different planet, one where you believe this guy is good coach.

[ILLsmak]

Why do you define what you believe by what other people think? I couldn't care what everyone else thinks. Bruce hasn't suddenly become a bad coach, and I don't even believe if we changed a coach we'd be better. We have a lot of talent but I kind of thought we'd have some struggles with a PG, but I believed the hype about Sam and I was wrong. We NEED someone with experience to handle the ball; a team without a PG is a joke. Remember when we won we had DEE, DERON, and LUTHER... all of which were smart decision makers and good ball handlers. We need that.

I don't wanna put it on BP or DJ because those guys need to shoot. But we need someone to step in and be our PG... our coach on the floor.

But w/e we obviously disagree and have continued to disagree. I think the difference is if they started winning you'd have gone back to the cool Bruce bandwagon, and now that we are losing I still support Bruce.

And I will support him until they fire him and then I'll be like what a debacle.

-Smak

[bootsy]

Why do you define what you believe by what other people think? I couldn't care what everyone else thinks. Bruce hasn't suddenly become a bad coach, and I don't even believe if we changed a coach we'd be better. We have a lot of talent but I kind of thought we'd have some struggles with a PG, but I believed the hype about Sam and I was wrong. We NEED someone with experience to handle the ball; a team without a PG is a joke. Remember when we won we had DEE, DERON, and LUTHER... all of which were smart decision makers and good ball handlers. We need that.

I don't wanna put it on BP or DJ because those guys need to shoot. But we need someone to step in and be our PG... our coach on the floor.

But w/e we obviously disagree and have continued to disagree. I think the difference is if they started winning you'd have gone back to the cool Bruce bandwagon, and now that we are losing I still support Bruce.

And I will support him until they fire him and then I'll be like what a debacle.

-Smak

What

No one thinks for me or defines what I think? I've had these opinions about Weber for a while now. So I guess if I think Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time and the majority think that way as well then they are defining how I think.

What you don't understand is if we changed head coach the philosophy changes (it better) from Weber's dull, boring offensive philosophy and overall coaching philosophy to a much better one. This team has no identity and hasn't since the legends of Self left. Weber hasn't established and he admitted that a week ago. Everyone knew this but he finally admitted it. He has completely drained what was once a very good basketball program to mediocrity.

Let me give you an idea of what kind of coach you are defending: Look at the results of the games the last few years, this team has had games since the end of the 2005 - 2006 where:

it has scored below 45 points five times, twice in the 30's (I didn't do below 50 to save further embarrassment).

No NBA players drafted

3 NCAA tourney appearances with a 1-3 record

2(getting ready to be 3) seasons with no NCAA tourney appearances and one NIT appearance where he lost in the 3rd game at home.

49-52 in the Big 10 with no conference titles(finishing 6th, 10th, 2nd, 5th, and 4th).

Didn't have a season with less than 10 losses overall.

0 top 25 finishes.

Add to all this the countless transfers, declining attendance, team gets progressively worse late each season, throwing players under the bus in the media, constantly yelling throughout the game(sit your ass down for one half and not say a word and see what happens for once, jeez), not coaching to his players strengths and instead having players play his style of offense which hasn't worked.

You go ahead and continue defending this mediocre, mid-major coach and I'll keep looking for something better.

[ILLsmak]

ok. lol

I guess my one comment would be... people call our offense shit. I noticed that our guys run the motion and actually end up further away from the basket. They are making catches cutting outwards, outside of shooting range.

If our players mindlessly run motion for 25 seconds, how is that Bruce's fault? An offense is meant to be a blueprint. It's structure from which you can have a chance to make good decisions. But we are content to swing the ball around like "well, bruce told us to run the motion offense..."

-Smak

[bootsy]

ok. lol

I guess my one comment would be... people call our offense shit. I noticed that our guys run the motion and actually end up further away from the basket. They are making catches cutting outwards, outside of shooting range.

If our players mindlessly run motion for 25 seconds, how is that Bruce's fault? An offense is meant to be a blueprint. It's structure from which you can have a chance to make good decisions. But we are content to swing the ball around like "well, bruce told us to run the motion offense..."

-Smak

Because he puts the shitty game plan and shitty motion offense together. It's horrible. COACH TO THESE PLAYERS STRENGTH'S and using the motion offense isn't effective. Take that junk back to SIU or something.

[ILLsmak]

I think you have a misconception of what the motion offense is.

I think a lot of people do because they say, "LOL, THAT'S MOTION? WHY ARE WE DOING THAT SHIT?"

It could be said that our players lack the intelligence to grasp the offense (not that it takes a whole lot) if they are still running it like they are.

The one thing I would say is that Bruce doesn't understand how to align using someone like Meyers Leonard and the motion offense. I think getting him the ball in a situation where he either has to be doubled or can score and then getting Brandon the ball where he is iso-ed with proper spacing are the only two things we need to be able to break free of the motion to do.

Maybe Bruce needs to learn how to relate the motion offense in a different way. He needs to pick up "motion for dummies" or compare it to something our players can understand.

-Smak

[bootsy]

I think you have a misconception of what the motion offense is.

I think a lot of people do because they say, "LOL, THAT'S MOTION? WHY ARE WE DOING THAT SHIT?"

It could be said that our players lack the intelligence to grasp the offense (not that it takes a whole lot) if they are still running it like they are.

The one thing I would say is that Bruce doesn't understand how to align using someone like Meyers Leonard and the motion offense. I think getting him the ball in a situation where he either has to be doubled or can score and then getting Brandon the ball where he is iso-ed with proper spacing are the only two things we need to be able to break free of the motion to do.

Maybe Bruce needs to learn how to relate the motion offense in a different way. He needs to pick up "motion for dummies" or compare it to something our players can understand.

-Smak

I know what the motion offense is. It doesn't work with the type of players Weber recruited. He barely even has a point guard on this team right now. This team is built to push the ball and play in a more up-tempo style offense.

[ILLsmak]

I know what the motion offense is. It doesn't work with the type of players Weber recruited. He barely even has a point guard on this team right now. This team is built to push the ball and play in a more up-tempo style offense.

Which we do... when we can, but once people are back it's like okay now we need to run offense.

the motion works with any players. They just need to adjust the sets. motion is a concept more than anything. I'd liken the motion offense to "playing smart basketball."

But all that aside, do you think we are out of the tourney at this point? By that, I mean, do you think even if we win out that we are out of the tourney?

That'll put us at 19 and we'll get a BTT game to get 20. ****in' illini. This year was going so well for awhile then we just fell apart.

-Smak

[ILLsmak]

WIN.

Had to read the comments on espn, too. People are like "Did the crowd stay in the stands??" lol. So bogus.

Oh well, let's win out and then see what happens in BTT.

-Smak

[DeuceWallaces]

Nail in the coffin.

[bootsy]

Nail in the coffin.

[ILLsmak]

Why are you happy?

-Smak