Illinois basketball fans

[IlliniFan]

No, his job is safe. If the team misses the tournament again next year, then his job may be on the line.

[TheGame414]

Why, specifically, do you love Bruce Weber?

Is it because he's won less than 60% of his games since Dee Brown and James Augustine graduated? Is it because of the terrible recruiting from 2004 to 2008? Is it because a program that won four Big Ten titles and two Big Ten tournament titles from 2000-2006 and never finished more than a game out of first place in that span has finished a combined 25 games out of first place the last four years? Is it because he's failed to connect with so many of his players in recent years? Is it the off-court issues? Is it that we've gone four years without winning a single NCAA tournament game?

Yes, Weber's seat should be hot right now. I don't think he should be fired, though I wouldn't argue with it too much if he was. But if we had an athletic director with balls- we don't- he'd be going into next season knowing that expectations are high. Like, top-two in the Big Ten and the Sweet 16 at the very least. The VERY least. I'm not even asking for a Final Four run like we were all expecting in 2011. Just to get back to the level where Illinois basketball belongs.

Bruce Weber was handed the keys to a Porsche and somehow turned it into a rundown Buick, and you love him? Really? Which team not named Illinois are you secretly a fan of?

[Posterize246]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9pMszg1lRM

what the hell? do the Illinois players respect Weber?

Noticed in the game log that Keller didn't play the rest of that game or the Ohio St game. Hadn't missed a game all year. Suspended for disciplinary reasons or something along those lines I assume?

[wang4three]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9pMszg1lRM

what the hell? do the Illinois players respect Weber?

Noticed in the game log that Keller didn't play the rest of that game or the Ohio St game. Hadn't missed a game all year. Suspended for disciplinary reasons or something along those lines I assume?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cTPso49LlE

It hasn't been a pretty site lately.

[dak121]

So if Weber gets the boot, who do Illinois fans think they can hire that would be an upgrade? Talent is obviously an issue so they'll need a recruiter that can get it done in Chicago.

Someone like Frank Martin out of KSU. A team located in Manhattan, Kansas has no business having the kind of talent they have. That place is even more backwoods than Champaigne/Urbana.

[TheGame414]

He'd have to have at least two more bad years to get fired, so it's not going to happen anyway. And we should be pretty good for at least the next two seasons so he isn't going anywhere anytime soon, even though I personally believe the bar should be set very high for the next two years for him to keep his job. We've underperformed for the better part of four seasons; to set the bar at, say, Big Ten title/Final Four level for him to keep his job next year wouldn't be unreasonable.

But it won't happen, so it isn't worth worrying about. Ron Guenther's not firing him for anything short of a sub-.500 season marred with off-the-court problems.

You know, the kind of season he's already had before.

[IlliniFan]

It's been way too long since we've just blown a team out like that. Feels good to be able to empty the bench with 2+ minutes left instead of having to sweat it out every single game.

[wang4three]

If we beat Dayton and go on to the Final Four, I'm going to buy tickets for MSG. Finally being a NYC Illini pays off... But we have beat them! I'm actually getting excited now.

[wang4three]

argh.... frustrating end to a frustrating season.

[IlliniFan]

argh.... frustrating end to a frustrating season.

Kind of a fitting end.

[ILLsmak]

Why, specifically, do you love Bruce Weber?

Is it because he's won less than 60% of his games since Dee Brown and James Augustine graduated? Is it because of the terrible recruiting from 2004 to 2008? Is it because a program that won four Big Ten titles and two Big Ten tournament titles from 2000-2006 and never finished more than a game out of first place in that span has finished a combined 25 games out of first place the last four years? Is it because he's failed to connect with so many of his players in recent years? Is it the off-court issues? Is it that we've gone four years without winning a single NCAA tournament game?

Yes, Weber's seat should be hot right now. I don't think he should be fired, though I wouldn't argue with it too much if he was. But if we had an athletic director with balls- we don't- he'd be going into next season knowing that expectations are high. Like, top-two in the Big Ten and the Sweet 16 at the very least. The VERY least. I'm not even asking for a Final Four run like we were all expecting in 2011. Just to get back to the level where Illinois basketball belongs.

Bruce Weber was handed the keys to a Porsche and somehow turned it into a rundown Buick, and you love him? Really? Which team not named Illinois are you secretly a fan of?

Don't blame Bruce, blame our mentally weak players who have little leadership or understanding of basketball.

We've had some bad breaks when it comes to recruiting, too. (as you know.)

DJ, Griffey, and Paul are all going to be studs and are making me proud with their understanding of the game as well as skills. That's not to say they don't make mistakes, they do, but overall they are playing the right way.

Next year we will have Final Four talent, but we will still be lead by the same imbeciles. Not only that, but we still won't have a true PG. I think we should go back to the 3 guard offense because that seems to be Bruce's specialty.

But the truth is that Bruce has the right players (especially now) and the right scheme... he puts people in a position to succeed but they just mess up.

To use Dayton as an example, there is no reason we should have allowed so many fast break baskets. There's no reason we should have missed so many free throws, and there is no reason we should have helped hard so many times when they weren't doing a whole lot inside. They basically played us for fools. And their defense was designed perfectly to stop what we wanted to do.

We don't really run as much motion as we'd like to. But the real problem is the adaptability. It seems they all think in black and white and don't realize HEY maybe that isn't working.

I really hope (even though I know it's 99% impossible) McCamey goes in the draft this year. I know he's our most talented player and makes some great plays, but I truly believe he's stunting everyone else's development as well as dominating the ball way too much. I wish we could play some games without him, at least. He's kind of like a bad GF... you think you need him but if you can get away long enough to see things for what they really are and weigh the good against the bad, you realize that things might be better without him.

Oh well,

and I was looking forward to saying we were champions (of something, at least.)

-Smak

[IlliniFan]

I believe that the biggest problem this team had was that only one person on the team was a good passer. Only McCamey. Everyone else is an average or below average passer. Couple that with some lazy defenders and that is a recipe for disaster. The motion needs players that know how to move the ball and find people in the right spots making their cuts.

I've heard a lot of people say that Jereme Richmond is a great passer and that is exactly what the doctor ordered for this team. I've heard reports that Meyers Leonard is also a very good passer. If all I hear is accurate then I can't wait to see the product on the court next year. The improvement from the freshmen and the senior leadership along with the All American freshman (not to mention an athletic 7 footer) coming in should equal a top 15 team at least.

[wang4three]

Smak is partially right in the mental fragility of the team. Guys like Davis, Tisdale, etc. are really either on or they're completely off. We don't go after rebounds as much as we should, we go on long scoring droughts..it hasn't been the prettiest of sights.

Hopefully now that Paul, DJ, and Tyler have a year under their belts they can come out next year with more fervor. I've really liked what I've seen of each of them and am hopeful for the future. In fact I like Tyler so much I wouldn't mind having him take Davis' spot if Mike continues to plays inconsistently from game to game. At this point, no one's starter spot, outside of Demitri's, should be safe or guaranteed. I'm particularly excited to see how DJ will expand his role come next season. This season he was mostly a defender and a jump shooter. I'm eager to see what responsibilities Bruce gives him next and what challenges he is going to take on for himself.

Lastly, I think we need to find a way to get to the line. I..can't understand why it's so hard for us to draw any fouls. I guess all the jump shooting hurts us in that category. I would really like to see us shoot more around 20+FPG or something cause we do have good free throw shooters for once..but doubt it'll change if Tisdale and Davis continue to be our frontcourt for next year.

We should have a pretty stacked team next year. I'm expecting a lot and while I haven't ordered my Fire Bruce T-Shirt, best believe one will be coming in the mail if we have another season like this one.

[TheGame414]

Don't blame Bruce, blame our mentally weak players who have little leadership or understanding of basketball.

We've had some bad breaks when it comes to recruiting, too. (as you know.)

DJ, Griffey, and Paul are all going to be studs and are making me proud with their understanding of the game as well as skills. That's not to say they don't make mistakes, they do, but overall they are playing the right way.

Next year we will have Final Four talent, but we will still be lead by the same imbeciles. Not only that, but we still won't have a true PG. I think we should go back to the 3 guard offense because that seems to be Bruce's specialty.

But the truth is that Bruce has the right players (especially now) and the right scheme... he puts people in a position to succeed but they just mess up.

To use Dayton as an example, there is no reason we should have allowed so many fast break baskets. There's no reason we should have missed so many free throws, and there is no reason we should have helped hard so many times when they weren't doing a whole lot inside. They basically played us for fools. And their defense was designed perfectly to stop what we wanted to do.

We don't really run as much motion as we'd like to. But the real problem is the adaptability. It seems they all think in black and white and don't realize HEY maybe that isn't working.

I really hope (even though I know it's 99% impossible) McCamey goes in the draft this year. I know he's our most talented player and makes some great plays, but I truly believe he's stunting everyone else's development as well as dominating the ball way too much. I wish we could play some games without him, at least. He's kind of like a bad GF... you think you need him but if you can get away long enough to see things for what they really are and weigh the good against the bad, you realize that things might be better without him.

Oh well,

and I was looking forward to saying we were champions (of something, at least.)

-Smak

If you still think Demetri McCamey isn't a true point guard, and that Illinois will be better off without him next year, I don't know what else to tell you. You can't be helped at this point if you still think this is remotely true.

[HisAirness3]

Posted this in another thread so I'll copy and paste, but It was about Jereme Richmond

I Played against Jereme Richmond this season. He didn't do anything special against us, but he was pretty spectacular when I saw him play against another a school though. People were claiming that he was cherry-picking though but the man is a straight up athlete. The dude has to get some muscle if he wants to make it to the pros or make a significant impact for Illinois. He weighs just as much as I do even though I'm like 8-9 inches shorter than him.