++1000. Fantastic.
++1000. Fantastic.
NopeI know this is a perception bias and has nothing to do with BU, but I can’t help worrying he’s another Bruce Weber
Great guy, good coach, paid his dues, has a great year with the right collection of talent but can’t keep recruiting going to sustain success and it all goes away
Drinking at 10:00 A.M.?I know this is a perception bias and has nothing to do with BU, but I can’t help worrying he’s another Bruce Weber
Great guy, good coach, paid his dues, has a great year with the right collection of talent but can’t keep recruiting going to sustain success and it all goes away
If not...then it's time to startDrinking at 10:00 A.M.?
Disagree. Weber was stuck in ways and runs his system to a fault. Wouldn’t let Tisdale shoot 3’s when he very well may have been the best shooter on the tram. Underwood scrapped his whole system because the analytics said it wasn’t working and with the new system is top 10 in offensive efficiency.I know this is a perception bias and has nothing to do with BU, but I can’t help worrying he’s another Bruce Weber
Great guy, good coach, paid his dues, has a great year with the right collection of talent but can’t keep recruiting going to sustain success and it all goes away
Apparently a habit retained from football seasonDrinking at 10:00 A.M.?
Also, I never remember Bruce placing much value on assistants such as Orlando Antigua who have a strong recruiting presence independent of him.Disagree. Weber was stuck in ways and runs his system to a fault. Wouldn’t let Tisdale shoot 3’s when he very well may have been the best shooter on the tram. Underwood scrapped his whole system because the analytics said it wasn’t working and with the new system is top 10 in offensive efficiency.
On recruiting, he’s done at least as well as Groce so far and has landed a highly rated kid in each of his first 4 classes. Mark Smtih (didn’t work out but was Mr. Basketball w/MSU and Kentucky offers), Ayo, Kofi, Ace and Belo. And that moves to 5 for 5 if we somehow pull Burnett or Boakeye.
And he also seems to be able to find gems who fit his system or have character traits he’s looking for. Feliz was a great find. Griffin wasn’t highly recruited. And it wasn’t Ayo who broke the freshman scoring record, it was Giorgi. Giorgi may have struggled the past 2 years but I don’t think anyone can argue he hasn’t outplayed his ranking here. Too early to tell with Hawkins but he’s certainly shown flashes of being a real player for the next 3 years.
So, I think Brad has shown the ability to adapt based on what analytics show and what personnel he has, is able to successfully implement different systems, is able to pull high level kids (and really, I think the level of kid you want in modern college basketball. Highly rated/recruited but most likely around 2-3 years), and can uncover the occasional diamond in the rough.
BIG will be brutal for the foreseeable future and I doubt we will be in contention for conference titles year in and year out, but I don’t see any reason BU can’t replicate, say Purdue or Wisconsin’s level of success, with a chance to be at an Izzo/Beilen level.
This.Disagree. Weber was stuck in ways and runs his system to a fault. Wouldn’t let Tisdale shoot 3’s when he very well may have been the best shooter on the tram. Underwood scrapped his whole system because the analytics said it wasn’t working and with the new system is top 10 in offensive efficiency.
On recruiting, he’s done at least as well as Groce so far and has landed a highly rated kid in each of his first 4 classes. Mark Smtih (didn’t work out but was Mr. Basketball w/MSU and Kentucky offers), Ayo, Kofi, Ace and Belo. And that moves to 5 for 5 if we somehow pull Burnett or Boakeye.
And he also seems to be able to find gems who fit his system or have character traits he’s looking for. Feliz was a great find. Griffin wasn’t highly recruited. And it wasn’t Ayo who broke the freshman scoring record, it was Giorgi. Giorgi may have struggled the past 2 years but I don’t think anyone can argue he hasn’t outplayed his ranking here. Too early to tell with Hawkins but he’s certainly shown flashes of being a real player for the next 3 years.
So, I think Brad has shown the ability to adapt based on what analytics show and what personnel he has, is able to successfully implement different systems, is able to pull high level kids (and really, I think the level of kid you want in modern college basketball. Highly rated/recruited but most likely around 2-3 years), and can uncover the occasional diamond in the rough.
BIG will be brutal for the foreseeable future and I doubt we will be in contention for conference titles year in and year out, but I don’t see any reason BU can’t replicate, say Purdue or Wisconsin’s level of success, with a chance to be at an Izzo/Beilen level.
The Yankees won't be too bad either.The White Sox are gonna ROCK this year. The only two teams in baseball who are as talented are the Dodgers and the Padres. OK, back to the Illini now.
Weber inherited his talent, BU recruited and developed his. Just brought in Curbelo and Miller, and now Goode and Melendez. Your fears are unfounded.I know this is a perception bias and has nothing to do with BU, but I can’t help worrying he’s another Bruce Weber
Great guy, good coach, paid his dues, has a great year with the right collection of talent but can’t keep recruiting going to sustain success and it all goes away
I know this is a perception bias and has nothing to do with BU, but I can’t help worrying he’s another Bruce Weber
Great guy, good coach, paid his dues, has a great year with the right collection of talent but can’t keep recruiting going to sustain success and it all goes away
Wow! The best Shannon Ryan story I've read. That was awesome.
Tracy Webster was a good recruiter in the first few years before he got a job at Kentucky - we had top ten recruiting classes nationally after Webster left with the DJ, BP Bertrand class and the Myers Leonard, Jeremy Richmond classAlso, I never remember Bruce placing much value on assistants such as Orlando Antigua who have a strong recruiting presence independent of him.
I don't have to pretend, because it's true.I love where we are right now as a team and I hope we can sustain it- but let’s not pretend BU is in a whole other class than Weber as a coach
Where is the thumbs down option?I know this is a perception bias and has nothing to do with BU, but I can’t help worrying he’s another Bruce Weber
Great guy, good coach, paid his dues, has a great year with the right collection of talent but can’t keep recruiting going to sustain success and it all goes away
Just a notch below the White Sox. Right there with the Twins.The Yankees won't be too bad either.
Except Underwood and Co. built this team. Bruce Weber inherited his. There's no parallelism there.
So you're telling me Dee and Deron are #1 and #2 in assists as freshman and they were both freshman the same year? That's what you're telling me? Those effing guys. Never cease to amazeFor funzies, thought I'd look up some all time Illini greats in the assist column as freshman. Total Assists:
159 Dee
145 Deron
115 DMAC (finished 3rd all time in the BIG)
105 Kiwane Garris
104 Ayo
89+ Andre Curbelo
I would project Curbelo to easily get into the top 4, and likely to pass DMAC's totals, especially if they make a run in either the conf tournament or the NCAAs. Keep in mind he's doing this contributing as a sixth man --amazing. His per 8.4 APG per 40 blows away every single one of those players!
Seriously. That's egregious.A slap in the face to BU...IMO. Not sure how he's not on this list.
15 coaches named to Werner Ladder Naismith Trophy Men's Coach of the Year late-season watch list
Mark few is the sole past winner among those named to the Werner Ladder Naismith Trophy Men's Coach of the Year short list.www.ncaa.com
Weber walked into a gold mine. He had a team ready for a couple of deep tournament runs. BU walked into a dumpster fire. He had to build the roster up from scratch, developed his own recruits and since that process started, his teams have systematically broken every embarrassing streak that we've suffered through over the past decade. This was a tournament team last year, it's a tournament team this year and he's going to have guys that he recruited and developed getting their names called in the draft.I know this is a perception bias and has nothing to do with BU, but I can’t help worrying he’s another Bruce Weber
Great guy, good coach, paid his dues, has a great year with the right collection of talent but can’t keep recruiting going to sustain success and it all goes away