XZero771679666304

The one where we don't blast them. How's our commit list look for '13? James and Hill don't look like they are dangers to de-commit, and I have a good feeling about Kendrick Nunn. I'd like to see a big man added to the list, though.

All conjecture at this point. All of those have been rumored but not substantiated to any meaningful degree.

Maybe it's as simple as wanting to get a mild mannered, squeaky clean guy in there on the heels of Martin. To people who don't know any better, he could be sold as being a good coach. Still, it's surprising.

The pendulum has really swung in Manhattan, going from the maniac to the mollycoddler. Best of luck to Bruce, though.

Miller was a fool's hope, and it's doubtful in the extreme it was even a possibility. I think it was a case of Illini fans creating hope. Hamilton is too old and Romar isn't all that good. Grant is a name that was tossed around quite a bit, but to what extent he was considered/interested is pretty hazy. There's a lot of bad information and conjecture floating around and obscuring just what was really going on. Here's an article that clear some of it up, but not a whole lot.

I think he was, are you familiar with Mike Thomas' history with Ohio? At worst I think he was #4 or #5, if you believe that Grant was targeted but preemptively denied interest.

Arena, facilities, money plus good tradition/history and a national name. they also have the largest basketball budget in the country, although one could argue that they get the least production from every dollar spent than any other top 25 program. Given that budget, the fact they have Pitino and the hoops crazy nature of the state, it's pretty shocking they haven't been a lot more successful in recent years.

I wouldn't say he's a lifer, but what better jobs are going to open up soon? There aren't a ton. Most of the elite have pretty good, young coaches in place. You never know when one of these guys might get the itch to take an NBA job or something. I'm not expecting Groce to leave, but I don't expect him to stay for 10-15 years either (but he might, who knows). It just seems a sensible position to take.

Well he grew up a fan of Indiana and you seem to be covered. He says he's a big Ten guy, has been a fan his whole life. I really don't see him leaving here on his choice, but who knows. I don't get the sense Groce would be an Illini "lifer", but as long as the program is in good shape the key is the follow-up hire.

Yeah, McCamey seemed to disintegrate on his own for the most part. This entire past season put all of Weber's weaknesses on full display. It was a veritable symphony of incompetence. Poor discipline (by all indications), poor roster management and some of the worst in game coaching I've ever seen. Weber was seemingly incapable of adjusting strategy to fit personnel which has always been a problem, but never as glaringly so as this year. This year really snowballed on him. I thought after the Ohio State game he might actually get some momentum and figure things out. He didn't at all, in fact that was probably his last hurrah. I thought we were in trouble after the OSU game. The team had been skating by in many of their wins, not operating the way they should (not running the "offense" through Leonard) and while the win was nice, Paul dropping 43 in a performance he could never repeat was a bad omen. Weber should have kept BP's feet on the ground, but the focus of the offense just kept getting further and further from where it should have been. I think Bruce just wasn't a strong enough personality and was in over his head strategically. Even if the frothing, Thomas hating lunatics were right and his treatment of Weber broke him and the team, that says a whole lot more about the coach than the AD. Bruce had shown all of his weaknesses at points over the past 9 years, but they all came together this season. The poor guy was just in over his head.

Yeah, McCamey seemed to disintegrate on his own for the most part. This entire past season put all of Weber's weaknesses on full display. It was a veritable symphony of incompetence. Poor discipline (by all indications), poor roster management and some of the worst in game coaching I've ever seen. Weber was seemingly incapable of adjusting strategy to fit personnel which has always been a problem, but never as glaringly so as this year.

Well, that was an interesting few pages. When thinking about what constitutes a "great job", I would assess based on how successful a program can likely be with the resources at hand. Being as objective as I can be, it's hard to look at Illinois' recruiting base, fan base, history and revenue and say it isn't a top 10-15 job. The fact that Weber crapped the bed for the past 9 years (I like the guy, but I can't give him too much credit for 2004-06) doesn't change the fact that Illinois has resources to draw from that the overwhelming majority of programs do not. That Smart and Stevens turn UI down isn't a valid way to gauge the value of the job. That's just stupid. Stevens wasn't going anywhere and by all accounts Smart's decision had much to do with doubts over being able to recruit the CPL. Both are beloved, comfortable and already well paid where they are. As SSR pointed out, even blue bloods like UNC and UK have had to work down their list of candidates in recent years. The program's rep certainly isn't at its peak, but from a "what can I realistically do with this program" point of view, it has to be a top 10-15 job. Is it on the level of UNC, Kentucky, Kansas or Duke? Obviously not. Is it even where it was 6-7 years ago? Probably not. But it is a very, very good job. That's why analysts (not just loony Illini fans) called the UI job a top 10 job and said Smart "couldn't turn it down" or "would be crazy to turn it down", etc., etc. As for Groce, my increased optimism has more to do with what others (colleagues, analysts, potential recruits) have had to say about him than with what he has said.

The more I read about and hear from Groce, the more optimistic I am. I am especially pleased with the reception his hire is getting from potential recruits like Nunn. I think his aggressive and adaptive style will really appeal to the CPL kids, and will utilize current players like Paul, Bertrand, Abrams and Henry much, much more effectively than Weber did. It seems (and everything I've read) indicates he's a lot more intense, energetic and focused then Weber, which will be welcome. He doesn't seem to be lacking in confidence, which will help him weather Mike Thomas' injurious tyranny without his psyche cracking and causing long losing streaks. And D.J. Cooper talking up Groce at every turn won't hurt anything, that's for sure. It'll be interesting to see how his staff turns out, but I'm more confident now that Howard could leave and he'd still be alright recruiting Chicago. On a related note, I've heard more from Thomas today than in previous months, and I have to say I like the way he conducts himself. Confident and to the point. I doubt that the failure to land Smart had anything to do with a lack of salesmanship on his part.

I'm not convinced the offense is putrid. It's not very good, but it could be decent with a moderate amount of luck. I have Soto and Castro pegged for big years. This isn't exactly going out on a limb, but the offense really hinges on Stewart and LaHair, the former moreso because I don't see LaHair holding out beyond July. If Stewart could manage an .800 OPS (unlikely, but not out of the question), the offense could be passable. If Sori has any kind of renaissance, it could be decent. Of course I'm counting on DeJesus to be what he has been throughout his career outside of 2011. The bench is pretty bad, but Clevenger is a step up from Hill, at least. If (when) Mather falls on his face Sappelt can be recalled. But what will make the 2012 Cubs as good or better than the 2011 team is the rotation. It's hard to overstate just how bad the back half was for most of 2011, a situation that would require an absolute catastrophe to be repeated. I think the Cubs start out slow, but rebound in the second half in part because of the schedule and in part because of BJax and Rizzo. I'll guess 73-78 wins. If the biggest variables all break right (Stewart, LaHair and Soriano all OPS over .800 and Marmol returns to form), this team is capable of winning 80-85 games. But the odds of that happening are pretty long.

It was my understanding that Maples was being held in XST primarily because they are overhauling his mechanics.

I keep thinking Martin should be a target, but the fact that he's a frothing lunatic makes me wary. I'm having a hard time thinking of remaining candidates who really stand out.

I don't think this went all that badly, if we get Groce. He kept dropping awful names in respect to Groce. Gill and Lickliter. Both of those guys never showed the ability to recruit. Groce has. I like the hire, if we do in fact hire him. Turner Gill was supposedly a good recruiter while at Nebraska. He had moderate success in the MAC. Ok say they are even, I don't think they are, but going to KU for football is a lot harder than going to Illinois for basketball. Kansas has no recruiting base at all in football Illinois has a pretty solid one established. I think there is a lot better chance for success here. Illinois BB's rep isn't exactly at its zenith, but it's far more attractive than KU football, that's for sure.

We could do a lot worse than Groce. We could do better, but it would hardly be a hire to freak out over. Most rave about him as a recruiter (iirc, Rivals named him "Recruiter of the Year" once) and he's not half bad as an X's & O's coach. If he has staff members around him who have Chicago connections, he could really be a sleeper.

I wasn't entirely sold on Stevens. I'm a bit disappointed, but I had some questions about his ability to recruit and his style of play. He was not my first choice. He and Smart had rebuffed other big name schools recently, so it's not surprising, thought I'm not sure what favors they think they are doing themselves. With Groce at least there is the hope he will be a really good recruiter, with his history at tOSU. An effective recruiter with Howard and possibly Robert Smith as an assistant may get the Chicago-Champaign pipeline flowing, which would obviously be huge. And I'm becoming less and less convinced that Theus would be a poor hire. He did a great job at NMSU (they still rave about him down here), he did as good a job as you could possibly expect at Sacramento and I think he'd be a great recruiter (He's been connected to Jabari Parker, iirc).

Nope, just a swirling pot of despicable. But that'll make it easier to "root" for OSU.

I'd rather die. Finally something we agree on. Being an IU fan makes even IU fans want to die? I've long suspected as much.

Unless the person trying you was a Bears fan who probably tainted the video. Or even worse, NFL Network makes up a story in wanting to be the first one to reporting it and they find out it was a mistake. In which case you'd avoid suspension even though what was reported was true. Obfuscation of the truth FTW! And you would prove your case and you would be proven innocent by the court system, and if NFL Network doesn't leak a false story it never becomes news. Feel bad for others who might end up getting a tainted video as well. Well, if the story were proven to be false.

I loved this part: He was the screaming he was innocent from Day 1, and guess what? He was, failed test not withstanding. Why don't these people get over it? They just need to move on. Jeez, haters.

Unless the person trying you was a Bears fan who probably tainted the video. Or even worse, NFL Network makes up a story in wanting to be the first one to reporting it and they find out it was a mistake. In which case you'd avoid suspension even though what was reported was true. Obfuscation of the truth FTW!

i just got banned until saturday for defending an AD not named guenther Lol, I'm pretty sure I was reading some of that. The moderation over there is a freaking joke, as are about half the posters. Sometimes I'm tempted to jump in over there, but I don't want to get [expletive] on my shoes, so to speak.