Greg Doyle on Illinois

[Uston]

You think Illinois was a top-ten program program when they hired Bill Self? They won three NCAA tournament games in the 1990's. That's half as many as powerhouses Tulsa and Seton Hall. If you meant that Illinois was one of the ten-best head coaching jobs, that's much more defensible, though still an exaggeration.

[hoyasnaxa]

Every Since Williams and head left, Illinois has gone down the tubes. This years team was one of the most boring teams to watch, they were so painfully ugly. I really hated this years Illinois team and I have nothing against Illinois.

But seriously, other than cheating, how could you ever get someone to play at Illinois? I dont get it, like Huggins getting such a good class next year at Kansas St. He is obv cheating.

[TheNoodleMan]

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for you other guys trolling me, the NCAA used all of its resources on the late 80s, early 90s Illini and came up with zilch. There was an article written on the cars that the players on the team had, nearly all of them were sh!tboxes. Please, continue your baseless accusations and rumor mongering.

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You are so quick to trash other programs for minor infractions or even ratting out other schools, but you get awfully defensive when the same treatment is applied to your school.

[MyTurn2Raise]

completely wrong noodleman

I'm quick to defend when the accusations are baseless and have been documented as so. There were no major infractions surrounding the late 80s/early 90s 'Flying Illini.' The only offenses proved after tons of investigation, man hours, witch-hunts, etc was a late-night pizza and a handful of game tickets.

I'm often the very first person to point out flaws within the Illinois program and have brought negative stories to the top as well. Did I hide the Jamar Smith or Rich McBride DUIs? Would anyone know of the guys stealing from the football team without me posting it?

Uston,
2000-2001 preview
Frank Williams, Marcus Griffin, Brian Cook, Cory Bradford, Sergio McClain, Robert Archibald, Damir Krupalija, Lucas Johnson, and Sean Harrington

Then, just look at the players available in the main recruiting area the next few years. Self missed out on a ton.
Self walked into a top program that Kruger did all the leg work to build. A monkey could coach that team and did as well as Self for the next 3 years.

hoyasnaxa,
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Every Since Williams and head left, Illinois has gone down the tubes. This years team was one of the most boring teams to watch, they were so painfully ugly. I really hated this years Illinois team and I have nothing against Illinois.

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This makes sense to me from the sylistic standpoint, which I have also harped about. It just turned out that the one thing this team could do to win is out-defense other teams. Most people do not like that style of basketball. The whole midwest suffers from playing such a style, and Illinois was the worst, or best depending on viewpoint, abuser of it.

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But seriously, other than cheating, how could you ever get someone to play at Illinois? I dont get it, like Huggins getting such a good class next year at Kansas St. He is obv cheating.

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are you serious?
It's THE state school for the third largest metropolitan area in the United States. An area, that along with the rest of the state, that also happens to have quite a bit of basketball talent. As non-ideal the Chicago-University of Illinois relationship is, Illinois still has a closer relationship to any of the big 3 cities in this country than any other school has with a major city.
-tv exposure (huge Chicago markets #1 team, presence in St. Louis)
-recruiting pool (Illinois, unlike football, has a pretty damn good pool of basketball players)
-huge, avid fanbase
---even though they haven't had the success, Illinois bball fans are very similar to Ohio State football fans in their devotion for better and worse
---set attendence records for the first and second rounds of the NCAA tourney-it's a sea of orange in most places and a strong orange presence everywhere
---Look at sales of Dee Brown's book after leaving the university--$$$$
---Fans have followed and supported as pros
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Fans in Illinois orange were scattered throughout the arena, cheering on Utah's Deron Williams and rookie Dee Brown.

Williams, who led the Illini to the NCAA title game two years ago, scored eight of his 12 points in the first quarter. The second-year pro, making a case for an All-Star selection, had his first two shots blocked -- by Gordon and Wallace. He was 4-of-7 in the opening quarter, hitting a jumper off an inbounds play at the end of the period to give Utah a five-point lead. He took two shots in the second half and did not score.

Brown, meanwhile, did not leave the bench. And that did not sit well with a crowd that chanted "We want Dee" throughout the second half.

"There are always Illinois fans in Chicago," said Williams, whose right shoulder was sore afterward. "They travel everywhere, and they showed up for me and Dee and we appreciate that."

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Mehmet Okur shares his opinion
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Memo who knows several people and has some friends who went to the University Of Illinois back in Turkey recalled that "They are always talking about Illinois basketball. I always thought that was a little strange, but after seeing these guys there must be something in the air or the water at that place. They sure love their players."

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------Williams Jazz jersey is one of the biggest sellers in the Chicagoland market
-----Kendall Gill, Kenny Battle, etc are still on Chicago TV a lot and receive good ratings due to the Illinois fans
-decent tradition and past success (the Illini have only finished under .500 in the Big11ten 3 times in the last 25 years IIRC)
-huge alumni network (helps for life after school)
-good academic reputation (I know-way down the list for most athletes)

Exposure, Love, Close to Home, Chance to Win
pretty easy to explain

The situation is much different than Kansas St

[MyTurn2Raise]

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You are being massively results oriented.

Kruger left for $5m a year in the NBA. The chances he would have left for anything else were slim. Heck, he built a national championship calibur team that he left behind.

Self underachieved with that team, but continued to build a monster, a team that was 6 points away from going 39-0. Do you seriously think he'd be anywhere else had Kansas not opened up? I don't. Simply bad luck where one of the great coaching jobs opened up. He'd still be here otherwise.

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Nope...I think he was waiting for Okie State to open. Kansas opening was just a bit better. I never felt like he had long-term love for the university.

[Clarkmeister]

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You are being massively results oriented.

Kruger left for $5m a year in the NBA. The chances he would have left for anything else were slim. Heck, he built a national championship calibur team that he left behind.

Self underachieved with that team, but continued to build a monster, a team that was 6 points away from going 39-0. Do you seriously think he'd be anywhere else had Kansas not opened up? I don't. Simply bad luck where one of the great coaching jobs opened up. He'd still be here otherwise.

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Nope...I think he was waiting for Okie State to open. Kansas opening was just a bit better. I never felt like he had long-term love for the university.

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So because you *think* he may have taken the Okie St. job if it opened he's suddenly a terrible hire? I don't buy it.