@Illinois Forum Thread

From containing to hoping and praying for misses.

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Whatā€™s killing this is that Hackett gave JB an extension before he left for pretty much no reason. Buyout would be much less had that extension not been given.

If Beilein were able to transfer his 17 class to 15, I think weā€™d all be singing a different tune. Just really difficult to recover from 3 straight classes of no impact freshman. That said, I do remember the team turning it around after starting 1-8 roughly 5 years ago. Maybe there is some fight left.

That team had a Novak, a Douglass, a Hardaway, a J-Mo, a Morris. So much heart and hustle. God what Iā€™d give to have Zack and Jordan on this teamā€¦

Haha, come on man. Thereā€™s no life and there hasnā€™t been life for 3 years. Rip the bandaid off Warde.

We have lived to see a day where MattD is called out for his optimism on the program. I have seen it all.

Immediately floats up into the clouds

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Long season. Very weak big ten. Can definitely still turn it around. But if he misses the tournament with one of the most experienced teams in the league, itā€™s very fair to let him go rather than choose to rebuild.

IMO it doesnā€™t get better next year (unless Bamba miracle). Itā€™s 2 years from now where we see a major difference. Thatā€™s too long to wait for even some moderate success if we really do miss out on postseason play to end the Irvin/Walton era

When I train kids my punch line is ā€˜you have to be willing to die for the gameā€™. Obviously I donā€™t mean that literally, but the point is that players have to be willing to provide elite effort mentally and physically when theyā€™re out of breath, when the opposition is being physical, when the play isnā€™t run for you.

This team simply does not have personnel that are willing to die for the game so to say. And the coach does not hold them accountable for it either.

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The only reason for hope now is that teams will take us lightly and think we are an easy win and then we finally step up. Kind of like Wisconsin last year.

Wisconsin before or after they had a mid-season head coaching changeā€¦

Our views on this are in perfect harmony right now. I couldnā€™t have said it better.

Just like I was measuring John Beilein objectively when he was winning, Iā€™m going to measure the team/Beilein objectively now. The season isnā€™t over, so there is the possibility of him getting the team to rally and getting into the tournament. Iā€™ve never been the type to over-react to individual games for the most part, and Iā€™m not going to do it now either.

after the change

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Minus a Bamba miracle, who of the 17 recruits are coming in and turning this sieve of a defense around next year?

Certainly not Brooks or Poole, Livers wonā€™t be a factor because DJ is going to get 30-35mpg.

Could Livers play the 3 with Matthews at the 2 in a potential ā€œdefensiveā€ lineup? He occasionally plays Irvin at 2 and Robinson at 3 this year so it seams feasible.

Donā€™t know if Livers has the type of agility to defend 3s on a regular basis. I think a 2-3 zone would be a realistic option at that point with Matthews, Livers, DJ, Mo. Thatā€™s a lot of length on the floor.

Anything but the 1-3-1. Holy hell it is long overdue for that to be thrown in the garbage.

Iā€™m thinking JB is too stubborn to try a 2-3.