Bradds is just a junior. This would have been the 3rd year of Lavert and Bradds on the same roster

This may be the night the fire is formally lit. Mich State is destroying them. Hard for him to circle the wagons after this...if it stands.

Watched part of that game. Looked to me like the guys have given up, and were just going through the motions. Maybe JG can rally the troops and turn things around, but it's going to be pretty hard.

I don't mean to beat a dead horse or make it worse as we think about what could have been but...Rodell Wiggington is having a great year at Buffalo and Nehemias Morillo is doing a solid job at South Florida.

Tony, LeVert, Bradds, Morillo, Wiggington, Maurice, Bean, Stevie, Setty, Wadly (not a bad lineup last year).
Still, I like Tony, Kenny, Jaaron, Treg, Dartis for this year and next year with some bench guys stepping up. Still, LeVert and Bradds would be awesome to watch.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Please, do. I'm curious.

Complaint #1: You don't care that the coach can't recruit? I was watching Big Ten Elite: 1989 Flyin Illini on Youtube earlier this week. If it wasn't for Jimmy Collins, many of those great players, the Nick Anderson's, the Marcus Liberty's, the Kendall Gill's of the world would have gone to other schools. If they don't get those guys, they don't go to the Final 4. The team is just another team meddling in mediocrity, kind of like now. The recruits today need to be recruited by a staff or an assistant who they can relate to, who they feel cares for them. This is where you bring former players back into the fold, people who know what's going on in the city of Chicago, people with established reputations and relationships. Whether it's Roger Powell, Dee Brown, Deon Thomas, whoever else, those guys would make some more in-roads. See Kansas as an example of that. If you want your program to obtain some momentum and have any kind of sustained success, you need to be recruiting some of the higher level talents.

Complaint #2: Groce can't recognize talent----he has flopped on multiple 5th year transfers, he flopped on Cosby, he has flopped most recently on Morgan, Tate, Colbert(although I liked his heart), Black(when healthy, he is not a disciplined player, fouls way too much, doesn't play smart). He's lucky that Hill decided to stay on w/Illinois after Weber was fired, Nunn was a good pickup, he was lucky that Finke's dad played at the school and had the relationship already w/the school, and he did a good job with recruiting JCL. In other words, he has gotten 2-3 players top level talents on his own merit and the others he lucked into due to prior relationships, or has flopped on recruits and transfers more often than not.

Complaint #3: Groce can't develop players----it is my belief that Hill, Nunn, Finke, and JCL, the 4 best players on this current squad, are naturally gifted players/shooters. Has Groce helped them become more polished? Yes, but I think these were already solid talents who have worked on their game or are naturally good shooters that are working with the staff to become better all-around players. But, let's not sugar-coat and say that Groce is the reason they are good. Now, after these 4 kids, we dive deeper into it. Before injuries, Leron Black was a headcase. He was undisciplined, continued to foul out, and made poor mistakes. With the rule changes this year, I expect him to not be able to adapt to that. Mav and Tate are on the all-time backup B10 award list. Neither player has made huge strides during their time. They may have made some small incremental gains but nothing like what we would've expected. Mav did win some awards as a prep in Ohio, didn't he? Why in 2 1/2 years into his college career is he considered more soft than Nick Smith ever was during the Final 4 year? The story on the other 2 freshman is to be determined. I do expect Jordan to become pretty decent but I think DJ Williams will be more likely to turn into another Colbert than to turn into a good player. I don't agree with your notion that he develops players. If that was the case, then why haven't any of his players gone on to the NBA? How many of his players at Ohio U or Illinois have successfully transitioned to the NBA? None to my count.

Complaint #4: Groce can't coach----truth----he needs a competent coaching staff to hide his deficiencies as an X's and O's guy and he doesn't have that. The one thing this team has shown. They cannot consistently adapt to the opposition's changes. They cannot maintain momentum from one game to the next. And the team continues to not execute this supposed game plans they put out and they continue to repeatedly make the same mistakes over and over again. Not just this year, but all 4 years really. Is that the mark of a good coach? Not in my book.


You my friend have accepted mediocrity. That is what I obtained from this post. Now, does Groce get a pass for all the injuries? I guess he has to because we can't fully evaluate him this year. But, I can sure evaluate him from the last couple of years combined with this year and my evaluation shows an average coach trying to moonlight in the big old tough B10 conference. And our standings in the B10 each year prove that point.