Well Illini faithful, the last week wasn't one that some Illinois faithful were expecting. A loss at Northwestern, followed up a few nights later by a home defeat at the hands of Purdue.
These were two games many fans had expected to win rather easily. A few friends said to me before the Northwestern game, "We'll be in good shape being 4-1 in the B1G when Michigan St. comes to town."
In the immortal words of Lee Corso, "Not so fast my friends!"
Something happened on the way to that 4-1 record. Depending on the fan(atic) you listen to, it could have been one of a couple of reasons:
1) The refs. What a suprise, the refs screwed us again. We get called for EVERY LITTLE THING! Yet, the other team can perform muggings and never get called for a foul. Another favorite of mine. "Hey ref, how 'bout a traveling call?" "That guy went from 15' out to right under the basket and the ball never touched the floor!" Priceless.
2) Tight rims. Yep, I heard this about the Northwestern game. Oh the whining..."How can our guys make a shot when the rims are tighter than"..well, you get the idea.
3) My favorite, and most ridiculous..."That damned Groce doesn't know what he's doing!" "He's getting outcoached."
Really? I heard this during, and after the Purdue game. The fan(atic)s were really on a roll with this one. I actually heard that there were post-game calls saying that Illinois AD, Mike Thomas, has no other choice than to fire John Groce.
Folks, I can put up with just so much ignorance before I have to say something. Fire Groce!? You're joking? Fire the guy who took a team that basically quit on Bruce Weber the year before, to the NCAA tournament. Fire the guy who is FINALLY getting recruits that will make this program successfull for years to come?
How can a coach be such a genius one week and such a dummy the next? Fan(atic)s. That's how.
This is the Big Ten boys and girls. Big-boy basketball.
You see, coach Groce was left with a couple of "good players this season. Lets not kid ourselves. Nnanna Egwu, Joe Bertrand, and Tracy Abrams are not the type of players that will take far in the NCAA's...IF they make the NCAA's. The best player on the team, Ravonte Rice, Groce got to transfer in from Drake, after the previous staff failed to even recruit him. Speaking of the previous staff, they did such a fine job of evaluating talent, that this years team only sophomore is a walk-on.
So, to fill out the starting 5, Groce has to bring in a 5th year senior, John Ekey. His depth? The 5 freshman that was his first recruiting class. And we all know that other than a very few exceptions, freshman don't help you that much.
You fanatics out there. Quit calling for Groce's head. Most reasonable fans knew this might be a tough season. Stop blaming the rims. (They didn't seem to bother Northwestern). The refs didn't cost Illinois either game. I can't think of one game when the refs caused a team to shoot 30%.
Hang in there. Things will get better starting next year. You'll see.
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