There are 99 problems with Illini basketball, and Head Coach John Groce is obviously the primary one.
He got his team off to a 1-3 start this season, and 1965 was the last time an Illinois side began the year that badly. Yes, they beat Chicago State in the end, but that win was actually more embarrassing then any recent Illini basketball loss.
It was more embarrassing than anything Illini basketball has done during the Groce era. It was more shameful than anything the football team did (on the field at least) during the Tim Beckman era.
Here’s a real quote I got from Chicago State coach Tracy Dildy just last month.
Yes, he truly has to convince people that CSU is Division I. Most people don’t know that; and Illinois trailed for nearly the entire game.
March Sadness
The turning point for Illini basketball wasn’t actually the beginning of this season; it was the end of last season. Illinois got off to a dominating start at Purdue in the regular season finale, then started to crumble right before halftime. In the second half, the downward spiral began. Then the Illini failed to show up versus Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament, even though everything was still on the line at the time. Illini basketball could have earned a NCAA Tourney berth, and the first step was beating Michigan’s half a team. The Wolverines were just as injury ravaged then as Illinois is now.
Why the Illini never bothered to show up is a mystery.
In the next game, the opening round of the NIT, they were down 41-15 to lowly Alabama before anyone knew what hit them. Ok, it’s the NIT, and no one cares about the NIT, nor should they, but still you got to put out a better effort than that; at least for pride.
So whatever sent this program into a downward spiral started at the end of last season, not this season.
Injury Issues
Just as Kendrick Nunn and Jaylon Tate return, and this Illini basketball team starts to look substantially better, what happens? Mike Thorne, torn achilles, out indefinitely. So there you go, your one bonafide low post player- done for the season. If you thought the Illinois front court was bad already, look out below now.
Thorne was averaging close to a double double per game. What makes this injury even more unfortunate is that Illinois was just starting to show improvement with their improvement in the holiday tournament.
99 Problems but Rayvonte Rice wasn’t one
Remember when he was supposed to be the problem? That narrative once thrived, but it’s certainly died this season. Groce fiercely guarded all Rayvonte Rice news as if it was the Department of Defense’s nuclear launch codes. He even went full on Marshawn Lynch in a weekly Big Ten conference call. You literally knew more about the situation from looking at Rayvonte Rice’s Instagram page on your phone than you did from attending a Groce media availability.
Whatever Rayvonte Rice did (everything that everybody “knows” about it is all unofficial) or didn’t do, what we do know for sure now is what Illini basketball is without him.
Newly renovated Assembly Hall warms up John Groce’s seat even more
It’s too bad Groce isn’t as good at closing the deal on signing 5-star recruits as he is at repeating motivational cat poster slogans in interviews. Some laud Groce supposed “media skills,” and that’s totally cool when you’re winning, but it rings hollow when the on-the-court product is bad. No one’s going to bother criticizing you incessantly saying “man up” and “no excuses” when you’re in the sweet 16. When you’re losing at home to North Florida and Chattanooga though, it’s just another example of why this hire was such a mistake.
Unless Illinois morphs into a completely different team than the one we saw in November, he’ll be out next season. Especially with a new A.D. coming in. That is if the University ever feels like trying to begin their search.
Firing Groce during the season and going with an interim accomplishes absolutely nothing, so despite the program’s 99 problems right now, it would be right to let him finish this season out.
Point Guard has been a dumpster fire and will be all season long
We’ll cover this in detail in a future article, but “the one” is the one biggest problem Illini basketball has, from an on the court perspective. Well, Groce is a bigger problem on the court, but he’s also a problem off the court, and all the leadership above him is a much bigger problem, but that’s another article, or two or three in itself.
Other Big Ten teams also have serious issues
Illini basketball has serious problems but look at the rest of the Big Ten. Indiana is extremely overrated. Traditional powers Wisconsin and Ohio State are way down. Nebraska has had a disgraceful loss or two. Rutgers and Penn State have looked even more Rutgers and Penn State than they usually are. Michigan looks very vulnerable.
Eleven of the 14 league teams are not ranked, so even though Illini basketball is a total dumpster fire right now, they should be able to scrap together five or six league wins easily.
Reasons to watch/attend the B1G/ACC Challenge Other than Illini basketball
Tomorrow night is the opening of the newly renovated arena. You can also see a solid, consistent, exciting to watch program on the other side in Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are heavily favored in this one, as they should be.
On the other hand, the game is competing with “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on television. Not the live action movie crapola, but the real cartoon that first aired in 1966.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous television and radio talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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