Mike Thomas to be on the score 670 at 10 am

[Drama]

http://www.mlive.com/spartans/index.ssf/2012/02/illinois_coach_bruce_weber_mig.html

"It is kind of disturbing when administrators make statements like that," Izzo said Monday, also revealing that Weber had two coaching opportunities elsewhere last year and chose to stay with the Illini. "(Administrators) don't realize, if you're really strong ? and I'm not condemning or condoning or anything else, because I don't know him ? but if you're really strong, it's like the bully in the playground, the one that talks it, is not usually the toughest guy. The one that just stands back and evaluates and is able to take the punch of fans complaining or media people complaining, that evaluation, that make that every year for all of us.

"Ninety percent of the time it's just done behind closed doors. And that's way the real strong people handle it. If you've got to be out talking about it, it must mean you fear things yourself, if you ask me."

I'm starting to think Izzo is right... We'll see I guess!

[Big Phil]

again, the AD is going to look at the entire body of work, and where we are in terms of:

1) Winning B10 games
2) Winning Tourney Games

and he has said as much. That is not out of line. He is not going to care what Tom Izzo thinks. Tom Izzo is MSU's coach, he is not responsible for Illinois athletics, which has won ONE NCAA tourney game in 6 years.

Those are just facts, and may the decision fall where it does and we move on with or without a new coach.

[Drama]

again, the AD is going to look at the entire body of work, and where we are in terms of:

1) Winning B10 games
2) Winning Tourney Games

and he has said as much. That is not out of line. He is not going to care what Tom Izzo thinks. Tom Izzo is MSU's coach, he is not responsible for Illinois athletics, which has won ONE NCAA tourney game in 6 years.

Those are just facts, and may the decision fall where it does and we move on with or without a new coach.

I agree but the point is he shouldn't be out running his mouth about it IMO.  Keep it professional!

Going out of the way to make the situation look worse is not going to help our program.  Some people just have no sense of respect.  I do not like seeing someone like Izzo making our AD look bad in public.  No top tier coach is going to even look at the UI job with guys like Izzo out there making Thomas seem like a jerk. 

This is a huge problem IMO! 

[Big Phil]

but he's not running his mouth, he's doing interviews like every AD does.

The NW AD was on the score the other day, as was Depauls. They are trying to drum up interest in the schools since attendance and money is down everywhere I am sure.

I want the AD to let me know what is up, he is Bruce's Boss after all 

[Big Phil]

Now drama if Thomas was on the score every day (this was his first time) then I would agree with you


( and EVERYONE knows Izzo is Bruce's friend and will stick up for him, if we pay, we will get most coaches to jump at this job.)

[hhbj]

Now drama if Thomas was on the score every day (this was his first time) then I would agree with you


( and EVERYONE knows Izzo is Bruce's friend and will stick up for him, if we pay, we will get most coaches to jump at this job.)

No, you will not. You will get a second rate coach or a k.sampson. I worked in management for 20 of my 30 years at Cat. One thing no manager ever did was talk in the open about someone job performance in front of people. If they did no one would ever take a job working for that manager, because if he did it once he'll do it again. Weber may or may not be gone, but why MT would ever say anything in public is nuts. Maybe the kids aren't playing at the top of their gam because they think what's the use, the fans, the AD all want our coach gone, so why should we care anymore. Heck no wonder the team is going backwards!

[Drama]

but he's not running his mouth, he's doing interviews like every AD does.

The NW AD was on the score the other day, as was Depauls. They are trying to drum up interest in the schools since attendance and money is down everywhere I am sure.

I want the AD to let me know what is up, he is Bruce's Boss after all 

I'm not saying Thomas came out and openly said anything about Bruce but he is for sure not giving his support either.  He hints at things almost reassuring change will happen.  I'm not saying he should get rid of coach but keep it on the down low.  We could end up with Quinn Snyder or something if this keeps up.  The media loves to spin these things out of control.  It's a viral monster today and they can and will spin anything to get ratings etc...  Better off to avoid it imo. 

It just comes off as egotistical to go on any media outlet and even entertain the questions about Bruce.  The response should be "No Comment" Or we will talk about that after the season is over. 

The guy has done nothing but good while he has been here at least have the respect to let it ride and and let him go with decency.  The last thing we need is a bad rep for our AD who has only been at the University for 6 months.   

[obmtl]

I listened to that podcast TWICE. I didn't hear anything that I thought was out of line. Thomas said he would evaluate at the end of the season, just like every other coach and every other program. He has said that from day 1 when he came to Illinois. When the person who supported Weber expressed that support all he said was that he was happy to have a passionate fan base. Same thing he said when people commented the other way.  He stayed neutral to positive and negative comments about Weber. The interpretation that he didn't support Weber is baseless IMO because he was not asked if he supported Weber or not. He was asked about criteria he would use in the evaluation, which he answered. His criteria do not bode well for Weber, but IMO they are reasonable criteria - total body of work, competing for or at least being in the discussion about championships, thinking about where we will be seeded rather than whether or not we will even be in the NCAA tourney, evaluation of the direction of the trendline of the program, academics and off court things, attendance and fan support. He specifically said that attendance was a factor, but not high on the list of factors he would consider. I did not get the impression that he was in any way being swayed either way by public opinion or airing an evaluation already made. The writer of this piece is IMO out to lunch.

Izzo didn't hear Thomas on the radio and said he hadn't read anything about the situation.

Izzo, uncharacteristically, shot off his mouth without either having heard the questions and comments from Thomas or having read the ESPN article. He has no credibility in this particular case IMO. He should know better.

[matfive2]

again, the AD is going to look at the entire body of work, and where we are in terms of:

1) Winning B10 games
2) Winning Tourney Games

and he has said as much. That is not out of line. He is not going to care what Tom Izzo thinks. Tom Izzo is MSU's coach, he is not responsible for Illinois athletics, which has won ONE NCAA tourney game in 6 years.

Those are just facts, and may the decision fall where it does and we move on with or without a new coach.

I agree but the point is he shouldn't be out running his mouth about it IMO.  Keep it professional!

Going out of the way to make the situation look worse is not going to help our program.  Some people just have no sense of respect.  I do not like seeing someone like Izzo making our AD look bad in public.  No top tier coach is going to even look at the UI job with guys like Izzo out there making Thomas seem like a jerk. 

This is a huge problem IMO!

He wasn't running his mouth, he said the same bland, obvious, non-committal statements saying that he will evaluate the body of work at the end of the season that most GMs and ADs say about the HCs of their programs/franchises.

So I'm not sure what "huge problem" you are referring to. What exactly were you looking for him to say? Maybe you wanted him to give BW the good ol' vote of confidence or even better say BW has been doing a good job, the program is moving in the right direction, 1 NCAA tourney victory in 5 years is acceptable, etc.......

Why in the world would anyone in their right mind say anything like that about BW or the program right now? I'd label said person as being delusional. I think Thomas took the high road and gave the standard line which I've heard over and over again in sports.

In fact, the BlackHawks GM just said basically the same thing about Coach Q as Thomas said about BW......

[matfive2]

http://www.mlive.com/spartans/index.ssf/2012/02/illinois_coach_bruce_weber_mig.html

"It is kind of disturbing when administrators make statements like that," Izzo said Monday, also revealing that Weber had two coaching opportunities elsewhere last year and chose to stay with the Illini. "(Administrators) don't realize, if you're really strong ? and I'm not condemning or condoning or anything else, because I don't know him ? but if you're really strong, it's like the bully in the playground, the one that talks it, is not usually the toughest guy. The one that just stands back and evaluates and is able to take the punch of fans complaining or media people complaining, that evaluation, that make that every year for all of us.

"Ninety percent of the time it's just done behind closed doors. And that's way the real strong people handle it. If you've got to be out talking about it, it must mean you fear things yourself, if you ask me."

I'm starting to think Izzo is right... We'll see I guess!

Let me fix that for ya: I'm starting to think Izzo is right an idiot and should shut the f*ck up... We'll see I guess!

LOL at Izzo anyway, of course he wants Bruce to stay, it means more easy victories and less competition in his team's quest for continued Big Ten success.......