I recently heard a professional sports GM talk about the importance of drafting and signing "winning players". He defined "winning players" as ones who 1) constantly are working to improve themselves in every way possible 2) come every day fully engaged and giving full effort 3) have high level of attention to detail re/ things like scouting reports, play calls, etc and (perhaps most importantly) 4) not only hold themselves to these standards but hold their teammates to these standards also. It sounds simple, but finding "winning players" is easier said than done in a lot of sports like college basketball.
I argue that you can trace a lot of recent Big Ten basketball success to kids with above traits. Pretty much all the Wisconsin kids seem to fit this profile...Harris, ATucker, Leuer, Kaminsky, Dekker, Brust, Hayes, Happ. DValentine and DGreen come to mind. I watched TBurke shoot step back threes for twenty minutes after a shootaround. ACraft carried OSU for almost half a decade.
it is pretty clear from the last year's events that Illinois does not have these type kids. Cosby, Rice, DPaul, Black, and Nunn clearly have a lot of other crazy priorities. I have seen these kids practice and prepare and have always been amazed at the lack of energy, focus, attention to detail, and peer accountability. Guys show up after practice starts, and nobody says anything - sarcastic or otherwise. They all seem pretty happy to be there - living a quasi-celebrity life. Frankly Finke was the only kid that impressed me otherwise (excepting Tracy, who was just observing).
I fault the coaches for not bringing in the right type kids. Talent trumps attitude at the McDonald AA level. That worked for Groce at OSU and maybe even Ohio on a relative basis. But when you are recruiting 50-150 level kids in a league with as good or better talent, you need guys with other attributes or you need to teach those attributes. This staff has just been blind to that. This is more disappointing to me than anything.
Who si the last Illinois basketball player that outperformed his recruiting ranking? Augustine? Maybe MDavis? But strangely Self had a bunch of those guys in five years here.
I argue that you can trace a lot of recent Big Ten basketball success to kids with above traits. Pretty much all the Wisconsin kids seem to fit this profile...Harris, ATucker, Leuer, Kaminsky, Dekker, Brust, Hayes, Happ. DValentine and DGreen come to mind. I watched TBurke shoot step back threes for twenty minutes after a shootaround. ACraft carried OSU for almost half a decade.
it is pretty clear from the last year's events that Illinois does not have these type kids. Cosby, Rice, DPaul, Black, and Nunn clearly have a lot of other crazy priorities. I have seen these kids practice and prepare and have always been amazed at the lack of energy, focus, attention to detail, and peer accountability. Guys show up after practice starts, and nobody says anything - sarcastic or otherwise. They all seem pretty happy to be there - living a quasi-celebrity life. Frankly Finke was the only kid that impressed me otherwise (excepting Tracy, who was just observing).
I fault the coaches for not bringing in the right type kids. Talent trumps attitude at the McDonald AA level. That worked for Groce at OSU and maybe even Ohio on a relative basis. But when you are recruiting 50-150 level kids in a league with as good or better talent, you need guys with other attributes or you need to teach those attributes. This staff has just been blind to that. This is more disappointing to me than anything.
Who si the last Illinois basketball player that outperformed his recruiting ranking? Augustine? Maybe MDavis? But strangely Self had a bunch of those guys in five years here.
