Illini Basketball: A 2011-12 Season Preview

It seems like it's been forever since the Illini basketball team played in a game that counted, but on Friday, the Illini will open their season against Loyola, and I'm looking forward to having meaningful basketball games to talk about again.  That certainly beats going over what's happened to our basketball team during the last five seasons.  I've already made my feelings on Bruce Weber known, and I don't want to spend too much time re-hashing that discussion, because I'm tired of it.  I'm tired of not feeling invincible on our home court.  I'm tired of being a bubble team, needing to win games in the Big Ten Tournament just to make the NCAA tournament.  But most of all, I'm tired of our team being completely out of the picture when it comes not only to national championships, but also to Big Ten championships.  So probably the best news about the new season is that one way or the other, by March we should have our answer on the "fire Bruce Weber" question.

OK, now that I'm done talking about the past, it's time to look at the present. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

One year ago today, I came up with a bold, innovative idea that promised to revolutionize the way we viewed Internet sports coverage.  But instead of pursuing that idea, I started this blog. When I first put fingers to keyboard, I had no idea my favorite teams would provide so much material.  So on the occasion of the first birthday of "The Frustrated Fan", let's take a look at some of the highlights from my first year of blogging:

• The Cubs made a nearly seamless transition from a hopeless, crappy 2010 season to a hopeless, crappy 2011 season.
• The Bears surprisingly won the NFC Central and hosted the NFC Championship Game (that's good)...which they lost to the Packers, who went on to win the Super Bowl (that's bad).
• With an exciting freshman QB at the helm, the Illini football team overcame the frequently idiotic coaching of Ron Zook and won their first bowl game of the new millennium.
• Bruce Weber finally won an NCAA tournament game at Illinois without players recruited by Bill Self, then lost in the next round of the tournament to a team full of players recruited by Bill Self.
• And (perhaps) best of all, Ron Guenther's reign as Illinois Athletic Director came to a peaceful end.

So many memories - and so many questions still to be answered in the upcoming year:

• Which veterans will the Cubs dump at the trade deadline?  With over $40 million in payroll coming off the books in 2012, whom will the Cubs bring in to upgrade next year's roster?  And will Jim Hendry be the GM doing that off-season upgrading?
• Will the NFL lockout end in time for the season to begin as scheduled?  And wouldn't a cancelled NFL season actually be better than the alternative - a season in which the Packers stand a good chance to repeat as Super Bowl champions?
• Can Zook build on last season's success after losing his best offensive player and two best defensive players to the NFL draft?  If not, how much longer will the new AD (whoever (s)he is) keep him around?
• Shouldn't a basketball team which possesses three consecutive highly-ranked recruiting classes and plays a relatively soft non-conference schedule and in a weak Big Ten be able to comfortably make the NCAA tournament?  And if Weber's Illini spend another Selection Sunday on the bubble (or worse), how much longer will the new AD (whoever (s)he is) keep him around?

Stick around to get the answers to these (and many more) questions.  It's sure to be a better "Year Two" than the Ricketts family is having!

The NBA Draft - Illini-free since 2006

One of Bruce Weber's five-year droughts ended in March, when the Illini beat UNLV for their first NCAA tournament win since 2006.  However, another Weber drought continues - the Illini still have not had a player taken in the NBA draft since Dee Brown and James Augustine were second-round picks in the 2006 draft.  Yes, Demetri McCamey was never a high-end prospect, and yes, Jereme Richmond was a big-time headcase.  But it's frustrating to know that schools like Cleveland State, Hofstra, Oakland, and Charleston all managed to have players taken in this year's draft, but not one player recruited by Weber has ever been drafted.

As for McCamey and Richmond  - I wish things had turned out better for you two this evening, but here's hoping that both of you can catch on with NBA teams that can find spots for you on their rosters.

Bulls Season Ends, Conspiracy Theory Season Begins

Almost a year into this blog, and this is my first NBA post, because even though I'm a sports fan I'm just not really into the NBA. I know, I know - these are the best basketball players in the world, playing at a ridiculously high level - what's not to like? Well, the regular season is too long, and too many teams make the playoffs, which makes the playoffs take too long (and why did the Bulls and Heat have four days off between games 2 and 3?), especially considering that the NBA is the least competitively-balanced of the four major leagues (only eight different teams have won championships in the last 30 years). It's great when you're a fan of a "have" (Lakers, Celtics, Jordan-era Bulls), but not so great for everyone else. But last night's season-ending Bulls loss compelled me to write for a couple of reasons:

It's not a Dream, Illini Fans - Ron Guenther Retires!

Great days in Illini sports history:

October 29, 1983 - Illinois beats Michigan to all but lock up a trip to the Rose Bowl.

March 26, 2005 - Illinois overcomes 15-point deficit to Arizona to advance to the Final Four

May 16, 2011 - Ron Guenther announces he is retiring from his post as Athletic Director after 19 years on the job.

After making brief comments, Bruce Weber and Ron Zook were last seen purchasing large quantities of Pepto Bismol at the thought of actually being held responsible for on-field/on-court results. As for Illini fans, who suffered through Guenther's seemingly endless tolerance for mediocrity, the response was nearly universal:

Jereme Richmond, ex-Illini: The End of a (Very Short) Era

In November, 2006, less than two months after Eric Gordon stabbed Illini nation in the heart by reneging on his commitment to the Orange and Blue, Bruce Weber secured a commitment from a talented freshman named Jereme Richmond shortly after watching Richmond play his first high school game. It's fair to say that Richmond may have been the most highly anticipated recruit in Illini history. Illini fans waited four years for Richmond to arrive on campus, during which time he never wavered in his commitment. As other recruits, starting with the highly-regarded class of 2009, began to jump on board, Illini fans and the national media could sense something special building in Champaign for the 2010-11 season. Richmond was expected to be a big part of that - a versatile, athletic player with a mean streak that the team's upperclassmen lacked.

Instead of something special, however, we got more of the same from the Illini basketball team. Maddening losses to inferior teams. A .500 record in conference play. The inability to execute in close games. Chemistry problems. It all added up to a 20-14 season which ended in the "third round" (f/k/a "the second round") of the NCAA tournament. And unfortunately, Richmond was a big part in the season, but for all of the wrong reasons. He was as inconsistent as the team, occasionally putting up big numbers (witness his double-double against Ohio State), but often disappearing for long stretches. He was benched for the loss at Wisconsin after leaving the team for a few days, and didn't play in either of the team's NCAA tournament games after being suspended for unspecified rules violations. And today, after several weeks of smoke coming from the Interwebs, came the announcement that the Jereme Richmond era will end after just one season, as Richmond will enter the NBA draft and not return for his sophomore season in college.

I've been pretty rough on Bruce Weber this year and I still think he should be fired, but I'm finding it hard to fault his handling of Richmond. Clearly, Weber had to recruit him and stick with him - fans would not have been pleased if another highly-touted in-state player got away - even though Richmond had several unpleasant incidents during his high school career including getting kicked off his team for, among other transgressions, fighting with a teammate. (Does that count as foreshadowing?) If Weber did anything wrong with Richmond, it was not giving him a starting spot in the lineup right away, as future high-level recruits may wonder if they'll have to sit behind a grinder like Bill Cole if they come to Illinois. But as a short term proposition, giving more minutes to Richmond probably wouldn't have helped us win many more games this year, as Richmond never really played up to his ranking, and it's possible (probable?) that Richmond would have left after this year no matter how Weber had dealt with him.

Unfortunately, Richmond's departure leaves the 2011-12 Illini with a huge hole to fill. The team already has to replace four seniors, and now there are only two returning players on the roster (Brandon Paul and DJ Richardson) who have logged significant minutes. With Richmond gone there are no proven inside players on the team, and we'll be relying on a transfer from Bradley who missed last season with an injury (Sam Maniscalco) to help freshman Tracy Abrams run the point. The incoming 2011 class is talented, versatile, and deep but lacks star power - it's not like we're bringing in multiple McDonald's All-Americans next year.

The last time Illinois made wholesale changes to their roster like this was the 2002-03 season, but that year's freshmen (including Dee Brown, James Augustine, and Deron Williams) could lean on seniors Brian Cook (and Sean Harrington). By contrast, the 2011-12 Illini will have only one senior - Maniscalco, who has yet to suit up for the team. To me, the current scenario is more reminiscent of the 1998-99 Illini team, which replaced five senior starters with several talented (but not super-talented) underclassmen. That team, of course, finished in last place in the Big Ten. One saving grace for next year - the 98-99 Big Ten was loaded (seven NCAA tournament teams, 2 final four teams), while the 2011-12 Big Ten will be weak, which might help keep the team from sinking too far in the standings. Still, this doesn't look like the kind of situation in which a coach on the hot seat - and Weber will be on the hot seat next year - would want to find himself. Given all of the uncertainty surrounding the program right now, if the team struggles in 2011-12 it's likely that the end of the Jereme Richmond era will be followed by the end of the Bruce Weber era.

Six Years Ago Tonight...

Saturday, March 26, 2005, was the date of one of the greatest moments (if not the greatest moment) in Illini basketball history. I still enjoy watching these highlights of the comeback against Arizona, but now it depresses me when I get to the end because it makes me realize (1) how far we've fallen as a program, and (2) that as long as Bruce Weber is our head coach, we'll never get to see our team cut down the nets again.

Bill Self Used to Coach at Illinois? No Way! Illinois-Kansas Preview

As Illinois gets set to face #1 seed Kansas on Sunday night, you may hear something about Kansas coach Bill Self being the coach at Illinois before Bruce Weber was. I think there's some sort of federal law that anyone who writes about college basketball has to mention it in his/her preview of the game, and I'm sure we'll hear about it at least thirty times during tonight's broadcast. I don't want to spend any time in a federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison, so to be safe, I've gotten that out of the way right up front.

Now, before we get to tonight's game, I need to say one more thing about Friday's win over UNLV. Of course I'm glad we won, and I'm especially happy for the seniors for winning an NCAA tournament game. But some of the extreme Weber supporters are going a little over the top in their celebration, as if the win validates everything they've said to prop up Weber, when all we did was win an 8/9 seed game in the first round. Friday's win doesn't erase the last four years of mediocrity, and it doesn't prove that Weber is a better coach than Lon Kruger (unless you also want to argue that Mike Davis is a better coach than Mike Krzyzewski because Indiana once beat Duke in the NCAA tournament). And it bothers me that if Illinois had played all year like they did on Friday, then they wouldn't have to face a team like Kansas in the second round. So let's try not to get too carried away.

OK - finally on to the actual game preview. I could run numbers or player matchups, but they'll favor Kansas. I could talk about the coaching matchup, but Kansas has that in their favor too. The only chance Illinois has tonight is if they play the way they did in the first half on Friday for the entire game. But Illinois still hasn't won back-to-back games since the first week of January, and the odds of them merely playing two great games in a row at this point (to say nothing of winning them both), especially when the second one is against a team that a lot of people are picking to win the NCAA tournament, will be too much to overcome. As much as I'd love to see Illinois playing next weekend, I'll have to say that the ride ends tonight.

Kansas 78

Illinois 62

Beep, Beep, Beep - Illini Back Their Way into NCAA Tournament

I've got to hand it to Bruce Weber - he's brought excitement back to Illini basketball. No, not on the court excitement - the team is as painful to watch as ever, and their offense in the final minutes of a game still runs like a clogged toilet. I'm talking about Selection Sunday excitement: being on the bubble, not knowing if/when we'll see our team's name displayed, watching half the brackets go by before finally getting the word that we've made the NCAA Tournament. That sure gets the blood pumping and the endorphins racing!

It's nice to know that a team with a .500 conference record, a team that didn't win back-to-back games even once over the final two months of the season, and a team that lost its conference tournament opener after blowing a 12-point lead (yes - this all refers to the same team) can not only "earn" a bid to the NCAA Tournament, but can get a #9 seed and avoid one of the new "play-in" games. So thanks to a really soft bubble and that win over North Carolina in November, I guess Ron Guenther has an excuse to not fire Bruce Weber. In fact, we can probably look forward to Weber getting a raise and/or contract extension for his "accomplishments" after this season ends.

As for the game itself, I'll have a preview of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels later, since I'll admit that I don't know too much about them. What I do know is that in the coaching department, the Illini will be at a severe disadvantage going up against Lon Kruger. I think a paraphrase of James T. Smith says it best: pitting Weber's coaching skills against Kruger's is like going against an army with a handgun. At least we won't be playing a true road game in the NIT like last year, and we'll have a chance to end our five-year NCAA tournament victory drought.

Illini Basketball - Marginally Relevant since 2006!

The Camel's Back is Broken - Fire Bruce Weber

There - I've said it. After Friday's loss to Michigan, the Bruce Weber era should be over, NCAA tournament appearance or not. Yes, of course it's the players who lost the game, say the Weber supporters - Weber didn't miss shots, or play bad defense, or allow the Wolverines to end the game on a 21-4 run after the Illini took a 12-point lead with about eight minutes to go. But how come the same thing happened at the end of the 2006 NCAA tournament loss to Washington, and at the end of the 2007 NCAA tournament loss to Virginia Tech? How come the players keep changing, but the team keeps choking away big leads? The only constant is Weber - he takes whatever talent he has and has them playing so tight that they are unable to execute down the stretch of tight games.

Yes, we might still make the NCAA tournament, but does this team deserve it? And does anyone (besides our potential first-round opponent and their fans) really want to see this Illini team play another meaningful game? And are things going to be better next year, when we'll have no seniors, no proven point guard or big men, and when too many of the "great recruits" we've already brought in have regressed (Richardson) or are basically invisible (Griffey, Head, Bertrand)? It's one thing watching ugly, boring basketball when the team wins (see 2008-09), but now we aren't even winning. The only way things are going to improve is by bringing in some fresh blood at the top. I wouldn't worry about losing our incoming recruits - they'd probably welcome the chance to play for a coach who might actually let them, you know, play.

Bottom line - Bruce Weber inherited a program that was on a par with Michigan State, and now we've fallen so far that we're even behind Michigan (to say nothing of Purdue, Ohio State, and Wisconsin). We're pretty much in the same boat with Minnesota, Penn State, and Northwestern - the "S.S. At Least We Aren't Indiana or Iowa". Our Big Ten record the last five years (44-44) is identical to the last five years of the Lou Henson era (45-45), only without the crippling NCAA sanctions. If not for the extra three NCAA tournament berths this year, we'd be in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years - and we might miss the tournament anyway.

Enough is enough. It's time to fire Bruce Weber.

Illini-Purdue: Not Exactly a Recap

There's not much need to rehash Tuesday night's Illinois loss at Purdue. It was the Boilermakers' Senior Night, and they are tough at Mackey Arena (16-0), so it's not a shock that the Illini came close and lost. Instead of focusing on the micro level, I'd rather take this opportunity to focus on the macro level.

When Matt Painter took over as head coach at Purdue, he inherited a mess. In Gene Keady's final season, the Boilermakers lost 21 games. However, in Painter's second season - in the year before his highly-touted recruiting class (Hummell, Johnson, and Moore) arrived in West Lafayette - he guided Purdue to the NCAA tournament and even won a game. And of course, things have only improved for Purdue since.

Contrast that story with Painter's former boss. Despite being in year two of the "Weber Can Recruit" era (two-thirds of Weber's highly-touted recruits already on campus), the Illini find themselves in a familiar position: kicking around the .500 mark in conference. If they beat Indiana on Saturday to get to 9-9, their overall Big Ten record in the five years since Dee Brown and James Augustine graduated will be exactly .500 (44 wins and 44 losses). For the fourth time in five years, the Illini will enter the Big Ten tournament needing to win a game to be sure of getting an NCAA tournament bid. And next year we can expect more of the same (if not worse), since four seniors are departing and only five players on the 2011-12 roster will have played any meaningful minutes in their Illini careers.

To summarize: Matt Painter needed only two years to reverse a horrible situation at Purdue; he started doing so before his best players arrived; and he's kept the arrow pointing upwards over the last four years. Even if we gloss over the fact that Bruce Weber didn't inherit the situation he's in - he created it - he's now had two years with more talented players on hand, and the program still shows no signs of progress. So how much more time does Weber get to turn the Illini program around? My two cents: if it hasn't happened by now, it's looking less and less likely that it's ever going to happen.

Illini Surprise Buckeyes in Columbus!

You read that right, sports fans. I'm sure that no one in the Ohio State locker room expected Bruce Weber to put Crandall Head into the starting lineup for Tuesday night's game. Of course, that was the only surprise in the game, in which the Buckeyes coasted to an 89-70 win over the Illini. The scary part is that the Illini actually shot well tonight (over 50% from the field; 11-24 from 3-point range) and still got blown out. Losing the turnover battle 16-3 will do that, I guess. As for Crandall Head's playing time (16 minutes), I think that was a ploy by Weber - put Head into the lineup in a no-hope game, so Weber could say to the fans afterward: "see, the team isn't better with him out there. Now stop complaining, and let me bury him on the bench again while I go back to my regular ineffective player rotation."

So with Tuesday's loss, the Illini fall to 7-8 in Big Ten play. In a year in which Weber's roster is loaded with experience and talent, and pretty much every preseason publication tabbed the Illini as a top 25 team (and some even touted them as a darkhorse Final Four candidate), and most of the rest of the teams in the Big Ten stink, with a week and a half left in the regular season the Illini have a losing record in conference play and are headed full-steam ahead toward the NCAA tournament bubble. You could argue that this disappointing season is an aberration, except for the fact that in the (nearly) five years since Dee Brown and James Augustine graduated, the Illini's overall conference record is now 42-43. So this year's record is right in line with Bruce Weber's record without the players he inherited from Bill Self.

But don't worry, fellow Illini fans - better players are on the way! Never mind that we've been hearing that for two years, or that this was supposed to be the year when everything came together. What's that thing Cubs fans say...oh, right. Wait till next year!

Back to Form: Illini Play Close Game, Lose

As I predicted, Illinois was unable to gain any momentum after their close win over Michigan on Wednesday. At least the Illini put forth a good effort tonight at the Breslin Center (the kind of effort that would have easily carried them to wins at Indiana, Penn State, or Northwestern), but effort alone doesn't count any more. Wins do, and this one ended up as a 61-57 loss. The game was right there for the taking - tied with under 4:00 to go - but like so many other times this year, the Illini couldn't execute at either end of the floor in the final minutes.

And with that, the Illini's last realistic chance for a road win goes by the boards, which means that we're looking at a best-case scenario of a 9-9 conference record, which is about as mediocre and bubblicious as you can get. It also means that we'll probably need to win a game in the Big Ten Tournament to be sure of an NCAA tournament bid. How I miss the good old days, when I could relax and enjoy the Big Ten Tournament as the Illini used it as a tune-up for the NCAA tournament.

Bruce Weber - making your Selection Sunday nerve-wracking since 2007!

Just When I Think I'm In, They Push Me Out

Another home game against a ranked opponent (Purdue), another loss for the Illini. This one was eerily reminiscent of last year's home loss to Purdue - in both games the Boilermakers played poorly in the first half, but the Illini were unable to build up a big enough cushion to hold off Purdue during the Boilermakers' second half surge.

If it wasn't clear before, it's certainly clear now that to beat a good team, the Illini need Demetri McCamey to have a good game, and a game in which McCamey shoots 1-10 from the field (with as many missed dunks as made baskets) won't get it done against a team like Purdue. It would help if the Illini had another point guard on the roster to run the show when McCamey is in a funk, but we won't have one until next year, when it's too late to help McCamey. Hmmm...you'd think after having Dee Brown and Deron Williams during his first two seasons at Illinois, Bruce Weber would be OK with multiple point guards on the roster, or at least that he'd recruit more than one every four years. But I digress.

So Illinois falls back to .500 in Big Ten play, which amazingly is still good for 4th in the conference standings - with three weeks to go before the Big Ten Tournament, only three teams (Ohio State, Purdue, and Wisconsin) have winning records in conference play. As poorly as the Illini are playing, if they win their remaining home games (Michigan, Indiana, Iowa), they'll finish no worse than .500 in conference play and probably still make the NCAA tournament. But today's game represents a wasted opportunity - other than possibly upsetting Michigan State at the Breslin Center, this game was probably the Illini's last reasonable shot at a statement win during the regular season, which means that the Illini can't afford to slip up in any of those remaining home games. It also looks as if this team incapable of building momentum and putting together a string of good games, so even if they do somehow get to the NCAA tournament it'll be as a one-and-done proposition. Considering that we had pretty much everyone of consequence back from last year's team and added some high-impact freshman, that's another major disappointment that falls at the feet of Bruce Weber.

Illini, Northwestern Play Close Game - Guess Who Won

No, it's not a surprise. Despite Northwestern's best efforts to give the game away in the final minute, Illinois came close but (naturally) still departed from Welsh-Ryan Arena with a loss. Left unanswered is whether a season split allows the NUrds to still claim the title of "Chicago's Big Ten Basketball Team". Of course, since we lost to UIC too, I don't think it's us.

The good news - unlike with the losses at PSU and IU, I was spared the spectacle of NUrds fans storming the court.

The bad news - no, wait, that is the bad news. The fact that they didn't storm the court leads me to believe that they expected their team to win. How sad is it that our program has descended to the point where Northwestern fans think it's not a big deal to beat us.

The worst news - this was probably our last chance at a road win, which means we'll finish (at best) 9-9 in conference play and, for the fourth time in five years, will need to win at least one Big Ten Tournament game to get into the NCAA tournament. But at least we won't have to worry about any more court-stormings!

Bruce Weber - making Selection Sunday nerve-wracking since 2007.

N-I-T!! N-I-T!!

Wow. Playing a team that just got blown out by Iowa and is missing two starters, and we still find a way to lose. And I just love watching other teams' fans rush the court on us. Great job guys! Great job Coach Weber!!

So will we have to travel for our first round NIT game, or can we start at home this time?

Another Illini Loss to Penn State? Ho-Hum.

Illinois is supposed to be a basketball school. Penn State hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 2001. And yet the Marshmallows Illini are 5-6 in their last 11 meetings with Penn State after tonight's 57-55 loss. I'm surprised their fans rushed the court at the end of the game - don't they expect to beat us by now?

As for the Illini, they've now lost to a team that's 0-5 in the Horizon League (UIC; the Flames haven't won since beating the Illini) AND to a team (Penn State) that lost at home to Maine. We can't blame this one on poor shooting either, since the Illini actually outshot Penn State (41.3% to 34.6% overall; the Illini were 7-16 on 3-pointers versus 7-24 for the Nittany Lions) and even made 10 of 11 free throws.

Bottom line - even after this loss, the Illini will probably still make the NCAA tournament, and will probably also make some mid-major school very happy when they see they're playing the Illini in the first round.

One for the History Books

Under Bruce Weber, the Illini have suffered some huge embarrassments, like losing at home to Tennessee State during the 2007-08 season, or the back-to-back losses against Utah and Bradley last season that ultimately cost the team an NCAA tournament bid. And with yesterday's abomination against UIC, it looks like Weber has now established the "loss to a crappy mid-major team" as an annual tradition (similar to Ron Zook's "pi$$ing away a home game against a vastly inferior opponent" annual tradition).

So how bad was the UIC loss? Let's look at it with Ken Pomeroy's rankings. Coming into the UIC game, the Illini were ranked #12 in Pomeroy's system, while the Flames were ranked #224, for a ranking differential of 212 places (the system gave the Flames a 2% chance of beating the Illini). As for some other bad Illini losses in the Weber era, I don't have a way to check the comparative rankings coming into the games, but I can compare the season-ending rankings of the Illini and their various mid-major conquerors:

The 2009-10 Utah Utes finished #114 in Pomeroy's system, while Bradley finished #125; the Illini finished #53 last year. Not too bad in terms of ranking differential (as long as you don't dwell on that "missing the NCAA tournament" thing).

The 2007-08 Tennessee State Tigers finished the year ranked #227 in Pomeroy's system; that season's Illini team finished #40, for a differential of 187.

It's hard to believe that the Illini could "top" the embarrassment of the Tennessee State loss, but in terms of Pomeroy ranking differential, the UIC loss was actually worse (which makes sense considering that the 07-08 Illini team finished with a losing record and near the bottom of the Big 10, while this year's Illini entered the UIC game as a top-fifteen team with designs on competing for the Big 10 title). It will be interesting to see how far the Illini drop in Pomeroy's system as a result of losing to a team outside the top 200. And while this one probably won't cost the team an NCAA tournament bid (like last year's twin losses in Vegas did), it will certainly knock them down a line or two when it comes to their seeding, which will make it that much more difficult for them to get to the second weekend of the tournament.

Bruce Weber's Fighting Illini - continuing to make the unthinkable thinkable.

I'll Take Potpourri for $200, Alex

Here it comes - the corned beef hash of blog posts.

You know that Ron Guenther has to be behind this proposal.

I'm excited about the upcoming Illini basketball season, but I'm worried that we probably have the only coach in the country who uses the word "mollycoddling".

I see that the Arizona Diamondbacks have hired Kevin Towers as their new GM. This is a good move for them - during his 15-year tenure as the GM of the Padres, he showed that he was not afraid of sabermetric analysis, and despite middle-of-the-road payrolls his team won four division titles and appeared in the 1998 World Series. However, the Padres lost a one-game playoff after being one strike away from another postseason appearance in 2007. Two sub-par seasons later, he was out of a job. The point? If Kevin Towers got fired for having that resume, how does Jim Hendry still have his job?