I found myself once again defending Rodney Alexander the past couple of days, who spent last season in Coach Weber's dog house. Alexander did not play well enough last season to be a consistent starter, and spent a considerable amount of time on the bench, watching a very poor shooting team on the court. Recently, it leaks out that Alexander might transfer, and many Illini fans have rushed to the defense of Coach Weber. After all, Rodney Alexander is at fault for not flourishing in Coach Weber's system, right? Well, upon further review, it's hard to many Weber recruits that have flourished in his system. Let's do a quick review of the commits since he was named coach on April 30, 2003:
Shaun Pruitt-went out with a thud
Calvin Brock-four star who has rarely started
Jamar Smith-DUI, tries to come back this year
Chester Frazier-often criticized defensive specialist
C.J. Jackson-transferred to football team
Richard Semrau-major life threatening injury, recovered to bench
Brian Carlwell-injured, recovered, to transfer this year
Bill Cole-injured, hopes to recover
Mike Tisdale-good prospect after freshman year
Demetri McCamey-excellent guard prospect
Quinton Watkins-did not qualify per NCAA
Rodney Alexander-benched, may transfer
Mike Davis-excellent prospect
Now, after reviewing Weber's recent recruits at Illinois, it's hard to say that Alexander has not lived up to expectations of Coach Weber. In fact, he outperformed most of Weber's recruits listed here, in my opinion.
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6 comments:
Seriously?! Are you kidding?! I won't go into the other recruits at this point. They weren't much better, but that'd be too much time and trouble, so let's just concentrate on Rodney...
Rodney Alexander..."he outperformed most of Weber's recruits listed here, in my opinion"...did you actually watch ANY of the games?! Maybe just the two when he scored some points (ASU/17 & OSU/20)?! Good ol' Rod couldn't guard an empty chair that was bolted to the floor! And the real problem is that he never bothered to even TRY to do so for the first 2/3 of the season! AND...have you seen his shooting form?! Arm way up and elbow way out?! Gimme a freakin' break! Yes...twice he made enough of them to score 17 & 20 points. The rest of the time he was livin' in Brick City! The dude shot LESS THAN 20% FROM THE THREE! Not to mention only 37% from the field in general. Cripes, dude...get a clue! Rodney was NOT the answer we were looking for.
Now...were the other guys on the team. No...but at least they tried to guard someone. THAT is what puts them above Rod. Don't get me wrong...I have nothing against him. Seemed like a good guy. But I'd rather have that scholarship for someone who MIGHT pan out over four years...not for someone who wasn't going to pan out in his last year.
Well, it's hard to argue the point without going through the recruits, isn't it? Let's look at last season and see who RodA outperformed on the court.
Shaun Pruitt-worst free throw shooter
Calvin Brock-Exception
Jamar Smith-RodA outperformed
Chester Frazier-RodA outperformed on offense
C.J. Jackson-RodA outperformed
Richard Semrau-RodA outperformed
Brian Carlwell-RodA outperformed
Bill Cole-RodA outperformed
Mike Tisdale-Exception
Demetri McCamey-Exception
Quinton Watkins-RodA outperformed
Mike Davis-tie
I will say that Brock, Tisdale and McCamey outperformed RodA last season, but the rest did not. That's how poorly this group has turned out for Weber, dude. And that was my point. You might think Pruitt was better, but if you saw the Indiana game, you're glad to see Pruitt headed to the NBA, or Europe or wherever.
Ron, You're an idiot. Rodney was brought into the program to rebound, play defense, and attack the rim. Instead, the only thing he contributed to the team was throwing up brick 3 balls and an attitude that was entirely uncoachable. And stop blaming Weber for the lack luster performance of players such as Pruitt. If Pruitt wasn't a selfish, "me-first" pre-madona, he would of had the potential to be a first team all conference player. A coach can only do so much. The player has to be willing to put in the work. And furthermore,How are you going to even mention Quinton Watkin's name??? He didn't clear to play for academic reasons...how is that Weber's fault? Or even better... Bill Cole had a stress fracture... and I suppose Weber intended on that happening too right? And you speak as if Weber was the one of the free throw line against Indiana when Pruitt missed the free throws.
In the majority of the games we lost this year, Weber had the team in a position to win and the players simply did not get the job done on the court. And even more importantly, if you're not going to be supportive of "your" team... why not just go find another one? The only thing that negative assholes like you do is bring the rest of us down. Have fun watching Rodney Alexander suck at the school he transfers to.. if he gets any PT there.
Just read this Ron. Got to admit the above poster is dead on. I think you don't have too much insight just watching games on Tivo. Alexander had a bad attitude. Anyone who does not play defense will not play at U of I. Second while he may have been your favorite player, he was not the coaching staff's. If you have family members that think you are the next Michael Jordan and criticize the staff repeatedly, lets just say it is not a good fit.
While I know you are probably trying to stir up readership, in this case you are so wrong that its hard not to laugh.
Scot
OK, I stand corrected. All 13 of Weber's recruits have been a huge success in the Illini basketball program--except Alexander. (I guess the majority is watching the games more closely than yours truly.)
Seriously, my point was two-fold. Alexander has good company in recruits that did not fit into Weber's system (see the list). Second, Alexander was the best athlete on team last year (other than Randle) and just might be able to fit into another program.
I am not going to find another team, but appreciate the comments, even though they are negative.
"And stop blaming Weber for the lack luster performance of players such as Pruitt"
So we should give Weber all the credit for getting the most of out of Dee, Deron and Luther? Please. This just furthers the argument that the 2005 team was autonomous in most every degree. This isn't the NBA; the coach is responsible for recruiting a player, developing him, and eventually getting the best results on the court. As all of your lists indicate, Weber can't recruit quality players, has trouble maintaining discipline and is terrible at player development (2 transfers in 2 months). I'm as big of an Illini fan as any of you, but please wake up and taken an honest look at the state of our team! I know we have top recruits coming in, but Self hasn't taken his stab at them yet. That national championship ring, including the fact that he recruited every one of the 2005 team will work more than you can imagine on a 17 year old Chicago kid.
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