Putting aside the fanbase wanting him gone, it is obvious that Bruce needs a break from coaching. He's now coaching his 20th straight season, and I've gotta think the most recent 10 years have been infinitely worse, more stressful, and less fun than the first 10 years.
Bruce has been on the hot seat since, what, 2008? The fans didn't want him at Illinois and K-State fans largely didn't want him either. He is insecure about his place in the coaching world. Everyone can see that. And coaching in the shadow of Bill Self — who got ALL of the credit for Bruce's success at Illinois, and who has beaten him consistently in the Big 12 — can't be good for Bruce's psyche.
Weber is a good X's and O's coach, almost anyone is willing to concede that. But he totally sucks at instilling confidence in his players and rarely do his teams play at their best when it matters most. My biggest criticism of Bruce through the years, extending back to his time at Illinois, is that he leads the country in saying "hopefully" and "maybe" and "I think." Bob Huggins walked into West Virginia and told those fans what he was going to do. Chris Beard did the same at Texas Tech. Lon Kruger did the same at Oklahoma. Scott Drew did the same at Baylor. Bruce Weber? No. Bruce is a hoper. "If we work hard, if we do the right things, if we prepare well," he says, "then maybe, hopefully, possibly, we will achieve our very realistic but not over-the-top goals!"
Hope can get you pretty far in the Missouri Valley Conference.
But in the Big Ten and Big 12, the Doers will eat you alive.
Bruce hopes for the best, but after being burned so many times, he simply does not believe. It is clear. His players don't believe either. And they aren't coached well enough on the details to perform consistently in crunch time. We could see that today long before Barry Brown even heaved up a shot. He literally did not even walk the ball up the court properly.
I will never forget watching Bruce coach at Nebraska in his final season at Illinois. It was horrible body language performance art. You know the scene from Titanic where the Captain goes to the bottom of the ship? That was Bruce. For an entire game. I felt bad for him. His team was firmly on the NCAA tourney bubble, and they couldn't even hang with Doc Sadler's pitiful Nebraska team. Illinois lost by 23. The St Louis Post-Dispatch called them "The Crying Illini."
Here's Weber after that game:
The. Doubt. Just. Hit. Us.
The. Weight. Of. The. World. Came. Tumbling. Down.
And. We. Couldn't. Stop. It.
Bruce is only 61. He can still be a good coach. But he needs to take a year or two away, watch other coaches' practices, study the game a bit more, reconfigure his approach, and try again somewhere else.
Preferably in the Missouri Valley.
Bruce has been on the hot seat since, what, 2008? The fans didn't want him at Illinois and K-State fans largely didn't want him either. He is insecure about his place in the coaching world. Everyone can see that. And coaching in the shadow of Bill Self — who got ALL of the credit for Bruce's success at Illinois, and who has beaten him consistently in the Big 12 — can't be good for Bruce's psyche.
Weber is a good X's and O's coach, almost anyone is willing to concede that. But he totally sucks at instilling confidence in his players and rarely do his teams play at their best when it matters most. My biggest criticism of Bruce through the years, extending back to his time at Illinois, is that he leads the country in saying "hopefully" and "maybe" and "I think." Bob Huggins walked into West Virginia and told those fans what he was going to do. Chris Beard did the same at Texas Tech. Lon Kruger did the same at Oklahoma. Scott Drew did the same at Baylor. Bruce Weber? No. Bruce is a hoper. "If we work hard, if we do the right things, if we prepare well," he says, "then maybe, hopefully, possibly, we will achieve our very realistic but not over-the-top goals!"
Hope can get you pretty far in the Missouri Valley Conference.
But in the Big Ten and Big 12, the Doers will eat you alive.
Bruce hopes for the best, but after being burned so many times, he simply does not believe. It is clear. His players don't believe either. And they aren't coached well enough on the details to perform consistently in crunch time. We could see that today long before Barry Brown even heaved up a shot. He literally did not even walk the ball up the court properly.
I will never forget watching Bruce coach at Nebraska in his final season at Illinois. It was horrible body language performance art. You know the scene from Titanic where the Captain goes to the bottom of the ship? That was Bruce. For an entire game. I felt bad for him. His team was firmly on the NCAA tourney bubble, and they couldn't even hang with Doc Sadler's pitiful Nebraska team. Illinois lost by 23. The St Louis Post-Dispatch called them "The Crying Illini."
Here's Weber after that game:
The. Doubt. Just. Hit. Us.
The. Weight. Of. The. World. Came. Tumbling. Down.
And. We. Couldn't. Stop. It.
Bruce is only 61. He can still be a good coach. But he needs to take a year or two away, watch other coaches' practices, study the game a bit more, reconfigure his approach, and try again somewhere else.
Preferably in the Missouri Valley.
