Illinois Fighting Illini

[jaggy]

Classy program all round

[Lefty Spin]

Illini Sky, I think you are overreacting about the loss to Indiana. Based on what I have been told by some people who were at the match, Indiana just played a little bit better. Also, without KU in the line-up their lack of depth at the lower positions becomes a problem. I also think Indiana is an improving program. I actually thought they would be better last year. I think they also beat Michigan this year and i think you would agree that Bruce has done a great job at Michigan.

Hey as former Illini, I would love them to win the Big Ten every year but that isn't going to happen. Also, I think you are selling short what Tucker has done at tOSU. I don't know how old you are but when I was Illinois we finished in the bottom three of the Big Ten every year.

Brad does have some good recruits for the next two years so I think they will continue to be strong.

[IlliniSky]

Losing to indiana reeks to high heaven and will for quite a while.

[Clemson_tennis]

Originally Posted by IlliniSky

To Brad Dancer:

Congratulations. You have managed to take one of the top-rated tennis programs in the country and destroyed it. When you took the program over from Craig Tiley, the Illini had won 9 consecutive Big Ten Championships, a national title in 2003, 2 ITA Indoor titles, a NCAA-record 64 consecutive wins, and 5 Conference Championships.

Since you have taken over, Illinois has done absolutely nothing. tOSU has completely taken over and trounce us 7-0 yearly. We didn't even make it to the Sweet Sixteen last year. Your recruiting skills have been non-exsistant and we are reduced to wondering who will be on our roster in January. You've struggled to put a team together cosistently.

And today you finally reached bottom. You took a superior Illini team to the sinkhole that is indiana and lost to the loosiers. The Indiana Hoosiers. Are you kidding me? We have not lost to them in 14 years. We had beat them 18 consecutive times. That team has one player ranked at No. 109 on their roster. And your coaching skills couldn't come up with a plan to even beat them.

You may be a good human being but you fail as a tennis coach. You have absolutely zero recruiting skills and you just let our team suffer the worst indignity that is possible. From here on out, I want you gone. I will hope against hope that Illinois will send you off to Winthrop or somewhere. You need to go. You do not belong in a major conference position.

Congratulations. You were handed the keys to a castle and turned it into dump in six short years.

Leave.

Good post. College tennis needs more of this attitude. Too much feel good stuff in college tennis.

[ClarkC]

I think that attrition is a big problem at Illinois. Not as bad as Florida, but close. (Ironically, one of the many players to transfer out of Florida was Johnny Hamui, who went to Illinois).

Kalmanovich came back, which helps reduce the overall count. But there is something wrong when people leave every year. They could use Ruan Roelofse this year, for example.

[Lefty Spin]

ClarkC, you may be on to something regarding attrition. It is important to remember, however, that bringing top talent to a place like Champaign-Urbana is not always easy. My understanding is that Ruan left because he was homesick. Waylon Chin wanted more playing time. I think Florida has similar issues in regards to playing time. If they had Hamui and the kid that transferred to Texas A&M they would have a great team. I think Bennetteau left because he was homesick. But good players leave schools all the time for a variety of reasons. For example, UW-Madison could use Pohlmann this year, but he transferred to San Diego for the weather and to play with Dean Jackson.

It is important to note, that there are a lot of good players throughout the college ranks so the fans need to understand that on any given day a team can lose. I think the key thing for fans of any school to remember is that unlike football, if a key player has a bad day, a college tennis team can lose to some teams that surprise its fans.

I still think too many people don't respect the quality of the other teams. Indiana, for example, has a solid program. Minnesota and Michigan are also very good. I just can't see trashing a coach for losing to a solid team. Especially, considering that when healthy the team has beat several other top ten schools. I see it sometimes on these boards with the Stanford fans. I guess its easy to trash another school when you have not played the school or don't know anything about that team.

[IlliniSky]

Dancer needs to figure how to keep players and get them ready for matches. He has admitted as much. Maybe that's just him being humble.

[vandre]

Originally Posted by IlliniSky

Take one look at how Illinois has been going nowhere but down since Dancer took over. He may be a good guy and all but he has proven that he is lost when it comes to recruiting and game plans. We have no chance of beating tOSU, and now we're losing to teams we beat for 20 consecutive times or more. Illinois doesn't even belong in the top 20 anymore. Like I said, he took the keys to a castle and turned into a shack in 6 short years. That is pretty lousy. He needs to go.

the guys named anderson, delic and ram weren't brought in by dancer? they were brought in before him, right?

[IlliniSky]

Originally Posted by vandre

the guys named anderson, delic and ram weren't brought in by dancer? they were brought in before him, right?

Right. Those players were brought in by Tiley. Dancer hasn't done much at all in recruiting. He's also not a very good match coach. That's why they're on a downward spiral.

And the present AD had nothing to do with hiring Craig Tiley. The coach before him left town so he put Tiley on an "interim" basis while he looked for a new coach. Craig turned out to be better than he thought so he was lucky. We can't count on the present AD to do anything about the situation. You have to wonder how far Illinois tennis is going to go down.

[Lefty Spin]

IlliniSky, I guess we have to agree to disagree on this one. I think Brad has done a good job. Under his leadership, Illinois has gone to three Sweet 16s and one NCAA team final. Also, he clearly helped develop Anderson and DeHeart's game. Nevelo has also really improved at Illinois. Obviously, Craig Tiley did a great job at Illinois but I hope you remember where the program was before Tiley. Remember the old saying about coaching when it comes to replacing a legend. Just because he has not reached Tiley's success does not mean he is a terrible coach. I suspect if everyone gets healthy, they will make the Sweet 16 and then it really depends on the draw.

[IlliniSky]

Originally Posted by Lefty Spin

IlliniSky, I guess we have to agree to disagree on this one. I think Brad has done a good job. Under his leadership, Illinois has gone to three Sweet 16s and one NCAA team final. Also, he clearly helped develop Anderson and DeHeart's game. Nevelo has also really improved at Illinois. Obviously, Craig Tiley did a great job at Illinois but I hope you remember where the program was before Tiley. Remember the old saying about coaching when it comes to replacing a legend. Just because he has not reached Tiley's success does not mean he is a terrible coach. I suspect if everyone gets healthy, they will make the Sweet 16 and then it really depends on the draw.

Yeah. Agreed with you there.

[vandre]

let me add a wrinkle to this spirited debate...

have you seen the illini tennis complex (atkins center) lately? it is very nice! they've done alot of work on it and they've built a number (8 i think) brand new lighted hardcourts complete with lighted scoreboards on the east side of the building. in other sports (especially football) a new stadium or facility ratchets up the pressure to win. do you think this may increase the pressure to notch more wins?

[IlliniSky]

Originally Posted by vandre

let me add a wrinkle to this spirited debate...

have you seen the illini tennis complex (atkins center) lately? it is very nice! they've done alot of work on it and they've built a number (8 i think) brand new lighted hardcourts complete with lighted scoreboards on the east side of the building. in other sports (especially football) a new stadium or facility ratchets up the pressure to win. do you think this may increase the pressure to notch more wins?

That's another thing. We have this great complex now and we're hosting the NCAA Championships in 2013. And recruiting is STILL slow. What is Dancer doing?!

[Lefty Spin]

They actually have a good recruiting class for this year. Guignon is a blue-chip and Kopinski and Scholnick are solid 5 stars. I think they also have a shot Evan Song. Next year they already have two verbals from some good players and I know they will go after Michael Redlicki. I think many coaches at top schools would love to have the recruits Illinois is bringing in. Also, Brad in particular was very helpful in Illinois getting the donation that led to the construction of the new facility. I think kudos should go to Gunther, Brad and Michelle Dasso in leading to that. Also, without the input of the two coaches, Illinois does not get the NCAA Championships.

[IlliniSky]

Originally Posted by Lefty Spin

They actually have a good recruiting class for this year. Guignon is a blue-chip and Kopinski and Scholnick are solid 5 stars. I think they also have a shot Evan Song. Next year they already have two verbals from some good players and I know they will go after Michael Redlicki. I think many coaches at top schools would love to have the recruits Illinois is bringing in. Also, Brad in particular was very helpful in Illinois getting the donation that led to the construction of the new facility. I think kudos should go to Gunther, Brad and Michelle Dasso in leading to that. Also, without the input of the two coaches, Illinois does not get the NCAA Championships.

Guignon just barely made blue-chip this spring. He is moving up though. Kopinski is around No. 50. I don't see Scholnick listed on Illinois' list anymore so I have been wondering if he changed his mind. I will be very surprised if they get Song.

[IlliniSky]

Illinois' ranking continues to drop.

April 5th ranking: 15th!

[robow7]

IlliniSky, you forgot to rip him for the fact that the Illini can't win the doubles point if their life depended on it. This has been going on for quite a while now. How many times have they dropped all three doubles (and to much weaker teams), then had to run out the singles ??

[IlliniSky]

Originally Posted by robow7

IlliniSky, you forgot to rip him for the fact that the Illini can't win the doubles point if their life depended on it. This has been going on for quite a while now. How many times have they dropped all three doubles (and to much weaker teams), then had to run out the singles ??

They dropped the doubles point to Purdue. PURDUE?!

[vandre]

hey illinisky, is your website down (the one in your sig)?

[vandre]

maybe the tennis team is doing what the basketball team was accused of doing this year: playing down to their opponent's level. case in point: the men's tennis team played well beating higher ranked florida, duke and kentucky while losing to tx a&m and notre dame, two teams they beat earlier this year. if you say that "no, they lost to these teams because of injuries", then does that hint at a lack of team depth to you?