Good-Bye Rodney Alexander

I guess there will be more details later, but Rodney Alexander will not be back with the team next season. I kind of wondered about his work ethic from what I've read (and personally saw live a couple of times) in that he wasn't really willing to change his game to fit the team's needs (stop jacking up threes - at least try on defense), but who knows what went on behind the scenes. It looked to me like he was trying to play his JUCO game in the Big Ten and that's not good enough. We have guys now willing to play team ball; that was the great thing about the '05 guys, they got along off AND ON the court, and made their games work together. Don't you think DWill could've gone for 20 a night? Sure. Did he whine about it? Nope. Dee was a point guard in high school and had the ball in his MOST of the time. That wasn't always the case at Illinois...he made it work. Great attitudes.

But here comes Tigercoach to quote some stats when played out per minute or over a fictional 40 minutes. Yes, admittedly R.A. was an off the charts athlete though.

Wish it would've worked out, but hopefully we don't think that just because Alexander didn't work out, that the same thing will happen for Dominque Keller. From everything I've read, he has a completely different attitude and is willing to do whatever it takes to play. KU is counting on JUCO Mario Little to contribute big time next season, I think it's not too much to expect that Keller can play solid minutes too.

Good luck Rodney.

http://www.news-gazette.com/blogs/basketblog/2008/04/15/ale
xander_wont_return_for_illini

What does this mean for his scholarship?

Can Illinois go out and sign someone now? or are they screwed because his scholarship is already spoken for after this year?

There are still some good unsigned forwards like Wesley Witherspoon, Jeff Taylor and Devin Ebanks but way too late for Illinois to get involved as they are all set to decide within a week or two. It would have been nice if this could have been done earlier.

His schollie was only out there for one more year. After next season his schollie was going to one of the '09 guys.

Talk is they might give it to Meacham since he's one more and done just like the schollie.

Would've been nice if it had 3 more or even 2 more years on it but it doesn't.

Holdren is supposedly weighing his options too, he can see the handwriting on the wall with Legion coming and Jamar, Meacham, Brock, Chet, McCamey back, and Jeff Jordan showing that he can play some decent minutes.

So how many is that now for Weber that haven't worked out and were permanently benched or left the team? Two? No excuse at all for Rodney, if he was lazy or lacking in skill they should have seen it when scouting him, but Carlwell & his recovery? Yeah, that's Weber's fault (but let's not get into that debate - it's has been discussed in a million other threads). Jury is still out on Semrau.

"Talk is they might give it to Meacham since he's one more and done just like the schollie."

-bsisko

do u mean he can come back for another year after this coming one, his senior year?  like as a fifth year senior?

And...hopefully Trent will get the open scholarship for this next year. He has (even though its sometimes hard for me to admit this) earned his way. He works hard with the talents he has and gives what he can to the team.

Thanks for making me feel wanted, bsisko.

Lon Kruger handed Bill Self the keys to a Corvette and Bill Self handed Weber the keys to a Ferrari. Weber traded the Ferrari in for an '81 Chevy Citation. I know that isn't a really good analogy becasue an '81 Chevy Citation will still move forward if you push it down a hill and Weber's coaching as of late only goes in reverse. I really don't think at this point we need to go down that "Weber is a way better coach than Self" road ever again.

A truth of basketball: the team that controls the paint normally wins.

Another truth of basketball: a perimeter-oriented offense featuring Bruce Weber recruits (not to be confused with BILL SELF recruits) blows chunks. Champaign Central High School had a better backcourt than Illinois this year.

Lou Henson, Lon Kruger, and Bill Self elevated Illinois to national prominence. Henson maintained excellence for many years and Kruger and Self left the program in top condition. Bruce Weber has...given endless renditions the same excuses and lots of blame for the players he throws under the bus.

"The guys don't know what it takes..."

"Their confidence is down right now..."

"The guys haven't learned how to finish a game..."

"We have bad chemistry..."

and my personal favorite:

"The guys just don't get it..."

No, Bruce, you don't get it. You give playing time to certain guys like they were your son on a park district team. A really pathetic park district team.

I predicted long ago that several players would leave due to being unhappy with this crappy program and was mocked hideously by some of ya'll for not knowing what I was talking about. Everybody loves the program, some of you said. Well, some guys do love the program. But it looks like several don't.

Rodney- Best wishes for the future. I think your game will really blossom when you get a coach who plays talented athletes instead of local media favorites.

Where have you been. I need help against these people who refuse to see the truth. How bad does this need to get before people open there eyes. If he is not winning by 2009 all the same people are gonna give him more excuses for his lack of production. Its a shame.

Holdren shouldn't have left South Dakota St. He really could have made a name for himself out there but I understand the draw of playing for your hometown team and the team you grew up rooting for. He made the same mistake that Marcus Arnold made in thinking if you can score 20 points against Illinois you are good enough to play for them.

Holdren and Alexander will probably hurt their depth on the bench. Maybe they should ask CJ Jackson back after football season just to have a big body on the bench if needed?