To make a point I've made 8 times before

Ok, I've made this point before. Probably at least 5 solid times before. So I will excuse everyone who has read some form of this before from reading this again.

GET OFF BRUCE WEBER'S CASE.

People. This should not be this difficult. Bruce Weber is an excellent coach. I believe his record as head coach of the Illini is 101-21. That comes to an 83% winning percentage. Just for simple math's sake. We all know who the Illini had before BW. And he sucked. His record was 78-24. And we were ecstatic to have him as our coach. Crunch a couple numbers, we'll call it a 76.5% winning percentage. Ok, so we have established that X's and O's, Illinois is much better off. (Sidenote, it should be pointed out that I hate comparing BW to that dude who blows ass.) Also, as far as we're concerned about Big Ten records, here's what we've got. Twice Self coached the Illini to Big Ten CO-champions. BAM coached us to 2 OUTRIGHT Big Ten Championships. And, I also want to point out, the Big Ten CO-champ teams both had 11-5 records.

Enough lousy comparison between an excellent coach and a shitty coach on coaching ability. There is a lot of talk about Weber being unable to recruit. He won with Self's guys, right?

I agree that Self was responsible for Brown, Williams and Augustine. But let's not forget what Self inherited at Champaign. Illinois Mr. Basketball Sergio McClain, Illinois Mr. Basketball Frank Williams, Illinois Mr. Basketball Brian Cook (can't remember if Cook was recruited by Self or not, but I don't believe he was). Not to mention Marcus Griffin. Had Self been able to coach, there is no excuse that this team should not have been able to get to the National Championship game, at least two of the guys are significant players in the NBA (it's debatable whether or not Cook is significant; also, I don't follow the Lakers, so I admit ignorance). Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

Had Self been able to coach those guys well, we would have been pissed off about the recruiting classes he brought in. Technically, I think for the most part we were pissed off with the class that brought in Brown, Williams, and Augustine. Because we weren't even mentioned in any of the top ten recruits' final 5's. Except for, say, Eddy Curry, but that's neither here nor there.

So, BAM comes in. First, the team starts out pretty poorly in Big Ten play. At one point, they fall to 3-3 in conference, and I'm thinking, "We hired the wrong guy." They end the season winning the Big Ten OUTRIGHT.

Then Illinois comes out, assumes #1 in the nation and holds it until the National Championship game, which came down to a final shot (and which BAM had to deal with Augustine getting fucked over on fouls (I'm still not over that)) that was missed. Finally, we're all excited about the carry-over this will have in recruiting.

We miss out on Sherron Collins, Julian Wright, Brandon Rush. Well, those guys had relationships with Self, and we all know how greasy he is. Can't be surprised they went there. So our class suffers. Yet we still get a top 50 recruit in Brian Carlwell (yes, top 50). But we're not satisfied.

Finally, we get the big one. Eric Gordon commits verbally to Illinois, and I was incredibly excited about the ramifications. Derrick Rose? Perhaps. Who knows who else?

Well, we missed out on some good players because Eric Gordon was committed. Players who were ready to come to Illinois, but also wanted playing time. So unfortunately they committed elsewhere. Oh, but what's that? He's backing out? A week before signing his Letter of Intent?

Aside from how classy that was, the real problem was the timing. A week before Signing Week? What were we supposed to do? Everyone who had considered Illinois had already verballed elsewhere (aside from O.J. Mayo. By the way, who the fuck goes to USC for TIM FLOYD? He won about 4 games total in 3 years with the Bulls. Good luck with that USC). So we were screwed. And, shit, were people pissed.

So, now Weber signs a kid from Compton, and people are still not satisfied. Listen. He's a 3-star talent, one of the few available left, and I seem to remember another late-blooming talent getting a scholarship from Illinois who turned out all right. Who was it again? Oh yeah, Calvin Brock, who, in only his RS sophomore year has improved immensely and is probably most improved on the team. And who's to say this kid can't be a lot better than Brock? Rivals.com has him listen in the top 100.

As for how this team is performing, remember this: 5 losses in the Big Ten used to be able to win at least a share of the conference title. Illinois has 2: one on the road in Michigan (that they should have won, but winning there is never easy), and the second against OSU. Now, aside from Wisconsin, point out a team that the Illini shouldn't handle easily. All I see is MSU. If Illinois runs the table at home (aside from WI), and loses 2 on the road (I'll throw IU a bone, even though they suck) that gives us 5. So let's just chill out before we whine about 5 losses in conference.

I understand wanting constant improvement and perfection. But at a certain point, it becomes nitpicking. It's incredibly shortsighted to say that Bruce has no control over this team after just 2 conference games. At the end of the season, if we sucked, then jump on him. If we don't make the NCAA tournament, I'll probably shit my pants in rage. But maybe we shouldn't base our entire opinions of the season and his coaching ability on what he's done through roughly half a season.

Note: I also want to point out the school's academic requirements. This is a fairly weak argument that Notre Dame fans use a lot, but I feel like Illinois passes on players they know will struggle in classes, or perhaps not even qualify. So comparing recruiting classes of a team who has no academic requirements, say, Ohio State, to a school like Illinois is unfair, because Illinois graduates its players. I think the more accurate comparison would be a team like Michigan State (while still probably not the most accurate). And if you look at how MSU is doing this year, do you start calling for Tom Izzo's head?