Granted, I'm likely more patient than almost any other gE poster and am willing to give coaches the time they need to succeed. I can see the rationale for giving oscar next season because he had a decent first two years here. But there should be serious concern with the direction of the program and next year is crucial for him being retained or let go as our head coach.
the more i think about it, i don't think oscar is a bad
coach, at least as far as X's and O's, preparing teams, etc., is concerned. his reputation as being nothing more than a caretaker (winning with self's players at illinois, winning with frank's players at k-state) is probably unfair. the fact is, he built southern illinois into a very solid program (they largely improved five straight years until he took the illinois job), and his 2006 illinois team was every bit as good as the '04 team that made the NCAA title game. after 2006, he had two other top-20 level teams, and he did it with players he recruited.
i think the larger issue with oscar is that he's a horrible, unsteady, confidence-lacking "leader." i've never seen a coach talk more about body language than weber. this year, he's railed on marcus foster's body language. at the end of his tenure at illinois, it was meyers leonard's body language. before that, he hated the body language of his entire
TEAM.
this was never more apparent than during the 2011 big ten conference tourney when weber's illinois team played michigan, led by super positive john beilein.
"We haven't been able to get over the hump," said Illinois coach oscar Weber. "I thought we were on a pretty good run. We were playing well. It was energized. It seemed like it was all clicking. Then just a couple of possessions and you could just see our body language change. We didn't have one guy that could step up and make a couple plays."
Compare that to the body language exhibited by the Wolverines (20-12), even when Illinois grabbed an 11-point halftime lead and parried every Michigan run for the first 12 minutes of the second half.
"Coach always talked about in the huddle keeping a 'yes' face no matter what the score is," said Michigan point guard Darius Morris, who led everyone with 17 points and 7 assists. "That means just positive energy."
earlier that same year, this was written by illinois writer lindsey willhite:
I’m not sure how much a coach’s body language matters to his players. To his team’s fan base. To a nation of fans with no dog in the hunt, but who tune in just to watch some hoops. All I know is, during almost every Illinois game, there’ll be a crucial possession or two where the shot clock starts running down and the Illini offense gets stuck in neutral and oscar Weber clasps his hands behind his head in a bit of body language that screams, “Oh, crud, I can just feel something’s going to go wrong here!” It happened again during a key juncture of No. 20 Illinois’ 52-49 loss at Indiana. Maybe the players didn’t notice. Maybe the fans in the stands and watching on TV didn’t notice. But it sure does seem that the Illini are playing like a team that can’t escape that “something’s about to go wrong” feeling.
Depending on whether your glass is half-full or half-empty, here’s what you need to know about Illinois’ season: When the game hasn’t been in doubt in the final minute, the Illini are 13-0. When the game has been up for grabs in the final minute, the Illini are 1-7. And the only win in that group was the Nov. 19 game against Maryland, when Illinois owned a 12-point lead with 5:37 to go and the Terps rallied to get within 2 with 7.3 seconds left. Now, you can spin that as, “Hey, these Illinois have taken everyone from No. 1 Ohio State to then-No. 9 Missouri to Texas down to the wire. That’s a team that can compete with anyone. It’s just snake-bit.” Or you can spin it as, “This team does not have what it takes to win games at the end.”
one of my biggest criticisms of weber over the years is that he's nothing more than a hope trafficker. "i hope we can play with this team," or "i think we might be able to give ourselves a chance," or "i'd like for us to be in position at the end." he doesn't exude confidence, his sideline demeanor is the worst of any coach i've ever seen, and yet...he probably spends countless hours behind closed doors telling his players they don't have any confidence and that their body language is poor...and the criticism likely isn't well received.
