vs UIC (1-11) - Wednesday, 2/7/2024 - 7 pm - ESPN+/Marquee Network

[DaveBird10]

Pedon is doing everything right in trying to drum up interest in the program. The only thing he isn't doing right is the job he was hired for. I think we need to hire a coach who has experience. I like what Pedon is trying to do, but right now, he's not a head coach. If I was him, I would play all the young guys the rest of the season. Let these kids learn, it can't be any worse than what we have now.

This right here. Pedon is a great guy and doing lots for the program in trying to drum up interests. Problem is, is year 2 we are now going backwards and not getting better. Interests will be there and people will show if you have a fun and basketball and win. Chase and Ty played 6 minutes and 4 minutes last night. Poindexter and Kasubke played 30 minutes and 19 minutes. Freshman won't get better or confidence if you don't continue to give them major minutes.

 

[Birdfriend72]

I don't neccesarily agree on increasing the budget to find the right coach. See the guy coaching the best team in the league. He's making a lot less than Pedon.

Yeah, that's finding a diamond in the rough. If you look at the carousel since our best days-

Donewald- Great
Bender- OK, made the Dance one time. Who could complain?
Stallings- Great
Moser- Bad (at least here)
Jankovic- (He was awesome compared to where we have been the last 6-7 years).
Muller- Not great
Pedon- Jury is out, but trending down

Since the Stallings days, we're 1/4. Times have changed. We could argue look at SIU, MO St, Valpo, EU, and of course us. Bradley, UNI, ISU Blue- they got it right. It took Bradley a few tries. At 51 years of age- I would just like to see ISU make the dance one more time before my days on earth are gone. I'm a little worried about that one.

 

[DaveBird10]

Yeah, that's finding a diamond in the rough. If you look at the carousel since our best days-

Donewald- Great
Bender- OK, made the Dance one time. Who could complain?
Stallings- Great
Moser- Bad (at least here)
Jankovic- (He was awesome compared to where we have been the last 6-7 years).
Muller- Not great
Pedon- Jury is out, but trending down

Since the Stallings days, we're 1/4. Times have changed. We could argue look at SIU, MO St, Valpo, EU, and of course us. Bradley, UNI, ISU Blue- they got it right. It took Bradley a few tries. At 51 years of age- I would just like to see ISU make the dance one more time before my days on earth are gone. I'm a little worried about that one.

Richardson- Bad

 

[TBus_Birds]

Nobody in the AD cares at all. I’ve seen countless tweets begging for someone to listen and it’s silence. Paul Kabbe responded to someone he’d love to chat at a game. The response he got was about the product not being worth the cost to go to the game. So let me say it louder. THEY. DON’T. CARE.

I follow both accounts you're referencing. I get the frustration, but is it really fair to Paul to claim silence and not caring when he gives a direct response like this? Seems like an open invitation to provide ideas and feedback. I'd argue he definitely wants to hear from fans provided it's constructive and not just shouting on Twitter.

 

[Birdfriend72]

Richardson- Bad

Forgot about him! Probably for a reason. lol

 

[DBird]

Yeah, that's finding a diamond in the rough. If you look at the carousel since our best days-

Donewald- Great
Bender- OK, made the Dance one time. Who could complain?
Stallings- Great
Moser- Bad (at least here)
Jankovic- (He was awesome compared to where we have been the last 6-7 years).
Muller- Not great
Pedon- Jury is out, but trending down

Since the Stallings days, we're 1/4. Times have changed. We could argue look at SIU, MO St, Valpo, EU, and of course us. Bradley, UNI, ISU Blue- they got it right. It took Bradley a few tries. At 51 years of age- I would just like to see ISU make the dance one more time before my days on earth are gone. I'm a little worried about that one.

Richardson
He was in the seat when the program started the downhill run.

 

[Birdfriend72]

Richardson
He was in the seat when the program started the downhill run.

Oh, I remember. I do give him a little break for losing Bryson. But, just a little.

 

[gobirds85]

Welp, as the 10th or 11th seed, at least ISU won’t be the first team going home from Arch Madness this year.

This. Is. Redbird. Basketball.

 

[ScoreboardDotRace]

I follow both accounts you're referencing. I get the frustration, but is it really fair to Paul to claim silence and not caring when he gives a direct response like this? Seems like an open invitation to provide ideas and feedback. I'd argue he definitely wants to hear from fans provided it's constructive and not just shouting on Twitter.

Thanks for sharing this.

Yeah, the fan tweeted directly at ISU and someone in charge and got not only a response but an open opportunity to connect at the next game they went to. Ball is now in their court. If they’re not willing to take him up on it then they probably didn’t have any ideas anyway.

 

[ILLST25]

We’ve lost 9 of our last 12 games. This includes going 1-5 at home. Losses at home include UIC and Valpo.

 

[gobirds85]

I started my business 27 years ago and had season tickets for a few years. I made the 5 hour round trip to watch the Birds. I would leave the office early to venture down to Normal, knowing I had just pushed a bunch of work back for another day. A few times the trip was even longer due to inclement weather, but I still made the trip because I enjoyed it. Twice we stopped to help a motorist in distress. One stop was even for a female bu student who drove her car into the median. We didn't realize she was a bu student until we started talking but we still helped her. I've been a hardcore fan for years...Cayman, tournament games in Det, Nebraskie, Okla.

Now, I can't even sit on my couch and watch the whole game. The team and the home court atmosphere suck. Whoever is in charge of the game day experience at ISU needs a cardboard box. I know, I know...winning cures all, but does anyone see that happening?

 

[BirdGrad2011]

I follow both accounts you're referencing. I get the frustration, but is it really fair to Paul to claim silence and not caring when he gives a direct response like this? Seems like an open invitation to provide ideas and feedback. I'd argue he definitely wants to hear from fans provided it's constructive and not just shouting on Twitter.

Fair but that is not the only tweet I’ve seen. I’ve seen posters (multiple) here talk about living in walking distance yet completely ignored. They’ve had season tickets and cancelled with 0 correspondence. They’ve reached out and gotten no response. Maybe my initial jab at the AD is unfair, but it does show how far they have to go in the eyes of many.

 

[ISU86]

Of all the frustrating and embarrassing things about this team, one of the biggest is how GODAWFUL we are at home. There's no excuse for it. Even bad teams win home games. We are trash, with very few bright spots outside of maybe Chase and it'll be surprising if he's here next year. We had some steady progress until about mid-December and thats it. We hit our ceiling, and it's very low. If anything we've regressed. I also hope our next HC is someone who knows how to win as a HC, I don't care at what level. Find our Josh Schertz, someone who is pissed off and wants to turn this turd of a program around and fast. Fortunately our women's hoops and gymnastics teams are solid and far less depressing to watch for the rest of the winter until baseball season. This hoops team is f'ing deplorable.

According to some on this board, anything outside of men's basketball and football are simply white noise. It is inconceivable that one would follow other programs.

 

[ISU86]

Remember when Kyle Brennan was going to beat everyone to the punch and have his choice of the field in finding the best candidate?

That was awesome!

 

[BirdGrad2011]

According to some on this board, anything outside of men's basketball and football are simply white noise. It is inconceivable that one would follow other programs.

support the women’s team. They are everything we want from the men.

 

[jwa123]

I think pulling the plug on Pedon at this juncture would be premature. However, I’m baffled at some of what I see. The offense reminds me so much of the offense Porter Moser ran while he was here and that’s not a good comparison to have. Also, who is the defensive coordinator to use football terminology? The switching that has Kinzinger continually down low guarding a taller post player leaves me scratching my head.

I would expect next year under the Pedon reign should bring improvement. Not saying challenging for first place though that would be nice. The expectation from my perspective would be improvement with the arrow pointing up for future seasons. Other than that then folks we are lost in the woods.

 

[TBus_Birds]

Fair but that is not the only tweet I’ve seen. I’ve seen posters (multiple) here talk about living in walking distance yet completely ignored. They’ve had season tickets and cancelled with 0 correspondence. They’ve reached out and gotten no response. Maybe my initial jab at the AD is unfair, but it does show how far they have to go in the eyes of many.

Certainly valid – it's disappointing that that is the case. I'm not a STH and don't know Paul, just trying to illustrate what seems to be a willingness to listen. I think they want a winner and a fun atmosphere just as much as the fans.

 

[Jeppson4ever]

Deep down I think some of my frustration with Pedon has to do with how/why he was hired. He passed the smell test on paper, but it has always seemed like he was targeted because of a quid pro quo relationship. Brennan gets “mentored” by Gene Smith and returns the favor by hiring his guy. I have some doubt as to how deep the search actually went. And now Brennan is gone and we are stuck with what he left us. I get that we want to empower administrators to do their jobs. But unfortunately we often care about ISU more than they do as ISU is just another stepping stone in their careers.

 

[Redbirdmike]

I started my business 27 years ago and had season tickets for a few years. I made the 5 hour round trip to watch the Birds. I would leave the office early to venture down to Normal, knowing I had just pushed a bunch of work back for another day. A few times the trip was even longer due to inclement weather, but I still made the trip because I enjoyed it. Twice we stopped to help a motorist in distress. One stop was even for a female bu student who drove her car into the median. We didn't realize she was a bu student until we started talking but we still helped her. I've been a hardcore fan for years...Cayman, tournament games in Det, Nebraskie, Okla.

Now, I can't even sit on my couch and watch the whole game. The team and the home court atmosphere suck. Whoever is in charge of the game day experience at ISU needs a cardboard box. I know, I know...winning cures all, but does anyone see that happening?

Gobirds85 you said it all!

We all invest time and energy (and $$) into the school and this program, because we want to see it succeed. Hell, on the odd occasion that we actually win something it even makes us feel great. What are we getting in return? What is our ROI? Frustration, lack of pride, anger, indifference? I have looked forward to watching every game for many years now. It’s getting to that point that it’s no longer becoming fun. When you eliminate hope that’s what happens. I am a glutton for punishment with all of my sports teams, but it’s just not right to see what is transpiring. Maybe they know some of us will never go away. Maybe they don’t care? Coach Pedon is not doing the most important thing that can cure many ills and that is winning basketball games. Period. The worst part about it is that he’s not even winning HOME games. I remember years ago listening to Wisconsin Badgers coach Dick Bennett questioning if his team was actually ready to experience the challenge of Redbird Arena. He actually said that. Today Norfolk State, Valpo and UIC laugh at that notion. What scares you? The blinding red color of empty seats or the squeaking sound of sneakers apropos of an empty YMCA gym pickup game on a Saturday morning? I can’t stand being the laughingstock of the MVC. We lost at home to a 1-11 UIC team last night. Outside of Foster, Chase and Kizinger I don’t see a pathway to getting better. I am not sold on Pence based on what I have seen which is absolutely nothing.

The sand is slipping through the hourglass Coach Pedon and there is not much left of it. Start looking for someone that knows what he is doing and how to build an offense and a roster. I really hope he is able to do it. I have my doubts.

Rant for the day……,

 

[TBus_Birds]

Deep down I think some of my frustration with Pedon has to do with how/why he was hired. He passed the smell test on paper, but it has always seemed like he was targeted because of a quid pro quo relationship. Brennan gets “mentored” by Gene Smith and returns the favor by hiring his guy. I have some doubt as to how deep the search actually went. And now Brennan is gone and we are stuck with what he left us. I get that we want to empower administrators to do their jobs. But unfortunately we often care about ISU more than they do as ISU is just another stepping stone in their careers.

This. A critical hire for the program entire department and it gets decided by a guy who hardly lasted a year after it was made. Rough.