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Illinois Basketball: Don’t put too much stock into Chris Holtmann’s words

By Rees Woodcock

Feb 7, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Butler Bulldogs head coach Chris Holtmann yells from the sidelines during the first half against the Marquette Golden Eagles at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 7, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Butler Bulldogs head coach Chris Holtmann yells from the sidelines during the first half against the Marquette Golden Eagles at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /
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The John Groce firing, to many Illinois basketball fans, was needed. But it didn’t go over well with Butler Bulldogs head coach Chris Holtmann, though.

During the press conference after Butler’s 76-64 victory over Winthrop, Holtmann was asked his reaction to the firing of Indiana’s Tom Crean. He responded by giving the question a one sentence answer and then going on about Illinois and the firing of Groce.

Here is an excerpt from the press conference.

"I had one of my closest friends lose a job not too long ago at Illinois and listen, we all get into this knowing the deal. Do I disagree with those decisions? Absolutely. Absolutely I do.My bias — do I disagree with the decision at Illinois? Absolutely. They don’t care. But I know how hard that guy works, and I know how committed he was to his players, and I believe he was really close to turning the corner."

I took two things from this press conference that has stuck with me since I read the transcript. I would really like to hear how he said some things, but I will just go off the transcript for now.

The first thing that stuck out to me is that you can’t take Holtmann’s words too serious. He clearly is just sour about his best friend getting fired from his position at Illinois. This isn’t a noble thing or a strong thing it is just empty words from a guy who probably only hears from Groce’s side of the story.

The second thing that really stuck with me from this is the fact that he is likely wrong with his statements. Josh Whitman isn’t just firing people for the sake of firing people. John Groce had five years to get this program to his liking and we ended up missing the NCAA tournament four straight seasons.

Groce was an okay recruiter and he couldn’t put wins on the board. It is plain and simple and there really isn’t anything else to this story. If he would have won he would still be the head coach of this program.

You can say Groce was really close to turning the corner but that should have happened this season. He had everything set up to turn that corner but it didn’t happen. Now we move onto a new head coach.

Next: Da’Monte Williams firm with his commitment to Illini

Overall, I don’t put too much stock into what Holtmann said. He was just firing off during a press conference. Illinois will find a better head coach and move forward with the program.

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