Re: College Basketball 2012-2013

[Guest]

That half went much better than I thought it would.

[bukie]

That half went much better than I thought it would.

Certainly ended that way. Amazing that Gonzaga is shooting 60% from the field and has double the rebounds of the Illini and it's tied.

[Magnetic Curses]

That half went much better than I thought it would.

 

we might not win, but we have the experience to play with anyone in the country. we have athletes, depth, and shooting, plus the best player on the court.

 

we will suffer because of our lack of post play, but when you have guards like we do, just clear it out anyway.

[radarluv1]

How would you feel about this team with Leonard? Top 5? We have zero post presence.

Lot of odd calls tonight - evens out i think, carries called, lot of tie-ups which are usually fouls.

[Magnetic Curses]

ugh, refs setting this one up to be a free throw spree for the zags at the end

[Magnetic Curses]

wow, egwu is baaaaaaaaaaaaaad

[Irrelevant Dude]

So, Adam Morrison had a "solid NBA career", huh?

[bukie]

So, Adam Morrison had a "solid NBA career", huh?

Well, he did win an NBA championship.

[Magnetic Curses]

So, Adam Morrison had a "solid NBA career", huh?

 

for someone with autism, yes.

[Irrelevant Dude]

Olynyk is SOFT. The biggest guy on the court is flopping all over the place.

[Magnetic Curses]

WE WON BY MORE THAN 10 POINTS! IN YOUR FACE BUKIE

[Magnetic Curses]

brandon paul creating a buzz?

[Irrelevant Dude]

Top 10 here we come.

[bukie]

WE WON BY MORE THAN 10 POINTS! IN YOUR FACE BUKIE

I AM FILLED WITH SHAME

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and on a high unlike any other since Illinois has the best road win of any team this year.

[Magnetic Curses]

WE WON BY MORE THAN 10 POINTS! IN YOUR FACE BUKIE

I AM FILLED WITH SHAME

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and on a high unlike any other since Illinois has the best road win of any team this year.

 

me too. unbelievable win.

[bcl412]

The B1G 10 is [expletive] good.

[hawkeyecub]

Hopefully it's just the beer but this [expletive] Illinois team is starting to remind me of Missouri last year.

[Magnetic Curses]

also.......http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXQsnxHjaMU

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Brandon Paul played out of his mind. What a great game. Well, aside from Egwu embarrassing himself all over the place.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

the twitter buzz surrounding Illinois right now is a lot of fun.

[UMFan83]

Has the Big Ten ever been as good as it is right now, or at at least at the top? Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State and Illinois all look legit, and a very talented Michigan State team, at #19 and with a neutral site victory over Kansas already on their resume, is almost an afterthought.

 

Congrats Illini fans. I expected to come on here tonight and read sully's 'only my team' ramblings, but jubilant Illini banter is not a bad consolation prize.

[Magnetic Curses]

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1851131/airguitarbro.gif

[illiniguy]

I told you they had no answer for Brandon Paul. No one does.

[NewUserName]

Has the Big Ten ever been as good as it is right now, or at at least at the top? Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State and Illinois all look legit, and a very talented Michigan State team, at #19 and with a neutral site victory over Kansas already on their resume, is almost an afterthought.

 

Congrats Illini fans. I expected to come on here tonight and read sully's 'only my team' ramblings, but jubilant Illini banter is not a bad consolation prize.

 

1989. National Champion, Michigan. Another in the Final Four, Illinois. Indiana and Iowa were both Top Ten teams most of the year. I think Iowa, Illinois and Michigan all had at least 3 future first round NBA picks on their teams. I don't remember but I am sure that MSU, Purdue, OSU, Wisconsin and Minnesota were probably good also. I think a couple of teams did not make the tourney because of how good the Big Ten was at the top. I think there was a full double round robin at the time and it was hard to get wins against the top 4 teams. So the middle schools probably had at least 6 losses before playing each other. It was almost impossible to make the tourney at the time with a losing conference record.

[XZero771679666304]

Well, that was a pleasant surprise to find on my DVR. I think Gonzaga might have won if they'd have pounded it into the post (where the Illini were badly overmatched), but Illinois did a great defensive job denying as well. And there aren't many teams who will have an answer for the Illini's athleticism.

 

One thing I noticed was that Paul made concerted effort to repeatedly take the ball to the basket rather than hang on the perimeter. Even though he didn't get there half the time, he drew fouls. That was the most encouraging thing I saw.

 

Obviously, Brandon Paul isn't going to go off for 30+ every game, but I don't think he'll have to. One thing that was lost in last season's debacle is that there is actually quite a bit of talent on the roster. You have Richardson, I think Bertrand is developing into a guy who can take a game over for stretches off the bench, Abrams is a capable PG and Henry can be rotated in without losing much. Egwu is a mess, but McLaurin is a solid, workman-like contributor in the post. Griffey can even be a factor on some nights.

 

I think they keys to this season being different than the last for the Illini will be Paul being consistently good instead of hit or miss, and Groce's system, which actually takes advantage of all the athleticism on the roster rather than constraining it in that joke of an offense Weber ran. It's just too bad Leonard is gone now.

 

I see a 10-8 to 12-6 conference record for the Illini. The B1G is really, really good.