Illini Basketball

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#53      
Look who made an appearance at the WBIT championship game. It’s been awhile.

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#57      
Just wanted to close the loop for anyone who has been wondering about TSJ's quest to earn All-American honors this season. He didn't succeed.

He ended up AP 3rd team and USBWA Honorable Mention. He was left off of the other two lists completely.

As an additional aside, there is no readily apparent way for TSJ to fulfill any of the six current criteria to have his jersey honored, except maybe selection to the next All-Century Team (in 2105?).

Feels pretty bad to me.
 
#58      
Thought provoking, and just plain provoking, period:


We were ranked #25 before the season began. Because we aren't the Spartans. Kemba Walker's legacy is safe, big men matter, and they go undrafted. Times change. This year was something special.

And if Dan Hurley wants to be the second coming of Bobby Knight, he still has to step up his game quite a bit. By my count, he hasn't thrown a single chair, just broken the rules by standing on the court and getting away with it. I'll be rooting for Purdue with mixed emotions. Not because I hate them or UCONN, but because I want the Big20 to get a title. We are overdue. Someday we will have UCONN and we will need to give Hurley a proper nickname. Why oh why did we use "Satan" so early?
 
#60      
Thought provoking, and just plain provoking, period:


We were ranked #25 before the season began. Because we aren't the Spartans. Kemba Walker's legacy is safe, big men matter, and they go undrafted. Times change. This year was something special.

And if Dan Hurley wants to be the second coming of Bobby Knight, he still has to step up his game quite a bit. By my count, he hasn't thrown a single chair, just broken the rules by standing on the court and getting away with it. I'll be rooting for Purdue with mixed emotions. Not because I hate them or UCONN, but because I want the Big20 to get a title. We are overdue. Someday we will have UCONN and we will need to give Hurley a proper nickname. Why oh why did we use "Satan" so early?
Loved your earlier work; got a little too experimental towards the end though. Breathless,baby!
 
#61      
I watched the second half of our Ladies Championship game. They looked so, so good! I think they upset a couple #1 seeds on their way to being crowned champs?! Congrats Illinois Women's Basketball!! Great momentum going into next year.
 
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#62      
Thought provoking, and just plain provoking, period:


We were ranked #25 before the season began. Because we aren't the Spartans. Kemba Walker's legacy is safe, big men matter, and they go undrafted. Times change. This year was something special.

And if Dan Hurley wants to be the second coming of Bobby Knight, he still has to step up his game quite a bit. By my count, he hasn't thrown a single chair, just broken the rules by standing on the court and getting away with it. I'll be rooting for Purdue with mixed emotions. Not because I hate them or UCONN, but because I want the Big20 to get a title. We are overdue. Someday we will have UCONN and we will need to give Hurley a proper nickname. Why oh why did we use "Satan" so early?
Say what you want about Dan Hurley but he is no Bruce Pearl.
DH did not con a recruit into telling him something on tape.
DH has not been run out of town everywhere he goes for NCAA infractions.
F Satan!!
 
#65      
Shoutout to ESPN a couple weeks back for listing our tournament CEILING as a sweet sixteen appearance. We all must have imagined getting to the Elite Eight because clearly it wasn’t possible according to the experts.
 

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#66      
Shoutout to ESPN a couple weeks back for listing our tournament CEILING as a sweet sixteen appearance. We all must have imagined getting to the Elite Eight because clearly it wasn’t possible according to the experts.

ok, ESPN sucks, no doubt. but bad pundit/expert calls, regardless of the mother ship, have been going on forever. just something for this group to do til the next game(s). gotta feed the beast
 
#67      
I would imagine we would get a first round game at home against a mid major before going to Destin. I’d also have to think we would be candidates for at least one of the made-for-TV events (probably not a return to the Jimmy V Classic since we were there this season). Maybe the annual United Center event that ESPN airs or the Indianapolis event that CBS airs? Those are always really good program exposure since big name teams are always playing in those matchups.

EDIT-if Illinois does play in the UC event, that means there wouldn’t be a need to return a road game for that game. However, if you can get a big name for that game in exchange for a road neutral game, I’m not against it. Maybe Colorado with a return game in Denver?
Should play Kansas at UC with return game in Kansas City.
 
#68      
ok, ESPN sucks, no doubt. but bad pundit/expert calls, regardless of the mother ship, have been going on forever. just something for this group to do til the next game(s). gotta feed the beast
It's just so much more targeted now, IMO, with the networks aligning with conferences. And, while I TOTALLY acknowledge I am biased, it seems ESPN is coming across as way more biased against the Big Ten than FOX ever does toward the SEC.
 
#69      
We have Tennessee at home next year and of course Bragging Rights. Anyone know if we will be in any pre season tourney's?
 
#70      
Should play Kansas at UC with return game in Kansas City.
So many great options. These are the metro areas that produced the most college basketball players:

New York, NY - 101
Chicago, IL - 87
Houston, TX - 87
Philadelphia, PA - 52
Atlanta, GA - 51
Charlotte, NC - 47
Dallas, TX - 42
Los Angeles, CA - 41
Memphis, TN - 40
Baltimore, MD - 40

Other metros that clearly produce quite a few recruits, as well, include Indianapolis, Washington, DC, Orlando, the Bay Area, etc. Just from those listed, these would be no-brainer, mutually beneficial series we could do with relatively big "brand" names in college hoops, with an obvious return game at the United Center:

MSG in New York: Syracuse, UConn ( :oops: )
Toyota Center in Houston: Texas A&M, Texas, Houston (obviously not at their real arena)
Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia: Villanova (though this would be their home arena)
State Farm Arena in Atlanta: Auburn :)oops:) or Georgia if they improve
Spectrum Center in Charlotte: North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, South Carolina
American Airlines Center in Dallas: Texas, TCU, Texas Tech, Texas A&M
FedEx Forum in Memphis: Tennessee (they'd probably like to get more visibility out west), Ole Miss, maybe even Arkansas
Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis: Kentucky (ultimate troll of IU, sign me up!!), Louisville
Capital One Arena in Washington, DC: Virginia, Virginia Tech
Kia Center in Orlando: Florida, Florida State
Chase Center in San Francisco: Cal, Stanford?? Not that exciting

To all those SO nervous about giving up a home game, playing in front of our state's largest city and one of the nation's top hot beds for high school talent carries its own value that likely outweighs one home game. As a reminder, these Big Ten teams have ALL given up a home game to play in one of their "local" markets where they are trying to "outreach" for fans in the last three seasons:

2021-22
Indiana in Indianapolis, IN
Purdue in Indianapolis, IN
Michigan State in Detroit, MI
Iowa in Sioux Falls, SD

2022-23
Indiana in Indianapolis, IN
Purdue in Indianapolis, IN
Rutgers in New York, NY (MSG)
Penn State in Philadelphia, PA

2023-24
Indiana in Indianapolis, IN
Purdue in Indianapolis, IN
Michigan State in Detroit, MI
Ohio State in Cleveland, OH
Iowa in Des Moines, IA
Nebraska in Sioux Falls, SD
Penn State in Philadelphia, PA
Penn State in New York, NY (MSG)
Rutgers in Newark, NJ

Our Saturday home games at the United Center were an absolute smashing success until literally a 3-year span when our program was at its worst. They'd sell QUITE well again.
 
#71      
There’s always a balance for me playing a big name at the United Center as opposed to Champaign. The pro for the UC is obviously a big arena with a loud pro-Illini crowd in a NBA environment. But I do understand the on campus crowd wants to see a game like that in SFC as well.

I don’t know if there’s a right answer all the time for this. I do think that Illinois should play some big non-con games on campus.
 
#72      
So many great options. These are the metro areas that produced the most college basketball players:

New York, NY - 101
Chicago, IL - 87
Houston, TX - 87
Philadelphia, PA - 52
Atlanta, GA - 51
Charlotte, NC - 47
Dallas, TX - 42
Los Angeles, CA - 41
Memphis, TN - 40
Baltimore, MD - 40

Other metros that clearly produce quite a few recruits, as well, include Indianapolis, Washington, DC, Orlando, the Bay Area, etc. Just from those listed, these would be no-brainer, mutually beneficial series we could do with relatively big "brand" names in college hoops, with an obvious return game at the United Center:

MSG in New York: Syracuse, UConn ( :oops: )
Toyota Center in Houston: Texas A&M, Texas, Houston (obviously not at their real arena)
Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia: Villanova (though this would be their home arena)
State Farm Arena in Atlanta: Auburn :)oops:) or Georgia if they improve
Spectrum Center in Charlotte: North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, South Carolina
American Airlines Center in Dallas: Texas, TCU, Texas Tech, Texas A&M
FedEx Forum in Memphis: Tennessee (they'd probably like to get more visibility out west), Ole Miss, maybe even Arkansas
Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis: Kentucky (ultimate troll of IU, sign me up!!), Louisville
Capital One Arena in Washington, DC: Virginia, Virginia Tech
Kia Center in Orlando: Florida, Florida State
Chase Center in San Francisco: Cal, Stanford?? Not that exciting

To all those SO nervous about giving up a home game, playing in front of our state's largest city and one of the nation's top hot beds for high school talent carries its own value that likely outweighs one home game. As a reminder, these Big Ten teams have ALL given up a home game to play in one of their "local" markets where they are trying to "outreach" for fans in the last three seasons:

2021-22
Indiana in Indianapolis, IN
Purdue in Indianapolis, IN
Michigan State in Detroit, MI
Iowa in Sioux Falls, SD

2022-23
Indiana in Indianapolis, IN
Purdue in Indianapolis, IN
Rutgers in New York, NY (MSG)
Penn State in Philadelphia, PA

2023-24
Indiana in Indianapolis, IN
Purdue in Indianapolis, IN
Michigan State in Detroit, MI
Ohio State in Cleveland, OH
Iowa in Des Moines, IA
Nebraska in Sioux Falls, SD
Penn State in Philadelphia, PA
Penn State in New York, NY (MSG)
Rutgers in Newark, NJ

Our Saturday home games at the United Center were an absolute smashing success until literally a 3-year span when our program was at its worst. They'd sell QUITE well again.
Baylor-Illinois in Chicago and then either Dallas or Houston.


Leonardo Dicaprio Leo GIF


I’d rather just play Stanford or Cal on campus unless they decide to do a doubleheader at Chase Center. I don’t see either program with an appetite to host a game just down the road with the cost of renting that arena. Now if they want to do a doubleheader there, that’s a different story. But I’d prefer to just do a home and home with them or a program like Georgetown.
 
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#75      
Say what you want about Dan Hurley but he is no Bruce Pearl.
DH did not con a recruit into telling him something on tape.
DH has not been run out of town everywhere he goes for NCAA infractions.
F Satan!!
Technically, Satan didn't con Deon into telling him something on tape. Even more sinister and crooked, post-telephone conversation, he edited and spliced the tape to make it sound like Deon was admitting to something illegal and nefarious. Then Iowa shared said tape of fake news with the NCAA.
 
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