Ty pregame chestbump during Matthew Mayer Monster Energy appreciation night?
Illini Basketball
I'm sure plenty of those shirts, etc. are availableI would have gone with “Duck the F……”, but I quickly realized that still isn’t appropriate.
Still think one thing the PAC did right was have the PAC tournament in Las Vegas. It's the greatest place for March Madness etc. Nothing compares to the Las Vegas sports bars for college basketball.
Illini in Indiana
- Indiana
I agree
But, I'd go in this order of dislike for basket ball.
1) Indiana
2) Iowa
3) Michigan
..... then Ohio State in all sports.
Joel Goodson
- ties will be resolved
here's to a long and lucrative pro career
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
Chills watching this. Having a beast like Kofi brought the best out of Curbelo.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Nothing will make a Illini fan wonder "what could have been" like watching that 2021 team during this stretch:
W 74-69 at #23 Wisconsin (without Ayo)
W 76-53 at #2 Michigan (without Ayo)
W 73-68 at #7 Ohio State (Ayo's first game back in the mask)
W 90-68 vs. Rutgers (BTT Quarterfinals)
W 82-71 vs. #5 Iowa (BTT Semifinals ... Iowa also hit a last second meaningless three)
W 91-88 in OT vs. #9 Ohio State (BTT Championship Game)
W 78-49 vs. Drexel (NCAAT First Round)
I'm sure some will use their 20/20 hindsight to disagree, but man ... watching us in the Big Ten Tournament, we straight-up looked like a National Championship team. And clearly others agreed, as 20% of brackets had the Illini winning it all that year.
I really doubt we ever see a run like that again in my lifetime where our guys beat 4 top-ten teams in one month.....ALL AWAY FROM HOME.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
God, I hope not - or at least not in THAT tight of a timeframe! That COVID year was ridiculous, logistics-wise.
just imagine what our home game with Michigan would have been, if not for cowardly leadership of the conference and the rodents.
BillyBob1
- Champaign
His triple double in the tournament was special too!
When people ask about freshman year Curbelo
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Well....the three worst moments for me (arguably) in program history (in no particular order) are the '88 loss to scUM, the '05 loss to UNC, and the sanctions from the Iowa/Satan scandal.
So Iowa and scUM will forever exist at the top of the B1G hate-O-meter. Obvs. UNC non conf. hatred.
I can't really bring myself to "hate" PU or the Purple Kittens...and ClownPantsU has fallen so hard that some of the spice has left that rivalry, though it will always exist.
So Iowa and scUM will forever exist at the top of the B1G hate-O-meter. Obvs. UNC non conf. hatred.
I can't really bring myself to "hate" PU or the Purple Kittens...and ClownPantsU has fallen so hard that some of the spice has left that rivalry, though it will always exist.
That team was easily the third best team since I have been a fan (late 70s). Unfortunately the players and the coaching staff had a huge brainfart against Loyola.
PizzaHutParkingLot
- McPherson, KS
I don't see why Ty can't have a Josh Hart like impact next season
Josh Hart shot 38.9% on 3.6 3s per game during his career at Nova. I think we'd all sign up for that.
He'd have to have the desire and confidence to shoot the ball. Currently, he doesn't even bother to look at the rim outside of the paint. Yo expect him to go from 0% to 38% in one year while completing changing his mental makeup gives every reason to believe that he won't make that impact. It's not his game, though ANY type of threat from beyond 15 feet would be helpful.
Indiana has been my favorite "rival" since the 50s due to the rivalry in H. S. basketball interest. In that 75 year stretch the Michigan athletic dept. has become totally insignificant and due zero respect in all sports...especially basketball....and football. All others have been fairly respectful over the years....even Iowa...but at least they do not cheat.
As an Arizona golf alum, most would think I would have a deep seated hate for the ASU Sun Devils. Though there was no program I wanted to beat more, they were consistently better than us at the time and annually had multiple All-Americans. But we did beat them 3 times in my career, and all were somewhat unexpected. Regardless, their guys were all good friends and remain so to this day.
The point is that players respect the game...and it is the competition that makes winning mean something. And athletes respect each other for setting a bar worth jumping over. There are always exceptions. Much like Michigan over the past 100 years, those individuals and programs that just do not "get it" when it comes to winning by outworking the other guy instead of declaring yourself superior, there are a few, fortunately a small few, who never learn to respect their opponents and let their ignorance and their mouths erode all respect from others.
Unfortunately, fan bases are a different story and there are few that truly understand the high level competition and respect among programs...resulting in some horrific behaviors that reflect poorly on the universities.
'89 (88-89 season) I was in the Kingdome--and am still haunted by it. Glad they blew the place up.
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora