Illinois 79, Michigan State 74 POSTGAME

#226      

sacraig

The desert
I completely agree with you. I remember during the 2005 year when we were top in the country, there were many posters that took great pride in trashing the other programs in the Big 10. They would slobber all over Weber, and rip a lot of the other coaches. I remember thinking, "guys.......karma can be a !!!!!. Just enjoy our success and don't revel in the misery of others."

Well, we all know how the following years turned out, don't we. I hope that if we get back to winning ways, we won't turn into an ugly fan base again.

I mostly agree with you. The one exception for me is Mizzou. I still don't condone going on their boards and talking trash, but I absolutely will and do revel in their misery when it occurs. It's the best kind of schadenfreude. Growing up on the Illinois side of the Mississippi in Greater St. Louis will do that to you.
 
#227      
I mostly agree with you. The one exception for me is Mizzou. I still don't condone going on their boards and talking trash, but I absolutely will and do revel in their misery when it occurs. It's the best kind of schadenfreude. Growing up on the Illinois side of the Mississippi in Greater St. Louis will do that to you.
OK, I'll accept that. Hatred of a particular program is fair game.
 
#228      
great game...

the more the kids execute, the more i feel like the system is one that allows to compete with teams we had no chance of competing with before
 
#234      
Wow, still feels so good! It was so refreshing to see a top ten team regain momentum, completely erase our lead, TAKE the lead for themselves and then watch our guys play with ice in their veins! Such a great team effort. I am trying to remember two things going forward that will keep me grounded during this excitement:

1) Michigan State does appear to be in a bit of a slide. However, #9 in the country is #9. What I think is responsible to take away from this is that we can't just go out and slay top ten teams on the road with regularity or anything now, but this team does have the talent to beat VERY good ball clubs when we're hot.

2) We are still a very, very young team that is going to display some inconsistencies. Heck, even our 2005 team had uncharacteristically off games (vs. Iowa in OT, at Michigan, etc.). I refuse to let one disappointing loss in the coming weeks let me lose faith in the vision for this program. I am FULLY on board right now, and I cannot wait to see what we can do down the stretch. A BTT run doesn't look so crazy anymore.

With those two in mind, however, I am still sky high!! Here are my revised predictions down the stretch:

W vs. Rutgers - I predict this one is uncomfortably close, as RU is playing well and we might have a bit of a letdown. However, I think we win in the end, 75-69.
W at Ohio State - OSU will likely need a win badly, and this would usually be a "come back down to Earth" type of game. However, my (perhaps foolish) optimism has us coming into this game absolutely fired up after a lackluster win vs. Rutgers. UI 78, OSU 72.
L at #19 Wisconsin - Wisconsin is good and nearly impossible to beat at the Kohl Center, especially for us. This 72-63 loss will likely have a few of our more pouty fans right back to being negative, but they shouldn't be!
W vs. Penn State - I think, in a similar performance to our home game vs. Nebraska, we handily beat Penn State, this time hitting way more free throws: UI 78, PSU 68.
L at #15 Purdue - I think we look REALLY good in this game but come up short, 77-73.
W vs. Northwestern - In a take-out-our-frustration game and with revenge on our mind, we beat NU 81-68.
W vs. Indiana - In somewhat of a nail-biter, I think we beat the rival Hoosiers 80-76.
W at Penn State - Finishing the season strong with a sweep of a B1G opponent, we handle PSU easily at their place, 78-67.

That would put us at 14-17 (10-10) going into the Big Ten Tournament, likely earning a decent seed. I am going out on a limb and guessing that, behind a great Illini fan showing at the UC, we actually make it to the BTT championship game before falling to someone like Iowa or Wisconsin (not MSU, Michigan or Purdue). I, then, will be absolutely ecstatic for next year!! GO ILLINI!

I can get behind this. Another poster made the point that while our record prevents us from being a top 25 team, we may be one of the 25 best teams in the country right now.

It's just so important to come out and show this is real, and not just a hot streak. This good feeling will turn real quick if we don't take care of business at home against Rutgers this weekend. As crazy as it sounds, we have put ourselves in a position of having "should win" games. Now we don't have to go 6-2 as you outlined but I think with our schedule 4-4 at minimum is a must to sustain the momentum that we have created.
 
#238      
Can't believe there are so many posts about, Dakich. Who cares what Dakich thinks.

Dude, what is not to hate? Seriously. Dakich is the a Hoosier homer (strike one), and it seems like he is always throwing undermining, patronizing compliments out there ... the type of announcer who would say something like this during an Illinois/Indiana game he was calling: "WOW, the Illini take a 10-point lead ... see, I KNEW they would be fired up for this game, they ALWAYS get up for the IU game! I'm serious!! Go walk around the bars in Champaign and say you're an Indiana fan, you'll be tossed out the door!! This is a big game for them, and their effort tonight shows it!"

My sister attended Butler and currently lives in Indianapolis. She has some good friends who know the Dakich family well ... about as cocky as they come, and you can hear it oozing out of Dakich's voice when he does games. I HATE when I have to listen to him do an Illini game, and I am totally willing to concede that he occasionally makes really good points and has good insight ... doesn't matter.
 
#239      
IMO
Giorgi best freshman center in recent history and best overall since Leonard.
Ayo and Trent best defensive guards in BIG
Our tendency to look at starting fives doesn't apply in BU's system, requires at least eight.
Rebounding our largest weakness and Kofi/Antwan should remedy.
System requires a base of experience as it is so different from what players had in HS or AAU.
We are still in for some disappointments with this young team.
 
#244      
agree - not sure why Vitale is even doing this gig anymore - very stale. Bilas bothers me to for some reason. Almost like he's too smart to be trying to explain things to us morons watching - or something like that. I can't quite put my finger on it - but he's starting to annoy me too. I kinda tuned Walton out during the Maui tourney and just sort of ignored the schtick.
You know who I actually very, very suprisingly enjoyed as an announcer before he took another gig....Tom Arnold, I mean Crean. Really did not like that man on the sidelines in the B10, but he kinda was impressive as a color guy. To me, he was the Chucky of college basketball.
 
#245      

Deleted member 29907

D
Guest
At this point I thing we're better than many 15-8 teams.
The FAU, GTown and NU games really hurt us. Only chance is to win the BTT at this point and that would only be possible with a huge assist from either injuries, ideal matchups, or a minor plane mishap of running off the runway.
 
#247      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
Yep, but still Dakich sticks his foot in his mouth so often. He's one of those commentators that you can openly tell has decided which team is going to win, which in my opinion makes him awful. Impartiality is difficult to maintain but it's what separates the mediocre from the great.
Wonder why he kept calling Tev by the name of Davis ? he did it once and his partner corrected him and then he did it again on the replay....

JMHO, Dakich is a legend in his own mind
 
#248      

Illwinsagain

Cary, IL
The FAU, GTown and NU games really hurt us. Only chance is to win the BTT at this point and that would only be possible with a huge assist from either injuries, ideal matchups, or a minor plane mishap of running off the runway.
That didn't work last time...
 
#249      
I, too, generally like Dakich, his pedigree notwithstanding. He's got a lot of insight and he at least has some personality. He calls it like he sees it, which is correct more often than not, but that does mean he also gets to put his foot in his mouth a fair bit. He generally owns it, though.

Compare that to, say, Walton, who just rambles about not knowing where Senegal or Georgia are on a map instead of basketball, even though he does have a lot of insight to offer when he can actually stay on topic. Walton is awful.

Is there any way I can give 350 likes to this post? 110% agree.
 
#250      
Immediately jumped to the last page.....and oh wow....I just don't have the words
I watched awhile back the tv documentary on how the football players gang rapped a female student, who ended up with emotional issues, who now has died.
Plus the gymnastic doctor issues.
Have they been hit from the NCAA?
Thug ball program!