These discussions are fun and there is never a way to prove one way or another who was the best. In support of the 89 Illini I would point out that they beat 11 top 25 teams during that season. UNLV and Houston defeated 7 and 5 respectively.
Illini Basketball 2018-2019
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These discussions are fun and there is never a way to prove one way or another who was the best. In support of the 89 Illini I would point out that they beat 11 top 25 teams during that season. UNLV and Houston defeated 7 and 5 respectively.
There are definitely many ways to judge a team, for sure. I'd just counter that by saying there's not much UNLV or Houston could do about their conference schedules. Houston only had one howler prior to tournament final (on the road vs. Syracuse) and another loss to then-#1 Virginia. UNLV didn't lose to anyone until the final four.
Way back when, I used to get really annoyed with folks who overlooked the comically weak schedules played by Notre Dame and DePaul as independents and I still think that weak schedules are bad for basketball. But you can only play who you play, right?
Whoa. Liberty was in the class of 1987, along with Illini legacy Bob Starnes from Florida. Marcus was ranked #1 by some. Others had Larry Johnson, Eric Manuel, or Dennis Scott. Danny Ferry and Tony Kimbro were Class of 1985, same as Lowell Hamilton.
Larry Smith was class of 1986, same as Nick Anderson, Ervin Small, Phil Kunz, Jeff Finke, Kendall Gill, and Steve Bardo. Ken Battle also transferred that year. Nick and Ervin had to sit out because Prop 48 or something. They lost the year of eligibility. Battle sat out because of the transfer, and red shirted.
Larry Smith was a top 35 prospect in high school, but as a college freshmen he was terrible on defense; which affected his offense. When I saw him at a freshmen scrimmage, he was struggling, while Gill looked like a future pro. Anyway, Bardo and Gill earned rotation minutes with team defense and rebounding, while Smith did not play much early on.
Nick Anderson played in all 33 Illini games as a sophomore and started 25. He averaged almost 28 minutes and 16 points per game. Was there another Nick?
The Illini scrimmaged in ESL the fall of 1987. LaPhonso Ellis made a crack about how good Battle looked at "his" power forward position. He was telling people he did not want to play center, so Kujawa playing well would have been a plus. He ultimately said he picked Notre Dame, in part, because they recruited 6-11 Keith Tower to play center, so he (Fonz) would be able to play power forward.
Despite their shortcomings (our inside game and 4/5 positions were a big gap last year), the departing players collectively accounted for 27.7 ppg and 12.7 rpg. The incoming players at 4/5 will have a problem averaging that production. Black alone average 15.3/5.2, it would take one of the best freshmen seasons ever for a freshman to average that. Finke averaged 9.8/4.6, not going to be easy to replicate that.
Even if someone from that group eventually becomes better than Black, it would probably take 2-3 years exceed his production this past year. When your incoming players at 4/5 are ranked 281, 367, and 386 respectively, expectations will be low. Someone may surprise, and the staff is really playing the chances game, the more prospects, the better the chances that at least one surprises. But if they do, it would be exactly that, a surprise, not an expected outcome.
Definitely can only play who is on your schedule. This brings back memories of high school when I used to argue UNLV vs Flying Illini and truth be told they were incredibly similar. Athletic, physical and terrific defensively. I thought the advantage the Illini had was Marcus Liberty. He was so skilled and to be a 6th man on a team was a huge weapon. UNLV definitely had the size advantage down low, but Illinois guards towered over UNLV's. I wish they could have played
That would've been a really fun game, to say the least.
I could never quite figure out Liberty. I think he might have been hamstrung a bit by being a square peg. He mostly got burn at the 4, but back then that meant a lot of work in the post. Not that his career was exactly a disappointment, but he fell a bit short of the hype (and then jumped when we went on probation).
I just remember that he was too cool to dunk, which I loved. That finger roll was smooth as hell.
IllFanInMi
I
Guest
Can we start a new thread, or do we need to sift through pages of glory days?
I love the old days and discussions about the great players and teams, but enough is enough!
I love the old days and discussions about the great players and teams, but enough is enough!
You're all being a bunch of hipsters. 05 was our best team.
*ducks*
*ducks*
so '64, '89 or '05...so on avg every 20 years we get a #2 or #3 team. ...i.e. 2025 we will be in final four and contending for NCAA championship ( after a string of suite 16 and elite 8 years prior, of course).
Predicting we will have the overall "best performing Freshman class in B10 in 18-19". Just like Trent showed, rankings dont matter...
Dreamer maybe, but I'm pumped for future...building a culture of gritty, athletic teams with "BU Swagger"!!!!!!!!! Screw the doubters.
That feels better and setting my orange koolaid down
...but I own and believe everything I typed.Sent from my VS500 using Tapatalk
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
agreed
Why are you whoaing. I never said Liberty was in the same class as the other guys. And I didn’t say Nick missed any games he played with a broken shooting hand. And regarding Larry I’m talking about preseason workouts and practices when the players were getting to know each other not scrimmages.
That is a cool idea, actually, a thread about the glory days. I need my memory refreshed, but can remember back to the 1963 Big Ten Champs. The 1965, 1989, and 2005 teams stand out as favorite favorites. They were both good and fun to watch.
I misread that first part, and agree except I think that Marcus was more of consensus top 4 than # 1. Sorry.
On Nick, I took sitting out as sitting out.
On Smith, we agree, except he was 1986, not 1987.
I heard the story about Phonz allegedly being discouraged after a scrimmage, but I heard it was because of Battle's play at the 4, not Jens at the 5. That is consistent with his excuse for going to ND so he would not have to play center.
nothing personal.
I'll continue the polluting of this thread lol
1984 Illini that fell victim to the Rupp Screw job are in the same breath as the others you mentioned. I believe they could have won it all that year. That team had it all
+1
I can make one comment about a transfer in a recruiting thread and I will get criticism before it's eventually moved to the transfer thread... But people can spend 5 weeks talking about the 89 team and noone bats an eye..
#overit #whataremoderatorsfor? #makeyourownthread #thenyoucanbeateachotheroffwithoutannoyingtherestofus #readyformynext30dayban #readonlymode
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I can make one comment about a transfer in a recruiting thread and I will get criticism before it's eventually moved to the transfer thread... But people can spend 5 weeks talking about the 89 team and noone bats an eye..
#overit #whataremoderatorsfor? #makeyourownthread #thenyoucanbeateachotheroffwithoutannoyingtherestofus #readyformynext30dayban #readonlymode
Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk
Really took that criticism and post moving hard huh?
How about posting something really interesting about next years team and get us all going on the right path
Given the new recruits focus on athleticism, how do you think next year's team will compare to those of the 80s?
We have a lot more athletes compared to what Groce was able to get but it's not like we have crazy athleticism on the roster.. It's just more comparable to what other D1 teams have. For a few years, we probably had one of the least athletic rosters at the high major level so this is a nice change.
Glad to see we have another recruit........
:tsk:we are likely more comparable to the 98/99 team that the 88/89 team
hopefully we can do as well in the BTT and truly be on the upswing afterward.:thumb:
Living in MA and losing the B10 network on Comcast would normally have me absolutely outraged, but unfortunately I have less and less hoops interest, more than football, and I do check Loyalty pretty often, but certainly last year was a disappointment.
Seems like each of the past 10 years or so we were a year or two away from being something special or at least decent.
How long do we have to wait. Checked the records and the last time we were above 500 in the BIG was 2009/10.
Last year I selected the NIT box in the preseason poll, and this year I will check the not even NIT box. We have probably the same amount of FR as Kentucky, similar to the fact that our height compares with the Flyin Illini
Okay our athleticism has improved. But what about talent?. We were 14-18, 4-14 with Leron last year. While Leron had his issues, he was clearly the best player on the team.
I saw on here we have 4, count'em 4 players returning from a crappy at best season. Trent has great potential. Hopefully DMW can stat to shine. Kipper is Kipper and Jordan is not Jordan.
Hate to throw reality on the fire, but I am not optimistic about next year. At best, I see us hitting nadir after this year and improving after that. How much, how soon, I don't know.m
........:tsk:we are likely more comparable to the 98/99 team that the 88/89 team
hopefully we can do as well in the BTT and truly be on the upswing afterward.:thumb:
Living in MA and losing the B10 network on Comcast would normally have me absolutely outraged, but unfortunately I have less and less hoops interest, more than football, and I do check Loyalty pretty often, but certainly last year was a disappointment.
Seems like each of the past 10 years or so we were a year or two away from being something special or at least decent.
How long do we have to wait. Checked the records and the last time we were above 500 in the BIG was 2009/10.
Last year I selected the NIT box in the preseason poll, and this year I will check the not even NIT box. We have probably the same amount of FR as Kentucky,
similar to the fact that our height compares with the Flyin Illini Okay our athleticism has improved. But what about talent?. We were 14-18, 4-14 with Leron last year. While Leron had his issues, he was clearly the best player on the team.
I saw on here we have 4, count'em 4 players returning from a crappy at best season. Trent has great potential. Hopefully DMW can stat to shine. Kipper is Kipper and Jordan is not Jordan.
Hate to throw reality on the fire, but I am not optimistic about next year. At best, I see us hitting nadir after this year and improving after that. How much, how soon, I don't know.m
sacraig
- The desert
The 88'-89' team would have beaten the 05' team by 20+ points.
This seemsike something we can definitely know without ambiguity.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Glad to see we have another recruit
:tsk:we are likely more comparable to the 98/99 team that the 88/89 team
hopefully we can do as well in the BTT and truly be on the upswing afterward.:thumb:
I saw on here we have 4, count'em 4 players returning from a crappy at best season. Trent has great potential. Hopefully DMW can stat to shine. Kipper is Kipper and Jordan is not Jordan.
Good and fair observation. Except this team has a 3 point guards. Likely, weaker down low. I hope the team is wins the games that they should, and have a few pleasant surprises.
Dan
Admin
Q&A with Trent Frazier
https://247sports.com/college/illin...-Ive-got-a-lot-of-help-this-season-119478016/
https://247sports.com/college/illin...-Ive-got-a-lot-of-help-this-season-119478016/
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