Illini Basketball 2020-2021

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#151      

ILFaninFL

Nature Coast in Florida
It was absolutely the best for the Illini that he left -- which guard would like to leave off our current roster?? We're stacked for the present and future there.
Ayo, after the season, when he is a lock as a lottery pick and we've won the National Championship. :p
 
#152      

CoalCity

St Paul, MN
It is not like many on here have never met a personality that you simply clash with or, don't like for no particular reason. This happens in athletics far more than people are willing to accept. It doesn't mean that the athlete is soft.
His performance on the court showed that long before Underwood was a gleam in Josh's eye...
 
#154      
His performance on the court showed that long before Underwood was a gleam in Josh's eye...
Using your logic, all of the guys at Duke that are sitting on the bench as freshmen must be soft.
 
#155      
Let's give a lot of credit to Underwood for changing his coaching style after the first 2 years. Plus winning cures a lot of ills.
I don't think he could have made the tournement with the teams he had (last years team was of course a lock)....he created culture and the team bought in....I'm not sure that you could ask any more of a coach. Also, this is not the first time BU has fundementally changed his style of coaching due to the specific talent on the team, opponents he faced etc... Your point is on target though....,BU adapts to the circumstances and is flexible enough to realize that he needs to adapt to the circumstances as opposed to sticking with a rigid "system" that may not work for the players he has on the team. BTW... it's far more likely that this tactic will be needed when acqquiring players you did not recruit as opposed to players you recruited and offered scholarships. Now the team is his players.....we will see what happens but by all accounts this team is extremely talented and should go far!
 
#156      
I don't think he could have made the tournement with the teams he had

Seems clearer in hindsight. Underwood's style pushes players in ways that weren't going to sit well with guys who originally were recruited by a player's coach like Groce. The culture shift has been nothing short of massive, and unfortunately that was disruptive for everyone involved.

You can't argue with a turn-around this strong. Preseason top-10, with multiple guys who may be on an NBA soon is about as good as you can ask for. And as a fan, there's so much to look forward to this season, even in a stacked conference.
 
#159      
Seems clearer in hindsight. Underwood's style pushes players in ways that weren't going to sit well with guys who originally were recruited by a player's coach like Groce. The culture shift has been nothing short of massive, and unfortunately that was disruptive for everyone involved.

You can't argue with a turn-around this strong. Preseason top-10, with multiple guys who may be on an NBA soon is about as good as you can ask for. And as a fan, there's so much to look forward to this season, even in a stacked conference.

You got that right Calvin. I welcome a stacked conference with the team we have. Let's lace 'em up and go at it! It's a great feeling to say I fear no team.
 
#163      
I absolutely love to see this. Some fans seem to prefer this "underdog" track for a season and fear the hype gets to players' heads ... not me, and I don't see that happening with this squad. This is amazing exposure for the program!!!!

P.S. As I have mentioned here before, despite being a lifelong and unwaivering Illini fan since birth, I did in fact attend the University of Iowa (that instate tuition as an Iowan vs. the out-of-state tuition to go to Illinois with not much scholarship made my Champaign dreams die quickly, lol) ... so a LOT of my friends are Hawkeyes fans. Two of my very best friends are Wisconsin fans. I am SO looking forward to this year! We talked a lot of smack last year, and it felt OH so good to take UW down in Madison and end Iowa's season with a Kofi block of Garza! Can't wait for more!
 
#164      

Tacomallini

Washington State
I absolutely love to see this. Some fans seem to prefer this "underdog" track for a season and fear the hype gets to players' heads ... not me, and I don't see that happening with this squad. This is amazing exposure for the program!!!!

P.S. As I have mentioned here before, despite being a lifelong and unwaivering Illini fan since birth, I did in fact attend the University of Iowa (that instate tuition as an Iowan vs. the out-of-state tuition to go to Illinois with not much scholarship made my Champaign dreams die quickly, lol) ... so a LOT of my friends are Hawkeyes fans. Two of my very best friends are Wisconsin fans. I am SO looking forward to this year! We talked a lot of smack last year, and it felt OH so good to take UW down in Madison and end Iowa's season with a Kofi block of Garza! Can't wait for more!
We all made mistakes as teenagers.
 
#172      
Been any discussion on the Emerald Classic lately? I see ESPN is reporting today that 8 tourneys are projected to move to Orlando.

Perhaps I missed something, but it seems like the Emerald is still a go.
 
#174      
Even for someone like myself who's watched every game, checks this board daily and follows everything Illini basketball, it's still incredible to me just how fast this ascension to the top has been.
It's still all on paper at this point. Next comes the hard part - showing that the paper rankings are correct and showing it on the court!
 
#175      

Retro62

North Bethesda, Maryland
One of you guys who are so good with embedding videos, please find the old "fans don't forget" ad where the Illinois Trooper goes after a car from North Carolina.
 
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