Deleted member 11196
D
Guest
1. Rutgers is either young and very talented....or played at their zenith. They are light years ahead of Minny.
2. Giorgi....what can you say? I liked him for the biggest impact behind Ayo but he has grown into an All B1G second team level of play and a lock for All-frosh.
3. The season is going pretty much as expected with all the newcomers. They had talent, but it takes time to grow into a team and the schedule did not provide that time. Even ADel has impacted above expectations after watching his early play.
4. All these kids deserve huge kudos and support for sticking together and being persistent at chopping wood. Likely, the majority of teams with a similar journey would be mailing it in, but they never did and play their butts off on defense while learning how to get something out of the offense. After watching the ball being passed around the perimeter for decades before throwing up a desperate three at the end of the shot clock, we are seeing the ball go inside, driven to the rim, and back out to open shooters. Been looking for that for decades. The team has shooters galore and at least one post who can get it any time. Sure look to Griffin, Higgs, and Kane to become plus players eventually....I like them all. But only five get to play and the effort they give demands 10 or more. Even Underwood seems to have adjusted his uncontrollable rage from the bench and worked harder at coaching his kids with respect. I don't mind and !!!-chewing at repeated blunders, but do it in a positive way other than a purple faced, screaming rage.
5. I was looking forward to watching the team grow and learn to play with each other while contributing positively with their personal talents. That is coming to fruition. Success breeds success and the kids are growing daily and certainly from game to game in the confidence dept.
6. Keep in mind, for those of us who have seen 60 years of Illini hoops and actually consumed Chesty potato chips, there will be some more nights when the hoops gods place a lid on the Illini basket and another Iowa or Wisky game inserts itself into the Illini record. However, this team has learned some hard lessons. Most of all, they have learned how to win close games against good teams along with the fact that winning is more fun than losing. The future is bright.
OMG --- Chesty Potato Chips..... Me Too...Great remembrance .... Thank you....