'Bout time, as well.
Illinois 85, Michigan 69 POSTGAME
'Bout time, as well.
Wasn't cleared to start practicing till basically practice opened up for the season.
IWannaBeLikeDee
- rockford, il
Here's what I don't get. Groce has shown himself to be a good recruiter and to find "diamonds in the rough", at the least he's shown himself to get in on players before they blow up. BUT then it takes him a month to realize Mav. is thoroughly outplaying Mike? They just don't seem to add up to me.
FWIW, TJL's 8 assist showing tonight was only the 9th such (>= 8 assists) individual performance under Groce 
Foggy Notion
- San Francisco
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
BirdDog9048
The Chief Lives
- Chicago, IL
There are only 2 players in all of college basketball averaging 8+ assists per game (Maurice Watson Jr - 9.1 & Lonzo Ball - 8.0). Big assist totals are pretty hard to come by in college basketball.
Deleted member 10676
D
Guest
I'll defend Jaylon Tate to my last breath. Doesn't mean I'm against TJL. But Jaylon chose to come here and be an Illini. He puts out 100% every time he's been on the floor. And that's all I ask from any kid who chooses to play for Illinois.
So one of us is right here.
Lost the TO battle, as well, us=11, them=8, but still was better than most previous games for us.
And both Watson, jr and Ball's scorekeepers were former employees at Edwardsville HS.
We beat Michigan the way you have to beat Michigan. Michigan won't turn the ball over and they will shoot a high %. They are a good offensive team. You beat them pay punishing them on offense and on the boards. The game was textbook. It was a dominate victory over a team that most experts had rated well ahead of us. It is a good night.
BirdDog9048
The Chief Lives
- Chicago, IL
I wouldn't go that far. The line at tip-off was Michigan -1.5, I believe. That's pretty much as close to even odds as you'll see from Vegas for college basketball.
Illini1221
Peru,IL
Fun game to watch. By the way, Abrams' and 1 is #7 on Sportscenter top 10.
First post on here and Illini alum. All you frequent posters that complain about the current team need to take a step back and realize nobody is or was expecting this to be a final four team. Take a deep breath and enjoy the ride this season. It's not going to be cookie cutter as this is a tough depth league this year. That was a very big home win as underdogs at home. If you can't enjoy this win then go drink your bud lights alone in your room.
Ps TJL and Nichols looked good playing a lot of minutes. Good win ILL
Ps TJL and Nichols looked good playing a lot of minutes. Good win ILL
I think that's called Bud Lightbation.
If thats the case then a lot of guys on this team wouldnt be playing more often because there has been far too many games when they have clearly shown they are not ready to play .
It seems to me that maybe Groce figured out that no matter how much he wants it to be the upperclassmen are not good enough to save his job. He needs to get one or two more younger guys involved and is it a coincidence that the two young guys who stepped up are the ones who have not been here long enough to be tainted by the last few years ? I dont think so .
I Bristol every time he mentions something about practice because it seems to me that he denies playing time almost exclusively based on practice while basically holding no one accountable for their play in the actual games.
Who was the last freshman to come in and put up double digit points in their first legit collegiate game? (20+ minutes)? Probably Paul/Richardson.
Having Kipper and Black at the 4 brings so much toughness and energy to this team. makes me really excited next year with a potential starting lineup of TJL JCL Kipset Black and Tilmon *heart eyes*
Having Kipper and Black at the 4 brings so much toughness and energy to this team. makes me really excited next year with a potential starting lineup of TJL JCL Kipset Black and Tilmon *heart eyes*
True. But that is a road favorite. Meaning that most think Michigan is a better team. To beat them soundly is a surprising and welcome result.
Had a game total of 8 that beat Black in 2nd place with 5, good showing.