Illinois 73, Ohio State 68 Postgame

#426      
if we jump Michigan in the final regular season polls...

B10 deservedly should be embarrassed over the Michigan as Champion crowning.
 
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#428      
I think Underwood has a big ten championship incentive. Whitman ought to announce tomorrow that he's getting it.
No b/c then the players should get rings and they can’t b/c NCAA violation. Then you have your coach reaping benefits while he still tries to motivate the players who got bupkis.
 
#429      

MainelyIllini

uh, Maine
If Ayo leads Illinois to their third national championship, I will gladly anoint him as the greatest Illini ever :D
FIFY. See 1915 and 1943. Of course those were pre-NCAA. 👍😆

And I agree with you. Ayo would be best in my book. I go back to the early 80s as a fan too.
 
#431      
Am wondering how our teams in '48-'52 under Harry Combes compared. He had such an excellent run as coach over 20 seasons but those three early teams that made it to the final four must have been something else.
Or the '38 team that Harry played on with Lou Boudreau?
 
#432      

IlliniReb

Dallas-Fort Worth
Lol years ago I created the flyin Illini shirt with the flight numbers on the back. If I still was in that business I would make a “domino” shirt with the Batman 11 graphic. It would sell like crazy!
I still have mine! It’s a little tattered, but I still have it
 
#433      

Tacomallini

Washington State
I am only aware because I have watched old file tapes that I got from WCIA long ago because my father-in-law was on that ‘49 team-known as the Rockford Flash...
Was your father-in-law Bill Erickson from Rockford East? My uncle played on the 1948 E Rabs State Runner Up team, so I think he would have been a sophomore when Erickson was a senior. My uncle passed away in the last year, and I only knew about this from his obituary, unfortunately. He played a year at Drake too, would've liked to pick his brain about his basketball days.
 
#435      

AirNeezy

Orange Krush '13 -'14
So young. Every era has its own heroes. Weatherspoon, Harper, Brown, Williams come immediately to mind. I'm not quite old enough to go any farther back.
Man. It really is hard for people to get the distinction between "clutch" and overall greatness I guess? Obviously Dee/Deron are the greatest Illini of the last 20 years, but I don't remember them singlehandedly winning us the *sheer amount of games* Ayo has with clutch shots. (Obviously Deron going nuclear v. AZ is the best of all)
 
#436      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
Man. It really is hard for people to get the distinction between "clutch" and overall greatness I guess? Obviously Dee/Deron are the greatest Illini of the last 20 years, but I don't remember them singlehandedly winning us the *sheer amount of games* Ayo has with clutch shots. (Obviously Deron going nuclear v. AZ is the best of all)

Unfortunately your original post on the matter got immediately twisted into a strawman argument about "greatest Illini player" ever. You clearly did not make any statements to that affect.

No player in my Illini memory (1980ish?) has had the sheer number and specific single shot... one shot... game ending or game sealing plays than Ayo Dosunmu. There are several plays and finishes by great Illini as has been mentioned...Frankie, Deron, Nick...but I'm challenged to find one Illini player that can equal Ayo's end of game shots/plays to end or seal a victory over the last couple years. I'm counting 10 or 12 of those? OSU, WI, NW, scUM, PSU, Iowa, Neb, NW again and OSU again.

That's 9 ...and I left out the MSU "This won't end well for Illinois" game and both Indiana games because they had just over 1 minute left whereas all the others were less than 1 minute. Add those games (reasonable) and it's 12 games.

If you find another Illini with that many...serve it up...I'm not seeing it.
 
#437      

chiefini

Rockford, Illinois
Was your father-in-law Bill Erickson from Rockford East? My uncle played on the 1948 E Rabs State Runner Up team, so I think he would have been a sophomore when Erickson was a senior. My uncle passed away in the last year, and I only knew about this from his obituary, unfortunately. He played a year at Drake too, would've liked to pick his brain about his basketball days.
Yes. Illini #33 from Rockford East.
 
#438      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
i've been watching Illini BB and FB for over 60 years, more now with increased tv time available and I can easily state that my opinion of Ayo is top 5 all time Illini, IMHO.....
His confident demeanor, contrasted with his incredible skills and composure, has energized Illini Nation once again , with hope for an everlasting path to annual expectations about the success of the Illini program....couple that with the great coaching staff and that is a recipe for much joy for the future of victories and achievements that will make us smile and feel proud of what is being accomplished......

alex-grey--soul.jpg
This pic expresses my thoughts on the Illini...colorful and looking forward....
 
#439      

AirNeezy

Orange Krush '13 -'14
Unfortunately your original post on the matter got immediately twisted into a strawman argument about "greatest Illini player" ever. You clearly did not make any statements to that affect.

No player in my Illini memory (1980ish?) has had the sheer number and specific single shot... one shot... game ending or game sealing plays than Ayo Dosunmu. There are several plays and finishes by great Illini as has been mentioned...Frankie, Deron, Nick...but I'm challenged to find one Illini player that can equal Ayo's end of game shots/plays to end or seal a victory over the last couple years. I'm counting 10 or 12 of those? OSU, WI, NW, scUM, PSU, Iowa, Neb, NW again and OSU again.

That's 9 ...and I left out the MSU "This won't end well for Illinois" game and both Indiana games because they had just over 1 minute left whereas all the others were less than 1 minute. Add those games (reasonable) and it's 12 games.

If you find another Illini with that many...serve it up...I'm not seeing it.

Yup, thank you! Here's a list from earlier this year (they used a different cut off from you, but point still stands:

1615212955764.png

Add this OSU game and that's *16* games over 3 seasons where Ayo put us over the top with clutch baskets. Absolutely unreal. This is why I feel like we may never see something like this again in the O&B.
 
#442      
I turned it on right as Liddell hit the 3 to go up 4. I almost didn't have to watch OSU score at all!
Replay 60 in 60 on BTN right now!
Glad you mentioned this - watching again and I thought for sure Curbelo was out of bounds on that one drive late in the 2nd half that ended up with Frazier hitting a corner 3 when we were down 4. But the refs got it right, Curbelo saved it to Ayo just before it went out.

Also, we caught a break thanks to the clock malfunction shortly after that. OSU had the ball up 4 with just 3:30 left and we still had Giorgi in the game in that stretch we couldn't get a defensive rebound to save our lives. But during that break to get the clock figured out, Kofi came back in, altered a shot on one possession, then grabbed two big defensive rebounds. And for as well as Liddell played, he totally lost Williams on the biggest 3 of the game.
 
#443      
Glad you mentioned this - watching again and I thought for sure Curbelo was out of bounds on that one drive late in the 2nd half that ended up with Frazier hitting a corner 3 when we were down 4. But the refs got it right, Curbelo saved it to Ayo just before it went out.

Also, we caught a break thanks to the clock malfunction shortly after that. OSU had the ball up 4 with just 3:30 left and we still had Giorgi in the game in that stretch we couldn't get a defensive rebound to save our lives. But during that break to get the clock figured out, Kofi came back in, altered a shot on one possession, then grabbed two big defensive rebounds. And for as well as Liddell played, he totally lost Williams on the biggest 3 of the game.

There was also the call that the ball went off Frazier when 1) I'm 99% sure it went off Sueing and 2) Sueing body checked Trent to get to the ball.

As weird as this may sound, I think one of the single biggest developments for this team was Damonte finding his 3 point shot late last year.
 
#444      

GrayGhost77

Centennial, CO
There was also the call that the ball went off Frazier when 1) I'm 99% sure it went off Sueing and 2) Sueing body checked Trent to get to the ball.

As weird as this may sound, I think one of the single biggest developments for this team was Damonte finding his 3 point shot late last year.
Absolutely on that last part. Defenses not being able to sag off DMW really opened up the offense and kept teams from being able to double and triple team Kofi as much, plus opens up driving lanes for Ayo, Belo, etc. Huge game changer along with he and Trent becoming absolute lockdown defenders (they were last year, too, but even moreso this season).
 
#445      
Glad you mentioned this - watching again and I thought for sure Curbelo was out of bounds on that one drive late in the 2nd half that ended up with Frazier hitting a corner 3 when we were down 4. But the refs got it right, Curbelo saved it to Ayo just before it went out.

Also, we caught a break thanks to the clock malfunction shortly after that. OSU had the ball up 4 with just 3:30 left and we still had Giorgi in the game in that stretch we couldn't get a defensive rebound to save our lives. But during that break to get the clock figured out, Kofi came back in, altered a shot on one possession, then grabbed two big defensive rebounds. And for as well as Liddell played, he totally lost Williams on the biggest 3 of the game.
I also loved how Trent got open because OSU was too busy complaining that they didn’t call Curbelo out-of-bounds.
 
#446      
For those advocating for Belo to be starting, I have one word for you — analytics. It is obvious that BU and the Illini staff use analytics a lot, so they know what lineup is the most efficient offensively. Just as important they know what lineup is second, third . . . and least efficient offensively. Then there is defense to consider too. So while Belo starting might be the most offensively efficient, it may well mean subsequent lineups of far lesser efficiency — both offensively and defensively — being on the floor for longer periods of time throughout the course of a game. And that doesn’t take into consideration matchups against opponents, foul trouble and off games by players. Against OSU, Trent got into early foul trouble and had to sit. If Belo had started and was playing with Trent early, how would have that impacted the rotation with Trent sitting and trying to get Belo and Ayo a few minutes of rest in first half? It’s not always about having the best offensive combo out there for a few more minutes each game. It is about maximizing the overall offensive and defensive efficiency throughout the game, and having the rotations set up to have the most overall efficient lineup in for all or most of the last 5-8 minutes of the game.

Maybe those wanting Belo to start have done a deep dive into the analytics and maybe not. But I assure you BU, Gentry and Chin have. And an 11-1 record down the stretch lead me to believe they are doing just fine pushing all the buttons.
Yes, and don't forget Neel Ganta, graduate manager and analytics guru for the team, who was instrumental in getting BU to change his approach last season.

 
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