DeonThomas
- South Carolina
Wisconsin has a shot at a #1 seed if they go 4-0 the rest of the way.
3/1 Games
- Status
Holy smokes, just watched the highlights from that game. Of course Wisconsin wins their biggest game of the year by banking in 2 ridiculous shots at the end. OF COURSE. Now we had our chance to win out and we didn't; they did, at least so far. But man those bank shots. They'll probably win the B1G, but like others have said idk if they can keep winning like this in the tournament.
Purdue fans have to be absolutely sick at how their conference season ended.
Wisconsin is really good, but really lucky.
We can’t blame Purdue, we didn’t take care of business in multiple games. Maryland and Ohio State to be exact.
Need to finish strong and get back up to the 3 seed line for the big dance.
Wisconsin is really good, but really lucky.
We can’t blame Purdue, we didn’t take care of business in multiple games. Maryland and Ohio State to be exact.
Need to finish strong and get back up to the 3 seed line for the big dance.
I believe Mike LaTulip said that no team whose defensive efficiency ranks outside the top 30 has ever been to the final 4. Purdue has been outside the top 100 all year, they will never see New Orleans. I don't take any delight in that, I think Painter is a good coach but that is a fact.
Why did Purdue sweep us this year? That has alot more to do with human nature than basketball.
We have become every team in the Big Ten's second most HATED rival. Michigan hates MSU but we are first runner up, Hunter Dickinsen said as much. That last statement is also true of every other team in this conference, we beat them at their place far too often, we celebrate in their dressing room a little too much, we stomp them on the podium of the B10 tournament, we have a head coach who is a writer's delight, we have a team and a fan base that is taking on the coach's personality. We get everybody's A game because we are easy to hate. AND I LOVE IT
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
Yeah, it's kind of laughable how often we get beaten by a top tier Big Ten team, only to have them follow that up with a bad loss to a middling or bottom tier team. Purdue has done it both times we've played them, and we just saw OSU lose two in a row after our game.
It is a bummer this team couldn't finish the job in those random games we should have won and earn at least a share of the B1G title. To lose out so closely two years in a row (lose is a strong word for what they did to us last year) is really crappy, and it sucks knowing DMW and Trent have had that experience twice and don't have an opportunity to give it another shot. All that said, I'm grateful our team has been in the mix all year (despite an offseason of extraordinary tumult) and has been making other teams sweat, and while we've had a letdown, at least we haven't had a Purdue-level letdown. We've had 3 straight years of being top 4 in the Big Ten, after not seeing those heights in a decade. I'll take it.
My take on this might be too glass half-full for some, and I understand we won’t have the banners to show for it, but the way I see it is we were in the hunt 3 years ago, certainly the best team in the Big10 last year and probably 2nd best team this year behind Purdue. Looking at things collectively, including our road resume, I’d say we've probably been the top team in the conference over the last 3 seasons as a whole and that’s pretty cool
LouHenson
- Naples Florida
The unbalanced schedule just “is what it is”, still let’s give UW some serious credit. They won the games they had to win. They sort of remind my of Krugers team that won it whit really no stars. Only difference is they have 3 pretty darn good players and 4 if you count Wahl. It is never easy to win in Madison, but Purdue (with much more talent) lost to them twice.
I really think we need to get as many q1 wins in the BTT as possible to get the best seed possible. If we were to play Wisconsin (after beating Purdue in the semis) in the finals that game will actually have to have some meaning. It would be tough to seed us below UW (ie not in Midwest) if we have beaten Wisconsin twice. The metrics have all three teams very close. We will be playing for a lot in this years BTT
I really think we need to get as many q1 wins in the BTT as possible to get the best seed possible. If we were to play Wisconsin (after beating Purdue in the semis) in the finals that game will actually have to have some meaning. It would be tough to seed us below UW (ie not in Midwest) if we have beaten Wisconsin twice. The metrics have all three teams very close. We will be playing for a lot in this years BTT
First off this isn't true. Second, we we lost to Maryland. We had our chances and we blew them repeatedly. Maybe Nebraska will bail us out still, but we've got no room to complain if they don't.
Definitely over the 3-year stretch I think we've been the best team in the conference and the 3-year standings prove it. Think there's probably a lot of Big Ten opponents looking forward to next year and seeing Illinois slide back in the pecking order, but I can't wait to see us prove them wrong and show the staying power in what Underwood has built.
Also, interesting point on the road wins and postgame celebrations and making us a target. I don't look around other team's social media enough to know if it's unique to Illinois to keep posting all that, or if other schools do it as well. As much fun as it is to watch those celebrations, there's a part of me that would rather just keep that to ourselves and we'll show an even bigger video when we win the Big Ten or a Sweet 16 game or something. But on the other hand, I know how hard it is to win on the road in the Big Ten and it's awesome to see Illinois do it so often and enjoy it. It certainly is a relatively new thing to have that kind of access inside a lockerroom. I can see Illinois rubbing people the wrong way with it, but as long as we keep winning I guess I don't really care.
Questions are also being asked about playing Trevion and Edey together. He has 3 of the best offensive players in the county, and they are never on the court together.
Do we slide back? I feel we can be better with more length and athleticism. We will have guys who have the speed to get to the rim and draw fouls. We do not have a pull up jump shot guy. We will next year. If Kofi leaves, we will have Dainja being more of a passer from the post and be a bit more mobile. I believe our ball movement will be a lot better. Our D might take a step back at first but we should still be a solid offensive team with a different style offense, more like the Underwood teams from the past. I feel we can be a contender for the conference as other quality teams will lose players as well. Will PU, Wisky, RUT, Mich, OSU or Iowa be as good as they were this year? It may be a down year in the conference but it will still be competitive with us in the mix.
We match up well against them and right now, PU is starting to doubt themselves. Two hard loses in a row, a possible 3/4 seed in the tourney? We could catch them napping in the Semi's. If we make it to the finals, I like our chances against Wisky. They are good but they cannot handle Kofi. Plus, since we played them, Hawk is more of a force and we will have RJ back.
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
Second sad thing about last night is I think Johnny Davis just clinched B1G POY.
While I agree with most of what you have written, I also believe that they are the only team in the big that can match up with Kofi. That and Ivey went off when we played them.
I agree with that statement unfortunately.
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
Long term that may be a more ideal way of going about things, but given we've been in a state of needing to repair the brand, I think you take any opportunity you can to show that this is a winning program.
I was hoping not to have to play Purdue until the final but it is what it is. If we play like we are capable, we can win the tournament but Purdue is very good when they are on. Wisconsin is good but consistent. To me, they are not great. You're right, they deserve much credit!
Really going to enjoy the ride these next few weeks, as we are about as close to being complete/healthy/firing on all cylinders as we have been all year. We could definitely get bounced early but all of the pieces are there to go on a run as well. I still say the only team that I think is more talented than us is Arizona, but they are also beatable. But every other team has gotta be looking at us and wondering how in the h*** they are going to stop Kofi.
That said I am excited for next year too. Fingers crossed our key pieces stay. If so, a healthy Belo plus continued progression of Coleman and RJ as a solid base, and then I think Epps and Rodgers will be rotation guys from day 1, plus this mysterious impact transfer. I think we will be longer, more athletic, and more versatile. Doubt we content for a conference title but will be fun to see what Underwood can do with that group.
But…it’s March! Let’s go on a run!
Agree with you
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
That's the key. Edey seems to have been really motivated both times to show he's as good or better than Kofi, and they have a team well-built to defend our best player and we don't/didn't have the consistently high-level perimeter creator to attack their weakness. Think it's telling that Wisconsin, with its two best offensive players being perimeter creators, has beaten them twice (and that our best game against them came with Belo's best game). I know he has a big workload on offense (kind of similar to Ayo), but given his athletic gifts, Ivey should be a lockdown defender.
- Status