illini80
- Forgottonia
Probably says more about me that I’d like to admit, but this time of year I find I root against teams I want to lose much more than rooting for teams I’d like to see win.
3/24 Games
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If you're not even just a little bit petty, are you even really a sports fan?
After last night’s games I am even more optimistic about the future.
I think the days of teams like the 2005 Illini, with a core that gelled after 2-3 years of playing together, are all but over and have been for awhile. Absent a transcendent team like that, the teams that are built to go far in March have a bunch of long, athletic, physical, interchangeable pieces like Arkansas or Houston. I believe Brad is trying to construct such a roster.
This year’s frosh are all 6’5+. Goode doesn’t look to be a great athlete but is certainly physical, and more than held his own against Fabian White. RJ is the athlete we’ve been sorely missing and just needs to add strength and we happen to have one of the best in the business in that dept. Podz is physically strong and has loads of potential.
Incoming Frosh, Rodgers fits the archetype to a T, BU says he thinks Ty is the best 2 way player in the whole class and he might be right. Harris is a dog that just needs to add strength. Epps isn’t overly tall but built like a take and looks to be a Shead like bully with the ball.
Let’s snag a couple of more long athletes from the portal, whether that be Brazille or someone we don’t know about yet, and build that roster of length that can just suffocate teams. If we get Skyy in the fold as well I really think next years team may not do as well in the regular season but may be better built for a long run in March.
Really liked the direction the roster was taking before the NCAAT, and I’m feeling even better about it now.
I think the days of teams like the 2005 Illini, with a core that gelled after 2-3 years of playing together, are all but over and have been for awhile. Absent a transcendent team like that, the teams that are built to go far in March have a bunch of long, athletic, physical, interchangeable pieces like Arkansas or Houston. I believe Brad is trying to construct such a roster.
This year’s frosh are all 6’5+. Goode doesn’t look to be a great athlete but is certainly physical, and more than held his own against Fabian White. RJ is the athlete we’ve been sorely missing and just needs to add strength and we happen to have one of the best in the business in that dept. Podz is physically strong and has loads of potential.
Incoming Frosh, Rodgers fits the archetype to a T, BU says he thinks Ty is the best 2 way player in the whole class and he might be right. Harris is a dog that just needs to add strength. Epps isn’t overly tall but built like a take and looks to be a Shead like bully with the ball.
Let’s snag a couple of more long athletes from the portal, whether that be Brazille or someone we don’t know about yet, and build that roster of length that can just suffocate teams. If we get Skyy in the fold as well I really think next years team may not do as well in the regular season but may be better built for a long run in March.
Really liked the direction the roster was taking before the NCAAT, and I’m feeling even better about it now.
I would also note that this goofy new ball that the NCAA somehow insisted be rolled out really plays right into UH’s style of daring teams to beat them with 3’s. Not saying that’s the reason we lost the game but we had a lot of good looks in our 2 games that didn’t go down and it seems like a lot of other teams are having the same issue.
Agreed. I moved to Arizona for a good job years ago and I gotta say UofA fans are highly annoying and quite arrogant. I work with a good amount of arrogant Arizona fans and can't wait to interact with all of them on Monday (especially after all the trash talk they gave me for my beloved Illini losing to Houston. Who of course ironically beat their mildcats in the next game lol
And don't worry folks, my co workers all keep things light and professional at my job. We all get along and work well together. Sports are just a fun distraction from all the really serious stuff that is going on in the world. )Anyways, this year's tourney is living up to its name. Its called March Madness for a reason folks. No one is safe and wouldn't be surprised at more upsets.
I also feel really good with where our bball program is headed. GO ILLINI!
Duke won. Really thought tech would take this one. Shannon had a rough game.
And of course I attended one game in person this year...Arizona.Agreed. I moved to Arizona for a good job years ago and I gotta say UofA fans are highly annoying and quite arrogant. I work with a good amount of arrogant Arizona fans and can't wait to interact with all of them on Monday (especially after all the trash talk they gave me for my beloved Illini losing to Houston. Who of course ironically beat their mildcats in the next game lol
Anyways, this year's tourney is living up to its name. Its called March Madness for a reason folks. No one is safe and wouldn't be surprised at more upsets.
I also feel really good with where our bball program is headed. GO ILLINI!
Every year, after the first two rounds, I look at my brackets with bewilderment and say “my God… I’m HORRIBLE at this!!” Then I wonder if the members of the selection committee are sitting at home and saying the exact same thing.
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In terms of tournament reffing screwjobs, I think that 2001 Zona game was by far the worst one, it just seems less due to it not being the National Championship and the fact that without James Augustine we had to play one-dimensionally. In that 2001 game, we had to play 0 dimensionally unless you call just allowing Arizona to do whatever they wanted offensively because we couldn't stand within 3feet of them without a foul being called for stepping on their shadow a dimension. Between the constant whistles and Walton campaigning the refs to call fouls on every possession such that we weren't allowed to play any semblance of defense against one of the best offensive teams in the nation was infuriating. It turned what should've been a phenomenal 3rd game in a testy rivalry into a complete clown show. We at least had a chance in 2005 to win the title game. Now just imagine had they not only fouled out Augustine but also called random fouls on Powell, Dee, Deron, and Luther whenever they got within a few feet of a UNC player and fouled out our entire team. That's basically that 2001 Elite Eight game in a nutshell. I have never been angrier as a fan of Illini sports than I was watching that game. I'm still angry about it, lol. Wish Lucas Johnson would've just taken a run at Bill Walton pretending to go after a loose ball and had Bill announce the rest of the game with a broken face.
and Hutch if he can come back from all his injuries
It's weird because efficiency metrics like T-rank are usually pretty predictive and they supposedly account for strength of schedule, but for the last 2 years the metrics have viewed Gonzaga as the second coming of Jesus christ himself and obviously they've been pretty far from it
THIS, 1000x this. Absolutely amazing how 21 years have passed and I still can get so angry when I read this (at the refs, not you!).
But I was at the 2005 game in St. Louis. That plus the Championship potential makes that ref abomination burn a little hotter for me.
MDchicago
- Lake Norman NC
Yep, every Illini even resembling a big fouled out (Cook, Griffin, Sergio, Damir, Lucas and Lucas), while no one from Arizona did. Nate Mast and Brett Melton on the floor along with our guards (Frank, Cory, Sean H) at the end of an Elite 8 game because we had no bigs left.
Arizona shot 56 (!) free throws, made 43 of them, and outscored us by 23 points from the line to win the game (and a spot in the Final 4) by six points. 36-23 Foul Disparity Total BS.
danielb927
Orange Krush Class of 2013
- Rochester, MN
Agreed. It's not so much that they lost - even as a heavy favorite, making the FF is still something like a 50/50 shot. But at least this year, their wins were underwhelming. Gonzaga's KenPom efficiency margin dropped around 2.5 points per 100 possession during the tournament. That's about the same gap between OSU and Indiana this year--not huge, but meaningful. Either the metrics over-weighted their conference wins, or they just played worse in the tournament (or some combination of both).
Posted this before.
"A buddy and I were at the ESPN club in Florida wearing our Illini gear and watching. It got so bad that in the second half random people were coming up to us commenting on how we were getting hosed and then buying us drinks. There were enough free drinks to ease the sting a little."
We were getting so many free drinks because others thought we were getting screwed that it became hilarious after a while.
I said do not overlook Houston's metrics simply because they played nobody in another thread. Unfortunately, I was right.
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