sacraig
- The desert
Andre Curbelo
- Status
frozenrope9190
- Aurora, IL
Yes, this. That Marquette game is just resting on everyone's brain. It was the worst game of his life, in a spot with no Kofi, coming off a concussion and not fully healed, in a spot where he felt he needed to be the Ayo guy because the Ayo guy hadn't been established. He had a bad game. Please let's not conflate this.
Yes, as a freshman he had some out-of-control moments. So did Kofi and Ayo, for that matter. He still won 6th Man of the Year in the Big 10. He still was a preseason 2nd/3rd Team All American choice. There is no way he's merely the 6th best player on the team, I don't know who said that but my goodness.
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Regarding AC's play this season, keep in mind that he initially hit his head in the pre-season. It is quite likely he was trying to play through some symptoms of whatever is holding him out now, during the early part of the season. I don't believe we can glean much about his off-season progress, or what he may or may not bring to the table later this season based on those performances.
This. I don't understand people who ignore an entire season's worth of evidence of AC's importance to this team in favor of a few games in which we now know he was trying to play through a pretty serious injury.
The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
Recency bias is a hell of a thing.
At what point does it become inappropriate to continue to discuss the health and play of a 20 year old based on speculation and uninformed analysis? I would suggest discontinuing this thread. Much has already been said which could prove embarrassing to the authors whether the end result of all of this turns out very bad or very good. He is probably far more disappointed than any of the arm chair quarterbacks on this board.
It's funny because fans love to say, "Come to our school. We'll be loyal to you unlike those blue bloods". But the second you're not performing the way they want you to, they are ready to make room for someone else.
Our fans are no better than any other team's fans, except for Mizzou, Iowa, Michigan, Kentucky, Kansas, Northwestern, OSU. Probably forgetting some more. They're the worst
Interesting to consider how/if this team adjusts their current offensive mantra of surrounding Kofi with 4 shooters when Belo comes back. Ball-dominant non-shooter who isn’t nearly as effective off-ball doesn’t align with that. Coaching staff will have to adjust. Big Ten is winnable again this year.
sacraig
- The desert
Northwestern has fans?
The Sprouting Divot
Invisible and Bulletproof
- Miracle Mile
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
I just want to take a moment to highlight the awesomeness of this statement. I liked the BU hire, but even I didn't anticipate that, a few years in, BU would have us rolling to the best conference record over the past two seasons, a B1G tournament title last year, and a good chance at a conference title this year and a B1G tourney title defense.
We are in the thick of a memorable era of Illini men's basketball. I hope we're all taking a little time to appreciate how special all of this is.
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
...that affected his balance and judgement! Apparently, these folks in the Illini nation suffered a concussion and loss of memory! Lol
Big Jack
- Decatur
Bwahaha they suffer from more then that... More like lack of any brain functionality. It gets so old coming in here and listening to people bash our players.
Duke, UNC, Indiana, ND
Been 40+ years ago I banged my head on the floor going after a loose ball in practice. Got turned around and hit it hard. The coach and my buddies asked if I was ok, I said ya and finished out the scrimmage. I don't remember any of it. They said after we were done I went over to the coach and said I couldn't remember anything. I think he thought I was pulling his leg but he didn't let me drive and gave me a ride home and told my parents what had happened. My dad didn't really believe me either but after two days of sitting on the couch with a blank stare looking at nothing they were convinced. My memory started coming back after that. Good thing it was summer time and there was no hurry to get back on the court.
Northwestern?
they don't have fans since Charlton Heston died
I know 1 Northwestern fan and he's pretty unbearable so that's probably coloring my judgment here a bit
I would put myself in this camp, at least to the extent that I didn't know he'd had a serious injury that was affecting his play/decision making that much. I thought he wasn't having the jump we typically get from sophomore guards, and that was a very bad characterization on my part. Maybe the staff and AC himself didn't know the extent of the problem, so I suppose I may not have been the only one. You don't know until you know, which is true of many misjudgements in life.
Regardless, it's a good reminder that these are exceptional young men putting in a huge effort so we can watch, enjoy, and be inspired by how they overcome adversity. A ton of stuff happens that fans never know, and it's better to have a charitable view on how much we don't know.
Illinivek23
- Gurnee
Trent Meacham on BTN said that Curbelo was our best player at any of the practices he attended before his injury/issue and said that we will make another performance jump when that AC comes back. Great to hear.
One weakness right now is that we have no one to break down a ball pressure defense with the dribble drive. He could bring that.
But I agree - he cannot try to do that every possession.
It will be well deserved.
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