I'll never come down personally on any college basketball player. I assume they are giving their all for the beloved, in their own way. They are kids to young adults, and should be respected always for choosing Illinois at the very least.
This season, however, is the most disappointing that I remember having experienced. NOT THE WORST ... I chose the word "disappointing" for a reason. We've had many worse seasons (see Groce, John, and latter years of Weber, Bruce), and some of Lou's teams could be described as disappointing. But I cannot remember any other season where I sat down in front of the TV expecting "something" and getting much, much less than I expected. I just could never figure this team out. Were they good? Did they want to play with or for each other? Were they listening to Coach or had they tuned him out? Why did we continue to shoot so many 3s when we were #333 in the nation? Even today, I did not expect to be down double digits in the 1st half, nor the 0-10 run in the 2nd half, nor the 17 turnovers to a mediocre Arkansas team.
Part of this is my fault for believing the hype about being a final four contender after beating UCLA & Texas. In hindsight, it was always going to be hard integrating the freshmen with senior transfers (and many analysts said this from the start). No one saw our top PG leaving, or the regression in 3pt shooting. But we just didn't *improve*, and I guess I always expected us to, every single game. This team showed us who they were throughout the season, but I refused to believe it. They showed it yet again today. That's the reason I felt so disappointed so often.
Here's to realistic expectations and less disappointment next season. GO ILLINI