Illini Basketball 2024-2025

Your next five games: NW, @NEB, OSU, @RU, @Minny

In this stretch, the road games are 3 of the 4 worst teams in the conference. The home games are 2 middle-bottom B10 teams.

My point isn't that these are gimme games because they aren't, but if there's any stretch to make your mark, this is it.

Illinois is so much more talented. Have to capitalize. Starts today.

Fighter of the Nightman said:

It is truly astonishing how little they jump up and down compared to elite student sections. If you want to look chill in front of the girl you kind of like, I’m sure watching the game at Kams would be a blast. I cannot fathom why you’d waste hours to get into a good Krush seat to pretty much stand there.

Orange Krush is as good as anyone in absolutely critical game situations when it’s crunch time … but that is NOWHERE near good enough for a student section of a good program.

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I’ll never understand it…I’m eagerly awaiting for a Krush trailblazer to reinvigorate that culture. It’s a far cry from what it used to be.

Are there any posters on here that are currently in the Orange Krush??? We've had them in the past, Daniel comes to mind, but that's about all I recall in the past several years....

Sad news. Had the chance to meet him during my days on campus.

BillyBob1 said:

Bring back the grocery run! Always fun watching their legs give out and have bag contents going every direction.

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I always thought that was a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Fighter of the Nightman said:

Random question ... have they not announced any themes for home games (e.g., "Orange Out" or the "Stripe Out" game) this season? And if so, why are they waiting to give fans even less notice?!

We are buying our tickets today for the MSU game on February 15th, and I am beyond excited. I figured it was the obvious choice for the "Orange Out" game*, but I have not seen that confirmed anywhere. I need at least a couple of weeks to force my dad into something orange rather than navy, haha.

* DIA ... PLEASE just call it Paint the Hall Orange again! I get that the arena is not called Assembly Hall anymore, but (A) it's a nod to our history that can remain even with the name changed to SFC and (B) it sounds infinitely cooler and more unique than "Orange Out," lol.

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The Tennesse game was a strip out game. I got a free t-shirt!

What if we brought back the chief?

“The night before the regional final against Kentucky in Lexington, UI trainer Rod Cardinal spent hours with a hobbled Winters in hopes of him playing. Winters played in the 54-51 loss that was the last NCAA tournament game played at a home site.”

It’s hard to keep debunking this when the News-Gazette pushes the myth. Purdue played LSU two years later on LSU’s home court and a year after that, Syracuse played its first and second round games at the Carrier Dome on its way to the national championship game. Illinois vs Kentucky in 1984 was the final regional game played on a team’s home court, but home court advantage in the first two rounds continued for a few years after that.

Efrem was one of the biggest factors in driving our success under Lou. In many ways he never lived up to his McDAA reputation. At the same time, I don't think I've ever seen a more dominant rebounder. He just owned the defensive boards. People should remember that his career numbers were built before the shot clock. So the number of possessions in a season were substantially lower.

Of course, the alley oops were legendary. You could fill a long highlight reel with them.

Probably my favorite moment was his alley oop in the opening seconds of the Christmas eve game against Kentucky. It was perhaps the signature "We belong" moment of the season.

So just thinking about the 2 players that have supposedly told Brad they are transferring already. 1 has got to be Booth. He is the most logical choice for a tranfer, but the 2nd is hard to decipher. I'm leaning towards Rodgers. He seems like the next most likely. Dra, Morez, Davis have all seen their tick go up lately and seem to be bought in.
Maybe Riley but I think his future is still uncertain. He could go NBA or return and see a major improvement in year 2 with the Illini.
I can't remember who speculated this but I remember reading it somewhere on Loyalty.

Saw this post floating around.

^^ That looks like the 2010 ESPN GameDay show (not a game).

Later that day/night, Illinois beat #5 Michigan State 78-73. I remember people complaining about Orange Krush that day

My dadandI went tot he 1982 McDonald's All American Game at the Rosemont Horizon to see Bruce Douglas and Efrem Winter. As an 8 year old at the time I cannot recall how either played still was cool. Cant say I remember how they all turned out but a lot of familiar names. .

Dan said:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1883744669907177715

^^ That looks like the 2010 ESPN GameDay show (not a game).

Later that day/night, Illinois beat #5 Michigan State 78-73. I remember people complaining about Orange Krush that day

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Either way, if you're not leaving the game with a hoarse voice, you should be ashamed.

When I was in Krush, we had to walk uphill through the snow for the privilege to wait in line for 3 hours to score floor seats, then brave the process of ignoring Event Staff repeatedly asking us to sit down to let the blue hairs see during the game. And then we had to walk uphill through even more snow afterward back to our dorms/apartments/bars!

Kids these days...

EFREM: Perhaps my favorite Illini basketball player of all-time!!.

We lost 56-54 to Kentucky at home in December 1983 (the infamous snowstorm game, with refs being pulled out of the stands to work the game.) Yes indeed, that loss was the "We really do belong" game. Out biggest loss was by 5 points AT Indiana (Alford, Dakich, Blab and Marty Simmons) --- in OT.

And I would argue that Efrem probably DID live up to those Parade All-American accolades during the 1983-84 season. What an unanticipated "dream Regular season" at 24-4 overall and 15-3 in the Big 10. We then beat a loaded Villanova team (the eventual national champs a year later in 1985) to open up the NCAA tournament, after receiving a 1st round bye. Lefty Driesell's #11 ranked Maryland Terrapins of the ACC, with super star Len Bias, were up next and we squeaked by --- 72-70 --- at the Sweet Sixteen at Rupp Arena.

Then everyone knows the story in that Elite 8 game against Turpin and Bowie. That season signaled our RETURN TO GREATNESS in NCAA basketball.

RichardKeenesCousin said:

The Tennesse game was a strip out game. I got a free t-shirt!

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Yeah, someone corrected me on this previously in the thread, and I cannot believe I forgot that. Admittedly, we had a long-planned Christmas/hotel bar-themed bar crawl that day, and I watched that heart breaking loss on my phone while slugging an Old Fashioned to drown my sorrows, so my view of the crowd was less than stellar.

While back on this subject, I just want to offer two thoughts:

1. There is literally nothing wrong with having more than one "Orange Out" per year, in our case. This is different than an example like Iowa, where a "Gold Out" requires tons of fans to ditch their usual black Hawkeyes gear and find a yellow shirt for the game. At Illinois, the majority of fans wear orange every game, and it is silly that we limit ourselves to one "Orange Out" per year out of what I can only presume to be fear that if we have more than one, it will lose its "special-ness" and dilute the effect of the second one ... I don't buy that at all.

2. I just want to thank the DIA for not making us ever suffer through the more gimmicky color-themed games that some schools do that don't involve one of their team colors, like a "white out" at SFC. I went to an Illinois/Iowa game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in 2019 that was a "white out," and it was so lame because there just aren't enough white Iowa shirts out there to ensure that everyone dresses accordingly, lol. Also, I really wish they would try that again vs. us in a year where we are actually good, because the smattering of orange shirts in Iowa City against that white back drop would be quite the beautiful sight! I will say, though, that I would be open to a "Navy Out" for a night football game ONLY. I know our "Blue Out" in 2012 for basketball was just straight-up lame, but I think under the lights at Memorial Stadium, it could work. First off, I think it would get that cool "black out" look you see at other stadiums for night games, but the slightly lighter shade of the navy would be a more unique look against the night sky. In addition, it would solve our problem of how past about early November, our football crowd goes from nearly all orange to 50%+ blue because Illini sweatshirts and especially coats are way more likely to be navy.

I feel like a lot of these things are cyclical. When I was in Krush, in the early/mid 2010s.....you still had lots of kids who grew up with the '05 team and the early 2000s run of national success. Even though the teams were terrible, we still went crazy screaming, yelling, being engaged etc. Towards the end of my 4 years there you could see things fall off a bit and regardless it never was as crazy as in the early 2000s ( I remember ESPN ranked us a top 10 intimidating student section back then).

Most of the kids now in school, grew up in the time when Illinois was a has-been program that would be a bubble team most years if lucky. Hard to generate that kind of enthusiasm if you didn't grow up with it. Hopefully with this run of success we're on, the next generation of crazies are being developed!

ILLNIU97 said:

My dadandI went tot he 1982 McDonald's All American Game at the Rosemont Horizon to see Bruce Douglas and Efrem Winter. As an 8 year old at the time I cannot recall how either played still was cool. Cant say I remember how they all turned out but a lot of familiar names. . View attachment 39172View attachment 39173

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That Curry guy - heard his kid was pretty decent. Anything become of him??

sacraig said:

Either way, if you're not leaving the game with a hoarse voice, you should be ashamed.

When I was in Krush, we had to walk uphill through the snow for the privilege to wait in line for 3 hours to score floor seats, then brave the process of ignoring Event Staff repeatedly asking us to sit down to let the blue hairs see during the game. And then we had to walk uphill through even more snow afterward back to our dorms/apartments/bars!

Kids these days

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Pretty sure I fell down that hill. Both ways.

Efrem's years on campus more or less coincided with mine - it was certainly a great time to be an Illini. As a freshman and sophomore he was amazing...Snake was a little more versatile and aggressive on offense so Efrem more or less receded to becoming a role player. I'll never forget that Christmas Eve game in '83 when we played UK to a standstill while the outdoor temp never got above -13. Seeing guys my age or younger pass puts things in perspective. RIP to an Illini legend and a genuinely nice guy.

DeonThomas said:

EFREM: Perhaps my favorite Illini basketball player of all-time!!.

We lost 56-54 to Kentucky at home in December 1983 (the infamous snowstorm game, with refs being pulled out of the stands to work the game.) Yes indeed, that loss was the "We really do belong" game. Out biggest loss was by 5 points AT Indiana (Alford, Dakich, Blab and Marty Simmons) --- in OT.

And I would argue that Efrem probably DID live up to those Parade All-American accolades during the 1983-84 season. What an unanticipated "dream Regular season" at 24-4 overall and 15-3 in the Big 10. We then beat a loaded Villanova team (the eventual national champs a year later in 1985) to open up the NCAA tournament, after receiving a 1st round bye. Lefty Driesell's #11 ranked Maryland Terrapins of the ACC, with super star Len Bias, were up next and we squeaked by --- 72-70 --- at the Sweet Sixteen at Rupp Arena.

Then everyone knows the story in that Elite 8 game against Turpin and Bowie. That season signaled our RETURN TO GREATNESS in NCAA basketball.

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The '84 team was before my time but as a historian of the program, I feel it might be the most underappreciated team ever? B1G champs, finished #6 in the AP poll, 4 points away from a Final Four. Best non-Final Four team ever?

21ChampaignSt said:

The '84 team was before my time but as a historian of the program, I feel it might be the most underappreciated team ever? B1G champs, finished #6 in the AP poll, 4 points away from a Final Four. Best non-Final Four team ever?

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A superb team - yes!!!

I've mentioned this story previously, but I was a frequent visitor to the old IMPE facility for 3:3 pick-up basketball.

As I recall, we typically played to 11 baskets --- first team to 11 would win and would hold the court. A year or so prior to 1983, my regular teammates and I had won 4 consecutive games, and then lost in the 5th game 11-2, with my man scoring 10 of the opposing team's 11 buckets.

Turns out, I had been schooled by Quinn Richardson -- who ascended to first team in 83-84 along with Altenberger, Montgomery, Winters and Douglas. Their jersey numbers that season? 21-22-23-24-25.

For a great full page write-up of that 1984 team, google an archived version of the Philadelphia Inquirer following the Maryland victory. Their sportswriter wrote a masterful article that captured the essence of that team.

Dan said:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1883884372958548376

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I approve this message.

I read on here that Morez has already said he plans to transfer after this season. "He didn't come here to sit on the bench" was the quote. I assume like you the other is Booth.