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Illini Teams - Biggest Pleasant Surprise and Biggest Disappointment
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<blockquote data-quote="Roundball Sage" data-source="post: 1870160" data-attributes="member: 748116"><p>Biggest disappointment? The years when Trent and Ayo and Kofi and our Glue Guy were together and The Beloved could not go deep into The Dance. Not saying they were Final Four locks... but the premature exits and poor showing remains puzzling. The talent level shown on the floor shown during the seasons did not translate into good tournament showings.</p><p></p><p>While we are trying to figure out where the current Illini team’s offense has gone... we still can’t figure out what happened under the bright tourney lights the last few seasons.</p><p></p><p>What they did do was play tight each year and often with the look of panic. And those same looks have reappeared in recent Illini poor efforts.</p><p></p><p>This has been a general feature of NCAA touraments. There are always a few talented teams that just don’t look right out there and they flame out before their time. And there are other teams with mediocre records that just look like they belong out there and they scare people and advance deeper into the tournament than their season records would let on. The good tournament teams have cracked the code and found the secret sauce.</p><p></p><p>Some teams just look comfortable at tournament time while others look like they wish they were anywhere else. This does add a level of excitement to The Dance. And it also adds a layer of fear for teams who do not go into March looking like themselves or living up to their true potential.</p><p></p><p>Anyone who remembers when De Paul was a national power in the late 70s and 80s knows that look of a team in tournament panic. They did have one year with a great run. But for several other years they were drawing in top recruits and compiled flashy season records and then quickly washed out in the Dance. And then the Great Old Coach retired and the program quickly slid into oblivion. And they still aren't anywhere near where they used to be all these years later.</p><p></p><p>It’s critical to the Illini program to make a good showing this time around. Not setting a particular tournament win-level here (although Sweet Sixteen has a real nice ring to it for their current talent level)... just referring to the Eye Test of how they look compared to the last few years.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Roundball Sage, post: 1870160, member: 748116"] Biggest disappointment? The years when Trent and Ayo and Kofi and our Glue Guy were together and The Beloved could not go deep into The Dance. Not saying they were Final Four locks... but the premature exits and poor showing remains puzzling. The talent level shown on the floor shown during the seasons did not translate into good tournament showings. While we are trying to figure out where the current Illini team’s offense has gone... we still can’t figure out what happened under the bright tourney lights the last few seasons. What they did do was play tight each year and often with the look of panic. And those same looks have reappeared in recent Illini poor efforts. This has been a general feature of NCAA touraments. There are always a few talented teams that just don’t look right out there and they flame out before their time. And there are other teams with mediocre records that just look like they belong out there and they scare people and advance deeper into the tournament than their season records would let on. The good tournament teams have cracked the code and found the secret sauce. Some teams just look comfortable at tournament time while others look like they wish they were anywhere else. This does add a level of excitement to The Dance. And it also adds a layer of fear for teams who do not go into March looking like themselves or living up to their true potential. Anyone who remembers when De Paul was a national power in the late 70s and 80s knows that look of a team in tournament panic. They did have one year with a great run. But for several other years they were drawing in top recruits and compiled flashy season records and then quickly washed out in the Dance. And then the Great Old Coach retired and the program quickly slid into oblivion. And they still aren't anywhere near where they used to be all these years later. It’s critical to the Illini program to make a good showing this time around. Not setting a particular tournament win-level here (although Sweet Sixteen has a real nice ring to it for their current talent level)... just referring to the Eye Test of how they look compared to the last few years. [/QUOTE]
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Illini Teams - Biggest Pleasant Surprise and Biggest Disappointment
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