if we jump Michigan in the final regular season polls...
B10 deservedly should be embarrassed over the Michigan as Champion crowning.
B10 deservedly should be embarrassed over the Michigan as Champion crowning.
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WOW a great play by Ayo at least 3 different ways!Justice Sueing was the only Buckeye who fouled out. He was called for a block against Ayo. Ayo made the basket and the and one to make it 71-68.
No b/c then the players should get rings and they can’t b/c NCAA violation. Then you have your coach reaping benefits while he still tries to motivate the players who got bupkis.I think Underwood has a big ten championship incentive. Whitman ought to announce tomorrow that he's getting it.
FIFY. See 1915 and 1943. Of course those were pre-NCAA.If Ayo leads Illinois to their third national championship, I will gladly anoint him as the greatest Illini ever
Too late. We already have two.If Ayo leads Illinois to their first national championship, I will gladly anoint him as the greatest Illini ever
Or the '38 team that Harry played on with Lou Boudreau?Am wondering how our teams in '48-'52 under Harry Combes compared. He had such an excellent run as coach over 20 seasons but those three early teams that made it to the final four must have been something else.
I still have mine! It’s a little tattered, but I still have itLol years ago I created the flyin Illini shirt with the flight numbers on the back. If I still was in that business I would make a “domino” shirt with the Batman 11 graphic. It would sell like crazy!
Was your father-in-law Bill Erickson from Rockford East? My uncle played on the 1948 E Rabs State Runner Up team, so I think he would have been a sophomore when Erickson was a senior. My uncle passed away in the last year, and I only knew about this from his obituary, unfortunately. He played a year at Drake too, would've liked to pick his brain about his basketball days.I am only aware because I have watched old file tapes that I got from WCIA long ago because my father-in-law was on that ‘49 team-known as the Rockford Flash...
Thanks for buying one. My family had to close TeShurt in 2020 due to Covid.I still have mine! It’s a little tattered, but I still have it
Man. It really is hard for people to get the distinction between "clutch" and overall greatness I guess? Obviously Dee/Deron are the greatest Illini of the last 20 years, but I don't remember them singlehandedly winning us the *sheer amount of games* Ayo has with clutch shots. (Obviously Deron going nuclear v. AZ is the best of all)So young. Every era has its own heroes. Weatherspoon, Harper, Brown, Williams come immediately to mind. I'm not quite old enough to go any farther back.
Man. It really is hard for people to get the distinction between "clutch" and overall greatness I guess? Obviously Dee/Deron are the greatest Illini of the last 20 years, but I don't remember them singlehandedly winning us the *sheer amount of games* Ayo has with clutch shots. (Obviously Deron going nuclear v. AZ is the best of all)
Yes. Illini #33 from Rockford East.Was your father-in-law Bill Erickson from Rockford East? My uncle played on the 1948 E Rabs State Runner Up team, so I think he would have been a sophomore when Erickson was a senior. My uncle passed away in the last year, and I only knew about this from his obituary, unfortunately. He played a year at Drake too, would've liked to pick his brain about his basketball days.
Unfortunately your original post on the matter got immediately twisted into a strawman argument about "greatest Illini player" ever. You clearly did not make any statements to that affect.
No player in my Illini memory (1980ish?) has had the sheer number and specific single shot... one shot... game ending or game sealing plays than Ayo Dosunmu. There are several plays and finishes by great Illini as has been mentioned...Frankie, Deron, Nick...but I'm challenged to find one Illini player that can equal Ayo's end of game shots/plays to end or seal a victory over the last couple years. I'm counting 10 or 12 of those? OSU, WI, NW, scUM, PSU, Iowa, Neb, NW again and OSU again.
That's 9 ...and I left out the MSU "This won't end well for Illinois" game and both Indiana games because they had just over 1 minute left whereas all the others were less than 1 minute. Add those games (reasonable) and it's 12 games.
If you find another Illini with that many...serve it up...I'm not seeing it.
Replay 60 in 60 on BTN right now!
I turned it on right as Liddell hit the 3 to go up 4. I almost didn't have to watch OSU score at all!
Glad you mentioned this - watching again and I thought for sure Curbelo was out of bounds on that one drive late in the 2nd half that ended up with Frazier hitting a corner 3 when we were down 4. But the refs got it right, Curbelo saved it to Ayo just before it went out.Replay 60 in 60 on BTN right now!
Glad you mentioned this - watching again and I thought for sure Curbelo was out of bounds on that one drive late in the 2nd half that ended up with Frazier hitting a corner 3 when we were down 4. But the refs got it right, Curbelo saved it to Ayo just before it went out.
Also, we caught a break thanks to the clock malfunction shortly after that. OSU had the ball up 4 with just 3:30 left and we still had Giorgi in the game in that stretch we couldn't get a defensive rebound to save our lives. But during that break to get the clock figured out, Kofi came back in, altered a shot on one possession, then grabbed two big defensive rebounds. And for as well as Liddell played, he totally lost Williams on the biggest 3 of the game.
Absolutely on that last part. Defenses not being able to sag off DMW really opened up the offense and kept teams from being able to double and triple team Kofi as much, plus opens up driving lanes for Ayo, Belo, etc. Huge game changer along with he and Trent becoming absolute lockdown defenders (they were last year, too, but even moreso this season).There was also the call that the ball went off Frazier when 1) I'm 99% sure it went off Sueing and 2) Sueing body checked Trent to get to the ball.
As weird as this may sound, I think one of the single biggest developments for this team was Damonte finding his 3 point shot late last year.
I also loved how Trent got open because OSU was too busy complaining that they didn’t call Curbelo out-of-bounds.Glad you mentioned this - watching again and I thought for sure Curbelo was out of bounds on that one drive late in the 2nd half that ended up with Frazier hitting a corner 3 when we were down 4. But the refs got it right, Curbelo saved it to Ayo just before it went out.
Also, we caught a break thanks to the clock malfunction shortly after that. OSU had the ball up 4 with just 3:30 left and we still had Giorgi in the game in that stretch we couldn't get a defensive rebound to save our lives. But during that break to get the clock figured out, Kofi came back in, altered a shot on one possession, then grabbed two big defensive rebounds. And for as well as Liddell played, he totally lost Williams on the biggest 3 of the game.
Yes, and don't forget Neel Ganta, graduate manager and analytics guru for the team, who was instrumental in getting BU to change his approach last season.For those advocating for Belo to be starting, I have one word for you — analytics. It is obvious that BU and the Illini staff use analytics a lot, so they know what lineup is the most efficient offensively. Just as important they know what lineup is second, third . . . and least efficient offensively. Then there is defense to consider too. So while Belo starting might be the most offensively efficient, it may well mean subsequent lineups of far lesser efficiency — both offensively and defensively — being on the floor for longer periods of time throughout the course of a game. And that doesn’t take into consideration matchups against opponents, foul trouble and off games by players. Against OSU, Trent got into early foul trouble and had to sit. If Belo had started and was playing with Trent early, how would have that impacted the rotation with Trent sitting and trying to get Belo and Ayo a few minutes of rest in first half? It’s not always about having the best offensive combo out there for a few more minutes each game. It is about maximizing the overall offensive and defensive efficiency throughout the game, and having the rotations set up to have the most overall efficient lineup in for all or most of the last 5-8 minutes of the game.
Maybe those wanting Belo to start have done a deep dive into the analytics and maybe not. But I assure you BU, Gentry and Chin have. And an 11-1 record down the stretch lead me to believe they are doing just fine pushing all the buttons.