RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
3-5 in the Big Ten Tournament.
Illinois 78, Maryland 72 Postgame
- Status
Hey, I'm not here defending them... but for the sake of our program- we rely on them. College athletics currently relies on them.. So whether we like it or not, our program does have to care about them.
Is this just about comparing resources? lol
Purdue is 7th in the Big Ten and Iowa is 9th - why in the world would I not be happy with beating Nebraska in a close game on the road compared to Purdue and Iowa?
It seems to me what we really need is not Brad's record in close games that we deem "acceptable to be close" but what is Brad's record against opponents whose team costs more than ours.
Whitman's job absolutely entails selling reasonable expectations to donors.
I think we're just talking past each other here on "ROI". The ROI should be on team performance, not individual performance. There's usually strong correlation between the two, but it's not absolute.
And do we see the problem with going down the ROI path? If you come to Brad complaining about certain players not getting ROI, why would he not just respond to you - "I have a top 10 team with a not top 15 paid roster. you're not giving me enough."?
This… all of this.
This is the Big Ten. I expect every game to be close.
If the games were a foregone conclusion, college basketball wouldn't be nearly as exciting.
I didn't see any other way to interpret it either, and that statement was beyond being a head scratcher.
We only have three bigs, both Ivisic's and Mirk. That's all that's on the roster. Both players would have been PERFECT around a guy like Morez.
Offensively, two shooting bigs with a dominant low post presence would have been perfect.
Defensively, you're asking two 7 footers to guard the perimeter. That's an issue that Wisconsin is going to potentially feast on.
All that said, even if Tomi isn't burying the shots, he stretches the defense. That's what he's being asked to do because it opens the lane and creates mismatches. Would we love for him to shoot 40%? Of course. Is his presence absolutely required? Absolutely.
Now, the bigger question is do we continue with the European style of play? This style is great when we're making shots, it looks bad when we aren't and we'll never be a great defensive team give the roster set up. There just isn't enough athleticism on either wing and we're going to get hammered on the glass versus strength, physicality and explosiveness.
This was LONG but, to me, you get what you pay for and this was the style they decided to pay for. Without Tomi and Z, we'd be absolutely screwed.
Knowing that, we're right back to being a #2 or #3 seed in the NCAAT and finishing 2nd in conference. Michigan spent a TON(had the resources) to put an NBA front court on the floor. That's the difference.
I hear you. I gave up tryig to coach the team years ago. The zone works and it worked Sunday, but then we gave Maryland 11 offensive rebounds. That is why the game was as close as it was.
Brad's philosophy is drop off players who don't shoot 3s well and to let players who want to try to beat us off the dribble "go for it." That's why we have so many players have huge games against us. Mills is going to be very good. But we made him look "elite."
If we are going to play the defensive strategy we play, we have to keep the opposition off the glass. Wisconsin shot 18 - 34 from 3 pt range and only recorded 18 shots from inside the 3pt line against Purdue. Of course they shot 24 FTs. And its latter category that most likely tells the story... if we wind up playing them. They took 45 3 - pointers against Oregon and lost.
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
Steve Smith is a former spurtan with a long time announcing bias against the Illini..........this goes back to his introduction as an announcer..........I don't have any facts other than what he has said on broadcasts that show a dislike for anything Illini related.....he talks about us like we took his lunch money............maybe we did.............I'll mute a broadcast than listen to his putrid diatribe...........
I really really do...................
I really really do...................
Expect to win by 30 … Expect to win in a close game … Expect to be close and could go either way … They’ve proven that the days of expect to probably lose this game are far behind us …
Those are the categories I put games into … And everyone can filter it in their own way … That’s fine … That’s the way I look at it …
Difference between being a 1 seed and not right now … Three games that fall into that expect to win in a close game that we simply didn’t … UCLA, Wisconsin, Nebraska at home … All 3 games lost either in OT or on a buzzer beater …
Even saying the MSU game was a close game that could go either way (and with Bam I personally think that’s an EASY win) … But still could go either way … Let’s say it’s an L …
Losses are Bama on a neutral in a very close game that could’ve gone either way, UConn on a neutral that we deserved to lose, @ MSU in a game that could’ve gone either way, and Michigan at home in a game we deserved to lose …
The margin for error is so slim … But it’s about closing games … This team didn’t do that down the stretch with consistency …
I hope they find another gear or flip a switch when it’s closing time in the Big Dance … They’ve proven they’re capable of it … I just want to see it night in and night out … Showing up mentally ready …
And we were 1 of 3 teams to win at OSU all season.....michigan blew them out and nebby won by 3
MSU had them at home and won by less than we did at OSU
And i think analytically we were like a 5 pt favorite. OSU is Q1A game on the road
Torvik game score of 80 for this game. Worse score of the season except for the UConn game.
Definitely felt like that was the case. I was surprised at the energy this Maryland team played with and frankly I’m happy the game went the way it did. Of course winning by 20 would’ve been nice but you can never have enough experience in close games.
Definitely felt like that was the case. I was surprised at the energy this Maryland team played with and frankly I’m happy the game went the way it did. Of course winning by 20 would’ve been nice but you can never have enough experience in close games.
Fair.
I’ve learned over the years, for the sake of my blood pressure, to not go into conference road games and expect to win by 30.
That’s not gonna win me any motivational quote awards, but it helps me haha.
It’s not monopoly money, but at the end of the day anyone who wants to try being a donor should have some understanding of the reality of the situation, which is there is only so much control you can realistically expect to have when it comes to 18-24 year olds on a college sports team. There are so many different variables and decisions they are going to make over the course of their months or years on campus that will affect how their on-court success pans out. It is probably not healthy to expect a certain level of control or outcome on a team’s coaches and players, who have more options than ever with the transfer portal, nil, etc. Of course anyone wants a good return on their investment and so there should be consequences when large amounts of money are obviously mismanaged or squandered.
Here is a pretty good indicator imo on whether Brad and his group are having a good ROI for their season.
If Brad is consistently getting to this level, I don’t really know how much more can be done to affect the coaches, players, and team as a whole. Losing the Morez’s and seeing the Podziemski’s blow up the next semester after they transfer is annoying, and maybe there are some adjustments and things the coaches could learn about roster retention to achieve a top tier roster. But again 18-24 year old athletes in the age of portal/nil will make unpredictable decisions.
Last edited:
At this point it's clear Michigan and Duke are a cut above, which is slightly disappointing, but Illinois is clearly in a group with Arizona, Houston, Florida, UConn and Purdue in a sort of tier 2, with Illinois being on the far offensive end of that group and Arizona being in the far defensive end of that group.
I think tier 1 is Duke, Michigan, Arizona and Florida. Arizona still has a top 10 offense. we don't have a top 10 defense
we were pushing to be in that tier but we aren't there. but we are the next tier below and can go on a run
I think the historical odds of a 2 seed making the E8 is a bit under 50%.
The toughest part right now is that our go‑to guys in these high‑pressure moments are freshmen. You just don’t win in March relying heavily on freshmen—historically, the only team that has really pulled that off was Kentucky with Anthony Davis. That’s why the “get old and stay old” approach is so important. To win in March, you need experienced veterans who can close games.
I was hoping Andrej and Bos would fill that role, but after the first few games of the season, Bos has really taken a downturn. Andrej is incredibly inconsistent from game to game. Tomi seems like he’s already mentally checked out and may be preparing to either transfer or go back home.
Relying on Mirk and Keaton in big March moments isn’t ideal—and honestly, it’s not fair to them either. I was worried that Bos’ hand injury would affect his shooting, and it has made his three‑point shooting even worse than before.
At this point, we might as well just enjoy the last two games of the season and then get back to the drawing board. Once again, we have an elite offense paired with one of the worst defenses. Hopefully Brad actually recruits some players who can defend, because it seems like he has prioritized offensive skill while overlooking defensive ability.
Michigan and Duke are just built different. I think you could be granular to the point of saying Duke/Michigan are in group 1 and Arizona/Florida are in group 2A while us/uconn/Houston are in 2B.
Even if you want to include us with the arizonas and floridas I just cannot rightfully put Duke and Michigan in the same tier as anyone else. They’ve both shown a level of dominance all year no other team has.
Arizona and Florida belong in the top tier also in imo.
I love and appreciate your use of ellipses…
I just wanted to share a pic of my new t-shirt 
- Status