I was at the game and took a lot of incoming chirping from the frustrated Purdue fans sitting around me. Perhaps the best moment was when they were apoplectic about the foul against Cluff and I informed them “just wait until you hear it’s been upgraded to a flagrant for hook and hold.” They told me I was crazy and full of s—t … I just grinned from ear to ear when High Knees announced the flagrant. Incredible performance by us down the stretch to then seal it … Purdue fans were pretty devastated realizing they played an A game and lost.
Illinois 88, Purdue 82 Postgame
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Since he grew out his hair absolutely
People love tormenting Brad after losses, but I thought this was especially interesting in the moment. BU generally does not call timeout on end of game possessions (for whichever reason), but different state of affairs against Purdue.
Keaton delivered.
I've thought the exact same thing about Mirk ever since the moment he got to Illinois. Literally, everything about him seems like a clone to Damir Krupajila, from his style of play to the way he runs the court. All the way down to how much they kind of look alike even.
It's uncanny to me.
BU stated a fact when he said that when his team is hitting shots, he is a great coach. Just wonder how much superlative hyperbole will be posted herw when these kids perform at the same high level but lose to another B1G team like Purdue just did.
We could all use a little bit more of Keaton Wagler's sensible view.
But man...that game was really something else in many ways so leap on the pile with me!!!!!!
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
lol what a joke
So I wouldn't take this as fans not giving Keaton recognition. They absolutely are. Just whenever someone goes off for quite possibly the best individual performance in school history, people will naturally bring up other great performances in school history for comparison. Because those are performances you are eclipsing when people call it the best ever. It's absolutely not taking anything away from what Keaton did whatsoever.
For me, there's a single Illinois comparable. 2012 Brandon Paul vs #5 OSU- 43pts on 11 of 15 shooting, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals. I personally thought this Keaton performance was better, but both performances were absolutely out of this world. And nobody will ever downtalk what Keaton did tonight. This will be a performance still talked about 20 years from now. No doubt. And you know how I know? Because people still talk about the Andy and Brandon games
Agreed -
They were a fun listen initially but they've gotten tiring. It's unfortunate since there's aren't a lot of good college bball content out there.
I can predict their reaction, it'll go like this:
1) Fawn over Wagler for 30 mins ( rightfully so, but they've been loving him all yr)
2) Talk about how Purdue is in trouble
3) Praise Mirk while slamming Andrej and Tomi ( their IL punching bag)
4) State how this isn't repeatable since it took a Herculean effort from Wagler to win. Also throw in that if Boswell was healthy they would've lost. Finally add that BU got lucky with Wagler and how his initial vision of the team have blown up in his face. But close with they're huge Illinois fans.
Werner, Latulip and Trotter are my go-to listens, with Field of 68 occasionally.
Illini Inquirer is my go-to as well. But I do enjoy getting a "national" POV from an unbiased source. And while the Sleepers guys are hot-take artists and are more geared toward entertainment than providing expert analysis, I've found that they know more about our team and its daily goings-on than any other non-Illinois media.
Looking forward to their recap tomorrow. I expect them to fully give Illinois their flowers and their hot takes will be around how overrated Purdue is.
One note on stojakovic
Yes, he had a bad game..but I gotta give him props for this one thing after watching the extended highlights
Purdue hit an and one and foul shot to go up 11, the place was rocking and it looked like we might've been on our way to getting an !!!-kicking. That was the one play where Andrej took it to the bucket and hit a tough fading one hand bucket to end the drought.....then Davis hit his 3 the next play and we were back in it
Need him to get back on form next few games though
Yes, he had a bad game..but I gotta give him props for this one thing after watching the extended highlights
Purdue hit an and one and foul shot to go up 11, the place was rocking and it looked like we might've been on our way to getting an !!!-kicking. That was the one play where Andrej took it to the bucket and hit a tough fading one hand bucket to end the drought.....then Davis hit his 3 the next play and we were back in it
Need him to get back on form next few games though
I think the Sleepers guys are a fun listen when they do their bits, and I think Greg genuinely likes Underwood's offensive style and this team in particular. They aren't experts on anything, just fans with a podcast, which is fine! Much better than some of the college b-ball sleazeballs that I can't stand to read or listen to.
Here, I'll do a college basketball analyst/writer ranking:
Always read/listen: Matt Norlander, John Gasaway, Mike LaTulip, Robbie Hummel, CJ Moore, Dylan Burkhardt (even though he's a Michigan guy), Bart Torvik (who is, believe it or not, a Wisconsin guy), Ken Pomeroy, Evan Miyakawa, Jeff Borzello, Sam Vecenie, Erik Haslam
Enjoyable/harmless: Andy Katz, Seth Davis, Pat Forde, Jeremy Werner, Joey Wagner, Trilly Donovan, Sleepers guys (Greg, Carter, etc), Ricky O'Donnell (though he did steal my work once without credit), Brendan Quinn, Joe Lunardi, David Cobb, Kyle Boone, Myron Medcalf, Dan Wetzel, Clark Kellogg
Actively can't stand them/sleazy: Jeff Goodman, Gary Parrish, Jon Rothstein (holy crap, dude, your entire Twitter feed is just hocking your catchphrase t-shirts, enough already), anyone still working at SI, Nick Friedell, Bruce Pearl
In the preview, they both questioned whether Wagler might have a quiet night, noting--correctly--that a couple of his prior big-game outings weren't particularly noteworthy.
My recollection is that his drives were shut off in those games, as they were by Purdue. Here, he found another way. (Last shot in particular: rather than force a layup off the last drive, he pulled up.). Exceptional development!
I think Tyler “out-coached” coach Painter. Especially in the last several minute's of the game by using ghost screens on their switches.
Tyler also had the vision for bringing on Keaton.
Well done coach.
Tyler also had the vision for bringing on Keaton.
Well done coach.
Armchair decent
I have an old lady crush on him, and I don't care who knows it either.BEST GAME IN YEARS!!!!!!!
KW IS A LEGEND AND MY MAN-CRUSH AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!!!
And it was four 3-pointers, not 3. First was Tomi coming off the hook-and-hold call at 3:30, then Jake at the end of the shot clock, then Mirk off the extra pass from Davis, then Tomi when Cluff wouldn't come out of the paint to guard him.
Each one was a smart counter to a Purdue defensive change, which until that point had been denying Tomi and letting Wagler have any shot he wanted. At 3:30, they switched it to get the ball out of Wagler's hands, and the Illini responded by hitting 4 straight 3's.
Each one was a smart counter to a Purdue defensive change, which until that point had been denying Tomi and letting Wagler have any shot he wanted. At 3:30, they switched it to get the ball out of Wagler's hands, and the Illini responded by hitting 4 straight 3's.
You go girl.
I think any game prior to OSU for Wagler, I don’t throw out. But I do place an asterisk next to.
This whole thing has changed with him being the primary ballhandler
Heck, to a certain degree place an asterisk next to our games before that point, period. Not just him
band camp
- STL City
He (AS) just dropped 30 on Maryland a few days ago.
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