We used to be the damn-near consensus pick for that accolade ... hopefully those days are very close to returning. While we have gotten great crowds through our down years, all things considered, the noise level in SFC/Assembly Hall has been a bit down in recent years, IMO. I think it will be absolutely rocking for MSU, or even all of our home games if we pick up a win at PU and the casual fan really buys in 100%.
Also, before anyone jumps all over me, I can't help but get a LITTLE bit of a 2005-feel from the type of lineup/rotation we have. Now, again, I am NOT comparing skill level or anything, but Ayo is effectively being our Deron WIlliams, and Trent is a great Dee 2.0; we also have a relatively thin bench filled with a few role players who come in and do their jobs admirably ... the only problem is that 1) neither are consistent enough to both be killing it night in and night out like our '05 guys, and 2) we don't have a Luther Head third guard to guarantee that every opposing defense must worry about all three threats at one time ... that could be Griffin (I love 'Dre, but his shooting is just a tad below, yesterday being an exception)! If those three continue to improve and continue to gel together - and I would argue they have! - this lineup could become very scary. Not to mention, our bigs would be even more imposing.
I'm not saying we are about to go on some ridiculous winning streak on our way to a protected seed (I'm also not saying we won't!), but this just got me thinking how high the ceiling could be for these guys. Let's all remember that the 2005 Illini had several games that should have been won easier (Iowa in OT at home, close wins at bad Purdue and Michigan teams, etc.) ... it's being tough in crunch time and grinding out the wins when they aren't coming easy that makes a team great.
Let's go into Mackey and continue to shake things up.
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It is getting close, i really want you to be right