Pregame: Illinois vs Iowa, Sunday, March 6th, 6:30pm CT, FS1

altgeld88 said:

I'll let it sit for a bit and then press "SEND." These hypocrites pi$$ me off.

Dear Brian,

I noted the self-righteous complaints in the Dispatch Mailbox feature of March 6 concerning Illinois basketball coach Brad Underwood's ejection from the Illini's game v. the Buckeyes on February 24. You replied that such a "display" is "not unusual for him."

Really? Mr. Underwood has been an extremely successful Division I head coach for nine seasons and was an assistant for many years before that. He’d never been ejected from a game until 10 days ago. During his five seasons at Illinois, I struggle to recall when he has drawn a technical foul. Illini fans are generally sympathetic to Underwood's unusually vigorous, principled objection to the ridiculously one-sided officiating of Illinois center Kofi Cockburn during that game.

I had the pleasure of growing up around Ohio State in the '70s and early '80s, and attended the University of Illinois from 1984-90. I recall well the genteel manners of Fred Taylor, Eldon Miller, and Illini coach Lou Henson as vividly as I do the routine, unseemly behavior of Woody Hayes, and Coach Taylor's former player Bob Knight. I also recall Gary Williams' animated outbursts toward officials when he helmed the OSU basketball team in the late '80s, and Thad Matta's years later.

Then there’s the disgraceful acquiescence of OSU and its fans toward Urban Meyer, who was found to have continued employing an assistant after he learned of that coach's documented recent history of domestic violence. And the ethically-challenged Jim Tressel. Strangely, I rarely heard local indictments of any of these OSU coaches over many years for anything other than losing.

Coach Underwood runs an exemplary program from all available evidence. While he may not display the comparatively drawing room-like demeanor of Chris Holtmann at all times, I can't find a single fault with his stewardship of the Illinois basketball program or the development of the young men in his charge. He is indeed a passionate advocate for his players and the program, which we admire. I challenge you and your readers to substantiate your claims that he behaves badly.

Finally, reader Jimmy Ryan's conflation of Underwood's ejection with the physical assault that Juwan Howard perpetrated on a fellow coach several days earlier is ludicrous, and a dire failure to understand what "analogy" means.

The Buckeyes occupy an extremely fragile ethical glass house. Their fans' projection toward Illinois is amusing.

Kind regards,
Altgeld88

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pruman91 said:

In honor of logjam's birthday , NL # 3 and I will have the following pre-game meal..........

Surf & Turf....................6 oz. Ribeye's & Breaded Jumbo Shrimp
Pickled Okra
Onion Rings
Red Velvet Cake w/ ____? Candles
Arbor Mist Peach Moscato Wine

Post meal birthday spanking

420
Gummy Bear

Happy Birthday logjam............................

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tcb13 said:

Mailbox: Why are Illinois, Michigan OK with the behavior of their basketball coaches?

Mailbox: Readers wonder why college basketball coaches Brad Underwood and Juwan Howard get away with bad behavior.

www.dispatch.com

This is not on topic for gameday but I do not have permission to start a new thread?

I found this article both appalling (Underwood getting ejected for the first time in his career vs. Howard swinging at another coach are not equal to each other) but also interesting and sad as there have been suggestions/mentions that other teams and fanbases hate Illinois. I am an Underwood fan, for sure, and see his behavior as emotional and from a place of genuine love for his players, his team, the game, the university. There have always been instances of emotional outburst where assistants and players have to get between their leader and refs (for example) and Underwood certainly is not the first nor the only coach to get T'd up.

Just curious what others think. Is this really the perspective from the outside looking in?

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altgeld88 said:

I'll let it sit for a bit and then press "SEND." These hypocrites pi$$ me off.

Dear Brian,

I noted the self-righteous complaints in the Dispatch Mailbox feature of March 6 concerning Illinois basketball coach Brad Underwood's ejection from the Illini's game v. the Buckeyes on February 24. You replied that such a "display" is "not unusual for him."

Really? Mr. Underwood has been an extremely successful Division I head coach for nine seasons and was an assistant for many years before that. He’d never been ejected from a game until 10 days ago. During his five seasons at Illinois, I struggle to recall when he has drawn a technical foul. Illini fans are generally sympathetic to Underwood's unusually vigorous, principled objection to the ridiculously one-sided officiating of Illinois center Kofi Cockburn during that game.

I had the pleasure of growing up around Ohio State in the '70s and early '80s, and attended the University of Illinois from 1984-90. I recall well the genteel manners of Fred Taylor, Eldon Miller, and Illini coach Lou Henson as vividly as I do the routine, unseemly behavior of Woody Hayes, and Coach Taylor's former player Bob Knight. I also recall Gary Williams' animated outbursts toward officials when he helmed the OSU basketball team in the late '80s, and Thad Matta's years later.

Then there’s the disgraceful acquiescence of OSU and its fans toward Urban Meyer, who was found to have continued employing an assistant after he learned of that coach's documented recent history of domestic violence. And the ethically-challenged Jim Tressel. Strangely, I rarely heard local indictments of any of these OSU coaches over many years for anything other than losing.

Coach Underwood runs an exemplary program from all available evidence. While he may not display the comparatively drawing room-like demeanor of Chris Holtmann at all times, I can't find a single fault with his stewardship of the Illinois basketball program or the development of the young men in his charge. He is indeed a passionate advocate for his players and the program, which we admire. I challenge you and your readers to substantiate your claims that he behaves badly.

Finally, reader Jimmy Ryan's conflation of Underwood's ejection with the physical assault that Juwan Howard perpetrated on a fellow coach several days earlier is ludicrous, and a dire failure to understand what "analogy" means.

The Buckeyes occupy an extremely fragile ethical glass house. Their fans' projection toward Illinois is amusing.

Kind regards,
Altgeld88

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IllinistuckinGopherland said:

I hope we have a big enough lead at the end for Brad to call a late timeout to get the seniors out.

But then, instead of taking them out, he designs a play where Trent throws a bounce bass out of bounds, and Damonte leaps to save it by spiking it off of a McCaffery. Then he subs them out to raucous applause on the ensuing dead ball.

I L L!

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altgeld88 said:

I'll let it sit for a bit and then press "SEND." These hypocrites pi$$ me off.

Dear Brian,

I noted the self-righteous complaints in the Dispatch Mailbox feature of March 6 concerning Illinois basketball coach Brad Underwood's ejection from the Illini's game v. the Buckeyes on February 24. You replied that such a "display" is "not unusual for him."

Really? Mr. Underwood has been an extremely successful Division I head coach for nine seasons and was an assistant for many years before that. He’d never been ejected from a game until 10 days ago. During his five seasons at Illinois, I struggle to recall when he has drawn a technical foul. Illini fans are generally sympathetic to Underwood's unusually vigorous, principled objection to the ridiculously one-sided officiating of Illinois center Kofi Cockburn during that game.

I had the pleasure of growing up around Ohio State in the '70s and early '80s, and attended the University of Illinois from 1984-90. I recall well the genteel manners of Fred Taylor, Eldon Miller, and Illini coach Lou Henson as vividly as I do the routine, unseemly behavior of Woody Hayes, and Coach Taylor's former player Bob Knight. I also recall Gary Williams' animated outbursts toward officials when he helmed the OSU basketball team in the late '80s, and Thad Matta's years later.

Then there’s the disgraceful acquiescence of OSU and its fans toward Urban Meyer, who was found to have continued employing an assistant after he learned of that coach's documented recent history of domestic violence. And the ethically-challenged Jim Tressel. Strangely, I rarely heard local indictments of any of these OSU coaches over many years for anything other than losing.

Coach Underwood runs an exemplary program from all available evidence. While he may not display the comparatively drawing room-like demeanor of Chris Holtmann at all times, I can't find a single fault with his stewardship of the Illinois basketball program or the development of the young men in his charge. He is indeed a passionate advocate for his players and the program, which we admire. I challenge you and your readers to substantiate your claims that he behaves badly.

Finally, reader Jimmy Ryan's conflation of Underwood's ejection with the physical assault that Juwan Howard perpetrated on a fellow coach several days earlier is ludicrous, and a dire failure to understand what "analogy" means.

The Buckeyes occupy an extremely fragile ethical glass house. Their fans' projection toward Illinois is amusing.

Kind regards,
Altgeld88

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Orange'n'Blue said:

Remind me again…..didn’t EJ get some racist hate (death threats) from his own fan base for their tourney exit? Their moral compass is shattered. What a garbage take on the situations.

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Dan said:

Senior Night: pre-game ceremony 20 minutes before tip-off (approximately 6:10 p.m)

FS1 (Joe Davis & Casey Jacobsen)

Game Preview | #20 Illini Set for Senior Night Sunday vs. #24 Iowa - University of Illinois Athletics

No. 20 Illinois wraps up the regular season Sunday night in Champaign, hosting No. 24 Iowa. It will be Senior Night at sold out State Farm Center, as Illino...

fightingillini.com

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LouHenson said:

Do we know if Dorsey has our game tonight?

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aaeismacgychel said:

Updated for Michigan's upset win over OSU- This means OSU has fallen to and clinched the 6 seed. and Maryland is the 10 seed. Iowa and Rutgers will be the 4 or 5 seeds depending on the Iowa-Illinois game. Michigan has increased their chance to get the 7 seed by about 20 percentage points with the win and will wait on the MSU-MD score to learn their seed.
Current projections for the BTT considering kenpom win probabilities. So far the 6th seed and seeds 9 thru 12 have been clinched.

View attachment 15975

To summarize:
1: Wisconsin or Illinois
2: ILL, Pur, or Wisc
3: Pur or ILL
4-5: Iowa/Rut
6: OSU
7-8: MSU/Mich
9: Indiana
10: Maryland
11: Penn State
12: Northwestern
13-14: Minn/Neb

Our Illini are most likely a 2-3 seed, with a small chance at the 1 seed. A win over Iowa cements at worst a 2 seed. Purdue owns tiebreakers over all teams close to them so they are locked in as a 2 or 3 seed.

As for Matchups, it will be:
1 seed vs Winner of Mich/MSU v Ind
2 seed vs Winner of Mich/MSU v Maryland
3 seed vs Winner of OSU v (Winner of PSU v Minn/Neb)
4 seed vs Winner of Iowa/Rut v (Winner of NW v Minn/Neb)

A win against Iowa and we're the 1 or 2 seed. A loss to Iowa and Iowa gets the 4 seed with us dropping to the 3. In the scenario we fall to a 3 seed the likely opponent will be OSU. I think we likely want to avoid that, so in my opinion best to go out and beat Iowa and get the much more favorable 1 or 2 seed draw.

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Newmark4thFloor said:

Mr. Warren probably made sure of it. Should be sending a couple of bald heads to state farm.

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blackdog said:

It's hard to imagine what life is going to be like after these seniors. As has been said time and again they have set the tone for the success of this program and we wouldn't be where we are dreaming of conference titles without them. BU has never coached a game at Illinois without Trent and Damonte so it will be interesting to see how the other guys respond without them in the program. I hope their tenacity and drive has sparked the next guys to play with that same competitive fire.

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