bob, you have Michigan losing to MN and MN losing to Michigan.
bob, you have Michigan losing to MN and MN losing to Michigan.
I have faith that those two teams can find a way.
EDIT: I think UM could win, but then cancel it out with a lose to Rutgers; or Minn could win and then lose to MD or WIS.
The most frustrating part of this season to me is despite the fact that it feels like we are so far off from a successful (meaning NCAA tournament) one, we really aren't. We didn't need to beat any world beaters: if we had just won against Winthrop at home without that massive choke job, and then finished the rally at PSU, we would be 17-11 and 6-8 in the Big Ten with an incredible chance to end the regular season 20-12 (9-9) and be squarely in the conversation. UGH.
Our only remaining option is to win out in the regular season and win at least two in the tournament, getting us to 21 wins. I don't have enough orange koolaid to believe in that.
or win the BTT outright. yeah...that's gonna happen...
Do we dare sweep both NW and IOWA?!?!
Its nice to see a thread with at least a few positive thoughts!
I know our program is way short of where we want it to be, and unfortunately not even "average" (i.e. 9-9 in B1G) but frankly we should always remember that people on this board drink a lot of orange cool-aide.
Ken prom had us as 70 to start the year we are now at 72
Most pre season predictions I read had us a 9/10th in B1G, we are 11th.
Win 2 or 3 of the last 4 games (which seems possible) and at least we hit those outside realistic expectations. (Unlike IU,MSU OSU, etc)
The ardent fan bases cool aide fueled expectation of a sure NCAA bid we always wildly optimistic.
I'm not saying 70th in kenprom, 10th in conference is anywhere near "good enough" for the long term. But let Whitman do whatever he feels he needs to do in the offseason to address that. For the sake of the kids I'd like to see them meet those outside preseason expectations and fans be more supportive of their efforts to get there.
GO ILLINI!!! Beat the Kitties
I agree that our expectations were a little too high going into the season. We were pretty horrible last year and lost one of our two best players. We bring back Abrams and add Lucas, neither of whom were going to be gamechangers. I think it was reasonable to think we'd be better than last year (and we are) due to being more experienced and injury-free. However, expecting a team that finished 5-14 last year with largely the same group of players to finish near the top of the Big Ten is a bit much. That being said, I still think we should be a little better than we are. But the overly high expectations make it seem like we're underperforming more than we are. I still have high hopes for the future since we have a great class coming in next year that we can really build off of assuming no decommits. I think Kipper and Lucas are going to be studs too.
Not to mention you'd usually expect some player development to occur from one year to the next, as well as continuing physical maturity. Those things alone should have made us significantly better with most of a returning roster plus some solid additions filling positions of need.We also added Black and Thorne which went a long way towards fixing a major weakness from last year, rebounding. I don't think many people were expecting a Big Ten contender, but perhaps a middle of the pack NCAA caliber team. That's a very low bar for year 5, not "wildly optimistic" or "overly high expectations".
This would be a huge W for us. Need to win 6 more to get in. If we can get this one, I think we win out and catch fire going into the BTT. Anything can happen.
I would be over the moon. I think most people would be.Watch us win out, finish 8-9 in the conference, win two games in the BTT and make the NCAAs lol.
Watch us win out, finish 8-9 in the conference, win two games in the BTT and make the NCAAs lol.
Which of our 18 conference games do you think we will skip?
[YOUTUBE]x48SgucoWDo[/YOUTUBE]Groce: Thing that stood out vs. Iowa was the toughness and resiliency.
Groce: We weren't perfect by any means. But we dove on loose balls, blocked shots, played with a tremendous amount of effort.
Groce: Northwestern has played well consistently. Have Lindsey back now, which adds another shooter/scorer. More dangerous.
Groce: Need JCL to take care of the ball, defend and hit open shots. Got to be who you are. Okay to be great at a few things.
Groce: Bring your 'A' stuff to the table.
Groce on how seniors responded: Good last week... It's a new week.
Groce: Saw a look in their eye yesterday in preparation for tomorrow.
Groce: Tendency of trying to predict futures is very dangerous
Groce: One step at a time. Enjoying every moment that we get to spend together as a team.
Groce: Finke is playing well right now. Mentally & physically tough. Stays in the moment.
Groce: Finke plays with a pure mind and pure heart.
Groce on Finke's hair: If he keeps playing like he's playing, he can keep it.
https://twitter.com/DPiperScout
:frustrated::frustrated::frustrated::frustrated::frustrated::frustrated: