Week of 12/9 Games & News Thread
- Status
Just a reminder that IU is heading into 2025 without a win against a possible tourney team. Darn.
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
Nebby is tough at home, not looking forward to playing them in Lincoln.
Oof. I tuned in with a little more than 6m to play, and this thing IU is doing on the court is NOT basketball.
For as middling as Ben has been, I don't know that Goode would've been better had he stayed.
Woof... rough last few minutes for Indiana... ends out at a 17 pt loss.
DICKnaggie
- Champaign
I struggle with this. Goode learned to play hard here. He knows BU and how to adapt to BU's systems. He's clearly been a leader at IU. Would it have been an upgrade if he had stayed? No clue, but there would not have been the learning curve. I think time will tell in this trade.
As bad as Ben has been, I’m glad he replaced Goode. Ben is so much better in every way.
Agree. I actually think Ben will get better. Needs to retool his game a little but the length is there
Pre-season rankings were based on talent, and on paper, they are the most talented team in the Big Ten.
IMO you can't turn Illinois away in that department either...
Whatever Indiana paid for Ballo, it was a waste. Don’t see it with him. His stats look good but doesn’t seem to impact winning at all. Nebraska got plenty in the paint, and Ballo isn’t much of a go to guy at all on offense. More a junk basket guy.
I think IU stinks tbh. They need a new coaching staff
I think IU stinks tbh. They need a new coaching staff
Seems like Luke has greater hand strength. I feel like he might even fare better in an Over-the-Top-style arm wrestling match. Advantage Goode. I award 5 points.
️Ben has a high, quick release point. He can shoot floaters and slightly off-balance- not perfectly squared up leaners. He can damn near get his shot off against anyone.
Luke is more of a true spot-up guy that needs to be set. (Luke would sometimes end up taking a worse shot than he initially had…because of his slow release.)
Ben has the shanks right now. But release and mechanics-wise it’s Hum by a country mile. I award 20 points to Ben.
Both are good guys. Luke tends to be more vocal. Personally, I like when Luke gets loud and mouthy. I award 3.5 points to Goode for the slight edge in leadership and Big10 experience.
Ben is 85.9 % more likely than Goode to take it to the rim and end up with some sort of favorable outcome. Big Ben gets Another 20.
Luke has the better haircut.
Goode gets 5 points.
️They both have really fun names. That lend themselves to even better monikers. Luke’s is Goode. But Ben’s name is WAY cooler. 5 points
Ben has a better offensive repertoire with his back to the basket. This one also goes to Ben by a wide margin. 15 points
* Both have high basketball IQs…it’s a DRAW…on this one…
Versatility on both sides of the ball. Ben-15 points
Both are acceptable/decent passers. But with his greater offensive vocabulary…Ben is 88.3471% more likely to be the better (potential) playmaker. I also feel more confident with him inbounding the ball than I do Luke. 10 points goes to BH.
Luke transferred to the wrong Bloomington in the wrong state. He now wears gawdy, candy cane, clown
paints. Deduct 275 points. Ben
Wins!!
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OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
I don’t know if shooting 23% from 3 or a Mike Woodson team shooting 35 3s is more surprising.
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
Excellent!Seems like Luke has greater hand strength. I feel like he might even fare better in an Over-the-Top-style arm wrestling match. Advantage Goode. I award 5 points.
Ben has a high, quick release point. He can shoot floaters and slightly off-balance- not perfectly squared up leaners. He can damn near get his shot off against anyone.
Luke is more of a true spot-up guy that needs to be set. (Luke would sometimes end up taking a worse shot than he initially had…because of his slow release.)
Ben has the shanks right now. But release and mechanics-wise it’s Hum by a country mile. I award 20 points to Ben.
Both are good guys. Luke tends to be more vocal. Personally, I like when Luke gets loud and mouthy. I award 3.5 points to Goode for the slight edge in leadership and Big10 experience.
Ben is 85.9 % more likely than Goode to take it to the rim and end up with some sort of favorable outcome. Big Ben gets Another 20.
Luke has the better haircut.
Goode gets 5 points.
They both have really fun names. That lend themselves to even better monikers. Luke’s is Goode. But Ben’s name is WAY cooler. 5 points
Ben has a better offensive repertoire with his back to the basket. This one also goes to Ben by a wide margin. 15 points
* Both have high basketball IQs…it’s a DRAW…on this one…
Versatility on both sides of the ball. Ben-15 points
Both are acceptable/decent passers. But with his greater offensive vocabulary…Ben is 88.3471% more likely to be the better (potential) playmaker. I also feel more confident with him inbounding the ball than I do Luke. 10 points goes to BH.
Luke transferred to the wrong Bloomington in the wrong state. He now wears gawdy, candy cane, clown
Ben
I’d add, Ben is a current Illini. Ben wins!
I’m probably in the minority here but I’ve been liking the portal era. I already watched a lot of college games before it but I’ve enjoyed following along other teams that have had Illini connections. There’s no bad blood from guys leaving and it’s been fun rooting for teams like Memphis.
He played well down the stretch to tie it and send to overtime
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