Watch out, LoHo's going to muscle him into DePaul.

It will.

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You know me like that.

Nice win tonight. They've really been cleaning up the boards this year. Bradley isn't big, I know, but even against Valpo's three-headed monster Illinois had a sizable rebounding edge.

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

This video is awesome on so many levels. (NSFW, language)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGkmQWcaRYA

Tuned in last night to watch the Illini take on Georgia Tech on ESPN2. Watched all of the first half and then
clicked back and forth in the second half. They got up as many as 12 and I thought the game was in the bag.
Came back a few minutes later only to watch GT shut the Illini down and take the win. I was doing a few
other things while it was on and only sparingly watched the second half as mentioned but I few things I
noticed..... I was pretty impressed with Rice, if the Illini could spread the floor more effectively he would be
a real beast to stop. I'd like to see Betrand shoot a little bit more, together they would be a decent one-two
punch. Egwu put on a lot of muscle ( apparently 20 lbs ) but you really can't tell, he plays small and weak.
He'll have his games where he looks good but just not good enough to be a big difference maker on a nightly
basis. I was pleasantly surprised with Ekey even though he didn't have a very good shooting night, guy can
hit the boards and plays a lot bigger than 6-7 in my opinion. Decent touch from outside. The bench is ultra
thin, I liked what little I saw of Nunn off the bench at guard but after that I wasn't too impressed with anyone.
This team is really small and they are going to get some serious beatdowns in conference, especially down low.
I will applaud them for their general hustle and scrappiness, they are going to need it. They will be lucky to
finish above .500 this year when all is said and done.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Egwu is Nigerian for Tisdale.

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Don't take it personally.

Continuation of Illini's recent tradition of string bean soft centers.

They are a really bad offensive team. Rice is good, though. He almost won that game by himself last night but then Abrams inexplicably stopped getting the ball to him.

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You know me like that.

Scrappy win. Should have lost that one but got it on sheer effort in the 2nd half.

They play hard and really get after loose balls.

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You know me like that.

I'd agree with this assessment. I was watching with a Mizzou alum so it was a satisfying win. They might
actually knock off a ranked Big Ten team or two this season at home.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Kendall Gill ‏@KendallG13 4m

Understand this. We have the makings of an All Time Great Coach! Gets everything out of his players and they run through walls for him



If he is anywhere CLOSE to an all time great coach, he won't be at Illinois long.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Don't hate, RFDC. That munchkin coach and munchkin guard of yours put up a valiant effort on our court.

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Don't take it personally.

I know that you know what I said is true.

Yeah Yogi had quite the game. But when you get beat on turnovers 23 to 10 you are going to lose most games, especially big 10 road games.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Rayvonte Rice is a beast. Best player since Deron Williams.

Groce is absolutely insane.

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You know me like that.

It was a very good game and they are surprising me a bit. Egwu is maddening to watch heave 3's
and then play like an old lady down low. I think Rice is very good but Ekey could be the key to them
winning some big games. Nice reverse dunk off the alley-oop.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Watched the game on Saturday and the Illini dominated an inferior opponent the 2nd half as they should have.
Rice had kind of an off game but it was a nice balanced offensive attack for once. Everyone hit the boards well.
Egwu is still maddening on offense firing off a 3 pointer and missing an dunk but made up for it on defense with
some nice blocks down low. On the verge of cracking the AP Top 25 but that may be short lived after meeting
up with the Badgers in Madison on Wednesday night. Wisconsin just got by Iowa at home so it should be an
interesting game. Need big games from Rice and maybe some Ekey from outside.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

The lack of Egwu's development on the offensive end is disappointing and will cost them. They don't shoot well and they can't go inside when they are in a drought.

Their only choice is Rice driving to the hoop, which he does well, but isn't going to be enough against good competition.

I think 3 of their next 5 are against top 5 teams with 2 on the road. They are in for a rough stretch. If they can get out of that 3-2, that would be great.

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You know me like that.

If they could get out of it 2-3, it would be amazing. Illinois isn't very good this year, but if they can beat the non-ranked teams, they could still get a bid to the tourney. If they manage to knock off one of the big guns, its just icing on the cake. I wouldn't hold my breath, though. They do not do anything good enough to surprise any team, IMO.

Hill is a superstar in the making though. I'm not sure he can really get it going this season, but if he does they can be a kind of Flyin' Illini Lite with Rice, Hill, and Bertrand slashing all over the place.

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Don't take it personally.

Hill hasn't really been playing prior to last game. He doesn't seem shy and played pretty well against PSU.

Abrams has been kind of a surprise on the offensive end.

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You know me like that.

The Illini have three other transfers sitting out this season. All of which should be starters next season. Should look completely different next year.

If the freshman want to have a bigger role next year, they better step up now.

He was good in limited minutes in a couple other games I watched. You could see on Saturday the kind of player he can be. I'm not sure how fast he'll come along, but I wouldn't be shocked if he has a much bigger role on this team as they move deeper into the conference season. They have a lot of guys who can score, but beyond Rice they don't have anyone who can score consistently. I think Hill could be that guy. Admittedly, it might not happen this season.

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Don't take it personally.

They had a great chance to knock off Oregon but couldn't get it done. That would have been a signature
win down the road. We are going to find out a lot about this team the next few weeks.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

They are really strapped for big guys. Everytime I see Colbert in there he is fouling people and playing crappy
defense. I was actually impressed with Morgan against Indiana but didn't see him much this weekend. He seems
to have some potential as a big man with decent touch around the rim. You are exactly right about Rice I just
think that he should kick the ball out to an open jump shooter sometimes. He gets in these streaks where he
becomes a bit of a ball hog, which is out of neccessity sometimes because he is the only guy who seems like he
can score in stretches. If they can move the ball around a little better it will open everything up from driving to
driving and kicking it out.

The Illini need to definitely take the Purdue and Northwestern games after @ Wisconsin, then, Mich St @home and away at Ohio State is a rough stretch.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

By the way, Groce is a complete maniac.

They way he's jumping around and that crazy look on his face at all times. I wonder if the players like him or if he's just too insane for them.

There was a play against PSU where he was literally 5 feet out onto the court while the play was going on on his half of the court. I've never seen a coach that far onto the court on his own end. I couldn't believe he didn't get a T.

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You know me like that.

I liked the little smirk he got when the ref was kicking Newbill out of the game and Chambers had that pained look on his face.

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Don't take it personally.

He got teed up for it against Indiana. He is insane, I haven't seen a coach quite that intense in a long time.
He gets up in arms about absolutely everything. I'd love to hear what the players think of him.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

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You know me like that.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."