Was a good game over all - very hotly contested.

Walking away from it I wondered

- Is Iowa improving this year with the young team OR
- Is Illinois really not that good?

Thoughts from anyone who saw the game?

I think Illinois is going to be inconsistent all season - they have some good players, but they aren't going to beat the top teams in the conference, and will also struggle on the road. Illinois is in transistion.

I agree for the most part BD, but I think Illinois will get better as the year goes on. Randle finally showed up last night and must have remembered that good things can happen when he heads toward the basket. He is finally starting to get over his injury which was pretty serious.

If Randle starts to play better, Illinois has the potential to be pretty good in the post, not Ohio St. good but pretty good.

Overall though, I think Illinois is 3-5 place finisher in the Big 10. 3 if Randle and McBride come around (they did late last night) 5 if they don't.

Looks like I overestimated Purdue a little also. Maybe they will come around as well.

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You know me like that.

I think Iowa could be improving too. Their last road game was against Drake and Drake ran them out of the building. Last night Illinois had some chances to really kill them and let them go. The final was closer than I expected but perhaps part of it was the fact that the Orange Crush wasnt really there.

Illinois is bad, Mcbride is awful and Warren Carter is their major scoring threat. With upcoming losses to MSU and Wiscy, Illinois is NIT bound. Maybe they should get Roon Zook to recruit for basketball cause I don't see bright days ahead for upcoming Illini recruiting classes. (Eric Gordon to Indiana set this program back 3 years of Big Ten competition.)