This team is really really good

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

set up for a letdown game against ohio state

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I love when the Illini fans start getting their hopes up.

They do look really good right now.

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

They looked good despite many sloppy turnovers and easy hoops on back cuts. Made Michigan look pretty bad.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Still not a believer eh.

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They are a really good team. I do not think they are a no doubt final 4 team as you seem to think.

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

They are a talented but flawed team. They did enough to get a 1 seed though and that makes them a good choice to make the Final Four. I think OSU and Michigan are better than them still.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

any word on when Ayo comes back?

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Big 10 tourney would be my guess.

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Tied with Ohio St. in the second half. Ohio St. is double, sometimes triple, teaming Coburn and he's having trouble passing out of it.

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

Beautiful drive by Ayo to put the Illini up 2 with 45 seconds left.

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

Nice comeback win by Illinois; Ayo really came on in the last couple of minutes.

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

Minus a first round out in the B10 tourney the win today probably locked in a #1 seed.

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Still believe that?

I say best in the conference, which is the best conference in college this year. I also think this is the best Ive ever seen the big ten as a conference.

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Yes. I still believe that.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

They better work on their free throws

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I am with Brick. They are a really good team, but still a team could easily be beat in the tournament.

The Big 10 conference is really good this year, not sure if it is the best ever but definitely in the conversation.

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

Of course they could easily be beat in the tourney. That’s the beauty of March Madness - there are never any certainties and every team has flaws. If you get a bad match-up or face some obscure school who happens to shoot the lights out you’re done. Still, this team could also beat any of the other top seeds. They feature 2 stars, a decent core and are playing solid D.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

I agree with all of that.

312 is the one that believes they are a lock for the final 4, that is where this discussion got started. I do not share that confidence.

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

It's not really a stretch to say a team has flaws and could lose in the tournament.

Their main flaw is FT shooting. Kofi in particular. He used to be decent/good. He was nearly 70% last year. Feels like he hasn't made a FT in a month lately. He's not the only one. Frazier and Ayo seem to be the only sure things at the line and Curbelo is pretty reliable.

They seem to get better toward the end of games but they keep a lot of teams around by starting slow at the line or slumping hard mid-game.

Overall, though, given the way they've played down the stretch, they should be favored in any game they play against any team. They are extremely deep with talent and less susceptible to foul trouble than the 05 team that could not afford to lose any starter for any considerable stretch.

The officiating has a harder time taking them out of a game with their bench - despite many attempts at trying. B10 overall could be in trouble if the refs start calling the touch fouls like almost always happens to the B10 each March after they beat the shit out of each other all conference year.

But, they are the best team in the country right now.

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You know me like that.

Note to self: Arrange multiple wellness checks on Noisewater after the Illini get knocked out of the tournament in the first or second round.

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I've never seen a tournament they've been in where they didn't end up losing.

Doesn't mean they aren't playing the best basketball in the country right now and should be the favorite.

Gonzaga doesn't play anybody. They've played 3 top 25 teams all year and none in 2021.

Illinois beat 3 top 25 teams this week alone and all on the road.

Baylor, I might give you. But, it's pretty close.

Illinois just hammered Michigan at Michigan without their best player.

I don't even think this is really an argument.

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You know me like that.

They have had a great week but overall resume matters. I doubt they end up beating Baylor or Gonzaga but won't meet them until the F4.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I said "in the first or second round".

But I was only joking.

I haven't been watching much college basketball this season, but I am impressed with the Illini. They will be very tough to beat in the tournament, especially if Curbelo can continue to elevate his play, as he has been doing recently.

I like this team a lot and am rooting for them.

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That tough regular season will really have Gonzaga primed for a final four run.

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I hope Illinois exposes them as frauds in the F4.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

No.

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

You've convinced me.

Disregard my previously stated rationale supporting my position.

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You know me like that.

They just have to win one game in the Big Ten tourney to be a 1 seed, wouldn't you think? Or do you think 2?

You said yourself you don't even see this as an argument. So it really matters not what is said, you have your illini glasses on.

They are a really good team that is capable of winning the tournament. But they are not the best team in the country right now.

But hey this is awesome that we are actually going to get to see the tournament this year. Maybe your boys will prove me wrong, but I would say at best their run ends in the elite 8. Still a great year tho.

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