with your son working in tickets?

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

Illini play team defense as if every game is the NBA All-Star Game.

What a horrible loss. Likely drops them down a line in the tourney.

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I'm starting to wonder if the Big Ten is actually any good.

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Don't take it personally.

I don't think so. Not this year.

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I can see the Round of 16 now: All Big Ten teams eliminated except for Michigan State.

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Don't take it personally.

lol...yup

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Didn’t get to watch. I thought this was going to be a team built on defense but that can’t be true. Almost 20 turnovers… ugh. Was there a press employed or some kind of pressure with trapping? Looks like they could have made some more free throws but in the end they should win a game like this by 10points. Depending on who they match up with this team will be lucky to get out of the first round of the NCAAs.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

That was a terrible loss but I have to hand it to Penn St., they were all up in the Illini’s faces all night long. They pressured the shit out of them all night long and finally wore them down. Hawk had a bad night. I know he made a few threes but defensively he was out to lunch, just layup after layup after layup last night. Those two free throws he missed sealed their fate, but the foul he committed on the missed three with four seconds left was also terrible. Literally everything that had to go wrong in order to lose that game went wrong. Honestly I couldn’t believe the great look Harmon got on that last shot, I thought they might escape with the win when he drove in but alas, he missed it. Terrible.

Yeah, the tickets for most of these games are sold out WAY before I can commit to attending. I always have to go through a 3rd party. We are going to the Minnesota game next Wednesday, there might be tickets available for that.

They have not been good for the last few years. They will have a few good regular season teams and then the wheels fall off come March madness.

Look on the bright side Illini fans, you are not Indiana right now. They are completely awful. Their coach is miserable. Their guards are awful. They have no depth. Embarrassing.

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

It was like watching a fast-happening car wreck. I guess one could hope they learned enough from this to keep it from happening again in the tournament?

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

That game highlighted their glaring need for a true point guard to take care of the ball and calm things down.

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It's a very strange team. Their best center is a 6'3" guy who looks like a point guard and sometimes plays that position.

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Don't take it personally.

Hope is an unfortunate but accurate word. I'm an Illini fan but they are prime for an early out if they face a disciplined mid-major.

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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 can easily see that and I can just as easily see them having a game where they're hitting from 3 like crazy and they beat a top seed.

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Don't take it personally.

I agree. I honestly feel like they stand a better chance against power team than somebody considered to be inferior. I'm not sure if it's concentration, effort or pressure but they seem to play to the level of their opponent.

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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

Underwood has a tough job since pretty much everyone knows he is looking at other jobs.

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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!

What, the County Market tv spots aren't paying him enough?

5 left in first half and this is not too impressive today.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Nice defense at the end of the half. Kind if a microcosm of their last few weeks in one play.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

And an ugly start to the second half

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Near the end, with Illinois up by 9 or something, "Iowa has them right where they want them."

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Nice to see Illinois assert themselves late in this game. Dainja was getting so many good feeds down low and he kept missing them. He is usually a great finisher but I was wishing he’d just go up and dunk the shit out of a few of those. That hockey line change Underwood made was fucking awesome, and he left the bench guys out there a good long time. Domask got shut down today but Guerrier and Hansberry picked up the slack. It is good to see some bench guys getting better minutes but one thing I again couldnt understand in the 2nd half - where is Rodgers?

Good analysis. Definitely seemed like a punishment for some of the starters. Was interesting to see the offense run by an actual point guard for a while.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Went to the game last night, great crowd and great environment. I have never in my life seen a team shoot as hot as Minnesota did last night and still lose. They were absolutely on fucking fire from 3 last night, especially in the first half. The illini could not shake them. Luckily Illinois was hitting threes too and were able to hang with them, Hawkins was a monster in the first half. In the second half Dainja and Marcus Domask took over. Domask was just isolating and backing his way in and having his way with whoever was on him, or he was finding the open man for some wide open threes. Dainja missed an early putback attempt but finally in the 2nd half he started going up strong and dunking the ball with authority. Dainja looked great. I am very worried about the defense of this team, or lack of it. They are giving up huge amounts of very easy baskets down low. winning these high-scoring games is fun to watch but when you are giving up 80+ every night it is just not sustainable. Three tough games in a row to end the season coming up. Next is in Wisconsin Saturday.

I forgot to watch but was surprised when I saw the score this morning. The box score doesn't tell you a whole lot in a game like this where both teams were shooting well and playing lackluster defense. I found it interesting that Rodgers had another subpar game and that is where Dainja took advantage of his minutes. Also found it interesting that Goode was buried deep on the bench with just 3 minutes of playing time. Hard to believe they only had 4 turnovers, wish I could have seen that. It is promising that they are able to score the ball must more consistently but this swiss cheese defense isn't going to help much, especially when you go cold for a 10 minute stretch or even a half.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Goode came in, immediately got torched on D, hit a three, and that was it. It was a 7-man rotation in the 2nd half for the most part, and he wasn't part of it. i didn't see gibbs-lawhorn all game either. morelli got in for a quick look in the first half and that was it. I sensed that Underwood was very worried about losing this game and just stuck with his best players in the second half. Hawk got his third foul with like 12 minutes left and he just left him out there. That's part of why Minnesota was having a lot of easy shots inside, Hawk was worried about another quick foul.

Wisconsin has really been struggling of late but the game is in Madison and they need a good win badly. Purdue at home next Tuesday will be a big game for the Illini. Even if they don't win that one I'd like to see them push Purdue to the end. Iowa game is your classic trap game before the Big 10 tourney, especially with how much trouble they had with them at home last week. I'd be really happy winning 2 of 3 during that stretch.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Good win this weekend in Madison. Had they lost that one there would have been real pressure not to end the season on a downer with Purdue and Iowa on the road coming up. I wish I could get to the Purdue game but sadly can't make it. Love watching Domask take over these games down the stretch. When it gets to 5 or 6 minutes to go the game plan seems to be to get the ball to Domask, clear him out, and let him back his man down and either score it or force the double-team and hit the open man for a wide open three. He really is a good player, that shit is hard to defend, he is money one-on-one down low.