They're a lot closer to being the best team in the country than the seventeenth best. I've watched more than enough basketball to know that.

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Freedom is our Strength.

Jakacionis is in elite ball handler and facilitator, Boswell is plan B when KJ is on the bench. KJ and Ivisic have next level court vision and passing skills.

I seriously think the top 20 is a jumbled mess right now, and it is hard to tell who should be in the top 10 or top 5. It really seems to be up for grabs from week to week. I think Illinois can play with anyone, but they need to start showing some consistency. they are coming into a stretch where they should (on paper) rack up a string of wins.

The only guy that I saw who could put it to the deck and make a play for others was Boswell. Definitely the only guy that could get in the lane and make a play for someone else. You need guys that beat people off the bounce when guys are overplaying I didn't see that other than Boswell

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Looking forward to their loss in the Sweet 16

Schedule looks good on paper but a couple trap games in there. I’m more concerned with the last three weeks heading into the conference tournament.

Michigan St
Wisconsin
Duke
Iowa
Michigan
Purdue

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Who cares what you think? That's a rhetorical question.

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I wish he could get someone on his bench, some old-timer maybe, who can help him with the in-game adjustments. This team should be 15-3, possibly 16-2.

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"Julian's thinking is clearer than Ricky's thinking."

well if Sunday was the only game you have watched this year, I can see how you would say Boswell is the only guy, since KJ was on the bench the entire game. the only guy I want with the ball in crunch time is KJ as a shooter or a distributor.

Yeah I don't watch too much college basketball these days but I do try and catch the local teams. Illinois has a great deal of talent but Underwood's coaching leaves a lot to be desired imo. Two of my guys played under him when he was an assistant at Western back in the day. One swears by him as a coach while the other one does not. FWIW the one that swears by him was the better player.

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Illinois might be in some trouble going forward due to clear nepotism on their staff with Underwood's son. I have it on real good authority that the loss of Chester Frazier and Tim Anderson was due to their disapproval of the way Underwood has elevated his son over the past several seasons. He has been bumped up to associate Head Coach or top assistant without paying any dues. Doesn't recruit and really doesn't coach yet is still the person whom Underwood listens to in terms of the coaching.
.Both Tim Anderson and Chester Frazier were damn good recruiters. Anderson has a solid grip on the local talent as well as some reach with national talent and Frazier brought in a few of the East Coast guys that were solid over the past several years.

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I don't like the obvious increased roll of Underwood's son either. I've noticed that watching games.

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JORR do you believe me now?

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

Oof…. Another ugly loss at home. They didn’t have Ivisic which clearly hurt but another bad shooting night and 16 turnovers are some red flags. Going to have to watch every game a bit more closely until they hit that 20 win mark. Hosting Northwestern this weekend after losing in Evanston earlier this season.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Underwood may not be national coach of the year.

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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!

Not really. Like I said, I didn't think they would be undefeated. But this is admittedly a terrible loss. They're a Tournament team. Underwood just has to have them at their best in March. If they shoot any reasonable percentage from three they will be hard to beat. 6 for 28 isn't going to cut it.

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Freedom is our Strength.

You keep making this comment about going undefeated. This has nothing to do with that. You said they were the best team in the country. They are not even close to the best team in the country. They are not even the best team in a down Big 10.

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

Who is the best team in the country? Who is the best team in the Big Ten?

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Freedom is our Strength.

Auburn, Duke, Iowa St all in consideration for top team in the country.

Mich St in the Big 10.

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

You mean the team Illinois just lead for most of the game on their home court and lost be two on a controversial play at the end?

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Freedom is our Strength.

Yes the team they lost to. And the team that is not close to the best team in the country as well. So still Illinois is far from the best team in the country. Two terrible losses at home in a down conference.

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

You keep calling it a "down conference." I disagree with that.

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Freedom is our Strength.

I am sure you do.

Feel free to make your case for why the Big 10 is not down this year.

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

I think Michigan is the best team in the Big Ten.

MSU has a lot of losses coming.

Illinois should be the second best team but there comes a point where you have to stop losing so much.

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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!

*Updated to a second-round exit

Dusty May is doing a really good job there at Michigan. I was hopefully IU would fire Woodson last year and go after May.

IMO Michigan St and Michigan are 1a. and 1b.

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

They're 160-37 in non-conference games.

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Freedom is our Strength.

ok, I am not sure how this shows the conference is not down. There are a lot of bad teams in that list of opponents. And how does it compare to other recent years when the conference was better?

Compared to a conference like the SEC this year that has teams all over the top 15. The SEC is a conf that is way up this year.

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

There you go again defending wins as a relevant stat.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

There are plenty of good ones in there too.



"When the conference was better" Glad you asked. They set a record last year with 144 non-conference wins.

Look, I don't want you to misunderstand- or mischaracterize- what I mean when I say I think they're the best team in the country. I'm certainly not comparing them to historically dominating teams that went undefeated or had only one loss on the way to a national championship. I don't think there is a team like that this year. And I think Illinois is all around the most talented team in the country. Of course they're far from perfect. They're putting up some bad losses at home against teams they should destroy.

I'm a gambler. I look at things from the perspective of odds. I argued with Noisewater about that 2005 championship game. I didn't think the Illini were ever going to win that game. And if they had played North Carolina 100 times, they would have done well to win 20. And I think if last year's team had played UConn 100 times they may have won 5. But I don't think there's a team in the country this year that could play the Illini 100 times and be better than .500.

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Freedom is our Strength.