Illinois basketball fans

[wang4three]

[ballinhun8]

That pic looks good. Real good.

From the looks of the box score (I couldn't watch the game, I was out with a couple of buddies last night), I see that Alexander and Randle led the team in scoring and Randle had a good all-around performance with his 8 boards and 2 stls to go along with the 17 pts. I'm not sure though if I should be too impressed since I don't know what ASU is capable of, especially with 3 frosh in their starting lineup.

I want to see Pruitt show up tonight though and play like a guy that wants to be a 1st rounder. He's got a chance going against Duke and playing against their big men. We can't have him get into foul trouble.

Let's see "Illini Nation" keep rolling tonight and show the country we're still a damn great program.

[IlliniFan]

Does he want to play the 2 guard for us?

[wang4three]

Watched the game last night. We played tough and didn't quit, can lift our heads on that. Also, Brian Randle is making his strong bid to have an Alando Tucker-like season for us. He played amazing last night. Outside of two silly fouls (though I wonder where they got these refs from, the Big East?), he played flawlessly in my opinion. I'm thinking... we end up like Maryland's team of last year. Granted we don't have an outside threat like DJ Strawberry, but the scrappiness and competiveness we play at, as well as our well-improved athleticism...I'm thinking we'll be borderline top 25 and easily get into the tournament.

Oh, and I must apologize to Calvin Brock. He's shown me he can actually play.

[ballinhun8]

I too agree. At first, Brock was pissing me the hell-off with the way he started to play but then he shook off the nervousness and played a hell of a game.

But that game, anytime someone was sneezed on there seemed to be a foul. It was on both sides but it seemed like every little pat an Illini player gave to a Dukie, he was called on it. Like Frazier trying to grab a loose ball that was coming down to him and Paulus was just jumping to get it and Frazier went to get it while he was on the ground.

I was impressed though that they didn't give up. Pruitt got into foul trouble and Alexander, McCamey didn't play too well. I can't remember who, but someone kept missing put-back jams that could have gave us some momentum. Randle played awesome and I think he could be a candidate for a Big 10 POY. We look like a good team, one that doesn't have to be scared of being on the bubble. Especially, cuz Duke is a better team that I thought and they have athleticism now. Nelson and Henderson played well but it was easy for them cuz they knew anytime they would go inside, they'd get a call.









One last thing, screw Jon Scheyer, I was hoping someone from the Illini would punch him in the face for not coming to us. He was knocked and got a call so maybe that's something IDKWTI (<---game, what does that mean?) will get coming for him.

[IlliniFan]

IDKWTI (<---game, what does that mean?)

I don't know who that is. Thats what Deron Williams said when he was asked about the situation so everyone calls him that now.

[wang4three]

Leg contusion for Brian Randle....

[ballinhun8]

Damn, what is wrong with Randle being healthy. He has terrible luck. At least we finished 2-1 and we look very strong this season. I can't wait until next week when we get Maryland, hopefully some payback is due. It'll be a tough test but we played Duke tough so there is plenty of optimism.

[IlliniFan]

Have you guys seen this DT from Ohio for the class of '09? His name is Johnny Simon and hes a freak...

Wow, does anyone know if we have a shot at this kid?

[TheGame414]

Yeah, I've heard of him. Sounds like he'll be a big-time prospect. As to whether we have a shot...if he's a big-time player from Ohio and Ohio State wants him, what do you think? Never count out Zook, but there are some battles you can't expect to win. And if you do, great.

[IlliniFan]

Yeah, I've heard of him. Sounds like he'll be a big-time prospect. As to whether we have a shot...if he's a big-time player from Ohio and Ohio State wants him, what do you think? Never count out Zook, but there are some battles you can't expect to win. And if you do, great.

Yeah, I just wish we could say that about the top prospects from Illinois.

What about that running back from Florida, Harper. Is he a lock for Florida or does it look like the Zooker can get him up to Illinois?

[TheGame414]

Well, a few things about that. First, obviously Illinois is nowhere near the program historically that OSU is. Hopefully we can reach a level somewhere close to that during Zook's tenure. Second, while there are pro sports teams in Ohio, Columbus is the biggest city and Ohio State is essentially a pro franchise. They ARE Ohio sports. Illinois football isn't yet where Illinois basketball is, not to mention the same stratosphere as the Bears, Cubs, Bulls or White Sox. And Illinois is also a primary recruiting ground for Notre Dame and much of the rest of the Big Ten.

Not that any of this is news, but no matter how successful we become we'll probably never lock down the state completely.

As far as Harper...probably not, it looks like, considering Jason Ford has apparently waffled on his recruitment for the 78th time, reportedly decommitting from Iowa and committing to Illinois over the weekend. Neither Ford or LeShoure is quite as good as Harper, but they're not that far off and they're the top two backs in the state.

Maybe we're getting closer to locking up the borders than I think.

http://rivals100.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?ra_key=1821

[wang4three]

SOmeone learn how to shoot a ****ing free throw.

[IlliniFan]

Well, just got back from the game. We gave that game to them in the second half. Awful..

[wang4three]

I still don't know why Rodney Alexander sat the 2nd half. He was doing well for us.

As for Shaun, tough night for him. He was trying so hard, I can't fault him. I can for the missed free throws though. That was disgusting.

As for Brian..you can tell he's scared of getting hurt again. It's sad cause he's so good when he's aggressive.

This is offense is not built for people who don't have the high basketball IQ. I really think we need to do some restructuring.