Complete with vintage Chief logo in the background.Parking lot fight
Illini Basketball 2024-2025
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So was Kenny Battle. So was Nick Anderson.
I’d pay top dollar to watch those 2 teams play against each other. Kofi would go for a million, Ayo would meet his match & have a war with TSJ, Domask booty ball gives DMFW & Grandison fits, Harmon gets taught a lesson from Trent & Curbelo, ‘24 Coleman schools younger Coleman. I think it would boil down to Kofi struggling on D against the ‘24 pro style offense. But wait! Ayo hits a game tying 3 to send it to over time. Coin flip from there.
I tend to agree. The 2021 team had more games where they absolutely dominated, but they had more games where they really struggled as well. The 2023-24 team had only 5 games all year where they shot under 40%. The 2021-2 team had 9. (4 of those were in the last 5 games. The Grandison injury really hurt our spacing & Curbelo's magic was gone by this point.)
Defensively, there is no doubt which team was better. Kofi was an absolute monster but had clear and obvious short comings. (passing, catching, dribbling, and FTs) No one was scared of trying to stop Demonte. Trent, for all the tremendous things he brough with attitude and effort, was only 6 feet tall. Teams weren't scheming to stop him. It was Ayo (who was a streaky shooter) and the big man. If you could slow them down, they could be had.
The 23 team lacked consistent effort but was had much better size and were much more balanced offensively. They could play defense when they wanted to. (Which usually started at about the 15-minute mark of the 2nd half) TJ was the best player to wear an Illini uniform in nearly 20 years, especially over the last month.
It's really close, but I tend to think the 21 team had more obvious and exploitable flaws, despite being more locked in on defense. The different tales these teams told in March was not a fluke. One team played their best at the end of the year, and one team played their worst.
March makes teams memorable. Good or bad.
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Certainly would be fun to watch. Contrast in styles, for sure.
He didn’t say it was a good reason (or maybe he did I didn’t listen to it).
I’ll give you Battle. But Anderson wasn’t eligible as a freshman and only played for Illinois.
TSJ will be on an all century team and his jersey will go in the rafters eventually. I’m team why wait.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Alex Legion SZNWe've reached the "everyone is incredibly improved, the newcomers are All-Americans, and Fletch turned them into Greek gods" stage of the summer.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
My question on the TSJ retired jersey thing is, are there a bunch of un-deserving 3rd team All-Americans in Illinois history? Why the 1st or 2nd team limitation?
Shannon was an All-American, a very exclusive and special list in the modern history of the program. This weird qualification has the effect of us talking as if he wasn't, which isn't true.
Shannon was an All-American, a very exclusive and special list in the modern history of the program. This weird qualification has the effect of us talking as if he wasn't, which isn't true.
We've reached the "everyone is incredibly improved, the newcomers are All-Americans, and Fletch turned them into Greek gods" stage of the summer.
Illinois will be a very good team, though. No over the top hype needed.
I really prefer this stage of summer to the previous 'Brad can't recruit, we are NIL poor, gonna finish 17th in B1G' stage though.
Was able to pop in and take a tour of Ubben with my youngest! Ty was gracious to spend a few minutes chatting and Morez was getting some work in. KJ also took a moment to say hi. Thankful for our managers that took 30 minutes of their time to show us around! Great to be back on campus!
Attachments
He was very respectful to say putting in the years at Illinois is the only reason.
He was just sharing his opinion with no negativity. He had named TSJ as the player he enjoyed playing with most, along with Trent.
It shows how people weigh a team’s performance/quality by the ncaa tournament
So Duke, Alabama, Arkansas (possibly), bragging rights on a Sunday, ans B10 schedule for next year?
We should be primed for a deep run, or whooped like a pup
We should be primed for a deep run, or whooped like a pup
Ryllini
- Lombard
That seems like a hint of jealousy to me and that is very unfortunate if im reading it correctly. What if he was 1 and done and did what he did this season. I love Coleman, but I think he is bothered that he didn't choose Illinois from the jump? So what, that is what this system is now. Coleman is about to take advantage of the college basketball landscape the same way TJ did.
I know this is old news, but Grandison's lack of availability was a major problem against Loyola, just as Trent's lack of availability of one of his eyes was a big reason we lost to Houston the following year.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
He also said TJ was favorite player to play with last season and they roomed together on every road trip. Don’t see a whole lot of bad blood there.
He also did mention hoping to have his jersey up there sometime. I imagine if he answered with the established criteria in mind it may have been a different answer. Seemed to approach it from a more subjective point of view. No problem with that approach but the best way I could contextualize the response.
And I believe Tennessee
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
not in my lifetime, but still:
This sure beats the doom and gloom / brad sucks / we're not going to get any players stageWe've reached the "everyone is incredibly improved, the newcomers are All-Americans, and Fletch turned them into Greek gods" stage of the summer.
Illinois will be a very good team, though. No over the top hype needed.
uofi7477
- Silver & Gold Vandals
And no PG!
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