[MyTurn2Raise]

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one thing i didn't get from tonight's game was when they were making a point of how much illinois had to travel this year, but the distances going one way (like to hawaii) were different from the way back.

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yeah....didn't get that either...well, with Hawai'i it might be the travel to Oahu v the travel back from Maui


anyway, Chester played horribly in his trip back to his hometown...that sucks as he has been decent this year...just too many throw away possessions

Shaun forgot how to pass the ball back out

no one got to the line, which Illinois had been great at the rest of this year for about the first time ever

this whole team needs to get stronger with on-the-ball possession...Brock and Randle really suck with not turning it over and making intelligent passes inside. Frazier had been good, but had a huge blow-up last night. Alexander has replaced Warren Carter as the guy who can score, but will constantly blow defensive assignments. The team still shows a lack of understanding of the offense, especially at the wings. No one sets hard screens. No one seems to use the screens well.

all that said, I'm optimistic.
Mainly, it's because the Big11Ten sucks. I watched alot of it the last 2 weeks and it's not a very good conference at all. Too bad Illinois has the hardest conference schedule.

Secondly, this is the type of team Weber would overachieve with at Purdue with a bit more athleticism.

Unlike last night in Maryland, the Illini need to continue to attack and get to the line like they did the rest of this season. They need to get better at being strong on the ball on the perimeter. Defense has been good thus far and will hopefully get better. Alexander misses his assignments too much, but I expect that to improve. The fatal flaw on defense is that Meacham and Holdren are lost causes trying to defend Big11Ten talent. Too bad that with Jamar sitting out, both will have to share some minutes to bring the outside shooting threat.


my prediction right now--4th in the Big11Ten, which only gets 4 teams into the tourney