Illini impress again

[Gary the Gargoyle]

As an Illinois fan, I'm ecstatic that Groce was able to coach-up all of those 3 star recruits well enough to win the Maui Classic.

[tornado]

yeah - they did play well but they played basically a bunch of midmajors and DII's - Butler is a good team but the Big Ten is maybe not going to be as easy

[patrick_o'brian]

Seems like every 5 years or so Chaminade will knock out one the big boys. Poor Texas! HA!

[Gary the Gargoyle]

yeah - they did play well but they played basically a bunch of midmajors and DII's - Butler is a good team but the Big Ten is maybe not going to be as easy

Clearly, the Big Ten will be much tougher, regardless, I'll take a resounding win over Butler. As for who they played in the tournament, there isn't anything Illinois could do about that. Texas and N. Carolina didn't take care of their business.

[Chico]

yeah - they did play well but they played basically a bunch of midmajors and DII's - Butler is a good team but the Big Ten is maybe not going to be as easy

Give them credit. They beat the teams that beat Texas and North Carolina who aren't mid major or DivII and neither is USC and they demolished all 3 teams they played.

[SFP]

This is the way I look at the Illini from the outside. Groce is a pretty good coach and gets the most out of his teams so if that is coaching up then so be it. The Illini's talent is overall pretty good but not top 10 material. We'll see how good they are once the Big Ten season begins because this year there appears to be a very top heavy conference. This is not a Butler squad that will go deep in the NCAA. They are good because they have a coach that can coach up. They did get blown out by Xavier earlier this year. North Carolina may have talent but as usual Deputy Dog never has his teams on all cylinders early on and this team needs time to jell and learn his system. Texas honestly I have no idea but I'm not a Barnes fan.

So in retrospect this was a winnable tournament for the Illini and a nice win. It was a great confidence builder, they still have their work cut out and The Big Ten Conference schedule will be telling how well they can be coached up. Its too early in the season to know how all these teams will finish. Its not until the February time frame that the better coached teams start emerging.

[Gary the Gargoyle]

This is the way I look at the Illini from the outside. Groce is a pretty good coach and gets the most out of his teams so if that is coaching up then so be it. The Illini's talent is overall pretty good but not top 10 material. We'll see how good they are once the Big Ten season begins because this year there appears to be a very top heavy conference. This is not a Butler squad that will go deep in the NCAA. They are good because they have a coach that can coach up. They did get blown out by Xavier earlier this year. North Carolina may have talent but as usual Deputy Dog never has his teams on all cylinders early on and this team needs time to jell and learn his system. Texas honestly I have no idea but I'm not a Barnes fan.

So in retrospect this was a winnable tournament for the Illini and a nice win. It was a great confidence builder, they still have their work cut out and The Big Ten Conference schedule will be telling how well they can be coached up. Its too early in the season to know how all these teams will finish. Its not until the February time frame that the better coached teams start emerging.

Normally, with the occasional exception, the teams with the best players win (regardless of coaching).

[SFP]

Normally, with the occasional exception, the teams with the best players win (regardless of coaching).

I agree that at the top level yes but as you start going down the ladder good coaching can make a huge difference in a team. Good coaching is when a coach knows his players strengths and weakness, plays to them and puts them in a position to succeed.

[Gary the Gargoyle]

I agree that at the top level yes but as you start going down the ladder good coaching can make a huge difference in a team. Good coaching is when a coach knows his players strengths and weakness, plays to them and puts them in a position to succeed.

Assuming teams are evenly matched (talent wise), I'll agree. That being said, Geno Ford could have coached his ass off last year, and Bradley still wasn't going to play with WSU.

[Da Coach]

Even though this is a Bradley board, I'll get in to this Illinois discussion. I have watched 3 of Illinois' games so far, and I like the way they are playing. I suspect they will move into the Top 25 in next week's poll. And I don't see them losing more than 2 games (Gonzaga & Missouri) before the Big Ten schedule begins. However, after watching most of the Big Ten teams play this season, I think there could be as many as 6, 7, or 8 teams that could -finish ahead of Illinois in this year's Big Ten. The Big Ten is stacked this year- in addition to Illinois- Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Iowa, and maybe even Minnesota appear to be likely NCAA teams.

Where does everyone think Illinois will finish?

Here was the preseason Big Ten media poll-
•Team (1st) Pts
•1. Indiana (21) 285
•2. Michigan (3) 256
•3. Ohio State 237
•4. Michigan St 223
•5. Wisconsin 191
•6. Minnesota 159
•7. Iowa 134
•8. Purdue 121
•9. Illinois 90
•10. Northwestern 89
•11. Penn State 62
•12. Nebraska 25

[lefty]

If Illinois can finish in the top 6 I would be thrilled.....

[Chico]

Don't know where they will finish, but right now they are fun to watch and have beaten good teams that have beaten better teams.

[Fetz86]

They have been impressive thus far, I think they could challenge for that #6 spot.

[Gary the Gargoyle]

I'll be more interested in how they play than where they finish I the standings. As has been discussed before, sometimes the difference in 4 positions in the standings is only one game. I think they can go 9-9 in the league, whatever place that will be.

[Beninator]

I watched the USC and Butler games. The Illini were on fire from the three point line. I will be curious to see if they can keep that up during the year.