Ayo
- Thread starter NJCat
- Start date
Yep, had the game totally under control, looked horrible at the beginning of the year, but ole Red *** has really turned them around.
There 2 best players are Freshman. Have a good PG and not much else, yet they have beaten MSU, Maryland, and OSU recently. Hit the lotto with Georgi as no other big program wanted him. Ayo probably won’t play more than 2 years.
Hate to say this, but the way we are playing, the Fighting Undies will thump us.
That game was like trying to choose between Cancer and Polio.
Feliz was the number one junior college point guard last year and is playing really well right now, too.
Team is very young. Frazier (So), Ayo (Fr) and Giorgi (Fr) are the three leading scorers. Only team in the conference with top three scorers underclassmen. Played the 2nd hardest schedule in the country and it was too much for them early. Finally starting to figure it out.
Ayo is the reason the Illini won a close one tonight, and the reason they have won a lot of games of late. But the better he plays, the more likely he leaves for the NBA (many have him predicted as late-first rounder as it is) so that it a double-edged sword for Illinois as they have no chance at postseason this year unless they win the BTT
Underwood hit the lotto with Giorgi. Even the Fanbase was up in arms when he took him as a recruit.
Combs, good to see that your alive> Where have you been during the last three football season and up until today during the basketball games???
He only comes out here when he has something to crow about. With U of I being the most depressing school in the Big Ten, he has been very quiet.
I didn’t crow. I said Illinois is young and has grown up some. A lot better than they were a month ago. But Illinois is still 10-15 and not going to a tournament.
Always do! Still 10-15 and a long way to go before any turnaround is complete, if it indeed happens. Still haven't been to the Dance since 2013, a streak that will likely continue this season.
You would like a player that did not bring you to the postseason, and then leaves?
Better won loss recotd than Illinois, and better NET ranking, even in what will likely be our worst season in some time and some time in the fiture as well. Think of that, our worst season and, depsite an incredible late run for them, they still have quite a bot of work to do to finish ahead of us! AND the guy directly reaponsible for at least 5 of their 10 wins is off to the NBA season next season. AND their recruits continue to have character issues (one player failed TWO drug tests before Christmas this season!) AND tend to transfer out at the slighest hkny of lost playing time.AND they had a recruit's handlers actually dictate to them that they could not take a different recruit if they took that recruit, lol!. AND the fact that their latest coach has not had a reputation for sticking with teams, though he is so bad at in-game decisions that might be a blessing.. Shall I go on?
Yup, I will take our program over theirs every day and twice on Sundays. Will be sweeter if somehow we can turn it around late and sweep them this season, I will admit...
Last edited:
Come on man. Illinois has double the wins in conference as NW. NW hasn’t won a conference game in nearly a month, and they’re likely going to lose tonight to a Nebraska team that is dead in the water. CCC parlayed the school’s first NCAA appearance and undeniably best season of all time into what is about to be consecutive sub-.500 seasons, including the disaster last season where he returned every key piece from that tourney team and still couldn’t manage to avoid a losing season.
Pointing out that Illinois isn’t a great team is unnecessary. They’re 10-15 with several bad losses in nonconference play. But recent results and overall conference record would suggest they’re significantly better than NW at this point in the season. And they’ve got a young core and several good recruits coming in. Even if Ayo leaves (and frankly it’s not very likely) all objective evidence would suggest that Underwood has the program trending up in season two. Meanwhile, CCC is in his sixth season, only managed to be over .500 twice and seems to be sinking into the quagmire. Shoot holes in Illinois all you want if it makes you feel better, but it won’t change your current reality or your program’s future
We had more of the rest of the team in place so had he come here, he likely would have had enough impact to get us to the dance.
I would love to beat the Fighting Undies twice this year, but that doesn’t make me feel good about our season. The Undies beat us in our tourney year and while we were paying they were at the driving range practicing their swing.
The Undies are going to be the trending pick in next years Big. NU will be picked last. It is different with a target on your back. We will see how Under500wood does then. I suspect the faithful will be calling for his head, just like they were this year, but we will see.
One thing is very clear to me, the Undies are much better than NU today. Doesn’t mean they will beat us in a couple of weeks, but I think NU is not playing well enough to beat a team that actually has momentum at 10-15. If the roster doesn’t disintegrate, they will handle NU next year too.
I dislike the Undies more than most here, but you are in a league of your own. You don’t live here and I can tell you I have never seen more chest thumping in my life about the future of the Undies. Fans are even Gaga over the Fighting Lovie’s due to them reading recruiting profiles on Freshman and transfers that couldn’t play at thee big boys coming in to dominate the Big as Lovie’s.
Let them have their fun while they can, but please don’t attract them to this site as they are a great front running fan base. Their athletic program is a train wreck as a whole, but the Undies are playing hard right now.
As you can see from the image in my signature, i loathe them also. I live here and don't see any if all illini fans. I know they have many alumni in the area, but the many years of crap have eroded their fanbase. I look at leadership for sustained success and they have zero. Occasional good seasons, but nothing other than that.
Our program is just fine and I would be happy to wager that. 5 years from now, we will be better than Illihois. As for Ayo, why in the world would a first-round draft pick stay? NBA millions or Rantoul, tough choice there...
5 years from now? ****, a five year rebuild just to be better than UoI. If that is really what Mike thinks, we have returned to the dark days.
Living here, I would say there weren’t many over the top Illini fans the last decade. However, at the slightest glimmer of hope,they start showing up like ants in a sugar pot. At my last job, there were people that you had no idea they were Illini fans until after they signed a top 100 recruit or sprung an upset on someone.
I believe the “leadership” has taken a relatively strong athletic program and eroded it by terrible hires over the last decade plus. I don’t think the modest success they are now having in B Ball changes that scenario much. Yes, there is sudden optimism in Rantoul, but they still are a sub 500 team. Being better than NU in all revenue sports used to be a given, now they are reduced to chest thumping when they are better than NU.
Was giving the poster the benefit of the doubt, because the post was about long-term trajectory. We've had a better record than them for what, the last 4 years? We'll likely have a better record than them for most, if not all of the next five years as well.
This tells you how far the NU program has come in the last 30 years. It was laughable in the 70-80’s to think NU would be competitive with even an average Big Ten program. Now losing to Illinois in either Football or Basketball sparks condemnation. In the 80’s it was the only game I cared about, even if the Illini fan base expected to coast to an easy win. Now they don’t talk so loud.
Three years is still quite significant given the history of the two programs, imo. And the Illini still have work to do to prevent it from being four...
Nobody in their right mind is suggesting that Ayo would go back to school if he gets a first round guarantee. He would and absolutely SHOULD go. I just think he ultimately doesn’t get the assurance he’d want, given his thin frame and streaky shooting. He might need another year to polish his skills. Either way, it’s a great problem to have. If NU had a prayer at attracting talent that other B1G teams wanted, they might have a chance. As it stands, I think Pardon and Law are the only guys who even sniff the rotation on any other B1G teams... and it shows.
Either way, NU just scored 50 points in a loss to an atrocious Nebraska team. Six game losing streak. So yeah... the program is just fine. Good call!
I look in rhe long term, not the short term. Enjoy your fun befor Ayo leaves, though. Pro tio,; find me a draft board where he is NOT being drafted in the first round...