And the Madness Begins Part III

Let me start by saying that I started this with 13:13 left in the game.


Wow, what a great first half of basketball played....if you're a Hilltopper. Big Red came out knowing they were going to win this game. And I think the Illini thought the same thing. Nothing so far has gone right for the Illini. Calvin Brock is the only bright spot, even though I think he is taking too many shots. I guess if he wants to shoot, go ahead, because no one else is willing to at least miss. Mike Tisdale is too slow for this game. He hasn't gotten beat by the pick-n-roll this bad in a long time. Exxon-Mendez-Valdez...hasn't his green card expired? Sgt Slaughter...great call on having D-Mac guard him. Demetri is probably the Illini's worst defender when it comes to starters and he's letting this guy have a field day. That's saying a lot because Trent Meacham plays pretty good matador defense. Was the scouting report one page long with only the following and in bold: LET THEM SHOOT, THEY HAVE TO MISS AT SOME POINT. because that's what it looks like so far. The best part about this game at the 10:28 mark is the ILL-INI chant going through the crowd. I guess I'd rather lose this game than get d-effin-stroyed by the Zags on Saturday. Alex Legion...there's a name who was supposed to have helped this year. Talk about all hype. He makes Pepsi Clear look like an idea that lasted longer than 2 months. I can't believe that Chester Frazier actually meant this much to this team. If you told me that only 5 months ago, I would've laughed, tarred, and feathered your ass. Seriously. The guy averaged 7pts...you're not supposed to miss him. But as the pundits on CBS/ESPN/Big10 say ''You can't coach heart." How fucking true. Bruce should just put him in. OK, theres 7:20 left and Dominique Keller just fouled out. He logged maybe 10 minutes. Whatever. What made me laugh was the dumbass color-guy saying "Losing Keller may hurt more because he's a scoring option." How does this guy have a job?! Does he define scoring option as one who has scored points in the season? If that's the case then Bubba is a scoring option because he averages .3 pts/game. There's 4:03 left and this team is down by 15. The last time the Illini won a game like this was 2005. This team can't do what that team did. I would've like to get a good nights sleep but when you lose by 20 to a team not even considered a mid-major, all you can hope is that the alcohol works fast and knocks your ass out before the final buzzer sounds. If, and I stress IF, there is any good to come from this game it is in the fact that the seniors played their asses off. Calvin, in all his shots, always plays hard. Trent, played above average defense and started making some shots in the second half. Chester, I wish he broke something other than a hand. Granted he could still play defense, but his offense would be worse than if I were out there. I just hope that those who are left on the team learn from this and take the proper steps in the off-season to get that much better. It sucks to lose.