I know this was put in the college basketball thread but I think this deserves its own thread. I just got back from the game, ND knocked off BC 68-65 tonight.

 

Big win for us, with one more big win we might not be a bubble team. If only we could play consistent basketball for 2 halves...Either way if ND does end up making the tournament, I don't think many teams will want to play them.

 

I'm quite happy right now, very big win for the team and to come against our biggest rival makes it even sweeter.

Not to rain on the parade, but I wouldn't go as far as to say teams don't wanna play ND.

Hey this is already in the Official College Basketball thread, why you gotta make a brand new thread for it?

now if they could only find a way to beat them in football

Not to rain on the parade, but I wouldn't go as far as to say teams don't wanna play ND.

 

If you as an Illinois fan saw ND as the 8 seed in your bracket, you'd have to at least think you got a pretty bad draw. I'm not saying EVERYONE doesn't want to play them, but in a one and done situation I wouldn't want to play a team who could catch fire from three. Colin Falls, our third guard, had SEVEN threes tonight and he's been a machine from behind the arc with thomas and quinn being good 3pt shooters as well. A three guard system, where even the PF can hit a three from time to time (J. Cornette) coupled with a halfway decent inside game (Francis/Lattimore have stepped it up recently) can be viewed as "dangerous".

 

I'm not trying to say ND is a consistently good team, because we haven't been this year. But they defintely possess the talent to be "dangerous", and the past few weeks it has slowly been coming together.

Their problem is that they lose focus in the last 3 minutes of the game.

 

5 of their 6 losses were by single digits. They get leads, then get pressured and give games away.

This should help DePaul in the RPI.

I'd play ND in a hearbeat this year, our guards would out play your guards pretty badly. Chris Thomas has been an enigma lately.

 

Good win, but i wouldn't be afraid of them in the tournament.

it doesnt matter who the illini play in the tournement. we'll just beat any team out there, so there's no worries, undefeated season her we come, national championship here we comenumber one ranking here we are!

it doesnt matter who the illini play in the tournement. we'll just beat any team out there, so there's no worries, undefeated season her we come, national championship here we comenumber one ranking here we are!

 

 

You're counting on an awful lot. Have those chickens hatched yet?

Not a true Illini fan

Not a true Illini fan

 

 

Me? Hell no!

Edited February 9, 200521 yr by YASNY

Was referring to Backman....

I'd play ND in a hearbeat this year, our guards would out play your guards pretty badly. Chris Thomas has been an enigma lately.

 

Good win, but i wouldn't be afraid of them in the tournament.

 

 

Just like your guards outplayed us two years ago? I distinctly remember playing Illinois in the tournament (I was there), and that team had Brian Cook as well as the same guards you speak of and got worked by ND. Carroll and Miller are gone now, but we have Falls (shoots the three just as good, if not better than Carroll) and Lattimore now.

 

Granted, Illinois is a better TEAM this year, but the talent between the team two years ago and now is pretty comparable. So to say you wouldn't be afraid of them in a one-and-done situation shows the confidence you have in your team, but in my opinion we'd match up pretty damn well with U of I. Btw, who the hell would guard Francis on Illinois, Augustine? The Bird Man, Nick Smith? Good luck with that.

Ha, i knew this would happen.

 

Don't try to compare this year's team to 2 years ago. Or yours to 2 years ago. That's just pathetic. We were freshman and sophomores back then. This team is much different now.

 

I'm also not afraid of Torin Francis. Please.

 

I'll hold to it. I'll play ND in a heartbeat.

How is it pathetic to compare to two years ago? Thomas was a sophmore then too, remember...and quinn was a freshman as well. Pretty much the same talent on both teams then as there is now. You really can't use the "our players were young then" excuse, because the same pretty much applies to ND.

 

Also to say that you're not the least scared of Francis, then you're out of your mind. He dominated UCONN this year, who have some of the nation's top frontcourt players, and would probably manhandle Illinois' excuse for a frontcourt...like he did when he matched up against big bad Brian Cook.

 

I'm not saying ND would win, in a one game situation there's a lot of luck involved. But to say you're not the least bit scared of a team like ND in a tournament situation is just plain silly. I mean if I were in your position, I'd be scared as s*** of that target on my back as well as any other battle-tested conference team (read: ND).

 

Really, I'm going to catch a lot of heat for saying this, but everyone needs to lay off the Illinois kool-aid around here...they're a good team, but everyone's expectations for them are insane. You can't just expect them to be in the final four, and I sense a lot of people are thinking this way. The NCAA tournament is the most unpredictable thing in sports, so really don't get your hopes up too high...watch the games, enjoy them but don't act like you're God's gift to basketball.