This game never should have made it to OT. Pathetic last 3 minutes. Anyone’s game now.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

That little ginger is a very good rebounder.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

They were very lucky to pull that game out. Ty Rodgers is just killing it lately, love to see him getting a lot of minutes again. Dainja with a good contribution as well. I'm not sure whether I should be discouraged they are barely winning against teams like Nebraska and Indiana, or just be happy they are winning at all. It would be nice to see them run someone out of the gym again, every game seems like a struggle these days. Frankly, since Shannon came back.

9-34 from the three point line.... yuck. Many were wide open but every time I saw Shannon unload I kind of groaned. Same with Domask, he has no business shooting 3's unless he absolutely has to. I thought they were awesome rebounding the ball and making the extra pass down in the paint for easy buckets. Rodgers is a pretty incredible athlete and Dainja was a spark plug in there making good choices and being aggressive with the ball. A missed dunk was his biggest faux pas that I remember. I knew this was a trap type game but just really disappointed in how they let a 10 point lead evaporate with 3 minutes left. Never should have gone to OT

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I am pretty sure every player on the floor has the green light to throw up any open three (sans Rodgers and maybe Dainja) because they are so superior crashing the boards. Put backs are a huge part of the offense. This leads to some ugly shooting percentages but they are so aggressive on the glass its worth it. And on the nights when they are HITTING those threes they are close to unbeatable. They haven't had one of those games in a while though.

I don't understand why Dainja's minutes are so limited. He came in to the game and they absolutely dominated while he was in there.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

MOFO has been calling for more Dainja for weeks. I haven't heard or read why he has been buried on the bench other than they have a number of new faces that seem to be gobbling up his minutes. Even when the Illini put out a "small" lineup they are bigger than almost every team they face. Dainja is averaging almost the same mines as Hansberry this season at just under 10 a game. When I look at the stats he is on the outside looking in. The next guy in minutes is Harmon with 20 a game. They consider Domask and Guerrier forwards so that is where most of his time is going along with Rodgers. I don't believe he is better than those guys but I also believe he should be getting around 15 minutes a game.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I think there are things he does better than Guerrier. But I'm guessing Underwood may have made promises to Guerrier re: playing time to get him to come.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

So Underwood is leaving after this year?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Dainja is gonna be history after this year, he seriously could be starting at many other schools. The guy has serious scoring skills down low and finding the open man. I'll be he hits the portal. I hope he doesn't and he is ready to take over next year with Rodgers.

I also think he is way more skilled than Kofi ever was. Kofi drove me crazy.

Hadn’t even thought about next year yet but you are right on Dainja being able to be a starter elsewhere. He will be a major cog next year if he stays. Goode and Rodgers are the only proven commodities potentially coming back. Kofi…. Playing in South Korea, nice move. I can’t imagine it can be all that competitive.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

How can he play next year when Johnson will get all the minutes at center?

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

I hate to speculate, especially these days where kids change allegiances all the time. Dainja has already transferred once so I’d hope he will want to stick around.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Well one thing that would help him out is learning how to make a free throw. He is simply awful at the line.

Should be an interesting game in East Lansing today.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

This is the kind of win they need on their resume. It’s going to be hostile and today would be a great statement to make heading into the home stretch.

Hitting from outside early. I’m always just impressed with their size and ability to stay athletic.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Danija is Mr Sparkplug again. Even making 2 free throws!

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Giving this game away

Somebody seriously needs to ask brad underwood what the fuck Luke Goode is doing on the floor in crunch time of these games. Where the hell is Rodgers? They were getting wrecked defensively and on the boards and Rodgers just sits and watched Goode get torched possession after possession. This was a terrible uneccesary loss.

As Dennis Green would say….. We let’em off the hook! They literally gave that one away with turnovers and poor defense. Gotta play 40 minutes guys. There is an opportunity to finish the month strong if they handle their business and then back to back games against Wisconsin and Purdue right before the Big Ten tournament.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

If Hoggard plays like that, the Spartans are tough. Let's see if they can replicate that pace at Purdue.

Just got back from tonight’s game, good to see the Illini beat the shit out of someone like that, it’s been a while. So happy to see Goode ride the pine a little. Shannon could have scored 50 tonight had they needed it, he was unstoppable. Now for some redemption against Maryland.

Kind of an odd 4:30 tip on Friday @ Maryland. Works for me.

EDIT -- I read the schedule wrong. Game Saturday late afternoon 4:30. Not sure if I will catch this one or not.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I had to miss this one, but very happy to see them win a close road game.

Again they had almost a double digit lead and couldn’t put them away until the very end. A good win

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Maryland always scares me. Good road win.

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When did ticket prices for Illinois basketball go through the roof? Cheapest ticket for the Iowa game next Saturday is $130.

[Edit] A quick look at the secondary market for other top-20 teams is the same…is it because the students are taking up all the tickets?

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I didn’t realize they hadn’t won there in like 12 years or something crazy. Maybe I heard it wrong.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

It’s not the students, they officially have 2 sections. When Illinois is good, tickets against premium opponents and rivals always sell out almost immediately. My son works in the ticketing office and said those games were sold out almost as soon as they went on sale, especially Iowa. Whenever I need tickets I always have to head to the secondary market.