Illinois Basketball

My twitter was full of people complaining about their bracket, that they were purposely paired with Loyola in round 2 etc. I think the other tops seeds all have difficult 2nd round games. Missouri on the right now could take Gonzaga, UNC could put a scare in Baylor and Michigan without Livers is already on shakey ground.

The best thing that happened to the Illini was Ayo getting hurt and having others have to step up. They are getting great minutes from alot of guys. Deep talented squad.

Bighitter11 wrote:My twitter was full of people complaining about their bracket, that they were purposely paired with Loyola in round 2 etc.  I think the other tops seeds all have difficult 2nd round games.  Missouri on the right now could take Gonzaga, UNC could put a scare in Baylor and Michigan without Livers is already on shakey ground.  

The best thing that happened to the Illini was Ayo getting hurt and having others have to step up.  They are getting great minutes from alot of guys.  Deep talented squad.

Agree 100%, it forced Curbelo to grow up and not make bad mistakes and gave Grandison more time to mesh with the team.

Some fans need to just shut up and enjoy the ride. All teams have it tough and all teams need a little bit of luck to win this thing.

In the end, you have to win the games, but I think Loyola has a legit complaint. Ranked 18, rpi of 20, and seeded like they are low 30's. Committee needs to keep the 'Power 5' happy.

I got no problem with where Loyola was at. I dont know how they were so high in the RPI but their schedule really lacked some brand recognition other than Wisconsin who they lost to. Signature win was 2 over Drake who was on of the last teams in.

Bighitter11 wrote:I got no problem with where Loyola was at.  I dont know how they were so high in the RPI but their schedule really lacked some brand recognition other than Wisconsin who they lost to.  Signature win was 2 over Drake who was on of the last teams in.

AP has them at 17. USA Today Coaches Poll has them at 16. The NCAA's own NET rankings has the Ramblers at 10.

So what is it that the selection committee knows that these other pollsters don't? Pretty sure they all know the Ramblers lost to Wisconsin and beat Drake twice.

I smell hanky panky.

I’m well aware of Loyola’s Final 4 run a couple years ago. In their 1st round win they were lucky to win. Trailing by one with a few seconds left their last second shot clanged off the side of the rim, hit the backboard and dropped in the basket. I don’t care what some of the metrics say, they aren’t a top 20 team. They are pretty decent but that’s about it. If they played in the Big 10 this year they’d be a sub .500 team.

OSUBucks wrote:I’m well aware of Loyola’s Final 4 run a couple years ago. In their 1st round win they were lucky to win. Trailing by one with a few seconds left their last second shot clanged off the side of the rim,  hit the backboard and dropped in the basket. I don’t care what some of the metrics say, they aren’t a top 20 team. They are pretty decent but that’s about it. If they played in the Big 10 this year they’d be a sub .500 team.

I think they would be sub.250. Weak schedule and NCAA probably a matchup that would be intriguing for the Chicago area and want ratings.

They say this plays no role in the seeding and I don't believe that one bit.

Loyola tied for 51st with 2 Quad 1 wins. That's all you need to know.

OSUBucks wrote:I’m well aware of Loyola’s Final 4 run a couple years ago. In their 1st round win they were lucky to win. Trailing by one with a few seconds left their last second shot clanged off the side of the rim,  hit the backboard and dropped in the basket. I don’t care what some of the metrics say, they aren’t a top 20 team. They are pretty decent but that’s about it. If they played in the Big 10 this year they’d be a sub .500 team.

The Loyola team I watched dismantle Illinois today would do just fine in the BIG 10. They were better than Illinois and they made Dusunmu look like a pretty ordinary player.

Teetime wrote:

OSUBucks wrote:I’m well aware of Loyola’s Final 4 run a couple years ago. In their 1st round win they were lucky to win. Trailing by one with a few seconds left their last second shot clanged off the side of the rim,  hit the backboard and dropped in the basket. I don’t care what some of the metrics say, they aren’t a top 20 team. They are pretty decent but that’s about it. If they played in the Big 10 this year they’d be a sub .500 team.

The Loyola team I watched dismantle Illinois today would do just fine in the BIG 10. They were better than Illinois and they made Dusunmu look like a pretty ordinary player.

Illini simply did not show up ready to play. Loyola wanted it more and it showed on the court.

I think it had more to do with Illinois just being way off their game than Loyola being great. Most of the Illini players acted like they were up all night playing cards and drinking. Dosunmu had 6 turnovers. It wasn’t because Loyola was doing anything special defensively that Illinois hadn’t seen before. After a slow start Kofi played pretty good and Miller played well. The rest of the team played like crap. Frazier had a good career at Illinois but I think he was 1-10 today. Williams didn’t have a basket either. What happened to Illinois sometimes happens to teams in the Tournament. Tee you just go ahead though and continue with your Loyola hero worship. Good solid team that’s well coached and plays smart but not a great team.

Oh, and Loyola beat the ACC tournament champion, then thumped the Big 10 tournament champ.

They play the best defense in the country and have won something like 17 out of their last 18 games.

Teetime wrote:Oh, and Loyola beat the ACC tournament champion, then thumped the Big 10 tournament champ.

They play the best defense in the country and have won something like 17 out of their last 18 games.

I will be honest, they were much better than I thought. I heard on the radio that they were 17 on Ken Pom so tell me exactly why they were an 8 seed. Screams conspiracy to get ratings and the proof lies in that it was the only game at 11-2 to maximize those ratings.

Last week I as thinking that the Illini being in Indy would be an advantage but now that I think about it more, it may be a disadvantage being quarantined in the same hotel for 2 weeks.

In the end, Illinois got beat. Whether it was another #1 seed or a #16 seed that did it, they lost. However, this in an interesting article on the next level of metrics that all sports are using, specific to Loyola.

https://sports.yahoo.com/loyola-illinois-seeding-march-madness-upset-182956529.html

Georgia Tech’s best player, the ACC player of the year, did not play against Loyola. Now now Loyola plays #12 seed Oregon State who had to win their Conference Tournament to even make the NCAA. Maybe Sister Jean’s prayers are actually paving the road fir them.

OSUBucks wrote:I’m well aware of Loyola’s Final 4 run a couple years ago. In their 1st round win they were lucky to win. Trailing by one with a few seconds left their last second shot clanged off the side of the rim,  hit the backboard and dropped in the basket. I don’t care what some of the metrics say, they aren’t a top 20 team. They are pretty decent but that’s about it. If they played in the Big 10 this year they’d be a sub .500 team.

Um, no.

The Ramblers would stand a better chance of winning the Big Ten tournament than they would finishing under .500.

OSUBucks wrote:Georgia Tech’s best player, the ACC player of the year, did not play against Loyola. Now now Loyola  plays #12 seed Oregon State who had to win their Conference Tournament to even make the NCAA.  Maybe Sister Jean’s prayers are actually paving the road fir them.

And if they beat the ACC champs, the Big Ten champs, and the Pac 12 champs (who beat the Big 12 champs yesterday), you are still going to think they are lucky and not a top 20 team.

OSUBucks wrote:I think it had more to do with Illinois just being way off their game than Loyola being great. Most of the Illini players acted like they were up all night playing cards and drinking. Dosunmu had 6 turnovers. It wasn’t because Loyola was doing anything special defensively that Illinois hadn’t seen before. After a slow start Kofi played pretty good and Miller played well. The rest of the team played like crap. Frazier had a good career at Illinois but I think he was 1-10 today. Williams didn’t have a basket either. What happened to Illinois sometimes happens to teams in the Tournament. Tee you just go ahead though and continue with your Loyola hero worship. Good solid team that’s well coached and plays smart but not a great team.

Totally agree that what happened to Illinois sometimes happens to teams. And what also happens sometimes in the tournament is that mid-majors get overlooked and Power 6 schools get seeded based on hype and reputation and not much else.

ramblinman wrote:

OSUBucks wrote:Georgia Tech’s best player, the ACC player of the year, did not play against Loyola. Now now Loyola  plays #12 seed Oregon State who had to win their Conference Tournament to even make the NCAA.  Maybe Sister Jean’s prayers are actually paving the road fir them.

And if they beat the ACC champs, the Big Ten champs, and the Pac 12 champs (who beat the Big 12 champs yesterday), you are still going to think they are lucky and not a top 20 team.

I think you mean the Conference Tournanent champs, not the Conference champs.

OSUBucks wrote:

ramblinman wrote:

OSUBucks wrote:Georgia Tech’s best player, the ACC player of the year, did not play against Loyola. Now now Loyola  plays #12 seed Oregon State who had to win their Conference Tournament to even make the NCAA.  Maybe Sister Jean’s prayers are actually paving the road fir them.

And if they beat the ACC champs, the Big Ten champs, and the Pac 12 champs (who beat the Big 12 champs yesterday), you are still going to think they are lucky and not a top 20 team.

I think you mean the Conference Tournanent champs, not the Conference champs.

And your point is?

My point is that winning the Conference Tournament is not the same as the long grind of winning a Conference Championship. I didn’t think any explanation would be needed for that one.

OSUBucks wrote:My point is that winning the Conference Tournament is not the same as the long grind of winning a Conference Championship. I didn’t think any explanation would be needed for that one.

Let me see if I understand your logic here.  Loyola beating the #1 Midwest seed and Big Ten Tournament champs isn't as meaningful as if they had beaten #1 seed Michigan because Michigan won the Big Ten regular season.  And, in two games from now, if they beat #2 seed Houston (which won the AAC tournament but not the conference regular season) it won't mean as much as if they had beaten #11 seed Wichita State which won the AAC regular season.  Does that about sum it up?

I'm starting to agree with OSUBucks, because apparently it's not that hard to beat a Big 10 team.

tm wrote:I'm starting to agree with OSUBucks, because apparently it's not that hard to beat a Big 10 team.

After seeing Iowa go down I think you could make an argument that the Big 10 was overrated.

OSUBucks wrote:

tm wrote:I'm starting to agree with OSUBucks, because apparently it's not that hard to beat a Big 10 team.

After seeing Iowa go down I think you could make an argument that the Big 10 was overrated.

Yes but I think being in Indy for two+ weeks had an effect as well.