[Oskee] Hello NIT

[Robert Mingee]

Alright, I'm as disappointed at this season as anyone, but let's not get carried away.  It would take a collapse of truly monumental proportions at this point to not get invited to the NIT.  While I am probably most disappointed in Bruce this year, given that we show a lot of the hallmarks of an undisciplined team, and that falls on coaching, I still believe in him enough to feel certain he will not let this season sink that low.  Honestly, that's probably a better place for this team, because they have at least a chance of some level of success, vs a likely first round exit in the dance.

I thought Northwestern looked like a better team this game compared to when they came here, which makes sense given they were at home this time, but it still seems clear we've got the superior talent.  For the first time in quite some time, the whole is much less than the sum of the parts this year, and that's just sad.  It all falls down to the lack of a real leader on the floor, because I'm sorry, McCamey is not that guy.  He has improved in many ways this year, and really does seem to be giving it his all most of the time, but he's just not a floor leader in the mold of Dee or Chet.

Someone else talked about playing the freshmen more, and Griffey has already been getting a lot more minutes of late, and looking OK.  Maybe he'll start pushing Davis to do better, because honestly, he's been a disappointment more often than not since the start of the conference season, if not even a bit earlier.

This team WILL be better next year, even if the incoming freshman don't contribute much.  Tisdale is playing more within his strengths now, McCamey has his head on straight, and the freshmen from this year will improve, even if none of them step up to be the floor leader we need.  That's the one thing that may still hold us back from reaching our full potential again next year, but there's little doubt in my mind we'll be better than this year.  Davis is the one guy that seems to be at best staying at the same level, and at worst regressing, and it's probably mental, because he's got the skills.

-- robert




________________________________
From: Ken Hillary <kdh8 at cornell.edu>
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List <oskee at heins.net>
Sent: Sun, January 24, 2010 9:26:03 AM
Subject: Re: [Oskee] Hello NIT

Is the NIT even a lock????

And next year we effectively have the same team, with the addition of 
some supposedly great freshmen. But the good freshmen this year didn't 
help move us to a different level... Can they mature....

Todd Sweet wrote:
>
> Afraid you’re right Kevin. About the only thing that could get us in 
> now would be to run (most of) the table or win the Big Ten Tourney. 
> Very disappointing. I certainly didn’t expect us to win a title this 
> year, but I never thought this team would miss the tourney. I think 
> what upsets me the most is that we got beat last night by a team 
> simply because they wanted it worse than we did. Even after we lost 
> the lead at the end (which should have never happened), we played very 
> casually and without a sense of urgency.
>
> Todd S
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:* oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net] *On 
> Behalf Of *Kevin Kemna
> *Sent:* Saturday, January 23, 2010 9:13 PM
> *To:* oskee at heins.net
> *Subject:* [Oskee] Hello NIT
>
> Well the Illini had an 8 point lead in the second half and blew several
>
> Chances to extend that lead then we let the Wildcats back into the game.
>
> I thought with Richardson and Paul coming alive this game
>
> We could build on it.
>
> Kevin
>
>     
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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