Mo Creek – tough break, but came in elite.

Lol, yea total brain fart on my part.

Is Victor Oladipo not a guard or not elite? I guessed I missed the memo on that either way…

Players named: Benson, Bouchie, Tolbert, Turner, Kitchel, Anderson, Garrett, Thomas, Henderson, Haston, Jefferies, White, Zeller & Vonleh have put & kept me in the “We need a legit big man camp” through the years.. Granted, the focus of today’s game centers on guard play and ballers who can knock down the “3” w/consistency–in part because there are very few legit big men in the mix today. That doesn’t mean that the focus couldn’t or wouldn’t return to the big man if there were more bigs available or willing to do the work in the paint & on the glass. I look forward to seeing how (and with whom) CTC plans to: defend the area from the rim out to 8-10 ft; lessen the number of turnovers; and, use the skills which these elite guards (who do bring a lot to the table) possess to our advantage.

Watched a little of Leron Black in the Derby Festival and Max took him to school a couple times on baseline drives. Not saying he cannot play solid “D”, but he’s got lots to learn before he becomes a contributor at that end of the court. Good young man who would have looked better in stripes.

You’re asking if I read about their recruiting…yes, I did. In 2012-2013, we beat them 80-64 in the B1G Tournament. Last year, we lost in OT in Champaign, beat them 56-46 (in a game that was brutal to watch) and then lost in the B1G Tournament. So, that’s 2-3. Worse than we should have done but I don’t agree with saying “we couldn’t beat them the last couple years”. It’s entirely possible that they are the best team in the conference in 2015-2016, no question about that. However, they are losing Rice and Egwu after this season and we know that hyped recruiting classes can underwhelm. Anyway, that’s a long way from now and I’m not denigrating Groce or his program, I just don’t think they’ve done all that much yet to strike fear into the hearts of the rest of the conference. They’ll be an interesting program to keep an eye on, no question about that.

I’m not in the “we need a legit big man” camp. We have had that the last couple of years and didn’t really go anywhere. I’m excited to see what we can do with elite guard play. Other than Yogi we haven’t had really good guards in the CTC era til now.

Did you see what they have coming in 2015? Add Thomas to that list and I’m scared. They should be as good as anybody next year. My thing is we couldn’t beat them the last couple years when we shoulda whats gonna happen when Groce has some real talent on the roster?

I think Groce is doing a good job and I don’t entirely disagree with what you are saying but IU fans could say the same thing….I think many of us feel we are “one legit big man” from being back on top of the B1G. Illinois is in good shape for the future, no question about that but I think they need to finish in the top half of the conference (or even finish above .500 in the league) before I worry about them being at the top of the league.

No really, I must say I expected big things outta Groce when he got the Illinois job and unfortunately he is about 1 legit big man away from having the Illini back on top.

Ouch, good point.

We have been better than the Illini the last couple of seasons. Sadly that hasn’t kept them from beating our butts.

Anyway, losing Abrams is a blow. I thought he was a steadying force for them and if I remember correctly, he was a pretty tough perimeter defender. If Ahmad Starks ends up being an adequate replacement for Abrams, Rice improves his efficiency, Nunn makes “the jump” in his play from his freshmen to sophomore season and Leron Black plays up to his recruiting hype…they are probably a top 5 B1G team and finish better than us (as most publications are picking). I think that’s a lot of “ifs” though and I think we’re better than the Illini.