Illinois Basketball: What I want to see against the Nebraska Cornhuskers
Honestly, I don’t think this is the same Illinois basketball team we saw when the Illini barely lost to Nebraska the first time on a buzzer beater.
That Illini team back on January 15 had a lot of fire, hope and promise. But, as of late, they haven’t had those things. Yes, they are still competing, and they haven’t given up. I would never say they have. That is one of the most damning things you can say about an athlete. But, I feel like there isn’t that same fire they once had.
Illinois is now 12-15 overall and 2-12 in the Big Ten. This season took a turn for the worse after a nice finish to the non-conference. I didn’t expect things to go this bad, though. Now they are facing the reality of missing the postseason of any kind for the first time in a very long time.
This game against Nebraska doesn’t mean much as far as the record is concerned. The Illini aren’t in the running for anything beyond a likely first-round exit from the Big Ten Tournament. I do want to see a few things from this young Illini team, though.
The first thing I want to see is every player continuing to give it their all. I don’t want to see heads down and pouting. I want to see the players fighting for their head coach and believing that while this season didn’t go the way they wanted it to go, the future is still bright, and things will get better.
I also want to see this Illinois team come out and potentially be a bracket buster for some teams. Nebraska is 20-8 this season with a Big Ten record of 11-4, but a loss to the Illini could really hurt their seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Hurting other Big Ten teams is always fun to do.
The last thing I want to see is the freshmen starting to click. Give me Mark Smith more often because he needs more experience. We are going to need this kid for next season. Let’s see Greg Eboigbodin not foul out in the first half so we can see what he can do for an entire game. Trent Frazier needs to become a little more efficient and working on that this game would be good. And, hopefully, Da’Monte Williams is healthy enough to play. Once this kid gets going, watch out Big Ten.
Next: Top class of 2018 recruiting targets for the Illini
Illinois might be out of any postseason play but they can still do some things to help the fan base and to help the team for next season. Let’s see them come out with fire against Nebraska and possibly pull the upset.