I’m not sure what I can say right now. All I know is that I am damn proud of this Illinois team. This was a team that never said die. Came back from fifteen down again and had their shot to win it all but the shots just didn’t fall. They fought through everything and just would never give up. When Augustine gets hit with a bunch of touch fouls, Jack Ingram steps up and keeps them in the game. Illinois just didn’t have an answer for May and could not hit the shots at the end.
It’s really tough to explain what this team has meant to me. I mean, everyone who knows me has seen all of my Duke t-shirts and knows how much I follow and support the Blue Devils. And I still do, it’s just that this was finally my school playing for it all. I never expect Illinois to be a number one team. I’m happy for winning the Big Ten. I’ve always followed and cheered but I’ve never really anticipated a chance to make the Final Four and to go into the title game really thinking that we can win.
That’s why following this team has meant so much to me this past year. Just knowing that this was a group of guys who went into the season expected to be a good team but definitely not expected to tie the record for most wins in the season. A bunch of guys who played unselfish basketball and won. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about what it means to watch your team win on a cold, gray night in winter. That’s what this team did for me, a touchstone of excellence in a tough winter.
At the end, all I can say is that I am proud of the team. We played hard until the very last second. Came back when other teams would have given up. Showed that we belonged on the big stage. Did it with pride and confidence and style. At the end of the day, I will remember that as much as a championship.
The fun thing is now I have to find something else to do with my time now that basketball season is over. Hey, the White Sox won today. See, there’s always a bright side.
2 comments:
Illinois should have won (or at least beat the 2.5 pt spread). I blame it on coaching. Strip Webber of his Coach of the Year award. Give Sean May his 20+ point and 10 rebounds, but still make him work for it on both ends of the court. I thought that for the first time all season Illinois lost composure and started to panic and shoot threes unnecessarily.
I take solace in the fact that half of the UNC team can't read past the 5th grade level.
I wouldn't go that far, but I do think they should have gone inside more to at least make Sean May have to work a little harder. I saw a stat at one point that said "Points in the paint: Sean May 20 Illinois 8" and I think he finished the game with only 1 foul.
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