Yeah we were fine there. But if you can get the #1 recruit in the country, Thompson can play guard. Was that the season JB started the season with Owens at guard? Are we talking about 87-88 or 88-89?
Ok. Maybe I'm thinking about 89-90.
People make fun of the board meme about losing a recruit due to bags, but Liberty got a massive bag -- And he is admitted as such.
Exactly! That @&#* is real.
Coleman had a bad back and was not 100%.
And in the previous year Sherman Douglas was dealing with the flu in the loss to Rhode Island. Couple of bad breaks there.
It was 88-89. Illinois was a great college team. The only guy who ended up being a good pro was Nick Anderson but Kenny Battle, Lowell Hamilton, Steve Bardo and Liberty were all talented. Even though he didn’t score much in that game I think without Liberty we win as the Illinois bench was not good and Liberty was solid defensively and on the boards.
He was almost like a point guard
But of course we had the best PG in the country.
Yeah I just don't see who sits if Liberty were there. He was certainly a better player than Matt Roe but he was not a perimeter shooter like Roe and SU lacked that outside shooting presence other than Roe. I would not sit any of the three front court players in favor of Liberty.
Agreed. I was reviewing it more of if he was not playing for Illinois would we have won the national title or at least that game.
Hint: it wasn't Jimmy Collins
That loss to Illinois in the elite 8 was one of the most crushing defeats for me as a fan. We were sooooooo loaded, and I fully expected another final four. And who was the star of Illinois? I remember a guy named Anderson I think , that was awesome for them.
Lou Henson
That was one of those rare NCAA games where I left saying: what a great game. Wish we had won, but we played well and they played well. Wait until next year.
