Basketball Surrealism, not the team you thought you were.

So, lets take a little trip back in time shall we? All the way back to April of 2008.Bush was President, bell bottoms were in style, and gas was 3.60 a gallon, heady times to be sure.

For the Illini basketball team though it was a time of pessimism and uncertainty.  This Illini fan was looking forward to the football season rather than wanting to relive the agony of another basketball season.

If you had asked me on April 15 2008 who the starting lineup would be for a game in February '09, I would have told you Jamar Smith, Demetri McCamey and Alex Legion at guard, Brock, and some combination of Semrau and Tisdale would make up your front court. We would have been a sharp shooting perimeter offense, probably would be eaten alive by anyone with talent down low, and would have to rely on 3's to outscore our opponents. Legion would be putting up all sorts of crazy numbers having unseated either Chester or Meacham from the starting lineup.  Every road game Jamar would be met with boo's and the ubiquitous ILL-DUI chant. Illini fans would be looking forward to the following season's recruiting class, and most of all as we muddled through another Big Ten season, somewhere around 6th or 7th, we would be fighting for the tournament on the bubble. With the prospect of possibly missing his second NCAA tournament in a row there would be serious speculation as to whether or not Bruce would be returning for another season.

It seemed that the only hope of a successful season would have rested in the shooting hands of Alex Legion, who some may have told you could make the jump to the league after only half of a season in Orange.

I can honestly tell you that I am so glad I was wrong. Not just wrong, but really wrong. This has been a season where almost all of the unknowns have turned out to be a huge positive, where the team has possibly benefitted from addition by subtraction and our front line is the strength of the team.

2008 me would have asked the following questions. Who the hell is this Dominique Keller guy? Mike Davis? isnt he a 1 star who barely played at all last year? Chester is starting? We're screwed. Jamar got busted again and booted off the team? We're screwed. Alec Legion has only made 2 shots over the last 3 games? We aren't making the NIT!

Well let that be some indication of what I or anyone who comments about basketball really knows. But like I said, I'm glad I'm wrong.