Oh effing Northwestern, I cannot stomach losing to you. Its bad enough that you have a large private endowment and are far too good of a school for me to get into, but now you have to start beating me in athletics? Thats the only thing I had left.

Anyway after watching the Illini crap away a second half lead for the second straight game, we know that things are probably getting a bit testy in the always emotional Illini locker room.  After the loss in Evanston, Bruce did not allow any players to talk to the media "until they start talking to each other." Its the sort of in-fighting and bickering that brings to mind the 2007-08 season, in which these very same things contributed to the team's unraveling. 

Good news (hopefully) is that the team held a players only meeting on Sunday which hopefully allowed everyone to clear the air about whatever it is that is bothering them.  What would really help is late game defense and some consistency by the big men.

The guards have their own problems of course, that none of them can effectively play on both ends of the court. Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson are coming back to life offensively, but remain liabilities somewhat on defense. Bill Cole and Jeff Jordan seem to have a good thing going with their man-D and rebounding, but are next to no threat at all on offense, and have cost the Illini dearly with turnovers as of late.

So now that we are in bunker mode the rule is as follows: no more concerning ourselves with how this will affect our March resume, and no more taking any wins or losses as a given. As far as I am concerned the Illini stand an equal chance to win or lose all of the games left on their schedule. 

When I live in the bunker, I don't allow myself to be concerned with the conference race, or the top 25 polls or even the opponent win loss record. Most of all, inside the bunker I stay the hell away from the message boards, filled with the wind-sockiest people around. I don't concern myself with what this means for next year, or what it means for the coach. 'cause in the bunker I can't hear all the crap that is falling around me.

(We will see how long this lasts)