Welcome into the Lion Inquirer podcast. It is Jeremy Warner and Mike Latuip,

Atlanta Squire basketball analysts. Well, Mike, it's a 15 point loss to michigan state a 21 point

loss to wisconsin and now a 43 point loss to duke i don't know if we were looking forward to

this but i was looking forward to what you have to say about this but uh terrible week for

illinois basketball what is most alarming to you right now? It was a terrible

week. Made worse by Andre Cabello getting dismissed. We'll do a separate pod on that.

But I think what's most alarming, and I understand we've heard, I've heard the word injuries in illness thrown out probably more.

And I'm not even just talking about from Illinois.

It's the broadcast.

I mean, it's talked about constantly, and I acknowledge that.

But there's also like a Jekyll and Hyde nature to this team that, you know, the dip in confidence as a group

is something I might have maybe expected individually because there's young guys and that

was going to happen at different parts of the season because that happens for really most

freshmen not named Cooper Flag and like the three that Duke has that

are probably going to be top 10 picks but just the the collective confidence dipping like this is

is not something I would have anticipated and not only just as the season started but and as we got

to the midway point in the season, but certainly

when I went to the practices in October and then saw this group, and, you know, the tough part

about this stretch, the last three games is we'll get into the tournament and all that. Maybe I'll

save that. I'll save that. I'll save it from when we talk Iowa.

But the toughness component is what's been alarming too, because that's always been, I think, a hallmark of Brad Underwood's programs. And when you look at, when I say a lack of toughness,

and that's both physically and mentally. And that, to me, that's a very damning, I don't want to call it an accusation, but just observation.

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