Illinois Fighting Illini vs Arizona - 2005 NCAA Tournament Best Comeback of all Time!!!!

[1986davefreak]

Joe Blow u r a moron. That season the Illini lost a total of 2 games and UNC barely won due to poor foul calls against the Illini. Deron Williams and Dee Brown were an the most amazing pair to see that season hands down!

[joeblow166]

Illinois didn't even deserve to be in the finals, but it was sweet watching UNC stick it to them. The simpering Illini haven't seen any success since. Too bad for that 2005 team that they choked hard in the finals, because now they're a forgotten team. Nobody could care less about their regular season record. Gotta win it all to be remembered as one of the greats and they didn't. Good!

[nieminono31]

greatest game and team ever in ncaab history..wnt ever forget this season

[CasyleDeagwa]

Gah, I meant Sean Elliot. *laughs* 

[shreddist14]

Dwill is awesome! Go Jazz

[13bastit]

blame the game on hassan adams, not the refs. he had a chance to win the game but couldnt do shit

[joeblow166]

hotsauce4590 is the classic Illinois fan. Blubbering in vulgar fashion about getting shafted by the refs in the 2005 title game, but showing no awareness whatsoever that it was the referees who pushed them through the Arizona game. Wahh. Sean May. Wahhhh.

[20ddh23]

@joeblow166 ur telling him that his complaining about the refs in the title game when ur the one complaining about them in the illinois/ arizona game?ur a dumbass

[21fightingillini]

@joeblow166 repeat after me C-H-O-K-E

[CasyleDeagwa]

@joeblow166 This was game that finally made me stop watching College Basketball for the most part. Just like my mother did earlier, I got sick and tired of the gosh awful reffing in games, and I'd been watching Arizona since the Kerr and Sean Miller days. This game was just like the 2001 Arizona vs Illinoi game, except the refs called fouls in that game and swallowed their whistles in this game. I'll never forget screaming as our players would get knocked to the floor during some steals.

[AandAsCrazedVids]

my number 2 favorite shot of all time, Williams's shot to tie it up!

[roughrida24]

BILL FUCKING MURRAY!

[Bernie2932]

by far the best comeback in college basketball ever, arizona just was outplayed by the three headed monster of Illinois.

[GOVTinflames]

coudnt have said it better myself my friend

[joeblow166]

yankeemeallday28: obviously YOUR team sucks if all you can do is reminisce about a season that didn't even result in a championship (like all others in Illinois bball history)! Now *that* is pathetic.

[20ddh23]

@joeblow166 well their better than ur team that choked big time

[joeblow166]

To yankmeallday28: I live in Durham, NC, and not even a single one of many the DUKE fans I speak to about this game think in any way that Illinois got hosed by the refs. By contrast, they do think that Illinois was extremely lucky to squeak by Arizona, and acknowledge it was primarily due to the officials falling asleep for unknown reasons.

[nmullins20]

@joeblow166 I'm sure that's true, you'll say anything to comfort yourself, you'll never be able to get over this loss. It will haunt you to your grave. On the other hand, Illinois is likely going to the tourney this year, and will be even better next year. Maybe AZ will make it back to the tourney in the next five years and we can play again. I guess you'll have to keep living in the past bc your team sucks now.

[yankeesallday28]

joeblow ur a dumb ass..........i live in the chapel hill area and about 50% of the fans here are UNC fans. You talk to any of them about that game and they will say Illinois got BS'ed with touch fouls and that May had about 10 charges that weren't called. So while you celebrate your championship from last century we Illini fans focus on the 21st century. Good day dumb ass.

And do you really post the same damn comments on every single Illinois vs. Arizona video?

[yankeesallday28]

Obviously your team sucks if you still brag about championships from 12 years ago.......

[joeblow166]

University of Arizona, 1997 NCAA Champions!!!

University of Illinois, perpetual chumps and runner-ups. Them's the facts. Choke on it suckers.

[Maxim86]

Are you seriously still bitter? Go cry yourself to sleep you child.

[nativeb83]

What an awesome game. I remember being at home watching that game, yelling and screaming when Illinois made that spectacular comeback. A great and emotional win for Bruce Weber.

If you all recell, during the Big Ten Tournament a week prior I believe it was, Weber's mother passed away. Bill Murray was just a Illini fan, right?

[qcmark]

Joeblow? The name says it all.

[joeblow166]

Augustine got all those fouls called in the UNC game because he's a clumsy oaf who couldn't hang with the more fluidic, vastly superior game of Sean May. That's why! How ironic to hear Illini fans blubbering about officiating, considering that they wouldn't have beaten Arizona without getting the BENEFIT of horrible officiating in that elite 8 game. Face it. Illinois was lucky to even be in the title game in 2005. They've been mediocre at best ever since (which is what they deserve).

[GOVTinflames]

so do u just copy/paste that comment on every tournament video of the illini that year? get a fucking life u cocksucker nobody cares what u have to cry about.

[RandleKrush]

please see elite eight game illinois arizona 2001, and then never speak of bad officiating again. 6 players on illinois fouled out and the refs spotted you a 30 point lead via freethrows.

[nmullins20]

you're an idiot, i'm going to reply on every comment you make until you stop crying.

[joeblow166]

Illinois got their just desserts in the UNC game. Illini drones think Augustine got called for phantom fouls simply because they got accustomed to the idea that their team was allowed to maul and manhandle the opposition with no consequences, as in the Arizona game, which they did not deserve to win. The refs simply did their job in the final and called legitimate fouls a foul. Naturally, Illini fans were stunned that the refs did not allow them a cakewalk victory. Boo hoo hoo.

[nmullins20]

Arizona just couldn't keep up with a superior team.

[dmuthafnrev]

how many of those az guys n the nba today? D WILL nuff said

[Thanatos2k]

Anyone who watched the UNC-ILL championship game knows that the officiating was complete BS. Augustine got fouls instaneously whenever his feet touched the court and he barely played. Not to mention various other shady calls. So yeah, I'm still going to say Illinois was the best team in 2005.

[joeblow166]

Illinois did not have the best team in 2005. You see, the gold standard for that judgment is the NCAA title game. Illinois didn't win it. They lost. UNC won the tourney, and thus they were the best team of 2005. Funny how Illini fans are totally oblivious to this. It appears fans of Illinois have a strong inclination toward rewriting history. Just as they pretend that their undeserved victory against Arizona was not due to the refs, they also like to pretend they won the 2005 tourney. Ha

[ShutTheFuckUp0809]

your talking about the whole state not the university so be easy... were Chicago... Chicago will fuck up ANY city in the united states... so relax... YES we are tougher then NY also... so calm down wit all that tough talk when we live where its gang banging and KILLING ALL DAY!!! our state will fuck up ANY state in the country.... ILLINOIS!!!!!

[ShutTheFuckUp0809]

but from a college basketball perspective... Illinois lost to Ohio State during the regular season of that same year. So alot of credit needs to be given to the Ohio State team of '05 as well as the UNC guys. Personally that game made me not like Sean May and if I ever seen that fat fuck on the street even 20 years from now im going to say shit to piss him off and get paid off a lawsuit if he throws a blow at me lol......

[nmullins20]

Illinois was better than AZ that's for sure, double standard that you think AZ was better but lost and Ill couldn't be better cuz they lost? hmmm interesting flaw hypocrite.

[kevinrox361]

amen i say to u amen

[carlsoncrew499]

down 8 with a minute left.......best comeback ever

[saffle82]

Any team's fans that complain about bad calls by the referree are just hiding the fact that their team should have played better so no referee calls would matter. joeblow166 is probably a disgruntled Az or In fan. just mad that IL beat his team

[chrispalasz]

I disagree. I can understand the frustration because IL never should have lost the championship this year to the Tarheels. The reffing was SUCH crap against IL...

[joeblow166]

Illinois deserved to lose in the 2005 finals. The fact was that they just weren't that good. Their abject failure to win a title proves that. You can't qualify as one of the greats if you can't even win a single championship. Too bad.

[chrispalasz]

LOL - well you got your magic wish - but IL's record that year speaks for itself... and speaks much louder than you do. The fact is they had a near perfect season - and the fact is that even with the terrible reffing in the finals, the game could have swung either way. Why? Because IL flat out had the best team that year. That's undeniable.

But sadly the best team doesn't always win.

[joeblow166]

Uhh...no. It is very "deniable" that Illinois had the best team in 2005, because most intelligent people agree that the best measure of that quality (being the best) is measured by *championships*. What, are you a Utah Jazz fan or something. Lol.

[chrispalasz]

The best CLUB may be measured in championships. The best TEAM in a year is not necessarily.

Or do you think the NY Giants were the best football team in 2007 simply because they beat the NE Patriots in the Superbowl? Now that's a joke. The Patriots went the entire season otherwise undefeated while the GIants barely squeaked into the playoffs.

IL is not the best ball club - but that year, they certainly were the best team.

[Chamillionaire82]

i think you explained that perfectly

[matthewagent86]

Illinois is my fav team when i watched it live it was awesome They came back from being behind by 20 with three minutes to go then illnois was down by 12 with 1 minute to go and they bring it to overtime and WIN

[roverjackson]

One of the greatest Elite Eight games of all time! An amazing comeback by Illinois!

[hotsauce4590]

fuck that Illinois should have won the championship fucking sean fat fuck may sucks dick. hes so fucking fat and everytime he touched the ball he just pushed our guys out of the way there were so many no calls and offensive fouls GO ILLINOIS

[Chamillionaire82]

i agree 100%

[chrispalasz]

I third this. 100% agree. Seriously... where WERE the officials in that game???

The calls against IL center were absolutely ridiculous

[joeblow166]

Illinois basketball -- ZERO championships. That's about all you need to know. Listening to the dumb Illini jockers here you'd think the 2005 team was the greatest in college basketball history, but they couldn't even win a title! That team is in the dustbin of history to all except historical revisionists (Illini fans) and irritated Arizona fans who rightly point out that they were screwed by extremely poor refereeing.

[Chamillionaire82]

"irritated Arizona fans who rightly point out that they were screwed by extremely poor refereeing. "

did you even watch the nat champ game?!?! how can you say we didnt get screwed...we got completely screwed by the refs

[20ddh23]

@Chamillionaire82 i completely agree. maybe arizona got screwed but they didn't get screwed out of a national championship, or at least not in the national championship game.

[chrispalasz]

LOL - joeblow.... that's funny.

Even the worst reffing can't explain the kind of ownage come-back IL dealt to Arizona in this game...

whereas in the championship - even with the terrible reffing, the IL team were champions in that they almost stole the game despite the reffing!

[13bastit]

@joeblow166 i didnt see a foul on anything in overtime. the comeback was there and dee brown fouled to get the steal. hell ingram fouled to tip the ball. but you know if you are "intelligent" that most refs swallow their whistle at the end of the game. And Deron Williams still had to make the shots. You still had overtime to win. it was all fair game there. you could have won the game on a gw shot. but if arizona fans wanna blame it on anything, dont blame the refs, blame that dumb ass adams

[hiberto]

sodomized? they only lost by 5 points and shot like shit from 3.

[joeblow166]

"That 2005 Illinois team is remembered like it is because it is the best ball movement offense"

------------------------------­------------------------------­-

Bwa ha ha ha. The only ball movement that the 2005 Illini team is known for is that of the nuts of the Tarheels who sodomized them in the finals!

[poopootodo]

Obvious fouls? Really? Or lack of ability to put a game away....Arizona didn't play any defense or protect the ball in the final four minutes. They were completely and utterly overwhelmed by the pressure and the crowd. Don't bitch about the officiating.

That 2005 Illinois team is remembered like it is because it is the best ball movement offense in college basketball over the past decade and had arguably the most dominant perimeter defense that college basketball has seen in the past decade.

[joeblow166]

Illinois choked in the championship game, I was saying. Illini fans act like this 2005 was the greatest in the history of the NCAA. They didn't even win the tournament! All forgotten now except to Illinois fans and Arizona fans who remember how badly their team got ripped off by the refs.

[shamismowa]

fuck you..you are the only person to go against that amazing comeback..how could u say they choked?

[joeblow166]

AZ was robbed by lousy refereeing. If they call any one of five obvious fouls 'Zona wins. Illinois choked in the end anyway.

[Chamillionaire82]

didnt choke harder than az did...ill got some shitty officiating in the nat champ too so dont bitch just stfu