Maui Invite: Illinois 77, Arizona St. 54

I have a confession.

All my life, when pressed on the issue, I have said that if I could only have ONE championship for ONE of my favorite teams I would take a Padres World Series victory over a Chargers Super Bowl, an Illini BCS title or an Illini NCAA Championship.

But here's the thing: watching Bruce Weber's boys play so well last night in Maui, passing the ball around and getting open shots in a way that - dare I say it - resembled at times the artistry of the '04-'05 team, made me so damn happy that I think I can now say with complete and total confidence that what I want most in sports is an NCAA Championship for the University of Illinois Men's Basketball Team.

There. I said it. And you can't make me take it back.

(Aside to Peavy, LT and Zook: On the million to 1 chance you are reading this please understand this does not absolve you from working your butts off to win a championship. I expect continued greatness from you and will support the championship effort in any way I can ... as if writing this blog wasn't already enough.)

But let's everybody calm down. I'm not saying this Illinois team is as good as the '04-'05 team. What I am saying is that last night the team played with the type of smooth execution that I haven't seen much since the '04-'05 team. It certainly wasn't present with last year's team - a team beset by injuries that clawed its way into the NCAA tourney but couldn't finish off a sneaky Virginia Tech team - and really wasn't there much with Dee and James's '05-'06 squad that never quite got things together without Deron and Luther. But last night it was there.

Specifically, here are a few things I saw that I haven't seen before or haven't seen in awhile:

1. MJ in the orange Illini golf shirt. This has to get a mention. I mean it's MJ. In an Illini shirt.

2. A healthy Brian Randle. To paraphrase Steve Martin in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 'tis better for Brian Randle to be healthy ... than to not.

3. The long cross-court skip passes. Where were these last year? In the motion offense this is the way to get open looks. Is Pruitt just that much better a passer now? Have Meacham and Frazier finally figured it out?

4. Randle will dunk in your face. When healthy, you can count on one or two ridiculous dunks a game from Randle. I'd almost - almost - forgotten about that.

5. Tisdale and Cole ... Cole and Tisdale. I see opposing coaches starting to agonize about these guys like Jack Palance agonized about Tango and Cash in Tango and Cash (can't you hear Palance wheezing: "Tango and Cash ... Cash and Tango"). Are they the most athletic big men around? No. But they both can shoot, pass, rebound and play a little D. Good luck tonight, Kyle Singler.

6. Frazier shooting. Last year Frazier could not shoot the rock. That's not news. But last night he shot well from beyond the arc. If he hits those shots with a degree of consistency this year ...

So, to sum up, ASU might not be great - Sendek will turn them around - but the Illini never looked this good all last season. Even against the little guys last November and December.

Bring on the Duck Blue Devils.