Mike DeCourcy's 3 questions

1 Will Salim Stoudamire ever get it? For the second straight season, Stoudamire was benched by coach Lute Olson because of his attitude. Stoudamire has to change. He has as much offensive freedom as any player in Division I. If he's not getting enough shots, it's because he's not working hard enough to get open or to stay in the game.

2 Will Illinois ever lose? Of course. But it is not easy figuring out when. The Illini play New Year's Eve against Cincinnati in Las Vegas, and the Bearcats should fall faster than that big ball in Times Square. The Illini's Big Ten road schedule in January sends them to Purdue, Northwestern and Wisconsin, and the Badgers have the best chance. Last season, Saint Joseph's and Stanford went undefeated all the way to March. That's a long way to run without falling.

3 Is some juice gone from Kansas vs. Georgia Tech? By beating Tech, Gonzaga took a little luster off the Jayhawks-Jackets clash on New Year's Day. Georgia Tech no longer will carry in a top five ranking and no longer appears as unassailable as it did when blowing out Michigan. But these two teams still have the goods to claim the national championship. And don't forget the most appealing aspect: It'll be a diversion from all of those meaningless bowl games.

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