Illinois 79, Vanderbilt 68 POSTGAME

[illinois_hustle]

I don't think Davis was invisible.
He played very good defense and was largely the focus of Vanderbilt i.e. "stop Davis; let others beat us". He was a decoy so that others could get open shots. Sure I'd like him to get a double double every night, but if a team is keying on him and others are putting the ball in, he's doing a good job.

[davidlee930]

great win, tisdale came out aggressive, snatching boards and knocking down shots.

really liked dj and jj's performance tonight.

we just seem to have so many weapons.

[IlliniKat]

Great overall performance from the team tonight. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the game. We have so much potential, it'll be very exciting as the season progresses!

[kcillinifan]

I think the best thing was whenever Vandy would either pull within 8 or 9 we would take our time on offense and make a big shot...this happened two or three times in the final 10 minutes...we had more of a killer instinct tonight...we never let them get back into the game by having empty possessions

[kcillinifan]

Originally Posted by illinois_hustle

I don't think Davis was invisible.
He played very good defense and was largely the focus of Vanderbilt i.e. "stop Davis; let others beat us". He was a decoy so that others could get open shots. Sure I'd like him to get a double double every night, but if a team is keying on him and others are putting the ball in, he's doing a good job.

+1

[illini4everjp]

Not much to say, just a solid game from start to finish. We are starting to do the small things we need to do to win. We still need to limit the turnovers and start being able to put our foot on the throat of a team but this is definitely a good start.

[buglebob]

NICE !

Big Bob in Brandon

[Dan]

Man this team has got me down right giddy, Vegas cobwebs brushed off, so many weapons that can go off on any given nights.. Western Michigan, Georgia's not good, we don't lose to Missouri, NU lol, Grandma's House... okay slow down breathe, stop, one game at a time, one game at a time. Okay.

[krillini76]

that game was NOICE!!!

[moe.fan]

Originally Posted by illinois_hustle

I don't think Davis was invisible.
He played very good defense and was largely the focus of Vanderbilt i.e. "stop Davis; let others beat us". He was a decoy so that others could get open shots. Sure I'd like him to get a double double every night, but if a team is keying on him and others are putting the ball in, he's doing a good job.

Coach had nice things to say about MikeD after the game.

Is it just me or does Davis NEVER put his hands up on Defense? I know I'm probably being a little too "high-school" with this comment, or maybe I'm not watching when he does, but with those long arms, he should have more deflections.

Box Score:http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=293420356

[Dan]

Originally Posted by Dan O

Great game by the Illini. Well-rounded effort. Love the hustle of Bill Cole. Glad for Jeff Jordon's game. Freshman continue to impress.

Welcome Dan O

[Illest]

That was our best game of the season, for sure. Yet there's still plenty of room for improvement. (Isn't it nice to be able to say that after you beat a ranked team by double figures?)

Here are my thoughts from tonight:

--The best development of the night was watching our defense come out and really execute a great game plan in the first 15 or so minutes. We played active help defense without losing track of offensive players, and we helped the helper. Execute Weber's defense, and teams will struggle to score on us.

Of course, we also went through a few patches of porous D. The last few minutes of the first half were particularly sloppy; we must've given up close to 20 points in about five minutes. It's going to take more consistent effort to get to the level of defense we need to play.

Not shockingly, the worst culprits for our defensive lapses are the freshmen. I love their athleticism and their attitudes, but they're really still learning where they have to be on the court. Unfortunately, defense is a team activity; you have to count on your teammates to rotate when they need to rotate, talk when they need to talk, etc. The whole team will look a lot better when the freshmen get more practice under their belts.

--Our defense would also look much better if we limited turnovers in the backcourt, which tend to result in easy buckets for the other team.

--Davis didn't do much scoring, but he got his customary 8 boards to go with three assists and a pair of blocks. He's also been doing a nice job handling the ball against pressure defenses. And the best part about Davis is that he never commits fouls. I always thought his ability to avoid fouling was an underrated component of our defense last year.

--It's really interesting how our team plays to the level of competition. That's annoying to a degree. But it also bodes well for when we get into games with better teams.

--Is it just me, or was Vandy pretty unimpressive? I just didn't see anything out of them that struck me as being unusually good. Maybe that's just a testament to how we played, but I suspect there's more to it.

--I keep thinking "we're not going to be able to shoot like this the whole game" every game, and every game I seem to be proven wrong. It really is a luxury to have so many guys who can create and convert jumpers.

--Wayne Larrivee probably fills a good five minutes of airtime per game by pointing out whenever a lead is the largest lead of the game.

Anyhow, great win, but still a lot to work on. Either way, GO ILLINI!!!!!!!!!!!!

[moe.fan]

Illest, I thought the same thing about Vandy being unimpressive. But we pretty much dictated play for the entire game. Don't let those doubting thoughts creep too deep into that mind.

We played well. Plenty to improve upon though, and that's what's so great about this team.

[liquidwisdom]

Originally Posted by illinois_hustle

I don't think Davis was invisible.
He played very good defense and was largely the focus of Vanderbilt i.e. "stop Davis; let others beat us". He was a decoy so that others could get open shots. Sure I'd like him to get a double double every night, but if a team is keying on him and others are putting the ball in, he's doing a good job.

+2

If you look at the box score, you'd think Davis had a bad night. Much of the offense went through Davis tonight, but not too many points. Who cares?! He didn't seem too worried about his stats when he kicked the ball back out to the backcourt on a late, questionable fask-break possession. (Shaking his head at the suggested opportunity.)

On a team trying to find leadership, there's one example!

[IllinoisFirst]

It seemed like every time Vandy put up a bucket, Wayne Larrivee would say something to the effect of "and Vandy 's gaining ground!" But It was a great game for this young team. I just hope they can work past playing to their opponent's level, secure the ball, and box out.

[jayboek]

Originally Posted by IllinoisFirst

It seemed like every time Vandy put up a bucket, Wayne Larrivee would say something to the effect of "and Vandy 's gaining ground!" But It was a great game for this young team. I just hope they can work past playing to their opponent's level, secure the ball, and box out.

I think he has to pretty much say that. He probably think it would make the game a little more interesting if you were not a fan of either team. Keep people watching a little bit longer.

I like Wayne as an announcer. I think he does a good job.

[wpr]

Nice win. Solid D for most of the game. I had to keep reminding myself that Vandy WAS ranked 24.
Oh if IL could only make their FTs.

[hillmer1]

On the subject of Orange Krush, IT WAS ROCKING. I was in the middle of the fray and it was the loudest it has been the entire year. There was this little red head on Vandy who told Krush before the game they were not loud enough. This, along with Weber saying we needed to be louder, psyched everyone up.

By the way, the little red head was on the bench sulking as his team lost

[Illini1956]

The offense looked really good in the first half when the guards were driving the lane and kicking the ball out or scoring.

[illini4everjp]

Brandon Paul behind the back pass to Davis was #9 on ESPN's Top 10 Plays!

And apparently Barry Melrose likes the Illini . . . and also Vanderbilt. Stick to hockey, Barry

[liquidwisdom]

Originally Posted by illini4everjp

Brandon Paul behind the back pass to Davis was #9 on ESPN's Top 10 Plays!

And apparently Barry Melrose likes the Illini . . . and also Vanderbilt. Stick to hockey, Barry

How "a-boot" those Illini!

[4ever]

Great game by our Illini. It was a total team effort. I couldn't be prouder. GO ILLINI!!!!!

[DorePosts]

Hey guys. Vandy fan here. Thanks for feedback before the game. I posted my recap from a Vandy side on my blog (link below).

Couple quick thoughts:
-Fine line between good offense/bad defense on those open looks. Your guys knocked everything down.
-Super impressed with Richardson. He stopped any potential rally.
-Other than the 9-0 start, we played even. Not like that's good enough.
-The sad thing is that our two biggest guys Ogilvy/Taylor were no-shows.

Better team won.

Thanks again for the insight. Check out post-game thoughts if you have a chance!

Eric
Vandy-Illinois Recap

[Tanksauce]

Very impressive win! But I'm still wondering what's up with Legion. Is it his defense that's keeping him off the court?

[Canadian Illini]

Illinois cruises to 79-68 victory over VanderbiltIllini get off to 9-0 start and maintain lead rest of the way

Now that's a much better banner line than the one Chris Hine at the Trib posted for the Boise State game. Other quotes:

Illinois shot 32-for-54 from the field against the Commodores, led by an 8-for-10, 23-point performance from Demetri McCamey. It was like they were playing horse out there and they had a good day of horse," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said.

The Illini knew they could ill afford any more red marks on their NCAA tournament resume after losing to Utah and Bradley. I think the Clemson game and this game help make up for the two losses," Weber said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...,6130814.story

Much the same story from Herb Gould in the Sun-Times

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colle...-ill09.article

Improving its lackluster effort Saturday against Boise State, Illinois shot 59 percent (32-for-54) and had good energy to pick up a quality win.
''It was a nice win for us against a good team. We were up for the game tonight,'' said Weber, who liked Illinois' 9-0 start.

''Coach Keady always talks about the magic level. I wrote that on the board. It's hard to describe. But when you're playing, you feel it.''

Still, Weber wants to see more intensity and continued defensive progress.

''We can't take things for granted,'' Weber said. ''We have to keep making strides defensively. The key is, do they understand that? We're not going to shoot it like this all the time. We have to guard and take care of the ball.''