Illinois 81, Auburn 79 POSTGAME

[downstatefan]

hopefully all these close games continue to build toughness!

(my glass is half full)

[EddiesSweetJ]

Originally Posted by PeoriaIllini1

WDWS was wrong then

Nope ... box score has the rebounds at 39-31. WDWS was reading the ACTUAL box score ... which is what people here should do before they post.

The thing that kept them in the game in the first half were the put backs and run outs due to poor decisions on our part.

I was just as disappointed in the 3-pt defense. Some of it was just not being in position at all when we needed to be.

[stevo99]

Originally Posted by DaytonIllini

Honestly this game wasn't as close as the score. They made a couple runs here and there but they were losing practically the entire game. Two 3's in the last 16 seconds after the game was already decided and it looked closer than it was.

And they got 3 points the last 4 minutes or so on a couple of inexplicably awful calls against us underneath.

Agree that I was never in fear that we'd lose.

[AzIlliniFan]

Originally Posted by Illini70math

9 Observations from the Auburn Game:

1. Well, it was bound to catch up to Coach Groce eventually. He insists on playing Tracy Abrams as his point guard even though some of our message board gurus have pointed out Tracy's inadequacies. Tracy didn't even score 28 points today. He didn't make 14 out of 15 free throws, and he didn't make all 3 of his three-point attempts. He didn't get 9 rebounds. He didn't get 6 assists or 5 steals. Worst of all, he committed a foul. When will Coach Groce wake up?

3. Devin Langford got some nice minutes and looked good, which is great for his folks back home for braggin' rights against Auburn backers. It won't show up in the stats, but he had a great defensive play to create a turnover with about 11:30 to go as well. His floater basket was a thing of beauty. When he gets it all together, he is going to be special.

These were my two favorite parts of todays game. Abrams and Langford have been catching some flak on this board recently and I hope this silences their critics. I think Abrams will be vital to our being successful in the B1G season. He'll be a fighter for sure and will come out on top more often than not. Langford just continues to give glimpses of what I hope turns out to be spectacular play for us in the coming seasons.

[trevdv]

Originally Posted by Groundhogday

From the same guy who was insisting that "SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE" after this horrible win.

Um, no, I'm pretty sure I'm the one who said: "Whatever. We're 13-1. A win is a win is a win." :rolleyes:

[UIUC1867]

12-2 noncon
9-9 B1G
21-11 overall

NCAA Tournament
Second round win
Third round loss (Rd. of 32)

Most importantly . . . No more stupid losses to Northwestern, Nebraska, and Penn St.

I'm sticking with this prediction.

Thanks for a great performance today, TA!

[OBxpress]

W I N N ER !

[liquidwisdom]

Originally Posted by DaytonIllini

Honestly this game wasn't as close as the score. They made a couple runs here and there but they were losing practically the entire game. Two 3's in the last 16 seconds after the game was already decided and it looked closer than it was.

Yeah, my blood pressure wasn't spiking at the end of this one. To me a 'squeaker' is a game that can be decided w/ the last possession, JMO. I don't consider any of the 8-12 point victories 'sqeakers', just as I don't think the loss was a 'squeaker' either.

[DaytonIllini]

Originally Posted by EddiesSweetJ

Nope ... box score has the rebounds at 39-31. WDWS was reading the ACTUAL box score ... which is what people here should do before they post.

The thing that kept them in the game in the first half were the put backs and run outs due to poor decisions on our part.

I was just as disappointed in the 3-pt defense. Some of it was just not being in position at all when we needed to be.

Eddie. I have posted 2 sites that show a narrow discrepancy in boards. You are talking about team rebounds which is where a ball goes out of bounds off a missed shot or a shot is missed at the buzzer (Brandon's miss at the end of the half) or a shot is missed and deflects off one guy or another out of bounds. These are awarded to balance a rebound for every missed shot. The boards were either 35-30, 34-31, or 34-32 depending on which 'actual' box score you choose to look at.

No matter how you look at it they had more boards than we did but the differential wasn't that large. They did miss more shots than we did which ought to lead to an advantage for us all other things being equal.

[Dan]

Leading #Illini scorers Tracy Abrams and #bp3 with John Groce after 81-79 win over Auburn at United Center. http://pic.twitter.com/UWZoizqo



http://twitter.com/kentbrown

18,136 at the United Center #illinination thanks for the support in Chicago #ILL

http://twitter.com/Dustin_Ford

Groce: First of all, unbelievable crowd. Wow, unbelievable. Hats off to Illini nation. They're a huge part of this today.

Groce: "That's the grimiest 80 point game I've ever been a part of." ..."Not one of those sexy ones." We didn't flinch.

Abrams: I was pushing the ball more than I did any time this season. I just took what they gave me.

Paul: If Abrams doesn't make the plays he made, we wouldn't have won this one. Egwu also stepped up.

Paul: Teams are definitely trying to take away threes, but he and Tracy can drive and get to the basket. Have to make FTs

Abrams: It was all fun. It was like a home game.

Abrams: We got the same mindset for every game. We're going to stay level.

B Paul: I feel like we have a lot more weapons and a lot more confidence (than last few years). Won't let other teams dictate what they do

Groce: I thought we struggled defensively throughout. I didn't think our defense had a lot of bite until late 1st half.

Groce: They beat us up on the glass most of the 1st half, Auburn played harder most of 1st half.

Groce: There's some things we got to do a lot better for sure, but we just kind of found a way.

Groce on Abrams: The 27's great but I'm into the 5 assists, 1 turn(over). That's what I'm into. Practiced really well since Xmas

Groce: I didn't have any preseason expectations except for establishing culture of toughness and togetherness, work ethic

Groce: Gives team grade of a B or B+ for nonconference

http://twitter.com/WernerESPNCU

Groce postgame: "That's the grindiest 80 point game I've ever been involved with."

Groce: "I didn't think our D had a lot of bite until about the 8 min mark of the 1st. For the bulk of the half, they played harder than us".

Groce: "In the grand scheme of things, it's one game, we found a way to win, we weren't overly sharp, and we have things to correct."

http://twitter.com/ALionEye

Sam McLaurin said Tracy Abrams learned a ton playing against Missouri PG Phil Pressey last week and put some of that into use today. #dechr

http://twitter.com/MarkTupper

Groce joked, re: playing in Chicago: "The only thing bad about coming here is my credit card with my wife." #Illini

http://twitter.com/MattLoveless

[Psycho 86]

First off a wins a win !! Lets remember too we have a Top 15 national ranking and teams like Auburn are gunning for us. This is a bubble watch win for them come tourney time !! I wish you Debbie Downers would quit finding all the negatives and look at what is happening ....we are winning the close ones using different players....that is making each opponents job tougher to figure out which Illini player is gonna beat them !!

JOB WELL DONE ILLINI !!

[Dan]

IlliniProductionsHD

[EddiesSweetJ]

Originally Posted by HsvIllini

Don't think there were squeaker vs. roar predictions. A win's a win.

While I agree, many kept saying this last year after we squeaked out wins against lesser opponents early. People said it would build toughness and confidence ... that we were learning how to win the close ones.

And, lo and behold, it didn't help at all in a 2-12 finish. The fact that we have the same team minus ML gives some people pause.

I think the new coach, the new approach by the staff and the new, positive encouragement might make it different. But, you would have to admit that there is some legitimate concern that we never seem to blow bad teams out of the gym.

[lstewart53x3]

It's safe to say we are now officially more than just a 3 pt shooting team. We hit just 4 3's, yet still scored 81 points.

[IlliniBob89]

Earlier this year, Paul and Richardson combining to go 5-19 from the field and 1-9 from three wouldn't have resulted in a win.

A lot of guys stepped up to pull this win out. That's a good thing long term.

[Symmooth]

Originally Posted by BenjIllini

The way we been playing the last few weeks. Yes, we are 13-1 but in NO WAY are we the 12th best team. Put down the drink if you believe that. Coach has done a hell of a job of coaching this group.

Probably not, but we'll see.
And I like what I've seen so far.

[illinifan31]

No offense to Coach Groce, but I don't know what he is talking about with the crowd. Sure a lot of people showed up, but the atmosphere was absolutely awful, just like it is every year at the UC. You could hear a pin drop during the opposing players free throw attempts. The place didn't get loud until about 2 or 3 minutes remaining in the game.

The game as a whole was not as close as the score suggests though, especially with that buzzer beater 3. The first half I saw a lot of 3s being taken from the NBA line, which is just going to give us a low percentage every time. We have been shooting awful the past few games(26% this game) because the 3 is being guarded and we are taking awful shots. If we can get a game where Tracy and BP3 are cutting and driving, that will open up more 3s I think. Right now, only one or the other does that every game. DJ drove a few times at the start of the game(23 seconds into the highlight video Dan just posted) then stopped. We need to open up that 2nd dimension in order to get better looks.

[DaytonIllini]

Originally Posted by lstewart53x3

It's safe to say we are now officially more than just a 3 pt shooting team. We hit just 4 3's, yet still scored 81 points.

This.

Our team didn't hit its 3's. Didn't play its best defense. Didn't get anything from its senior leader. Yet still played well enough to win. It did it differently. At the FT line. with a flurry of 15 footers.

We should be reassured by this that even when we have a bad game we are able to beat high major teams. Tracy's confidence should blossom from this game. Brandon should get less double coverage because of Tracy's ability to score and get in the lane. We need other players to be able to step up and today we got that. For me, it's I-L-L -

[alexander58]

Originally Posted by AzIlliniFan

These were my two favorite parts of todays game. Abrams and Langford have been catching some flak on this board recently and I hope this silences their critics. I think Abrams will be vital to our being successful in the B1G season. He'll be a fighter for sure and will come out on top more often than not. Langford just continues to give glimpses of what I hope turns out to be spectacular play for us in the coming seasons.

Abrams is a tough, physical player, but he lacks some of the essentials you look for in a true point guard (mainly court awareness). But , from all indications he is a hard working kid will improve. Hopefully, Langford has the same work ethic. He obviously has big upside. We all want to see the finished product now. Part of the fun is watching these guys progress.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by DaytonIllini

35-30, 34-31, or 34-32

The game trackers have been bad the past two games. Today, the gametracker on fightingillini.com froze halfway thru the 2nd half, and the ESPN game tracker credited Abrams for 2 too many points for much of the game (leaving the rest of their stats in serious doubt). Frustrating.

FWIW here's the box score just posted on fightingillini.com, this one's usually correct-

http://www.fightingillini.com/sports...13/g14-au.html

[DaytonIllini]

Nnanna Egwu‏@egwu_32

Chicago. Our City.

[Symmooth]

Originally Posted by trevdv

Oh come on man. As they say, "you'll never find a rainbow if you're always looking down." The Kool-Aid glass is half-full for me, but it's apparent that it's half-empty for you.

You obviously haven't been to Niagara Falls. :laugh:

BP's a potential player of the year candidate, although he was a little off today. Sometimes that's all you need to be a very good team.

[Dan]

Groce, Tracy, Brandon - Auburn postgame




Sam McLaurin - Auburn postgame




Egwu Interruptus




18,136 Illini fans watch a handshake line




Rob McColley

[liquidwisdom]

Hard to say they got nothing from BP. What, he averages 19 and only got 13 today? Hardly a goose egg.

[Symmooth]

Originally Posted by EddiesSweetJ

Nope ... box score has the rebounds at 39-31. WDWS was reading the ACTUAL box score ... which is what people here should do before they post.
.

Just to add to the confusion, Yahoo sports box score has it 35-30.

Course their recap headline says Abrams had 29, so their error checking is suspect. :laugh: