Gonzaga 84, Illinois 78 POSTGAME

[skyIdub]

Wow.
There will be two Illini on the All B1G Freshman team.
I literally sat up on the edge of my seat with my mouth open for the last 10 minutes. I couldn’t even scream or clap. It was like watching a nature show on the Discovery Channel where you see the metamorphosis of some plant or creature.

 

[mattcoldagelli]

A loss is a loss, but we've got enough to win some ballgames this year, and ought to just keep getting better if we can keep this roster together.

Well, and those aren’t wholly separate, right? In this transfer environment, winning games increases our chances of keeping the roster together.

 

[PlayAZ]

I don't understand how he wasn't a dominant high school player. This stuff was not on his film at all.

Anyway, repeatedly answering the bell and giving a great team all they could handle was not a club we had in the bag last year. A loss is a loss, but we've got enough to win some ballgames this year, and ought to just keep getting better if we can keep this roster together.

He was hidden on a team that had all american type of players in high school....but yes even to those of us who thought he would be good, last night was an eye opener, considering Zags frontline was talked about as their bread and butter, Giorgi more than held his own.

 

[ChiefGritty]

Well, and those aren’t wholly separate, right? In this transfer environment, winning games increases our chances of keeping the roster together.

Yeah, I hope so.

 

[WARDFORTHREE]

Fun game to watch, but it mostly felt like we didn't have a chance. Our size will really hinder us this season. If coach underwood could get long athletic guys (think VCU under smart) it would be scary. Can you imagine length pressuring the ball like we do? Goodness. They just out talented us tonight.

A quick comment on Giorgi...his play just shows what one summer with our staff will do. Give credit to Coach O. He really has begun to mold Giorgi into a ball player. I think other bigs will have to take notice if a kid that avg 9 pts in HIGH SCHOOL, comes in and plays like this. Also, Fletch really took GB under his wing and has helped him a ton. This kid wants to work and it is showing.

I like this team, but we don't have the talent to compete on the big stage yet. If TF doesn't put up 27 (is that right?!?) in the second half we get blown out. This is showing why recruiting is so vital. We need talent and length for this thing to really get going.

 

[FightingForWeWillWin]

Who was the 5 star player on Giorgi's high school team?

 

[Deleted member 29907]

My ongoing crusade is to try to get people to spell Giorgi's name correctly. It's not Georgi. C'mon, if you are going to sing his praises you should spell his name correctly. He'd appreciate it.

I am sure he doesn't care. Pretend these are conversations and not a writing / grammar contests and you'll sleep better at night.

 

[madcrazeeballa]

Are you crazy. He missed 2 open 3’s, missed front end of one and one, all under 2 minutes. Didn’t score in the second half and got punished by said taller guy at the other end, especially to start the second half, which was a big stretch for Illinois to stay in the game.

“With some offense” lol that doesn’t count. He hit 2 3’s in the first half. Without looking at the box score, he was 2-6 ish with a couple first half free throws. He’s just not athletic enough to consistently contribute offensively. He’s a streaky spot up jump shooter. Griffin and Jones have the upside. Play them. I’m not saying you have to bench him, just reduce his role.

That said, hope I’m wrong and AJ scores 30 today.

I think part of this is like last game where Kipper's mistakes are what looms large at the end of the game so we're just piling onto AJ. He actually had a decent overall game. Obviously we wish he would've made a 3 and the free throws at the end, but we're probably not in a position to win without the 10 boards he grabbed for us.

The biggest issue we have is the upper classmen presence in the box score. Trent is going to go off for 29 every game, the freshman will be inconsistent all year, so we need some consistency from Kipper and AJ and we just haven't gotten it thus far. We're not going to win many games unless those 2 combine for like 15 points while maintaining consistent production from Trent and (I hope I'm not jinxing it now) Giorgi.

 

[ChiefGritty]

I’m not trying to throw AJ under the bus. I love the kids grit, hustle, toughness, and all that stuff. Just lessen his role.

Is there any Illini fan out there that thinks when he takes the dribble handoff and starts veering towards the basket, head down, that it’s going to end successfully for the Illini?

That's just a function of a smart Zags D taking away his better options.

In a game where we couldn't really rely on our depth, AJ was pretty awesome out there. 36 minutes in a frenetic, intense game, 10 boards, 3 assists no turnovers, only one foul, guarded everybody, kept the ball moving on offense. He's giving us all the glue stuff Kipper isn't. That guy has to be out there.

 

[Deleted member 29907]

Giorgi

GIORGI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The big question is: When will Cuonzo start recruiting him?

 

[Truffaut]

My ongoing crusade is to try to get people to spell Giorgi's name correctly. It's not Georgi. C'mon, if you are going to sing his praises you should spell his name correctly. He'd appreciate it.

I also think it's a 3 syllable name, but yes, we need to spell it right first.

 

[PlayAZ]

ayo and feliz didn't do much.

ayo clearly very talented, but looks like it might take him some to adjust to playing within our offense and against top notch defenders.

i'm a bit concerned that feliz won't be great. doesn't seem like a great shooter, got stuffed going to the hoop. i assume he'll have some good games, but seems much more like an OK rotation asset than a stud. contrast TRENT.

If I were BU, I would have Feliz taking about 500 "floaters" everyday. He proved in Juco he could score at will going to the basket, he just is overmatched in the step up in quality play/size to not get stuffed routinely now....he can however still get around his guy at will and hit the running floater before they can converge, rather than take it all the way into the trees.

 

[Whitmans Sampler]

Giorgi..just wow. What a smart and calm, yet fierce and talented freshman. Throw the rankings out the window. Is it fair to expect a 10 and 7 night from him on a regular basis?

 

[ILL in IA]

Maybe Giorgi only averaged 8 points at The Patrick school because he just moved to a different country as a 16/17-year-old kid. I could be wrong, but I believe the 5 Star from that school (Nick Richards to Kentucky) was the year before GB. But they had a 3* Guard and another 3* Big man. Probably a product of a new place, just not enough ball to go around. Either way, the staff deserves even more credit for finding him and seeing his potential.

 

[PlayAZ]

Are you crazy. He missed 2 open 3’s, missed front end of one and one, all under 2 minutes. Didn’t score in the second half and got punished by said taller guy at the other end, especially to start the second half, which was a big stretch for Illinois to stay in the game.

“With some offense” lol that doesn’t count. He hit 2 3’s in the first half. Without looking at the box score, he was 2-6 ish with a couple first half free throws. He’s just not athletic enough to consistently contribute offensively. He’s a streaky spot up jump shooter. Griffin and Jones have the upside. Play them. I’m not saying you have to bench him, just reduce his role.

That said, hope I’m wrong and AJ scores 30 today.

Uhhhh, that is why I pointed to his 10 rebounds, playing against bigger guys, and "some" offense. I actually liked Griffin, and believe he might have jumped ahead of Jones...that said, I think Jones may jump ahead of Kipper at some point as well.

 

[Deleted member 2050]

Thank God we hired BU and none of us are the talent scouts

Let's stick this to the top of every page in the recruiting thread from here on out.

 

[GortTheRobot]

It looks like the issue with Jordan is still his low release. When he has space, he can make shots, he just needs to find a way to create space. It also doesn't seem like he has a quick release, which further hinders him, but I didn't pay as much attention to the latter, so maybe he's okay in that respect.

 

[EyeoftheIllini]

I only watched the first half, but came away impressed and hopeful for the season. Giorgi certainly played well, though I could do without him attempting that many 3-pt shots. At least one of them came pretty early in shot clock. That said I loved his inside play and energy.

 

[FightingForWeWillWin]

We have to think Samba Kane will be redshirting this year?

 

[jmilt7]

It looks like the issue with Jordan is still his low release. When he has space, he can make shots, he just needs to find a way to create space. It also doesn't seem like he has a quick release, which further hinders him, but I didn't pay as much attention to the latter, so maybe he's okay in that respect.

Not disputing this and I have heard this from others here, but I just wonder why the staff has not tried to correct this the last two years? Maybe it was just too late, he was too set in his shooting style and trying to correct it would just make it worse?

 

[ChocolateThunder]

I just don't think I agree with that. No coach draws up the play that results in a super deep three. It's much more likely one of those things where you try to set something up to get a good look inside, it doesn't work, and then you hope your playmaker can create an open shot elsewhere. Frazier did. It's just unfortunate that it was a wide open but still low-percentage look. Even hitting that at a 40% clip means you are losing more often than winning.

Agreed . Going forward we need better passing and better shots.

 

[ChiefGritty]

Not disputing this and I have heard this from others here, but I just wonder why the staff has not tried to correct this the last two years? Maybe it was just too late, he was too set in his shooting style and trying to correct it would just make it worse?

One tends to hesitate to "fix" the nation's leading 3 point shooter in non-conference play last year.

I just watched the game on tape delay. I have no idea why AJ is coming in for criticism, especially on the basis of weakness against better opponents.

That was an elite level game in which several of our regulars just couldn't hack it enough to be on the floor. AJ was not one of those.

 

[ChiefGritty]

I just don't think I agree with that. No coach draws up the play that results in a super deep three. It's much more likely one of those things where you try to set something up to get a good look inside, it doesn't work, and then you hope your playmaker can create an open shot elsewhere. Frazier did. It's just unfortunate that it was a wide open but still low-percentage look. Even hitting that at a 40% clip means you are losing more often than winning.

That was a pretty good look, he just yanked it.

I would have drained more clock than they did, and take one shot to tie or win, but it is what it is.

 

[breadman]

Did anyone else find it weird to wake up, put sportscenter on, and see good Illini highlights on tv?

Welp, the cat's out of the bag now. Can't sneak up on anybody anymore this year!!

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

Fell asleep during halftime to respect the girlfriend needing to work at 6:00 am ... figured I had seen our team play hard, and I didn't really want to see the inevitable slide into a 20+ point loss once Gonzaga started pulling away and then be super groggy for work today. Loss or not, I woke up quite pleased. This is a team that can and WILL continue to get better. If we are able to beat Iowa State today, I think we win that next game, too, and come out of Maui above .500. That could provide us some much needed momentum after our 1-2 start. This team is playing with some swag and has some real talent; for the first time in years, I don't have to trick myself into half-believing we can really compete in the Big Ten schedule/not be a cellar dweller. It's too early to tell for sure, but I love this team. Let's go beat the Cyclones!