Notre Dame 76, Illinois 74 POSTGAME

#126      
Somebody brought this up in the game thread, but should they not be playing with some, you know, fire or something? Kipper in particular is brutal out there, and he's supposed to be a dependable upperclassman. He just doesn't seem to care.

What is the disconnect? I don't get it.

And he's so talented. So sad to see him just simply not take advantage of it. It's not like anybody else on the team is stealing shots and preventing him from getting his.
 
#127      
One thing that has surprised me a lot this year is how much trouble Ayo has been having making tough layups and free throws. I think they start going in as he gains experience. He gets into the lane really well for a freshman, but just doesn't pick up two points as often as I think he is able to.
 
#129      

illiniCA

DC Area
LOL at being worried about Freshman after 7 games. Their careers are definitely doomed.

They are low ranked recruits outside of Ayo. Giorgi has surprised (greatly) but the freshmen are going to need some time, and we knew that going in.

Freshman typically struggle. Especially freshman bigs. I am honestly shocked at how well Giorgi is playing. I can't remember any Illinois freshman big as productive as he is.
 
#130      
Freshman typically struggle. Especially freshman bigs. I am honestly shocked at how well Giorgi is playing. I can't remember any Illinois freshman big as productive as he is.

Giorgi is the one thing that has me somewhat optimistic about the future. Not that he alone will change a program's fortunes, but hitting on low-rated recruits is exactly what we need to dig ourselves out of this mess. And he's another dog out there. I'll take a less talented player that wants to work and fight over the more talented but passive player (i.e. Kip) every day of the week.
 
#131      
Why? I can be concerned about freshman without seeing any games, just practice. They certainly aren’t huge impact freshman. Needed Jones to be good. Not giving up on any of them or saying they’re “definitely doomed” but it’s concerning Jones can’t get on the floor on a bad team, Griff looks a little awkward on the dribble, and Kaner isn’t playing when we’re light up front. JUST SAYING
loudnoisesgif.gif
 
#132      
Tevian Jones suspended indefinitely for a "violation of team rules." Are suspensions always indefinite? It seems that way.
 
#133      
Tevian Jones suspended indefinitely for a "violation of team rules." Are suspensions always indefinite? It seems that way.

I think that just means the coach gets to decide. It could be 1 game, it could be the rest of the season. Seems like BU's preference is 3 games IIRC
 
#134      

breadman

Herndon, VA
Somebody on the game thread called the ending of this game right on the money: fall behind then make a furious comeback only to come up short. Seems like we have been seeing this movie over and over recently. But then, I have been seeing this movie over that last few decades. Keeps the game exciting anyways.
 
#136      
Somebody on the game thread called the ending of this game right on the money: fall behind then make a furious comeback only to come up short. Seems like we have been seeing this movie over and over recently. But then, I have been seeing this movie over that last few decades. Keeps the game exciting anyways.

My brother and I live 200 miles apart but sync the telecasts and watch games together over the phone. Before the game we decided that Illinois was the slightly better team but with ND being at home the refs would decide the game. IMHO that's exactly what happened. I'd love to see some stats comparing teams fouls at home vs fouls away.
 
#137      
. My concern is the 50/50 balls we don’t seem to get. Seems like we try to dribble control the ball when we should grab or dive for it with some authority. It not quite a lack of fire it’s more like a lack of knowledge how much effort goes into every play in power 5 basketball.

Another alarming thing about this team's prospects. We had a ball going out of bounds with a guy going to save it, tossed it back in bounds to two of our players --neither of which went to get the ball, but instead stood there waiting for it. One of the ND players came from behind them to get the ball before they did. I thought to myself --why aren't you moving towards a loose ball?! Could see that T/O coming from a mile away, and I'm much slower than these kids.

I'm satisfied with the game overall though. The things they did right were an improvement from earlier. If we keep getting better, we'll be decent. Having your best player injured is always going to be a problem. AJ is playing well, Giorgi is a special player, but the young guys look...young. Kipper is struggling and the light may not go on for him, so we're much younger than even our roster. And our schedule means we will be up against better teams throughout the season.

Look for improvement. Wins are going to be hard to come by. If we keep improving we'll be in most games.
 
#138      
Deep down Underwood had to know this was going to be a bad year, with that said why didn’t we redshirt Samba? I understand wanting to see what you have, but I just don’t get it. Set yourself up to be better not only next year but for the next 2-3.
Name the last scholarship Illini to non-medical RS and play 4 years here. I can't come up with anyone, which leads me to believe it probably didn't happen in this current century, or this player was essentially useless his entire career.

Finke obviously came close, but so many 5th year guys transfer now, you're hardly even guaranteed 3 years of them, let alone 4 (after the RS year of course).
 
#141      
My brother and I live 200 miles apart but sync the telecasts and watch games together over the phone. Before the game we decided that Illinois was the slightly better team but with ND being at home the refs would decide the game. IMHO that's exactly what happened. I'd love to see some stats comparing teams fouls at home vs fouls away.

The refs did not decide this game. The game was decided when our performance dropped and we let the game escape to 10+ points in the second half. That segment of the game decided the outcome.

It is easy in retrospect to question Frazier taking the last shot, but independent on who is in the game, Trent should be taking that shot. It was the right decision. Kudos to Giorgi and AJ for really good games, but this team needs a talent infusion in the frontcourt to become successful. All the offseason positionless talk, where our guards would dominate the other teams at will and just kick out for easy shots is wishful thinking. Without more frontcourt/inside help, defenses just extend out and focus on backcourt (especially Frazier). Even a great game by Giorgi (as last night) was not enough.

The most concerning issue is still recruiting IMO. That has not been going well and inheriting a player like Frazier was an extra boost for current coaching staff, which has been unable to capitalize on.
 
#144      
Another alarming thing about this team's prospects. We had a ball going out of bounds with a guy going to save it, tossed it back in bounds to two of our players --neither of which went to get the ball, but instead stood there waiting for it. One of the ND players came from behind them to get the ball before they did. I thought to myself --why aren't you moving towards a loose ball?! Could see that T/O coming from a mile away, and I'm much slower than these kids.

I'm satisfied with the game overall though. The things they did right were an improvement from earlier. If we keep getting better, we'll be decent. Having your best player injured is always going to be a problem. AJ is playing well, Giorgi is a special player, but the young guys look...young. Kipper is struggling and the light may not go on for him, so we're much younger than even our roster. And our schedule means we will be up against better teams throughout the season.

Look for improvement. Wins are going to be hard to come by. If we keep improving we'll be in most games.

We are in almost every game as it is. Competing hasn't been the issue, we just haven't improved (yet) and have found ways to lose just about all of these nail-biters. I have to keep reminding myself that we have newbies and maybe this group will figure it out, but these close losses are eerily similar to last year. The needle hasn't moved so far.
 
#146      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
The refs did not decide this game. The game was decided when our performance dropped and we let the game escape to 10+ points in the second half. That segment of the game decided the outcome.

It is easy in retrospect to question Frazier taking the last shot, but independent on who is in the game, Trent should be taking that shot. It was the right decision. Kudos to Giorgi and AJ for really good games, but this team needs a talent infusion in the frontcourt to become successful. All the offseason positionless talk, where our guards would dominate the other teams at will and just kick out for easy shots is wishful thinking. Without more frontcourt/inside help, defenses just extend out and focus on backcourt (especially Frazier). Even a great game by Giorgi (as last night) was not enough.

The most concerning issue is still recruiting IMO. That has not been going well and inheriting a player like Frazier was an extra boost for current coaching staff, which has been unable to capitalize on.

While I agree with this, I urge you to go back and watch at least the second half again. I did. During one sequence ND had 5 or 6 straight possessions with a foul called under the basket. Four of them were touch fouls, two were obvious fouls. During the same sequence, Illinois had 3 straight possessions with attempts at the rim, including one with two offensive rebounds and attempted put backs. There was significant contact during each of those possessions....with no calls. ND shot 39 FT's to Illinois' 15...almost 3 to 1 in favor of the Irish.

As you said, and I agree, the refs did not "decide the game", but they damn sure had a significant impact on how the game was played.
I don't know if it is a preconceived notion that follows Illinois as foul prone, or home cooking, or both, but it definitely was a noticeable difference.
 
#147      
I have no issue with Trent taking the shot, and a pull-up 3 is understandable if suboptimal, but that was not a good look. You'd like something better than a 28-foot leaner.

It went in for Nebraska last year...
We had 5 seconds and a full length of the floor, it was a great look under those circumstances.
 
#149      
Deep down Underwood had to know this was going to be a bad year, with that said why didn’t we redshirt Samba? I understand wanting to see what you have, but I just don’t get it. Set yourself up to be better not only next year but for the next 2-3.
Redshirting Kane doesn't do squat for the next 3 years, it only helps in his redshirt senior year, if he returns...how'd that work for Finke or Black.
 
#150      
Was there time for a put back to tie the game after Trent's attempted 3? It looked like Kipper and Damonte both went for it, one of them got a hand on it, but they collided and weren't able to do anything.

I should have just hit rewind, but I was too pissed off.