What is the level of mediocrity of Illini basketball?shhhh......you're disrupting the narrative with facts.
I wonder if the NCAA has forgotten about Jamall Walker's 2 games post season ban??
Understatement of the year.....he hasn't done anything to be a starter let alone get more minutes than AG or TJ....He's averaging 3.2 pts and 2.3 reb per game...I believe he had 4-5 TO's today and he ran away from that Reeves steal and dunk.
JMHO, but if DW is seeing the court for major minutes next year then I will have to question BU's thinking as a coach...
This was the year to play Alan and Tev at least 20 mins a game and suffer thru their learning curve ...What I saw this year was doing the same weave thinghy and screen handoff that other teams handled with ease...
If kipper had Dre's heart he might have been averaging double digits and gained some accolades...Suffice to say , we need serious help in ALL aspects of the team from coaching on down....
I'm tired of waiting till next year to see the same crap.....play pack line D and get some players who want to attack the rim and won't back down....
JMHO
DW is a sophomore....not a Sr taking up minutes. He is a valuable player and knows system..I refuse to allow you to throw him under the bus...he is not the reason for our lack of successs....there are alot of reasons but DW is not dragging this team down.
Penn St. had one hell of a Senior Day.
They did, except playing in front of a stadium that is about half full.
DW is a sophomore....not a Sr taking up minutes. He is a valuable player and knows system..I refuse to allow you to throw him under the bus...he is not the reason for our lack of successs....there are alot of reasons but DW is not dragging this team down.
Freshman become Sophomores.I hope you are right but I don't see who in the big ten we will jump in front of.
What a [fart noise] way to finish the season. No momentum or identity on offense. Illinois’ second halves this season have been all bad. Not sure why they consistently get outplayed (or out-schemed) after halftime.
And I hate it. He's a really good kid that I'm afraid they are going to tell him that his playing time is almost certainly over. expect a transfer. But I believe, and I do believe, that Underwood is the type of Coach that will help. I think if he stays, he will get limited mins, unless his time on the court this season is just limited by having to play out of position.For whatever the reason Kipper has been a disappointment.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kane transfer he can’t get off of the bench. I could never understand why he didn’t get some time against Harms when we had no answer for him. At least his height may have caused him some problems
Why is Kipper gone? Has that been speculated on already? Where would he go? To a mid-major?
As both a fan and former coach, I am always trying to analyze a team to figure out what is working and what is not. In watching the rotations these last few games, I got curious about a certain stat so I had to run some numbers. Here are our team leaders this season in points per minutes played:
Georgi .465
Trent .459
Ayo .452
Andres .380
Tevian .372
Alan .368
Samba .329
Kipper .325
Aaron .302
Adonis .291
Damonte .167
Drew .133
Samson .087
Tyler .050
Zach .000
The last time I checked, in order to win a game you have to outscore the other team. At any given position, unless two players are significantly different in stopping the players on the other team from scoring, the one who is the most offensively productive should be playing. I know I'm not at practice every day, but from what I see on gameday I don't believe any of our players are exceptionally talented defenders.
Think about that and the minutes we've seen players getting during this end-of-the-season skid.
It appears to me that the coach is hoping the TOs will outnumber the layups and dunks. That is not a very effective defense imo.
Believe it or not, I am not convinced that the offense will improve next year. It should, but I have questions.
keep on truckin
joe
interesting stuff.....but offense is not main reason we are on a skid, IMO....we have sucked on D.As both a fan and former coach, I am always trying to analyze a team to figure out what is working and what is not. In watching the rotations these last few games, I got curious about a certain stat so I had to run some numbers. Here are our team leaders this season in points per minutes played:
Georgi .465
Trent .459
Ayo .452
Andres .380
Tevian .372
Alan .368
Samba .329
Kipper .325
Aaron .302
Adonis .291
Damonte .167
Drew .133
Samson .087
Tyler .050
Zach .000
The last time I checked, in order to win a game you have to outscore the other team. At any given position, unless two players are significantly different in stopping the players on the other team from scoring, the one who is the most offensively productive should be playing. I know I'm not at practice every day, but from what I see on gameday I don't believe any of our players are exceptionally talented defenders.
Think about that and the minutes we've seen players getting during this end-of-the-season skid.
If he can't score, then it is a 4 offense on 5 defense. Sounds like when Chester Frazier tenure, opponents would just sag off of Chester. Poor way to play imo.
keep on truckin
joe
I agree DW should learn to be more aggressive on offense...he is timid, which can be fixed...also agree that all our young players should be getting more game time experience. You could make similar argument for AJs time...he had similar relatively low shooting percentage as DW and we could have given some of his time to freshmen.
He looks like he lost all his confidence. Seems to have the physical attributes and yet has regressed under BU. Was touted to be able to guard one thru four his frosh season but hasn't seemed to be able to adapt to BU's system. Thought he would be equivalent to Black on defense and Center would be our major problem. Instead this is the position that is killing us. Giorgi must play the four next year with Kofi at the five if we are to be successful. I was happy to see Giorgi and Adonis playing together for that reason.Frankly, I think Kipper is demoralized by the coach. His career can be made or broken by a coach, and I see Kipper as losing out on what could have been a really nice year, and European team play, or better.
To me, our defense looked much less intense today.Defense Defense Defense.... it never looked good in any games.
The idea was to create turnovers, but when teams weren’t bothered by pressure; or the guards were too good to turn over the ball then they get wide open threes and uncontested layups. I think thet exerted too much energy trying to create turnovers and not enough just playing solid defense and forcing teams to take difficult shots. A new defensive scheme needs to be implemented soon.
I’m confident the offense will actually improve though.