Iowa 83, Illinois 62 POSTGAME

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#52      
Can someone explain why they have so much problem defending and what we are missing to be better at it.
 
#53      
Thankfully the miserable season is over. I am looking forward to next year. Highs and lows this year have been extreme. I think we have a good core to make some noise next year. Optimism is growing.
 
#54      
Not really. With the exception of a few optimists...and Kathy....we are exactly where we thought we would be.

Enjoyed reading through this!
https://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forum/threads/2018-2019-predictions-thread.24649/

Of course it's another building year. We're rebuilding.

Here's what I predicted (not posting the game by game):
13-18 (6-14), no postseason, though I'll toss in a 1-1 in the B1G conference tourney.

Frazier and Ayo have good years, one of them makes 2nd team All-Conference.
Williams gets starter minutes, slow progress forward.
Feliz only plays 5 min/game in conference.
Kane plays more minutes/game in conference than out of conference.
Griffen has a four game tear, I'm saying from East Tenn through Indiana.
AJ shoots 43% from deep, I wish we could find him more looks.

We ended up with less wins, but a better conference record. I'm not sure if flipping the FAU and MSU results would make me feel better though.
Got the Tourney right, and I'll assume the no postseason as well.
I'll say Frazier and Ayo had good years, but Ayo was only able to get HM.
Williams got starter minutes, debatable on the progress.
I was 100% wrong on Feliz, no question.
Also wrong on Kane.
Never got that Griffin tear, and he did not score on the predicted stretch.

AJ shot 41.5%, that was just inexcusable how I misread that one.

All in all, fairly accurate. Alstork had me scared of Feliz and I thought the freshmen would eat away at his clock as the season went on. I'm ok with being wrong there. I thought the shallow frontcourt would lead to more Kane minutes as the season went on. Did not happen, though several here think it probably should have. Wasn't expecting huge minutes from him, just 5-10 a night.
 
#55      
This is depressing.
10-22 overall
5-13 conference
5-8 non-conference
0-1 BTT

My prediction last year of 14-16 was pretty damn close. I hope to be way off this year.

Unfortunately, my predictions again turned out be be pretty damn close.

10-22 overall (actual 12-21)
5-13 conference (actual 7-13) forgot we were up to 20 conference games now
5-8 non-conference (actual 5-8)
0-1 BTT (actual 1-1)

Too early to tell for next season but we should be better no matter what. Hopefully, we will have the core of Kofi, Georgi, Ayo, Trent, and Andres, and some role players making contributions. Making the tourney is certainly a possibility if we have those five on the roster.
 
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#58      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
Can someone explain why they have so much problem defending and what we are missing to be better at it.


I'll try........Our D is over guarding players and trying to watch the ball and the opponent at the same time....most teams will try to open up the ,court and rely on a simple pick and roll to free their player in the paint and dunkfest follows...To use this D you have to apply a tremendous amount of pressure on the ball and hope that you can double team the ball and create a turnover,,Problem is we don't have elite length and numerous times we got caught watching the ball and losing the opponent.....We used the zone and had some promise , but I always thought a 2-3 zone with GB in the paint would work better than the 3-2 zone that exposed the paint and baseline by a team screening the high 3-2 Defender and allowing a middle pick and roll that out numbered our 2 defenders down low....

usually the 2 down low defenders were GB and either AJ or DW who were always outsized and could not rebound against taller and usually better players...
DW constantly lost his man and was chasing as was KN......the frosh didn't get enough tick to demonstrate if they could learn and adapt....

The season is in the books....most losses ever in 1 season....If BU coaches the same way next year, then we should expect more losses, but the roster hasn't been set so I'll try to put on my optimistic glasses and keep my fingers crossed....

We have a long way to go to get back to being relevent in college BB and I hope I live long enough to see it....
 
#59      

Ransom Stoddard

Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
If BU coaches the same way next year, then we should expect more losses,
The non-con schedule had a lot to do with this. Instead of playing Stony Brook and Weber State we played Gonzaga and Iowa State. We had the 6th most difficult SOS according to KenPom

We have a long way to go to get back to being relevent in college BB and I hope I live long enough to see it....

We're a big man away from the upper half of the B1G and we've got a guy coming in this fall that might just be that big man.
 
#60      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
Can someone explain why they have so much problem defending and what we are missing to be better at it.

From the handful of games this year where we were defending pretty well, the big thing we're missing is anticipation from help defenders who have an ability to do something positive when they're able to react in time.

DaMonte, AJ and Feliz were our best rotators. Giorgi improved a lot as the season wore along and might eventually be a plus there. January and Kofi have the natural gifts to be impactful if they can get the mental side right, which is very tough for a freshman. Trent's not a natural, Tev's a disaster, Griffin is okay, Ayo has great instincts but he's got a tendency to freelance, Kipper just depends on the day.

It's gonna be tough. We ought to improve with experience, but we're gonna need to improve a lot to be a good team next year.
 
#61      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
The non-con schedule had a lot to do with this. Instead of playing Stony Brook and Weber State we played Gonzaga and Iowa State. We had the 6th most difficult SOS according to KenPom

I realize that, but I remember FAU......at home !!! So the Stony Brook and Weber ST games could have been losses also.



We're a big man away from the upper half of the B1G and we've got a guy coming in this fall that might just be that big man.

wow.....You really think we are only a big man away ? I'll have what your smoking......I expect KC to be a major addition to the roster and hope January makes it also....Also hearing about 1-2 transfers coming in, but if at the start of next certain sophs this are still starting next year then top 5 of the B1G is a pipe dream.....
We are at the point of seeing that TJ , AG and new recruits get a realistic to play 20+ mins and learn from their mistakes ON the court than waiting for certain players that have been given a fair shot to improve on their non B1G acceptable numbers....JMHO
 
#62      
No, they didn't show what they can be. They showed that on a given night when the team plays outside their mind and the other team consistently shoots themselves in the foot or is going through a rough stretch, they can maybe pull out a win. Think about it, without MSU and Maryland wins, you're talking 10-23 (5-16). Does anyone have any good feelings moving forward?

Don't allow two random games in the middle of the season dictate what they showed for the majority of the year.
But it was more than 2 random games.

The played Michigan really tough, then blew the doors of Minnesota. At this point you could see that guys were starting to improve, especially on defense. They played 2 close games against Wisoconsin (first one got away from them at the end) and had really good wins against Maryland, MSU and at OSU.

Purdue and Penn St found a way to attack us (inside and a lot of driving to the hoop) that they couldn't counter because of having no interior defender and guys playing out of position at the 4.
 
#63      
wow.....You really think we are only a big man away ? I'll have what your smoking......I expect KC to be a major addition to the roster and hope January makes it also....Also hearing about 1-2 transfers coming in, but if at the start of next certain sophs this are still starting next year then top 5 of the B1G is a pipe dream.....
We are at the point of seeing that TJ , AG and new recruits get a realistic to play 20+ mins and learn from their mistakes ON the court than waiting for certain players that have been given a fair shot to improve on their non B1G acceptable numbers....JMHO
Top 5 next year is definitely a long shot unless something amazing happens in recruiting soon. Realistically, I think they could be in the 7/8/9 range and be in the bubble conversation.
 
#64      
No, they didn't show what they can be. They showed that on a given night when the team plays outside their mind and the other team consistently shoots themselves in the foot or is going through a rough stretch, they can maybe pull out a win. Think about it, without MSU and Maryland wins, you're talking 10-23 (5-16). Does anyone have any good feelings moving forward?

Don't allow two random games in the middle of the season dictate what they showed for the majority of the year.

 
#65      

WiscIllini

Madison, WI
Top 5 next year is definitely a long shot unless something amazing happens in recruiting soon. Realistically, I think they could be in the 7/8/9 range and be in the bubble conversation.

I agree with this, and I'll go a step further: They should be in the bubble conversation if Underwood wants to keep his job.
 
#66      

Ransom Stoddard

Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
wow.....You really think we are only a big man away ? I'll have what your smoking......I expect KC to be a major addition to the roster and hope January makes it also....Also hearing about 1-2 transfers coming in, but if at the start of next certain sophs this are still starting next year then top 5 of the B1G is a pipe dream.....
We are at the point of seeing that TJ , AG and new recruits get a realistic to play 20+ mins and learn from their mistakes ON the court than waiting for certain players that have been given a fair shot to improve on their non B1G acceptable numbers....JMHO
First, the upper half of the B1G is 7 teams, not 5. Second, one more big guy in the middle completely changes the way we can defend. Iowa had their way with us inside because of the massive size advantage they had over us. Put another body in there and it's a much different defensive scheme and thus a much different game.

Third, your transitive "We lost to FAU, therefore we would have lost to Stony Brook and Weber St" is just silly. That's like saying because MSU lost to us they would have also lost to Rutgers and Northwestern.

This team was fun to watch the last half of the season, even during many of the losses. That right there makes me have hope for the near future and enjoy this season way more than a John Groce NIT season.
 
#68      
No more excuses

I grew up on Illinois basketball, went to their summer basketball camps in HS and attended Illinois from 2002-2006. Have and always will be an Illinois guy.

Why do we continue to accept the current state of our program and find ways to force positive narratives from this season? Looking at the current Bracketology, teams such as Marquette, Oklahoma, Nevada are safely in the tournament. Are you telling me with our recruiting base, facilities, tradition and strong alumni / fan base, we can't be competitive enough to have the same results as Nevada? Give me a break. This is a results driven business and BU is underachieving, plain and simple. If we don't make the NCAA tournament next year, it's time to make a change.

Thoughts?
 
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