Miami 81, Illinois 79 POSTGAME

#151      

PlayAZ

P
PlayAZ
BananaShampoo said:
I'm not so sure the cooks are that good based on what I've tasted so far.
Click to expand...

1st Half - Baking Powder in the kitchen...The base and acid are prevented from reacting prematurely by the inclusion of a buffer (Miami)!

2nd Half - Baking Soda in the kitchen...Meaning it causes dough to rise by producing (ILLINI).

The kitchen was on fire and we needed water in the first half for sure.

Williams is getting minutes because he is a heady player willing to do what the coach wants. If Griffin were slightly better, or Tevian maybe slighlty more mature, maybe not, but alas that is not the recipe we are cooking with.

Frazier was hot and should have been fed the most, could have driven more though.

Giorgi is not a 4, maybe he can be, but right now he is not. He is just being asked/forced to be so.

Feliz at least most nights is a go getter, he tried tonight, just wasn't there for most part.

Kofi, is looking more comfortable handling the ball and being stronger with it...kudo's for his want to improve.

Griffin plays like he is capable, but outside of shooting, maybe he really isn't?

Ayo.....well he will be back for a 3rd year and Miller I am afraid will decommit, we could use a really really really athletic wing forward if this turns into fruition.
 
#153      

NotThatPierre

N
NotThatPierre
skyIdub said:
Good grief, if watching us come back from 27 down against a team hitting EVERYTHING they threw up, and a tiny mythical winged nymph pretending he’s Allen Iverson..... doesn’t at least make you think we have the potential to pull off some upsets, then you should probably stop watching college basketball.

Put two halves together and we absolutely can beat scUM and Maryland.
Click to expand...
sure, I believe we might pull off some upsets. But if you think teams that are being penciled in for the tourney are going to let us come back from 27 down you're crazy.
 
#154      

Illini in Indiana

I
Indiana
Illini in Indiana
skyIdub said:
Good grief, if watching us come back from 27 down against a team hitting EVERYTHING they threw up, and a tiny mythical winged nymph pretending he’s Allen Iverson..... doesn’t at least make you think we have the potential to pull off some upsets, then you should probably stop watching college basketball.

Put two halves together and we absolutely can beat scUM and Maryland.
Click to expand...
I agree, we just don't come out like we are already there! Ayo needs to know who was hot or know to get it on the rim with a 12 foot pull up with our big's with 3 or 4 seconds. Ayo IS our best player, he just needs to learn our best chance to win (not always him). Impressed with come back, and disappointed with initial effort. BTW Kofi may be the best Illini big I've seen for a 40+ years. I am still very hopeful
 
#158      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
LeinieGuy said:
Honest question: What am I missing when it comes to Damonte?

I've seen a lot of "pro" Damonte comments in the game thread. Yet I am absolutely of the opposite mind: I think Damonte is a total offensive liability who can't shoot and doesn't know where he should be on the floor most times (he runs around like a headless chicken). On defense he's definitely better, but he still isn't some kind of game changer.

What are you guys seeing that I'm not?? I consider myself a pretty sharp eye of scheme and flow and sets and, of course, production. Damonte seems like a 5 out of 10, and I don't know why he's getting so many minutes when we need points.
Click to expand...

We scored 79. Kenpom has us at 28th on offense and 76 on defense. We don't need points. We need to stop the other team from scoring so much. And who takes Damonte's minutes? The only plausible argument is Griffin. And he has his flaws. Not as good defensively and not as good at handling the ball.
 
#159      

illini4fan

I
illini4fan
Please more getting the ball down to Kofi!!! More Damonte! And more Griffin shooting threes! Less sloppy passes! Better defense! C'MON MAN!!!!!!!
 
#160      

illinipimp

illinipimp
illinipimp
Ayo horrible on last play. Selfish. Long way from going pro. And coach 4 first half timeouts and not one adjustment. Smh
 
#161      

jrmarcus

J
jrmarcus
Illiniwacker said:
Silly. Dakich knows basketball and speaks honestly. He’s the best college basketball analyst in the game.
Click to expand...
HAHA. I guess you miss hearing about his son every game. Guy is a tool.

EDIT: Googled "hate dan dakich," and basically every team hates him, that's his niche.
 
Last edited:
#163      

dbeverly26

dbeverly26
dbeverly26
KSmooth said:
Yeah, and put two other halves together and we get curbstomped by Rutgers.
Click to expand...
This was effectively a loss to Rutgers at home. If you look at the schedule and see 13 more wins from this team, God bless. We already had to take a couple from the MSU/Michigan/Maryland tier to get there. Three or four of those games? Dream on.

I think that we just have to come to terms with the fact that Brad Underwood has no idea how to coach defense. He’s never had a good defensive team. I will go to my grave still laughing at folks who thought that you could take a coach who can’t coach D and players who can’t play it and just ‘do what Virginia does’ and be successful.

Such a waste. Ayo and Kofi will be gone next year and we’ll have nothing to show for it.
 
#164      

MiniDee11

M
MiniDee11
chrisRunner7 said:
Was Frazier open in the corner when Ayo ran into Lykes? I don't remember and I definitely don't want to go back to check.
Click to expand...
Of course he was. Based on the night, I’d rather see Feliz drive than Ayo. With ayo driving there’s also no chance of a kick to someone open under the basket or out on the baseline, especially in that moment
 
#165      

TCTORNADO

TCTORNADO
TCTORNADO
illinipimp said:
Ayo horrible on last play. Selfish. Long way from going pro. And coach 4 first half timeouts and not one adjustment. Smh
Click to expand...

ESPN is replaying it repeatedly and it looks worse each time. Dribbling out the last 15 seconds with your head down and into a double team only to have the ball swatted back into your face. Sad all the way around from coaching to the player.
 
#167      

samtheman10

S
samtheman10
I tipped my cap to Nico Mannion, and I'll give Lykes his due for hitting some tough shots down the stretch, but the two best lead guards we've played have toyed with us. With Cowan at Maryland and Simpson at Michigan up next, it's gut check time to resolve an early apparent Achilles' heel for this squad.
 
#168      

Deleted member 4960

D
Guest
Deleted member 4960
Everybody complaining about Kofi & Giorgi being on the floor at the same time as a problem and Giorgi not playing well haven’t been watching the same game I did. We lost because our guards couldn’t keep theirs in front of them and we had 10+ turnovers in the first 8 or 9 minutes of the game. Giorgi had several great assists to Kofi and that’s what Underwood is looking for. GB had 5 assists and 8 rbs and 6 Pts on 3-5 shooting. Also I kind of ticked BU didn’t go full court press or at least pressure the ball all the way upmost of the second half.
 
#171      

lexwaldez

lexwaldez
lexwaldez
Spot an ACC team 25 points in the first half and you lose. Go figure.
I haven't seen a team as disinterested in playing their sport since the Northwestern loss last Saturday.
Illinois looked slow, disinterested and perhaps a bit lost in the first half.
In the second half we got a new team that new how to play basketball, were willing to defend, and drove hard from the perimeter.
Try doing that for both halves and you might see some wins. I thought this game was absolute dog crap on our part.
Josh should start offering refunds for teams that don't bother playing; I figure I'd get half my money back tonight.
Crap job Illini - the second half effort doesn't count WHEN YOU LOSE.
Hopefully they learn from this. And they shouldn't complain about the refs... play a WHOLE FREAKING GAME and it doesn't matter.
 
#172      

skyIdub

skyIdub
Winged Warrior
skyIdub
Regardless of the outcome of this season, I really want to see Ayo go pro and bring in Miller and Curbelo. We need a true PG.

I still believe this team will figure things out and gel more, but I’m way more interested in year 2 of Kofi, and real, actual wing play along with Curbelo and Miller.

Just gotta avoid a disaster this year.
 
#173      

Wade9412

Wade9412
Wade9412
jrichisamazing said:
We scored 79. Kenpom has us at 28th on offense and 76 on defense. We don't need points. We need to stop the other team from scoring so much. And who takes Damonte's minutes? The only plausible argument is Griffin. And he has his flaws. Not as good defensively and not as good at handling the ball.
Click to expand...
I agree somewhat with both posts. You are right that defense is our biggest problem. I wish I had an answer right now on what our defense really needs to work on besides saying we need to work on everything.


However, I don’t think you can say “we don’t need points.” The OP is right about Da’Monte being our biggest liability on offense.
 
#174      

Deleted member 4960

D
Guest
Deleted member 4960
What is everybody complaining about offense? that wasn’t a problem tonight defense was. We gave up 50 pts in the 1st half and at least 10 turnover, 9 in the 1st 9 minutes of the game. It’s guard play on offense and defense that is killing us. Ayo seems disinterested at times.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
#175      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
dbeverly26 said:
This was effectively a loss to Rutgers at home. If you look at the schedule and see 13 more wins from this team, God bless. We already had to take a couple from the MSU/Michigan/Maryland tier to get there. Three or four of those games? Dream on.

I think that we just have to come to terms with the fact that Brad Underwood has no idea how to coach defense. He’s never had a good defensive team. I will go to my grave still laughing at folks who thought that you could take a coach who can’t coach D and players who can’t play it and just ‘do what Virginia does’ and be successful.

Such a waste. Ayo and Kofi will be gone next year and we’ll have nothing to show for it.
Click to expand...

You can add Ohio State to that list. Needing 3 or 4 top tier wins is not necessary to get in to the dance. But we can talk bracketology later in the year.

All I know is it is way too early in the season to be saying things so definitively. Remember the Michigan game in football? Bad 1st half, good 2nd half. Maybe this is the basketball version.