Missouri 63, Illinois 56 POSTGAME

#251      
I LOVED Ayo's quote in his press conference. It's hitting the nail on the head and it's cool that he recognizes it.

We shouldn't have to wait for coach to get on us and yell at us. We should have more respect for the game.

That's about as honest and true as it gets. He knows they got out hustled, he knows they got the fight taken to them. If the coach has to yell and scream to get them motivated before the game, during the game and at halftime....that's a problem. There has to be a leader on the floor. They guy who speaks up and lights a fire. Who is that guy? It's supposed to be Ayo. He's talking the game, I can't confirm whether he's walking it.

With all due respect to Kofi, someone needed to take him by the jersey and lite him up. It was the first game this year where I thought the moment was bigger than he was. Only two rebounds, caught watching the play, not playing through contact, not going up strong and finishing plays. Hoping that's a lesson learned because he's got 18 games of that competition coming.
I would agree with what Ayo, said. However, these guys haven't understood from the first game what's at stake and how to get their. They read and see these press clippings about how good they're gonna be this year and come unprepared mentally and physically for the fight. If your not ready to play each game from start to finish unless your talent far exceeds your opponents you have a good chance at losing.
This is where i do hold the staff responsible. You have to know your players, including their mindset toward the game and opponents. If the staff has to ride herd over the players on a daily basis to keep them focused then it has to be done. I'm not talking about screaming at them all practice. And if you wait for some 18-22 year olds to get it, then you might wait yourself right out of a job. As a coach i'm going to give them what they need. Some don't need you to be on all the time, but some do.
 
#252      

PostersLastStand

Wayne County, IL
What a frustrating game. The offense is just that, an offense. Absolutely no flow. I feel there is a no leader on either offense or defense. No outside scoring equals no inside scoring. If the Coaches and Players don't figure it out, then they'll get eaten alive in the Big Ten. Play Griffin and Tevian or anyone who can shoot it. Then sit Damonte, Kipper or anyone who can't or won't.
 
#253      
TBF, that had little to do with OUR fans. Instagram photos and camera pan-arounds showed our side full and a decent amount of orange on their not-filled side.

Was at the game. Our side was full except the top half of the upper 3 or 4 decks behind the basket. Our fan turnout was good. Wont be going back next year after witnessing that though. Waste of time/money watching that in person.
 
#254      
I find it funny that our staff and players preach defense/pressure/knowing assignments/etc, however we DON'T pressure defense full court at appropriate times.

Should have pressured Maryland with their limited guard play outside of Cowan
Should have pressured Missouri with Pinson out of control alot, M Smith not a pressured ball handler, Dru Smith bull in a china shop?

I mean c'mon man, (BU) we have Ayo/Frazier/Feliz/Griffin/Williams/Jones (now)/Nichols all of which gives us length (remember that is what BU likes to recruit (length), and then we don't use it? 40 Minutes of hell we could implement easily imo, yet we choose not to use our assets? 7 players could be plugged in anywhere with little drop off in talent anywhere (hard to argue at this point) and we would lose nothing and hopefully create easy offense for this team that struggles mightly in this area.

I mean if teams are thin at guard, why not press them? We have 6-7 games left that we could employ this and it may work, at least it would be more effort/hustle/pressure, all of what we are looking for from 40 min.

Kenpom has our defense at 51. Last year we finished at 108. Switching to more of a packline defense clearly was the right move. If we want to play pressure defense then we can't play with 2 bigs which takes one of our best players out of the game.
 
#255      
Kenpom has our defense at 51. Last year we finished at 108. Switching to more of a packline defense clearly was the right move. If we want to play pressure defense then we can't play with 2 bigs which takes one of our best players out of the game.

Not disagreeing or agreeing that switching was correct. But I believe our ascension in Kenpom defensive ranking has more to do with actually having a center on defense.
 
#257      
Kenpom has our defense at 51. Last year we finished at 108. Switching to more of a packline defense clearly was the right move. If we want to play pressure defense then we can't play with 2 bigs which takes one of our best players out of the game.

SEC network casters said teams had success pressuring Mizzou because they don't have a guard that does well with it. Why didn't we scout Mizzou at all? When we started the full court press it immediately caused a turnover. Of course we didn't start that until we were down 10+. We should be adjusting based on the opponent's weaknesses. That is bad coaching, period.
 
#259      
SEC network casters said teams had success pressuring Mizzou because they don't have a guard that does well with it. Why didn't we scout Mizzou at all? When we started the full court press it immediately caused a turnover. Of course we didn't start that until we were down 10+. We should be adjusting based on the opponent's weaknesses. That is bad coaching, period.

It did cause Mizzou some problems. But also remember when they broke the press instead of attacking they pulled it out and ran clock. If we did that all game I could argue they would've had a lot of easy layups instead of running clock.
 
#260      
Not disagreeing or agreeing that switching was correct. But I believe our ascension in Kenpom defensive ranking has more to do with actually having a center on defense.

Definitely. And I think this defense suits him well. He would've been on an island a lot in our pressure defense. And a freshman center on an island generally leads to foul trouble.
 
#261      
Do not forget Coach K was 11-17 in his 3rd year at Duke. Sure I'm disappointed in yesterday's ugly performance, but I think Underwood will turn this program into a national power. Have a little more patience. This season is not over and the near future is bright. We'll be cutting down the nets in a couple of years.
Well unfortunately 30 years have passed and in this day in age, you can't keep a job with losing season after season. Coaches are making way more money now. Plus it's not that damn hard to make a tournament these days even though it seems for this program now. 3 years you should make the NCAA Tournament not NIT... We will see.... Just make it.... Simple
 
#263      
Was at the game. Our side was full except the top half of the upper 3 or 4 decks behind the basket. Our fan turnout was good. Wont be going back next year after witnessing that though. Waste of time/money watching that in person.

I was there too and I will not be returning next year. Terrible effort.
 
#264      
SEC network casters said teams had success pressuring Mizzou because they don't have a guard that does well with it. Why didn't we scout Mizzou at all? When we started the full court press it immediately caused a turnover. Of course we didn't start that until we were down 10+. We should be adjusting based on the opponent's weaknesses. That is bad coaching, period.
Bad coaching decisions in game and going after fan as security restraining. JW may have an easy decision if we dont make tourney.
 
#265      
It seems obvious that we won’t win another game this year. We should all go watch golf reruns. /s C’mon guys. The world hasn’t ended.

Obviously, and I’ll keep watching. However, this showed the Miami loss wasn’t in ANY way a turning point, and there’s zero reason to think we are going to play with the consistency needed to get back off the Bubble and be a Tourney lock. :( I hope I’m wrong as much as anyone here ... but that game made me feel sick. I felt like an IDIOT being so pumped up for it and getting excited literally all week and then seeing my favorite team seemingly lack fire.
 
#266      
I would agree with what Ayo, said. However, these guys haven't understood from the first game what's at stake and how to get their. They read and see these press clippings about how good they're gonna be this year and come unprepared mentally and physically for the fight. If your not ready to play each game from start to finish unless your talent far exceeds your opponents you have a good chance at losing.
This is where i do hold the staff responsible. You have to know your players, including their mindset toward the game and opponents. If the staff has to ride herd over the players on a daily basis to keep them focused then it has to be done. I'm not talking about screaming at them all practice. And if you wait for some 18-22 year olds to get it, then you might wait yourself right out of a job. As a coach i'm going to give them what they need. Some don't need you to be on all the time, but some do.

It’s also quite possible that BU’s red faced hot headed style doesn’t work with some of the guys and he needs to find other ways to motivate them. That’s what good leaders do. They find the right buttons for each individual and push them accordingly.
 
#267      
Kenpom has our defense at 51. Last year we finished at 108. Switching to more of a packline defense clearly was the right move. If we want to play pressure defense then we can't play with 2 bigs which takes one of our best players out of the game.

What are our Kenpom offensive rankings for this year vs. last? I feel like defensively we have protected the rim better by going packline, but it’s really killed our offense because we get little to no transition off TO’s.
 
#268      
What are our Kenpom offensive rankings for this year vs. last? I feel like defensively we have protected the rim better by going packline, but it’s really killed our offense because we get little to no transition off TO’s.
Agree
it's also really frustrating that we don't have a simple play for ayo to penetrate with option to dump it to Kofi or kick it out. The mundane perimeter passes around the top of the key burnt a lot of clock and didn't result in good shots against Mizzou...we probably could have met the mythical BU 7 second rule too with some thoughtful penetration plays ...if the 7 sec rule is "still a thing".
I'm starting to think BU's rhetoric is meaningless.
 
#269      

Steelyunk

Tobacco Road
With a day to reflect, my thought is that too much emphasis is being placed on “lack of effort” or somehow not being as pumped up for this game as they were.

We had a lead 10-15 minutes into the game despite a couple of prayer-threes going in for Mizzou. As fans, we are crazy-excited for this game - but a more calm, business-like demeanor was working for the players.

Then Cuonzo made some adjustments on defense and we didn’t score a bucket for 15 minutes. Only after that did we lose all heart and start giving up multiple tip back points.

It’s either a bad offense, or an offense that only works with an assist-minded leader. Add to that, we don’t make adjustments on par with other coaches.

Hopefully, this offer just needs a real point guard to be successful. But even then, it’s not yet January and we are in “wait till next year” mode.

Sucks to be us. Again. I L L
Not too many coaches on this board. But if we have better talent in a big game shouldn’t we win? That’s the problem. We lose or play even with teams with even or lesser talent. That’s coaching. I thought BU was an X and O guy. But he loses more close games than he wins. I was a BU believer. No longer. He’s failing. Not horribly- but failing. I’m off the train. This team should perform more predictably. It doesn’t.
 
#270      
So do we have to go back to the Rod Strickland days as the last time Depaul was the best team in Illinois
 
#271      

Steelyunk

Tobacco Road
Do not forget Coach K was 11-17 in his 3rd year at Duke. Sure I'm disappointed in yesterday's ugly performance, but I think Underwood will turn this program into a national power. Have a little more patience. This season is not over and the near future is bright. We'll be cutting down the nets in a couple of years.
Woah woah woah pump the breaks there fella. We’re light years away from coach K. I’m guessing coach k was getting tons out of minimal talent in year 3. This underwood has a decent B1G squad underperforming. He can’t figure out how to make those 4 good guards play together. He has seen Giorgi regress. So where, exactly, is this coaching genius that equates to that d-bag who wins titles like his mentor who also won titles? This is a sad slide into lower B1G mediocrity. Brad ain’t the answer. I thought this last year and felt guilty for being “that fan”. No more. He ain’t got it. Too many B1G coaches outperforming him. Loser.
 
#272      
I wonder what our record would have been these past 2+ seasons if we hadn't made the coaching change. Anybody want to make the case it would have been worse than it has been? What about if the coaches were flipped for this season? I'm not saying a change didn't need to be made, but bring this up to display how glaringly deficient Underwood's results have been to this point. You can only hold to the "rebuild" excuse for so long...
 
#274      
I LOVED Ayo's quote in his press conference. It's hitting the nail on the head and it's cool that he recognizes it.

We shouldn't have to wait for coach to get on us and yell at us. We should have more respect for the game.

That's about as honest and true as it gets. He knows they got out hustled, he knows they got the fight taken to them. If the coach has to yell and scream to get them motivated before the game, during the game and at halftime....that's a problem. There has to be a leader on the floor. They guy who speaks up and lights a fire. Who is that guy? It's supposed to be Ayo. He's talking the game, I can't confirm whether he's walking it.

With all due respect to Kofi, someone needed to take him by the jersey and lite him up. It was the first game this year where I thought the moment was bigger than he was. Only two rebounds, caught watching the play, not playing through contact, not going up strong and finishing plays. Hoping that's a lesson learned because he's got 18 games of that competition coming.
With that being said, his position is the only one where we outplayed them.
 
#275      
Have you seen how bad we run the high pick and roll? Our guards were all sick the day they talked about driving the defender into the screen. Why Underwood allows this lack of fundamentals is beyond me., or any other lack of discipline. For instance, blocking your man out. Let's see that happened, yesterday. If a coach allows players to play without sound fundamentals most players will take it. BU and staff don't shoot free throws or miss lay-ups as i often read but they are responsible for much of what we see from the players.