Illini Basketball 2019-2020

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#51      
Watching the game last night, I feel like we actually saw a lot of this. 3 lobs to Kofi led to two dunks and a foul, and on the one where I recall them taking the Kofi option away, Ayo found Griffin (I think) in the corner for a 3.

There was one point in the broadcast where it picked up the Wisconsin players talking about how to defend this and they seemed a bit confused by it. Wonder if it's something they hadn't seen on film, so they weren't ready for it.

I think they were definitely confused. After Trent put us up 1 and Wisconsin re-took the lead, Ayo and Kofi ran the same action. The buzz-cuts all ran to Kofi to stop the lob, giving Ayo the easiest layup of the night and a lead they wouldn't relinquish. They may have found a "go to" play for those stretches when the offense stagnates. Hopefully helping eliminate those 5-8 minute scoreless stretches that plagued us last year and early this season.
 
#52      
Watching the game last night, I feel like we actually saw a lot of this. 3 lobs to Kofi led to two dunks and a foul, and on the one where I recall them taking the Kofi option away, Ayo found Griffin (I think) in the corner for a 3.

There was one point in the broadcast where it picked up the Wisconsin players talking about how to defend this and they seemed a bit confused by it. Wonder if it's something they hadn't seen on film, so they weren't ready for it.
They said something along the lines of "they always go for the lob there", which should be the case if you leave Kofi open like they did.
 
#54      
Something I dont think gets mentioned enough is how willing BU was to alter his defensive strategy. It's great that it's been working well for the most part, and you can chalk a lot up to the players, but quitting the intense pressure and first pass denial for a more packed line look seems to have done wonders, and thats a big shift in philosophy. He ran essentially the same defense for his entire HC career (admittedly im not sure how OSU focused on the previously mentioned points, im assuming they did though given the defensive ranking his year there).

If we had more consistent 3 pt shooters, this team would be as well rounded as any out there. I will ding BU for not trying to throw a better half court offense out there than the spread, it's boring to watch most of the time and seems to facilitate lazy offense by off ball players.

My point is that it's refreshing to see a coach change up his style mid tenure. I don't recall that happening frequently (if ever) with Weber or Groce.
Weber ran a lot more high ball screen with McCamey than he ever did before because that was his strength. I agree with your overall point though, just wanted to point that out. Groce seemed to try new stuff every year, but I never got the impression that it was very well thought out. I went to a coaches clinic there where one of the speakers showed some actions that were popular in Europe at the time and sure enough Groce tried running it a few days (weeks?) later in a game, probably just because he thought it seemed cool.
 
#55      
This will still be typical college basketball Team in that they will lose games we thought were easy wins and win some we thought were sure losses. Have been impressed with the consistency of our defense but expected more variation, i. e. Zone and last years pressure. Maybe trying to keep it as simple as possible. BU also earning creds as developmental coach with Alan. Really curious as to development of the two transfers. Like to hear news from anyone in know.
 
#56      

BMoreIllini

Baltimore, MD
They said something along the lines of "they always go for the lob there", which should be the case if you leave Kofi open like they did.
I remember this, the game was going to commercial and Potter said something like, "They always go for the lob off the double screen". I think this could easily be one of Ayo and Kofi's favorite plays going forward. It'd be difficult to stop if Ayo can continue to read it properly, it doesn't seem like a super difficult read for him to make.
 
#58      
They said something along the lines of "they always go for the lob there", which should be the case if you leave Kofi open like they did.

Watched the highlights and they also ran it with Feliz/Kofi, which resulted in an easy layup for Feliz.

Get that post defender in a position where they have to decide to stop the ball or rotate back to Kofi. Any hesitation at all, we've got em. Rest of the defense collapses to help, wide open 3's.
 
#59      
I remember this, the game was going to commercial and Potter said something like, "They always go for the lob off the double screen". I think this could easily be one of Ayo and Kofi's favorite plays going forward. It'd be difficult to stop if Ayo can continue to read it properly, it doesn't seem like a super difficult read for him to make.

Reading cuts/plays is not easy for the most part, true guards can do it (Ayo being mentioned as NBA shows this aptitude)....Cassius Winston is one of the best at doing this currently. Really watch the MSU sets and picks/screens and rolls from wings and bigs...Winston with the ball on a Yo Yo string almost always plays it right. They were preseason #1 at start of the year, watch where they end up again. Winston will have them back, he is simply that good.
 
#61      
Here is a new breakdown on youtube of the spread offense for anyone who is interested. Hoopvision is also a good follow on twitter if you like x's and o's breakdowns.

Opening intro featuring my HS's, Taylorville Tornadoes, most famous grad, Johnny Orr....
 
#62      
Take this with the understanding that I know this situation would never happen due to issues unrelated to on court strategy...

I feel like we are not playing to our strengths in the post.

Georgi, was recruited as a 4, but developed some serious back to the basket post moves which were on display last year. He also has a knack for passing, as we have seen him do just that with post entry into Kofi.

It is my opinion that we should run our offense with Georgi in the post and Kofi weak side.

Georgi can use his moves to score on a more consistent basis and can pass out of a double team finding Kofi for easy dunks and layups.

Kofi is still learning the post, but what he has mastered is rebounding. He can sometimes be out of position and when this happens, his shot becomes inconsistent. But imagine him getting dump offs when Georgi is doubled or out of position in the post... he would clean up. Where as Georgi would continue to use his footwork to get his shot in the paint and pass out of it when he draws a double.

Thoughts?
 
#63      

foby

Bonnaroo Land
Take this with the understanding that I know this situation would never happen due to issues unrelated to on court strategy...

I feel like we are not playing to our strengths in the post.

Georgi, was recruited as a 4, but developed some serious back to the basket post moves which were on display last year. He also has a knack for passing, as we have seen him do just that with post entry into Kofi.

It is my opinion that we should run our offense with Georgi in the post and Kofi weak side.

Georgi can use his moves to score on a more consistent basis and can pass out of a double team finding Kofi for easy dunks and layups.

Kofi is still learning the post, but what he has mastered is rebounding. He can sometimes be out of position and when this happens, his shot becomes inconsistent. But imagine him getting dump offs when Georgi is doubled or out of position in the post... he would clean up. Where as Georgi would continue to use his footwork to get his shot in the paint and pass out of it when he draws a double.

Thoughts?
Post gets a red flag due to illegal name spelling.
 
#64      
Take this with the understanding that I know this situation would never happen due to issues unrelated to on court strategy...

I feel like we are not playing to our strengths in the post.

Georgi, was recruited as a 4, but developed some serious back to the basket post moves which were on display last year. He also has a knack for passing, as we have seen him do just that with post entry into Kofi.

It is my opinion that we should run our offense with Georgi in the post and Kofi weak side.

Georgi can use his moves to score on a more consistent basis and can pass out of a double team finding Kofi for easy dunks and layups.

Kofi is still learning the post, but what he has mastered is rebounding. He can sometimes be out of position and when this happens, his shot becomes inconsistent. But imagine him getting dump offs when Georgi is doubled or out of position in the post... he would clean up. Where as Georgi would continue to use his footwork to get his shot in the paint and pass out of it when he draws a double.

Thoughts?
Kofi tends to rush his shots which is not uncommon for his level of experience. Giorgi has been super from the start in that regard. Kofi does seem to have nice touch and footwork but needs to develop the patience that comes with confidence. I think their positioning needs to depend on the defensive positioning and assignments. They should be interchangeable on offense.
 
#65      
Lunardi has us as the first team out. CBS Sports has us as the last team in. lol

We are the definition of a bubble team right now
 
#66      

haasi

New York
There’s a discrepancy right now between human rankings and computer rankings. The computer rankings (NET, KP, Torvik,l...) have us on the right side of the bubble right now - between high 20s and mid 30s. I’ve got two theories that might explain the divergence- why we’re in according to the computers but not the people.

1. our human rankings are worse because we have some relatively recent bad losses - Missouri and Miami- and that’s casting a pall over how people see our tournament qualifications, notwithstanding computer rankings. That might improve as those losses fade in the distance, but obviously we can’t go losing more games to bad teams - NW and Neb).

2. All of the main computer rankings now in use account for margin of victory, unlike the old RPI formula. We crushed Purdue, bringing up our computers rankings, and we barely lost to Maryland at their place, which also might even help us in the eyes of computers, but our RPI (54) is significantly worse than our NET (34). According to RPI we’re firmly off the bubble. I wonder if Lunardi and others are holding on a little bit to the old RPI concepts and placing emphasis much more on wins and losses without regard for margin of victory.
 
#67      
Illinois' AdjO and AdjD for the whole season:
Illinois AdjO and AdjD.JPG


Top 6 Conferences Average AdjEM for the whole season:
Conference average AdjEM.JPG


B10 Conference AdjEM for the whole season:
B10 AdjEM.JPG


B10 Conference AdjEM for whole season (zoomed in on Illinois):
zoomed in on illinois.JPG
 
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#68      
Here is a new breakdown on youtube of the spread offense for anyone who is interested. Hoopvision is also a good follow on twitter if you like x's and o's breakdowns.


Pretty good video. When spread was my base offense at my last school, we used Underwood’s theories on the base offense and his counters. A lot of what the video calls “reads” are actually specifically called plays. They’re true counters that are meant to start like the base action, then change.

Altman though, that man has some great isolation plays out of spread that we used as well. The video shows like one, but he has others that are way better. He’s a genius in terms of breaking spread off to maximize individual mismatches, where underwood is good at using spread itself to attack mismatches.

I will say, and I’ve said this before, where the video talks about the inefficiency at the pinch post, I think that’s a recent thing. Losing those 5 seconds on the shot clock a few years ago takes away one whole reversal. So you have one less chance to break down the defense. Where you would have been able to wait on using the pinch post for one more reversal, you now might have to shoot from that action earlier to avoid a violation. Without having that extra reversal to break down the defense, your shot will be tougher.
 
#69      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
We have to give a huge thanks to Giorgi for his stepping aside for Kofi this year!

Imagine being one of the best freshman 5's to ever suit up for the Illini, only to be asked to make room for an incoming freshman the following year.

Kid is a Illini legend in my book, no matter how many struggles this year.
 
#70      
We have to give a huge thanks to Giorgi for his stepping aside for Kofi this year!

Imagine being one of the best freshman 5's to ever suit up for the Illini, only to be asked to make room for an incoming freshman the following year.

Kid is a Illini legend in my book, no matter how many struggles this year.
I keep thinking, “What about next year?” I don’t really see a path for both of these guys to be their best selves together. Will we see Giorgi’s best season as a freshman?? That’d be sad.
 
#71      
I keep thinking, “What about next year?” I don’t really see a path for both of these guys to be their best selves together. Will we see Giorgi’s best season as a freshman?? That’d be sad.

Giorgi developing more of a 4 skill set would be ideal for his potential to play at the next level, so
Playing next to Kofi could help his long term development. Plus, I doubt Kofi is a 3 year player, so Giorgi could always slide back into the 5 as a senior.
 
#72      
Giorgi developing more of a 4 skill set would be ideal for his potential to play at the next level, so
Playing next to Kofi could help his long term development. Plus, I doubt Kofi is a 3 year player, so Giorgi could always slide back into the 5 as a senior.
Alternate Ending: Giorgi doesn’t develop a “4 skill set” as he mostly just stands at the top of the key trying to feed Kofi and handoff passes to guards weaving around him.
Kofi stays 3-4 years as his skill set isn’t exactly what the NBA is looking for out of a 5.
Giorgi spends his last 3 years here averaging a whopping 8 points and 4 rebounds.

Sad.
 
#73      
Pretty good video. When spread was my base offense at my last school, we used Underwood’s theories on the base offense and his counters. A lot of what the video calls “reads” are actually specifically called plays. They’re true counters that are meant to start like the base action, then change.

Altman though, that man has some great isolation plays out of spread that we used as well. The video shows like one, but he has others that are way better. He’s a genius in terms of breaking spread off to maximize individual mismatches, where underwood is good at using spread itself to attack mismatches.

I will say, and I’ve said this before, where the video talks about the inefficiency at the pinch post, I think that’s a recent thing. Losing those 5 seconds on the shot clock a few years ago takes away one whole reversal. So you have one less chance to break down the defense. Where you would have been able to wait on using the pinch post for one more reversal, you now might have to shoot from that action earlier to avoid a violation. Without having that extra reversal to break down the defense, your shot will be tougher.
It's funny, but I feel like BU has really had to adjust to rules changes that affected his systems. A coworker and I have a theory that the intense pressure defense that he wants to run was hurt when they got rid of the 5 second closely guarded call
 
#74      
Giorgi spends his last 3 years here averaging a whopping 8 points and 4 rebounds.

This could really be a possibility, although I would hope that BU gravitates to the idea of Giorgi spelling Kofi instead of a mandatory most minutes at the 4 role moving forward.
 
#75      
Kid is a Illini legend in my book

Most of us relate to players that we have watched and enjoyed the game from based on our age and years being an ILLINI fan, the 50-60 guys don't come to mind for me, except Thoren/Kerr mostly, so below is my ALL-TIME TOP 10 ILLINI!

There are certain guys that will always fall into this catergory:

Levi Cobb-For me always thought his name was cool and caught my initial ILLINI eye growing up. Started a recruiting pipeline for us! LEGEND
Derek Harper-First Big name from out of state-with ranking that committed to ILLINI, big deal when this happened imo-LEGEND
Dee Brown-The face many of us know and wish was still in the program, nothing but joy/skill playing from this kid, what we all wanted. LEGEND
Eddie Johnson-Scorer, 2nd to none, beat Magic in 79, and still one of the best to ever play for the ILLINI-LEGEND
Nick Anderson-Unquestioned leader/go to player for the Flying ILLINI teams-LEGEND
Kenny Battle-His aggressive nature, his hard nose play, his enthusiasm to play the game hooked us all.-LEGENDS
Ken Norman-The Snake, scorer/rebounder extraordinaire for the ILLINI, prelude to the undersized athlete later known as the Flying ILLINI-LEGEND
Frank Williams-The flash, the handles, the flare for the game from the PG position leading the break. LEGEND
Deron Williams-PG/Combo guard for the 2005 almost undefeated and almost NCAA Champs-LEGEND
Dion Thomas - Leading Scorer/Rebounder, still involved with the program. LEGEND

Hon. Mention Ayo Dosunmu-Stay at home kid all about PRIDE and getting program back to level we all have witnessed and want again.-LEGEND
 
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