I know we can beat Maryland. We need to space the floor with our shooter like AG. We can not though if we miss so many FTs, lay ups, and make careless TOs. The other switch i think if to force Cowan to drive as the clock winds down. I would like to see more length on Cowan. Whether it is Ayo or whom even. To let him just dribble and shoot over TF is just way too easy. II dont think Cowan was looking for anything but a three and shooting it as the clock winds down and he did that a few time s and it killed us. I thiik he could have done that all night. Cowan's lack of size has to be his main draw back as far as the NBA is concerned so why not put a big guard on him? if may help
Maryland 75, Illinois 66 POSTGAME
Deleted member 29907
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It’s not disrespect unless done on purpose. Get some perspective.
Brad had Ayo on him quite a bit, when Trent was sitting, switches etc, but wow Cowan is quick. After Garza, he is the best player in the conference IMO.
Pretty sure they went triangle and two in consecutive possessions and gave up wide open 3's both times. Pretty strange for a team that has thrived playing exclusively man defense.
Lots of things went well for Maryland that sometimes won't. Last second 3 in first half, all our missed free throws, crazy back iron 3 pointer that drops, terrible turnover when we could have taken the lead, grabbing the rim which should have been basket interference. They stilll beat us and soreboard is scoreboard. However, I would LOVE to play them one more time in the Big10 tourney
Ok, after sleeping on it, I'm not quite as disappointed in the loss. MD is likely to be B1G champ and we played them tough for most of the game. We probably aren't going to win B1G or be top 4 seed (unless we can steal 1 or 2), but we're still a dangerous team on a neutral court and wouldn't be surprised to see us win 2, 3, or even 4 in the tournament.
Not backing off of what I said in the game thread though. We're 0-4 against the top 5 in the B1G (ourselves excluded obviously). If we want to be one of the best, and if we want the respect of the committee, we're going to have to win against the top of the league. Still have plenty of chances ahead of us but this trend bears monitoring.
Not backing off of what I said in the game thread though. We're 0-4 against the top 5 in the B1G (ourselves excluded obviously). If we want to be one of the best, and if we want the respect of the committee, we're going to have to win against the top of the league. Still have plenty of chances ahead of us but this trend bears monitoring.
illini80
- Forgottonia
I think most of the disappointment stems from not playing well more than losing. We just looked lost at times with sloppy turnovers, missed shots at point blank range, poor ball movement, and missed free throws. Had we played well I think the attitude would be much different. Really, you would think we would be a better shooting team at home than we are.
Any coach that doesn’t throw a zone at us for at least part of the game should be fired. We better figure that one out. It’s more than just missing shots. We are completely unable to recognize how to attack different zones and unable or unwilling to get the ball inside. I hope they are watching film today.
Any coach that doesn’t throw a zone at us for at least part of the game should be fired. We better figure that one out. It’s more than just missing shots. We are completely unable to recognize how to attack different zones and unable or unwilling to get the ball inside. I hope they are watching film today.
Yes, the to's and missed ft's have hurt. But you compare the win streak to the last 2 games and defense is what sticks out. Iowa, shot 50% and 40 and MD, 46 and 39. Then look at the 7 game winning streak numbers except for NW. Illinois' defense was really good! And it has to be because they are a very average offensive team. So, the last 2 games they weren't horrible on defense (iowa was bad) but this team has to play really well on D to overcome the average offense. Look at the 3 point % in the games they won compared to the last 2. They have to play tighter out there as they did against MICH and WIS.
On our offense against zone, I think we can do much better if our guards can penetrate and pass to Kofi or kickout....they always seem to be only focused on basket....even when defenders are collapsing.
Our spelling is as lackadaisical as our play at times...
Really, what would you call Tillman, Gabe Brown, Henry, Malik Hall and Bingham?
Uh, no.
Here are some of my game observations (many of which posters have pointed out already:
Giorgi - Very frustrated with his play of late. He is missing bunnies and committing unforced turnovers when things matter most. Free throw shooting is atrocious. I love Giorgi but we need more from him if we want to get anywhere in the tourney. Does anyone have his brother's phones number? Maybe he can come back to C-C again and straighten out his FT shooting....
Damonte -I was very happy to see DMW get a couple of threes off and end the shooting skid. He also had some nice rebounds and steals.
Trent - Foul trouble has become a habit lately and we cannot afford to have Frazier out of the game for long stretches of the game that begin in the first half. He needs to get this turned around quickly.
Griffin - Superlative effort on the boards tonight and helped build a nice lead early with threes.
Ayo - Not one of his best efforts. His decision making wasn't great and the turnover late when wewere still in the game really hurt.
Kofi - Not his best game but he had a decent effort and we need to do a better job getting him the ball.
Kipper - Pretty good effort.
Feliz - Not as good as he has been recently and he definitely forced up a couple that he shouldn't have. Still, pretty hard to be too upset given how effective he has been lately - Credit MD defense for taking away his driving lanes.
We definitely struggled with MD's zone and this was compounded by our foul trouble. Cowan is ridiculously quick and gave us fits.
I hope we are shooting lots of FT's in practice before MSU.
Giorgi - Very frustrated with his play of late. He is missing bunnies and committing unforced turnovers when things matter most. Free throw shooting is atrocious. I love Giorgi but we need more from him if we want to get anywhere in the tourney. Does anyone have his brother's phones number? Maybe he can come back to C-C again and straighten out his FT shooting....
Damonte -I was very happy to see DMW get a couple of threes off and end the shooting skid. He also had some nice rebounds and steals.
Trent - Foul trouble has become a habit lately and we cannot afford to have Frazier out of the game for long stretches of the game that begin in the first half. He needs to get this turned around quickly.
Griffin - Superlative effort on the boards tonight and helped build a nice lead early with threes.
Ayo - Not one of his best efforts. His decision making wasn't great and the turnover late when wewere still in the game really hurt.
Kofi - Not his best game but he had a decent effort and we need to do a better job getting him the ball.
Kipper - Pretty good effort.
Feliz - Not as good as he has been recently and he definitely forced up a couple that he shouldn't have. Still, pretty hard to be too upset given how effective he has been lately - Credit MD defense for taking away his driving lanes.
We definitely struggled with MD's zone and this was compounded by our foul trouble. Cowan is ridiculously quick and gave us fits.
I hope we are shooting lots of FT's in practice before MSU.
Good game between MSU-Michigan. Commentators discussing surprises in college bball. Jim Jackson says parity is the biggest surprise and multiple teams can win ncaa. The other guy says the bad NC Tarhhels team is the surprise in college bball and that he doesn't care who has a chance to win it, just cares Duke will be part of the championship. Jackson looked surprised that during a conversation of college bball and the big ten, this guy just focused on Duke and NC. With this much bias on 2-4 teams how can the rest of the teams compete. Unfair to other schools, players, and fans.
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
That's a good take on it
FeelYourPaign
- So Cal
That would be particularly true for me if it was on Sunday
illini80
- Forgottonia
Just want to add that Giorgi is very good at sealing his defender and giving Feliz a lane to the basket. He needs to do a lot more, but a few posters talk like he contributes nothing and that's not the case. Hope he can pull himself out of this funk.
Didn’t get to watch the game. How was the atmosphere?
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
Great when we were up. Tense and hopeful as we started to fall behind. Dead for the last two minutes.
Tacomallini
- Washington State
Georgi is Felix’s teammate.
Agreed. I believe Nichols also took an ill-advised shot or made a bad pass/turnover, and was pulled immediately
I'll let the coach decide. Some plays deserve to get yanked for, and some don't. Really depends on the circumstances.
I wish people would forget about spelling miscues, beach houses and growth plates and talk about the subject matter.
We had 5 more shots from the field and 9 more free throws. We had our chances. Give it up to Maryland for playing a good game and move on to the next.
I liked WizardBill's optimism, but if we can finish out 12-8 we are dancing and will have met or exceeded almost everyone's predictions. One or two bad games is not the end of the world - 5 or 6 gets to be a problem.
I liked WizardBill's optimism, but if we can finish out 12-8 we are dancing and will have met or exceeded almost everyone's predictions. One or two bad games is not the end of the world - 5 or 6 gets to be a problem.