2018-2019 Illini Tennis

#26

WhiteRhino

WhiteRhino
#26
WhiteRhino
BRucks said:
Dancer said that he has been sick for 'weeks' and then he turned his knee in the match vs. Duke. Watched him play today vs. He has dropped to #2 in the lineup (Kovacevic moved up). He looked ok physically but didn't play well. Dropped the doubles and was on the way to losing (#2) singles when the match ended 4-1 for the Illini.
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I was watching him play on the stream today and he seemed to be hitting the ball well. I didn't see enough to tell how his movement was, but it seemed ok.

I wonder if he's having mental issues (not mental illness, but either distracted by something or lacking confidence for some reason). Tennis is such a mental game and it doesn't take much to throw you off sometimes. When I was watching him, it seemed like he should have been able to beet his opponent but he just couldn't put him away. He definitely didn't look overmatched.
 
#27

BRucks

B
#27
BRucks
WhiteRhino said:
I was watching him play on the stream today and he seemed to be hitting the ball well. I didn't see enough to tell how his movement was, but it seemed ok.

I wonder if he's having mental issues (not mental illness, but either distracted by something or lacking confidence for some reason). Tennis is such a mental game and it doesn't take much to throw you off sometimes. When I was watching him, it seemed like he should have been able to beet his opponent but he just couldn't put him away. He definitely didn't look overmatched.
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His game is much like the new freshman Mayo. Both big kids with big serves which was good enough to win at the high school level. At this level opponents are able to return some of those serves. Once they get into a rally they are able to move these big guys around and the big guys aren't used to that. Put a lob over their head and they simply turn around and watch it (or not). Dancer will have them practicing vs. Kovecevic or Clark who never let a rally die and they'll come around.
 
#28

WhiteRhino

WhiteRhino
#28
WhiteRhino
BRucks said:
His game is much like the new freshman Mayo. Both big kids with big serves which was good enough to win at the high school level. At this level opponents are able to return some of those serves. Once they get into a rally they are able to move these big guys around and the big guys aren't used to that. Put a lob over their head and they simply turn around and watch it (or not). Dancer will have them practicing vs. Kovecevic or Clark who never let a rally die and they'll come around.
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After watching Brown again today, he just didn't seem to have any energy and his body language was terrible. I don't know if he's sick or his knee is bothering him or what, but he just seemed down and lackluster all the time. Granted, the guy he was playing was really good, but it seems like there was something wrong with him.
 
#29

WhiteRhino

WhiteRhino
#29
WhiteRhino
Tough 4-3 loss to UNC today. Kovacevic pulled out a great win at #1 against Blumberg. Montsi showed his talent at #6, but needs to mature.

UNC was a hard team to play indoors, as all their players were tall and big servers. Illinois threw two really short players out there (Clark & Montsi) who will always have a difficult time beating bigger opponents indoors with the fast courts and (relatively) low ceilings.

All in all, it was a good effort and came down to 4-6 in the third for Brown who can't seem to win lately. If he ever gets fixed, Illinois could potentially be a top-8 or even Final Four team this year.
 
#30

BRucks

B
#30
BRucks
WhiteRhino said:
Tough 4-3 loss to UNC today. Kovacevic pulled out a great win at #1 against Blumberg. Montsi showed his talent at #6, but needs to mature.

UNC was a hard team to play indoors, as all their players were tall and big servers. Illinois threw two really short players out there (Clark & Montsi) who will always have a difficult time beating bigger opponents indoors with the fast courts and (relatively) low ceilings.

All in all, it was a good effort and came down to 4-6 in the third for Brown who can't seem to win lately. If he ever gets fixed, Illinois could potentially be a top-8 or even Final Four team this year.
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Kovacevic was really good against a very good opponent. I thought Brown looked better tonight than he has recently. He did go to the net quite a bit. Didn't always win when he did, but at least he took some chances. The match was lost in doubles. N.C. had duos that played together very well. Overall, I was encouraged.
 
#31

WhiteRhino

WhiteRhino
#31
WhiteRhino
BRucks said:
Kovacevic was really good against a very good opponent. I thought Brown looked better tonight than he has recently. He did go to the net quite a bit. Didn't always win when he did, but at least he took some chances. The match was lost in doubles. N.C. had duos that played together very well. Overall, I was encouraged.
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Yep, it's a tough loss to swallow but a lot to be encouraged about, especially early in the season.
 
#32

ChiefIlliniwek05

C
#32
ChiefIlliniwek05
2 things -

1) Was anyone at the match vs. Ohio State? I followed along on my phone as best I could, but I would like to hear about it from those that attended in person.
2) Caleb is transferring to SMU. Anyone know the details behind that situation? Seems like he was just playing #1 doubles and #5 singles. Did he fall out of favor that quickly?
 
#33

WhiteRhino

WhiteRhino
#33
WhiteRhino
ChiefIlliniwek05 said:
2 things -

1) Was anyone at the match vs. Ohio State? I followed along on my phone as best I could, but I would like to hear about it from those that attended in person.
2) Caleb is transferring to SMU. Anyone know the details behind that situation? Seems like he was just playing #1 doubles and #5 singles. Did he fall out of favor that quickly?
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1) The Ohio State match was very close and was decided (partly) by a blatantly bad call at #2 singles, that has even elicited a call by a former pro player to sanction the tOSU player

2) Caleb was pretty entrenched at #5 and #6 singles and had been winning most of his matches. Then something happened and he went on a long losing streak and ultimately lost his spot in the line-up. He was very good at #1 doubles with Brown and were nationally-ranked.

That is sad that he's leaving. He seemed to be a very popular player. I have no idea what may have led to his desire to transfer, other than him losing his singles spot.
 
#36

WhiteRhino

WhiteRhino
#36
WhiteRhino
Illini men barely beat Minnesota today, 4-3. Lost the doubles point, but won 5 of 6 first sets in singles. It came down to #2 and #4. Both Brown and Montsi won their first sets, but lost the second. Brown was up 4-1 in the 3rd set, was serving for the match at 5-4, and was up 6-4 in the tiebreaker and ended up losing 9-7 in the 3rd set tiebreaker. Sipho saved the day. He was down 5-2 in the 3rd set and rattled off five straight games to win 7-5 in the third or Illinois would have dropped this match.
 
#37

BRucks

B
#37
BRucks
WhiteRhino said:
Illini men barely beat Minnesota today, 4-3. Lost the doubles point, but won 5 of 6 first sets in singles. It came down to #2 and #4. Both Brown and Montsi won their first sets, but lost the second. Brown was up 4-1 in the 3rd set, was serving for the match at 5-4, and was up 6-4 in the tiebreaker and ended up losing 9-7 in the 3rd set tiebreaker. Sipho saved the day. He was down 5-2 in the 3rd set and rattled off five straight games to win 7-5 in the third or Illinois would have dropped this match.
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5-2?
 
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