2018-2019 Post Mortem

#26      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
Yes he did.......Very good for a " playing like a chicken with his head cut off " description some have said....
JMHO, but if TJ and AG had gotten more tick we MIGHT not be looking at a 21 in the loss column...But , hey, there are others here that dispute any opinion to the thought that some starters were not pulling their weight ...

Here's to better recruiting and more wins !!!! BTW, didn't realize clappy boy was in the running for Christian Brown....

Look, if you are going to quote other posters, or even allude to what they posted........please try and get it right. What I said was....and it was blatantly obvious....was that TJ plays defense like a chicken with his head cut off at times. You clearly don't pay any attention to that aspect of the game, or it would be clear to you as well.
But hey...he made a couple threes and that's so much sexier!

You are really trying way too hard to push a personal opinion that is flawed logic. The reason Tevian and AG don't see the floor more is because of their defense. I'm really not sure what you don't get about it. Move on.

What you are proposing is just some fans opinion based on seeing only what he wants to vs. coaches....experienced coaches...that see everything.
 
#29      

Deleted member 236589

D
Guest
No, they didn't show what they can be. They showed that on a given night when the team plays outside their mind and the other team consistently shoots themselves in the foot or is going through a rough stretch, they can maybe pull out a win. Think about it, without MSU and Maryland wins, you're talking 10-23 (5-16). Does anyone have any good feelings moving forward?

Don't allow two random games in the middle of the season dictate what they showed for the majority of the year.
Ok, if you want to go there, I submit the ball that rimmed out at the buzzer at Notre Dame, the last second loss at Northwestern, the overtime loss vs FIU, so on and so forth.

The schedule they played was ridiculously difficult. BU eluded to it last night. Too much too soon. This was not a good year to have Maui on the schedule.

You can't take away wins based on "what ifs" if you aren't going to give some back.

If they would have played a cupcake non conference schedule, our record is probably 8-3 Non Conference, 7-13 Conference, 1-1 BTT.....that's 16-17 overall and this talk of regression wouldn't be happening.

IF we get the core roster back, this will at very least be a bubble team next year.
 
#31      

Illiniaaron

Geneseo, IL
OK, but in 1973/74 I was more likely to see them lose by 14% more than this year. I'm just saying this is not the worst that some of us have seen.
If you are trying to defend this year against those saying it was one of the worst in Illini history by saying "No, we were actually 14% more likely to lose 45 years ago," you might want to save your ammo for a different battle.
 
#32      
First, the upper half of the B1G is 7 teams, not 5. Second, one more big guy in the middle completely changes the way we can defend. Iowa had their way with us inside because of the massive size advantage they had over us. Put another body in there and it's a much different defensive scheme and thus a much different game.

Third, your transitive "We lost to FAU, therefore we would have lost to Stony Brook and Weber St" is just silly. That's like saying because MSU lost to us they would have also lost to Rutgers and Northwestern.

This team was fun to watch the last half of the season, even during many of the losses. That right there makes me have hope for the near future and enjoy this season way more than a John Groce NIT season.
I would love to be close to the NIT. I'm glad you had fun but watching Illini get whipped by Penn State Indiana Iowa. It was not fun for me.(barely beating NW2×)Yes I know that 5 out of 6 game stretch was part of the second half but if you add that in with the whole season that is an outlier. We ended up looking the same as we did at the beginning. (Yea we are better than NW again).
 
#33      

lstewart53x3

Scottsdale, Arizona
If you are trying to defend this year against those saying it was one of the worst in Illini history by saying "No, we were actually 14% more likely to lose 45 years ago," you might want to save your ammo for a different battle.

Kenpom rankings for the past 5 years:

82 (this year)
102
66
125
61

So not only was this time *not* historically bad, we’ve had 2 teams statistically worse in the past 5 years.
 
#34      

kcib8130

Parts Unknown
In comparing last year to this year, I look at this...

Last year's team was 14-18, and won all the games they were supposed to, lost all the games they were supposed to. No real surprises.

This year's team was 11-21, won some games they should have, and lost some they shouldn't have. definitely some flashes of greatness, and some pits of brutality.

With that, I fully believe if 17-18 Illini played 18-19 Illini heads up, this year's team absolutely mops the floor with last year's group.

I believe that to be progress.
 
#35      
I share the frustration of my fellow Illini grads and fans. In hindsight, we wonder whether more floor time for TJ and AG wouldn’t have helped their development. At the same time, I recall Weber’s sparing use of a freshman Meyers Leonard and Groce’s sparing use of some of his younger prospects, including Malcolm Hill. I submit that Ayo and Giorgi both saw at least as much or more floor time from Coach Brad than they would have from either of his predecessors. While I do wince with discomfort when I see a certain walk-on on the floor, and pray it doesn’t contribute to an undesirable transfer, I submit that, solely from the perspective of playing underclassmen, this Coach overall seems more willing to do it.
 
#36      
Um, the team's winning percentage was terrible.
My point was that people have been talking like this was the worst season ever because of the 21 losses but looking at win % it was not the worst ever. Bad, yes, but not the worst ever.
 
#37      
The final record shows 21 losses, but the team was better than a "21 loss team" at the end of the season (and by extension, worse than a "21 loss team" early in the season). That alone is worth some optimism. There was marked improvement and player buy-in. It took a while for the team to put the pieces together, but at the end of it all, the bottom line is we had a brutal nonconference schedule before we started meshing, and yet we won twice as many Big Ten games as we did last year.

That last fact is important, in my opinion. We won twice as many nonconference games this year compared to last year in a much stronger Big Ten (top to bottom).

We improved over the course of this season. We improved from last season to this season. Signs are pointing up.

That said, can we please stop being blown out by Iowa and maybe finally get on the right side of Wisconsin next season? Pretty please?

As OP pointed out, we were last in the Big 10 in KenPom. That means we were objectively bad, even accounting for the schedule. There are also 20 games in Big 10 play vs 18 last year. So just more raw wins is misleading. We were a little better overall in KenPom, I guess that's progress, but its not much

This was a disappointing year. We met zero of the preseason predictions that were on this board (I just checked the thread).

We were inconsistent. Regressing, then improving, then regressing. Next year will be better, I fully agree. It should be a lot better, depending on Ayo's decision
 
#38      

sacraig

The desert
As OP pointed out, we were last in the Big 10 in KenPom. That means we were objectively bad, even accounting for the schedule. There are also 20 games in Big 10 play vs 18 last year. So just more raw wins is misleading. We were a little better overall in KenPom, I guess that's progress, but its not much

This was a disappointing year. We met zero of the preseason predictions that were on this board (I just checked the thread).

We were inconsistent. Regressing, then improving, then regressing. Next year will be better, I fully agree. It should be a lot better, depending on Ayo's decision

Do percentages work better for you? We won 36% of our Big Ten games this season versus 21% last season.

I like me some KenPom, but it doesn't tell the whole story, especially with such a rough start by our team.
 
#39      
How about this, we have 60% of a team. 40% were freshmen and maybe we will have the other 40% next year.:cool:
 
#40      
This how bad we were argument is kinda like
2 buzzards arguing which ones purtiest.Lets call it a tie.
 
#41      

breadman

Herndon, VA
I share the frustration of my fellow Illini grads and fans. In hindsight, we wonder whether more floor time for TJ and AG wouldn’t have helped their development. At the same time, I recall Weber’s sparing use of a freshman Meyers Leonard and Groce’s sparing use of some of his younger prospects, including Malcolm Hill. I submit that Ayo and Giorgi both saw at least as much or more floor time from Coach Brad than they would have from either of his predecessors. While I do wince with discomfort when I see a certain walk-on on the floor, and pray it doesn’t contribute to an undesirable transfer, I submit that, solely from the perspective of playing underclassmen, this Coach overall seems more willing to do it.

Hey, guess what, I am also a TRidge72-er. Love to hear your input for our O&B. But, wasn't it great to witness what QBuck and our team did under Coach Ferguson back then?
 
#42      
OK, but in 1973/74 I was more likely to see them lose by 14% more than this year. I'm just saying this is not the worst that some of us have seen.

The fact that we are debating whether this was the worst team in the history of the problem is rather telling. Misery is misery.
When you watch the talent on display in the ACC last night it is difficult not to conclude we "may be on the dance floor, but a very long way from the band."

After we won the four out of five games? What happened?

Misery.gif
 
#43      
Watching the second half of the Iowa game, I kept wondering about our conditioning program. We did not finish games. Iowa was just physically stronger than Illinois. The Iowa game was not the only game in which I felt we were not strong enough to compete. Are our players simply not physically prepared? Is there something that could have been done with our strength program to enable to better compete and finish?
 
#44      
Watching the second half of the Iowa game, I kept wondering about our conditioning program. We did not finish games. Iowa was just physically stronger than Illinois. The Iowa game was not the only game in which I felt we were not strong enough to compete. Are our players simply not physically prepared? Is there something that could have been done with our strength program to enable to better compete and finish?

We encountered a number of teams this season who were bigger, quicker, stronger, and more athletic. Glad we didn't play NC, Duke, FSU or Virginia.
 
#45      
Let's see....you lose your entire front line(4 guys), and your best remaining experienced player with size(Kipper) has a dud of a season. Then bring in 3 bigs...all fairly low rated. One can't play. That's a recipe for disaster. A 4 guard lineup isn't gonna work in the Big Ten. This team needs some size, strength and toughness.
 
#46      
Let's see....you lose your entire front line(4 guys), and your best remaining experienced player with size(Kipper) has a dud of a season. Then bring in 3 bigs...all fairly low rated. One can't play. That's a recipe for disaster. A 4 guard lineup isn't gonna work in the Big Ten. This team needs some size, strength and toughness.
I take issue with the toughness part. These guys worked their tails off. They were just plain undermanned.
 
#47      

cuillini

San Bernardino, Ca.
We had 8 new faces and were significantly undersized to compete in the toughest Big Ten in years. Hopefully we don't suffer any transfers this offseason and both recruits arrive as expected. That being said, can the team get strong enough over the summer to rebound against the Wisconsins, Purdues, and Michigan States of the conference?
As much as I hope there is enough improvement so that Selection Sunday next year will be a cause for celebration, I don't have much confidence that it will materialize.
 
#49      
I have not really read this thread. But want to express my delight I have for the future of this team and program. This extremely young team fought like lions in battle. They made clutch plays. And are a joy to watch. This is a very deep and talented roster. With the upcoming additions, though still on the young side looks to be the best roster top to bottom that I have seen in Illini history. These kids can ball. When they get the fundamentals of Coach's defense, oh my! This year in my opinion prepared them for what will be a very entertaining and compelling 2019/20 season.

Mark my words.
 
#50      

illini80

Forgottonia
I have not really read this thread. But want to express my delight I have for the future of this team and program. This extremely young team fought like lions in battle. They made clutch plays. And are a joy to watch. This is a very deep and talented roster. With the upcoming additions, though still on the young side looks to be the best roster top to bottom that I have seen in Illini history. These kids can ball. When they get the fundamentals of Coach's defense, oh my! This year in my opinion prepared them for what will be a very entertaining and compelling 2019/20 season.

Mark my words.
I am going to assume you are fairly young then.