Great leadership by Finke and Black.....oh wait nvm carry on.
Lots of scorching hot takes tonight, but this isn't one of them. Finke and Black need to do better. If they're not careful, then one of the freshmen is going to fill the leadership vacuum.Great leadership by Finke and Black...
Altenberger nailed it, just now. Once we lost the lead, all of the guards starting trying to go 1:1 to get us back on top. Turnovers galore! It looked awful, like a bad HS team.
Underwood is going to have a lot of bad habits to break from this team and the influence of John Groce. Getting rid of that garbage 1 on 1 stuff and truly get this team to play with toughness, grit, and a will to win.
Im not really ready to take anything from these exhibitions games yet . The result should not be surprising as EIU returns at least 5 players from their rotation last year including several starters and the rest of the squad is filled out with quite a few Juco transfers.
Agree. Based upon this sample of n=1, our depth is a real concern. However, I expect improvement from everyone. Still, not sure the bottom 3 will see much PT.Smith, Lucas, Kipper, Black, Finke, Alstork.
We aren't 10 deep. We're about 6 deep right now.
If this comes to fruition, it will be perhaps the first time ever in the history of Illinois sports. I'm not going to research it, but I can't recall finishing last in both.Stolen from @IlliniToffee but...
"In a way it's impressive to have the worst teams in the conference in both revenue sports"
I agree with this. (Can't wait until next Friday!)I know this will sound like serious rationalizing, but here goes. I would rather have a bad loss like this in front of another schools fan base with a week of practice to go for this group, then a fairly easy win. This could not have felt good, and the video of it will make them feel even worse. And it doesn't effect our record. This is exactly what Underwood needs to hopefully get this teams attention.
Underwood: "Didn't count."
Underwood: This is a big kudos to the NCAA for allowing us to play these games. Commend EIU, Spoonhour for doing it.
Underwood: This speaks volumes to what our country is about when we can support a terrific cause.
Underwood: I knew this would be tough. It's why I wanted to play Jay. Terrific coach. 75 percent of team back. Tough team.
Underwood: The most important thing for us tonight, putting on a jersey with bright lights on in front of people.
Underwood: We've got a lot of film to watch, a lot of improving to do.
Underwood: EIU did nothing different defensively in 2H. They play hard and guard.
Underwood: Leadership. Where's it coming? Who's going to provide it?
Underwood: We played pretty. We played like a finesse, pretty team. That's not what I'm about. That's on me.
Underwood: Finke and Black had just one rebound in first half. That'll tell you a lot.
Underwood: Mark Smith was by far our best player in practice. Played poor in last scrimmage. Terrific today besides TOs
Underwood: Moments like today help coach leadership. Moments of adversity show who they are. Tonight's a good thing.
Underwood: This team does not have a guy who's been the guy on a high-major team.
Underwood: Easy to predict this outcome based on what we saw this week during practice.
Asked #illini Underwood if he almost enjoyed this win bc it gives him coaching ammunition: "You figured me out."
Underwood: I enjoy when I get guys at their lowest. You have to find out who people really are. I'd rather do it now than in January
Underwood: Not a big shot-blocking team. Right now, that's not who we are. We have to guard the rim with charges and perimeter D
Underwood: I'm trying to figure out what combination worked on defense.
Underwood: Probably should've gotten Matic in there a little more. Played well in practice.
Underwood: People make way too much about an exhibition game. Not a lot of us coaches worry about it. Look for tendencies, identity.
Underwood: I'm disappointed in our effort tonight and really disappointed in our execution.
Underwood: We've got to get Kipper making tough plays.Can't double-clutch. Gotta get dialed in defensively.
Underwood: The one thing I'm most disappointed in is they outhustled us, outfought us. Winning plays are effort.
Underwood: "That's on me. That'll get fixed. That's nothing I'll tolerate."
Underwood: Mark Smith a natural leader. You'll see him evolve in a lot of ways.
Underwood: Alstork has chance to be elite defender. Had a tough start. He's a vet. He's had tough nights.
https://twitter.com/JWerner247
Smith, Lucas, Kipper, Black, Finke, Alstork.
We aren't 10 deep. We're about 6 deep right now.
I couldn't stand the 6 Turnivers from Lucas and 5 from alstork. Any guess on Mark Smiths minutes? 32??? The kid needs the ball more.
Listening to the presser. Finke and Black are in the doghouse.
That's generally what coaches do. Critique the upperclassmen leaders because they can handle it. Praise the freshmen for what they did well to build them up. I don't think anyone on the team really played great. Even Smith had a ton of turnovers, bad shots, and defensive break downs.