Florida Atlantic 73, Illinois 71 OT POSTGAME

[dbeverly26]

The Samba lovefest is hilarious. He played himself right off the court today. He had multiple plays where he yanked himself out of position on D without even really being forced to make a decision, and he is completely incapable of contributing anything but a basic handoff on offense.

I think he could be a good player. But he’s not going to help this team win games yet.

 

[RedRocksIllini]

Our only hope at this point is a motivational ladder.

 

[Buckets4days]

So what do we give today's game? A B of a B-?

 

[Illiniguy13]

The Samba lovefest is hilarious. He played himself right off the court today. He had multiple plays where he yanked himself out of position on D without even really being forced to make a decision, and he is completely incapable of contributing anything but a basic handoff on offense.

I think he could be a good player. But he’s not going to help this team win games yet.

Regarding Kane’s offense, we’ve seen him look very competent in pick-n-rolls (finishing with lobs), put the ball on the floor from the high post, and hit mid-range shots. He has a ways to go in terms of development, but he’s not as offensively inept as you suggest.

 

[TCTORNADO]

Our only hope at this point is a motivational ladder.

Throw in some Seal training and I think you are onto something.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

I am always pro coach and I am not sure a move is needed but on the other hand I am not sure it isn’t needed. What I witnessed in Champaign today was embarrassing! Team played with lack of fire for first 38 minutes that is alarming!

 

[Tevo]

How is it possible this same team was within 2 of Gonzaga in the closing moments of that game, and has now fallen to these depths? Good Lord.

 

[GForce]

This may have been the worst possible season to play this monster schedule. Young players like we have need to build some confidence, and just the opposite has happened with all these losses. Plus, there's no veteran leader to take over win things go bad. It seems to be a repeat of last year in those ways. It's a tough situation and mindset to get out of.

 

[coachingillini]

How is it possible this same team was within 2 of Gonzaga in the closing moments of that game, and has now fallen to these depths? Good Lord.

The only reason we were in that game was Frazier going off for 28 pts in the second half.

 

[Grimy Bill]

The only reason we were in that game was Frazier going off for 28 pts in the second half.

This team might not win ONE game in the Big Howevermanytherearenow.

 

[Jet Jockey]

I am old enough to remember what used to make good offensive basketball. Pick and rolls, give and go's, back doors, chest passes. I hated the guy but Bobby Knight had it right. Now it is nothing but ball screens to set up a dribble one-on-one move to try to emulate the pro game. When you don't have the players, and most teams don't, it makes for a very inconsistent offense. I hope our next coach does not have high ball screen in his vocabulary.

 

[StateFarmCenter]

This team might not win ONE game in the Big Howevermanytherearenow.

Frazier will single handily win a few games on his own. Other than that, it's going to be ugly.

 

[IdahoIllini]

Regarding Kane’s offense, we’ve seen him look very competent in pick-n-rolls (finishing with lobs), put the ball on the floor from the high post, and hit mid-range shots. He has a ways to go in terms of development, but he’s not as offensively inept as you suggest.

The fact that he can move around puts him ahead of DLR.

 

[IdahoIllini]

This may have been the worst possible season to play this monster schedule. Young players like we have need to build some confidence, and just the opposite has happened with all these losses. Plus, there's no veteran leader to take over win things go bad. It seems to be a repeat of last year in those ways. It's a tough situation and mindset to get out of.

I agree the logistics of this schedule were not ideal, and not playing 7-8 cupcakes at home (like KSU did) this year hurts a young and underdeveloped team.

That said, this “monster schedule” stuff is a bit overblown. We’ve played some P5 schools, Gonzaga was certainly good, but Georgetown, ISU, Xavier, Mizzou, and ND are all middling teams this year. A competent level of basketball splits those games and probably wins more than half. We’ve been really bad.

 

[alexander58]

They just couldn’t throw it in the ocean yesterday. There was also some holiday malaise. That being said, the year won’t get any shorter.

 

[ChocolateThunder]

They just couldn’t throw it in the ocean yesterday. There was also some holiday malaise. That being said, the year won’t get any shorter.

Damn, I thought we would give Indiana a run for its money, that that old "holiday malaise" is likely to due us in again.

 

[Notyours]

If we have a ton of transfers after this season (I truly believe it will be a wave), who will be back to play next year? I think we lose Griffin, Jones, Kip, Higgs, and one more surprise we weren’t expecting. When Jones departs, I fully expect January to decommit and we have no recruits expected to be going our way. That leaves us with a starting five of Frazier, Ayo, Georgi, Williams and Feliz. This leaves Kane and the walk ons coming off the bench. Can someone tell me where this gets better and BU can turn this around? I get the buyout is huge but how much money will they university lose as the fan base dwindles away and donors quit donating money?

 

[Illinois75]

The excuse that the team is young doesn't fly because he has chased off the older players like finke, jcl, Greg E, black, Mr illinois bb Mark Smith (who scored 22 and played 36 mins. yesterday by the way). Just what did he do to ms to get the sit out year waiver? We had no chance to get Liddell with that history. I don't care that he constantly scowls and demeans players as long as he wins. His recruiting and player retention is very suspect. I'd say 3 is the over under on transfers after this year. TJ and AG very likely will be gone.

 

[oleoleahy51]

This is bad. Got a feeling in my stomach this morning something like when my dog died or I was divorced. I say suspend all investigations everywhere and focus on why U of ILL b-ball and f-ball are so lousy. We, as fans, have the right to know.

 

[Francis Park Thug]

They just couldn’t throw it in the ocean yesterday. There was also some holiday malaise. That being said, the year won’t get any shorter.

I didn't see any holiday malaise from FAU. Why us?

 

[SescIllini]

I am old enough to remember what used to make good offensive basketball. Pick and rolls, give and go's, back doors, chest passes. I hated the guy but Bobby Knight had it right. Now it is nothing but ball screens to set up a dribble one-on-one move to try to emulate the pro game. When you don't have the players, and most teams don't, it makes for a very inconsistent offense. I hope our next coach does not have high ball screen in his vocabulary.

I dislike Knight as a person but the same thought crossed my mind. Knight was big on triple threat position on offense. We have players that are looking to pass ad soon ad they receive it even when an open shot is present. On defense, Knight's plan was to get in their jock strap and allow corner 3's vs inside looks or top of the key shots. Seems like BU has it backwards on offense and defense.

 

[spillini]

They just couldn’t throw it in the ocean yesterday. There was also some holiday malaise. That being said, the year won’t get any shorter.

 

[illini62707]

Underwood, said he hoped this would be an identity game. A game against FAU with 2 leading scorers out. That's ridiculous. Also, said if this isn't a wake up call he doesn't know what is. Been plenty of times to wake up long before this. And maybe he should wake up. FAU shot 59% second half. This has been going on for a year and a half. The faces have changed , but the shooting %'s haven't. Maybe, the defense your running isn't working.
And somebody please tell me what the half court offense is trying to accomplish. I know what i see doesn't produce a lot of good shots.

 

[alexander58]

I didn't see any holiday malaise from FAU. Why us?

While this team shouldn't take anyone for granted, I doubt they considered Florida Atlantic a threat. That combined with time off and inexplicably poor shooting was a bad combination. I'm not excusing it.

 

[IdahoIllini]

Underwood, said he hoped this would be an identity game. A game against FAU with 2 leading scorers out. That's ridiculous. Also, said if this isn't a wake up call he doesn't know what is. Been plenty of times to wake up long before this. And maybe he should wake up. FAU shot 59% second half. This has been going on for a year and a half. The faces have changed , but the shooting %'s haven't. Maybe, the defense your running isn't working.
And somebody please tell me what the half court offense is trying to accomplish. I know what i see doesn't produce a lot of good shots.

I often wonder what the half court offense is doing as well. Yesterday it looked like we abandoned the pinch post too, maybe because of the zone defense?

What I see is very little movement, cutting, screening off the ball. Nothing designed to get guys open. I do think part of the problem is guys freelancing but that’s something the coaches need to correct/resolve.