Illinois 54, Rutgers 51 POSTGAME

#151      
Why not Purdue or Michigan?
Good question...and every one of us hopes that will happen. However, in this league this year with the home team always getting the benefit of the doubt from the officials, it is certainly not predicted or expected. But this team is a team and supports one another and when they fix their minds on something and are willing to put it all on the line....anything is possible....especially if the shooting improves.
 
#153      
Man, after some time to digest that blood bath and let the old nerves settle a bit, what a game! Mad props to Rutgers. Those boys were out for blood today. It was a fight for every inch of ground. That point guard was a one tough SOB, wouldn't mind him on my side. Their entire squad was up for the battle. Gonna be seriously hard to take them at the RAC! I think they are a couple of bounces away from a tourney birth and I would be all for it after watching that display.

Ayo for the second game in a row was an absolutely clutch stud. Big boards, move the ball unselfishly, clutch free throws at the end, blocks, steals. He is doing it all for us. mid range game is gonna be huge if they team is to win against elite defenses such as this. I'm full on falling for this guys game now, he is a complete player and developing into a winner. Seems like a great kid to boot.

With such a putrid shooting line it is very hard to win but they won every other aspect of the game. One game after fts nearly blew the game for us this game it won it for us. 16-19 and making them down the stretch win they mattered most. Icewater in the veins. Ayo with 4 big ones late, again leading the team.

AG was an energize bunny again, despite truly poor shooting tonight, one can't help to feel his infectious attitude o the court. 8 rebound and 4 offensive just keep the team surging. The damonte/Griffin/kipper swingy small forward combo play is truly effective. Lots of length, energy and commitment. At the start of the second have Damonte had his moments. Great offensive board and assist to Ayo 3 and shortly after that a world class block out on the defensive side. These three guys do a ton of dirty work and it is the guts of the team.

Speaking of guts, Dre is a true baller. that period in the second half where he had those drives for buckets is what kept this team alive. Playing like a senior. I felt early on that this was gonna be a Dre type of game, took a while to come together but it was in the end.

And what can you say about Kofi and the rebounding effort in general. 11pts and 17 boards! The man is a presence like we've never seen at Illinois. 48 rebounds, when was the last time we did that?

This team is prone to shooting slumps and scoring droughts but they can still win by defense, taking care of the ball and out rebounding. great win against a determined team.


time to go back on this thread and see the rest of everybody's thought.
 
#154      

Steelyunk

Tobacco Road
Kinda funny, since the poster specifically said he didn't mind AG coming off the bench, clearly implying that he wasn't asking for Damonte to be benched.

Frankly, I'm trying to figure out the fixation of having to defend Damonte. Hell, someone gave Giorgi a D grade today and that guy didn't get criticized. He just was presented with a counter argument.

This team would be better if Damonte was contributing more. If you don't understand that, than you don't know much about basketball. I'm pretty confident that you understand it so I'm left wondering why the need to come to the guy's defense like this. Not sure if you're one of the ones continually doing it, but the people who want to gloss over DMW's deficiencies are kinda headscratching to me.
Like I said - I don’t bash kids. I like the way Damonte plays. He seems like a tough kid who works hard. But he’s like me in high school- he cannot score. I wish he could. I want these kids to succeed.
 
#155      

Loyalillini10

Urbana, IL
Like I said - I don’t bash kids. I like the way Damonte plays. He seems like a tough kid who works hard. But he’s like me in high school- he cannot score. I wish he could. I want these kids to succeed.
I disagree. He CAN score! For some reason, he chooses not to. I don’t understand it. But he does a lot of good things for the team and he has a lot of value on the floor. He could bring more value by shooting the open 3 or driving it when he has an open lane. He is a good FT shooter, so getting fouled on the way up isn’t the worst thing.
 
#156      
Excellent seats for today's game and seeing it up close, I remember at the 10 minute mark telling the guy next to me that "No one will foul out today"

Two very physical teams that know how to play defense and refs that let them play. A lot of contact allowed around the basket early led I believe to some rushed shots later (Alan shooting an air ball on a layup). You shoot quickly expecting contact even if its not there.
 
#160      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
have to laugh at the idea that a recruit would care about Kenpom rankings.

What I meant was the success of the B1G as a conference as a whole. It's nice to be able to showcase that success to recruits.
 
#161      

illini55

The Villages, FL
This was in no way a great win....but it was an important win. When a team plays 10 minutes with little energy, bad passing, missed layups and brick after brick they are probably going to lose, When the same team continues to throw up bricks after deciding to get their head in the game and play tough defense they are even more likely to lose. But they didn't after shooting a rather consistent 29% for the game. They played defense and rebounded with a very tough rebounding team right to the wire. The difference was at the charity stripe where they shot 19 freebies and Rutgers 8. That is reversed in Piscataway and we lose per Big Ten officiating rules. That Kofi shot 5-6 from the charity stripe was huge and he deserves a pat on the back for his work and taking a beating. Sure wish these kids would learn to move the ball more quickly instead of pounding it into the hardwood and weaving forever off ball screens....but Underwood has made his bed. Not my cup of tea but I am not the coach.

Kudos to the guys for out-rebounding one of the best rebounding teams in the country. Rutgers basketball is no longer a door mat but a leader in America's toughest conference. They have size, quickness, smart players, shooting skills, a devotion to defense, and excellent coaching....deserving of a tip of the hat and respect for building a program and culture to be admired. Hopefully, the Illini are doing the same step by step. With Geo Baker in the lineup, this game would likely never have been close. Certainly, a win on Feb. 15 would almost assuredly earn this team nationwide respect but I don't see that happening....but we can dream.

Stay focused and bring energy against the Mildcats and then get ready to fight to the wire against two pretty good teams on the road looking to avenge a road loss to our guys. Tough to do, but winning a B1G title or even being in the hunt the last week is as tough a goal as there is in college hoops.
I mostly agree with your observations, but not with your comment that they played with little energy in the first half. Bad results do not necessarily equate with the energy level, which I thought was good throughout. They got plenty of good shots, but failed to make most of them. Go Illini!
 
#162      
Most, it appears, agree that the foul on Kipper near the end was the right call. I saw a guy (Kipper) bending over to hand the ball off and the defensive player ran right into him. I don't see the foul on Kipper? Can anyone explain it otherwise?
 
#163      
The inability to shoot, make 3s, and, in turn, spread the defense out will be the team's downfall. Unfortunately, shooting ability is not something that can be fixed.
 
#164      

foby

Bonnaroo Land
The inability to shoot, make 3s, and, in turn, spread the defense out will be the team's downfall. Unfortunately, shooting ability is not something that can be fixed.
Define "downfall"
 
#165      

illini55

The Villages, FL
The inability to shoot, make 3s, and, in turn, spread the defense out will be the team's downfall. Unfortunately, shooting ability is not something that can be fixed.
Based on early projections, an infusion of new talent may do the trick next year. Fingers crossed.
 
#166      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
The inability to shoot, make 3s, and, in turn, spread the defense out will be the team's downfall. Unfortunately, shooting ability is not something that can be fixed.

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#167      
The inability to shoot, make 3s, and, in turn, spread the defense out will be the team's downfall. Unfortunately, shooting ability is not something that can be fixed.
I want to thank 83nation for saving me the trip from St Louis to Champaign for the rest of the season. Saves me a lot of money. Again please define "downfall". We are all waiting.
 
#168      
KenPom rankings are based on offensive and defensive efficiency. So points per possession scored/allowed and then adjusted for SOS.

Here are some looks at NET and the Quadrant system:

https://bracketresearch.com/team-quadrant-wins-and-losses-tracker/

https://www.slipperstillfits.com/20...ess-bracket-rankings-gonzaga-bulldogs-snubbed
So, I understand what a quad 1 vs 2 vs 3 vs 4 win is:
Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75.
Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135.
Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240.
Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353.

But, I'm not sure what the rankings are based on (i.e. who is #1 for example??). Is it RPI? If so, then why doesn't the RPI listing actually state #1, #2, #3, etc next to the team. Meaning, I have to actually count down to Illinois to figure out what ranking they are in the RPI. Just frickin put down their RPI ranking!!
 
#169      
Most, it appears, agree that the foul on Kipper near the end was the right call. I saw a guy (Kipper) bending over to hand the ball off and the defensive player ran right into him. I don't see the foul on Kipper? Can anyone explain it otherwise?

A hand off is called the same as a screen. If you are moving it is illegal. Kipper was moving and it was the right call.
 
#170      
So, I understand what a quad 1 vs 2 vs 3 vs 4 win is:
Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75.
Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135.
Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240.
Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353.

But, I'm not sure what the rankings are based on (i.e. who is #1 for example??). Is it RPI? If so, then why doesn't the RPI listing actually state #1, #2, #3, etc next to the team. Meaning, I have to actually count down to Illinois to figure out what ranking they are in the RPI. Just frickin put down their RPI ranking!!

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d1/ncaa-mens-basketball-net-rankings

This is what the NCAA uses to determine quadrant wins. It is updated every morning.
 
#171      
Kinda funny, since the poster specifically said he didn't mind AG coming off the bench, clearly implying that he wasn't asking for Damonte to be benched.

Frankly, I'm trying to figure out the fixation of having to defend Damonte. Hell, someone gave Giorgi a D grade today and that guy didn't get criticized. He just was presented with a counter argument.

This team would be better if Damonte was contributing more. If you don't understand that, than you don't know much about basketball. I'm pretty confident that you understand it so I'm left wondering why the need to come to the guy's defense like this. Not sure if you're one of the ones continually doing it, but the people who want to gloss over DMW's deficiencies are kinda headscratching to me.
Kinda like it's a heads scratcher to some of us the constant rant About DMW after every game.
 
#172      
Kinda like it's a heads scratcher to some of us the constant rant About DMW after every game.
So earlier we had someone say that Giorgi was a shell of himself compared to last year. Another person gave him a D for this game.

When you start for a team and you don't have a great stat line, people are going to notice and talk about it.

The difference in this thread is that others gave their different opinions about Giorgi without suggesting that the other people were somehow wrong to make their own points. But for some reason, DMW criticism is less being responded to with opposing points but rather somehow taking people to task for even talking about it.

BU needs to do what he thinks is best and the team is playing well so I'm not critical of minutes or starters. But DMW contributing more is important for this team to step up to a higher level. As is Trent getting threes down, hopefully Ayo as well, and BU finding more touches for Giorgi in the post.
 
#175      
Kinda funny, since the poster specifically said he didn't mind AG coming off the bench, clearly implying that he wasn't asking for Damonte to be benched.

Frankly, I'm trying to figure out the fixation of having to defend Damonte. Hell, someone gave Giorgi a D grade today and that guy didn't get criticized. He just was presented with a counter argument.

This team would be better if Damonte was contributing more. If you don't understand that, than you don't know much about basketball. I'm pretty confident that you understand it so I'm left wondering why the need to come to the guy's defense like this. Not sure if you're one of the ones continually doing it, but the people who want to gloss over DMW's deficiencies are kinda headscratching to me.
I’m pretty certain that “this team would be better if [insert name of any player getting minutes] was contributing more..”