Illinois 75, Ohio State 70 POSTGAME

[westcoastillini]

Diving into this further, aren't there quite a few Big Ten teams that we should be well built for? Not tOSU, Purdue, Wisconsin, Maryland, IU, Michigan, or MSU. The good news? With our amazing schedule, we only play those teams 6 more times. With the interior size and experience, the ability of Malcolm to get to the foul line, the solid shooting, and the experience of our main guards we should be a tough out in every other game where we are shooting decent. We need road wins though, and that's always trouble...

The pessimist in me thinks it's more likely we lose home games
than pick up road wins.

Illini please prove me Wrong!

 

[MrOizo]

I noticed at one point in the second half, Matta signaled an offensive play from the bench and Tate (our Tate) was relaying the same signal to the defense and our bench. I have to think it's that kind of floor leadership and smarts that Groce values in using Tate over TJL. I agree that Lucas should get some tick every game, though. He's got less senior savvy and coach-on-the-floor type knowledge built up, sure, but has a great natural feel for the game and running the point.

Helpful to hear that. Our defense does need all the help it can get. If only JT was a better defensive player himself, I would be more bought into this value. As it is, he's so far below a "good defender" that the floor leadership will need to come from one of our many other seniors, who could also bring this value (Hill, Abrams, etc.). We have so many seniors that this leadership shouldn't be a reason to keep Tate out there so much IMO.

 

[MrOizo]

The pessimist in me thinks it's more likely we lose home games
than pick up road wins.

Illini please prove me Wrong!

I hear you - bottom line is we either beat top 7 teams teams at home or we beat bottom 7 teams on the road. I'm just thankful that the schedule allows us to not ask this team to win every home game or win every winnable road game.

Bottom line, if these players want to go to the tourney there is a path. They are lucky there is a path and they need to step up if they want it.

 

[bleedsorangenblue]

I am off the ledge for now. This looked like a different team than the one we saw in MD. I think if they are clicking, they have the ability to beat any of the teams in the B1G. This is not saying that they will but they have the ability be competitive. My question has always been their desire and ability to play as a team They showed flashes of that last night and, if they continue to improve, will be a hard out for any team. As said above by MrOizo: "they need to step up if they want it"

 

[Illini B-Ball Fan]

I noticed at one point in the second half, Matta signaled an offensive play from the bench and Tate (our Tate) was relaying the same signal to the defense and our bench. I have to think it's that kind of floor leadership and smarts that Groce values in using Tate over TJL. I agree that Lucas should get some tick every game, though. He's got less senior savvy and coach-on-the-floor type knowledge built up, sure, but has a great natural feel for the game and running the point.

That's good for our side. Both Tate and Abrams have observed Matta numerous times over the last 4 years and am sure they've picked up many other coaches' signals, as well. Hopefully, they'll pass this knowledge onto TJL for future reference.

 

[TCTORNADO]

7 assists on 26 FG's was the lowest % of the year.

 

[Bailey]

Jaquan Lyle is so good.

What happened in that recruitment again? I sort of remember us backing off for attitude reasons, but that was never totally clear.

 

[illini8507]

Jaquan Lyle is so good.

What happened in that recruitment again? I sort of remember us backing off for attitude reasons, but that was never totally clear.

Think the reason we backed away was because of academics, which would make sense considering he ended up going to a prep school

 

[Orange]

Jaquan Lyle is so good.

What happened in that recruitment again? I sort of remember us backing off for attitude reasons, but that was never totally clear.

agreed. if they figure out the pieces around him, look out.

 

[Illiniguy13]

Hill looked significantly better this time around against their lengthy athletic defenders.

 

[FiveStar]

Hill looked significantly better this time around against their lengthy athletic defenders.

I felt like he attacked the rim more than he has all year. He looked like he was turning the corner to drive and score.

 

[JudsonFTS]

I felt like he attacked the rim more than he has all year. He looked like he was turning the corner to drive and score.

Yup. Works better when he catches it in the rhythm of the offense too....causes creases in the d unlike when he goes straight one on one... usually a highly contested shot then.

 

[Illiniguy13]

Yup. Works better when he catches it in the rhythm of the offense too....causes creases in the d unlike when he goes straight one on one... usually a highly contested shot then.

True. I'd love to see Malcolm play in a better offensive system.

 

[LurkLongandProsper]

I'm probably only one around here, but I still didn't feel like we played well. Defensive issues persist. Still a lot of ISO and standing around waiting for Malcolm to do something in crunch time and bad play calls/sets out of TO's. Looking ahead, I still don't see where we're any better than 7-11 in B1G, maybe 8-10. To many deficiencies to get very excited.

I agree with you. I thought we were pretty fortunate OSU was taking such terrible shots in the first half to spot us that lead, because we got outplayed in the second. Additionally, our offense looked good, but...

7 assists on 26 FG's was the lowest % of the year.

^ that is a very bad statistic for us (or any team). You can't do that and win a lot of games against good teams without a lot of luck. There was definitely great competitiveness and drive from the team today, which was good, but the schematic issues are all still there and will continue to hamper the team's upside.

 

[UrbanaIsTheShiz]

Yup. Works better when he catches it in the rhythm of the offense too....causes creases in the d unlike when he goes straight one on one... usually a highly contested shot then.

Great observation. if he is already moving whern he gets the ball its a huge advantage. If he has to initiate putting the ball on the floor in tight space, awkwardness often occurs.

 

[blackdog]

Great observation. if he is already moving whern he gets the ball its a huge advantage. If he has to initiate putting the ball on the floor in tight space, awkwardness often occurs.

Not just when he is moving but also when the defender is moving too. He is so good with his fakes that if a defender is already closing out on the catch they are pretty much dead in the water. Pump fake and blow by.

 

[Illini4Reel]

I attended the game, and for some reason, SFC has the 200 Level lights on for the whole first half. Then in the second half they were off. I rewatched it on TV to see if there was a different and it was big. You can see the whole stadium was bright and able to be seen all the way to the top. Then in the second darkness again. Thought it was strange why they were on but looked nice.

 

[Stevegarbs]

I attended the game, and for some reason, SFC has the 200 Level lights on for the whole first half. Then in the second half they were off. I rewatched it on TV to see if there was a different and it was big. You can see the whole stadium was bright and able to be seen all the way to the top. Then in the second darkness again. Thought it was strange why they were on but looked nice.

You mean these lights that blind you in the top few rows?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ulysses Everett McGill]

Jaquan Lyle is so good.

Very good. Seems to heavily favor driving to the right (a bit reminiscent of BP), so might've helped our cause to overplay that side. He can really lay it up and in off glass from a seemingly impossible angle.

 

[danielb927]

You mean these lights that blind you in the top few rows?

(image removed for space)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Can confirm, they may look nice on TV but are very bothersome as a fan in the upper level. We were in row 12 (halfway up the 200 level) and were very glad when they shut them off at halftime.

 

[BirdDog9048]

7 assists on 26 FG's was the lowest % of the year.

That's not great by any means, but I do recall quite a few times where a pass was made and the guy made only one dribble to get himself a good shot. No assist is given in a lot of those cases, but it was still good ball movement/distribution.

 

[Bear8287]

I found it interesting that after a win, we don't see any comments about how the Illini players just seem to be too slow to compete on defense and just aren't that athletic.

Why is that?

Go Illini!

 

[radiodj]

I found it interesting that after a win, we don't see any comments about how the Illini players just seem to be too slow to compete on defense and just aren't that athletic.

Why is that?

Go Illini!

I'd argue that too many base their judgments of the game based off the outcome, and not the overall play itself.

 

[UofIChE06]

Can confirm, they may look nice on TV but are very bothersome as a fan in the upper level. We were in row 12 (halfway up the 200 level) and were very glad when they shut them off at halftime.

Yea but the team played better in the first half so turn those babies on.

 

[riffraff]

What sticks in my head from this game besides the outcome was the horrendous shooting by Morgan to start the game. Doesn't anyone teach arching the ball and using the backboard any more?