Illinois 77, UNLV 74 POSTGAME

[SeattleSlim]

Making Winning the tourney was always the goal, last season, this season, and every other season. Whether the roster assembled by the staff leads to reasonable expectations of making the tourney is a different story, but that has nothing to do with the goal.

fify

 

[skyIdub]

I think when you talk “eye-test” you have to mention Kane. I said this in the game thread and I’ll repeat it again, to have him rotting away on the bench in the midst of our worst season in 100+ years is beyond negligent bordering on criminal by this coaching staff. And where I am making this connection to the eye-test is every time DLR is on the court, he just looks like he has no business being out there. The fact that Kane was in late is really offset somewhat by the fact DLR couldn’t practice either coming off his injury. To me, it’s strictly the coaches banking on experience over talent and doing it to a fault.

If DLR, and this is no knock on him as a teammate or person, had shown anything in his time on the court I’d be right there with the guys justifying playing him over Kane. He did not.

I’ll call it water under the bridge now, and going forward that time should go primarily to Kane as we play with an eye toward the future. If this was a one-off and DLR goes right back to being the first big off the bench then Underwood, like so many other coaches **cough cough Bruce Weber cough** will show to be stubborn to a fault...to the detriment of the team and the future. Just my .02 as I know others will argue Kane “just wasn't ready” but I don’t buy that.

He wasn't "rotting away on the bench", he was getting caught up to the 8 weeks he'd missed over the summer. DLR is coming back A MONTH EARLY from an ACL tear.

 

[joed]

"but punching trash cans and throwing water bottles is approaching Fran level anger."

Just wondering, did that literally happen, or a figure of speech pertaining to BU yelling at the kids?

keep on truckin

joe

 

[mattcoldagelli]

Yes. We played against a team that wasn't in the top 20. Not even in the top 75. Pretty magical.

Is the thinking here we were saving an inexperienced player until the competition was worse? Sorry, that's a luxury you don't have when you're 2-7.

 

[OrangeSoda]

Is the thinking here we were saving an inexperienced player until the competition was worse? Sorry, that's a luxury you don't have when you're 2-7.

Nope. The thinking is that he was 8 weeks behind everyone at the start of the season and he looks better against bad competition (UNLV).

 

[sacraig]

He threw a water bottle under his chair, followed quickly by (and excuse me if my lip reading skills are subpar at best) a "what are you *blank*ing doing" directed at Feliz after he tried running clock and not attempting the layup.

BU admitted last year after his hand was taped after a game that it was because of a trash can. Those three things all actually happened. He has not thrown a literal chair onto the court however.

Count me among those who are, to this point, unconcerned about a coach with a temper. There's a line there, but I don't feel as though he has crossed it based on what we've seen publicly. Of course I'd like to see a bit more winning to justify it, but I also am of the opinion that this is a pretty substantial rebuild in terms of players, culture, and broader reputation, so overnight success was always going to be a stretch.

 

[mattcoldagelli]

Count me among those who are, to this point, unconcerned about a coach with a temper. There's a line there, but I don't feel as though he has crossed it based on what we've seen publicly. Of course I'd like to see a bit more winning to justify it, but I also am of the opinion that this is a pretty substantial rebuild in terms of players, culture, and broader reputation, so overnight success was always going to be a stretch.

Having Timmy Beckman act the amiable goof on the sidelines while bullying players out of needed medical treatment behind the scenes has kind of left me at the point where I would rather someone be a harda$$ on the court as opposed to off it.

 

[ChiefIllini]

Count me among those who are, to this point, unconcerned about a coach with a temper. There's a line there, but I don't feel as though he has crossed it based on what we've seen publicly. Of course I'd like to see a bit more winning to justify it, but I also am of the opinion that this is a pretty substantial rebuild in terms of players, culture, and broader reputation, so overnight success was always going to be a stretch.

Like I said, at this moment, I dont think he's done anything obscene. Fine with being hard on players, just hope this kind of stuff doesn't lead to a Fran like meltdown, or a Knight chair throwing incident. I think most would agree on both points.

 

[The Dave]

yep. but posters on here seem to act like we are one of the worst teams in the country. I think we win out the non-conference and go 7-13 in conference. Not good, nothing to hype about, but improvement.

I would be ECSTATIC if we won 7 in conference. I think this team improves throughout the year, but I think winning 4 would be a stretch right now. There are no "gimmies" in the B10 this year and we are near the bottom of the barrel.

 

[The Dave]

Like I said, at this moment, I dont think he's done anything obscene. Fine with being hard on players, just hope this kind of stuff doesn't lead to a Fran like meltdown, or a Knight chair throwing incident. I think most would agree on both points.

When I played jr/high school ball back in the 80's, if you didn't pay attention in practice, the next thing you knew, a basketball was nailing you in the side of the head (thrown by the head coach). While that seemed normal back then, its way over the line in retrospect. THAT is unacceptable coaching, not yelling at guys on the sideline for stupid mistakes.

If BU sat each player down and spent 15 minutes patting them on the back and calmly explaining what they did wrong and and giving them 5 different options for better approaching the situation the next time it arises then everyone on this board would be screaming about how he needs to show some passion and toughen these kids up.

Bottom line, what he's doing is NOT over the line (in most, but not all, peoples opinion I would imagine) and winning cures all.

 

[PtownIllini8]

Kane looked good enough that not seeing more of him earlier is a mark against Underwood.

The problem with that statement is that Coach could've held him out until he was ready. He was weeks behind the other players. You don't know what's been going on in practice and he's an inexperienced freshman. Couldn't it be that the coach picked just the right time for him to get some PT?

 

[joed]

He threw a water bottle under his chair, followed quickly by (and excuse me if my lip reading skills are subpar at best) a "what are you *blank*ing doing" directed at Feliz after he tried running clock and not attempting the layup.

BU admitted last year after his hand was taped after a game that it was because of a trash can. Those three things all actually happened. He has not thrown a literal chair onto the court however.

Thank you for the detailed explanation ChiefIllini. I had not heard of any of that. Yep, let's hope he isn't patterning himself after Bobby.

keep on truckin

joe

 

[joed]

Is the thinking here we were saving an inexperienced player until the competition was worse? Sorry, that's a luxury you don't have when you're 2-7.

I don't think so simply because he is putting the rest of the freshmen through a tough schedule, so why leave him out. As such, I agree with both Ptown and orange soda, just a couple of months behind and now ready for some action. Good situation in that we happen to play a team of our caliber, a nice point to get him some good time and check his status. Did not see the game, but from what I heard, Mr. Kane is making great progress and has natural instincts. A little more weight/muscle will also help.

keep on truckin

joe

 

[EllderIlliniFan]

All the talk about how certain players should be playing more. Trent did not play significant minutes until the 9th game against NW and did not start until the 17th game against Michigan. And the schedule was significantly easier as Illinois started 6-0. So there may be hope for some of the freshman who were rotting on the bench.
I also recall how bad Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill looked in the first half of their freshman year. And how they only played limited minutes.

 

[Deleted member 29907]

Thank you for the detailed explanation ChiefIllini. I had not heard of any of that. Yep, let's hope he isn't patterning himself after Bobby.

keep on truckin

joe

Knight was in a league all by himself re: abuse and stupidity. If we can, let us refrain from pulling the Knight card in comparison. There is nothing close in comparison.

 

[skyIdub]

Just imagine the comments if Kane had been thrust into the lineup right away and was struggling. Perspective people. Get you some.

 

[GortTheRobot]

Like I said, at this moment, I dont think he's done anything obscene. Fine with being hard on players, just hope this kind of stuff doesn't lead to a Fran like meltdown, or a Knight chair throwing incident. I think most would agree on both points.

How about if he melts down and throws Fran across the court?

 

[ChiefIllini]

How about if he melts down and throws Fran across the court?

I would be conflicted, but would probably be ok with it.

 

[Truffaut]

How about if he melts down and throws Fran across the court?

That depends. Is Iowa in the bonus?

 

[mattcoldagelli]

That depends. Is Iowa in the bonus?

Pretty safe assumption that our opponent would be in the bonus.

 

[ChocolateThunder]

Just imagine the comments if Kane had been thrust into the lineup right away and was struggling. Perspective people. Get you some.

What difference does it make if he struggles. He is a college basketball player. He is not a rookie NFL quarterback. In my opinion reality shock therapy is preferable to "baptism on the bench.'

 

[sacraig]

Pretty safe assumption that our opponent would be in the bonus.

That depends. Are we more or less than 6 minutes into a half in this scenario?

 

[Deleted member 29907]

What difference does it make if he struggles. He is a college basketball player. He is not a rookie NFL quarterback. In my opinion reality shock therapy is preferable to "baptism on the bench.'

Tell that to his frustrated teammates (both on the court and on the bench) while he's struggling..

 

[Thaillini22]

What difference does it make if he struggles. He is a college basketball player. He is not a rookie NFL quarterback. In my opinion reality shock therapy is preferable to "baptism on the bench.'

What if Kane's a sensitive guy who, being behind the curve from the outset due to missing summer, was lacking confidence at the outset and started doubting himself, and was adjusting to, perhaps, a new way of life, academics, a hard-nosed coach, and the literally infinite number of other potential personal issues we are not and never will be privvy to,,, and he voices this to coach and coach decides "maybe with this guy we need to bring him a long more slowly so as to not completely shatter his confidence."

Do we still want to argue "this is negligent, coach not throwing him to the fire!"?

Humans are complicated.

 

[PlayAZ]

What if Kane's a sensitive guy who, being behind the curve from the outset due to missing summer, was lacking confidence at the outset and started doubting himself, and was adjusting to, perhaps, a new way of life, academics, a hard-nosed coach, and the literally infinite number of other potential personal issues we are not and never will be privvy to,,, and he voices this to coach and coach decides "maybe with this guy we need to bring him a long more slowly so as to not completely shatter his confidence."

Do we still want to argue "this is negligent, coach not throwing him to the fire!"?

Humans are complicated.

Something tells me Kane has had far more struggles in his life than being yelled at? Speaking of which most foreign players whom are somewhat new to the game, haven't been (lets use the word americanized) as of yet....they actually relish their opportunity and don't look at as if it is a given. At least that is my opinion...many getting HS and AAU spoiled sometimes don't take well to a hard nosed coach...don't think that Kane will have that issue.