Maryland 59, Illinois 58 POSTGAME

#176      

Hopingfor500

H
Hopingfor500
Illini_Jack said:
We played our best defense all year. I don’t think anyone had a bad game. But Underwood definitely effed that up. He made them play slow the entire second half even tho Maryland locked us down in the half court. He didn’t have one set play to get us going, even out of timeouts. We came out of timeouts and the play was get it to Giorgi 15 feet from the basket and hope he does something. Not to mention he benched Kofi at the end of the game. Underwood lost that game for us even tho the players played their hearts out.
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Underwood didn't lose this game. He had his team in position to win. The game was there to be won, up 7 and under four minutes. Bottom line is big time players make big time plays. Lykes and Cowans left their imprints on our chest. I suspect Simpson will do the same when Michigan rolls in. The college game is driven by guard play. In the games we've lost(Arizona, Miami and Maryland)....it was Mannion, Lykes and Cowans that took over.

Either Ayo or Frazier has to step up and be the guy....then roll with it.
 
#179      

Keisersose

Keisersose
Keisersose
Hopingfor500 said:
Underwood didn't lose this game. He had his team in position to win. The game was there to be won, up 7 and under four minutes. Bottom line is big time players make big time plays. Lykes and Cowans left their imprints on our chest. I suspect Simpson will do the same when Michigan rolls in. The college game is driven by guard play. In the games we've lost(Arizona, Miami and Maryland)....it was Mannion, Lykes and Cowans that took over.

Either Ayo or Frazier has to step up and be the guy....then roll with it.
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There were some glaring coaching mistakes on this one. Actually the most glaring were in the final 25 seconds SS or so if the game.

After they tied it, overtime should’ve been the absolute worst case scenario. Call a timeout then to set up a play. Then the timeout after the made free throw was awful as many have pointed out.
 
#181      

Alma 19

A
Alma 19
I tend to believe that coaches know better than fans almost all of the time, and that's probably the case even today. But man, I hope BU gives some damn good explanations in the postgame presser.
 
#182      

illinitiger

I
illinitiger
We were absolutely on fire the first half.....2d half almost looked like brakes were put on. We need to instill extreme energy approach all game. Agree with many posters....no players had a bad game....even KN looked "lit" on numerous occasions.

Bottom line, Coaching let the players down tonight in effort to steal a quality win....pure and simple.
 
#183      

ivwilsoniv

I
Aurora, IL
ivwilsoniv
Keisersose said:
This is going to be quite the statement after the last decade as a half of Illini basketball, but

These last two losses have me more demoralized about Illinois basketball than I’ve ever been before.

So broken.
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I’m irrationally frustrated after this one for some reason. Just watching the team crumble when they’ve had chance after chance to start turning the corner. Every game tip-off I think, this could be the start of the turnaround, and tonight could’ve been that. They have talent. Just can’t make it happen. Will we win?
 
#184      

BoJack Underwoo

BoJack Underwoo
BoJack Underwoo
Stop overreacting.

People saying this team has no chance of making the tournament are being absurd. They're 6-3 with two of those losses on the road against ranked teams, one by one point. And the other loss by two points.

Oh, and they just got a significant contributor back in Tevian Jones.
 
#185      

Hopingfor500

H
Hopingfor500
Keisersose said:
There were some glaring coaching mistakes on this one. Actually the most glaring were in the final 25 seconds SS or so if the game.

After they tied it, overtime should’ve been the absolute worst case scenario. Call a timeout then to set up a play. Then the timeout after the made free throw was awful as many have pointed out.
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I agree 1000% with you regarding the last 30 seconds. However, there were 39 minutes and 30 seconds that proceeded that. When you're up by 7, with under four to go....you've been put in position to win. With a couple of defensive stops, a couple of decisive moves to the hoop and good foul shooting....we're talking about a 7 or 8 point win.
 
#186      

purcy51

P
Nappanee, IN
purcy51
NotThatPierre said:
It seems that last game demonstrated the need for this team to have a time out for the last play.

On the other hand I don't understand why people think he misses the second only because we call the time out. We probably needed that to set up a play in case they did what they did which everyone thinks was obvious
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However, it is much more difficult to get a set play off a rebound as opposed to taking it on the end line after a miss. So in that context, of course he's going to miss it.
 
#187      

Deleted member 628259

D
Guest
Deleted member 628259
BoJack Underwoo said:
Stop overreacting.

People saying this team has no chance of making the tournament are being absurd. They're 6-3 with two of those losses on the road against ranked teams, one by one point. And the other loss by two points.

Oh, and they just got a significant contributor back in Tevian Jones.
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They should be 8-1, the Big Ten schedule is always a gauntlet and this team was expected to be on the bubble anyway. Don't pretend these losses don't matter.
 
#188      

Illiniguy13

Illiniguy13
Illiniguy13
To me, the most disheartening part is the players have been in these close nail biters multiple times, but still can’t close out and win. I always felt the close tough losses of the past couple years would instill some toughness and hunger to end the misery, but here we are again.
 
#189      

RIVERCITYCHIEF

R
RIVERCITYCHIEF
Hopingfor500 said:
Underwood didn't lose this game. He had his team in position to win. The game was there to be won, up 7 and under four minutes. Bottom line is big time players make big time plays. Lykes and Cowans left their imprints on our chest. I suspect Simpson will do the same when Michigan rolls in. The college game is driven by guard play. In the games we've lost(Arizona, Miami and Maryland)....it was Mannion, Lykes and Cowans that took over.

Either Ayo or Frazier has to step up and be the guy....then roll with it.
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What was our biggest weakness last season and what is different about this years team?

Kofi- his defense and rebounding make us much better.. .BU did Maryland a favor not playing him down the stretch. Maryland had a few offense boards with him on the bench in they likely wouldnt have had.. Feliz tried to get that last board and couldnt. Then Cowan makes a shot. I'm sure BU would have him in there if he could have ado over it's a joke not to have Kofi in it to call that timeout where they could miss on purpose. That's just a bonehead thing to do.
 
#191      

Yes33

Y
Yes33
Hopingfor500 said:
Underwood didn't lose this game. He had his team in position to win. The game was there to be won, up 7 and under four minutes. Bottom line is big time players make big time plays. Lykes and Cowans left their imprints on our chest. I suspect Simpson will do the same when Michigan rolls in. The college game is driven by guard play. In the games we've lost(Arizona, Miami and Maryland)....it was Mannion, Lykes and Cowans that took over.

Either Ayo or Frazier has to step up and be the guy....then roll with it.
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Disagree, what play was Dre running for a last shot? Looked like Groce hero ball again.. With all of Underwood’s claims of discipline, mental toughness, and execution of the system? Obviously, these players he has had for multiple years, are missing something. Just glad we got the assistant coach back from Gonzaga Who is a great teacher of the system.

I’ve been a big Underwood fan, but coach speak isn’t getting it.
 
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#192      

Illinidpm

I
Illinidpm
maybe I was a little harsh at first, but looking back - first half kofi 9 pts 7 rebs. End of game stays 9 pts 8 rebs... Alan only playing 5 min, not sure about that. BBV only 2? Not sure about that either.. again I think Underwood did some good things with defense today, and had the boys ready to play, but this crap where other teams go on huge runs and we go on huge droughts is ridiculous. Only 19 pts in the 2nd half... Maryland didn’t turn up the defense that much, and we looked rough trying to beat the full court trap. I know everyone is mad and upset and I’m right there too, but this was a win for us... and we lost it
 
#193      

RedRocksIllini

RedRocksIllini
Morrison, CO
RedRocksIllini
Probably not a popular opinion on here right now but my take is that if we play with that level of effort on a consistent basis, I think we'll be happy with the results. We just out-played and out-worked one of the best teams in the country for pretty much the whole game. And we did it on their court.
 
#195      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
My biggest gripe about the end of game scenario is BU taking the ball out of Ayo's hands. Yes he didn't make the right play last game, but that's even more reason to go right back to him. Show you trust him. He's made late game big plays in the past. He's not having the best season thus far but he's still our most dynamic guard. He can get in the paint, pull up, or hit a step back.

Don't get me wrong, I love Feliz but he's one dimensional. All he can do is bully his way into the paint and the other team knows that. If Ayo doesn't get the ball it has to be Frazier.
 
#198      

BoJack Underwoo

BoJack Underwoo
BoJack Underwoo
beigh said:
They should be 8-1, the Big Ten schedule is always a gauntlet and this team was expected to be on the bubble anyway. Don't pretend these losses don't matter.
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They matter. But there's no reason for the doom and gloom. They were expected to lose two of the three games too.
 
#200      

oldschool51

O
oldschool51
Brad Underwood is not a big ten basketball coach, i am sick of its Dre fault or its Ayo fault we should never have been in that position to lose the ball game