Maryland 75, Illinois 66 POSTGAME

#51      
Alan, kipper, and dmw were our best players this game. Still a tough loss to swallow when we started so hot. Brad had bad subs, think Tevian was in before Alan when we started 1/15 in the second. If we miss 6 shots in a row Alan should be instant subbed in, don't care if it's at center.
 
#52      

JSpence

Evansville, IN
So... Anybody else pissed?
No, but I'm irked. Frazier finished with three fouls. I understand that he would have had to play tight in the half and perhaps late in the game, but trying to guarantee that he's there for the last two minutes of a game is NOT worth losing 11 minutes from him when it's obvious that he's needed.

With that said, he had 5 points. His rebounds, assists, and steals matched his foul total. This was a team loss, athletes and coaches alike.
 
#54      
OUCH!!!! Looked so forward to tonight. This hurts so good, and so bad because we are reliant again

Got to learn how to do learn 3 things.

Shoot FT's when it matters
Attack the goal on offense at home (get calls-everyone else does)
Foul early when you are down 8 with 2 minutes to go.

So good to feel things again, even when it hurts
 
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#58      
Very disappointing performances by Giorgi. Down 1 when he made the turnover tonight. Up 2 when he made the turnover the other night against Iowa.

My biggest issue is those 2 turnovers were so lazy.
 
#59      
Here are my thoughts in the heat of the moment:

I am angry at the coaching staff that we still don't know how to feed the post...

Kofi not touching the ball a minimum of 2 out of 3 possessions is criminal.....

Giorgi needs to get his head out of his behind in late game situations.....

Feliz is the only player that brings it every single game.....
 
#60      
Very disappointed after that start. My 8 year old learned some new words tonight.
But put me down for this one (and I didn’t even make a prediction in the season predictions thread)... we are going to beat Maryland in the BTT and it’s going to be so sweet. I bet all my beach houses.
 
#63      

illini80

Forgottonia
Boy, we didn’t do anything well tonight except hit some early threes. We have no clue how beat a zone and or even a zone press. Looked completely lost. I’m not sure why Maryland didn’t stay in it. Coach talked in the press conference about getting more post touches. His players must not have been listening. I about lost it when we did get the ball in to Kofi and when Maryland came with the double all our guys ran to the other side of the court. Kofi threw it away trying to get it to one of them. SOMEONE HELP HIM!!! We are not taking full advantage of the talent we have in the middle. Cowen just killed us. No one could stay with him.

Very frustrating game because Maryland took us out of everything we tried to do and not hitting free throws killed our chances. Plus all the turnovers. Ayo 1on1 isn’t going to be the answer every game.

What happened to Trent initiating the offense? Very few good looks for him tonight.
 
#64      
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Giorgi yeeting the ball away is becoming a common occurrence
 
#67      

JJE

Bethalto, IL
For the past 15 years our hit rate on big "moment" games has been abysmal. I thought tonight might be different. Stinks, but we have great opportunities ahead of us.
 
#68      
Trent’s second foul with 12 minutes left in the first half was a killer. Him having to sit really led to that zone hurting us with only Ayo and at times Griffin being threats to hit a 3.

That Giorgi TO with the game within 1 in the second half was brutal too. If they take the lead there I’m not sure if Maryland would’ve had an answer.
 
#69      

JSpence

Evansville, IN
Alan, kipper, and dmw were our best players this game. Still a tough loss to swallow when we started so hot. Brad had bad subs, think Tevian was in before Alan when we started 1/15 in the second. If we miss 6 shots in a row Alan should be instant subbed in, don't care if it's at center.
Maybe in the last 3/4, but I'd give Feliz the nod over DMFW for the whole game. And... that's our bench.

Georgi and Kofi combined for 10 rebounds and net 4 TO in 55 minutes.
Your three grabbed 15 rebounds and net 0 TO in 54 minutes.
Feliz had 7 boards and net 1 steal in 29 minutes.

It doesn't matter how you slice it. The starters simply didn't come close to carrying the team against a top 10 opponent. Check out minutes played for both sides. One team was clearly able to play within their game, even if it wasn't their plan A.
 
#70      
Good news is we can redeem ourselves against MSU on Tuesday. Still 8-4 is just great. Maryland vs MSU play each other twice yet. Bad news is we are 0-2 against Maryland and that could really haunt us in the tie breaker scenario.
This game scares me.. We can't stop winston.. MSU is going to run us off our home court.. We are feeling soft right now after the 2nd half in away and 3/4 of this past game...
 
#74      

azillini1

Scottsdale
Many of us on this board remember our glory days of the late 80's and from 2000 to about 2007. I personally attended our last 2 final fours and was selfishly hoping that we could make a deep run again this year. I also remember when we would commonly have home winning streaks of 30 to 45 games. We haven't seen that in a while and tonight hurt because of our recent success. Teams have adjusted to us and we need to make adjustments ourselves. I am optimistic that we are on the right path and will have the talent to once again win the BIG10 and make another deep run in the next year or two. It just started so positively tonight and then turned disappointing. Beat MSU!!!
 
#75      

Hoppy2105

Little Rock, Arkansas
RECALIBRATING

Honestly, this sucks...and it sucks hard to lose it at home with so much on the line. But there is a good chance we got beat by the league champs today.

My hope for the regular season title is gone. (No matter how long of a shot that was)

Now I’ve simply stepped back to hoping for a top 4 seed in the B1G tourney and a decent seed in the dance. Both of which are loftier goals than my pre season expectation of simply making the dance somehow.