It's going to be a long, disappointing, painful season.
Nebraska 75, Illinois 60 POSTGAME
When Underwood lowered down the defensive intensity it meant all losses. Without a steady stream of turnovers, we are doomed. It also doesn't seem to matter that 60% of the possessions in that type of defense end with layups.
But it looks to me like he has adapted. We are pressing the other team a lot less and only using trapping when down by 20. It is just not working. Also, if Underwood plays his son again he should get canned at that very moment. If Tevian Jones didn't do something to get kicked out of the school, playing him.
But it looks to me like he has adapted. We are pressing the other team a lot less and only using trapping when down by 20. It is just not working. Also, if Underwood plays his son again he should get canned at that very moment. If Tevian Jones didn't do something to get kicked out of the school, playing him.
Deleted member 29907
D
Guest
Agree - too much dribbling, handoff at pinch post does not work, and for crying out loud we don't need to pick up players at half court unless we plan on trapping - it just exposes us and when I saw Giorgi rushing out to the half court line with (i think it was) 4 fouls already I cringed. Oh yeah, AND STOP FOULING - we can't put teams at the line 30 times - it was the difference in the game yesterday both in points from the line and time on the bench for key players.
So don't have team rules and let the players run the team? That sounds like a plan that can't go wrong.
IllFanInMi
I
Guest
It’s shaping up to be a long, disappointing, painful rebuild.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
slow start to games
slow start to 2nd half
porous defense
slow passing on perimeter on offense
I watch other teams attack on offense...why don't we do it ?
I watch other teams stay in front of their opponents on D...why don't we do it ?
Painfully hard to watch the games now and hard to get excited about upcoming games...a new low for me after 60 + years being an Illini fan.
I'm sure I''ll still tune in and root them on, but it's becoming apparent we either don't have the right players or the right coach or ........BOTH !
slow start to 2nd half
porous defense
slow passing on perimeter on offense
I watch other teams attack on offense...why don't we do it ?
I watch other teams stay in front of their opponents on D...why don't we do it ?
Painfully hard to watch the games now and hard to get excited about upcoming games...a new low for me after 60 + years being an Illini fan.
I'm sure I''ll still tune in and root them on, but it's becoming apparent we either don't have the right players or the right coach or ........BOTH !
It's too much "me" ball, because our offense doesn't promote "WE" ball....it is stagnant, it is very predictable, it is elementary at best a majority of time...all of which leads to loss of seconds and well ME ball out of necessity.
It also doesn't help when our 3 guards only 2 know what a floater looks like (Frazier), and out of 3 guards 2 only know what driving the ball in to far is = bad results!
blackdog
- Champaign
Actually the offensive scheme isn't the problem its the execution. They aren't screening well off the ball and a lot of times seem to be making the cuts just to make them not with purpose. There have been glimpses at times of what the offense should actually be and it's really pretty to watch but it's not enough yet. Still they are executing a lot better than last year at least by eye test.
How much longer before we get normal games from Ayo and Trent again? This is the part that confuses me most. I thought we were strong in the backcourt and and weak in the frontcourt. What changed, and when?
I really can’t understand why everyone is so stunned at the results so far. Everyone who knows anything about college basketball picked this team to finish ahead of Rutgers and that’s it. You can rant about coaching, the system and the players not giving enough effort if you would like. It doesn’t change the most important thing to a basketball team. The overall talent level of the team. Screaming about recruiting and talent evaluation makes sense to me. The rest of it is just silly in my opinion.
No doubt about it, the way out of this mess is by drastically improving recruiting moving forward.
If we don't beat Akron week 1, I know which team will have a new coach first.
The Dave
- CA
I think the worst thing about that game (and there were soooo many bad things) is that Miles just gave everyone else a blueprint to beating us. The NEB D in the first half was like he had BU's play book. They just jumped passing lanes, got through picks easily, and really disrupted that pinch-post hand off action. Then in the 2nd half we looked completely dumbfounded by the 1-3-1 they played. This does not bode well for us...
On the flip side, the best thing about this game is that we should all know exactly what we have and not be surprised by the rest of the season. This is NOT a post-season team. NIT is a pipe-dream at this point. If we're serious about building a PROGRAM then we need to retain our players this off-season, get a decent recruiting class, and see significant progress NEXT YEAR. Solid NIT, maybe a missed bubble from the NCAA. If all that happens, then I think we're on the right track.
I know nobody wants it to take that long or be that painful, but I think that's what it realistically takes. If we have tons of turnover or fail to recruit and then don't see progress next year I think Whitman will pull the plug on BU (depending on the buy-out he has). The fact that Hoiberg just became a free agent must have Whitman salivating ala Lovie Smith. Illinois NBA ties, proven college recruiting and results at IAST. Now, would he ever consider the Illini?
On the flip side, the best thing about this game is that we should all know exactly what we have and not be surprised by the rest of the season. This is NOT a post-season team. NIT is a pipe-dream at this point. If we're serious about building a PROGRAM then we need to retain our players this off-season, get a decent recruiting class, and see significant progress NEXT YEAR. Solid NIT, maybe a missed bubble from the NCAA. If all that happens, then I think we're on the right track.
I know nobody wants it to take that long or be that painful, but I think that's what it realistically takes. If we have tons of turnover or fail to recruit and then don't see progress next year I think Whitman will pull the plug on BU (depending on the buy-out he has). The fact that Hoiberg just became a free agent must have Whitman salivating ala Lovie Smith. Illinois NBA ties, proven college recruiting and results at IAST. Now, would he ever consider the Illini?
When people twist themselves in knots arguing that all of our recruits are actually diamonds in the rough that our super smart coach noticed and no one else did, admitting we lack talent is a tough pill to swallow.
Illinois could go 0 for... the rest of the season and we could have another mass exodus and I still do not think there is any chance Whitman would even consider making a change after 2 years on his own choice, which IMO is perfectly understandable. What is not understandable or logical is that it means that we are on the right track or have a superior coach in our hands.
Yep, clearly had we kept Ebo, Lucas and Mattic we'd be way, way better off.
I loved the “they're winners” narrative. That’s digging deep to find some positives on a lowly ranked recruiting class. Dee Brown didn’t win anything in High School. It doesn’t hurt I guess, but talent is the important thing.
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Ayo had 4 fouls, so...
So it can't be that we have a bunch of freshmen and sophomores that aren't ready to compete at this level?
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
I'll see your "winners" and raise you "guys who want to be here."
I'm fine using that excuse, but eventually (not saying right now), if attrition remains as high as it has, this excuse holds zero water. I give BU another couple years, but like football, theres gotta be some clear signs we are moving forward. So far, I have only seen steps back.
The Dave
- CA
Maybe I just watched yesterday's game with a more critical eye than usual (dang was I depressed watching that game) but did it seem to anyone else that the players attitudes on the floor were more negative than usual? They just seemed annoyed/upset at best and disinterested at worst. Ayo specifically seemed to have some negative body language, although in hindsight it might have mostly been around ticky-tacky fouls called on him.
Trent just seemed to be going through the motions. AG seemed like he was really worried every time he dis something imperfect. Kipper seemed to not build on his early success (i.e. it didn't get him pumped/excited). Nobody seemed to by trying to lift their teammates up or encourage each other. Only Giorgi seemed in to it, and I think he'd be pumped up and going if he literally lost a hand, it's just who he is.
Maybe I'm in a mental/emotional bad basketball place and reading too much where nothing exists. Yesterday just felt like the team/season slipping away from BU...
Trent just seemed to be going through the motions. AG seemed like he was really worried every time he dis something imperfect. Kipper seemed to not build on his early success (i.e. it didn't get him pumped/excited). Nobody seemed to by trying to lift their teammates up or encourage each other. Only Giorgi seemed in to it, and I think he'd be pumped up and going if he literally lost a hand, it's just who he is.
Maybe I'm in a mental/emotional bad basketball place and reading too much where nothing exists. Yesterday just felt like the team/season slipping away from BU...
From what I see most teams are now tightening up around the three point line on Trent giving him lanes to drive. The problem for him is that he is still left handed dominant. And on those drives teams have no fear on rotating quickly to stop the drive. Trent is a scorer and not a facilitator. He seldom looks to drop off a pass to a big and even when he or anyone else attempts a pass to our bigs in this situation its lead to a turnover.