Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Indeed. Flipping brutal! So Illinois, so ESPN!
UNLV 89, Illinois 82 POSTGAME
Indeed. Flipping brutal! So Illinois, so ESPN!
Watching this game cemented my current feeling about this roster and my feelings about where this program is heading. Brad Underwood can coach! They are far from a finished product on the offensive end but they ran some nice stuff last night. There simply isn’t enough talent on this roster right now to compete consistently with Big 10 level teams. Get these young kids some more experience and keep adding players. Stop sitting in the back seat and screaming “are we there yet?” Gonna be a bit of a drive but I’m on board.
Defense adjustment and versatility helps you win games. Using one defensive scheme every game is not a good idea at all. Playing a team like UNLV who has 7 footer stud and can drive but does not shoot well, what's the reason not to go for a zone?
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Mark Smith, IMO.
I think he's the only guy on this roster with a good chance of being drafted. He will need a minimum of 2 years on campus to really become that NBA draft prospect (probably 3), but I think he'll get there.
That's not to say he's the best player on this team. AJ and Leron have been more productive to date. But Smith has the highest ceiling. He's the type of talent this program needs if we're going to take the next step. But we need several more of them -- and we need at least one of them in the front court.
Ayo is a good first step. But we need an elite outside shooter, and we need a rim protector. Without those, we're going to be naturally limited and probably won't entertain any dreams beyond making the NCAA tournament and potentially winning a game.
Next season you exchange Alstork for Ayo as long as the team sees how close they and don’t transfer. I know this will work and I think we have the athletes for it. Too many stupid mistakes that happen in the first year of this monumental transformation
I think it will be easier for other newcomers to pick system up when they are mixed with veteran mentors who know system (all of the returning players). right now the player who knows system best is a walkon.
Hard not to say shoulda coulda in these last 4 games. I do believe we can compete with this group of players...we've shown it. Discipline corrections and this is a very good team. we dont need a 7' saviour 5 or 4 star, IMO.
After watching our 3 freshmen guards last night...I'm not just optimistic but almost giddy on what we will do in year 2 and 3 of this transformation.
Sort of like what DJ, BP3 and JoeBert did??
Did anyone else notice the one time out early in the first half when it looked literally like everyone in the huddle was screaming at each other? Of course that was before our run to bring it close (and then we gave it back just before half).
So.....Maybe we should suggest huddle screaming matches more often. Although the adrenaline and testosterone rush may have contributed to the record foul calls.
So.....Maybe we should suggest huddle screaming matches more often. Although the adrenaline and testosterone rush may have contributed to the record foul calls.
i agree, but strangely I still feel they will drop. I am no shooting expert, but his form doesn't seem as fluid or natural. He seems to "load up" rather than shoot freely.
Our freshman backcourt kept us firmly in the fight against a better team with an impossibly superior front court, on the road. Turnovers and fouls desperately need to be cleaned up. We dont have the horses yet, but for now our downfalls seem very coachable. Good things to come.
he's outthinking himself in the moment
Yeah, but if all three were definitely better than Bertrand and all three had legitimate PG skills and, of course, better coaching.
Not sure what this has to do with my post, but I personally always expected a bubble team because of exactly that, I do not believe that the overall talent level is enough to currently achieve much more, and always claimed so. So I am enjoying the season and watch this team develop. You were expecting what, exactly?
I have to laugh at.....
some of these posts. What were you all expecting to see this year?? We have 1 legitimate big kid.....and he is somewhat undersized. We have no Center. We are playing 3 true freshman guards extensive minutes.
If you all can't see how much better this team is than anything Groce ever put out on the floor......then I can't help.
They run offense.....and they play HARD. Freshmen will learn......we will get more size. This year will be a struggle......but all the experience these young kids are getting is HUGE.
They will be SO MUCH BETTER next year when they know the system......and just play.
Shake my head.
some of these posts. What were you all expecting to see this year?? We have 1 legitimate big kid.....and he is somewhat undersized. We have no Center. We are playing 3 true freshman guards extensive minutes.
If you all can't see how much better this team is than anything Groce ever put out on the floor......then I can't help.
They run offense.....and they play HARD. Freshmen will learn......we will get more size. This year will be a struggle......but all the experience these young kids are getting is HUGE.
They will be SO MUCH BETTER next year when they know the system......and just play.
Shake my head.
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pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
totally agree......been in every loss but inexperience, bad breaks and some questionable officiating has us at 7-4....great hustle and effort has me very hyped for the future of BU's illini teams in the future....
need some big time help in the frontcourt to fully see the system works completely, but the frosh are causing great optimism for the future...
I missed you guys too.
It can't go on like this. Another decade like this in the revenue sports and things are going to be profoundly and irrevocably different.
Jawun Evans is a pretty big exception. Having a stone-cold stud point guard cures a lot of ills. We don't have a guy like that, but the OSU's overall roster wasn't wildly better, with a similar lack of interior size and depth.
We are an even 100 in KenPom right now. Too early to be absolute gospel, but that certainly reflects what we've seen.
Groce's 5 years were: 39, 53, 61, 125, 66. Weber's last year was 76, the 2008 disaster was 51.
We were mildly worse than bubble level under Groce, we're well below even that now. I'll be very surprised if we end up down at 125 like that 2016 mess, but we're closer to that than the bubble right now.
Yup. Or even a bit better than that. The difference between a 9-10 seed and a 6-7 is just a couple game hot streak here or there.
I would, by the way, agree that we don't have B1G title contender, 1-2 seed level talent, at least not without gelling into a super cohesive, experienced, super well coached unit. That's not a year 1 possibility.
It is not jumping off the BU train in any way shape or form to acknowledge what we're seeing. The guy has a terrific track record, and we're seeing his style of ball being implemented and he seems to suffer no delusions himself about the problems he's witnessing.
We're 2-3 games behind where we would have reasonably expected. That's a disappointment, it's worrying, but there's no use crying over spilled milk. This is BU's program now for the forseeable future. Go get better.
I'm not worried about record with this team......
I just watch the quality of play. I watch an offense that has a plan. I watch the kids competing much harder. Yep...going to lose a bunch of games because they are so young and small.
I guess we can talk in a year or 2......there will be no comparison between the teams.
I just watch the quality of play. I watch an offense that has a plan. I watch the kids competing much harder. Yep...going to lose a bunch of games because they are so young and small.
I guess we can talk in a year or 2......there will be no comparison between the teams.
Agree. Bp3s tournament team was based a bunch of seniors leading the way. Even if we finish .500 for the season, watching an actual offensive flow and defense/effort/rebounding has been an absolute joy.
we play 31 games. Maybe you are just testing our math...also 14-15 is a better winning percentage than 12-13.
I will bet my dream beachouse (and fictitious one) that we will win at least 15 games (btw 15 -16 winning percentage exceeds 14-15 and 12-13
.Thanks for the math challenge