There was one play when I thought TJ was going to try to get to the rim (and I thought he'd at least be able to try to dunk it) but he pulled up for an elbow jumper instead. It did not go in...
Wisconsin 72, Illinois 60 POSTGAME
This game was lost by poor shooting. Illinois played well overall, but Wsconsin eventually found a way to exploit Illinois’ lack of interior presence. I’d take the way Illinois played last night any day.
I think we just need to accept that this defense will give up high shooting %'s, but if we don't give up a ton of FT and we force a bunch of TOs, then it is going according to plan. I've seen improvement in those two areas over the last stretch of games. Hopefully added size and athleticism on the future rosters will help bring the opponent FG% down.
Late in the second half, Ayo drove the lane against Happ (w/ 4 fouls) who was sagging as he didn't want to pick up his 5th mind you. Ayo jumped/went for the lay-up, then spun, mid-air, and tried to make an outlet pass to AJ which got stolen. The announcers even made a comment about this.
A perfect example of the above quote.
Now, I am not saying Ayo has a confidence issue, I mean he is/was averaging 20.6/game over the past 5 games. However, this is something going on with the mentality of this team around shooting, driving, etc. My .02 cents.
Deleted member 6376
D
Guest
Wait...there’s a GOOD Kipper ?=‘s the game.
I do appreciate how hard Jordan played on D though.
Kipper didn’t even want to be on the court tonight. (When he was out there)
I miss the good Kipper.
illini80
- Forgottonia
I remember when we bemoaned his inconsistency. Lord what I wouldn’t give for that now.
We miss open 3's and our opponent seems to knock them down consistently. Maddening how many wide open shots do not go down for the good guys.
Scoring droughts continue to kill us. Caused by most of the above comments coming together. Fg shooting, ft shooting, passive drives. In general team lacks confidence and attitude. They seem to be mostly good guys that play hard but i dont see the “enough of this” and especially “not in my house” attitude. Funny thing is it seems like this is important to bu but he is years into this rebuild and we don’t seem closer to it.
Just a frustrating game to watch. Don't know what to make of this team. Have to get some offense from somewhere.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal
We were so preoccupied with Trent and Ayo having a good game together we didn't stop to think about what happened if they had a bad game together.
Well, this isn't just my personal narrative - Hummel, Katz, Underwood, fellas on the radio were commending the defense last night. Believe whatever you want, but the defense is improving. People can imply the ineffectiveness can be masked by turnovers, but maybe if players decided to score the ball on the other end of the court or learn how to close out those stats wouldn't appear so awful. We still don't have a single rim protector who can play good minutes.
BMoreIllini
- Baltimore, MD
For Illinois to win, we have to have our offense and defense show up. We aren't big enough or talented enough this year to win otherwise. The defense showed up last night, the offense didn't. I honestly don't care that WI shot 51% from the field and 50% from 3 when we turn them over 17 times, mind you they were top 5 in the nation in TO/game.
When the offense and defense don't show up, we can get beat by anyone. When the offense and defense show up, we can play with anyone. That's what this team is. After last year and given how young our team is, I'm ok with that. I'm still not on board that AG, Samba, and Jones should have gotten more time last night. Happ would have eaten Samba alive, AG is just too TO prone and a liability defensively to play in a winnable game, and Jones shows flashes but is still a liability in decision making. He's the one I'm ok with seeing a little more time though.
When the offense and defense don't show up, we can get beat by anyone. When the offense and defense show up, we can play with anyone. That's what this team is. After last year and given how young our team is, I'm ok with that. I'm still not on board that AG, Samba, and Jones should have gotten more time last night. Happ would have eaten Samba alive, AG is just too TO prone and a liability defensively to play in a winnable game, and Jones shows flashes but is still a liability in decision making. He's the one I'm ok with seeing a little more time though.
Honestly, the only way to be ready is to actually play meaningful minutes and be allowed to play through mistakes. 2 mins of game play want get you ready. Kipper has been ineffective. Shooting was badly needed. Last time I heard Alan Griffin can shoot. Give Tevian Kipper minutes period.Samba should be the first big off the bench. He’s green but his energy has been effective in small glimpses. We 5-13 play for the future.
This is my take, too. I think we have the talent to win--with this system--against mid level B1G teams. But we won't win those games if we play with the yips. Weren't we 0-4 from the line in the last two minutes?
Also, this is exhibit A that there is sometimes home cooking for us. In fact, this looked to me like an over-the-top Thanksgiving Day dinner for us from the refs (with the exception of the foul call with 0.1 left in the half.)
7.1% from the 3point line??????? too much dribbling, not enough passing......
I've been critical of Underwood but the complaints directed at the lack of development in certain realms of the game is misplaced. We're complaining that Trent can't use his off hand and that's a development issue? P5 players learn to use their off hand in junior high, not college, if he doesn't have it yet, he isn't going to get it. Some of these development issues are ability issues. If you closely observe lineups, some of the "Frazierless" lineups are performing better offensively, I don't have an explanation/implication, that's just an observation.
We complain about shooting percentage. Our shot selection is poor. So many shots last night, especially 3's, where form was terrible, and anyone watching knew they were a miss at release.
I still disagree that a fast break 3 from the volley ball line is ever a good shot. Trent took one last that he unsurprisingly missed that just deflated momentum. Early shot clock 3's when you are a poor shooting team to begin with, are a gift to defenses.
Dunking. Has Underwood banned dunking? Does anyone keep stats on the number of dunks a team has? I bet our ranking has to be close to last in college basketball. Dunking is so good at building momentum and getting the crowd into the game. Maybe it says something about our athleticism.
We complain about shooting percentage. Our shot selection is poor. So many shots last night, especially 3's, where form was terrible, and anyone watching knew they were a miss at release.
I still disagree that a fast break 3 from the volley ball line is ever a good shot. Trent took one last that he unsurprisingly missed that just deflated momentum. Early shot clock 3's when you are a poor shooting team to begin with, are a gift to defenses.
Dunking. Has Underwood banned dunking? Does anyone keep stats on the number of dunks a team has? I bet our ranking has to be close to last in college basketball. Dunking is so good at building momentum and getting the crowd into the game. Maybe it says something about our athleticism.
I was wondering about that in the Minnesota game because I couldn't remember a any dunks in that game, it felt so strange to see a team score 95 points without a single dunk
7.1% from the 3point line??????? too much dribbling, not enough passing......
We were so preoccupied with Trent and Ayo having a good game together we didn't stop to think about what happened if they had a bad game together.
"Must go faster."
We were so preoccupied with Trent and Ayo having a good game together we didn't stop to think about what happened if they had a bad game together.
An awfully lot of people on here thought that Ayo/Trent were the next Dee/Deron. Now the biggest worry is can they be effective playing together and the last few games have said NO.
Meh. Both players need to get better and develop some chemistry, but Trent has scored in double figures the past 4/6 games and Ayo 5/6. They are underclassmen and the least of our problems IMO. Aaron Jordan is literally the only upperclassman on this team giving us anything. That is a bigger issue.
I disagree on the "on bu" part. Here's why. Most of trents 3 point shots, he creates himself. It seems coach doesn't run many sets to give them open shots so its always trent shooting 3s off the dribble on crossovers and stepbacks. Many of the threes trent takes are contested, and BU seems to encourage that.
KrushCow31
Former Krush Cow
- Chicago, IL
There must be some relationship between the number of 3s we shoot vs our win percentage. The less we shoot, the more we win.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
I totally get the frustration. That said, seems like Nichols has had his playing time cut significantly.* De La Rosa isn't getting much tick. Jones couldn't stay on the court against Iowa. When Griffin, Jones and Samba repeatedly blow assignments or turn it over, Underwood is right to use those as teaching moments.
* haven't looked at the stats, out of frustration