And our manager team beat OSU's today. Can we hire their coach? Or is it Groce too?
Ohio State 68, Illinois 63 (OT) POSTGAME
And our manager team beat OSU's today. Can we hire their coach? Or is it Groce too?
And a little off topic, but what they did in Minny was awesome. Can't fault the student support here.
That's the problem we don't have one , but I guess you'll take a 5 star prospect and make him one smh . bottom line is MH was not the hot player today and more plays should have been ran for KN , ride the hot hand man not the person that supposed to be the star.
Which any good defender knows, and overplays that side; which is why MH is taking it the other way. But if he can't get off a good shot going the other way, he should put it on the floor or pass it, rather than force a bad shot.
+1, Hill ain't here because of Groce. He is here because he loves Illinois regardless of the coach.
Here are a couple telling observation I've made from watching Illinois play teams and then watching other Big Ten games:
-Watching the Iowa v. Maryland game, I couldn't help but drool over how good both teams offensive execution was on a relatively consistent basis. To make matters worse, I was most impressed with Iowa's execution. On paper, Maryland has far superior talent and should dominate Iowa. But Iowa time and time again had great offensive execution and for the most part, got really good shots
-It really bothers me to watch some of these teams who have less rated players making basketball look so easy. I hate saying it, but you can't tell me that Iowa's coach isn't coaching the heck out of his players. It's extremely obvious that their team has bought in, each player fits a distinct role, and they have a clear identity as a team. McCaffrey is building a program, with players that fit what he wants for his team. I just don't see that with Groce's program right now. And we can groan and whine all we want that he hasn't landed the big dogs, but when I watch teams like Iowa succeed, I see that the Glen Watson's of the world are all we need, but we just need them to each fill a specific role and purpose for the team.
-Watching the Iowa v. Maryland game, I couldn't help but drool over how good both teams offensive execution was on a relatively consistent basis. To make matters worse, I was most impressed with Iowa's execution. On paper, Maryland has far superior talent and should dominate Iowa. But Iowa time and time again had great offensive execution and for the most part, got really good shots
-It really bothers me to watch some of these teams who have less rated players making basketball look so easy. I hate saying it, but you can't tell me that Iowa's coach isn't coaching the heck out of his players. It's extremely obvious that their team has bought in, each player fits a distinct role, and they have a clear identity as a team. McCaffrey is building a program, with players that fit what he wants for his team. I just don't see that with Groce's program right now. And we can groan and whine all we want that he hasn't landed the big dogs, but when I watch teams like Iowa succeed, I see that the Glen Watson's of the world are all we need, but we just need them to each fill a specific role and purpose for the team.
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Am I missing something? I didn't really think that the criticism of tonight's game was anti-player, I took it as the players weren't put in the right position to win. Not to cross over from another thread, but it seemed more of an indictment of the game planning and calling than player dissatisfaction.
On the bright side, I'll be winning my tournament pool for the third straight year because I will be the only one without a team in the pool, therefore allowing me to unbiasedly make picks. ILL
Plus I think that there is a very distinct difference to calling out Hill for an AWFUL possession than saying he is a garbage and worthless player. I think Hill is extremely talented and most nights are best player, but in my mind, there is nothing wrong with critiquing a player for a very poor possession.
matt1all
- Chicago, IL
If we say Leron Black counts as half a starter we're missing 2.5 starters right now, and were missing more for stretches of the season. At 25 mins/game each that means we're missing 62.5 minutes between them. That means those players would contribute over 30% of our minutes at a higher level then their replacements. Even if their replacements were able to provide 2/3rds of their skill level, which I think would be what you can expect from solid to good backups, we'd still be performing at 10% less than we otherwise would be. College basketball is competitive; 10 percent makes a huge difference. 5 of our losses have been by 5 or fewer points. Would you really be calling for Groce to be fired if we were 15-6 (4-4)? And I think that's on the more pessimistic end one could reasonably be for this time without injuries.
Just back from the game. Great atmosphere and kudos to the guys for bringing it back in to position to have a chance to win. Ohio State is just a plain better basketball team. Their defense created fits for us and had a lot to do with our struggling offense. The game was lost in rebounding and free throws. The latter just drives me crazy since those are free points just left on the floor. Make even half of the missed free throws and this is a different game.
For what ever reason, this team really is not playing as a unit 100% of the time. Whether it is lack of leadership or other issues, I really am at a loss. Of course Groce has a role in this but I really think it is on the floor. The last play of regulation is a perfect example. The guys just looked lost and seemed to be expecting a time out despite Groce urging them on to play. Being this far in to the season, running a cohesive offense should just not be an issue.
It is what it is. There seems to be some progress but it is probably not going to be enough to make much of a difference this year. I plan to stick with this team and coach through this season and hope that another year and some healthy experienced players can make a world of difference.
For what ever reason, this team really is not playing as a unit 100% of the time. Whether it is lack of leadership or other issues, I really am at a loss. Of course Groce has a role in this but I really think it is on the floor. The last play of regulation is a perfect example. The guys just looked lost and seemed to be expecting a time out despite Groce urging them on to play. Being this far in to the season, running a cohesive offense should just not be an issue.
It is what it is. There seems to be some progress but it is probably not going to be enough to make much of a difference this year. I plan to stick with this team and coach through this season and hope that another year and some healthy experienced players can make a world of difference.
And who else on this team has been more clutch? Answer: No one.
What in the world was supposed to happen on the last play in regulation? There is simply no excuse for that kind of execution at this stage of the season. I would have preferred Nunn, but ok, Hill is a good FT shooter and I get why he was to take the shot.
But WTF happened? A 25' footer after dribbling for 15 seconds is no play at all and that's on Groce, IMO.
Fair enough.
You are right on!
They really deserve a lot of credit for being as awesome as they have been despite how rough a year its been. That support would not happen at a lot of other schools.
On another note, can someone explain to me why Tate was in at the end of the game instead of Lewis? From everything I saw at the end he was being way more productive than Tate yet didn't get the crunch time minutes.
But that's in it a nutshell in fact I would say that the programs real problem is not being able to find multiple players who play well consistently. This is going back a while now we always get the one guy Rice,Paul,McCamey but never can get a legit 2nd guy . This year Hill and Nunn are just taking turns . I dont know if its the system or coaching or what that has not allowed players to develop together . You have 3 juniors with tons of experience and who have been in the system 3 years some of the things I'm seeing just should not be happening .
MH was way off. Doesn't match up well with OSU. Their length, quickness and athleticism on the frontline give him fits.
18-31 FT shooting was painful indeed. That game was there for the taking.
KN nuff said MH was in the clutch today it didn't pan out , not to mention he really didn't have a good game he forced it today , that happens but boy Malcolm fades he did it last year to. Like I said ball should have been in KN or JCL's at the end of the game .
+1. However, other than that play, I felt like we got the benefit of a lot of calls tonight. We even got 31 FT attempts compared to 13 for OSU. It would have been 35 or 36 if we'd made any front ends of 1-and-1s.