Winthrop 84, Illinois 80 OT POSTGAME

#277      

bigillinfan11

bigillinfan11
bigillinfan11
Once again I understand the frustration. No excuse for bad play down stretch and losing this game but lets relax and let the season play out. Groce needs to use this as motivation and kick it in the players heads that we must be committed on defense every single second. We have to get better individual and team defense. We also need more basketball IQ at times with out ball control. Improve ball control, defense and free throws and we will be in good position. This team is talented and can be good. Need toughness and energy everyday.

Look at Oregon they have lost two games this season. Georgetown had two bad losses then beat Oregon today. Texas is losing to Northwestern badly right now. UConn has struggled this year. Teams have bad nights. We lost one game against a good team. It could be worse as I have shown. Lets let the season play out. Half of you will be praising Groce and the team if they win against WV and FS. I know its a tough loss but just calm down and think things over and let the season play out or at least till the end of this tough five game stretch.
 
#278      

Illinoy

I
Illinoy
RichardH said:
Unfortunately depth in college basketball is not that big of an asset. I was surprised how much people on this board ignored the fact that we lost Nunn while continually harped on Thorne and Abrams returning. All in all I think it may have been a wash. With the improvements of the rest of the guys I expected improvement that would get us on the bubble but probably out of the dance. Now Im hoping were even in the bubble picture.
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If anything this was the first game we DEF couldve used Nunn. I'm sure tiny adventure wouldn't have dropped 38 points with Nunn sticking him. If anything Nunn was our best on ball defender and often converted defensive turnovers into points on the other end.
 
#281      

CasualObserver05

C
CasualObserver05
FSU gets Winthrop minus Johnson and wins by 14, we get Winthrop plus Johnson lose by 4. Nothing guarantees Winthrop wins with Johnson, but if the player that was unconscious (while being guarded pretty heavily all night) shows up against FSU, they're not the 25th ranked team in the country cause they're sitting with the same loss as us.
 
#282      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
Obelix said:
Others need to step up, but not many have the talent to do so IMO.
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I don't think there's any question that guys like JCL, Morgan and Finke have the ability to do that at the offensive end. It doesn't happen though. They don't get the ball in advantageous positions, they don't exploit good matchups, they're just kinda there.

Well coached teams are defined by their players strengths, they impose those strengths upon the game. Poorly coached teams are defined by their players weaknesses, those weaknesses are revealed and exposed in live game situations under pressure. Which of those sounds like our Illini?
 
#283      

Kingo24

Kingo24
Kingo24
RichardH said:
Unfortunately depth in college basketball is not that big of an asset. I was surprised how much people on this board ignored the fact that we lost Nunn while continually harped on Thorne and Abrams returning. All in all I think it may have been a wash. With the improvements of the rest of the guys I expected improvement that would get us on the bubble but probably out of the dance. Now Im hoping were even in the bubble picture.
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Nunn brought some things on both ends of the floor that no one on the roster can currently bring, at least in my opinion.
 
#285      

Obelix

Obelix
Obelix
Kingo24 said:
Another part of me wonders if the more talented players also equate to players who are smarter on the court.
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Talent certainly hides many deficiencies, but in some of those plays talent was irrelevant IMO.
 
#286      

Serious Late

Serious Late
Peoria via Denver via Ann Arbor via Albuquerque vi
Serious Late
Adnarel said:
For real, though, what's the deal with Thorne? He is not the same guy we saw last season before his injury.
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The over-exaggeration of Thorne's abilities based on one half of a game he got injured in (at a point in the game we were losing) is one of the more epic fables.

Thorne/Morgan make for a solid combo at the 5. There is yet to be any evidence we are above average at the position in the B1G.
 
#287      

FinalFour88

FinalFour88
Charlotte, NC
FinalFour88
Serious Late said:
They are the best team in the BIG SOUTH! NCAA Tourney Team! We should not be disappointed, frustrated or angry losing to a team that high quality.

Pretty sure half the people here could not tell one team from another in the Big South vs. The Southern conference. "Wofford.. Winthrop, uhhhhhhhhhh". 1 bid non-existent conferences we shouldn't be losing games to. That is the sum of those bball conferences.
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Coastal Carolina. They've been better than Winthrop in recent years. I follow Winthrop a little bit since my wife is a professor there.
 
#288      

hin10

H
O'Fallon, MO
hin10
Second and Chalmers said:
I don't think there's any question that guys like JCL, Morgan and Finke have the ability to do that at the offensive end. It doesn't happen though. They don't get the ball in advantageous positions, they don't exploit good matchups, they're just kinda there.

Well coached teams are defined by their players strengths, they impose those strengths upon the game. Poorly coached teams are defined by their players weaknesses, those weaknesses are revealed and exposed in live game situations under pressure. Which of those sounds like our Illini?
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This, very much. We had a significant size advantage in this game, yet we never imposed our will in the paint and were outrebounded. Not only did we not take advantage of our strengths, we had to match up to them to stay with a smaller team defensively.
 
#290      

ILCommenter

I
ILCommenter
Folks, leaving Tate - our worst defender and worst scorer - in for so long to defend Winthrop's best player is like having France lead the Allied invasion of Europe.

At this point in his career, Groce is like Jeff Fisher - all he needs to do is have a new QB take over (or in this case sign a couple of highly-ranked recruits) and he buys himself a couple more years of .500. Can't knock the strategery.
 
#293      

Serious Late

Serious Late
Peoria via Denver via Ann Arbor via Albuquerque vi
Serious Late
FinalFour88 said:
Coastal Carolina. They've been better than Winthrop in recent years. I follow Winthrop a little bit since my wife is a professor there.
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If true, there is no way to call this an "NCAA Tourney Team".
 
#297      

ItsFootballTime

ItsFootballTime
ItsFootballTime
Congrats to Winthorpe. They played like champions. They played like winners.

Demetrious " mighty mouse " Johnson could play on my team any day.

we may be 10 points better than florida state on a neutral court even though we lost to Winthorpe and fsu beat them.

thats life.

Cant play stupid.
 
#298      

FinalFour88

FinalFour88
Charlotte, NC
FinalFour88
ILCommenter said:
Folks, leaving Tate - our worst defender and worst scorer - in for so long to defend Winthrop's best player is like having France lead the Allied invasion of Europe.

At this point in his career, Groce is like Jeff Fisher - all he needs to do is have a new QB take over (or in this case sign a couple of highly-ranked recruits) and he buys himself a couple more years of .500. Can't knock the strategery.
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Except that Groce has never been .500 in the Big Ten.