Illinois 82, DePaul 73 POSTGAME

[tpbradley]

Agree 100%. The refs called the game the same for both teams. You sense the way the game is being called --- and you adjust.

In general, yes, and as soon as I saw them calling everything (seemingly starting in the 2nd half), I was wondering why we weren't pushing drives more. DePaul seemed to had caught on a bit earlier. But relatively, they called a lot more ticky-tack fouls than I've seen in a long time. I'm hoping this isn't the new norm but just an early season type warning.

Was Leron's last foul substantiated? I didn't see anything.

 

[tpbradley]

Bad to see Black with 1 rebound and Lucas with 1 assist and 3 TO's

The difference is that this year, we have guys stepping up. Last year, I'm not sure we would've.

 

[FiveStar]

Offensively we mixed it up a tad more. I counted 3 new deviations/counters/sets that we hadn’t previously run.

1) instead of going straight to the 2 man game we drove middle and flared that guard off the high post guy. Saw this a few times. Don’t remember seeing in the first two games. Good for when teams deny both the high post and reversal guard.

2) changing the way we filled around behind the 2 man game. Normally it’s a straight circle fill but sometimes they fill from the block when teams help from that position on the two man game.

3) high post usually indicates the top two will cut and cross out while the side guys fill up. We ran a set from that where one guard screens for the other while they cross for a post up. Think we entered to Kipper for the post and he missed but it was well executed.

As far as refs. It sucked to see that many fouls called but I thought they were VERY consistent. As a coach all we ask for is consistency. It’s the inconsistency that drives us insane.

Alstork: not worried yet. I feel like most of his mistakes yesterday were him trying to be too unselfish. Got to the paint a couple times where he could jump stop and pull-up or shoot a floater and tried to dump off for a big. Mistakes you can live with. Defensively he’s been good. He’s also been great at drawing fouls.

Overall: I think BU is bringing us along slowly. Limited sets and counters right now. Probably really just wants guys to see what they can get and how successful they can be out of the basic spread flow once they get it churning. There were some good moments tonight.

 

[Joel Goodson]

myself I would have Black 2 AJ 3 D will 5
TJL has got to stay on the floor, getting those fouls he takes himself and his head out of the game

+1 on all points.

Clearly, the team is playing very hard D and really moves the ball. The refs went way overboard. That said, you have to adapt and we didn't. As myriad others have pointed out, our front court thinness, their predilection for foul trouble and mediocre defensive play is going to hurt us. Our perimeter D generally has been pretty good, but each opponent has had a guy or two that've caused huge problems.

And how bout that Jordan kid?

 

[SycIllini]

Although his offense wasn't there I thought Alstork's defense really stepped up in the 2nd half. I haven't been a big fan of him so far but, was impressed with that.

A lot of good stuff last night from Smith, Nichols, Williams, and Jordan that has been mentioned. Black's ability to make a mid range shot has been great so far. If we can get Finke making those too it will be a nice combo.

The more I see Frazier the more I like him. Wasn't sure what to expect from him but, think he takes care of the ball well, has made some shots, and I like his defense.

Good to see Greg E contribute even though he needs more size and experience. He looks like a pretty good find.

 

[foby]

Overall, a very nice win tonight! Here's how I rate our 11 scholarship players based upon their performances through 3 games:

1. M. Smith (poised and skilled)
2. K. Nichols (has greatly exceeded initial expectations from a year ago)
3. M. Finke
4. L. Black
5. T. Frazier (Love his court sense; quick; nice handles; He's on the verge of some huge offensive games)
6. D. Williams (Fundamentally solid; lots of upside in his offensive game)
7. T. Lucas (Ballhandling = a high good; can penetrate; no outside game whatsoever)
8. A. Jordan (Huge surprise! Good fundamentals; perhaps a bit slow? seems to lumber down the court; hoping his offensive production can counter Alstork's disappointing stats)
9. M. Alstork (turnover prone; no confidence; can't shoot; can't post up; Hoping he's not a complete bust)
10. Greg E.
11. Matic

Can make an argument for MS, MF, LB, KN and AJ to have the top spot, and they are definitely the top 5 so far. TF and DW making great contributions and strides in growth. TjL gets #8 due to his fouling and turnovers. MA needs to loosen up and he will be awesome.

Huge upside to this team. I am having more fun now than in years.

 

[SycIllini]

Can make an argument for MS, MF, LB, KN and AJ to have the top spot, and they are definitely the top 5 so far. TF and DW making great contributions and strides in growth. TjL gets #8 due to his fouling and turnovers. MA needs to loosen up and he will be awesome.

Huge upside to this team. I am having more fun now than in years.

Agree with that last part. These guys have been more fun to watch than I remember recently.

 

[IlliniMed]

what was the main reason for JCL transferring?

 

[Spoon House]

My guess is that he had a tough time seeing the PT he wanted with our embarrassment of guards. Pure conjecture.

 

[PlayAZ]

1. M. Smith- Knows his game, confidence in playing is getting higher, not afraid to be a leader on the court.
2. K. Nichols- Preparation must have gotten better this week, very nice contributions. Rebounding was a plus.
3. M. Finke- Shot was off, hustle play and leadership showed though.
4. L. Black- Continues to make a jump, ticky tack foul calls, otherwise another very nice game overall.
5. T. Frazier- Quick, Alert, Can score, penetration and no fear is a nice change. Freshman
6. D. Williams- Still think he may end up our best freshman....does a lot very well.
7. T. Lucas- Calming guard play, will still get better, penetration good, turnovers not.
8. A. Jordan- Plays more like a combo guard/forward. Rebounding/defense getting much better and shot is becoming consistant as well...may take ALOT of Alstork minutes.
9. M. Alstork- Starting to look like a Wright St. caliber player, nothing against Mark, but he has not proven other than some defense, that he has what was advertised so far.
10. EBGB - Will be a good one, runs the floor like a athlete, not a true interior player, which is good. He gets up and down the floor with ease...this will pay off down the line.

 

[MWN43]

Take Aways

1. Even with all the fouling, this team is fun to watch. Much better effort on the defensive end last night.

2. Mark Smith is going to be special. From finishing/slashing/shooting he can do it all.

3. Bigs in foul trouble, still worried bout then denying 30 feet from the basket= lot of time on the bench. But Kipper and Greg O stepped up and provided quality minutes for the starters. Greg O as a senior will be a beast on the glass and finishing at the rim.

4. We looked much better against a zone today and hit some open 3s that made Depaul switch back to man, where we are even better on O.

5. Was it me, or did Trent not get that much time in the second half, perhaps he was too small on the defensive end to guard some Depaul guards... anyone else know why he wasnt in much?

6. AJ and Damonte stepping up this season can make us a deeper/dangerous team. I could see a starting 5 in the not so distance future: Tejon, M. Smith, AJ, Black, Finke... first off the bench Damonte and Trent.

 

[Illini B-Ball Fan]

Offensively we mixed it up a tad more. I counted 3 new deviations/counters/sets that we hadn’t previously run.

1) instead of going straight to the 2 man game we drove middle and flared that guard off the high post guy. Saw this a few times. Don’t remember seeing in the first two games. Good for when teams deny both the high post and reversal guard.

2) changing the way we filled around behind the 2 man game. Normally it’s a straight circle fill but sometimes they fill from the block when teams help from that position on the two man game.

3) high post usually indicates the top two will cut and cross out while the side guys fill up. We ran a set from that where one guard screens for the other while they cross for a post up. Think we entered to Kipper for the post and he missed but it was well executed.

As far as refs. It sucked to see that many fouls called but I thought they were VERY consistent. As a coach all we ask for is consistency. It’s the inconsistency that drives us insane.

Alstork: not worried yet. I feel like most of his mistakes yesterday were him trying to be too unselfish. Got to the paint a couple times where he could jump stop and pull-up or shoot a floater and tried to dump off for a big. Mistakes you can live with. Defensively he’s been good. He’s also been great at drawing fouls.

Overall: I think BU is bringing us along slowly. Limited sets and counters right now. Probably really just wants guys to see what they can get and how successful they can be out of the basic spread flow once they get it churning. There were some good moments tonight.

Great summary, thanks for the coach-perspective view. Guess we can say the offense is evolving slowly in a good way and is very fluid. Looking forward to a few months from now when it will be fine-tuned and running all aspects.

 

[ChazzReinhold]

Fun Fact: Leron's first 3 years: 21 assists in 1217 minutes
this year 10 assists in 66 minutes

 

[SescIllini]

Nice to see two hallmarks of the BU offense well executed. One was Tejon cutting to the hoop as the other 4 were positioned above ft line. Received pass under hoop for a fg.

Other one was Kipper cutting from weak side to get a pass on the block for a fg.

Really need an athletic true big to do more. Really would help on defense.

 

[SescIllini]

As BU offense is displayed more at Illinois. I believe recruiting will improve. Really like the 10 man rotation with the hot hands getting a little more PT.

DaMonte's play and recovery truely amazing.
Probably won't be fully recovered and conditioned for another 3 months. DaMonte is well schooled in bball and has a lot of tools. He is like the Javy Baez of the team. Solid with potential to be very good with offense skills.

 

[IllinistuckinGopherland]

We are only three games in, and Mark Smith is the first freshman I can remember to actually play/contribute as a freshman at the level predicted in the recruiting thread. Not an easy thing to do!

 

[Ken]

I think everyone is coming along nicely I am not worried about Alstork right now he seems to be make a concerted effort to play more of a all around game and it has him over thinking everything .

My concern Tejon hes picking up offensive fouls every game and hes looked a stepped slower with the ball than the other guards on his own teams and opposing teams at times . I hope he watches some tape of Juwan Evans in this offense because he seems to have the mindset of he going to be a setup man especially early in games but this offense runs best when everyone is actively looking to score . Now you dont have to shoot it every time but the defense has got to believe you will and right now I see that from everyone but Tejon who seems to be content to bring it up and pass it around the perimeter.This video shows perfect the type of aggression and I know Tejon can do it and once he adds this type of aggression to what we are already seeing from everyone else its gonna awesome .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWnEwWM8gPs&t=163s

 

[Whitmans Sampler]

Te’jon shot 38% from 3 last year. He is capable.

 

[mhuml32]

Fun Fact: Leron's first 3 years: 21 assists in 1217 minutes
this year 10 assists in 66 minutes

Great find.

 

[Nathan]

My concern Tejon hes picking up offensive fouls every game and hes looked a stepped slower with the ball than the other guards on his own teams and opposing teams at times . I hope he watches some tape of Juwan Evans in this offense because he seems to have the mindset of he going to be a setup man especially early in games but this offense runs best when everyone is actively looking to score . Now you dont have to shoot it every time but the defense has got to believe you will and right now I see that from everyone but Tejon who seems to be content to bring it up and pass it around the perimeter.This video shows perfect the type of aggression and I know Tejon can do it and once he adds this type of aggression to what we are already seeing from everyone else its gonna awesome .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWnEwWM8gPs&t=163s

That video is how I invision Trent playing in two years.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[soupy17]

Didn’t Paul score 24 really early in his career? It was against some “who dat?” and not against a Big East team.

BP3's freshman year he broke 20 points 3 times: against SIU-E and NIU in the first two games of the season, then against Clemson in the B1G/ACC challenge.

 

[TheLegendaryOne24]

Te’jon shot 38% from 3 last year. He is capable.

I think it will play itself out and again I'm a good with the Alstork expectations but I said this along time ago...at WSU he took 75% of the shoots good or bad and WSU still played him and he was good "not" dominate... I again believe DaMonte/Frazier & I'll put AJ in that mix are just better than Alstork (no dies respect to the kid) getting a chance to play on the B10 stage but here is what you all are missing....he's in his 5th yr (when will it kick in) because if I'm not mistaken our early games are against mid-major schools....I think he's good but if you are trying to convince me he's going to get better by B10 play and will dominate....I'm not sold on that because he's struggling to create now....

TJL is not Jawan Evans....he's talented but I think there are a few line-ups that I think we can play that will make us a tough game night in and night out...if you have TJL in the drive the D then okay but to think he will take the role that JE played at OK. St. ( I'm not buying that, nice player but naaaa)

Smith/DaMonte/Jordan/Kipper/Black/Finke would be my big rotation but with the defensive pressure BU wants to play....Frazier and TJL are getting reps.... But the team has mega potential....

 

[hooraybeer]

makes me sad thinking about how much this team could use a player just like JCL.

 

[BillyBob1]

Saw last nights officials at the airport. Older couple checking in in front of them. The wife helping her husband reaching into his coat pocket. Refs blew their whistle and called a foul!

 

[TheLegendaryOne24]

I think it will play itself out and again I'm a good with the Alstork expectations but I said this along time ago...at WSU he took 75% of the shoots good or bad and WSU still played him and he was good "not" dominate... I again believe DaMonte/Frazier & I'll put AJ in that mix are just better than Alstork (no dies respect to the kid) getting a chance to play on the B10 stage but here is what you all are missing....he's in his 5th yr (when will it kick in) because if I'm not mistaken our early games are against mid-major schools....I think he's good but if you are trying to convince me he's going to get better by B10 play and will dominate....I'm not sold on that because he's struggling to create now....

TJL is not Jawan Evans....he's talented but I think there are a few line-ups that I think we can play that will make us a tough game night in and night out...if you have TJL in the drive the D then okay but to think he will take the role that JE played at OK. St. ( I'm not buying that, nice player but naaaa)

Smith/DaMonte/Jordan/Kipper/Black/Finke would be my big rotation but with the defensive pressure BU wants to play....Frazier and TJL are getting reps.... But the team has mega potential....

Just my opinion on the opinion forum....