Maryland 66, Illinois 63 Postgame
Coach has done a great job of turning this program around. And for that I’m thankful, but man. There are too many games like this. We have way too much talent to drop this kind of game at home. I’m not sure why our seniors are lacking for confidence so much. That’s what that was today. DMW wasn’t confident. He wouldn’t pull the trigger and he missed two freebies.
He’s a freshman point guard. It happens. Who was it that we played were Deron bricked two huge free throws? Was that Memphis? God that’s been forever ago.
Frazier played 23 minutes and didn't score, and DaMonte played 32 minutes and didn't score... Frazier took 2 shots and DaMonte took 3... missed his free throws also. Both missed and point try... we need them to be easy more aggressive and they have to score to help this team win! That's two starters not scoring! Curbelo scored 8 with 4 assist and 2 rebounds. Wasn't his best game but still better than the starters. And his defense was good!
IMO, we have trouble with Maryland due to their athletic players, on both ends. For example, Ayo at 6'5" was switched on to whoever was hot. Wiggins, then Morsell. Why? They gave our smaller guards fits.
Who on offense do we have who can finish like Morsell did at the end? Ayo, period. Not Ace, Trent, Curbelo, DMW... No one but Ayo. They have Wiggins, Morsell, and Ayala. We struggle against taller athletes.
We play very small at times. Against some teams, it is an advantage. Historically, against Maryland, it just doesn't seem to be.
Great point on Terps "taking away driving lanes". The confounding part is there didnt appear to be any adjustments for Terps pressure. Feeds to Kofi worked consistently,...and we got away from that down stretch.
They did. First half Ace helped that by shooting over it. Second half he was MIA. We need the freshman to grow up to be what we want to be.
Hawkins would get exposed no more than Damonte is getting exposed but at least he can set a real screen instead of one that immediately just gets switched because they have true size on the floor . Instead you stay small and handicap your best offensive players
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Of course they do. But guess what happens when a team guards like Maryland did, and you have a ball dominant Ayo and an offense trying to feed the post? Not to mention a freshman pg driving to nowhere with no options but launching a prayer...at least 6-7 times....how many good looks are Trent and DMFW gonna get?
Also Trent was injured.
It’s one game, and right on cue, the hot takes want Tev Jones and Alan Griffin in “cause they can score”.
Oh yeah and BU can’t coach.
He took one and air balled
I still would like to have Tev on this team. Kid can play. He’s having a good year. I don’t think anyone is saying Brad can’t coach. But, even good coaches have bad nights.
Trent has had way more than one game without scoring. Or barely taking shots. He goes missing offensively a lot and people always use the excuse that it's because he's playing defense. He's not been aggressive on offense for a while now. When he is it's very helpful to the team. He's one of our best offensive shooters. We need him to be aggressive or put someone else in.
This team has shown a tendency to let inferior teams hang around and it finally caught up with them. This is their first bad loss, with that said, virtually every ranked team in the country has had a bad loss this season that's the beauty of college basketball. Just have to put this behind them and get re-focused; the schedule is going to get a lot tougher down the stretch.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Me too, but that’s not my point. It’s the same “sit Damonte” or Trent argument from last year, and play freshman that are very clearly not ready for 30 plus minute per B1G game.
it just played out as obviously as it could. Trent on the bench in the second half and we can’t close.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
He’s averaging over 9 ppg and we don’t run offense for him like we do Ayo, Miller and Kofi. He’s usually on the ball.
Hawk needs more minutes for sure. He brings energy and plays with swagger for a freshman. He came in today and defended well, stole a pass, grabbed an offensive board and got a put back, all this in what 2 minutes?
He’s not ready for 20 minutes, but he needs 5-7 a half and if he performs ride him out. He brings the physical tools we desperately need, especially if Giorgio isn’t playing well.
I agree with other posters that we are very limited when you have any combination of TF, AC, AM, AD, DW in with Kofi, although my guess is BU saw Hutch filling a huge role in that regard.
It is my opinion that if those freshman don't step up, we are looking at a 4th to 6th place finish in the Big Ten. We need more scoring contribution by someone besides Ayo and Kofi. Coming into the year, I was hoping for a top 3 finish in the conference. I think that now will be difficult to accomplish based upon the inconsistency we have seen. However, even a 4th to 6th place finish sure beats what we have seen since 2006. We need more lanky players in the 6 foot 6 to 6 foot 9 range that are very athletic that can hit an outside shot and/or drive to the hoop to break into the top 3 in the conference.
Long time listener. Posting for first time in celebration of a true garbage performance tonight. No really good illini team lost a game comparably in my memory. This team lacks heart. Pride. Disdain for their opponents. Killer instinct. The Northestern comeback was “fun”. Not business. They think teams will just lay down for them. This one should sting. If it doesnt we will know
soon.
soon.
Nope we beat them in 2015 and at the Garden.
Bad game, no doubt about it. Second half especially was strange. DMW went back into his offensive shell after shooting that air ball 3. That combined with Trent’s shoulder that made him reticent to shoot was too much to overcome. But what happened to Miller? He just disappeared on offense. On those two triple teams of Kofi, Miller just stood there. He has to move to give Kofi an angle to find him cuz passing out of triple team sure ain’t Kofi’s strength. That left things in the hands of Ayo and Curbelo, and it’s hard to win like that and they didn’t have their best games that’s for sure.
I’m not in agreement that Hawkins should be playing over DMW as some think. As someone pointed out, if he was getting 20 minutes his weaknesses would be exposed. And actually in the second half it wasn’t DMW that needed to go to the bench but Miller. DMW had 2 assists and 4 rebs in second half. Miller’s stats for the second half — one missed shot, one foul and one TO. But I would like to see BU use the same type of rotation in the second half as he does in the first. Hawkins and Grandison even for just a few minutes bring energy and hustle that seems to ignite the team some. Might have also allowed Ayo to get a quick blow too.
I don’t agree with some who have cited a lack of effort in this game. I didn’t see that. Yes, there was lack of execution in some stretches that hurt, but that’s not the same thing as effort. I do think BU got out coached by MT. MD did a great job of overplaying Ayo’s right hand. And going to what essentially was a triple team on Kofi when he touched the ball took him out of the game the last 10 minutes.
All in all not much to be proud of in that game. Sky isn’t falling, but some issues need to be addressed cuz won’t be the last time they see those tactics.
I’m not in agreement that Hawkins should be playing over DMW as some think. As someone pointed out, if he was getting 20 minutes his weaknesses would be exposed. And actually in the second half it wasn’t DMW that needed to go to the bench but Miller. DMW had 2 assists and 4 rebs in second half. Miller’s stats for the second half — one missed shot, one foul and one TO. But I would like to see BU use the same type of rotation in the second half as he does in the first. Hawkins and Grandison even for just a few minutes bring energy and hustle that seems to ignite the team some. Might have also allowed Ayo to get a quick blow too.
I don’t agree with some who have cited a lack of effort in this game. I didn’t see that. Yes, there was lack of execution in some stretches that hurt, but that’s not the same thing as effort. I do think BU got out coached by MT. MD did a great job of overplaying Ayo’s right hand. And going to what essentially was a triple team on Kofi when he touched the ball took him out of the game the last 10 minutes.
All in all not much to be proud of in that game. Sky isn’t falling, but some issues need to be addressed cuz won’t be the last time they see those tactics.
We stopped really taking it to them at the basket. There is no way we should've never been in the bonus in the second half. Especially considering how Kofi was dominating. there was a period where we were up 2 or 3 and got stops in 4 straight possessions and failed to go up by 2 possessions. That's what hurt us.
Ayo came back for this ..... #mulligan