Illinois-Nebraska Game Postponed

#1      

Dan

Admin
Update: Game has been postponed


Illinois at Nebraska
Wednesday, January 13th
8:00pm CT
BTN
 
Last edited:
#5      

illiniswish09

Northwest Suburbs
Nebraska gave Indiana everything they could handle. Team is starting to turn the corner. We better bring it
 
#6      

Deleted member 747802

D
Guest
Actually seems like we play better (excepting the NW 1st half) on the road. Here's to hoping that is the case.
 
#8      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
Oh thank goodness. Another “break” game where we can relax a bit.

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#13      
No gimmes this year. We play to our potential, and we win these next four games going into Iowa. Against Nebraska, we just need to play a solid and complete game and we will win. Team should have the wakeup call now, they will be ready for the rest of the year. This team will still have a good chance to win the big ten. We win these next three and 8-2 is a very good spot going into the back ten of the games.
 
#14      
No gimmes this year. We play to our potential, and we win these next four games going into Iowa. Against Nebraska, we just need to play a solid and complete game and we will win. Team should have the wakeup call now, they will be ready for the rest of the year. This team will still have a good chance to win the big ten. We win these next three and 8-2 is a very good spot going into the back ten of the games.
I hear you, and wish I could be this optimistic, but isn't this exactly what we were saying after the Ohio game, then the Missouri game, then the Rutgers game, then the first half of Northwestern? I hope this was the wake up call we needed, but I'm skeptical of that narrative.
 
#15      
INSIDE OUT. INSIDE FIRST. Whether that's a lob to Kofi or a drive to the rim by Ayo/Curbelo doesn't matter. We need to look to go INSIDE FIRST and then either lay it up or kick it out to the open shooter.

And when the opponents start collapsing in the paint, keep looking for every opportunity to push the ball inside still. EVERY SINGLE TIME. If there's a wide open perimeter shooter, make the pass and pull the trigger immediately, but always look to be pushing it INSIDE.

We have KOFI F&*KING COCKBURN on our roster. Put the ball in the god damned paint.
 
#16      

danielb927

Orange Krush Class of 2013
Rochester, MN
I hear you, and wish I could be this optimistic, but isn't this exactly what we were saying after the Ohio game, then the Missouri game, then the Rutgers game, then the first half of Northwestern? I hope this was the wake up call we needed, but I'm skeptical of that narrative.

IMO we've shown improvement after each of those moments, either in-game or the next game. Then we've also backslid a bit. That's how things go in the moment -- no season really hinges on a single "wake up call" except in hindsight. Every game, and especially every loss, is a chance to learn and improve. If we keep doing that, we'll be playing our best basketball come March, and that's what really matters.
 
#18      
This team has had trouble handling success, so I wasn't surprised by how they played Maryland after the NW magic, tbh. I still thought they'd manage to finish, but between their periods of flat play, and Maryland fighting like a champ, they let it go.

I'd like to think they'll be better against Neb. Gotta want it!
 
#19      
IMO we've shown improvement after each of those moments, either in-game or the next game. Then we've also backslid a bit. That's how things go in the moment -- no season really hinges on a single "wake up call" except in hindsight. Every game, and especially every loss, is a chance to learn and improve. If we keep doing that, we'll be playing our best basketball come March, and that's what really matters.
Perhaps, but I'm looking at last season's schedule, and I don’t see an equivalent to last night's game in conference play. Our only home losses were to Maryland (ranked #9 at the time) and MSU. Those were tough games against opponents that were just better than us. We also lost some tough away games, but won more of those than we lost. We hit a tough stretch where we lost against 4 difficult opponents in a row, but we made up for it by winning all the games we should have been favorites for, and some we were not favorites for (at #9 Penn St. - that was a fun game). We haven't hit our tough stretch yet, and we just lost a home game against a team we should really be beating, so we're running behind the pace last year's team set. Hopefully we can catch up. That tough stretch is coming soon:

1/23 - at MSU
1/29 - Iowa
2/2 - at Indiana
2/6 - Wisconsin
2/11 - at Michigan

Then we end the season at Wisconsin 2/27 and at OSU 3/6.

I'm not super confident we can come out with even 4 wins out of those 7 games, after yesterday's performance (even that would put us at 5 losses, if we win all remaining games)?
 
#20      

JFGsCoffeeMug

BU:1 Trash cans:0
Chicago
I guess the voters saw the Maryland loss as an off-game, instead of as an indictment of our overall quality as a team (or maybe an impressive come-from-behind blowout on the road negates a close loss at home). On the one hand, it's hard to feel good about four losses. On the other hand, aside from the Baylor game, these losses have all been by 3 points. We're not getting outclassed here.

I think that's what kills me the most as a fan. Even in our losses, we are in these games at the very end. The margins are so small here. One fewer turnover or a few more made free throws, and we force overtime. And if we are simply average in both categories, these losses suddenly become wins. Losing always sucks. But losing close games the way we've been losing them is uniquely frustrating.
 
#21      
Perhaps, but I'm looking at last season's schedule, and I don’t see an equivalent to last night's game in conference play. Our only home losses were to Maryland (ranked #9 at the time) and MSU. Those were tough games against opponents that were just better than us. We also lost some tough away games, but won more of those than we lost. We hit a tough stretch where we lost against 4 difficult opponents in a row, but we made up for it by winning all the games we should have been favorites for, and some we were not favorites for (at #9 Penn St. - that was a fun game). We haven't hit our tough stretch yet, and we just lost a home game against a team we should really be beating, so we're running behind the pace last year's team set. Hopefully we can catch up. That tough stretch is coming soon:

1/23 - at MSU
1/29 - Iowa
2/2 - at Indiana
2/6 - Wisconsin
2/11 - at Michigan

Then we end the season at Wisconsin 2/27 and at OSU 3/6.

I'm not super confident we can come out with even 4 wins out of those 7 games, after yesterday's performance (even that would put us at 5 losses, if we win all remaining games)?
I think you are over analyzing this. Our team this year has flashed some inconsistencies yes, but we are just as good as all of those teams and winning away this year is much easier than usual. I expect us to go 3-2 in that five game stretch, which if we win the next three puts us at 11-4 in conference with three easy games coming up. This team is capable of putting a five or six game winning streak together, they just need to go out there and do it. The talent is there
 
#22      
I guess the voters saw the Maryland loss as an off-game, instead of as an indictment of our overall quality as a team (or maybe an impressive come-from-behind blowout on the road negates a close loss at home). On the one hand, it's hard to feel good about four losses. On the other hand, aside from the Baylor game, these losses have all been by 3 points. We're not getting outclassed here.

I think that's what kills me the most as a fan. Even in our losses, we are in these games at the very end. The margins are so small here. One fewer turnover or a few more made free throws, and we force overtime. And if we are simply average in both categories, these losses suddenly become wins. Losing always sucks. But losing close games the way we've been losing them is uniquely frustrating.
We are losing close games because of:

A. Poor FT shooting

B. Plan A for the last 3 minutes in 1 possession games is get Ayo the ball and get out of the way. Plan B is get Ayo the ball and get out of the way. Plan C is get Ayo the ball and get out of the way.

When everyone in the gym knows who is taking the shot it makes it really hard to get a good one.

Ayo needs to be prepared to pass out of heavy traffic, and his teammates need to be willing to take a big shot. At this point, I haven't seen much evidence of either of those things being applicable. It cost us against Rutgers and it cost us against Maryland. When do we learn from it? The answer may determine whether we talk about this being one of the greatest Illini teams, or one of the most disappointing.
 
#23      

Deleted member 747840

D
Guest
Illinois #14 in AP Poll

Shocked we dropped to only 14, but I guess I'm eating the overreaction of the fan base from a 3 pt loss.

I think this team hovers between 10 and 20 and that seems like a good place for us to be until we prove we can play with Wisc, UM, and Iowa and take care of teams like Nebby.
 
#24      

Deleted member 747802

D
Guest
We are losing close games because of:

A. Poor FT shooting

B. Plan A for the last 3 minutes in 1 possession games is get Ayo the ball and get out of the way. Plan B is get Ayo the ball and get out of the way. Plan C is get Ayo the ball and get out of the way.

When everyone in the gym knows who is taking the shot it makes it really hard to get a good one.

Ayo needs to be prepared to pass out of heavy traffic, and his teammates need to be willing to take a big shot. At this point, I haven't seen much evidence of either of those things being applicable. It cost us against Rutgers and it cost us against Maryland. When do we learn from it? The answer may determine whether we talk about this being one of the greatest Illini teams, or one of the most disappointing.
Only my opinion, but A is a mental focus/confidence issue and B I agree with what Underwood had to say after last night's game he has to do a better job of getting his guys ready for games and late game situations. Talent is a must, but it can only get you so far especially in a league as tough as the B10. The whole team has to do better if they want to achieve their own stated goals of winning the conference and competing for a national championship. I know the fans sure want it, but the team and coaching staff have to as well.
 
#25      

Deleted member 747903

D
Guest
First time poster here:

FT woes are clearly mental at this point. These are D1 basketball players, they are all really good shooters :)

You could clearly tell that DMW was nervous as heck with those 2 FT at the end of the game. His motion was slow and deliberate and not the look of a confident shooter. As a former basketball player, addressing this mid-season is very tough. It's nearly impossible to simulate late-game situations in practice. At this point, we have to hope for the flip of a switch or FT will continue to hurt us down the stretch.