Illinois 80, Iowa 75 Postgame

[illinitiger]

Kudos to Illini_1979, Othawhitemeat and NYCillini for pointing out making Garza work AGAINST our offense ..may have best impact on his offensive production...great out of the box thinking and I think it worked!

Kept him off the court a few extra minutes than normal (Garza 28 min 19/4/1 this game vs 40 min 28/8/2 against us last March)

Defending Garza Poll

your choice on defending Garza for big game

www.illinoisloyalty.com

 

[altenberger22]

Missed the game last night --- but just finished watching on Tivo. Two things that jumped out to me:

1. Offensive consistency for 40 minutes. We looked very fluid. No significant scoring lulls. And our pace was excellent -- always looking to run if it was there. We didn't stress when Iowa would hit a long 3-pointer to go up by two. Instead, we'd answered with a bucket of our own. And I loved our ball movement against the zone. Grandison in the middle at the FT line is really, really effective. He's a great distributor, but will also face the basket and drill the 12 footer.

2. Intensity on defense for the entire 40 minutes. Appropriate double-teams and tons of help defense. Iowa averages 92-93 pts per game and we held them to 75.

 

[illinitiger]

He was a petulant child for the first minute- not a good look

Probably...like I said his Poppovich impression

 

[LouHenson]

I agree. If the refs could just keep themselves out of all league games like this it would make it so much more enjoyable to watch. They missed some but on both ends so can't really ask for more than that.

I so so so much agree with this. The game was reffed like an NBA game. No garbage calls like when GB goes in out of control he did not get bailed out. Same thing with Iowa players. It is really simple, if the offensive player has a “clear” advantage to the basket and is hindered FOUL, but just jumping up towards a shot with some contact should not be a foul. The game is way more fun to watch when it is not a free throw shooting contest. Fans should write to the BIG 10 office, not complaining, but listing this game as proof the officials don’t have to be the stars of the show. Hell they even got the goal tending call correct! Amazing!!

 

[illinitiger]

Is it just me or did it look like on the last timeout that Giorgi looked very dispirited, he was way on the outside wasn't involved, encouraging as usual.

The way we squandered a 6p lead letting them have potential tie shot at the end was dispiriting for me too!
In the "walk to locker room" clip I saw he was smiling.

 

[JoeJ]

Great game all around!

Normally I love Belo scooting around the lane and doing his thing, but not with the lead and less than a minute left. Let's get the ball to Ayo, or at least rein in Belo in that situation. Love Belo, think he is great, but he is a Fr.

If the goaltending call is not in the last 2 minutes, is it always reviewable?
Blows my mind that it takes the refs 5 minutes plus to correct an obvious mistake. Also, unless there is a shot clock problem, if the game time might be off by a couple of seconds with more than 3 minutes left in the half, either fix it at the next timeout or just leave it. The game does not need to be 240.000000000 minutes.

GO ILLINI!
Nothing better than beating Suckeyes west and Loosiers consecutively!

 

[IlliniKat91]

There are a multitude of Iowa fans that did not graduate from the University of Iowa....or any high school for that matter....just like Illini fans. Some of the English written on these message boards is atrocious and shameful, but pretty much reflects the desire of our nation at this point to be correct and/or truthful.

I looked at his Twitter profile. He graduated from Iowa (presumably with a Master's degree) in 2018. He did his undergrad at Coe if that profile is to be believed.

Illinois, and years on the internet, taught me to fact check my stuff before posting.

 

[mikeyo]

Hate to say anything negative after a huge iwn but I really would like to see Adam Miller pump fake and drive.

+1

i'm confident he'll pick that skill up though. I'm guessing he could just drive around everybody at the high school level and didn't need to learn to create space. But 100% yes. Learn to ball fake or pump fake & drive!

 

[Loyalillini10]

That was one those plays where I was like but they somehow didn't call it. Would like to see a replay because I sure thought they were going to call a travel. It did make up for the phantom call on Giorgi earlier in the half that Bardo called them out on.

I believe they didn’t call it because he was fouled which caused him to travel. They missed the foul so they allowed the travel.

 

[hoopsfan47]

Just passing along info after timing with a stopwatch several times. The 5 second call was within .05 sec. either way from the time Ayo touches the ball and Curbelo releases the ball....6 seconds until the ball is touched in play. A really close call that usually allows slightly more than 5 sec. before being called. It is something refs practice often and on which they are graded and is therefore at least generally tried to be made correct by them all. It was a tough call against our guys....but not a blown call.

 

[EyeoftheIllini]

Just passing along info after timing with a stopwatch several times. The 5 second call was within .05 sec. either way from the time Ayo touches the ball and Curbelo releases the ball....6 seconds until the ball is touched in play. A really close call that usually allows slightly more than 5 sec. before being called. It is something refs practice often and on which they are graded and is therefore at least generally tried to be made correct by them all. It was a tough call against our guys....but not a blown call.

That is how I saw it last night when watching the game. Tough call for the Illini (and frustrating), but didn’t seem like a wrong call. Worse call was the goaltending, and they eventually got that right. Overall I thought officiating was good, fair and even.

 

[IllinoisssssssVarsity]

1) Curbelo did not travel. He 1-2 stepped and passed the ball.

2) As far as I know from referees I trust, the whistle is supposed to come on 5, not after 5. 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, whistle.

 

[Deleted member 29907]

Just passing along info after timing with a stopwatch several times. The 5 second call was within .05 sec. either way from the time Ayo touches the ball and Curbelo releases the ball....6 seconds until the ball is touched in play. A really close call that usually allows slightly more than 5 sec. before being called. It is something refs practice often and on which they are graded and is therefore at least generally tried to be made correct by them all. It was a tough call against our guys....but not a blown call.

The refs don't use a stopwatch - they use their arm to count 5 seconds (not perfect but as good as you can get without Google Glass). He counted off, with his arm 4 seconds and then blew the whistle. And the count stops when the ball is released. It was a blown call. As was the tough 3 sec call against Belo. Technically he was in the lane for 3.5 secs - which is a call. But earlier in the game (1st half), Garzilla was in the lane for 4 full seconds with the ball and was allowed to score.

That plus the two blown calls of who touched the ball last out of bounds (Garza first half, Toussaint losing the ball out of bounds second) were the most obvious ones. So Iowa twitter guy really has nothing to complain about.

 

[altgeld88]

Last night felt a lot like last Sunday March 8 last year, in the best nail-biting way possible. And Groundhog Day isn't until Tuesday.

Love that the program has the team playing these sorts of marquee matchups again regularly. And winning. Congrats to the boys, and esp TF. That was just splendid.

Now don't let down in the Hoojins' house! I like them even less than Iowa.

They keep playing a full 40 like that and life will look a lot different.

 

[CubsIlliniFan]

the first 2 mins of the fran interview had me rolling

He is such a jerk. Fran first three answers are "I dont know?", "I Can't!" and "Apparently!" Then in a sarcastic tone told the guy as he interrupted his question that He has a great observation and he is a smart guy, and he (Fran) is a horrendous coach. How can he get any recruit with being that obnoxious?

 

[CubsIlliniFan]

Missed the game last night --- but just finished watching on Tivo. Two things that jumped out to me:

1. Offensive consistency for 40 minutes. We looked very fluid. No significant scoring lulls. And our pace was excellent -- always looking to run if it was there. We didn't stress when Iowa would hit a long 3-pointer to go up by two. Instead, we'd answered with a bucket of our own. And I loved our ball movement against the zone. Grandison in the middle at the FT line is really, really effective. He's a great distributor, but will also face the basket and drill the 12 footer.

2. Intensity on defense for the entire 40 minutes. Appropriate double-teams and tons of help defense. Iowa averages 92-93 pts per game and we held them to 75.

There was a scoring lull that could have hurt us at the end. We were leading 56-52 I believe when we were stopping them for 4 straight possessions when we went without scoring for 5. They scored a basket and we gave the ball up and they hit a three to make it 57-56 and we went down and scored then we lost another chance to score with a turn. So during that stretch, we had 7 of 8 missed scoring chances. Not to nit pick but we have stretches like that where we have lost. And Garza was on the bench during most of that time. But your second point is spot on. Grandy was all over the place playing D as well as our perimeter D was off the charts and of course, Kofi playing huge in the middle.

 

[altgeld88]

He is such a jerk. Fran first three answers are "I dont know?", "I Can't!" and "Apparently!" Then in a sarcastic tone told the guy as he interrupted his question that He has a great observation and he is a smart guy, and he (Fran) is a horrendous coach. How can he get any recruit with being that obnoxious?

I must grudgingly acknowledge that he's a solid recruiter and coach, and he has that program essentially back to where they were in the '80s and early '90s with Olson/Ravelling/Davis.

I also realize that schadenfreude is unbecoming, but I can't help the utter delight I feel when he loses and is petulant. His snapping in the presser was delicious. I'm looking forward to many such future encounters.

And can we talk about BU's regular deployment of the term "smash-mouth basketball"? I'm beginning to think that he should moonlight as as the LB coach across West Kirby.

 

[altgeld88]

the first 2 mins of the fran interview had me rolling

I deliberately deferred gratification, went to bed, and saved his presser for the morning so I could enjoy it with my coffee. He didn't disappoint.

 

[altgeld88]

Hate to say anything negative after a huge iwn but I really would like to see Adam Miller pump fake and drive.

Sporting shoulder-length orange dreads. He may be entering a late-adolescent, toned-down, Dennis Rodman phase. No qualms about that if the results on the court continue.

 

[Goode-for-3]

SO PUMPED!

You were 2 points off with your prediction (1 for us, 1 for them). What are the odds that you were 2 off on the Ranking? Any way we slide into #9. Would love to see us back in the Top 10 and then win-out!

If Michigan actually decides to play a few games we may have a shot at winning this season still. But even without that we are still in the running for 2nd with a giant asterisk next to Michigan for only playing ~66% of the games.

 

[trtl]

12:40 PM Eastern Time - just finished watching my DVR version of this game, so late to the dance (missed the live action because I was celebrating my 66th b-day with my kids and grandkids). WHAT A GREAT COLLEGE BASKETBALL GAME. But anyway for what its worth my observations:

1) Trent Frazier - maybe one of the top recruits of all-time for us.
2) Ayo is a killer - maybe one of the best Illini of all-time
3) Kofi - his dominance shows even when he doesn’t get a double-double.
4) Jacob Grandison - obviously deserves to be starting - huge impact.
5) DeMonte - still hugely important.
6) Curbleo - so enjoyable to watch!!!
7) I LOVE THIS TEAM!!!
8). Edit - I forgot, Iowa still has the most punchable faces of any team, any time

You had me with your first 7, but I don’t get this “punchable face” thing that seems to be repeated frequently on this board when referring to Iowa. If any one of them wore orange and blue, you’d be cheering your a** off for them.

 

[trtl]

Yes, Grandy killed it tonight.

Kid lookin’ like Trevor Ariza out there.

And calm and steady.

 

[trtl]

Just passing along info after timing with a stopwatch several times. The 5 second call was within .05 sec. either way from the time Ayo touches the ball and Curbelo releases the ball....6 seconds until the ball is touched in play. A really close call that usually allows slightly more than 5 sec. before being called. It is something refs practice often and on which they are graded and is therefore at least generally tried to be made correct by them all. It was a tough call against our guys....but not a blown call.

Exactly. I timed it and had it just over 5 seconds when the whistle blew. Correct call, but as you stated, refs usually give more than 5.

 

[PapaKvells]

There was a scoring lull that could have hurt us at the end. We were leading 56-52 I believe when we were stopping them for 4 straight possessions when we went without scoring for 5. They scored a basket and we gave the ball up and they hit a three to make it 57-56 and we went down and scored then we lost another chance to score with a turn. So during that stretch, we had 7 of 8 missed scoring chances. Not to nit pick but we have stretches like that where we have lost. And Garza was on the bench during most of that time. But your second point is spot on. Grandy was all over the place playing D as well as our perimeter D was off the charts and of course, Kofi playing huge in the middle.

There was another scoring lull when we were at 69 (nice) but Iowa was also in a scoring lull at the same time with 69 (nice) so it wasn't as obvious. Runs and lulls are part of the game. We made sure Iowa, who has a very good offense, had more lulls than we did which speaks well to our defense (nice).

 

[Deleted member 747903]

When he does drive, bad things happen. He doesn't have the ability to finish at the rim and no midrange at the moment. The game is way too fast for him right now. Hopefully he can develop in the offseason and the game slows down for him.

Yep. He looks so smooth from three but as soon as he puts it on the floor he looks like a rookie.
I predict he makes a big jump in that department next year