Also with the Friday/Monday we had a short turnaround time and didn’t have a ton of time to prep for it. Guessing we will be better against it next time, particularly if we have Belo back.
Illinois 87, Iowa 83 Postgame
Have a question about the 10 second calls. On the two back to back I noticed that the 30 second clock reset when the ball hit the rim, but by the time we corralled the rebound it was on 28. The 10 second call came when it hit 20. We really only had possession for 8 seconds at that point. Is that how it is supposed to work, or were we getting short clocked by Iowa timekeeper.. Never really thought about it before.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
1. I was overjoyed when we weren't ranked this morning. Disrespect looks good on this bunch.
2. You've got a real superstar on your hands when they can put up a quiet 17 & 18 like Kofi did tonight. The paint was his every second he was on the floor.
3. We're going to be vulnerable against teams who are good at pressing and make that their identity, but winning a game like that where we suffered the consequences but found ways to get it done makes me feel a lot better about the potential upside here.
4. It's officially time to discuss if we're better without Curbelo. We have really found something with four shooters surrounding Kofi and playing inside-out. In theory Curbelo and Kofi are a devastating pick and roll combo. In theory. And the shooting to stretch the floor enables that, something we were in a slump with when Curbelo was out there. But it's just a much more narrow, static way to play. I think at the very least when Curbelo comes back him dominating the ball needs to be one option rather than our default bread and butter.
5. I know we all hate Fran, but he has been such a great addition to the Big Ten. Back when college basketball as a whole was initially trying to clean up its act, the Big Ten had Weber, Bo Ryan, Matt Painter, Tubby Smith, Bill Carmody, Todd Lickliter, and the king of them all Ed Dechellis, a historic murderers row of dedicated practitioners of excruciating non-basketball. Iowa hiring Fran was that first glimmer of someone imposing tempo and an open court on the conference. Everything has changed now, what a great game to watch that was.
6. Arizona's the first for real good team we'll have played. I gave up on the idea of this as a top 10 team after such a raft of weaknesses got exposed against Marquette and that got heavily confirmed by Cincy, K-State, and UTRGV. But something *might* be brewing here, and now's our first chance to really prove it.
2. You've got a real superstar on your hands when they can put up a quiet 17 & 18 like Kofi did tonight. The paint was his every second he was on the floor.
3. We're going to be vulnerable against teams who are good at pressing and make that their identity, but winning a game like that where we suffered the consequences but found ways to get it done makes me feel a lot better about the potential upside here.
4. It's officially time to discuss if we're better without Curbelo. We have really found something with four shooters surrounding Kofi and playing inside-out. In theory Curbelo and Kofi are a devastating pick and roll combo. In theory. And the shooting to stretch the floor enables that, something we were in a slump with when Curbelo was out there. But it's just a much more narrow, static way to play. I think at the very least when Curbelo comes back him dominating the ball needs to be one option rather than our default bread and butter.
5. I know we all hate Fran, but he has been such a great addition to the Big Ten. Back when college basketball as a whole was initially trying to clean up its act, the Big Ten had Weber, Bo Ryan, Matt Painter, Tubby Smith, Bill Carmody, Todd Lickliter, and the king of them all Ed Dechellis, a historic murderers row of dedicated practitioners of excruciating non-basketball. Iowa hiring Fran was that first glimmer of someone imposing tempo and an open court on the conference. Everything has changed now, what a great game to watch that was.
6. Arizona's the first for real good team we'll have played. I gave up on the idea of this as a top 10 team after such a raft of weaknesses got exposed against Marquette and that got heavily confirmed by Cincy, K-State, and UTRGV. But something *might* be brewing here, and now's our first chance to really prove it.
I believe the replay confirmed that the second one was called at 8 seconds.
One of those to's was because Goode didn't come back for the ball. He just stood there and allowed the Iowa player to push through for the pass. He was actually the only Illini open at that point. Iowa was leaving our wing running down the right sideline open all game. We consistently made that wing come back to mid-court instead of just leading him down the court a little bit with a pass. We finally started making a pass there but, wouldn't attack. We should always make a team pay for pressing us! Many times the only guy back for Iowa had to guard Kofi one on one with no help, if we would have just looked to make that pass instead once we crossed mid-court. Instead, we were too busy setting up our half-court offense.
We need Curbelo back. When TF goes out of the game our ball handling is exposed.
Plummer can sure take some heat check bombs sometimes, but man the dude can snipe. I love having him at the line at the end of the game.
TF is very good as usual. Made some key plays on both ends of the floor.
Kofi was a monster inside. What an effort on the boards. A man amongst boys in true form.
Hawkins didn’t have the greatest game. Tough assignment on Keegan Murray, with some questionable calls.
Grandison can shoot the rock. Hits a moonshot from near the logo with the shot clock winding down. He creates much more this year.
DW hitting Plummer in the corner after breaking the press was the nail in the coffin. Iowa sure did linger around though.
Excellent team effort and a nice resume win.
Plummer can sure take some heat check bombs sometimes, but man the dude can snipe. I love having him at the line at the end of the game.
TF is very good as usual. Made some key plays on both ends of the floor.
Kofi was a monster inside. What an effort on the boards. A man amongst boys in true form.
Hawkins didn’t have the greatest game. Tough assignment on Keegan Murray, with some questionable calls.
Grandison can shoot the rock. Hits a moonshot from near the logo with the shot clock winding down. He creates much more this year.
DW hitting Plummer in the corner after breaking the press was the nail in the coffin. Iowa sure did linger around though.
Excellent team effort and a nice resume win.
Imagine the margin between scores had we not handed the ball over on a platter all those times. We have to continue to work on ball control. I do feel we’re showing flashes of improvement on this.
Great may be too strong. But certainly a good night and a great first 1/2. Keep in mind that we gave him the most difficult defensive assignment on the court. KM only scored 19 points tonight. 1 point above his low on the year. A good portion of those points were scored after Hawk fouled out. I’d be ok with a stat line of 7/5/7 and holding the best player on the opposing team below his point average.
It sure seems like we practiced getting the ball across half court a bit over the weekend but not the transitioning into offense part.
Respectfully disagree on two counts:
1. Curbelo was not Curbelo in the 1.5 games he played. We need to see healthy Curbelo (looked good at Ann Arbor last year) before we can even ask that question.
2. You should get Dan’d for complimenting Fran, even if you’re right.
I guess some will only accept a coast to coast 30 point win as being a "good game". I don't have FSN1 but just watching the ESPN gamecast had my heart pounding. Amazing and hard fought game. I saw in the game thread that Kofi was taking a pounding but not getting the calls. Couldn't see it but I sure believe it. Illinois always seems to get a physical game when they cross the Mississippi. Wouldn't want it any other way. I have family over there. Love to tell them about it.
Bardo sure was awfully high on loving on those Hawkeyes for some reason. Both started out just hyping them up big time. Iowa is deserving of some recognition though. Still can’t believe neither are in top 25!You left out "undisciplined." Plus Bardo hates us all.
Certainly this year. The following 3 might be a tough argument.
Kofi draining free throws with consistency makes me smile!! Now if we can just train the refs to actually call fouls against him!
Chad Fleck
- Eureka, IL
Yeah, but it's not like it was a trade initiated by the Illini.
Miller left, so they picked up Plummer.
There just getting him ready for The Show next year.
Whitmans Sampler
- Eastern Iowa
Living in Iowa, performances like tonight are what I look forward to most. What an effort. See you guys in Champaign on Saturday
DB11Headband
- Chicago Burbs
Thank you. If I see one more “we are better without Curbelo” take... The kid has a few subpar games this year when he was far from 100% and we forget that he is by far our most talented player. He would’ve made a massive difference tonight and will when he returns. This team will be extremely dangerous if he can get back to full strength, which I think he will soon.