Illinois 73, Northwestern 66 Postgame

[Rocky]

Nothing against my insurance company of 40 years, but, God willing, I'm looking forward to the mid-2040s when the naming rights expire. IMO a national architectural landmark shouldn't have corporate sponsorship. I'm a grumpy old man that way.

Fully concrete roof ... that's Duomo in Florence stuff

 

[Bigtex]

Our defense was sooooo good.
Our turnovers that led to easy buckets not so good
Williams 23 minutes and grandison 25 minutes are still too many
I don’t need to echo how good rj was
Curbelo is not anywhere near mid season form.
Kofi’s reactions are very slow
Win and led from start to finish
Alone in first place

 

[DeonThomas]

I think we'll be working on late game IB plays this week

And I saw Grandison throw two lazy left-handed fluff passes against their pressure.........(what is that?)

 

[UncleBob]

Was DMW injured in second half?

 

[IndyILL]

can you imagine this team if everyone gets healthy and on his game... has this even happened once this year? And yet here we are in 1st place in the B1G!

 

[Orangetool]

And I saw Grandison throw two lazy left-handed fluff passes against their pressure.........(what is that?)

An off game for sure.
I'm thinking that he will turn this around at just the right time of the late season.

We need him.

 

[Rap47]

We had three starters that went 4 for 21 and we turned it over 20 times. A formula for losing if I ever saw it

Wasn't today

 

[DeonThomas]

Probably an unpopular opinion but Curbelo is a liability right now in my opinion. He doesn’t value the ball and is so turnover prone

Melendez was fantastic. I actually don’t understand why Underwood took him out midway thru the second half. He was playing great

Underwood: I'm quite sure he plays the "five guys he most trusts" at the end of games.

(Given that, today was a statement game for RJ.)

 

[Rocky]

Could these bad second halves just be fatigue and heavy legs? We are in the dog days of the college basketball season. Three point shooting and defensive agility are the first to go.

Monster minutes for some guys to get through the various injuries - maybe more Melendez, Goode and Podz to keep the legs fresh?

and maybe a little more of Omar?

 

[Stevegarbs]

I can see it. We’re still going to be a pretty good team next year and the year after. Because of RJ

A backcourt of Curbelo and Melendez is going to put many of us into cardiac arrest...

 

[pruman91]

Hope Mr. Boswell enjoyed this game and how he would mesh with the rest of the future Illini...................

 

[Rocky]

Could these bad second halves just be fatigue and heavy legs? We are in the dog days of the college basketball season. Three point shooting and defensive agility are the first to go.

Monster minutes for some guys to get through the various injuries - maybe more Melendez, Goode and Podz to keep the legs fresh?

and maybe a little more of Omar?

 

[Orangetool]

Underwood: I'm quite sure he plays the "five guys he most trusts" at the end of games.

(Given that, today was a statement game for RJ.)

Yes, it was significant to see RJ out there at the end. That was not lost on anyone, certainly not RJ of course.
That's gotta feel great for him, he will enjoy his evening today.
Good for him.

 

[Dan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1492988352357879811

 

[DeonThomas]

+100

Not a rivalry game.

Agreed.

And I heard Loren Tate/Steve Kelly last Saturday say that Indiana is our clear #1 basketball rival --- over the history of our BB program.

(Other teams may sneak into the discussion over short 10-15 year stretches, but overall it's still Indiana over the long haul --- fueled and built to a crescendo by Knight and Henson.)

 

[Rocky]

For every game every player gets scored out, plus or minus. Is there any place where those stats can be found after each game?

Is a good question.

 

[Rocky]

Was DMW injured in second half?

I noticed he wasn't in for the last couple mins. Assumed that was because of FT percentage.

 

[BlueLeader]

DWill + Grandi:

2-16 FG
9 RB
3 AST
4 TO

We can only afford one entity from here starting. RJ needs to be on the floor.

 

[skyIdub]

DWill + Grandi:

2-16 FG
9 RB
3 AST
4 TO

We can only afford one entity from here starting. RJ needs to be on the floor.

Lol...if one bad game dictated how coaches put together their lineups from game to game......it would be a complete sh#t show.

 

[Dan]

 

[DeonThomas]

Why can't we back cut one or two times on the dribble hand off? Seems like every game we have one or two turnovers just doing the handoff because the defender is selling out in the passing lane.

Thank you! (Some creativity please.....)

 

[sacraig]

Agreed.

And I heard Loren Tate/Steve Kelly last Saturday say that Indiana is our clear #1 basketball rival --- over the history of our BB program.

(Other teams may sneak into the discussion over short 10-15 year stretches, but overall it's still Indiana over the long haul --- fueled and built to a crescendo by Knight and Henson.)

Indiana doesn't reciprocate that, though. We are in a weird position where we don't have a true, two-way, conference rivalry. Iowa is probably the only case to be made there. They don't like us as much as we don't like them.

 

[Rocky]

An off game for sure.
I'm thinking that he will turn this around at just the right time of the late season.

We need him.

We do need him. He spreads the floor and makes great top of the key entry passes into Kofi.

 

[sacraig]

Lol...if one bad game dictated how coaches put together their lineups from game to game......it would be a complete sh#t show.

It's the mark of a bad coach. It's how my high school baseball coach ran things.

 

[IllinistuckinGopherland]

My biggest concern with today is that there is video of the second half. Yes, there were plenty of mental mistakes, but largely born out of an effective defensive strategy. Now other teams with actual talent have tape of what to do.