Well some had been predicting this for a while, they were right. I thought we could get straightened out before we took an uncharacteristic loss. We arguably only had max effort from most of our players the first and last five minutes of the game. Hope it makes them realize if they don't step on the floor locked in with maximum effort, energy and focus for 40 minutes this is what can happen. Got this out of the way and hope we are done with it. BU can use this to help set a fire under them to make sure we don't lose another game for those reasons.
Rutgers 70, Illinois 59 Postgame
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I did watch it twice, there was another Illini player in the area of the man he chose to lean on leaving his man open in the corner. He basically screened himself.
As important as getting good shots is, feels like they haven't been able to hit an open 3 since the covid pause
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
If the home team wants to wear specialty home dark uniforms like Rutgers did for their blackout, the visiting team will wear lighter colors.
Rutgers and Northwestern both opted to do that this year, which is their right as the home team. We could do the same, but our big game jerseys are already lighter colors so it doesn't much matter.
LouHenson
- Naples Florida
Then when we play Indiana or Wisconsin at home and we want to wear orange can we force them to wear white? I never want to see that red and orange on the floor deal again.
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
Not how it works.
The colors just have to be different. Ideally high contrast, but not required
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
This is a valuable piece of the puzzle, but it doesn't seem to account for the lopsided rebounding margin. Missing shots we usually make wasn't the only reason we lost (even though it certainly contributed).
LouHenson
- Naples Florida
I really don’t know the rule, but if the home team gets to pick the color they want (this is what the OP seemed to suggest?) then if Illinois wants to wear orange at home against a team with red they would have to wear white? I would guess like you that is not the rule, as since that infamous Red/Orange game we have always worn white against schools with Red. I guess if we wanted to wear our blue at home we could?
I'm getting sick of analytics. Those will never be able to account for what is going through the player's mind and ultimately his muscle response when he is pressing and down by 10 points.
That's not all on the players. Coach has to take some responsibility.
LeinieGuy
Will work for bourbon
- Lexington, KY
This times 100. Among the puzzling tendencies that a few players have, this one tops the list for me. I have no idea why a super senior of his caliber acts so shy/scared to take it strong to the hoop; especially when he has a decent path. He should be licking his chops to take it right at these mostly younger players. It's like he does dribble-drive-penetrate and then just loses his nerve or something; and I know he could score a lot of times, and at least pick up shooting fouls along the way. It's so ponderous. I love DMW, but man......
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
We could wear our blues at home, but those things are cursed. (I'm kidding... Kind of.)
It's more courtesy and common sense than anything else. If you know your opponent is wearing black, you're not going to wear dark blue because it might confuse your own players in the middle of the game, not to mention the refs.
I don't know the NCAA rules, but I know high school refs will make one of the teams change if they think the uniforms are too similar and will make the game difficult to call. I saw it happen a few times when I would be the timekeeper for IHSA games.
High schools solve this with the traditional whites at home, darks on the road, but DI sports can organize things a bit more. Or I'd assume they could. It doesn't always seem to show
Absolutely. Until recently, DMW would occasionally finish on a drive and/or randomly do something else unexpected that makes you rub your eyes to make sure you just saw what you thought you saw. And he usually looks great doing it, too! It's like "Whoa, where did THAT come from...and why doesn't he do that more often?!" He's frequently a frustrating enigma of basketball player. I love him to death, too, but I'll be damned if I can understand the way he plays sometimes.
It's so ponderous. I love DMW, but man......
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
Tipsheet: Resurgent Rutgers blitzes Illinois, tightens Big Ten race
College basketball teams can improve on the fly and become dangerous by March. Rutgers became a prime example of that this season.
Top part of the article is a rehash of BU's remarks after the game , but the 6 reporter's comments at the end about other team's is noteworthy....................JMHO
This is true. We aren't a strong ball-handling team, but worse we don't run much off the ball to get guys open. Watch how many times our guys pick up their dribble and it takes several seconds for someone to get to the ball and bail them out.
To me where we've really fallen off a cliff is in transition. Brad's halfcourt offense has never been great. Remember the score in 7 seconds mantra? Losing Ayo all but killed that. Without some transition scoring we become pretty easy to guard. Especially when we leave Kofi on an island and just pass the ball into to post and stand and watch him try to operate.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
They don't seem indecisive and scared to me. They seem tired.
[EDIT: DMW's occasional reluctance to take the rock to the hole sometimes when he's close seems to me good judgement rather than indecisiveness. CoHawk's reluctance, given his height, seems purely indecisiveness and lack of confidence. I contrast RJ's aggressiveness around the hole with CoHawk's timidity.]
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danielb927
Orange Krush Class of 2013
- Rochester, MN
What I always find interesting is that this goes both ways. Part of the rebounding puzzle is that we missed more shots than Rutgers did. Since defenses almost always grab more missed shots than offenses, the team that misses more shots is usually going to lose the total rebounding battle purely by virtue of giving their opponent more d-reb opportunities.
In this game, we missed 40 "reboundable" shots (field goals, 1-1s, and 2nd of 2 FTs), while Rutgers missed only 34. That sets them up for something like a 3-5 edge in total boards even if both teams did "average" at rebounding for the game.
Sometimes that's the whole puzzle. In this case, it obviously was not. Rutgers also did way better percentage-wise than us, grabbing 41% of their own misses, while we only grabbed 20% of ours. These percentages are the number that should be concerning (IMO), not the total number of rebounds.
My sense is that part of our improvement on defense the last month or two has come at the expense of the offensive glass. Not sure if this is an intentional strategy, unintentional from focus on defense, or just a byproduct of fatigue from a long season.
I was thinking this as well. The focus seems to have shifted from crashing the offensive glass, to getting back on D. I also think that our opponents are crashing the glass more since we rarely get buckets in transition. We are something like -15 on the offensive glass since the first Purdue game and I think it's something like -25 when you take the two NW games out of the mix.
DMW should finish his drives, but with one caveat. I want cohawk or Payne chasing after for the putback when it bounces off the rim.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
The one thing that drives me as crazy as seeing failure to block out or seal off lanes of penetration through the paint, is the lack of shot-following on offense, both by the shooter and by teammates. What you point out is crucial. I always think of penetration to the hoop as creating a vacuum that should suck in nearby teammates for follow-ups.
Is that you Tim? Pass the lasagna!
InDaAZ
- Eugene, Oregon
What I’m seeing on defense from Omar - and Coleman to some extent, too - is an over-eagerness to go for the shot block. Not only does this take them out of securing the rebound if the shot misses, it leaves a lane open for offensive rebounds/putbacks. Blocked shots are exciting, but they’re relatively rare - I’d rather see them box out and be more judicious on going for the swat. (Box-outs are one of Benjamin’s strengths, btw.)
Oh, yeah definitely in the case of Omar. I’ve been sounding that bugle to anyone who wound listen for a while now.
Omar needs to pick his battles…needs to just wall up, more often than not. Trying to block people 24/7 leads to foul trouble and a whole lot of uncovered real estate around the rim….as you suggest.
Coleman needs to do the same.
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