Curbelo HAS to clean up his game. It's not just dumb mistakes, it's the times of the game of those dumb mistakes. For every nice play he has 3 bad ones. One example, misses front end of one and one, then gets blown by his man for a layup. That's where coach needs to hold him accountable for the mistakes. The Plummer disappearing act is just baffling. But I for one, would love for Curbelo to clean up his game and situational awareness during crunch time. If you take it to the hole, make the layup. Not some cutesy flip in hopes it drops. That's all i got. hopefully the veteran team will show up in the Dance and play a full 40.
Indiana 65, Illinois 63 Postgame
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illini80
- Forgottonia
Remember when this was the best shooting team we’ve had since…???
Not the end of the world, but this has been my biggest fear all season: That streaky shooting will ruin our dream of a deep tourney run. This absolutely cannot happen again. We are consistently inconsistent.
Not the end of the world, but this has been my biggest fear all season: That streaky shooting will ruin our dream of a deep tourney run. This absolutely cannot happen again. We are consistently inconsistent.
Actually they have at least one more.
Hopefully this loss stings as much or more for them as it does for us so that in possibly the next six games they play for us they will remember how much it hurts to lose their last game.
Way too late in the season to "fix" things. So much talent yet the last month we have pretty much sucked despite winning a share of the title. We have struggled with everyone for too long even when we have won. We dont assert our will on opponents. Its the other way around it seems. No way that team should beat us. Missed free throws. Missed dunks. Missed layups. Had it not been for Hawk we'd have lost by 15 or 20. Sad to say all this talent but I dont see us getting to the sweet 16 once again. Sad.
I didn’t see a “/s” so, hey, thanks. Your response was an equally wonderful contribution.
If we're a top 4 seed, we still get put in a priority slot (Milwaukee) correct? Now, if we skip to 5....not much. Am I off with this?
Did anyone else notice Hawkins shot 4-7 from both the charity stripe and the 3 point line? Not reading anything into it...just a neat stat I guess.
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
Think that game is a lot different with Grandison in the lineup, particularly down the stretch (ie, way less Plummer). Silver lining of him being out is Hawkins has really found a nice groove and I love the lineup with both good Hawkins and Grandy out there, plus two guards (preferably Belo and Frazier).
I got the sense that Kofi was in a bad headspace from about 3-4 min into the game. Just feels like when he isn't the emotional leader out there and looking to absolutely demolish opponents (like Wisky and Iowa), this team feels very beatable. Don't get me wrong, he had a good game -- he just didn't seem set on dominating like he has at other times this season.
All in all, we played a terrible, terrible game on the offensive end and were still right there at the end. Don't think we'll miss that many bunnies in our next game. Our defense was fantastic. Also had one last (God willing) reinforcement that we can lose to anybody...thought we would have learned that by now though. Let's hope we've finally, actually internalized that lesson by next Thursday, otherwise it'll be an early trip back to C-U yet again.
I got the sense that Kofi was in a bad headspace from about 3-4 min into the game. Just feels like when he isn't the emotional leader out there and looking to absolutely demolish opponents (like Wisky and Iowa), this team feels very beatable. Don't get me wrong, he had a good game -- he just didn't seem set on dominating like he has at other times this season.
All in all, we played a terrible, terrible game on the offensive end and were still right there at the end. Don't think we'll miss that many bunnies in our next game. Our defense was fantastic. Also had one last (God willing) reinforcement that we can lose to anybody...thought we would have learned that by now though. Let's hope we've finally, actually internalized that lesson by next Thursday, otherwise it'll be an early trip back to C-U yet again.
We have sucked our way to a big 10 regular season title. Got it!
If neutral site vs IU is a toss up for us, we have just about no chance at making it to the second weekend. This IU team is not good
No kidding. It's like we got beat at home to Nebraska or something. I'd hate to think what we'd do at home vs the hottest team in the B1G.
I'm not getting too worked up because single game elimination tournaments are always variable and conference tourneys, especially so. IU played yesterday and came back from way behind to beat Michigan. There was a chance they'd be gassed but there was also a chance they'd be riding that high. Turned out it was the latter. We didn't play great but I can't imagine Plummer will keep shooting like this. And that was honestly the biggest factor for our loss I think. We need points from Plummer, and today we didn't get them.
I just don't get the Curbelo hate in this thread based on his performance in this game. His play completely turned the game around when we were down 6. Yeah, he missed the final layup and he missed the front end of a one and one but he also had something like 5 rebounds and 3 assists in the final 8 minutes and gave us good entry passes to Kofi along with speeding up the tempo. If that layup, which was a high percentage shot by the way falls, he pretty much wins the game for Illinois. For anyone who watched the game today, Curbelo was about as far away from the reason we lost as possible.
It's pretty simple why we lost today- we just didn't make open shots, we were like 2 for 87 on layups, we hit maybe 20% of our open threes, and we bricked a bunch of free throws. That's it. We win that game by double digits most nights. Some days the shots just don't fall. Hopefully we got it out of our system and we heat back up in the tourney. But to blame Curbelo for this loss? I just don't get it- there's just no logic or rationality there unless you're counting turnovers he had 5 games ago in his stat line for today.
It's pretty simple why we lost today- we just didn't make open shots, we were like 2 for 87 on layups, we hit maybe 20% of our open threes, and we bricked a bunch of free throws. That's it. We win that game by double digits most nights. Some days the shots just don't fall. Hopefully we got it out of our system and we heat back up in the tourney. But to blame Curbelo for this loss? I just don't get it- there's just no logic or rationality there unless you're counting turnovers he had 5 games ago in his stat line for today.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
We literally lost because we couldn't make a layup or a dunk....2pt shots. Period. If Plummer doesn't pass up 3 of his shots...I think we win....even missing all of those 2pt shots.
Your take is bad because it's not about 3pt shooting vs. 2 pt shooting...it's about lack of flow, rhythm, and consistency. That is the story of this team this year.
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
Agreed. We're much better when people count us out, or after suffering a bad loss, than when we are expected to win. Today was exhibit G of that phenomenon.
We just had 5 days between games and played like absolute garbage. But sure, maybe 6 or 7 will fix it...
Let's look at the bright side, at least we won't lose to Purdue again (in the regular season).
Sorry to be a ref apologist, but on the replay he was fumbling with his whistle BEFORE the entry pass into Kofi. It was very unfortunate timing all around.
I know it is your opinion, Pru. That's just what I saw on that play.
Back to our regular scheduled "Blame Belo for All Things" programing.
People talking bad about Belo must not know much about basketball. Dude kept us in that game with his defense, rebounding, and passing. He was the only one who could get an entry pass into Kofi for a while in the second half. He had 1-2 crazy shots today.
Really the only one that was a bad shot for him was the turn around baseline jumper (which he often makes). He takes tough shots and makes tough shots regularly. He is undersized and has to take some tougher shots. That’s how he gets them off. It’s not all him trying to be “flashy.”
We lost that game at the FT line. As much as I defended Belo above he definitely didn’t help at the FT line. We are so much better with him.
Really the only one that was a bad shot for him was the turn around baseline jumper (which he often makes). He takes tough shots and makes tough shots regularly. He is undersized and has to take some tougher shots. That’s how he gets them off. It’s not all him trying to be “flashy.”
We lost that game at the FT line. As much as I defended Belo above he definitely didn’t help at the FT line. We are so much better with him.
22-8? Sign me up for more of these let down seasons.
What does this have to do with anything
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