Houston 68, Illinois 53 Postgame

[The Galloping Ghost]

It's frustrating we never got to see this team at its best. There's always gonna be a part of me that will wonder what would have happened if they didn't have to deal with all the injuries and missed practices. Alas, it just wasn't to be.

It's truly an amazing time to be an Illini fan when back-to-back seasons with banners feel just a bit disappointing. I still think that NCAA champion banner will come soon and when it does it's going to be oh so sweet.

 

[IlliniShelt]

I get that we are frustrated but can we not lose our minds? We are at the first conference champs to lose in round 2...even multiple years in a row

 

[Pikeillinifan]

I think he is a net positive for the team. A great spark and positive influence on and off the court. I hope he comes back

We have to remember Belo has missed a ton of time with a very bad concussion and I bet he’s still having issues getting to 100%.

 

[Bigtex]

Coach has 6 ncaa appearances and zero sweet 16. Have to adjust

 

[Spirit of the Prairie]

Think the post game announcers will bring up the fact that - Houston threw a fit after a loss at Alabama and the coach and the team (minus one player) trashed Alabamas court!

Another Houston player was suspended for BITING an opponent during a game. Their coach was also suspended from the NCAA for five years for cheating.

Aside from that, thank you Trent and Damonte for bringing us back from the abyss, and Plummer for joining the party this year. You all represent what it truly means to be an ILLINI!! Thank you, thank you!

No, they won't and it was disgusting to hear them regaling listeners with all of the "coach of the year" awards he has gotten as the game began. It's sickening. There is never any mention of the coaches who are under various kinds of investigations or their history of corruption, not to mention the fact that they shouldn't be in the tournament at all. Weber is right about these issues, regardless of how you feel about Weber. It's possible that the most surprising thing about Weber's statements was learning that there is such a thing as the NCAA Ethics Committee (approximate name). Is that always said with tongue firmly placed in cheek and fingers crossed?! Dunno. Should ask that fired after years of crookedness LSU coach, Wade Webb? before he gets hired at the next college to pick up where he left off.

 

[hooraybeer]

curbelo is probably the second most talented player on our roster (maybe first).

if he’s not injured, BU should face questioning regarding him not playing second half

 

[illini80]

Yeah they really shouldn’t have been a 5 seed winning both their regular season and conference tournament titles. That’s sustained success and you can really see how strong they were.

You clearly didn’t read all the posts about how they were over rated and hadn’t beaten anyone. /s

They have now. We play this game ten times, we lose 8 times imo. Just a poor matchup for us at least they way we’ve played lately.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

two tough ways to end seasons back to back
learn from it and come back better next year.
still a really good season. Way better than 2011-2017

 

[GBIllini]

This was a 40-40 game and then we gave up a putback plus a foul.

Ya on a ball that grazed the rim and fell in his lap, not on Kofi. How many of their three's hit the front of the rim and bounced straight to them. It just wasn't in the cards for us today.

 

[Sean8328]

Obviously thanks to Demonte and Trent but the sad thing is I think this team with the current freshman is probably better by the end of the year next year than now if Kofi stays but I don't see that happening.

 

[logjam]

Thank you Trent and Damonte for 5 incredible years

You guys were a Huge part of the Illini rebuild...hold them heads high! We'll never forget you!

 

[Deep]

The baseless speculation that certain guys will transfer out needs to stop unless you are insider who knows something.

 

[DMWSuperFan]

IMO, this is another example of how the B10 grind doesn’t prepare us well for the ncaa. So much for being well rested with the early exit from the conference tourney.

IMO, this is a horrible take. Was Michigan too worn down from a big ten season? There’s a lot of issues to address, I don’t think complaining about the Big10 grind is worth a moment of effort.

 

[Jsehn]

Truthfully, what did Damonte bring to this game, our seniors really gave nothing at all. Where do we go from here as a basketball program?

We move on with different players. Damonte had many holes in his game, hopefully those close with the team next year.

 

[sacraig]

He certainly would be a mismatch sizewise at the 3, but don't think he's quick enough.

I think he is as long as he can develop his shot (which, to be clear, I am not claiming he for sure will).

 

[SouthFLILLINI]

IMO, Houston has a basketball team with very athletic players. The ILLINI looked very slow footed comparably. Can BU bring in athletic players that can hoop like and tenacity of the Flying ILLINI?

 

[aaeismacgychel]

Also, what happened to Curbelo? Why was he on the bench most (or all?) of the second half?

Honestly, he had a really really rough 1st half, and this is from someone who really likes the kid. Just a lot of bad decisions out there today. I was hoping Brad would talk to him a bit to try and settle him down and get him back in there to see how he responded, but that didn't happen and I can understand. It was a tied game with 8min to go. If you're up ir down 10pts, different story and easier to put him in and live with whatever happens. But fact is, based on Curbelo's play in the first half I completely understand Brad having a tough time trusting to have him in the game. Some days it's just not your night- tonight it wasn't Andre's or Damonte's. Just sad it was our last game of the season such they don't have another chance next game to go out there and play to the level they're capable of.

 

[727ill]

Ya on a ball that grazed the rim and fell in his lap, not on Kofi. How many of their three's hit the front of the rim and bounced straight to them. It just wasn't in the cards for us today.

Kofi had a great day IMO but he needs to be the leader on the glass. Send a message and move somebody!

Don't just let the player camp out under the basket waiting for it to fall in his lap.

 

[HailtotheChief]

It's a meh for me. We gotta get more athletic and long at the guard spot.

I'm fine with Belo at the PG spot I think with more time and a little tighter coaching about playing under control and not always try and make the highlight reel pass he could be great. I think him sitting today all half was a bit of coaching from making careless passes and poor shot choices early in the clock.
But to be as good as he can be he must learn to finish lay ups and hit open shots. We must have guys that can hit unguarded 3s at a high level.

 

[Dbell1981]

Be careful what you wish for . . . We are coming out of the two of the best years of Illini basketball in the last 20 . . .

Our last 2-3 recruiting classes have been better than it has in the last 15 years. Future is bright

 

[bartwa]

Directionally I agree with what you're saying. But boy did the Illini give up a lot of offensive rebounds and made a lot of turnovers...

Their guys out athleticed (I don’t think that’s a word) our guys for those rebounds. Gets back to my point, they’re just all around better.

 

[HensonHall71]

Just tough luck to draw a top-10 opponent and then a top-3 opponent in the 2nd round the last two years. Not an excuse—we were good both years too—but you can’t ignore that we basically bowed out to a 3 seed equivalent and 1 seed equivalent in the past two tourneys.

We would not have beaten many teams in the tourny today- we just haven’t been playing well and had no offensive rhythm - it’s really inexcusable for the amount of time we had to get ready for the tournament to be completely out of sync

I don’t think either of the last two years we can blame on matchups - we haven’t played even remotely well enough to win either year

 

[JAbada]

We were out rebounded, out hustled, out coached sadly. When things don't work, when they figure you out, change. I like RJ and Goode. I doubt Kofi will return. We did not deserve this win. Both teams were both sloppy.

 

[illini80]

IMO, this is a horrible take. Was Michigan too worn down from a big ten season? There’s a lot of issues to address, I don’t think complaining about the Big10 grind is worth a moment of effort.

Ok prove it wrong. Look at the B10 performance the last 20 years.

 

[sacraig]

KenPom was right about Houston. They are good, despite "not having played anyone."

I think Houston was underseeded, but I still don't buy them as #2 on the country. I think they probably should have been a 3 seed. Admittedly my sample size is small and anecdotal so my opinion is just that.