And Podz.
Houston 68, Illinois 53 Postgame
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My take aways...
1. Houston is really good and experienced.
2. Thanks to Trent and Damonte for sticking this out and helping change the culture.
3. Glad we're moving on from their era though. Fresh start with no inherited players next year.
4. Damonte shouldn't have played hardly any minutes in either game, especially today against such a good defense. We played 4 on 5 offensively most of the game.
5. I'm scratching my head as to why Hawkins barely played in the second half (brings energy, length, offensive rebounding, pace), and why Curbelo didn't play at all. I know he makes mistakes, but if you watch his film breakdown, when he's in the game (not just offensively) we're a better team. Again, plays with pace, sees things others don't, knows where to be on the court at all times (rebounds, steals, assists, scoring.). Very disappointed they didn't play much as they are not only our future, but potential leaders next year.
6. We need a leader! Ayo was a leader. I know he was the best player, but he was a leader and would get the team to slap the floor on D, huddle the fellas up and chew !!!, take over when we needed it. I hope Goode or Hawkins take over as a leader for next year's team. I'm happy if it's Melendez or Curbelo as well, we just need a vocal leader to motivate, calm everyone down, etc.
7. I very much dislike the new NCAA with NIL and the transfer portal. They take away from what sports is all about. Team work and the ultimate focus to win. NIL and the portal are simply distractions and make it more about "me" vs. "team". I get it, making money is nice, but it's also fact that they distract and take focus away from "team". It is what it is. That being said, I can't change it. I just hope nobody transfers, although, highly unlikely. A starting 5 of Curbelo, Goode, Melendez, Hawkins, and Kofi/Dainja has all the pieces. Handles, shooting, size, length, athleticism, defense. If Kofi is back a bench of Rodgers, Epps, Harris, Podz, Payne, Dainja (possibly Grandy) is soooo deep. And if Sky comes, WOW! I hope as part of the new culture, we're including "loyalty" meaning stick with this family, don't transfer. A team of talents that plays together for 3-4 years does wonders at the end of the year (see Baylor last year).
8. Probably my only knock on Underwood is being too stubborn - and by this I mean in-game adjustments. The one adjustment I liked was playing the freshmen - probably the only one. To the point, we had 7 TOs on in-bound plays on our end of the court. That's crazy!!! A lot of the time you're trying to score on the play, but we couldn't even keep possession. Change those plays in game! We gave up buckets late in the game on the same point guard high pick over and over. Reminded me of the Mich. St. game on the road where they almost came back to beat us b/c we didn't adjust to the same play. I get he's a senior and I love him and he really tries, but Damonte is just not good enough (also undersized) for this kind of game. Why did he play most of the game, when better, more athletic, more offensive players were sitting the bench? I love that Underwood is our coach, but the in-game coaching needs to improve. I don't know if he isn't listening to his assistants or if they aren't offering this information. I would guess they are offering.
9. Another solid season. Yes disappointing we're done in the second round, but Houston is more like a 2 seed. We were hurt, sick, and suspended almost all year. Will always love and appreciate them, but time to move on from the old era (Trent and Damonte). Hopefully we keep most of our squad, bring in what looks to be an exciting new group, find a leader, and start making in-game adjustments. If so, we'll be as tough an out as anyone in the tournament. Happy with the direction we're headed. All players and coaches deserve a lot of credit. Just need to keep self-examining, playing hard, and playing for one another. Go Illini!
1. Houston is really good and experienced.
2. Thanks to Trent and Damonte for sticking this out and helping change the culture.
3. Glad we're moving on from their era though. Fresh start with no inherited players next year.
4. Damonte shouldn't have played hardly any minutes in either game, especially today against such a good defense. We played 4 on 5 offensively most of the game.
5. I'm scratching my head as to why Hawkins barely played in the second half (brings energy, length, offensive rebounding, pace), and why Curbelo didn't play at all. I know he makes mistakes, but if you watch his film breakdown, when he's in the game (not just offensively) we're a better team. Again, plays with pace, sees things others don't, knows where to be on the court at all times (rebounds, steals, assists, scoring.). Very disappointed they didn't play much as they are not only our future, but potential leaders next year.
6. We need a leader! Ayo was a leader. I know he was the best player, but he was a leader and would get the team to slap the floor on D, huddle the fellas up and chew !!!, take over when we needed it. I hope Goode or Hawkins take over as a leader for next year's team. I'm happy if it's Melendez or Curbelo as well, we just need a vocal leader to motivate, calm everyone down, etc.
7. I very much dislike the new NCAA with NIL and the transfer portal. They take away from what sports is all about. Team work and the ultimate focus to win. NIL and the portal are simply distractions and make it more about "me" vs. "team". I get it, making money is nice, but it's also fact that they distract and take focus away from "team". It is what it is. That being said, I can't change it. I just hope nobody transfers, although, highly unlikely. A starting 5 of Curbelo, Goode, Melendez, Hawkins, and Kofi/Dainja has all the pieces. Handles, shooting, size, length, athleticism, defense. If Kofi is back a bench of Rodgers, Epps, Harris, Podz, Payne, Dainja (possibly Grandy) is soooo deep. And if Sky comes, WOW! I hope as part of the new culture, we're including "loyalty" meaning stick with this family, don't transfer. A team of talents that plays together for 3-4 years does wonders at the end of the year (see Baylor last year).
8. Probably my only knock on Underwood is being too stubborn - and by this I mean in-game adjustments. The one adjustment I liked was playing the freshmen - probably the only one. To the point, we had 7 TOs on in-bound plays on our end of the court. That's crazy!!! A lot of the time you're trying to score on the play, but we couldn't even keep possession. Change those plays in game! We gave up buckets late in the game on the same point guard high pick over and over. Reminded me of the Mich. St. game on the road where they almost came back to beat us b/c we didn't adjust to the same play. I get he's a senior and I love him and he really tries, but Damonte is just not good enough (also undersized) for this kind of game. Why did he play most of the game, when better, more athletic, more offensive players were sitting the bench? I love that Underwood is our coach, but the in-game coaching needs to improve. I don't know if he isn't listening to his assistants or if they aren't offering this information. I would guess they are offering.
9. Another solid season. Yes disappointing we're done in the second round, but Houston is more like a 2 seed. We were hurt, sick, and suspended almost all year. Will always love and appreciate them, but time to move on from the old era (Trent and Damonte). Hopefully we keep most of our squad, bring in what looks to be an exciting new group, find a leader, and start making in-game adjustments. If so, we'll be as tough an out as anyone in the tournament. Happy with the direction we're headed. All players and coaches deserve a lot of credit. Just need to keep self-examining, playing hard, and playing for one another. Go Illini!
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Steelyunk
- Tobacco Road
Four of your starters haven’t been scoring reliably for a few games. Kofi excelled under those circumstances. Plummer and Trent went cold and DMFW hasn’t been confident shooting all year. Coleman had a couple of decent games but wasn’t much of a factor today. I think if we’re honest most of us saw this outcome coming after the UTC game. Underwood left froshmen out of the picture for too long. This is one of those situations where the knuckleheads on Twitter were right.
What would be really nice is if we could maybe not play an elite eight level game in the second round two years in a row as a higher seed. Why are we still using a committee when the computers can tell you what team needs to be where?
We have been a low BB IQ team all year long. You can live with Curbelo's TO's and occasional crazy shot because he makes just as many great offensive plays and is a net + in terms of rebounding and defense. Even aside from him we were not a smart team - lots of dumb turnovers and in general poor spacing and decision making on offense.
Dimensionless and position-less!! That is the way forward!!
In Brad I trust. I think those hard hedges on the high screen work so well against us with Kofi in is because he is not good coming off the roll unless it for a lob. One of his shortcomings is handling the ball on the move.
Cook
- Richmond, VA
No way they were too bad for more tick than they got. Plummer much worse defensively for one and two you want them to learn and get experience so they get better.
Add in 1-4 with 3 turnovers and 1 assist in 48 minutes from Damonte and it’s not rocket surgery why this team hasn’t been scoring efficiently.
I agree to a point, Next year we bring in 6'2", 6'4" and 6'6", yes I know we add Dainja.... but we really are missing some of that 6''7" to 6'9" athletic types that every team in America is looking for. Morez doesn't get here for another 2 years. That is what we need to find in the portal if that beast exists.
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Yes. I watched a team with superior athletes at every position maximize that athleticism playing a stifling risk taking defense. What did you see?
I’m guessing we will soon learn the true extent of Trent’s shoulder and eye injuries. Hate to see it end this way, but I guess short of a natty, what better way to go out than showing his toughness through adversity.
#1 needs to be in the rafters.
#1 needs to be in the rafters.
This, floor is way more spaced with him and so many of the actions illinois runs is to have him throw the entry passes to Kofi.
Because we don't have a guard that can hit the shot.
The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
I know there are bigger fish to fry in this thread, but I just need to say one more time that the technical was absolutely insane. It's a referee having zero understanding of the level of athleticism, explosiveness, and force it takes to play the game they're officiating. That's a huge problem.
Technically you are right about Ky...not bounced early last year.
...but, kentucky didn't make the tourney with McD AAs last year either and were not positioned to be bounced.
Agree here. Looks to me that other tournament teams have those type of athletes. They are few and far between in the Big Ten. Maybe you need the physical type to win in the B1G. So many other teams look much quicker and just as strong as B1G players.
because Kofi while a beast at the rim offensively is still limited defensively and many teams get so caught up in chucking threes they never really choose to exploit the high screen and Kofi's drop coverage .
On offense Brad spent the entire season making sure they understood to get the ball inside to Kofi at all cost that we really didn't add anything else to the offense besides some get Plummer a three sets
Coaches always say that at this point in the year, freshmen aren't freshmen anymore.
I didn’t see A LOT of open threes, I saw many more forced threes than open threes.
Part of the problem is that when Kofi gets double teamed most of the others just stand there. I can understand that if your open but if your covered move. Been a problem all year. RJ cutting to the basket when Kofi had the ball was the first time I had seen it in a while though I think Grandi also did that once in a while. Thats where we missed Grandison, he supplied more movement to the offense.
DB11Headband
- Chicago Burbs
And the only way for them to make strides defensively is to get in game reps. Irrelevant now obviously.
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