DFW has his limitations, and it would have been great if another player (Hawkins) or one of the freshmen advanced to the point where they overtook minutes from him, and he could fit into a niche role better suited for him.
Wouldn’t it have sucked to have played the freshman more and because they weren’t quite ready at the time, lost an additional 1-2 games, which cost us the B1G championship …without Ayo and Adam we badly needed more scoring, defense and rebounding
Alphonso replaced Adam's scoring but not his defense or rebounding
Nobody replaced Ayo and Andre was not prior season Andre due to injury
Our seniors who were outstanding complementary players got over exposed and wore down. The last straw was Jacob getting injured in Iowa game.
JMO -- Brad need to play the freshman more to get more size, scoring and fresh legs on the court. His job was to win - not pay tribute to 5th year seniors. Izzo sacrifices wins during season to develop his team. After Andre went down Brad over relied on Trent, DaMonte Alphonso and Jacob. If he had played the freshman and Coleman more he would have had a deeper and better defensive team for the NCAA tourney.
Hopefully Brad learns from past 2 years and the early NCAA exits.
So you think it's just a coincidence that our offensive struggles coincided with Jake's shoulder injury? I don't...without Ayo and Adam we badly needed more scoring, defense and rebounding
Alphonso replaced Adam's scoring but not his defense or rebounding
Nobody replaced Ayo and Andre was not prior season Andre due to injury
Our seniors who were outstanding complementary players got over exposed and wore down. The last straw was Jacob getting injured in Iowa game.
JMO -- Brad need to play the freshman more to get more size, scoring and fresh legs on the court. His job was to win - not pay tribute to 5th year seniors. Izzo sacrifices wins during season to develop his team. After Andre went down Brad over relied on Trent, DaMonte Alphonso and Jacob. If he had played the freshman and Coleman more he would have had a deeper and better defensive team for the NCAA tourney.
Hopefully Brad learns from past 2 years and the early NCAA exits.
Good comments. Underwood is going to play the guys that will help win games. If someone plays better, they get more time on the floor. I don't think any one of the players on the bench showed the toughness that Williams displayed game in and game out.I think a better way to phrase this..
DFW has his limitations, and it would have been great if another player (Hawkins) or one of the freshmen advanced to the point where they overtook minutes from him, and he could fit into a niche role better suited for him.
I noticed that all but Kofi and sometimes Hawkins or Curbelo did not pursue offensive rebounds for the second half of the season. It was like John Groce became our offensive rebounding coach. Early in the season, perhaps because we were playing lesser teams, we were dramatically outrebounding other teams, especially on the offensive glass.Good points on the rebounding - especially when AC was out we got very little in the way of rebounds from our guards this year.
It will be hard to keep Goode off the floor next year; not only is he an excellent shooter but his BB IQ is probably the highest on the team
He lead the team in 3 point %.So you think it's just a coincidence that our offensive struggles coincided with Jake's shoulder injury? I don't...
BigTen has made more appearances in the Final Four from 2000-present than any other conference. Six different teams have made the Final Four: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin & tOSU (not including Maryland, which got there twice while still in the ACC).I don't buy the style in the B1G translating to the B1G not playing well in the tourney. A lot of the tourney is luck of the draw and matchups. Loyola last year based off advance stats should have been a 4-6 seed and were one of the most veteran teams in the country....rough draw for us. As for the style of play when BU first got here...we were baaaaaad. Had pretty much no talent, basketball IQ, and didn't understand what went into winning at a high level. BU struggled a lot internally the first couple seasons, it was super rough on him.
Houston was daring CoHawk to shoot... No way they would do that to a healthy Jake.He lead the team in 3 point %.
Yes, part of rebounding and 50/50 balls is your fight. However, another part of rebounding is luck. Part of the equation for the guards is being really good at predicting where the ball will go. Houston was really good at that. They were also really good at missing 3s REALLY BADLY, which ups the ante for the board battles.I noticed that all but Kofi and sometimes Hawkins or Curbelo did not pursue offensive rebounds for the second half of the season. It was like John Groce became our offensive rebounding coach. Early in the season, perhaps because we were playing lesser teams, we were dramatically outrebounding other teams, especially on the offensive glass.
That was the one thing that really struck me in the Houston game. No one was going to the offensive glass, but were getting back into defense following a shot. I would like to know from BU if this was intentional. We were specifically worried about Houston getting out and running off missed shots? Was our transition defense not up to the task?
We got into a lot of our half court sets this year through Jake…..sorely missedHouston was daring CoHawk to shoot... No way they would do that to a healthy Jake.
I was shocked by how much we struggled w/o him. Under-appreciated player.
For me the most frustrating part of that game was Damonte just refusing to shoot…I didn’t understand. The ticket to winning that game was hitting outside shots and he just wouldn’t let it fly. There was one play a wide open Damonte passed to Curbelo for a 3 and the announcers were confused why he’d pass it off to an even lower percentage shooter.Houston was daring CoHawk to shoot... No way they would do that to a healthy Jake.
I was shocked by how much we struggled w/o him. Under-appreciated player.
Interestingly, that’s not far off from the selection committee though. Of the teams the selection committee put in the top 16 (4-seed and higher), 10 made it to the Sweet Sixteen (9 for Kenpom). And unlike KenPom, the selection committee's ranking of team is self-fulfilling to some extent because higher seeded teams have an easier path to advance. Also, 3 of the selection committee's top 8 have been eliminated vs. 2 of Kenpom's.Thinking of our loss on Sunday, it struck me that we're #17 on KenPom and that 7 of the teams ahead of us (nearly half) failed to make it past last weekend. Three of those (Baylor, Kentucky & Tennessee) were in the Top 10.
I don't understand why DMW shot even less often than last year. last year we wished he would shoot even more because he was making threes at a 55% clip. he was wide open multiple times this season and passed the ball. BU is always saying how he wants guys to let it fly so I don't understand the hesitationFor me the most frustrating part of that game was Damonte just refusing to shoot…I didn’t understand. The ticket to winning that game was hitting outside shots and he just wouldn’t let it fly. There was one play a wide open Damonte passed to Curbelo for a 3 and the announcers were confused why he’d pass it off to an even lower percentage shooter.
That is BS. The only reason anyone was clamoring for Goode, Melendez and Podz to get minutes is because our offense had become stagnant and we needed a shot in the arm. You can't keep playing good teams 4 on 5 or at some times 3 on 5 and expect to win.i'm excited for all the people who clamored to get minutes for RJ, Podz, and Luke to now ask for Epps, Rodgers, and Sincere to play over the latter. And the cycle continues
I completely agree. The game before he hurt his shoulder (against Michigan State) Jake scored 24 on 8-12 shooting and 6-10 on 3's with 5 assists and 1 turnover.So you think it's just a coincidence that our offensive struggles coincided with Jake's shoulder injury? I don't...
All I can figure is the entire fan base and everything associated with Illini basketball wants a championship so badly it permeates to the players on the court.agree - in NCAA both years it felt like we were playing not to lose
Brad needs to fix this
I don't know that "most" assume this. But pretty sure most do assume it helps with their development.Final thoughts regarding the freshman:
Most assume that a player only improves by playing game minutes and the more game minutes they play, the better the player becomes.
If that were the case, why then do we typically see the biggest jump in player improvement happen in the summer between two seasons, when no games are being played?
Kinda seems like improvement tends to happen in practice, not games.
This might be unpopular, but maybe others agree...agree - in NCAA both years it felt like we were playing not to lose
Brad needs to fix this
I was there. Was amazingI completely agree. The game before he hurt his shoulder (against Michigan State) Jake scored 24 on 8-12 shooting and 6-10 on 3's with 5 assists and 1 turnover.