Maryland 71, Illinois 66 Postgame

[I lost Kofi's blue binder]

Crass-ness came with the cleverness, y'all just liked it more when it was against Duke and UNC! Not that I blame you. But ESPN literally wouldn't air a Duke @ MD game until JJ Reddick left because of how loud the "F u JJ" chants were.

Saw a comment in here earlier about "how dare students yell the F word at a player" like that doesn't happen at every single big-time college athletics event anywhere in the country.

Agree with this. Throwing stuff at Underwood/the bench as was (apparently) happening is not okay. Conversely, yelling vulgar nonsense is college kids being college kids. If it was happening in Champaign I’d find it amusing.

It was a fun game, lots of room to grow. Dainja hurt them tonight but can’t question his effort.

There’s a lot of talk about Shannon going under the screen on Young. Strikes me as the right move. Young has not been good from distance during his college career, including this season. Maybe his 20% mark from 3 heading into this game undersells his stroke, but it has never been a strength of his. Kudos to the kid, he came through in a pressure moment with a massive shot — but I tend to think Shannon played it right.

 

[JMoser16]

We were a few bounces away from a hard fought victory. Maryland is going to be good all year long. I’m proud of this team for hanging in there all night and not losing composure. They could’ve given up multiple times and stayed locked in. Let’s move on to the garden

 

[GForce]

Listening to the press conference, I like Kevin Willard, very complimentary of our coaches and team... has a bit of an edge to him too.

Also, he's kind of funny. I can see he and Brad in a mutual admiration society.

 

[Shimmy24]

i loved watching gary williams teams beat duke.... thats what he built them specifically to do.
my take on maryland fans is that they are passionate (checks mirror), and a direct response to the duke student shennanigans, if less... cerebral.

nothing better than maryland's win over duke, down 10 with 1min remaining. duke late game crumbling.... sweetness and light, ammaright

And you’re from NJ?! I think i like it here.

 

[The Sprouting Divot]

Crass-ness came with the cleverness, y'all just liked it more when it was against Duke and UNC! Not that I blame you. But ESPN literally wouldn't air a Duke @ MD game until JJ Reddick left because of how loud the "F u JJ" chants were.

Saw a comment in here earlier about "how dare students yell the F word at a player" like that doesn't happen at every single big-time college athletics event anywhere in the country.

You're exactly right.

I have the sense of humor of Beavis and Butthead, so this is no great endorsement, but you were a fun fanbases to root for back when you were a foil to those two teams. That said, you're less appealing now that you've had our number for a while...

 

[Govoner Vaugn Fan]

It's a sort of boring, obvious thing to say, but we have a lot of trouble guarding really good scorers.

Everyone does. Thats why they are really good scorers.

 

[Shimmy24]

You're exactly right.

I have the sense of humor of Beavis and Butthead, so this is no great endorsement, but you were a fun fanbases to root for back when you were a foil to those two teams. That said, you're less appealing now that you've had our number for a while...

If it makes you feel any better, I will literally never forget the MSG loss in what felt like a home game. One of the Turgeon hallmark games.

 

[Bucktown]

Agree with this. Throwing stuff at Underwood/the bench as was (apparently) happening is not okay. Conversely, yelling vulgar nonsense is college kids being college kids. If it was happening in Champaign I’d find it amusing.

It was a fun game, lots of room to grow. Dainja hurt them tonight but can’t question his effort.

There’s a lot of talk about Shannon going under the screen on Young. Strikes me as the right move. Young has not been good from distance during his college career, including this season. Maybe his 20% mark from 3 heading into this game undersells his stroke, but it has never been a strength of his. Kudos to the kid, he came through in a pressure moment with a massive shot — but I tend to think Shannon played it right.

Because the screener was Danja’s man, fighting over it was the better play in my opinion. Any other player but Danja would have switched onto the shooter.

 

[Chad Fleck]

There’s a lot of talk about Shannon going under the screen on Young. Strikes me as the right move. Young has not been good from distance during his college career, including this season. Maybe his 20% mark from 3 heading into this game undersells his stroke, but it has never been a strength of his. Kudos to the kid, he came through in a pressure moment with a massive shot — but I tend to think Shannon played it right.

Agree to disagree, I guess.

I don't care who it is and what their percentage is. You don't let a 3 point shot off with 2 seconds left on the shot clock when you are down by 1 with less than 20 seconds left. Until 4 pointers become a thing, that's not a situation you allow a 3. Also, it was the fourth 3 he hit in the game.

 

[SuperMetroid]

Agreed.

They used to be more clever than just straight up crass like they were tonight, but that's more or less what the Maryland student section has always been like.

It's nothing personal against Hawkins. They'll hurl vulgarity and nonsense and at someone every game.

This is a fanbase that harassed JJ Reddick with sexual innuendo about his younger sister, so…yeah

 

[I lost Kofi's blue binder]

Agree to disagree, I guess.

I don't care who it is and what their percentage is. You don't let a 3 point shot off with 2 seconds left on the shot clock when you are down by 1 with less than 20 seconds left. Until 4 pointers become a thing, that's not a situation you allow a 3. Also, it was the fourth 3 he hit in the game.

Fair. Admittedly can’t say I know anything about Young’s midrange/floater game (I’m assuming the players have that scouted), which going over the screen may have forced him into, but… sometimes our guy misses and theirs makes it, and that’s the end of it. Ah well.

 

[CleverHandle1]

Officiating was abysmal tonight. Guys battled through it. This is the type of game we will win in March.

And nothing will change regarding the officials when the Illini are at Purdue or at Ohio State. I just hope these future big games do not mimic the NCAA tournament game against PAC Ten Washington, I think, in 2006.

 

[InDaAZ]

Coleman Hawkins is squarely in the "Illinois players that frustrate the hell out of me" camp along with all time facepalms like Kipper Nichols, Warren Carter, and Curbelo for me

 

[GForce]

Their press bothered us early, and took us out of our rhythm.
I think the difference in the game was that they took advantage of our freshman guards, who lack that bit of experience/savvy at this point in the season, just enough to get the edge. Also, we're a team that historically starts out the season a little slow but then by January are really cooking, and I feel like we've played Maryland as our first Big Ten game during Underwood's tenure.

 

[dbeverly26]

We’ll figure out how to execute in the last two minutes sooner or later.

I’d feel worse about it if our go-to guy hadn’t taken an MMA-caliber blow (accidental, but still bad) to the head. Think this one would be a bit different if we had a healthy Harris and TJ wasn’t clearly off down the stretch. Hope there aren’t lingering effects on Tuesday.

 

[PrideOfJersey]

And you’re from NJ?! I think i like it here.

if yer implying blind allegience to the state univ of nj @tobacco... no way. F those guys. full disclosure, Yankee fan. so i know a little about rooting for evil empires, buying 'ships, stacking decks, etc. i gotta say, i did enjoy noting that K couldnt win a national championship without a NJ point guard runnin offense... until i couldnt. of course im pullinng for jersey talent, no matter where.

hate losing, but glad Maryland is puting a squad out there and making noise.... I love this illinois team, as i type Willard talking up Hawkins and Shannon post game... we need to find one frosh to step up to hero level (epps taking an open 3 in clutch time, i like it), clark more than able... this team should improve every bounce theyre together, scary if we play defense to our ability.

 

[Johnny Lawrence]

The sequence where we burned 2 timeouts and couldn’t even draw up a play to get a shot was something.

It was something but had no impact on the outcome.

 

[21ChampaignSt]

They shot 40% from three. Many of them were open. That's the game imo.

I think our defense still is not in sync. And we're currently like #11 in Kenpom AdjD.

10 points, 3 assists, and 10 fouls in 55 minutes between Skyy, Mayer, and Epps is tough to overcome too.

 

[HailtotheChief]

It would have been nice if Shannon made that dunk and they had called the foul on it. That could have had an effect on our mojo if that happened. Plus as well as Hawk played that silly backcourt foul stopped an impressive run and put the on the line. Those kinds of fouls and fouling 2 three point shooters hurt us tonight and in the Virginia game.

 

[Chad Fleck]

Plus as well as Hawk played that silly backcourt foul stopped an impressive run and put the on the line. Those kinds of fouls and fouling 2 three point shooters hurt us tonight and in the Virginia game.

The worst part was, he had the ball.

 

[211EastDaniels]

Agree with this. Throwing stuff at Underwood/the bench as was (apparently) happening is not okay. Conversely, yelling vulgar nonsense is college kids being college kids. If it was happening in Champaign I’d find it amusing.

It was a fun game, lots of room to grow. Dainja hurt them tonight but can’t question his effort.

There’s a lot of talk about Shannon going under the screen on Young. Strikes me as the right move. Young has not been good from distance during his college career, including this season. Maybe his 20% mark from 3 heading into this game undersells his stroke, but it has never been a strength of his. Kudos to the kid, he came through in a pressure moment with a massive shot — but I tend to think Shannon played it right.

I agree that Shannon going under the screen was the right move. First, it's typical for the man guarding the ball to go under a screen in a switching defense. He goes under and is in position to switch to the screener. The man guarding the screener then picks up the moving ball carrier. Second, it was a very well played tight screen. Shannon would likely fouled trying to squeeze through, especially being on the road team with Big10 officials. Young played it perfectly, rubbing off the screen and shooting before we could switch on him. And the bad guy made the clutch shot. Now, I am far from a BB Guru, but I've watched every Illini game this year and the standard play for us has been to go under the screen and switch. JMO.

 

[Navy_illini]

Thought about the game on the drive home
The 4 plays I like to have back

TSJ missed dunk. That would have swung the momentum in our favor

The goal tending

Fouling a 3 point shooter 2 times in a game

The thing that this team has not developed is how to close out close games. This team might have more talent but last year’s team knew how to win the close game. Need for this team to learn that

Also you are not going to win many games putting a team in the bonus as early as we did. I did not have the benefit of replays so I am not sure how bad some calls were

Honestly their crowd in person didn’t seem too loud. Probably a little louder than O$U but no where near Mackey

 

[illini0440]

I agree that Shannon going under the screen was the right move. First, it's typical for the man guarding the ball to go under a screen in a switching defense. He goes under and is in position to switch to the screener. The man guarding the screener then picks up the moving ball carrier. Second, it was a very well played tight screen. Shannon would likely fouled trying to squeeze through, especially being on the road team with Big10 officials. Young played it perfectly, rubbing off the screen and shooting before we could switch on him. And the bad guy made the clutch shot. Now, I am far from a BB Guru, but I've watched every Illini game this year and the standard play for us has been to go under the screen and switch. JMO.

He should have gone over it. Dain was in so they weren’t switching 1-5. Gotta know in that situation a 3 ends the game so you fight over as hard as you can. Brad knows he shoulda taken Dain out at the end so they could switch 1-5 then it’s a moot point.

 

[1970 John]

I had to make nice to my son-in-law the Terp. Bummer.

We don’t get a crack at them in our house

 

[CleverHandle1]

I had to make nice to my son-in-law the Terp. Bummer.

We don’t get a crack at them in our house

Next year, the Illini sweep.