Considering the time on the clock I would of liked Dainja to jump the pick and double teamed the ball and make their best shooter give up the ball.
Maryland 71, Illinois 66 Postgame
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sacraig
- The desert
For the record, I'd still be totally fine with introducing Alma the Otter as a mascot, primarily because I'm all for a good pun.Just got home from the game. Thumbed through the comments. Nothing novel to add, really. We came out very soft on D and that put us in a hole. Props to Willard and the Terps. They were jacked from the beginning, active and intense on D, moved the ball well, and penetrated. We didn't, until around the 30-minute mark. That said, it was our game to win down the stretch and, still, we didn't. The delta IMO was someone like Young who wanted the ball and has some seasoning, and our freshmen learning to play in an environment like this. BTW, I think this Maryland team played to its ceiling tonight. We're a long way from ours.
Also, Coleman Hawkins: man. The difference between seeing him in person here last January and tonight is incredible. He carried us for 30 minutes tonight and kept us in it. Someone noted he has become our facilitator. He has, and he does everything. He needed help, and needed it earlier, tonight. Skyy and Epps will be great but they're doing freshman things. Dain settled down and was a force down the stretch.
Finally, the environment The arena was probably 75% full. But the student section was packed and they were loud. The arena was very loud. It was no doubt very intimidating to our guys but they looked unfazed to me by and large. I'm glad they had to open the BT in this environment. For the frosh, it's a well-needed bucket of cold water. Got it over with against a good team.
As for the foul-mouthed rants, throwing debris at our bench (while their team was ahead, no less), the PA announcer weakly asking that they not do so, etc... I was unsurprised. I've seen it before. (lol, the late-20-ish rubes behind us were screaming at that point re the debris that BU was stalling to freeze the Maryland player at the FT line. Oh... also, quote of the night from them during the halftime salsa-dancing entertainment: "Now, you see, this shows that Maryland has culture. Illinois doesn't have culture like this.")
Also, rubes sitting behind us when Coleman had a steal and did a reverse layup, quieting the crowd: "That guy's rrrrrealllly good."
On our way into the arena my Illini compadre and I were walking the concourse to get to our seats when some male students passed him, saw his ILLINOIS sweatshirt, and said "F--k Illinois" as he passed. Terrapin hospitality. Then again, on our way out, as we were swept along in the student crowd, we got into conversation with a couple female students who were kind, happy they won but really amazed they beat us, and invited us to the bar with them. I told them that we're old men and need to go home to bed. "Nooooo. You gotta come with us!", they protested. "What's your mascot? Do you guys still have the otter?"
How can a 56-year-old man be angry be angry with a fan base including two such friendly, disarming, 20-year-old blondes? Well, I can, of course, and am.
In conclusion: meh. We lost a game we easily could have won, against a team that played lights out. It's now December 3rd. I can't remember the last time I felt this good about our team on December 3rd. Play for 40. Clean it up. Don't be soft on D. Now go to Manhattan and beat Texas.
Tough road game. Every time the Illini made a run Maryland answered with a big shot. Early 2nd half fouls on Illini set tone for the end putting Maryland at the line for 2. Down the stretch the ball needed to be in R.J.'s or Shannon's hands instead of the freshman. I am concerned about Mayers play. The other thing I have noticed lately is putting the other team at the foul line, the Illini's inability to shoot above 70% at the line, it has hurt them. Build on this game, lessons learned and move on to Texas!
Chad Fleck
- Eureka, IL
Apparently YT TV doesn't allow me to screen record, which is understandable. I found the moment, and they did a zoomed in look.
What I don't really understand, is Coleman got his hand directly on the ball. They guy then, which makes sense, ripped the ball trying to get it away. Coleman still had his hand on the ball, but his arm got dragged over the guys shoulder. Why should that be a foul when they both had their hands on the ball to begin with?
This situation should be a jump ball.
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The call that really irritated me was when our guard (I don't remember who it was) was dribbling past the defender by half court and he literally pushed our guy over the the half court line and they called over and back.
Good things second half, bot much first half
Totals 6 points, 2 assists, 3 rebounds
Good ball handler good defender but we need to get more from Clark as season progresses.
Half-court offense and execution was inconsistent and a little chaotic at times
Too much dribbling not enough passing and to much movement without purpose early in the shot clock.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
This^ My buddy sitting next to me at the game at one point: "How demoralizing must it be to have a 6'10" opponent who can bring the ball up the floor against pressure at will?"
blackdog
- Champaign
Don't reach over the other players back to try and tie up. It's almost a guaranteed foul every single time.
The refs were bad but it worked in our favor too sometimes. Shannon 100% traveled twice before getting fouled in the 2nd half, Dain had an obvious chicken wing offensive foul that went uncalled, Dain shoving Reese into Shannon and Reese getting called for the foul. I think there were more calls that went Maryland's way but it wasn't all one sided.
I don’t have access to replay, but at the time I thought he came too much through the back. Reach around like that is gonna be called much more often than not. Thought it was a bad play on CH’s part.
It was RJ, and I saw that coming a mile away. He was set up too high and had no room to maneuver. Just knew he’d go backcourt.
Re Maryland fans. Even the student newspapers has called the students out…and said good things about Krush being one of the best student sections in the country:
FANNING THE FLAME
When the Duke men's basketball team enters Comcast Center this Sunday, it will undoubtedly be greeted by a chorus of boos. And for the first time since 2002, J.J. Redick will not be among the Blue…
dbknews.com
Except if you look deeper, FT discrepancy wasn’t really much. Illini fouled 3-point shooter twice. You can call the fouls ticky-tack, but they’ll be called 95% of time. I can’t remember the game situation when Epps fouled, but the Hawkins foul was especially bad. If I remember correctly, the Illini had eliminated an entry pass to post, which is what the shooter was initially looking for. That left under 5 seconds on shot clock and he had to shoot kind of an off balanced shot. CH really bailed them out. So take away those 6 foul shots and it was 12 to 8 free throws taken.
I saw it coming too..
But probably would have stayed on the right side if he didn't get "body nudged"
A few of the insiders have said that Mayer has been dealing with back issues, and that tracks based on how he's been playing- stiff, slow, and tentative. I don't think we're getting anything close to what he's capable of when healthy. I agree with you that he has been underperforming and has been absolutely exposed so far thus season, but I also think as fans, we should lay off a bit as he clearly isn't playing 100%. Heck, I'd be surprised if he's even at 50% out there right now.
I'm not sure what his training regimen is or how the staff is handling his recovery, but based on his play he may need to be shut down a little just so he can focus on getting better and recovering. Because right now he's a liability on the court, something I doubt he'd be if he was healthy.
RJ. thought the same, cleary he didn't only move his hips and lower body across half court by himself
Is he still dealing with back issues? I know when he finally arrived this summer he had an issue, but I haven’t heard anything about it since BU said he was healthy. Thought it was more that it had initially set him back (no pun intended) with his conditioning and getting acclimated playing with team. Now certainly back issues can linger, but BU has mentioned several times how hard he’s been working on his own to get his game right, which to me indicates he’s over the problem.
What did Brad mean when he said "I don't want to go into the Maryland game 3 years ago, got some people suspended." ?
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
That happened to RJ.
Edit: need to learn to read the entire thread before replying
I have a very hard time believing he's ok. Looking at Baylor footage, he never played this slow and tentative on the court. Right now he's moving around like a 50yr old construction worker on workman's comp. Maybe an insider can give an update. If he's truly feeling 100%, something is very wrong.
I was wondering that too. That would have been 2019 and we were at that game. I don’t remember anything in particular happening.
Chad Fleck
- Eureka, IL
Here is a (rough) recording of the play.
You be the judge. He tied him up when they were facing each other, then the guy turned. I say he has rights to the ball if his hand is on it in a legal position to start with.
Chad Fleck
- Eureka, IL
Re: Epps missed 3
Check out the confusion as Epps comes up the floor. I say it's a good shot. Underwood class after the shot too.
Check out the confusion as Epps comes up the floor. I say it's a good shot. Underwood class after the shot too.
Raph Davis on post game show was adamant that they left Epps open on purpose and also went as far as to say Scott could have contested but was "clearly" indifferent as a defender. However, what I see is Scott pointing at Epps and yelling for someone to pick him up, then started to go contest himself but knew he'd be way too late and thus switched his focus to finding someone to defend/box out.
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