Decided to not post until I had read this entire thread, in order to cool down, gather myself and avoid getting myself put in jail. Not Dan Jail, real jail. I was that pissed. Glad I read through this - two things calmed me down. First, the comments that the Illini played tired. Tired legs worsening our free throw attempts and hurting our ability to finish at the rim. Seems plausible. Second Pru's father being very sick. sad news, pours ice cold water over any passion I was feeling.
Now that my lizard brain has been somewhat pacified, I do want to express several thoughts. Like many of you, the lack of double teaming or even trying a few hard fouls on TJ-D was beyond belief. I seem to recall when Kofi was unstoppable one-on-one, our opponents would triple team him and hack him to death. EVERY OPPONENT. Yes TJ-D is a top flight passer and free throw shooter, but it is possible to rattle him. Even him. Time and again TJ-D would spin by Dain and everybody else, ESPECIALLY Hawkins, would back off like they were afraid of getting electrocuted by Trayce's super powers. Bad coaching (no adjustment) and soft (apparently impossible to embarrass or piss off) players on the court.
Even more exasperating was the Illini players lack of commitment to driving through the opponent to make lay ups. if you drive hard you will make it, and/or get fouled or miss. Driving soft and avoiding contact and trying to toss the ball high off the backboard to avoid blocks is the least likely way to score a layup. 17 misses! Soft, soft, soft.
The descent into hero ball late is understandable. When you are being out hustled and outplayed at both ends of the court most teams fall into that mode, including teams we are pounding.
For tonight's game at least, the team was painfully soft, weak, not up to the challenge on either end. Powder Puff League soft. Softest performance I can remember in 56 years of devotedly rooting for the Illini since my college days long ago in the last century. Hopefully, they will get their legs back...
