Illini in OC
In. The. Alley.
Mr Fletch, please take a bow.
Illinois 72, Nebraska 56 Postgame
Illini in OC
In. The. Alley.
Illini in OC
In. The. Alley.
Reminds me of Phil Jackson coaching the Lakers and not taking TOs when they were getting torched. Phil said the only way for the team to learn was to figure it out themselves without him bailing them out.We absolutely hounded them after the two Tominaga threes.
And I don't know what the dynamic in the locker room is but the fact that Underwood could do what he did, and the team responded the way that they did, reinforces to me that he's built something special.
I'm gonna buy the damn ticket at Purdue.
Yup. They don't draw pictures in the W/L column, they just put numbers there. A 50 point win counts just as much as a 1 point win, especially in conference play.
Yes, if you go back and watch what Nebby was doing, they were sagging off the weak side to double Dainja before the entry pass was made. The passer could see this, so they didn't make the entry pass. Nebby sagged on Dainja a LOT, no matter where he tried to post. One reason son many "open" threes were attempted.
Sounds like a good game plan. Would it be malpractice for Fran not to try something similar? And do we have a better response?
There are many really gifted athletes on the floor for Illinois, but I just hope this doesn't go down as one of the most skilled, athletic squads that under achieves and never really comes together as a team playing as a unit. I just don't get this offence, of coming down the floor and firing up a three within the first 8 seconds of the shot clock. Sure every now and again they get hot and it looks great but more times than not and especially against better teams this isn't working we get blown out last night against the top three team in the Big Ten.
Nice win, getting to sole second place, but overall disappointing night last night for me. Hope the offensive scheme is different Saturday, or we better shoot a whole lot better that we did on our own court last night. What was it, 5 of 28?
Nice win, getting to sole second place, but overall disappointing night last night for me. Hope the offensive scheme is different Saturday, or we better shoot a whole lot better that we did on our own court last night. What was it, 5 of 28?
Maybe part of what we're seeing is that building team cohesion - especially offensively - is hard and takes time? I'm not trying to knock the efforts or intentions of the senior transfers who have led the team in scoring so many times with big individual games, but when they're off, there's not a reliable system to fall back on. Guys haven't played together a year, so the backup plan (and sometimes the backup plan to the backup plan) isn't ready to go and guys don't just instinctively switch into those roles. They don't know without even having to look who is gonna be where. The kind of stuff that becomes "effortless" after playing together for years. While I appreciate the guys who are here this year and I love watching them, I'm excited about what the freshman class can do as they grow together!
In some ways, I think it’s a blessing that Skyy chose to step away. He’s a good basketball player and I wish him the best. His departure has allowed the other freshmen time to play and grow. It may also help us to retain the freshmen for next year. Ty made a few comments during his postgame interview about playing time. I wonder how he would have handled it if his playing time was more in the 5 minute range all season.pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Illinois pulls away late for men's basketball win over Nebraska
Illinois closed the game on a 24-6 run for its seventh win in eight games.
ANDERSON KIMBALL
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois left the door open ajar in the middle of the second half, before its defense slammed it shut.
It held Nebraska without a field goal for the final 6:27 and pulled away for its seventh win in eight games, this one a 72-56 victory on Tuesday.
That and some late scores meant Illinois (16-6, 7-4 Big Ten) closed the game on a 24-6 run in the final 12 minutes.
Illinois led by one at halftime, with its defense letting Nebraska hang around. The Cornhuskers shot 52% from the field in the opening half, with Sam Griesel scoring 15.
Griesel had 10 of Nebraska’s first 12 to give them a 12-5 lead with 13:03 left in the first. Illinois took the lead with a 14-3 run at that juncture before Nebraska made its final six shots to close the gap at the break.
Out of the break, Nebraska turned the ball over five times in its first seven possessions. That helped Illinois stretch its lead to seven with 15:48 left.
We rank 288 in 3 point percentage and 29 in attempts. No bueno.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Brad Underwood spends much of halftime alone on Illinois' bench vs. Nebraska basketball
Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball head coach Brad Underwood came out of the locker room early during halftime vs. Nebraska on Tuesday.
Erik Hall
Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball head coach Brad Underwood came out of the locker room quite early during halftime of Tuesday's game vs. Nebraska.
Underwood was out of the locker room with more than seven minutes left until the start of the second half, and he sat alone on the Illini bench.
"Most unusual scene — more than seven minutes left on the halftime clock, and Brad Underwood came back out, sat alone on the bench, Stephen, and just pondered his grease board," Big Ten Network broadcaster Dave Revsine said on Tuesday's BTN broadcast. "I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like that in all my years of covering college basketball. What do you make of it?"
Illini in Indiana
- Indiana
Like any great team (sports or work), the leader or coach is not required. The team communicates, knows it's deliverables, and executes.Brad Underwood spends much of halftime alone on Illinois' bench vs. Nebraska basketball
Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball head coach Brad Underwood came out of the locker room early during halftime vs. Nebraska on Tuesday.www.stltoday.com
Erik Hall
Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball head coach Brad Underwood came out of the locker room quite early during halftime of Tuesday's game vs. Nebraska.
Underwood was out of the locker room with more than seven minutes left until the start of the second half, and he sat alone on the Illini bench.
"Most unusual scene — more than seven minutes left on the halftime clock, and Brad Underwood came back out, sat alone on the bench, Stephen, and just pondered his grease board," Big Ten Network broadcaster Dave Revsine said on Tuesday's BTN broadcast. "I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like that in all my years of covering college basketball. What do you make of it?"
IMO, this is the only thing BU thinks this team needs to be great, he is exiting the scene to force the team to lead itself.
This will help stop those 5 minute droughts, and help the team in March.
With Hawkins focusing more on defense and a little less on offense the team has become much stronger.
The last three games we are 20 percent from 3. Continuing to shoot 30 threes a game is empirically bad strategy. It's not just a bad streak. Our team is just bad at shooting 3's. The team needs to accept the facts and adjust strategy. They are doing much better scoring close to the basket.
Yup. Lets stop shooting open 3’s all together and see how many points we get in the paint…..
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
A shutter ran through me when I read that OP.During his reign, King Brad shall not rein in the rain of threes!
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I don't understand as a team how you can absorb those stats and say to yourself....yeah let's keep shooting threes.
No one said anything about not shooting open 3's all together. Too many of those last night were either too early or bad 3's, (off balance, hand in the face, ...
Loved seeing those three freshman last night, going to the rim, they are gonna be strong for the Illini. Hope they all stick around
Goillinikobd
- Southeastern US
So CoHawk starts at the top of the key, dribbles halfway to the basket with his back to the rim and runs into traffic, so he throws the ball out to one of our perimeter 3 pt shooters who are throwing up bricks tonight.
I am not a coach, but
It’s very rare that CH is defended by someone who can block his shot.
Why can’t he put up a 10 ft jump shot?
It seems the lane is always clogged with both defenders and teammates.
Why can’t they clear out the land and let him go one on one.
And I agree, LOVE what the freshmen are contributing and as a group, it gets better every game. Ty has earned his ticks and dare I say it, he may get a start before the season is over?
Teams scouting our last games won’t have a reason to double on him since he rarely does anything but pass the ball back out.
Obviously you can't completely stop threatening from there, but if I'm playing against Illinois I'm sure as hell not going to come out guarding you from beyond the arc. Maybe just shoot like 15 per game FFS.
We've identified the enemy...and they are us
