Aw man, looks like we're losing Lieb. I knew we should have been monitoring his body language more closely!
Penn State 79, Illinois 76 Postgame
- Status
Aw man, looks like we're losing Lieb. I knew we should have been monitoring his body language more closely!
No idea what this references.
I certainly understand not being able to say more, but can you give any insight into if the argument with Brad during the timeout a few weeks ago (I think maybe the Northwestern game?) was something that had been building up to that moment, or was that the beginning of the situation?
I know you're just joshin, but Lieb is one who I would actually like to see transfer out and look for a good opportunity for himself. Not that I don't want him here, but by all accounts he's put in the work and paid his dues and I would be totally happy for him if he left and found a situation where he could get 15-20 minutes per game.
Big Jack
- Decatur
Hopefully he comes back, can give us 10-12 minutes off the bench (even against good teams) to spell Dainja, and then he uses his 5th year to go to a Mid-Major and start.
No, I'd prefer he move on and free up a schollie for someone else. If Hawkins returns, I'd prefer he get utilized inside the 3-point line much more than this season. Focus on shooters and a point guard in the portal.
Why? We're not hurting for scholarships. We have 3 projected open ones as, which could be as high as 5, all without Lieb leaving. What exactly are we going to use that scholarship on that's more productive than a fourth year 7 footer? It'd just be another dart throw Freshman recruit (aka, the next Brandon Lieb)
Idk why people struggle to understand this. The guy at the end of the bench that's on scholarship isn't helping you win games. Brandon Lieb staying on scholarship literally has zero impact on how well we do during the season. If he leaves, its likely the guy that replaces him will be in the same boat.
There will always be a few walk-ons and a few guys on scholarship at the end of the bench that are practice players and emergency guys in case of injuries.
I had the opportunity to attend last night. Great seat, good game, unfortunate outcome. Acknowledging that my grasp of the intricacies of basketball is nonexistent, I want to make a couple observations. I really really (sorry Pruman) don’t like these drawn out confabs refs seem to require to sort out what foul calls to make. They are literally and figuratively a total buzz kill. At one point the Illini appeared to be on the cusp of taking control. Their defense was smothering, the crowd got amped up and then Dain violently dunked the ball. It was bedlam. Suddenly everything stopped. The refs needed to discuss Dain’s behavior.
The refs became the focus. It was audible as the air and excitement was sucked out of the arena. About the same thing happened later on with a call on Hawkins. I have no clue what the refs needed to talk about but it took forever and ruined whatever flow Illinois was trying to regain.
Dear Refs: If you feel a player has acted egregiously and deserves a tech make the GD EFFEN call and get it EFFING over with.
Sincerely, Bartwa
My other observation concerns the team. It seemed to me that there was confusion ( a little defensively but a lot on offense) as to player positioning on the floor. Lots of pointing and conversation between players about where they belonged running the offense. Sometimes passes were tentative with too much thinking involved. I did not see that with the Penn State team.
The refs became the focus. It was audible as the air and excitement was sucked out of the arena. About the same thing happened later on with a call on Hawkins. I have no clue what the refs needed to talk about but it took forever and ruined whatever flow Illinois was trying to regain.
Dear Refs: If you feel a player has acted egregiously and deserves a tech make the GD EFFEN call and get it EFFING over with.
Sincerely, Bartwa
My other observation concerns the team. It seemed to me that there was confusion ( a little defensively but a lot on offense) as to player positioning on the floor. Lots of pointing and conversation between players about where they belonged running the offense. Sometimes passes were tentative with too much thinking involved. I did not see that with the Penn State team.
Hawkins is gone, the sooner we accept that the better for everyone's mental health. He might even be a Draft Pick. I'd LOVE to be wrong, but I just don't see it. He wanted to declare Professional last year before even having a starting season under his belt. He doesn't strike me as a guy that cares that much about a degree.
You are well spoken for an 8th grader.../s
If we have the open schollie available for him and he's good with NOT playing, fine. No worries then. But he SHOULD NOT be playing 12-15 minutes per game if Illinois wants to be a top-15 program nationally (or top-25 or top-40 ...).
Purdue is returning their entire team after winning the conference by 3 games.
Did you mean “anyone else except Purdue”? If Michigan keeps Jett, Dickinson, and Bufkin they’d also be returning quite a lot
So I'm just curious why people don't see Moretti as the PG next year.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
In the post game presser dain was asked aboot that flagrant foul and he stated he had his eyes closed when contact was made with dread..........I don't think that is entirely accurate , but I haven't had the strength to replay that individual play......
Whatever it was , it definitely was a game changer and started the down hill slope we went down on to finish out the game......
I was kinda surprised by the amount of trash talking done by both sides and I saw a lot of Illini bumping into dread & wynter
" accidentally " after MM and wynter got into it.....
I'm still as peeved today as I was last night with the loss and hope we can regroup and get at least 1 and maybe more wins in the dance.........
I have shook my head in disbelief at our performances this year as much as any one else here.........it will stick with me more this year than other years of " what happened " when to analyze our talent and our less than stellar play.......
Losing Epps would be a nut punch to me as he is a very good player and could become one of my all time favorite Illini if he stays.......
To me this is an opportunity for BU to assess his recruiting. He clearly loves quick footed athletes that can defend multiple positions all over the floor. Good strategy but you can't do it at the expense of offense. Hawkins, Melendez, Harris, and Rogers all fit that type and they are all terrible shooters. No offense can compensate for multiple players on the floor that can be played off of to clog passing and driving lanes. It just stagnates any sets that you try to run. If the staff hits the portal for help that help has to come in the form of guys that can put the ball in the hole. Entry passes and driving lanes miraculously open up when defenders can't leave their guy to help. JMHO.
A first year guy with no experience in the US, and not very highly rated would be quite a gamble
A Late Take Euro Speculative Prospect probably shouldn't be our starting point guard next year, but perhaps he is a lot better than everybody gives him credit for, I suppose.
Cook
- Richmond, VA
It's shocking how bad we are at executing any offense this late in the season, it's maddening. BU didn't forget how to coach. I do think he could use his time outs better though, both from when he uses to them to what we do coming out of them. Players make unexplainably bad decisions repeatedly and I've never seen a group just lose/fumble away the ball as much as this one (TSJ in particular).
Well I'd only want him playing 10-12 minutes a game if he's up for the challenge, he's been getting better, knows the system and plays within himself, and the standards for a Backup Center aren't overly high, imo.
The amount of times, TSJ just sort of holds the ball and says "ehh whatever" and shoots a contested three are mind-boggling. 32.7 % shooter than thinks he's a 42 % shooter.
- Status