Hmmm…that might be good and that might be bad.
Arkansas 73, Illinois 63 Postgame
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We'll, the good news is that I have a whole bunch of time to work on my bathroom renovation.
thanks to the team for a season of diversions from the challenges of real life. I appreciate the effort you put in representing the University of Illinois this yet, and while the results what none of us wanted, I enjoyed the journey. See you next year!
I L L
P.S. To all the Negative Nancy's out there whining and bi*chin about effort/heart/BB IQ/ coaching/transfers/NIL/portal/etc. . . Get a life and figure out what is important. This is entertainment, it doesn't define you unless you let it. And if you do let it, I'm sorry for you. It will wreck you.
thanks to the team for a season of diversions from the challenges of real life. I appreciate the effort you put in representing the University of Illinois this yet, and while the results what none of us wanted, I enjoyed the journey. See you next year!
I L L
P.S. To all the Negative Nancy's out there whining and bi*chin about effort/heart/BB IQ/ coaching/transfers/NIL/portal/etc. . . Get a life and figure out what is important. This is entertainment, it doesn't define you unless you let it. And if you do let it, I'm sorry for you. It will wreck you.
Thank god this season is over.
I never saw the punch bowl.
I don't think you need to hold on to this one too long...or stay pissed.
We were flawed, especially in IQ...we have little to no consistent shooting and thin and very young at the guard spots.
We played alot of the year with no true point guard, and even when we did...it was a Freshman who is prolly really a 2 guard in Epps, or a guy in Skyy who left midseason. Teams with experianced, old guards win the tourney...we were the opposite if that.
Mayer is just... I think he is super interesting and talented. Not too many guys have his level of ballhanding and ability at 6'9".... but you can't be a complete weirdo all year on and off the court and not have it wear on the team. I wish him luck.
If Shannon had a better right hand he is sure fire 1st round pick. He is one of the most athletic players we have ever had. But he just isnt a "Go and get one" guy.
And finally to the people going in on Brad... We have been to the tournament 3 years n a row, with some pretty rough losses....thats STILL better then so many other schools. I have questions about him as an in game tactition, I have questions about the offense he runs and I question his...antics at times.
BUT
The guys knows talent, has recruited well, had to remake a staff and brought a team with a TON of warts to 20-12 and a tournament bid.
Shake it off, and lets see what talent he brings in next year.
When me misses the tournament 3 years in a row and can't get a top 100 guard... then we can talk further.
We were flawed, especially in IQ...we have little to no consistent shooting and thin and very young at the guard spots.
We played alot of the year with no true point guard, and even when we did...it was a Freshman who is prolly really a 2 guard in Epps, or a guy in Skyy who left midseason. Teams with experianced, old guards win the tourney...we were the opposite if that.
Mayer is just... I think he is super interesting and talented. Not too many guys have his level of ballhanding and ability at 6'9".... but you can't be a complete weirdo all year on and off the court and not have it wear on the team. I wish him luck.
If Shannon had a better right hand he is sure fire 1st round pick. He is one of the most athletic players we have ever had. But he just isnt a "Go and get one" guy.
And finally to the people going in on Brad... We have been to the tournament 3 years n a row, with some pretty rough losses....thats STILL better then so many other schools. I have questions about him as an in game tactition, I have questions about the offense he runs and I question his...antics at times.
BUT
The guys knows talent, has recruited well, had to remake a staff and brought a team with a TON of warts to 20-12 and a tournament bid.
Shake it off, and lets see what talent he brings in next year.
When me misses the tournament 3 years in a row and can't get a top 100 guard... then we can talk further.
The moral victory is hopefully RJ Melendez will stick around
But can we still claim we stole a 5 star from Kentucky?
Who would you have taken instead?
I think this is what I’m most frustrated about:
IMO we settled for threes because we didn’t have the playmakers to score off the drive. TSJ can if he gets on the break and gets going downhill but he doesn’t take guys off the dribble.
So if we didn’t score in transition, our guys couldn’t get to the basket. We didn’t have a consistent post scorer (Dain at times. Rarely but sometimes Coleman). So our guards and wings can’t get to the hoop, we don’t have a true inside option, so we jack threes
IMO we settled for threes because we didn’t have the playmakers to score off the drive. TSJ can if he gets on the break and gets going downhill but he doesn’t take guys off the dribble.
So if we didn’t score in transition, our guys couldn’t get to the basket. We didn’t have a consistent post scorer (Dain at times. Rarely but sometimes Coleman). So our guards and wings can’t get to the hoop, we don’t have a true inside option, so we jack threes
AyoDos11
- Southern Illinois
A 9 seed losing to an 8 seed isn't really underachieving.......just sayin
A really really bad time for our "best" 3-pt shooter to go ice cold.
We will drop from pre-game 331 in the nation for 3-pt shooting %.
We will drop from pre-game 331 in the nation for 3-pt shooting %.
I really really really hope RJ sticks around.
Same with Mayer. All we heard was talk and they didnt back any of it up. Embarrasing.
At least we aren’t Virginia or Az.
IlliniRon
Illini Basketball Fan Forever
- Ft Worth, Texas
Tough game. Love this team and Underwood, but it seems like we got worse throughout the season. The weaknesses came out again today, with turnovers, poor shooting, erratic defense, slow start in first half. Even rebounding was weak this game. Oh well, not sure what happened, but I was far too optimistic about our talent early in the season, so disappointing end of the season. Fun team to watch with a lot of flaws.
Nope....they gave us a Trojan horse.
I will be actively rooting against him though. I have zero sympathy for mid season quitters that were given more than they deserved.
Sure if it makes people feel better. Highest ranked recipient ever or something. I don’t know what to think. I cringed when I heard his tattooed “never happened” on his injured knee. To me that made me more worried about the impact of the injury on him. Maybe that had nothing to do with it.
Don't exactly have to be an insider to figure that one out.
I know. It's frustrating to see so many guys that can do so many things. There's no one on the team that I didn't appreciate was talented and can play. No one on the roster that we wondered why they were here. Guys that when they're playing well and making their best plays look amazing and you can picture them in the NBA. Yet here we are, nine seed in the tournament and out in the first round. We've had less talented teams go further, for sure. Hopefully we can keep a strong base of these guys and they gel next year as a team. Add a couple of nice recruits, and a transfer or two that don't need to play hero ball, baby you got yourself a stew!
Have to try to keep Epps.
I still love Cohawk and hope he returns.
This game showed how badly we needed a PG. Epps isn't a PG and neither is Sencire. How come it took a lineup without TJ, Mayer, and Hawkins for the team to actually start playing like a team? That is so baffling to me. This is not the NBA. What happened to a cohesive unit working together and playing unselfishly? Why did we have to constantly deal with this hero ball nonsense? Mayer was benched because he played too much hero ball and deservedly so. Mayer was brought in for this moment and he absolutely laid a dud.
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