We still made it to the NCAA tournament another year and we somehow put together 20 wins. Much better than watching us lose early in another NIT tournament. This game was pretty much exactly how we've played most games down the stretch. Really no surprises. So good season overall.
This was the most frequently mentioned concern on this board before the season began - two freshmen PGs. It went from two to one then to none. Hard to overcome that especially with all the other short comings.The main issue today was no PG IMO.
I guess we can’t hold that against them bc we had Skyy but it turns out he wasn’t near a top 40 player or whatever his ranking was.
I mean we’ve seen previous Illini teams lacking a Pg and they didn’t even do as well as this one did. So maybe Brad gets credit for taking a team without a PG to the tourney?
I would have liked to keep Grandison. The blueprint for what this team was going to do changed mid-season. We got rid of the switching defense and freestyle offense and replaced it with what we were last year, a few offensive sets for our best players and tough man-to-man drop coverage D. I think Grandison would have stayed if that's what we were at the beginning. His 3 pt shooting would have been appreciated too. I thought Mayer would show up today, but he had some rough turnovers and a couple in and out 3s, and was pretty bad defensively overall.Knowing how the season turned out would you rather had
Mayer
Nance or
Kept Grandison
Mayer won us games and played decent defense. Nance did nothing for UNC. I think Grandison maturity was missing at times from this team. However I don’t know if we would have been better
SO MUCH dribbling by players you don't want dribblingThis was the most frequently mentioned concern on this board before the season began - two freshmen PGs. It went from two to one then to none. Hard to overcome that especially with all the other short comings.
I was always confused when the announcers would say how 'talented' the team is. I mean compared to me and you, yeah they are incredibly talented, but on the court with other D1 players they didn't really look anymore talented than anyone else they were playing. TSJ had moments when his raw speed made him look like he had next level skills. But everyone else looked like really good college basketball players. I think Brad got the most he could out of these guys. They actually came out a lot better than they should have given their lack of offense so I'm not as disappointed as others here. They done pretty good this year.The constant phrase in so many threads is "this team is so talented". No they are not. Talented people handle and pass the ball. Talented people can make a layup. Talented people can make a free throw. Talented people don't throw up stupid shots.
Hawkins 34 min 10 pts multiple turnovers.
Mayer 22 min 2 pts
Harris 23 min 2 pts
Rogers 23 min 6 pts
Goode 23 min 6 pts
Dainja 23 mi 5 pts
You just simply can't win with so many unproductive players. Somebody has to put the ball in the hole. Arky uglied up this game in a big way but we could never respond cause we can't shoot.
On to next year. Find a point guard. Find some shooters.
I hope you’re mistaken. I want to see Epps graduate in orange and blue. Priority numero uno is keeping our guys
I'd make one observation RE: Robert.I know the tournament plays differently but hard to win when you can't score. BU like "dogs" but it'd be nice to have some pure scorers as well. I like BU and I'm thankful he's turned the ship around. At some point, gotta make a run in March.
This team is who we thought they were. A ton of talent but too many weaknesses to be consistent. Turnovers, poor shooting, and just bad decision-making were the issues all year long & it cost them again today.
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BIG problem. Not really many players on this team you wanted dribbling.SO MUCH dribbling by players you don't want dribbling
100%We need to put the “everyday guys” phrase to rest. As a composite, this team was the exact opposite of everyday guys. Everyday guys implies that we work harder and smarter than the opposition. That was not remotely close to being true this year.
We don’t run any screens off the ball to get players shots everything we run is ball screen then one on one. Everyone else just stands in place.Just don't understand why we didn't run plays for Goode to shoot 3's in the second half. Just don't get it ??
Yeah…I know they were SUPER loaded ….but I think I see why Mayer got role player minutes at Baylor.He what now? The closest he came to keeping his man in front of him today was in the postgame handshake line.
Yeah…I know they were SUPER loaded ….but I think I see why Mayer got role player minutes at Baylor.
I think part of that was undoubtedly his dadgum shortcomings on defense. I dug the shot blocking that he brought…but it’s like he has: selective peripheral vision, doesn’t give goddamn or isn’t fundamentally sound enough to simply snap the head& get that deny hand up going the other way. (That’s basic basketball) If he’s gonna play in the NBA he’s got some work to do.
I was excited at the beginning of the year about the switching defense because we had multiple guys with experience playing that way…I still see no reason why that couldn’t of worked.
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.
Probably right.My best guess would be an unwillingness to do as instructed. But it's just a guess
Not saying today it was about the season as a whole. He was off todayHe what now? The closest he came to keeping his man in front of him today was in the postgame handshake line.
Yeah... Sadly that's what I heard from an insider from another program a few weeks ago. Unfortunate, but sadly seemed like the writing was on the wall as he didn't seem like he was completely buying in. Sigh...
Seems like we had a number of guys who were able to ride their athletic ability to results against weaker opponents but really got exploited against talented, well-coached teams. Mayer (among others) seemed to gamble quite a bit, which works if you can get back to the spot and get a few fingers on the ball, but if your guy is too quick or knows what's coming they can avoid getting blocked for the most part. Penn State was especially and unsurprisingly good at making us look dumb when we got too aggressive or lost discipline out there.Yeah…I know they were SUPER loaded ….but I think I see why Mayer got role player minutes at Baylor.
I think part of that was undoubtedly his dadgum shortcomings on defense. I dug the shot blocking that he brought…but it’s like he has: selective peripheral vision, doesn’t give goddamn or isn’t fundamentally sound enough to simply snap the head& get that deny hand up going the other way. (That’s basic basketball) If he’s gonna play in the NBA he’s got some work to do.
I was excited at the beginning of the year about the switching defense because we had multiple guys with experience playing that way…I still see no reason why that couldn’t of worked.