Illinois 82, Kansas 75 (Exhibition) Postgame

[The Galloping Ghost]

When TSJ decided to return for his 5th year I was convinced he would be an All-American. Nothing I've seen has dissuaded me of that opinion. He's virtually unstoppable getting to the basket. He now has a team that passes, giving him better looks. He's a man playing against kids. Combining that with the leadership he's showing in the huddle, he's something special, and watching him go this season will be an absolute joy.

 

[rtbritt]

Guerrier looks pretty dang big too. For a guy who's been a 3/4 for his career.... I mean, he's probably similar to or bigger than Giorgi, right?

 

[InDaAZ]

Guerrier looks pretty dang big too. For a guy who's been a 3/4 for his career.... I mean, he's probably similar to or bigger than Giorgi, right?

Listed at:
QG 6’8” 230
GB 6’9” 245

I was surprised at how much Quincy was called on to handle the ball. He and Marcus are our new Swiss Army Knives to go along with CoHawk.

 

[IlliniInCAN]

Excellent game all around. I thought the team looked way more advanced in terms of cohesion than I expected. Some rough spots during that 3 TO span and Hawkins step back 3, but there is a ton to build on.

Depth really is legit on this team. For years people talked about it, yet this team seems to actually have it. Harmon is gonna win us some games this year, Quincy is better than I expected in his attacking the basket, Dain and Goode did not have good matchups tonight, but with the right matchups, those guys will be major contributors.

Top 8
1. Shannon
2. Hawkins
3. Domask
4. Guerrier
5. Rodgers
6. Harmon
7. Dain
8. Goode
(9. Harris)

Might really surprise some people this season. Let hope it’s the start of something special

 

[cjw1901]

My random thoughts

I think we take away from this game that right now we are older and more experienced. The team didn’t look totally lost even when we had some scoring spells in the 2nd half. Last year would had been all hero ball and then ???

I think the ball movement can get even better as we grow as a team. I think we shared it well but not nearly as well as we will in March.

Without Dain in at times we seemed we couldn’t punish the post. But I’ll take that as the “Hunter Dickinson” factor of tonight.

Better outside shooting!

Kinda wish you could get more tick for Dain,Sencire, Goode who have all been so loyal. But, I guess you play who you feel most confident in.

We beat the #1 team in the country!!! Exhibition or not, you know both these teams treated it like a real game, or at least dress rehearsal. Just the fact we won will get our stock ticking up in media and fans nationwide . I’m so excited for this year .

No worries on Dain's time. We absolutely need him, since we are not going to shoot 41% or better on 3s in most of games this year, especially since about half of those games are on the road, where teams virtually always shoot worse than at home.

We shot 31% as a team last season on 3s with mostly the same roster. That means, this was a great 3pt shooting night tonight, and I'm happy for that, but we can't count on 3PT% that high as a regular thing, and it's almost guaranteed that we won't shoot that well (or better) on 3s in our first road game at Rutgers. We shot too many 3s about twice as badly on the road as we did at home last season, which is the same mistake most teams make. Since Underwood knows this, expect Dain to start on road games and expect us to go to the basket and FT line a lot more in these games or else or our chances to win these road games go down even more. Dain is one of our keys to win games like that, as well as poor 3pt shooting games at home, which are far from unheard of for IL either. We had several games last season at around 17%, which is just awful. Yeah, that's how we got to 30.8% from 3 on the season, last season, worst in the BT and very low nationwide for D1. During that whole season Dain was our best 2pt shooter at 63.6%. Yeah, that is a great percentage, better than Edey's.

 

[hoopsfan47]

I am sure BU thinks there is a long way to go defensively. But that is easier to fix than offensive cohesion. In the Spain trip and Ottawa games, those teams tried to throw the ball through trees. Tonight, there were different issues and a pretty talented big with which to deal along with and Ivey type or two of skilled athletes. Completely different challenge and awareness required...but fixable with work and focus. If they can work on team defense with focus and determination then anything becomes possible.

 

[Chilliniwek]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1718806112638505160

I’m 67 and don’t hate anyone, and let go of hate many years ago. It’s bad for your heart. I feel for the kid, he could be my grandson, and I hope he has a great life. But based on history, it was a little sweet!

 

[Tacomallini]

It's also 5 dudes who know how to knock down free throws late, which is refreshing.
Edit: turns out guerrier isn't as good a FT shooter as I thought. His shot looked pretty good.

He went 8 for 10 today

 

[the national]

Daddy Brad is alive and well!

 

[Manual3for4peat]

He went 8 for 10 today

It’s just that his first kiss was a rough looking shot. He was money after that got out of the way.

 

[Rich]

Few thoughts after a brief nap

- I was a certified Hawkins hater on offense (only on offense), but his improvement was noticeable. He still had the mental mistake where he double dribbles or travels because hes thinking too much but he looked great. I still don't want him bringing the ball up with game on the line but I'm happy to be proven wrong this year.

- I really worry about our free throws

- LOVED our hustle and attitude. Dra standing up by himself on bench few times got me excited.

- My god, I forgot how charismatic Self was. Just listening to his post game talking about our team has me excited and ready to jump through the wall. I fully understand why he left and I'm happy to support our team and current coaching stuff, but what could've been...

- Will Basketball cure my depression from Football?

 

[Illini in OC]

I just got home from the game--really good crowd despite the relatively low turnout. Krush was in full voice and was letting Dickinson hear it all evening long. A few takeaways--
1. Several bad look 3s early, but it settled down
2. Our ball movement was great. I had to look to the sideline to see if Norman Dale was over there.
3. Dickinson is a very bad defender. He got blown past so many times I lost count. While he got his points, he went 9-20 to get them.
4. Refs don't seem to call illegal screens when the screener swings their hip out while the defender is going by. Hunter does this a lot.
5. McCullar is very, very good. But we have a Shannon
6. KU's uniforms looked like pajamas from section 201. I'm more than happy with our home whites compared to that look.
7. We've got some good new pieces, I'm very excited to see how they develop. QG in particular looks like he has a pretty complete game
8. We had no made FGs for the last 2:35 and won the game

thank you for this.

 

[Illini in OC]

The biggest differences I saw to last year: 1) Smart, heady plays when things got tough. Like QG taking the ball to the hoop to get fouled over and over. 2) Better ball movement, driving, and cutting. Really liked seeing Ty as a driving PG. 3) Experience and more of a team mentality. Seemed like a much more coachable group. Love to see the new guys bringing so much to the table and they all seem so humble.

I think Domask and Guerrier are going to be fan favorites by the end of the year.

Also. Love how hard this team plays but hope everyone is okay after today. I winced at some of the pileups and TSJs drives this early in the season.

this..

 

[EyeoftheIllini]

It's also 5 dudes who know how to knock down free throws late, which is refreshing.
Edit: turns out guerrier isn't as good a FT shooter as I thought. His shot looked pretty good.

Huh? Stat sheet I’m looking at has QG at 8-10. I’ll take 80% all day long.

Edit: someone beat me to it

 

[Ga65]

Find it difficult to criticize the PG when we score 83 pts on #1 ranked team. Defense didn’t meet the eye test but we were playing some Dudes and 75 pts isn’t that bad. 6 steals was impressive as well as holding them to 3 threes. Actually if you add the home court advantage, it was a tie. Question will be how much each team improves during the season. That’s where Izzo always shines.

 

[jimbo72]

Re watched game. Cohawk had literally 8 fouls. Gotta clean that up. QG, the man!

 

[illiniguy24]

Saw another poster ask and didn’t see it get answered, how was the crowd reception for Self?

 

[blackdog]

Saw another poster ask and didn’t see it get answered, how was the crowd reception for Self?

I was at the game. It was mostly cheers with a couple of boos mixed in. As Self predicted in their pregame video Hunter was booed loudly every time he touched the ball.

It was funny late in the 2nd half when KJ Adams and Hawkins both had 5 fouls the PA announcer had to come on and say "for those of you who are confused...."

 

[foby]

Find it difficult to criticize the PG when we score 83 pts on #1 ranked team. Defense didn’t meet the eye test but we were playing some Dudes and 75 pts isn’t that bad. 6 steals was impressive as well as holding them to 3 threes. Actually if you add the home court advantage, it was a tie. Question will be how much each team improves during the season. That’s where Izzo always shines.

Holding the #1 team in the country to less points than you score and maintaining a lead throughout almost the entire game is a stellar defensive effort.

 

[IlliniInSturgisMi]

With all the discussions re PG I was hoping to see box score info re DGL. Can't find any. Any info you folks can provide? How many minutes? How'd he do?

 

[EyeoftheIllini]

With all the discussions re PG I was hoping to see box score info re DGL. Can't find any. Any info you folks can provide? How many minutes? How'd he do?

Played 3 minutes in first half and only stat was 0-1 from 3. I honestly only remember the shot and one pass of no consequence out on top.

Other two frosh played 2 minutes each. Hansberry was fairly active but went 0-3 from field with a TO. Moretti looked OK except for clanking 2 FTs

 

[Illini in Italy]

I know it didn't count, but still

 

[jumpingjack]

Played 3 minutes in first half and only stat was 0-1 from 3. I honestly only remember the shot and one pass of no consequence out on top.

Other two frosh played 2 minutes each. Hansberry was fairly active but went 0-3 from field with a TO. Moretti looked OK except for clanking 2 FTs

I thought Amani looked active and willing on D (especially a sequence where he was guarding Hunter on the low block and almost created a turnover) but really sped up on offense. Took a couple of really awkward shots down low, but I shot a 30 foot hookshot my first high school game so I'm not gonna judge . Dude is going to be a great one. Bank on it.
And yeah, I think Moretti looked like he belonged... And probably a little amped up on those free throws .
DGL is a dog, having him watching and learning this year is a luxury.

 

[jumpingjack]

Saw another poster ask and didn’t see it get answered, how was the crowd reception for Self?

Not nearly as bad as it was for Hunter, that's for sure. I'm not sure Self appreciated exactly how much the IL fans were going to come down on that dude.
I was starting to feel a little bad about it but then he mugged Dain.

 

[NarrowJ]

I see someone else pointed this out but if we would've made only 33% of our threes, we'd have still won the game by 1 point.