Illinois 96, Northwestern 66 Postgame

#76      

Thaillini22

Thaillini22
Thaillini22
illini510 said:
I'm really shocked by just how dominant of a performance they put together. Northwestern has been a good defensive team over the last season and a half now but Domask, Harmon, Guerrier, and Hawkins just took them to school. This is very encouraging to see these guys playing so cohesively and Harmon is really stepping up and becoming even more of a 3 pt threat than Goode is.

This Purdue game is suddenly going to be very interesting to watch.

One concern: We had this game in hand for a good amount of the game and Dainja didn't get any PT in the 2nd half from what I saw. I don't like that. It's really concerning when coach says he wants to get Hawkins and Dainja in the game together and then completely ignores his own wishes.
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Not to pick on your post bruv, but I really don't get the micro-analyzing PT of bench players and young players that seems to be the norm now,,, fretting over whether they're happy, whether they smiled or not, might leave, coach shoulda played him 7 minutes instead of 4, etc., especially when we're winning.
 
#77      

hoopsfan47

H
hoopsfan47
Why would anyone try to add to what we saw and said on the game thread....so I won't.

The top 8 players all deserve a tip of the hat, but two of them were superior.
1. Ty Rogers has improved from the line because he is doing 3 or 4 things differently than he was doing them earlier. Love me some Ty Rogers.
2. The CoHawk we saw tonight is an NBA player...and a valuable one. Getting set and not rushing 3s, elite defense, not making silly, sloppy passes, and always around the ball on seemingly every rebound lifted the entire team to another level on defense and both boards.

Thanks for a wonderful, inspiring evening of hoops entertainment at its highest level to a very special Illini hoops team.
 
#78      

jumpingjack

J
jumpingjack
illinigiant80 said:
I think Brad kept the starters rolling late because he wanted to win by 30 and send a message to the bigten and all of college basketball that we are still a damn good team.
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ron swanson GIF

ILL
 
#81      

grue2

G
grue2
A stellar game even if I didn't get either of my wishes (IL 100+ and NW 65-).

I too was a bit confused by not substituting more at the end. Domask was flagging the last 3-4 minutes. I'd like to have seen his legs preserved for Purdue.

A huge kenpom leap. +1.7. 11th up to 8th.
 
#83      

illini510

I
illini510
illinigiant80 said:
One thing i noticed in the second half. QG wasn’t involved in a lot of plays in the second half, but he was talking a lot and looked to be a very good leader of the team. He has a calming presence with his teammates.
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Guerrier has been a complete godsend for this team. Domask, Harmon, and Guerrier have got to be 3 of the most unselfish transfer portal guys that could've been in that transfer portal. Great job by Underwood in scouting and finding the right kinds of guys. Guerrier is a dad now too so he seems to be mature beyond his years given all that he is balancing in his life these days
 
#89      

number1IlliniFan

number1IlliniFan
number1IlliniFan
Wow! What a display. Proud of these guys. Great effort and love the team chemistry. One of the things I'm really happy about is the overall basketball IQ of almost everyone. Hope Domask keeps rolling. Go Illini!!
 
#93      

illini510

I
illini510
Thaillini22 said:
Not to pick on your post bruv, but I really don't get the micro-analyzing PT of bench players and young players that seems to be the norm now,,, fretting over whether they're happy, whether they smiled or not, might leave, coach shoulda played him 7 minutes instead of 4, etc., especially when we're winning.
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Dainja deserves to play more than 4 minutes in this game. I'm sorry but if you're a fan of this team, you have to be open minded to call out things that need to be called out. There's no world that I see where Dainja deserves only 4 mins in a game that they win by 30 pts. I have to imagine that deep down, Dainja is not happy with it, even if he accepts the situation for what it is
 
#94      

hoopsfan47

H
hoopsfan47
Grange Grover said:
I think this entire situation seems to have brought this team closer together and rallied them to play to another level. This is a special team with or without TJ. With him we’re National title contenders. Without him we’re still very good let’s go Illini!
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Likely, when they are on the floor together, it is the only time that thoughts of the situation are not in their head. They just get to play and trust one another and enjoy doing what they want to do most.