USC 82, Illinois 72 Postgame
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"Despite our valiant efforts...?" Now we know for sure it's a fake account.
I was really getting some confidence that this team could go a long way. I ask myself how could they be so good and then be so bad at the same time. This has been a pattern of the Illini in general over the years. They can play very well, then not show up at all. Maybe Brad ought to go back to chewing on the lifeless !!! and make them run 5 miles at 5 am a couple of days a week in the cold to wake them up. It is one thing to lose when you compete but completely another when you sleep walk. You are being paid to work [some overpaid] get out of bed and go to work! The upcoming games against India and MSU will make you or break you this week. It is up to you to show or shut up!
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Well, we now understand a reason for the usual early morning “crap the bed” performances.
These players are compensated. If they have one Saturday where they are at the gym at 6, so be it. You’d think that after years of this, Underwood would think to himself “Gee, we never do well with what’s happening, so maybe we try something different??”
Again, 95% of the time Underwood’s dogged determination and firm belief in himself and his vision is a great thing. Here’s the 5% “dark side”.
We have to get rid of these crap the bed home games. They always put us in bad situations for the tournament. We are a 2 seed and avoid UConn last season if we don’t lose to Maryland, for example.
Analytics like good 3 pointers, ones you can hit at 33%+ rate (basically 1.0+ PPP / points per possession). But a bad three pointer is still a bad shot that doesn't generate you much PPP.
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
re·flec·tion
/rəˈflekSH(ə)n/
the throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it.
"the reflection of light"
serious thought or consideration.
"he doesn't get much time for reflection"
reflection ............this is what ole pru did yesterday after the humbling home court loss to the condoms...........I really really did , or one could say I tried some semblance of reflection......
I tried to watch other basketball games.....didn't help.......
I tried to watch WBB..........didn't help................
I tried to watch some NHL.................didn't help.............
I tried to watch some NFL playoff games.........didn't help...........
I tried to get all medded up.......didn't help.............
I tried to take a nap.............couldn't sleep........didn't help.......
I tried to eat some food....threw it up......didn't help......
I tried to read some of the post game thread.........threw up ........didn't help.......
I tried to get frisky with NL # 3.........bless her heart.......................didn't help................
I didn't try anything else...........because nothing helped.......................it really really didn't help.......
The quandary I face today is to try to bring some intelligent thought process to said quandary.......my mind says to me , too soon ole pru.....you need more time to process what happened yesterday morning and afternoon.....soooooooooooooo......
I tried that.......didn't help..............
/rəˈflekSH(ə)n/
the throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it.
"the reflection of light"
serious thought or consideration.
"he doesn't get much time for reflection"
reflection ............this is what ole pru did yesterday after the humbling home court loss to the condoms...........I really really did , or one could say I tried some semblance of reflection......
I tried to watch other basketball games.....didn't help.......
I tried to watch WBB..........didn't help................
I tried to watch some NHL.................didn't help.............
I tried to watch some NFL playoff games.........didn't help...........
I tried to get all medded up.......didn't help.............
I tried to take a nap.............couldn't sleep........didn't help.......
I tried to eat some food....threw it up......didn't help......
I tried to read some of the post game thread.........threw up ........didn't help.......
I tried to get frisky with NL # 3.........bless her heart.......................didn't help................
I didn't try anything else...........because nothing helped.......................it really really didn't help.......
The quandary I face today is to try to bring some intelligent thought process to said quandary.......my mind says to me , too soon ole pru.....you need more time to process what happened yesterday morning and afternoon.....soooooooooooooo......
I tried that.......didn't help..............
so you tried and failed to get frisky, or you successfully got frisky and it didn't help?
pruman91
- interviewing new NL's daily....I really really am
I completed the task and..................it didn't help...........bliss was fleetingly brief , but , no , it didn't help.......
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
I think if we go back and look at how SC was screening, you'll see that the ball handlers went around their screen tight, meaning the defender had to go over or under the screen, leaving them trailing the ball handler. KB got called for a couple of fouls trying to go with the ball handler and then proceeded to going over or under the screen. This was happening time and time again. I've been watching the screens by our previous opponents and none of them ran their screens this tight, which allowed our defenders to squeeze through the screen.
If the team gets a F, then the fans get an F-
I know Krush was on break, but we could still give the team at least a little bit of a home court advantage. It doesn't seem like MSU, Purdue, Indiana, etc have as much of a problem with crowd noise on break as we do. Do they do something different than us?
I know Krush was on break, but we could still give the team at least a little bit of a home court advantage. It doesn't seem like MSU, Purdue, Indiana, etc have as much of a problem with crowd noise on break as we do. Do they do something different than us?
Thankfully there has been very few of those.
If we beat them to the screen they can’t go tight off them.
This was another area where we were outworked.
Wrong. Win either of those and it is erased.
Havent looked at the schedule for next Saturday I take it. At Breslin no less
Related to the talk about worst home losses ever, I took a look at some of the worst home losses in the KenPom / Torvik era. The USC one was bad but we've probably had worse.
Here they are sorted by the difference in Torvik ranking at the time of the game.
- All things considered, I have to take the 2006 PSU game as the worst home loss.
- Half of these games were played between Jan. 10 and Jan. 17.
- And half were played against PSU or MD.
Here they are sorted by the difference in Torvik ranking at the time of the game.
| Date | Opponent | Final Score | Difference in ranking | Notes |
| 12/30/2007 | Tennessee St. | 58-60 | 198 | |
| 2/4/2006 | Penn St. | 65-66 | 88* | *Based on end of season KenPom ranking because Torvik doesn't go back this far. The difference at the time of the game was likely even greater. This game ended up costing us a share of the conference title and ended our 33 game home winning streak. |
| 12/10/2022 | Penn St. | 59-74 | 88 | |
| 1/14/2024 | Maryland | 67-76 | 86 | |
| 1/11/2025 | USC | 72-82 | 65 | |
| 1/10/2021 | Maryland | 63-66 | 58 | |
| 1/17/2013 | Northwestern | 64-68 | 54 | |
| 12/2/2019 | Miami | 79-81 | 48 | |
| 2/18/2009 | Penn St. | 33-38 | 47 |  |
| 1/15/2014 | Purdue | 58-66 | 37 | Not an egregious loss on the surface. But it likely caused us to miss the tournament. |
- All things considered, I have to take the 2006 PSU game as the worst home loss.
- Half of these games were played between Jan. 10 and Jan. 17.
- And half were played against PSU or MD.
Right there with you. I just sat there in the stands stunned at what I was watching. It was a long drive home.
I just can't quite reconcile it. Especially after the previous 3 games.
The only thing I can think is that this USC squad isn't nearly as bad as their record/metrics represent. They had one high major win coming into this game, for the entire SEASON.
This is as big of WTF loss as I can remember. Ranks up there with Sister Jean's miracle W.
Germanboxers
- Fort Wayne, IN
If I had made the drive and spent the money to watch them play yesterday I would be apoplectic, not because we lost, but because they didn’t come to play. We can wrangle with all the what ifs regarding strategy/tactics, but the fundamental issue was effort/“want to”. If they don’t feel like competing, just send an email blast out to the fans so they can stay home and watch the travesty on TV…or just read the box score after the game. That would be the considerate thing to do.
I agree 100%. That ‘06 PSU game where Rich McBride hits what I thought was the game winning 3 at the buzzer only to have it taken away after official review. That’s still when we had what felt like an invincible home court advantage…one of the first signs of cracks in the Weber era.Related to the talk about worst home losses ever, I took a look at some of the worst home losses in the KenPom / Torvik era. The USC one was bad but we've probably had worse.
Here they are sorted by the difference in Torvik ranking at the time of the game.
Date Opponent Final Score Difference in ranking Notes 12/30/2007 Tennessee St. 58-60 198 2/4/2006 Penn St. 65-66 88* *Based on end of season KenPom ranking because Torvik doesn't go back this far. The difference at the time of the game was likely even greater.
This game ended up costing us a share of the conference title and ended our 33 game home winning streak.12/10/2022 Penn St. 59-74 88 1/14/2024 Maryland 67-76 86 1/11/2025 USC 72-82 65 1/10/2021 Maryland 63-66 58 1/17/2013 Northwestern 64-68 54 12/2/2019 Miami 79-81 48 2/18/2009 Penn St. 33-38 47 1/15/2014 Purdue 58-66 37 Not an egregious loss on the surface. But it likely caused us to miss the tournament.
- All things considered, I have to take the 2006 PSU game as the worst home loss.
- Half of these games were played between Jan. 10 and Jan. 17.
- And half were played against PSU or MD.
USAFILLINI
- Florida
And just like that we are all cheering on USC. Need them to move up into quad 2
I believe the question of so many three point shots from Dre is legit. His energy and driving to the bucket are unmatched. I would prefer less 3's from him per game, say 2 to 3. Keeps the D honest. However, in the last 3 games there have been many wide open threes that have not been converted by all our shooters but Ben. Wide open, set shot threes should be closer to a 40% clip for any of our shooters. IMO
DB11Headband
- Chicago Burbs
They will. I think the two LA B1G teams will be on opposite trajectories from here on out.
LouHenson
- Naples Florida
I have thought about this for the last 24 hours and I feel much like Sean Harrington, we simply have to be better. I love where BU has gotten this program, but I want to take the next step and unless he is willing to be more flexible I am afraid he will never get there.
It is tough to watch a team just get smoked by one player over and over. This seems to happen a lot under this current staff. In game adjustments are part of the game. I know I am tired of the “excuses” of why this is always his fault, but yet he won’t ever do anything about it?
No question he is a good coach, maybe the best we can ever get, but I would like to get back to an NCAA championship game and I am just not sure he can get us there. Hope I am dead wrong, but currently it looks just like many other promising seasons. We will get a 3-7 seed which will make it almost impossible to get to the final 4.
It is tough to watch a team just get smoked by one player over and over. This seems to happen a lot under this current staff. In game adjustments are part of the game. I know I am tired of the “excuses” of why this is always his fault, but yet he won’t ever do anything about it?
No question he is a good coach, maybe the best we can ever get, but I would like to get back to an NCAA championship game and I am just not sure he can get us there. Hope I am dead wrong, but currently it looks just like many other promising seasons. We will get a 3-7 seed which will make it almost impossible to get to the final 4.
That was my exact reaction watching the game yesterday. WTF ? You get a ticket, get up off your a—-s and make some noise ! The crowd had no effect on the game. Sometimes I really wonder about the fan base.
PSU was a poor "analytics" team, they tried for contested two's the whole game. USC without looking at shot chart seems to be doing mainly "at the rim" 2's (with mismatches) and open 3's.
USC on Illinois, they forces us into isolated 2's with rim protection near the basket. They also let us shoot 3's, knowing we are 200 in the nation in 3 pt percentage (not elite). They kept us off the boards, didn't allow the putbacks and secondary shots. We don't have a top 125 scorer in the nation, the closest was in street clothes. We have a lot of talented players, play great team ball that hustle. On Saturday, hustle and team ball was in USC's favor.
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