Illinois 87, Ohio State 79 Postgame

Status
Not open for further replies.
#176      
illinitiger
TheodoreRex said:
MASSIVE response, MASSIVE and much needed win. Let this sink in for a moment.

Our opponent shot 11/23 from 3 (47.8%) and 14-15 from the FT line (93.3%) and only had 5 TO's

and

WE WON
Click to expand...
Those are impressive stats to overcome. OSU is not a doormat.

Agree that we may have turned a corner and found an alt identity in 2d half (low turnovers, good penetration, great D and less 3p shots).

All that said,...we have a good test next. Rutgers always tough at the Rac!
 
#177      
EyeoftheIllini
nyc_illini said:
game proves that Tomi is the MVP. Adjustments wouldn't have been possible without him. His passing is so underrated
Click to expand...
Certainly a chance if he hadn’t been out, that they don’t lose to MD (certainly not by 20) and think they certainly would have beat Neb. Amazing what having one of your most important players back does for a team.
 
#178      
CDRUSN
This just feels like a season turning point game. Bottle that second half intensity, and the Illini are still special. I hope the too numerous lazy turnovers and halfhearted efforts by players are behind us, and that those who aren't totally bought in and playing with purpose find themselves more and more on the bench. I can live with games where shots may not be falling, but not when effort is lacking as well. I trust BU and staff to get that point across and continue to put our best players on the floor, with others coming in to spell them so we always have fresh legs. Our depth is a real advantage if we use it smartly.
 
#180      
SVSTORM
Encouraged by the win and the adjustments but gosh darn we could’ve started this a few weeks ago
 
#182      
New Creation
This look is what this team needs. Stop being the nice guys and become the killers.
1738530260081.png
 
#183      
illiram
There have been flashes of brilliance this season. We have a young team, so there are going to be lapses that we have to tolerate. I love our team, and the fight that they showed today coming back from an 11 point deficit in the 2nd half. Cannot wait for the remainder ..... KJ will be fine. The dude is a stud. No one has their A game every single day.
 
#186      
CleverHandle1
LvilleILL1 said:
That's the type of win that can turn a season around. Ivisic rusty but looked really healthy. Morez-Tomi need to start at the 4 and 5 the rest of the season
Click to expand...
They need to be a two-point team now, and focus on that. The three-pointers will come, but it should not be the focus. Hence, less playing time for BH.
 
#190      
BoiseBaller
The adjustment on ball screen defense won this game. We were getting scorched for 30 minutes. Started switching and/or hedging harder and it took tOSU out of their rhythm.

The minutes distribution today was much better. I like Tre, but he's been bad lately. He forces too much on offense. Doesn't stay in system. Ben with a handful of minutes off the bench, Davis with two minutes. If either of those two come in and hit their 3's you can extend that time a bit, if they aren't hitting they need to get subbed out and stay on the bench.
 
#191      
Second place is 1st loser
thefalcon5 said:
Hand up I blamed (still do) BU for the USC/Maryland losses, perhaps more.

He adjusted. Heck he even doubled down after the shaky first half. He gets the big bucks to pull games out like that. Major major props. Keep that same energy. Ride the hot hands.
Click to expand...
Nah, both of those losses were in the heels of shocking injury news and trying to figure things out on the fly. Losing KJ before USC and Tomi before Maryland, who is on absolute fire right now....it is what it is.

I think that how things went at Nebraska was the straw that broke the camels back. His patience finally broke.
 
#192      
FleetFeetIllini
I think Underwood has shown he'll change things drastically if necessary. Like when he's completely changed defensive schemes when it wasn't working in the past. But he's stubborn about his substitution patterns and will pull a hot hand just to get a starter back in, he keeps using the terrible "wide receiver" style OOB play that never works, and he's slow to make adjustments within a game. I think his philosophy must be "we're going to play our game and we're too good at it for you to stop us." Other coaches like Collins and Hoiberg have less talent but adjust on the fly to maximize their chances in a game. Meanwhile we just force the same style even if it's not working.

That said, great in game adjustments today with who he kept in and how much we were attacking the paint in the 2nd half. I wish he adjusted like this more often. We just don't shoot well enough to keep putting up 30 3s per game. We didn't in 2023 either, but we never really adjusted so we'll see if it sticks this year.
 
#193      
pruman91
cw17.gif


cwplus22.gif


wos02.jpg


What a great day to be an Illini Fanatic...........The WBB team with a great first time victory ever over the twerps and the MBB squad hanging around , going down by 11 at 52-41 , then closing out the game with a 46-27 run to get a much needed win and righting the Illini ship......

I have to say that when we went down by that 52-41 score I got a lot of those same feelings that I had about the nebby game.......the rotation changes done by the staff worked out great.......

As has been posted already by other posters , we had.............

more :

DGL
REZ
WILL

less :

Ben
Tre
Jake D.

The new starting 5 was awesome ............Does the staff alter the starting 5 again for the next game with Will taking Tre's spot ??

I say YESSSSSSSSSS................Give the frosh colts all the freedom they have earned and start a dominating streak of convincing wins...........January was a tough month for us , but it is a new month with a gritty win to start with.........

rooks04.jpg


wow pru , like you I got those feelings of gloom , but the youngster's put on their track shoes and ran , ran and ran to a 24-11 margin to close out the game.................I love it , I really really do.......talk to you in a minute.......

0.jpg


ok babe.........we will be waiting for your call..............

It can't be overstated how much Tomi's return means to this squad.....And he returned with a double double......IMPRESSIVE...

psyc41.gif


wading through mediocrity is sometimes needed for a full load mentality reset and I sense a new found confidence on the on the court attitude with the players that bring a high energy pace of play getting their deserved chance to play meaningful minites with the game on the line.........

Mr. Morez Johnson and Mr. DGL are starting for me going forward for the rest of the season....................case closed , period ,
Mark VII , end of story............

BTW , I did make a prediction ..........................it was..........

Illini 87
osu 79

I really really did..................................................................................................................................................../s.................

party01.gif


it sure feels good to get to dance again after an Illini victory..............almost forgot how to strut my ILLINI STUFF..................

psyc134.gif


I'm heavily medded up right now and loving it.........I really really am............
 
#194      
Second place is 1st loser
Honestly, based on this commentary, KJ needs to have his minutes slashed by a lot. He does not deserve to be on the court, especially late. He doesn't value the ball. Add God awful shooting and not being able to focus driven things like making free throws. That needs to be addressed.
 
#195      
skyIdub
LvilleILL1 said:
That's the type of win that can turn a season around. Ivisic rusty but looked really healthy. Morez-Tomi need to start at the 4 and 5 the rest of the season
Click to expand...

Also the type of second half (much like the Nebby 2nd half) that proves we are a long, athletic team that should be playing to the paint almost every possession.
This team's strength is very obviously not shooting. Any threes we take should be open wings off of dribble drive or P&R.

DGL, Boz, Tre, Will, and KJ can all create off the bounce and having Tomi and Rez as rim options gives us tremendous flexibility.

I've seen enough of the Chuck Wagon. It's time to take the Express Train into the paint.
 
#198      
statefarm
I remember watching the Dean Smith teams at NC. Other team would seem to have upper hand a good part of the game and then NC would end up winning in double digits because their bench was so deep. This game had that feel. Our team is developing a very deep bench and a lot of good things are coming our way.
 
#199      
Emerson Bigguns
FloridaMan said:
Did you miss Boswell's second half? He helped lead us to a 13-0 run with KJ on the bench, scoring 14 for the game. We had 3 turnovers as a team in the second half.

I agree, KJ has the most talent on the team. He is currently not using it to its full effectiveness for some reason. Four TO's today to lead the team. Three missed front ends in crunch time; 2-8 from the field. He did have seven assists so that was a HUGE positive. I love the guy, but he's either still hurt or has hit a wall. He will bounce back because he has too much talent, but we need to stack wins. Full stop. That's why I say that's the lineup "right now."
Click to expand...
Today wasn’t KJ’s day shooting the ball, but I wouldn’t over react. He had 18 points and 13 rebounds last time out. He had some turnovers in that game, but how many of them were from guys simply not catching the ball?
Boswell was really good today, after being invisible against Nebraska. (8 pts, 1 assist, 4 rebounds in 32 minutes.) Even if KJ isn’t playing as effectively as he could, he is never invisible. He competes as hard as anyone on the team, no matter the score.

We are going to need them both to play well to get where we are trying to go.
 
#200      
RML
ginabackes00 said:
I liked the look in the 2nd half, both coaching and player rotation.
Click to expand...
So... For fun, what do you think our record would be if we played that way all year? We would have won at Nebraska, I think (though all those lovely end-of-the-game drives to the basket would have been much tougher against them).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back