Michigan State 79, Illinois 65 Postgame

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#602      
Fan Since '70
aaeismacgychel said:
MSU played great and had a great gameplan. They would have beaten most everyone tonight. That said, we really need to fix some things and make some changes and we're just not doing it. Our second half performances are very telling that we just are not making the necessary adjustments. And our rotations are killing us. Lost to a better team than us and unfortunately there's becoming a lot of those lately.

Plain and simple, we missed on several transfers this year and our coaching just hasn't been able to get our team where it needs to be. At this point, goal needs to be to get some continuity going to next year, and coaching the kids emwho are going to be part of that up the best we can. We'll make the tourney this year, but us winning 2 in a row will be a challenge, let alone 6.
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I still believe Illini have the horses (when healthy) to beat every team if they play the right way and given the right game plan. Coaching makes all the difference.
 
#603      
TheodoreRex
I guess I'll share some thoughts on the players since all I have focused on was Underwood...

1) Where was the Tomi from last game? He was basically non-existent tonight.
2) Kylan didn't hurt us tonight but he sure as heck didn't help us- 29 minutes- 0 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 TO. Not winning many games with him playing like that.
3) KJ was great in the first half. Did almost nothing in the 2nd.
4) Will has been great lately but he's starting to chuck.. no thank you.
5) Ben was terrible. There's a reason Kohler had 10 rebounds, guess who was guarding him much of the night? No more than 10-15 minutes of tick for Ben moving forward.
6) Morez was the only true bright spot tonight (and first half KJ).

How can we be in bonus with 13 minutes left and legit go scoreless for 8 and a half minutes???
 
#605      
Illini2010-11
BoiseBaller said:
18-14, which is very realistic, probably gets us an 8/9 seed just due to metrics.
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This is likely true. Iowa is the only game that could be classified in the near "bad loss" category left. Just so many quad 1 opportunities this year, and the team got just enough wins to be in relatively safe territory at 18-14. That would still be a remarkable letdown of a season though, especially if the team loses in first round. So much talent to be coached in such a poor way this year.
 
#606      
Second place is 1st loser
nyc_illini said:
This loss is incredibly frustrating but the emotional swing of this board is just borderline bipolar. If we had beaten MSU tonight, people would’ve been over the moon and we would’ve celebrated the team beating 2 good teams in a row, including a top 15 ranked team, 3 wins in a row, and the fact that the team would get ranked again and appears to be on track to a good seeding come March.

If that were true, then losing to MSU should not spell the end of the world and trigger the meltdown we are witnessing right now. It’s undoubtedly disappointing but a lot of the reactions here are disproportional and simply unwarranted.

Brad needs to change a lot of things, including in this offseason. But it’s insane to be calling his hot seat right now and the take that Brad got lucky with Elite 8 last year cuz TSJ carried him is just pure revisionism. Did you all forget that Brad has been the winningest coach in BIG these past 5 seasons next to Painter? 5 whole seasons.
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Some of the hot takes here are enjoyable! We have some crazies, some hot heads and mostly some irrationals, but so does every fan base.

Please post more because talking some of these people off the cliff is a chore.

Bummer of an outcome, extremely young team, more games to play.
 
#607      
illiniswish09
Big Jack said:
Think We are on the verge of losing more home games this season than Self lost in the entire time he was at Illinois. I am to pissed to long up the numbers.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1890965685506834815

Here’s the big ones… Then there’s your handful of other ones… The Maryland’s, USC, the hangover Penn State game, etc… Very, very, very disappointing that we don’t protect home court the way we once did.
 
#608      
Big Jack
Illiniking said:
Go watch the John groce era and tell me this season sucks. We are going to win 20 games AGAIN. Did we lose in a bad way tonight? Absolutely. Should we fire the guy that has brought us back to relevancy hell no
Joe Biden GIF by Election 2020
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#609      
DevILLDawg
I disagree but understand your sentiment.

Josh can't fire Brad after E8 unless the Nepotism coaches stay...

Best way to get rid of any public school employ? Stirling recommendations to another school.

Brad gets money and recruits...makes another run. Maybe Miami or an SEC team takes a shot with him.

Hopefully, our top candidates are available at the right time when that happens.
 
#615      
Noblesville Illini
zentrails said:
We scored ZERO points in the last 8:30 i've LITERALLY never seen that happen to ANY other team and I've been watch CBB for decades. It's HISTORICALLY BAD and the team must be completely demoralized right now.
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The board has been waiting for our team hoping to see them healthy. Now we’re close and we’re not anywhere near reasonable expectations and we don’t have a plan b to chucking 3s. Even Upward Bball Volunteer coaches have a plan b……..the guy gets paid millions and has been coaching how long? What happened to the SFA unguardable offense that he was bringing here? When’s the last time we honestly saw ‘pretty’ basketball? Seriously?

I see iso ball, chucking 3s, and pick and roll (only on occasion). Not the SFA offense with lesser talent that still won back then. Was that an assistant’s offense and he couldn’t stand Brad and left, too? Buehler? Anyone?
Angry Denzel Washington GIF
 
#616      
walzon
we're just a buncha freshmen tbh, no chemistry at all, no true leader. KJ is starting to piss me off with these turnovers and dumv step back 3s, kinda selfish style of play. no idea how scouts are seeing him as a lottery pick other than potential, but he's shown he needs another year to develop. he would get annihilated in the leauge now
 
#617      
JSpence
Deep said:
Love the illini
But something smells here

This team is done

Insiders have hinted
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What the hell could Tre have done, with Brad still willing to say "we're going to need you"?
The team is broadcasting that I no longer need to care about this season, so I feel free to speculate.

We are told to assume that he's not sick or injured. I include conditioning and general mental state in that.

If there were an active ultimatum (in either direction), I wonder what that might that look like from the outside in. Brad is transparent on game stuff but is deceptive about his locker room. I think we'd see a disconnect between presser messaging and leash in a game. We're at an extreme of that right now.

If Tre did something BAD bad, I don't think he gets that minute of playing time against Minny. It was a bad minute, but I can't fathom how he'd suddenly be both healthy and unplayable.

I am left with the possibility that he did / perceived something totally unreasonable that was a few ticks short of his dismissal / quitting the team. Things still aren't cool enough that a tailor-made situation like we saw tonight got him into the floor. It would be a shame if that exacerbates the issue. The team is apparently unhealthy in every way, so being stuck with a six-man rotation down the stretch could actually hurt the program.

While I'm in bonkers land, I wonder:
Would any player have the balls to shake down a program for more NIL mid-season? Are there performance bonuses that could leave players feeling bitter? Do we think that coaches these days would ever try to demand an apology from a player?
 
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