Duke 110, Illinois 67 Postgame

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#501      
Peteronthespot
And nationally televised on Fox to top it off. Seems like the upside down jersey was a turning point for season in a bad way.
 
#504      
SescIllini
I'm a big picture guy....the Illini crowd size was huge. I've been to a few similar events over the decades and we traveled like the little brother on a tight budget.

From what I heard from other recent neutral sites, our traveling fans are very dedicated. This bodes well for longterm success, let's not flounder this opportunity.

Sat next to two fans from Florida who had adopted the Illini as their team. Seats weren't cheap.
 
#505      
ChiTown
Se Il Illini said:
When Johnson went down, there was no one on the team, who could step in and rebound and quard a legitimate big and fill that void left by Morez Johnson. Illinois lacks physicality, and it showed last night.
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Lack paint presence and rim protection too.Sometimes you just need a bully in the paint.
 
#506      
nyc_illini
Orangetool said:
I started to listen to Brad's post game comments but had to stop when he had the temerity to say "it's just one game."
I suppose he is technically correct as each of the bad losses in this season collapse is "just one game" after another but come on.

Unbelievable.
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What do you expect him to say instead? “This is a catastrophe. Our season is ruined. Let’s pack it up”? Even If that’s the truth and that’s what he thinks, he can’t say that
 
#507      
BoiseBaller
Mr. Roberts said:
This team went from a 32 point record setting win over a top 10 opponent t on their floor to a 43 point record.setting loss on national TV.

This isn't just coaching adjustments, shot selection, injuries, or an off night. Something is seriously off the rails. Maybe.its just me, but I am getting the same vibe I got in Weber's last year.
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As someone who was in attendance at the Devaney Center when Nebraska curb stomped Illinois, I don't think it's at that level. Seeing Meyers Leonard crying on the bench with a towel over his head is beyond even this precipitous downturn.

I will say this though, this is twice in 3 years. We sandwiched a great team and tourney run in between, and that's probably the only thing granting grace to the staff at this point.

As a program, we have great resources, a solid AD, and awesome fan support. I think Brad gets next year to right the ship, and that starts with bringing in better assistants to coordinate the offense and defense. That is required to move forward, if he balks then I think this experiment has run its course.
 
#509      
chudaman
ILL-Intentions said:
7.7%… im a late 30s guy who probably made about that percentage in highschool on about 2 ppg average. I shot better than this at my nieces birthday party in a game of horse
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how many 6'7" and taller guys with nba potential were you going against at your niece's house?
 
#511      
Jules Winnfield
Illini2010-11 said:
I generally agree. Brad has been able to recruit very well here (and will continue to do so). The issue is that there has been a lot of turnover within the coaching staff, that goes along with turnover in the roster. 2 out of the last 3 seasons have had roster construction that did not necessarily gel (for various reasons), even though many of us were satisfied with the recruiting. I am hopeful that with some shakeup in the coaching staff, that it will make the difference, but I understand the concern that many have here.
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I keep hearing the Brad has been able to recruit very well bullcrap line . In Brad’s tenure at Illinois the only 5 star players he’s gotten is Will Riley and that was because of OA. Tomi was OA . Chester brought in recruits ,TA brought in recruits, Ayo was Chin Coleman with his connections. People keep giving Brad credit for recruiting. Brad hasn’t Done Jack Crap in recruiting. All Brad does is drive players away. Guess what a new coach will be able to recruit too. Especially when you have NIL .
 
#512      
NorthShoreIllini
Orangetool said:
I started to listen to Brad's post game comments but had to stop when he had the temerity to say "it's just one game."
I suppose he is technically correct as each of the bad losses in this season collapse is "just one game" after another but come on.

Unbelievable.
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The best part of it was him saying Cooper Flagg should stay in college and go chase a girl.
 
#513      
Fly Illini Fly!
Hate to say it... cuz when the ball has left your hands there's only so much you can do - but this ABYSMAL three point shooting might be a sign of lack of toughness. It is beyond describable bad right now - this isn't just one or two shots, or one or two games - every game just atrocious percentages. Percentages that should only take place 3 or 4 times all year for an average shooting team - that's every single game consistently.

They're just shooting to put 'em put, but don't have the mental toughness to make them. And they're probably making 'em in practice... but doesn't matter... doesn't matter in an in-game setting.
 
#514      
BashCtIllini
ChiTown said:
Lack paint presence and rim protection too.Sometimes you just need a bully in the paint.
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Tomi was consistently redirecting or blocking shots in the paint. However, every single time he would do that, there were 2 or 3 Duke players there to grab the ball while our guys were who knows where. Tomi can't alter the shot then bounce like a pogo stick to get the rebound. He needs some help, and he had none of it last night.

People can complain about illness and injury, but this was by design. Morez would have helped, but he was not playing much until his play was so good he forced himself into minutes. But this team was designed to shoot 3s. Our PF is one of our worst rebounders. So when we face a strong interior presence, we're in big trouble, especially without Morez.
 
#515      
TheodoreRex
Brad-You can't come into that post game presser and start by saying it's just one game.. That's complete and utter BS-Literally the worst loss in program history for all of the world to see. You owed everyone an apology for that poop show and we got nothing..

Serious question to the insiders and fans on this board- What is Brad's offensive and defensive philosophy? What is the consistent identity of his teams?

My answer is that he keeps watching teams that make runs in the tournament and tries to mimic his team after those
-His first year when he tried to press and cause turnovers
-Like when he tried to get taller and longer
-Or this year when he tried to find skill and shooters to space the floor

I feel like I could go through 4 or 5 complete changes to our teams identity-and while people often compliment Brad for changing according to what his team needs-my issue is that he is often misidentifying what his team actually needs to be in the offseason and is often having to pivot midseason. On top of the fact that he isn't consistently recruiting to a particular identity. I'm done with the team identity ADD
 
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#516      
Oldskoolkoach
SKane said:
I would trade Hamer and Tyler to West Virginia and pay their salaries for one Chester Frazier.
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They make around 200k combined. Chester left because he wanted OA lifestyle. Where does the other 600k come from, who runs offense/defense?
You'd think one of our expensive asst. could...
 
#518      
Grandpa
If we lose out will that force a change?

I'm either for that or DON'T lose another game until this fall.
 
#519      
Jules Winnfield
PepeSilvia said:
Not saying you're wrong but its 2 out of 3 seasons like this where the team has fallen apart halfway through the season.

The one in between was an incredibly fun one but a player like Terrence Shannon returning for a 5th year is pretty fluky.

I like Brad but I'm starting to question if his recruiting ability has been nullified a bit by NIL and the portal allowing other coaches that don't recruit as well to build similarly talented teams while being better X's and O's coaches than Brad.
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Once again quit giving Brad credit for recruiting. Brad hasn’t done crap in recruiting not a DAMN Thing. Thank OA, TA , Chin Coleman, Chester and Alexander for the recruits
 
#520      
Big Jack
Oracle21 said:
I still think the assistant coaching thing is way overrated. Have you looked at Duke’s staff? It’s Scheyer, and then basically 2 recruiters (Jai Lucas, Emanuel Dildy), 1 long time alum (Chris Carrawell) and another basic sympathy hire in (Will Avery - who had 0 experience coaching till Scheyer hired him).

Yet Duke looks very well coached bc the Head Coach is doing the coaching.

It lets Brad completely off the hook by claiming the assistants are why we look poorly coached. It’s the head coach’s job to coach.
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Really? looks like you missed out on doing your homework before writing things on here... Will Avery has more BB knowledge in his resume than out entire staff +/- Orlando... come on!
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#521      
Jules Winnfield
Second place is 1st loser said:
I thought his press conference was good because it is that simple. 2-26. Guys need to make them. Period. If they shoot even reasonably well, 11 of 26(still not great), that's a 27 point point swing and there's some real game pressure, so, he's not wrong.

The other issue is rebounding. Without Morez, we have nobody who embraces contact and competitiveness in the paint. The amount of Duke putbacks was inexcusable, but we didn't have anyone to stop that. Tomi just isn't tough enough. He's a Euro five. He got beat up.

Now, if I had one issue with Brad, it's the roster construction. He went against all of his principles. He coaches older teams, physical teams, punch you in the mouth teams, teams with leadership skills, teams where there's no panic because of experience.....not sure what made him go this route, but he did.

He's got a team of talented players, but they are extremely young and they lack size. When you have an entire roster overhaul, this is what you get. Whoever thought this was going to be a nice, smooth transition from last year's team. Injuries and illness hasn't helped, but this team is not digging in defensively, they are making bad plays down the stretch (youth), we're losing late leads(youth) and we have nobody who will take a kid by the jersey and get order without needing to take a timeout 30 seconds before a TV timeout.

There's a reason that this team didn't start in the top 25. It's not a shock, but if ANYONE said they could predict this shooting. ....their FOS.
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Excuses have ran out for Brad. NIL and Brad is 8th highest paid coach in all of college basketball. No more excuses
 
#522      
Orangetool
nyc_illini said:
What do you expect him to say instead? “This is a catastrophe. Our season is ruined. Let’s pack it up”? Even If that’s the truth and that’s what he thinks, he can’t say that
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Yeah let's not put your words in my post friend. What you suggest of course is silly.

Perhaps he might have said: "I recognize that as a team we are not putting all the elements together to find wins. Myself and my coaches will have to work harder to scheme in a way that exploits the weaknesses of the current team we face and find new ways to favor the strengths of our squad to find success."

Something like that rather than "it's just one game" that's a bit insulting and assumes no one has been paying attention.
 
#524      
Jules Winnfield
Seppuku said:
Honest question: I know it is very unlikely that Whitman fires BU at the conclusion of this miserable season (you simply cannot fire a fire a year after an E8, and considering how far BU has brought the program from the depths of Groce era). However, can Whitman fire assistant coaches?

There is no way that Junior and Hamer can or should be anywhere near a program at Illinois' level, and I just don't see BU doing it (especially his own son) on his own.
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Who says you can’t fire a coach after a crap season. Purdue fired Ryan Walters in his second season. The E8 season was last season not this season. You can Bradsplain all you want but getting blown out by 43 points on national television was the beginning of the end of Brad’s tenure as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at The University of Illinois. That’s the kind of loss that you don’t recover from . I thought the UCONN tournament loss was bad. This was the worse loss in program history. Brad is not the coach for Illinois. What will be done eventually must be done immediately. Brad will eventually get fired or move on to another job. Time to move on from Brad it’s been 8 seasons I don’t need to see a 9th and 10th season from Brad to know what I’m going to get
 
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