I said going into the B1G season that this roster was constructed poorly. We have talent but as Herb Brooks said, I don’t want the best players, I want the right ones. We need to get the right ones next year.
Kentucky 84, Illinois 75 Postgame
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Yea, great talent and an all time year for an Illini freshman but good God the turnovers. Couldn't even let him initiate offense in the second half today because he was so careless.
At some point something has to be said about Brad's preparedness or lack thereof for tournament games on short rest. Because his history there has been about as ugly as it gets. Needs to be better. Just needs to
I feel it was a disappointing season. I bet Brad Underwood thinks it was disappointing, too.
I agree this off-season is huge.
But yes: ... INI
Our freshman played like freshman- I think it comes down to that, need more experience next year and hopefully we get some continuity
He has been quoted we don't run an offense we just look for matchups. And that there is the issue. Why you get lunch money stole from you from well coached teams.
There’s some Van Fleet in Boswell. Earlier the year I knew people where didn’t want him to see the floor, but he was the one who always showed toughness against the better teams. I thought team toughness was something we lacked. That was probably due to a lack of experience, especially from KJ and Ivisic. JMHO.
Nobody gives a carp about the 2010s. This is the mid 2020s, we have the facilities and the NIL. We are the freakin Illini!
Next season I hope we are the FIGHTING Illini. Where did they go?
It will always be too soon
So our defense was hot buttered garbage again. Whose decision was that? Perhaps someone would step up and own the result.
Would our local media even ask why we haven’t been able to keep up with top ten offenses?
Would our 8th best paid coach in America have anything at all to say about our game prep and execution?
Welp. See you all in football season.
Would our local media even ask why we haven’t been able to keep up with top ten offenses?
Would our 8th best paid coach in America have anything at all to say about our game prep and execution?
Welp. See you all in football season.
We are gonna need an Alpha dog one way or the other if we can keep Boz, Tomi, Morez and Tre. If there is any chance that $ can keep Will do you give it or do you spend it on portal? I think you know what you will have with Will if somehow $ could keep him?
A fine season?!?! Nope…disappointing.
Frustrating season no doubt but still no love lost for the guys. Time to rebuild and reload.
ginabackes00
CrazedUIFan
He did say this last year. We ran more sets than last year. You can't turn the ball over as much as we did and expect to stay in games against good teams.
We could. But Underwood needs to get his head screwed on straight and decide to make some changes. I think his history shows that he can make changes, and I think he badly wants to win. What he needs to do is get straight in his head that: winning = changes.
This isn't the 2010's. We are paying top 10 dollars for our head coach now. We need to start seeing top 10 results more regularly and a team that looks like it's been prepared and coached by someone investing the dollars that we have in our staff. It isn't that I mind us losing in the second round. That happens to good teams. It's the manner in which we lost...to a deeply flawed Kentucky team in which we looked completely unprepared and poorly coached on both ends. This needs to change. Change starts with Whitman leveraging coaching staff changes.
I do see your positive take on this. In the end, though, I am not celebrating mediocrity.
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
FightinIllini30
Future insider
I don’t know how to put into words where I am with Brad… I have tried but end up just saying “I love Brad BUT…”
It is legitimately mind-melting how low IQ his Illinois teams have looked on the court at times- particularly in big games. He talks about toughness but this team had ZERO fight all year when they got punched in the mouth.
I agree with something someone (don’t remember who) said earlier this year and it’s that Brad loses us 3-5 games and 3-5 players every year because of his stubbornness. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that we’re bringing in talent and able to reload when we lose a lot, but why are we losing so much every year?? A lot of teams return guys, I want to as well.
Overall, even though not many will read this and even less will care. I am just tired of watching teams that routinely underperform and lie down when the moment gets too big. I think we can do better. I want Brad to be a part of it but if he can’t coach during a game? I mean, come on, what are we doing?
It is legitimately mind-melting how low IQ his Illinois teams have looked on the court at times- particularly in big games. He talks about toughness but this team had ZERO fight all year when they got punched in the mouth.
I agree with something someone (don’t remember who) said earlier this year and it’s that Brad loses us 3-5 games and 3-5 players every year because of his stubbornness. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that we’re bringing in talent and able to reload when we lose a lot, but why are we losing so much every year?? A lot of teams return guys, I want to as well.
Overall, even though not many will read this and even less will care. I am just tired of watching teams that routinely underperform and lie down when the moment gets too big. I think we can do better. I want Brad to be a part of it but if he can’t coach during a game? I mean, come on, what are we doing?
The Galloping Ghost
- Washington, DC
I think the biggest thing that sucks about that performance is we lost in exactly the way every single one of us could have predicted. That whole game could have simply been an email.
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