Kentucky 84, Illinois 75 Postgame

[Second place is 1st loser]

So did Brad overachieve, Underachieve, or achieve just right? Asking for some friends.

Off-season Evaluation- The whole staff underachieved. Went way too young with our resources.

Brad- Overachieved given everything that went wrong dealing with things that were completely out of his control. Replaced 10 guys, got to the tournament, got a W and ran into a buzzsaw. Kentucky was really good today. Answered the bell every time we made a run.

 

[Battle89]

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.

Game plan and execution = Definition of insanity. And +100 for the last line, perfect.

 

[Big Jack]

That’s an incredibly talented team that just bowed out in R2.

Frustrating season.

To play that bad and only lose by 9 is just not acceptable. Time to get veterans and not more kids. See ya all later. Time for a BB break.

 

[gibb52]

"KJ and Will are not ready for the NBA". Who cares what we think? NBA types think they are and if you are a solid 1st rounder you'd be stupid to come back to college. NBA teams have a Fletch too. And coaches. If those 2 have a chance to go they will take it. End of discussion.

 

[fatboyslim]

Yes losing a close game is going to make most of us feel better.

 

[TheFlyingIllini1317]

We've got some everyday guys, add a veteran pg, shooter, and maybe maybe Will Riley or similar talent back we can roll. At the end of the day this team was too soft, couldn't shoot well enough and were too young.

 

[DewLou]

Thank you, Kylan Boswell, for stepping up. Give this young man some NIL $$$ for next year, then see what professional ball looks like,

 

[ChiTown]

KJ finishes his collegiate career with 4 straight 6 turnover games in a row.

That’s what you call consistency…..

 

[azillini1]

I'll see him in Des Moines for an Iowa Wolves G-League game sometime next year, because he's nowhere close to being ready to play in the NBA.

Maybe he will be teamed with Matthew Mayer?

 

[FleetFeetIllini]

Honestly did not think the scheme was that bad, we just had 2 freshman, who we rely on to be our main decision, makers make freshman mistakes, on the same night.

Not hedging hard on Brea high ball screens was a terrible scheme and should've been adjusted immediately. Letting KJ run the offense after the first 5 minutes was also terrible. We eventually stopped and had KB initiate when it was also clear Will couldn't do it today.

 

[alexander58]

Rutgers had two lottery picks and didn’t even make the tournament, talent alone is not enough. We were just too young and inexperienced.

 

[Bootheel Illini]

This team just never got better over the season in limiting turnovers, making 3s, and defending. Today, KY made too many uncontested 3s and shots in the paint. KJ. never got better with turnovers and playing loose with the ball. Seems to me that European players just don't play with the same urgency as their American counterparts.

 

[illinifan31]

I just want to root for some of the same players next year that I rooted for last year.

 

[zentrails]

Season Finale of "Lost"

naw that was actually a somewhat happy ending

 

[dainjazoner]

are you gonna go spend all the NIL on freshman again? enough with this crap

https://twitter.com/x/status/1903968384892440631

 

[IlliniRon]

It was a nice season, lots of talent but the lack of experience really showed in the BTT and NCAAs.

Great job by Brad Underwood in recruiting and scheduling, and getting some good results along with huge volatility in execution.

Really love some of our players like Tomi, Boswell, White, Riley and KJ. I know this is not a popular view, but i think KJ is our most overhyped guard since Andre Curbelo. If someone in the NBA can develop him into a guard, that’s impressive. He didn’t look like a major college point guard tonight on offense or defense.

I hope we can get Morez back as well as White, Boswell and Tomi, if he doesn’t go into the NBA.

Let’s hope Brad Underwood can reload again for next season.

 

[roger murdock]

This is the first year in maybe over 50 of watching the Beloved that I missed the last game live. Golfed 18, caught the last 10 minutes. I should have done 27.

 

[LvilleILL1]

Rutgers had two lottery picks and didn’t even make the tournament, talent alone is not enough. We were just too young and inexperienced.

this. this. this.

 

[zentrails]

But we were the better team. Nothing can convince me we weren't

Hard Disagree, better shooters, better bigs, stronger/more athletic, and a LOT more overall depth
It's what I expect to see for next year from Brad.
Retain the Indy Illini Four and that's a good start.

 

[Big Jack]

OK. Tell that to nba teams.

Will played like scared kid today no way he is NBA ready. Tell him to just look at his year compared to TSJ last season and see how many minutes he gets to play.

 

[steveinspringfield]

Remember all the times early in the season when guys would say, "the Illini will learn from this?"

They never did.

 

[SAELION]

I guess you had the Twilight channel on rather than CBS.

 

[201154JC]

This is what I was typing about earlier. He needs to be more openminded. KB should've been the PG all year. KJ off the ball.

That!

 

[OrangeKrush1981]

I don't think Underwood has ever truly tried to deal with turnovers, at Illinois anyway. I think he loves the daringness required to make killer plays. And so he assiduously denies having any concern regarding turnover numbers FOR INDIVIDUAL GUYS. He does say the team total needs to be lowered, but fails to pin any responsibility on the turnover machines he plays. I am not only thinking about KJ's slews of care-free turnovers this year, but also about Wild Wild West Curbelo's freshman year, when he was B1G Sixth Man of the year. Curbelo was more spectacular, and a gunslinger with nearly no regard for taking care of the ball. Underwood never lifted a finger to try to teach him.

 

[MurphysBurger]

Right. I have read this but just refuse to accept it since it is so obviously highly flawed and he doesn’t have to look far for the evidence. I love his culture building but this deficiency sets his ceiling.

Exactly and why I think he stinks as a basketball coach and I have to remind people of the junky offense he brought to town. He can identify talent and I understand why AAU kids want to play in offense that allows you to jack up 3s and not play defense but Ayo and TSJ aren't walking through that door as often as guys like Podz and the like and everyone else transfers. Booth, humdinger, Davis, and the rest of the bench guys were a waste. Can't tell me Amani, buck, Ty Coleman, Danja, even goode wouldn't have been an EDG to put some glue to the freshman talent. Which kinda reinforces that BU wears on these players and they get sick of his yelling and hot smoke he blows as a used car salesman chasinf the shiny portal transfer while blaming player effort for loses. Like Holy hell how about a game plan and actual assistance with experience? Only one person scores the basketball. How about some defense?