Alabama 90, Illinois 86 Postgame
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We were talking about this exact thing leaving the game.
It's good to have a challenging non conference schedule, but you can most definitely go too far.
With how new and unproven this roster is, I think that BU got in over his skis with the scheduling. Knowing that pseudo road games vs UConn and Tennessee are coming up, then the game vs Mizzou, right into conference play @ Ohio State....this is probably going to be a bumpier ride than it needed you be.
The positive thing is that after playing these upper echelon teams, you know where you stand and you know who's capable of playing at this level.
It's higher stakes, brighter lights. Way, way easier in a blowout home game against FGCU/Colgate than on national TV against Alabama.
He was the best player for the first 10 minutes of the game, but after the he was not good whatever. He looked extremely slow, unaware and confused, BUT he's a freshman. That's what happens. I know he played in Europe, but not against this competition, not in front of 17,000+ fans and not on national TV. He got some shots, then got overwhelmed, which is expected. We're going to have to see, as time goes on, if his lack of athleticism can be masked by the grit/toughness aspect of his game. That, he can control.
I think, from his comments in post game, that BU, who is getting paid around $5+ million per year, will strongly disagree with this take. Petrovic and Lee are both capable of handling the Bama guards with their quickness....but they have to be able to play. Petrovic did OK tonight in spite of only having worked at 7 of 40 practices this season. Lee did OK tonight in spite of wearing cowboy boots on the bench (a metaphor here). This team has all the pieces necessary. Now you gotta get them in shape to play their best.
As much as we focus on the free throws, which we absolutely should in this particular game, the fact of the matter is that when we NEEDED to string together stops, we couldn't. We knew this team was going to struggle defensively before the season started, but now it's here and it hit us in the face.
We're lamenting free throws, but the much in bigger picture is that keeping "good" teams under 90 is going to be a real challenge for this group. I know last year this was Hamer's fault, as noted by some, but the "new guy" is going to have the same hurdles.
It's the free throws. You're just never, ever going to win a game against a formidable opponent shooting that poorly. It's constantly shooting yourself in the foot, and all they have to do is foul you.
The Iowa State game in the tourney may be the lone exception - we were heads and shoulders the better team that day (and still needed to squeak it out due to shooting so poorly from the foul line).
It's been kind of an every year thing with the free throws.
The Iowa State game in the tourney may be the lone exception - we were heads and shoulders the better team that day (and still needed to squeak it out due to shooting so poorly from the foul line).
It's been kind of an every year thing with the free throws.
After watching the post game, I am even more impressed with Andrej Stojakovic than I am from his play on the floor, which is something we have not seen in an Illini uniform since forever.. Not surprising, having spent a year at both Stanford and Cal, that he sees the game, and his world, from a practical and realistic view and intelligence far beyond his years and with vision seldom seen in kids his age.
It was also comforting to see him state that the goal of this team is to win it all...it is why he is in C-U; What a great kid...and certainly a great player. IMHO, he is earning every dollar he gets. And it is quite likely that he will get offers for next season that will double what he is getting now...or more....and likely more than he can make in the NBA.
It was also comforting to see him state that the goal of this team is to win it all...it is why he is in C-U; What a great kid...and certainly a great player. IMHO, he is earning every dollar he gets. And it is quite likely that he will get offers for next season that will double what he is getting now...or more....and likely more than he can make in the NBA.
Ben from 3 tonight - 3/8 (37.5% - LOL)
Wagler + Boz + Ivisic Bros - 3/14 (21.4%)
Ben was 3 of 9. Every missed clunker from 3 is a turnover in my book. And they all clanked it from 30 ft. Keaton was mugged, assaulted, and abused with no whistles for the most part. Next 2 days his forearms are gonna be black and blue. They took our man card in 2nd half period. We'll get much better when healthy. Rotations and minutes are gonna be huge issue.
This...
the guy was a "maybe" for the rotation when we got him and we have posts saying that performance he just posted is a no show......in his 5th game.......against a top 10 team
Bad shooting nights happen and he has to adjust to some of the length. But if someone said he would have 10/10/4/3 against bama 4 weeks ago, theyd have been laughed at
I'm surprised the 23-24 team was that mediocre. Domask was lights out from the line and I was always confident in Shannon.
I guess Ty and Guerrier were a bit of an adventure though.
I know they weren't graded very well but I think that team was actually capable of being good defensively when they wanted to be.
No team with that much size and athleticism should have been that bad defensively. Though they were missing a rim protector very badly.
Rinse, repeat.
The good: We showed we can play on the floor against quicker athletes.
The bad: I think this was more we lost this game vs. Alabama winning it. We got enough home cooking to feed an army. (An underwhelming jobs by the refs.)
Things I think were fine (vs. others complaining about them):
- I don't agree with the complaints about Ben. He has done his job, and done it pretty well all season.
- I agree with pulling Z after he went 1/4 on 3s. I think he was right to take the open 3s. I think it was right to pull him when it wasn't his shooting night. It happens.
Things to improve:
- Can't miss that many free throws.
- Andrej, a great plus overall, doesn't seem to value the ball enough, e.g. the occasional lazy pass. He also consistently has handle issues when he does a 75 degree rotation around his left shoulder near the free throw line when he tries to drive. The ball is just begging to be tipped away.
- The offense seemed pretty repetitive. It worked great early. Once Alabama adjusted, it seemed to stall and we got into frustrated play which led to some bad shot selections which led to more frustration, which ...
- The defense that was denying the 3s seemed to be working well, and then we suddenly abandoned it?
- Gotta get better at handling that pick and roll. The driver kept the ball for far too many easy baskets.
Dunno:
- It looked like the bama defense was open to back door cuts. We didn't put ourselves in a position to explore exploiting them. Try to turn the corner around a pick, repeat.
- Tomi seemed a bit slow and a bit careful in movement. I'm not sure he was ready yet vs. put in because he was needed.
I guess that while the missed free throws and lane violation are the most obvious "culprits", I'm leaning toward handing this loss to the coaches.
The bad: I think this was more we lost this game vs. Alabama winning it. We got enough home cooking to feed an army. (An underwhelming jobs by the refs.)
Things I think were fine (vs. others complaining about them):
- I don't agree with the complaints about Ben. He has done his job, and done it pretty well all season.
- I agree with pulling Z after he went 1/4 on 3s. I think he was right to take the open 3s. I think it was right to pull him when it wasn't his shooting night. It happens.
Things to improve:
- Can't miss that many free throws.
- Andrej, a great plus overall, doesn't seem to value the ball enough, e.g. the occasional lazy pass. He also consistently has handle issues when he does a 75 degree rotation around his left shoulder near the free throw line when he tries to drive. The ball is just begging to be tipped away.
- The offense seemed pretty repetitive. It worked great early. Once Alabama adjusted, it seemed to stall and we got into frustrated play which led to some bad shot selections which led to more frustration, which ...
- The defense that was denying the 3s seemed to be working well, and then we suddenly abandoned it?
- Gotta get better at handling that pick and roll. The driver kept the ball for far too many easy baskets.
Dunno:
- It looked like the bama defense was open to back door cuts. We didn't put ourselves in a position to explore exploiting them. Try to turn the corner around a pick, repeat.
- Tomi seemed a bit slow and a bit careful in movement. I'm not sure he was ready yet vs. put in because he was needed.
I guess that while the missed free throws and lane violation are the most obvious "culprits", I'm leaning toward handing this loss to the coaches.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Get everyone healthy. Make free throws.
Do those two things consistently, and this team has a legitimate opportunity to win a Big 10 title and a national championship.
Do those two things consistently, and this team has a legitimate opportunity to win a Big 10 title and a national championship.
After watching the replay a few more things stood out to me:
***Stojakovic is being used exactly like Domask. It’s a lot of wing isolation booty ball. Matchup hunting.
***It also appears the primary half court offense is mostly Pick n Pop with one of the bigs for a 3 (Ben, Mirk, Ivisic), or Stojakovic ISO ball.
***Mirk is going to struggle in the paint at finishing against guys that are more athletic than him. You could see when Tomi slipped that no look bounce pass to him that his first instinct was to lay it up instead of dunk it. Most bigs are catching and dunking that. I think he’s going to be most effective on the perimeter or looking to skip pass when he backs his man down. If I was opposing coach I’d probably make him score 2s in the paint than help and recover.
***Wagler I think is the X-factor on this team. He’s got a big frame and seems to draw lots of contact. You can also trust him to move the ball or drive it and not turn it over. With him at 85% from the line, he’s a guy that can keep us out of scoring droughts. He was missing his shots tonight but I thought all of them were smart shots to take.
***Petrovic was playing so far off his man even when his guy had the ball that I question how you play him if he’s going to do that. Unless the strategy was to give up 3s, he let his man practically get a running start with the ball and still managed to drive by him. He clearly knows what he’s doing on offense but the defense wasnt competitive.
I think the floor is higher this season than last. There’s no way this team gets beat by Duke by 40 points. Having a Domask level steady player in Andres really ups the floor on us. The ceiling I think is up to Wagler, and figuring out a more effective way to defend. The Twins, Mirkovic, and Hummer trying to defend in the drop isn’t gonna work. I will say any teams in the big 10 that are about the same athletically as us we should destroy. For instance last years team lost to Northwestern. This year I expect those games to be easy wins. That’s how the floor is higher.
***Stojakovic is being used exactly like Domask. It’s a lot of wing isolation booty ball. Matchup hunting.
***It also appears the primary half court offense is mostly Pick n Pop with one of the bigs for a 3 (Ben, Mirk, Ivisic), or Stojakovic ISO ball.
***Mirk is going to struggle in the paint at finishing against guys that are more athletic than him. You could see when Tomi slipped that no look bounce pass to him that his first instinct was to lay it up instead of dunk it. Most bigs are catching and dunking that. I think he’s going to be most effective on the perimeter or looking to skip pass when he backs his man down. If I was opposing coach I’d probably make him score 2s in the paint than help and recover.
***Wagler I think is the X-factor on this team. He’s got a big frame and seems to draw lots of contact. You can also trust him to move the ball or drive it and not turn it over. With him at 85% from the line, he’s a guy that can keep us out of scoring droughts. He was missing his shots tonight but I thought all of them were smart shots to take.
***Petrovic was playing so far off his man even when his guy had the ball that I question how you play him if he’s going to do that. Unless the strategy was to give up 3s, he let his man practically get a running start with the ball and still managed to drive by him. He clearly knows what he’s doing on offense but the defense wasnt competitive.
I think the floor is higher this season than last. There’s no way this team gets beat by Duke by 40 points. Having a Domask level steady player in Andres really ups the floor on us. The ceiling I think is up to Wagler, and figuring out a more effective way to defend. The Twins, Mirkovic, and Hummer trying to defend in the drop isn’t gonna work. I will say any teams in the big 10 that are about the same athletically as us we should destroy. For instance last years team lost to Northwestern. This year I expect those games to be easy wins. That’s how the floor is higher.
Yep I agree. This team looked soft on boards tonight and out hustled
Give me a break, Tomi is arguably our best player
We start two freshman, we’re just now getting healthy, and Bama looks to be a final four caliber team. We lose because of missed bunnies, missed FTs, and a lane violation. Chemistry and team buy in looks to be huge. Ranting - at players - Brad is no where to be seen. Hate the loss but I’m over the moon excited about this team!
Yeah, this isn't hard to figure out. We missed 9 free throws. That surprised me. But honestly, I saw a lot of positive takeaways. Most prominent? Tomi and Petro played if only limited minutes. They'll continue to grow (health wise). Before long, they'll be full bore. When that happens, we should be able to beat any team in the country.
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Question: "Who was the Alabama player with quick twitch who could drive basket and drain the three?"
Answer: "All of them."
Answer: "All of them."
The three things I mentioned to friend as we texted during game. Despite the size and rebounding (in first half) advantage, Alabama played tougher, more physical and was more active. That lead to a 22-19 rebounding advantage for AL in second half. Add in 9 of 17 from FT line in second half and several mini streaks of bad offense (not to mention what I think was a nine minute scoreless streak in first half), and you have the makings of a loss.
Seemed like Illini missed a fair amount of good shots at the rim tonight, while having too many ill-advised shots on drives when there was nothing there (so essentially a TO). All of that said, my last text to my friend last night sums things up well for me — “oh well.” Plenty of room for growth and I don’t expect the twins to have many combined 6 point, 6 rebound efforts the rest of the way. If team can get and stay healthy, good things on the horizon.
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