Andrej did the same thing to TT’s Anderson when Boswell took on Toppin. I love that it seems like any Illini is willing to do whatever it takes to get a W.
Illinois 88, Ohio State 80 Postgame
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Fighter of the Nightman
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And he was pretty good offensively getting to the cup in the half court and transition. We have a really good team.
Well, I did not miss those facts...plus my daughter lives in Mission not far from Shawnee Mission Northwest. We are not talking about Colby...but rather Kansas City which is about 25 miles from Lawrence, home of the University of Kansas, and 80 miles from Manhattan, home to Kansas State. Throw in MIzzou, about 100 miles east and you have it smack dab in the middle of some folks that are rabid and passionate hoops fans. If he was voted Player of the Year for Kansas, responsible coaches need to take a look. Illinois and Minn. did, the other 300+ Div. 1 coaches did not. Speaking from first hand experience, most of them are a bit lazy when it comes for seeking talented players who are a fit for their program. I am very pleased that BU and staff work hard to identify and offer many talented kids they think can contribute to a FF roster....they don't shy away from their responsibilities
From the moment I learned of his commitment, I was very curious about his skill set, and slowly, bit by bit, heard more and more about him... things I liked. Frankly I was surprised that there was not more buzz about what he brought to the program. But I am not at all surprised at what he does in competition as it reminds me of another person I know quite well.
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Listen, I’m not sure if it’s Brad, the players or the DIA but sometimes I think they are brain dead when it comes to what jerseys to wear and against whom. I know you’re team #bpotr but I feel like we just let so many opportunities slip through our hand for uniform opportunitiesPreach
Wtf ever. Freshman of year, yes! Huge great NBA class next June. Keaton comes back at 205lbs sophomore year. Maybe top 5 and massive payday. Our Uzbek mafia will get KW paid like a oligarch next fall.
Watching the replay up on Youtube (1 vid for each half):
The good:
- Z: Improving every game. We may see him get more situational minutes.
- The team is mostly gelling.
- They made their free throws. A merely reasonable rate of 75% - 5 points less - would have made things very tense. Good work guys.
The bad:
- Oglesby hasn't done anything to fix B10 officiating. I was so hoping that the change in leadership might result in better officiating, or officials.
That sequence at ~11:45 in the second half was terrible. Two non-fouls, and then a trip on OSU called on Hum as he lost balance. (Other than that, it looked pretty evenly balanced. Bad calls both ways.)
- Wagler is gone after this season.
The biggest concern in my mind is still the carelessness with the ball.
Mirk: Nice points, nice rebounds. Nice heart workout (for me).
- I want to see some tough love at this point. Mirk chuck 7 possessions on major mental mistakes**. There is no way we can afford that against good competition. Pull a stupid stunt, immediately sit. We should be ~13 point favorites against NE.
- Someday a ref is going to call a technical on him for flopping. The one ~3m into the second half was pretty egregious.
Petrovich: A couple of really sloppy sequences of dribbling, losing it once. I don't see him getting much playing time this year unless Boswell or Wagler are in foul trouble and we desperately need offense (otherwise I'd probably go with Lee).
** The major Mirk goofs I saw -- without going back to look for more, and not "noting" them after ~6m in the second half:
The first half:
- Three times he dribbled himself into trouble, losing the ball twice and nearly lost it the third time (it happened to bounce out to a teammate).
- A play where he held the ball in his palm, way away from his body for several seconds while staring at where he is is going to make the one armed pass. A half awake defender on crutches could have jumped that passing lane. (OSU wasn't awake.)
The second half:
- His first drive in the second half started with a blatant push off. He got lucky and the ref called it the wrong way.
- He made a nice rebound and dribbled up the court on the run, out of control, to then threw the ball away on a terrible pass.
- Out of control dribble throwing it at the hoop.
I stopped mentally noting them at this point. Only ~6m have expired in the second half.
The good:
- Z: Improving every game. We may see him get more situational minutes.
- The team is mostly gelling.
- They made their free throws. A merely reasonable rate of 75% - 5 points less - would have made things very tense. Good work guys.
The bad:
- Oglesby hasn't done anything to fix B10 officiating. I was so hoping that the change in leadership might result in better officiating, or officials.
That sequence at ~11:45 in the second half was terrible. Two non-fouls, and then a trip on OSU called on Hum as he lost balance. (Other than that, it looked pretty evenly balanced. Bad calls both ways.)
- Wagler is gone after this season.
The biggest concern in my mind is still the carelessness with the ball.
Mirk: Nice points, nice rebounds. Nice heart workout (for me).
- I want to see some tough love at this point. Mirk chuck 7 possessions on major mental mistakes**. There is no way we can afford that against good competition. Pull a stupid stunt, immediately sit. We should be ~13 point favorites against NE.
- Someday a ref is going to call a technical on him for flopping. The one ~3m into the second half was pretty egregious.
Petrovich: A couple of really sloppy sequences of dribbling, losing it once. I don't see him getting much playing time this year unless Boswell or Wagler are in foul trouble and we desperately need offense (otherwise I'd probably go with Lee).
** The major Mirk goofs I saw -- without going back to look for more, and not "noting" them after ~6m in the second half:
The first half:
- Three times he dribbled himself into trouble, losing the ball twice and nearly lost it the third time (it happened to bounce out to a teammate).
- A play where he held the ball in his palm, way away from his body for several seconds while staring at where he is is going to make the one armed pass. A half awake defender on crutches could have jumped that passing lane. (OSU wasn't awake.)
The second half:
- His first drive in the second half started with a blatant push off. He got lucky and the ref called it the wrong way.
- He made a nice rebound and dribbled up the court on the run, out of control, to then threw the ball away on a terrible pass.
- Out of control dribble throwing it at the hoop.
I stopped mentally noting them at this point. Only ~6m have expired in the second half.
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BAM was injured badly against Tennessee. He was really hurting tonight, suited up and was our Captain. Get healthy Captain Boswell!
There is another game of him playing in Quincy on YouTube and he was sensational:
My home gym! Go Raiders
The first time I saw this was in some mid-level conferences like the OVC several years ago. I did not like it then. And I do not like it now. I know I am in the minority here, but I do like the blues on the road occasionally. The uniform color has yet to win or lose a ballgame.
Keaton Wagler
- Good game. Wagler was amazing. Really impressed with his passing considering he's an elite scorer as well.
- The refs called a lot on OSU and deservedly so. I've never seen a team two hand push people on rebounds so many times.
- OSU didn't look that great. Besides Thornton no one seemed like they belonged on the court with Illinois.
- we tired another team out with our size. Thornton was especially tired in the second half.
- Boswell got plenty of rest during the game so it would have been nice for him to realize it and drive on tired defenders at the end.
- Humrichous did some nice things (loved the kick into the corner) but he can't hit open shots and is a step slow on defense. 20 minutes might be about right if he's in there to be a pest and use his fouls. Just stop shooting.
- hopefully petrovic gets more playing time to make mistakes when the game isn't as close. Impossible to play into the rotation if you get pulled the moment you lose the ball. he showed some promise in a couple games this year so hoping he can realize it. He had 5 assists in 12 minutes against alabama.
- andrej needs to pass more so teams can't collapse when he drives but otherwise he played well -- put in a lot of effort on defense and rebounding.
- would love to see the ivisic brothers coordinate their presence around the rim. It's crazy when they are both there and somehow get faked out of position for an easy layup.
- the team has great chemistry. if they all can start playing well at the same time we'll have an elite eight or more.
- The refs called a lot on OSU and deservedly so. I've never seen a team two hand push people on rebounds so many times.
- OSU didn't look that great. Besides Thornton no one seemed like they belonged on the court with Illinois.
- we tired another team out with our size. Thornton was especially tired in the second half.
- Boswell got plenty of rest during the game so it would have been nice for him to realize it and drive on tired defenders at the end.
- Humrichous did some nice things (loved the kick into the corner) but he can't hit open shots and is a step slow on defense. 20 minutes might be about right if he's in there to be a pest and use his fouls. Just stop shooting.
- hopefully petrovic gets more playing time to make mistakes when the game isn't as close. Impossible to play into the rotation if you get pulled the moment you lose the ball. he showed some promise in a couple games this year so hoping he can realize it. He had 5 assists in 12 minutes against alabama.
- andrej needs to pass more so teams can't collapse when he drives but otherwise he played well -- put in a lot of effort on defense and rebounding.
- would love to see the ivisic brothers coordinate their presence around the rim. It's crazy when they are both there and somehow get faked out of position for an easy layup.
- the team has great chemistry. if they all can start playing well at the same time we'll have an elite eight or more.
You can't realistically expect to play Wagler 39 minutes a game regularly. I know Brad likes to play guys heavy minutes but he will wear down by March if he does that.
Petrovic has been up and down but I thought he looked very good against Tennessee and he created a ton of good looks for the offense. I don't know what happened but I think he's earned more than a single minute.
But yes Ty would be awesome to have.
Illini in Italy
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It was great to see Andrej, Keaton, Mik and Big Z all pickup slack when Kylan and Tommy had off nights. I think the refs all swallowed their whistles and blowed them all night long. Refs need to be more aware that fans didn't pay to see them bring the game to a complete slow walk by blowing the whistle all night long.
Road win #1 in the Big, now go home and give Nebraska their first loss of the year. I don't like the 9 days layoff before the Braggin rights game.
Road win #1 in the Big, now go home and give Nebraska their first loss of the year. I don't like the 9 days layoff before the Braggin rights game.
Okay I'll start.....move him to linebacker alongside Feagin!!!
Back to back possessions, the Boswell travel and then the foul on Tomi going for the rebound - both were questionable calls, and could've turned out very consequential. Throughout the game it felt like mostly bad calls on both sides, but to have those two in the final 3min of the game is very upsetting.
That looks like some of the fouls called last night. Or Mirk trying to get a call on a 3-pointer.Bookmarked for later Crowage
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They finally win at the Schot, with me there! 1. Keaton is even better in person; so was Thornton. 2. BIG officiating is even worse, especially “high knees” Jeffrey Anderson; he took over the 2nd half. He was calling things from all over the court. 3. BIG win!
The thing about Mirkovic is that he’s always giving you something. Even in his bad games, he’s still always in double figures, and consistent rebounding.
Other than a few bad turnovers each game (which he needs to cut down), just seems like a very good overall fit.
Other than a few bad turnovers each game (which he needs to cut down), just seems like a very good overall fit.
Whenever high knees is involved, don’t be surprised
Kansas has to be kicking themselves for letting this kid get away!!
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