Boswell's problem is he can only defend well if he's utilizing his lower center of gravity. It's why he's actually better with taller guards and keeping this off their spots but when quickness is needed, his strength is negated. I think he let anxiety get the best of him in that situation and was not confident in his ability to defend without fouling or even forcing dent to either pass or move laterally.
UCLA 95, Illinois 94 OT Postgame
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Oh yeah.. good call. For all intents and purposes, that was a game winning buzzer beater. So, it's been 6 years. Not quite as bad. In that time, we've had at least 3 go against us.
I'll still say we're due!
Ps. I hate that we lost that MSU game. Those free throws from Jake were so cold blooded but we just couldn't pay them off with a win.
Phew, I was beginning to worry that game might have killed Indy.
Or maybe sent him off on a crime spree.
I was more upset sitting there watching us piss away the 23 point lead play by play than I was losing in overtime …
At that point … I just expected pain … Sadly …
Ayo vs Michigan was close and we stopped Chattanooga at the buzzerOh that’s right !! December 2014 then …
12 years ago … Can’t remember that far back
Great post. I agree completely…there’s something about an alley-oop back door slam dunk that demoralizes players and instills fear. I would’ve run that on repeat until they showed they could’ve stopped it. That’s where I get frustrated with the Offense…to your point around 3 point obsession.
Need more from Andrej. I know he’s beloved by many and he gets special treatment because of his last name but his highs, lows, and overall toughness are really difficult to weather. I’m not convinced he deserves a 2nd year at the same salary. Prove me wrong AS!
NO ONE has beaten us in regulation since December 13th, and that was a last second shot to a top 10 team. Even though free throws have been missed, and defense could be better, we are still VERY hard to beat!! Get a couple of things corrected, and I love the spot that we are in right now. We just cannot have a letdown in the tourney. Our team is mentally tough, which is what matters at tourney time.....
Exactly right- he called the timeout AFTER the momentum completely shifted to UCLA.. He needed to call a timeout early in the shift with the hope of changing it.. 3-4 layups/easy shots in- Underwood needed to call a timeout-rip them for their effort- and hopefully curb the poor effort- or shoot- let Kylan or another leader light into the team in the moment.
Cronin called 2 timeouts almost back to back with the intent of changing the momentum- though his first timeout needed to come a little sooner as well.
Rebounding had nothing to do with this loss. We lost because we can't defend anyone with our drop coverage in pick and roll. In the last 10 minutes of the first half and first 5 minutes UCLA made 19 of 22 shots. Most of which were off some kind of pick and roll. There wasn't may rebounds.
Finally read this compleat thread. I think the the thing that bothers me most about this game and the other most recent losses is that the team has been on the cusp of greatness and, then, pees down their legs. These games have been winnable. Should have been won. You can make all the excuses you want about why they were lost. The fact is, great teams find a way to win these games. They just aren't there yet.
Illinois was 8-2 in games decided by 10 points or less prior to the 3 OT losses (2 of which were shorthanded without Boswell or both Boswell & Andrej, 1 of the 2 prior losses with no Tomi)... still 8-5 after that madness
"Enough is enough", we go home in 2 weeks. Right coach. Remembering you have BigZ sitting next to you for most of 2nd half, Important Coach! Seeing in game, that feeding the ball down low for dunks and easy lay ups, Bruins could not stop it. But heck lets go 3 of 30 from 3 point line. Smh. Going into Zone and Bruins missing shots, no wait I'm the coach, lets go back to man. Give me a break, coach better Brad!
You're not concerned at all that Illinois has lost three straight close games (all in OT)? I think it's a sign of things to come in the NCAAT with two freshmen as your leaders. Tomi just doesn't have leadership qualities, and it seems like Bam and Andrej are fine with secondary roles.
Wow. Best post I have seen in a long time. People are upset/concerned because UCLA really exposed our defensive shortcomings.All of this
As you said, none of the bigs can guard out in space at all. Good teams will 100% exploit that issue.
OK. Kylan did not deny. My question is: Did the coaching staff say Kylan you need to deny the ball? If they told him to deny, and he did not then there is a major issue in communications. I am assuming he was not told to deny. From a vast amount of coaching experience at far lower levels I have learned that in the heat of the battle, the coach in the huddle must be very specific and on point with what he expects the player(s) to do in this situation. And I believe Coach Underwood knows this a lot better than I do.
Brad's Achilles heel. I'm already looking for the possible 7 seeds that dump us in the round of 32 unfortunately.
I'm a little concerned, just not "we're gonna lose by 20" concerned
I think the team dynamic seems pretty good, not worried about that... major worry for me is figuring out how to improve the navigating screens by our guards, other than that I mean I literally have zero worries about like rebounding or our offense as a whole
JCL vs Chicago St.
That’s right. We needed a buzzer beater to beat Chicago Freaking St.
One of the most shameful moments of the Groce era.
I'm concerned we lost - and another small quick guard going nuts. And UCLA does feel different than MSU and Wisconsin, at least to me.
But the overtime part has very little to do with it IMO. I think it's a far more damning sign when you lose handily in games than when it's close - but obviously, just winning period, would be preferred over the three options there.
My question is this. If you're scouting an Illini opponent come March - if Team A had 4 losses and Team B had 4 losses, would you feel better or worse if Team A's losses were all at the buzzer against quality opponents than you would if Team B losses were to the same 4 teams but they were beaten handily in all of them?
Last year felt like we got handled in so many games and I struggled to grasp the idea of us making a big run in March. The year prior, while PSU and Purdue and MSU, and Marquette were frustratingly close losses, mostly because I thought we were just better, I was confident that by and large, we were better and could hang with anyone.
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