Alabama 100, Illinois 87 Postgame

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#251      
Battle89
Miles Leonard said:
Really encouraged to see the kids fight back and make it a game. We're still a work-in-progress but I believe we do have the horses. We'll be fine.
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I know we are trying to be positive, and the announcers said similar during the game in an effort to build excitement. But we never got closer than 8 points in the second half. We never made this a game. Better than 30-0 UConn - absolutely. But still a big hill to climb. Hope we gel as a team soon.
 
#253      
Illini2010-11
sacraig said:
IL posters after an early season road loss to a top 10 team using an entirely new roster.

Mr Rogers Clown GIF
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Do you expect anything less from this board, after the postgame thread meltdown of a true exhibition game?

I truly believe that Illinois will be a great team in 2025 when this team gets a number of games together.
 
#254      
sacraig
Illini2010-11 said:
Do you expect anything less from this board, after the postgame thread meltdown of a true exhibition game?

I truly believe that Illinois will be a great team in 2025 when this team gets a number of games together.
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No, I don't expect anything less. But I think it actually exceeded my expectations, what, with all the proclamations that we have no athletes, no "dawgs," no offensive flow. All things that should be expected of a very young team who haven't played much together.
 
#255      
HensonHall71
altgeld88 said:
This is the wisest sentence I've read this week.

He's earned it, my friends.
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I am a fan of Brad and think he's built a great program here and I'm excited about the future - but just to play Devil's advocate, has he really earned trust that he'll figure this out?

The last time we had this many new pieces was 2022 and he didn't figure it out - we underperformed all year and got blow out in the NCAA tournament, in fairness his PG quit on the team in the middle of the season and the team had a lot of "me" pieces, but this year's team has some "me" players right now too - several times Riley or White dribbled the ball up court and took the first contested shot they could without even looking to pass (looked a lot like Mayer)

The teams Brad has done really well with have been veteran teams - I haven't actually seen him pull together 11 new freshman, international players and transfers into a cohesive team that buys in and puts team first and executes really well.

So far, we've been what we would expect - a really talented team that shows the talent individually, but a team with freshman leading the way that turns the ball over way to much, doesn't defend particularly well and misses a lot of free throws. The typical way these things improve is when freshman become sophomores. History shows this team will likely not reach it's potential this year - Kentucky abandoned this model because it wasn't working - I think Brad is a better coach than Cal, but if you expect this team to be a top 15 team by the end of the year, that hasn't been very likely historically
 
#256      
1970 John
NASchamp said:
Crowd wasn’t huge but the arena was small. Was louder in person than it may have seemed on TV. Alabama drove down a student section which were loud for most of the game. You could feel the crowd add to Alabama’s momentum at times.
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Krush should be in Chicago next year and our guys will all be older and more experienced with each other next year. So wait until next year.
 
#257      
Battle89
CoachHooleyHoo said:
This team has so much potential and talent but tonight it was about:

* Horrendous defense. This is my big concern. Not sure what our ceiling is there.

* Sloppy play especially in key moments. Some of that is youth but some of it just the guys we’ve got.

* Awful FT shooting which I hope is an anomaly.

Not terribly disappointed but this non-conference could be rough.
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Those loose balls, happened 2 or 3 times, where we didn't move and looked around to other guys like "aren't you going to get it?".
 
#259      
BBallGuy
Monticello said:
Our fourth game of the season, with guys that have NEVER played together, and we go on the road to the #8 team in the nation. And we have enough fight to win the second half. I hate losing, but this team has the potential to be mighty scary in about 6 weeks.
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Won the second half is a stretch. That and it doesn't mean a thing. Maybe the equivalent of a moral victory.
 
#260      
Illini2010-11
HensonHall71 said:
I am a fan of Brad and think he's built a great program here and I'm excited about the future - but just to play Devil's advocate, has he really earned trust that he'll figure this out?

The last time we had this many new pieces was 2022 and he didn't figure it out - we underperformed all year and got blow out in the NCAA tournament, in fairness his PG quit on the team in the middle of the season and the team had a lot of "me" pieces, but this year's team has some "me" players right now too - several times Riley or White dribbled the ball up court and took the first contested shot they could without even looking to pass (looked a lot like Mayer)

The teams Brad has done really well with have been veteran teams - I haven't actually seen him pull together 11 new freshman, international players and transfers into a cohesive team that buys in and puts team first and executes really well.

So far, we've been what we would expect - a really talented team that shows the talent individually, but a team with freshman leading the way that turns the ball over way to much, doesn't defend particularly well and misses a lot of free throws. The typical way these things improve is when freshman become sophomores. History shows this team will likely not reach it's potential this year - Kentucky abandoned this model because it wasn't working - I think Brad is a better coach than Cal, but if you expect this team to be a top 15 team by the end of the year, that hasn't been very likely historically
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We actually overperformed in the non-conference season in 2022. We had some unexpected very high-quality wins over #8 UCLA and #2 Texas, which really carried the team into the tourney. In many ways, the team regressed as the year went on, but it seemed to be more of a team chemistry issue rather than talent. However, if that is what we consider a down year for the Underwood tenure, then we are in such great shape as a program.

We will not fully know what the team will do this year, and we should not expect another E8 run, but this team can still come together and make a second weekend run in the tourney. A team bonding takes time, and games like last night will help in the long-run. We see the talent there, and the fight shown throughout the game, when it looked like it should have been a 30-point beatdown, shows to me that the team will fight all year. I am personally excited about what is to come, even if the 2024 portion of the schedule is very up and down. Last night is indicative of what happens when a top-10 experienced team takes on a team finding ways to play together. If this game was in March, we very well might see a very different outcome.
 
#261      
JBfor3
Have not kept up with this thread but quick thoughts:

-Defense will be terrible. Some improvements and we can win this game in the future
-Love that brad schedules games like this early and we will win one or both vs TENN and ARK. This will help KJ and Ivisic ramp quickly.
-Riley should start and Tre White should anchor the bench mob
 
#263      
ChiefGritty
HensonHall71 said:
I am a fan of Brad and think he's built a great program here and I'm excited about the future - but just to play Devil's advocate, has he really earned trust that he'll figure this out?

The last time we had this many new pieces was 2022 and he didn't figure it out - we underperformed all year and got blow out in the NCAA tournament
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I guess it depends on what you mean by "figure it out". On a culture, scheme fit and positional balance level, that 2022 roster was a total catastrophe, and BU MacGuyver'ed together a winning Big Ten record and a single digit NCAA seed out of it. His worst roster construction job ever, but his outstanding ability to find the best way to deploy weird pieces into a coherent team avoided what really should have been something more like last season's Michigan team - it was that bad.

And so when what we're looking at now is a bunch of obviously talented widgets in search of a basketball team, we are looking at a task that BU has proven time and time again that he's a difference-maker at.

We don't have a team yet. With BU at the helm there will be a team here eventually, come hell or high water.

Will we have a team competing at the very top of the conference and nationally? THAT it's fair to doubt, but last night doesn't really change anything in that regard. We've got a Calipari-ish roster and we've seen the challenge of competing like that in Covidball.
 
#264      
HensonHall71
CoachHooleyHoo said:
IMHO, I thought Ivisic looked way worse on D. He was getting abused.
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I thought Ivisic's low post defense was good - several times he altered the shot and got the rebound when they tried to post him up. This was our glaring hole form last year. Now, his drop coverage is an issue - he doesn't have the foot speed to disrupt the three point shot form a stretch 5 and defend against the drive from the ball handler at the same time- that is a scheme choice - we should have adjusted quicker to not allow the three and allow the drive with help coming over, we have length in our guards being able to recover against those drives, rather than give a wide open three- that's what they were doing to us
 
#265      
hoopsfan47
After having two guards at 6'6" who were defensive dogs who fought through screens but mostly just switched, Brad has none. It was so easy to screen KJ off a quick quard and get a two on one to the hoop with Tomi trying to guard both. That fact impressed me as the No. 1 weakness in the defense. Brad tried KB and DGL together for a bit, but even then Bama used their screening to get the same result and play downhill.

What was evident is this team has the offensive skills to score with anyone, but the defense cannot keep any good team from scoring, especially one with good guard play. Lots of work to be done on defense, and I don't see enough there to be able to play with the big boys...at least not right now. Plenty of chances to learn and display, but nothing certain at the moment.

From a positive note, these guys kept playing hard, at least at the offensive end, the entire game. They did not shoot the ball well, but Bama forced them to take some tough shots. In addition, our 3 pt. shooter, other than Riley, were not up to snuff.

Not an unexpected outcome in the least. This young team will gain efficiency on the offensive end I would expect, but the lack of speed on defense will be an Achilles that may not be overcome.
 
#266      
LoveIlliniHoops
I think several will agree that Arkansas is a great team, with a great coach and aren’t hard to like. The hustle and skill were nonstop. They played aggressively and, for the most part, no egos or attitude. This is the way I felt last year after the Tennessee game. I pulled for them the rest of the season.

Hopefully, we see them again in the Final Four.
 
#267      
I lost Kofi's blue binder
Team has a high ceiling but lots of work to do.

Riley is ahead of where I expected him to be. I don’t think we’ll be getting a second year of him. KJ shows serious flashes but is maybe a step behind where I hoped. He’ll learn. I expect we’ll see a much more polished team in a month. Time will tell if that’s in the “solid 6 seed” range or the “protected seed” range.
 
#268      
Illini2010-11
LoveIlliniHoops said:
I think several will agree that Arkansas is a great team, with a great coach and aren’t hard to like. The hustle and skill were nonstop. They played aggressively and, for the most part, no egos or attitude. This is the way I felt last year after the Tennessee game. I pulled for them the rest of the season.

Hopefully, we see them again in the Final Four.
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Please don't write off the game next Thursday as a loss yet... :)
 
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#270      
jjv0004
As a fan of both Bama/Illini I would say I was encouraged and disappointed at the same time. Encouraged that Bama played better than their first 4 games (watched them all start to finish) and disappointed in how many 3's Bama continues to miss. Encouraged with Will/KJ/Tomi. I kept thinking those guys were studs last night. Impressed with those 3 especially. Hard to believe Sears didn't score and Bama hit 100. For those that don't know Sears took himself out with a little over 11 minutes left and told Oats not to put him back in because it wasn't his night and Holloway/Philon were playing so well. Sears then ended up shooting 3's until 3am last night. I find it encouraging that the best player can be selfless.

I think both teams have the potential to get pretty far this year. Illinois will be a tough out once they gel with all the new faces. Bama still is playing without Chris Youngblood, the AAC player of the year last year. Hurt his knee and has not played yet. Mid December. I think he ends up being their 3rd best player.

Either way I thought it was a fun game to watch. Illinois battled when they could have given up.
 
#271      
Brosky
Can we please stop the speculation about NCAA seedings? There are a ton of important games long before postseason stuff.
 
#272      
Brosky
It won't surprise me if we get all these guys back for next year.
 
#273      
1m4tr
jjv0004 said:
As a fan of both Bama/Illini I would say I was encouraged and disappointed at the same time. Encouraged that Bama played better than their first 4 games (watched them all start to finish) and disappointed in how many 3's Bama continues to miss. Encouraged with Will/KJ/Tomi. I kept thinking those guys were studs last night. Impressed with those 3 especially. Hard to believe Sears didn't score and Bama hit 100. For those that don't know Sears took himself out with a little over 11 minutes left and told Oats not to put him back in because it wasn't his night and Holloway/Philon were playing so well. Sears then ended up shooting 3's until 3am last night. I find it encouraging that the best player can be selfless.

I think both teams have the potential to get pretty far this year. Illinois will be a tough out once they gel with all the new faces. Bama still is playing without Chris Youngblood, the AAC player of the year last year. Hurt his knee and has not played yet. Mid December. I think he ends up being their 3rd best player.

Either way I thought it was a fun game to watch. Illinois battled when they could have given up.
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I think it shows poorly on Sears that he thinks his only value to the team is as a shooter and if he’s just off or locked down on D then he doesn’t want to play because he doesn’t think he can contribute more than his shot. It’s not selfless at all. Go back in the game and be a decoy. Fine don’t shoot it’s not your night but you can affect the game in other ways. Work on setting up the other guys. I take this as a huge negative. If Riley is off one night, we wouldn’t want him to tell Brad that he doesn’t want to go back in. I’d be pissed at that.
 
#274      
Birdus
Bama has enough to win it all. They were dropped in the rankings for a mediocre game at Mackey. One of the toughest places to play. I don't think we see another team like that until February. It was their night last night. That being said, we need to grow up defensively. Still early.
 
#275      
jjv0004
1m4tr said:
I think it shows poorly on Sears that he thinks his only value to the team is as a shooter and if he’s just off or locked down on D then he doesn’t want to play because he doesn’t think he can contribute more than his shot. It’s not selfless at all. Go back in the game and be a decoy. Fine don’t shoot it’s not your night but you can affect the game in other ways. Work on setting up the other guys. I take this as a huge negative. If Riley is off one night, we wouldn’t want him to tell Brad that he doesn’t want to go back in. I’d be pissed at that.
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I completely disagree. Holloway/Philon were in control of the game and having great nights. Why replace them with a guy that couldn't make a shot? And doesn't play great defense? He didn't refuse to go back in the game. He told Oats to keep the other guys in because of how well they were playing. I clearly was not Sears night. That is actually selfless and rare.
 
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