Kofi was blown halfway through the 2nd half. Arizona really played physically against him. Could've had alot more fouls called, however I liked that the refs largely let the boys play.
Arizona 83, Illinois 79 Postgame
- Status
If there’s such a thing as a good loss, this was it. Good game by both teams.
GallopingGhost
- Denver, CO
Really I don’t care who scores as long as the final score looks good. You really think Goode or DW jacking threes would have been better than Plummer and Frazier?
Trent Frazier absolutely left it all out there. What an amazing player to call an Illini
I think what he’s saying, and it probably true to an extent, we have to have more help to get to a final four, and this was the type of team you have to beat to get there. But, we also have a few months before that point.
RJ and Luke will get there. Plus Andre is hopefully gonna be back soon. That will help
Retro62
- North Bethesda, Maryland
We’re missing an integral part of our offense, and they aren’t. They are, right now, one of the best three teams in the country, maybe the best. And we were not hitting lucky shots, we just have good shooters. Get Curbelo back playing like Curbelo again, and games like this go our way.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
This^n where n is large.
When he lit it up on the run in the first half my heart swelled. He's an absolute lion and the bedrock of this team. I'm so grateful as a fan that we've had him and that he returned this season.
My buddy, that’s a Kansas fan, texted me it’s weird seeing a national player of the year guy not get that call at home.
We are a very good team.
We have the firepower, the tools to play with anybody. We are a matchup problem for just about anybody. Most teams won't be able to bother Kofi even remotely close to what Arizona did - and with less mistakes, we beat Arizona today. We'll have schematic advantages against anyone we face with Cockburn and our array of long range shooters, who can also all drive past closeout defenders.
Our Achilles is our margin of error. Our decision-making in critical situations. The 8-10 point run that we assisted Arizona with in the first half was huge (we freely invited them back into the game at a moment when our crowd was bugging out and the Wildcats were looking flustered), as were a number of bonehead possessions/poor shots/turnovers we had in the final 6-8 minutes.
I'm hoping Curbelo's return and his maturation will help with all this, as he'll be able to create, and dictate opportunities for his teammates down the stretch (like @Indiana last year, for example, and numerous other instances). Game experience will also help, as some of our players are very obviously still figuring out what they should be doing in certain game situations - guys like Coleman Hawkins, for example, are still learning their own identities as players and, importantly, how *not* to hurt the team when they're on the court.
Overall, I'm encouraged. This game showed that the Iowa win was no fluke, and that we do indeed have the upside potential we spent the entire off season day-dreaming about.
Today, you saw two very good teams who have both yet to approach the upper limits of their potential. I'm personally ready to go on a stomping spree with our opponents ahead, re-integrate Curbelo, and be feeling real good about the Illini come 2022.
Much love to you all. No one should be feeling too bad or too heavy after this game. Ironically, life is short, but college basketball seasons are reasonably long. Gotta have gratitude for what we have and savor all the precious moments along the way...
We have the firepower, the tools to play with anybody. We are a matchup problem for just about anybody. Most teams won't be able to bother Kofi even remotely close to what Arizona did - and with less mistakes, we beat Arizona today. We'll have schematic advantages against anyone we face with Cockburn and our array of long range shooters, who can also all drive past closeout defenders.
Our Achilles is our margin of error. Our decision-making in critical situations. The 8-10 point run that we assisted Arizona with in the first half was huge (we freely invited them back into the game at a moment when our crowd was bugging out and the Wildcats were looking flustered), as were a number of bonehead possessions/poor shots/turnovers we had in the final 6-8 minutes.
I'm hoping Curbelo's return and his maturation will help with all this, as he'll be able to create, and dictate opportunities for his teammates down the stretch (like @Indiana last year, for example, and numerous other instances). Game experience will also help, as some of our players are very obviously still figuring out what they should be doing in certain game situations - guys like Coleman Hawkins, for example, are still learning their own identities as players and, importantly, how *not* to hurt the team when they're on the court.
Overall, I'm encouraged. This game showed that the Iowa win was no fluke, and that we do indeed have the upside potential we spent the entire off season day-dreaming about.
Today, you saw two very good teams who have both yet to approach the upper limits of their potential. I'm personally ready to go on a stomping spree with our opponents ahead, re-integrate Curbelo, and be feeling real good about the Illini come 2022.
Much love to you all. No one should be feeling too bad or too heavy after this game. Ironically, life is short, but college basketball seasons are reasonably long. Gotta have gratitude for what we have and savor all the precious moments along the way...
Last edited:
FYI, cakewalk Pac 12 had 3 teams in top 16 of latest AP poll compared to 1 for BIG.
Wish we woulda won, but we played very good during stretches. We had some mistakes, but that comes with playing great teams. I think we will only get better as the year go’s on & bello gets back healthy. Proud of our fight tonight. Don’t forget how we were playing a few weeks ago ( like crap ). I’ll take this.
25 points off 16 TOs
And, the chirping when we had the Force with us.
There is a trend there, where we build a large lead and then give it up. Unable to sustain leads.
Belo will certainly help, but unless this team figures out how to play fast without TOs, we are in for such up/down rides
And, the chirping when we had the Force with us.
There is a trend there, where we build a large lead and then give it up. Unable to sustain leads.
Belo will certainly help, but unless this team figures out how to play fast without TOs, we are in for such up/down rides
Great take!
On T Frazier.... heart of team. One of smallest guys,. .but I believe he has one of the biggest hearts!!
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
We just have a few too many mental lapses each game. The good news is the number is going down. Just like the last few years, this will be a really good team in Jan-March.
Cut down on those, tighten up the passes and decision making....we're going to be good.
CoHawk just looked completely lost on both ends. Plummer does not have the length to guard a guy like Mathurin or Tubelis. If CoHawk can just play above average D like he did on Harper....we win this game.
We took too long to figure out how to get Kofi going. He was clearly frustrated.
As Fox pointed out in the pre game...we've had 7 different starting lineups in 8 games. There's simply no way you can expect efficiency and smooth execution with this team right now.
We can shoot lights out and play with anyone in the country. Get some lineup cohesion and a reasonable Curbelo back soon....we're going to be just fine.
We love no other...
Cut down on those, tighten up the passes and decision making....we're going to be good.
CoHawk just looked completely lost on both ends. Plummer does not have the length to guard a guy like Mathurin or Tubelis. If CoHawk can just play above average D like he did on Harper....we win this game.
We took too long to figure out how to get Kofi going. He was clearly frustrated.
As Fox pointed out in the pre game...we've had 7 different starting lineups in 8 games. There's simply no way you can expect efficiency and smooth execution with this team right now.
We can shoot lights out and play with anyone in the country. Get some lineup cohesion and a reasonable Curbelo back soon....we're going to be just fine.
We love no other...
Agree with this. We have to keep our eye on the prize. The identity we are establishing on the offensive end is not one for tournament success. Someone said during the game thread that the turnovers from driving to the basket and/or trying to make something happen are easy to live with. But the careless passes, dropped passes, jump balls from holding the ball at your knees, and a 5 second call holding the ball in the final 20 seconds are just cumulative killers. We gave up 25 points off turnovers and lost by 4. End of story.
Missed Belo’s creativity and pace in this one. Arizona is a good team, but our turnovers were what killed us.
Payne had some solid minutes tonight. Now if he can get a couple of offensive put backs, that would be gravy.
Payne had some solid minutes tonight. Now if he can get a couple of offensive put backs, that would be gravy.
Nonsense. The teams aren’t even comparable
very winnable game. Improve on some things, and the Big 10 title will be very reachable.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
For once that was actually more than 5 seconds
- Status