One beef I had. Brad should have burned a TO when he saw the guy counting.
Arizona 83, Illinois 79 Postgame
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We are pushing him to be a primary ball handler, it will make him better later going forward....but a little tough now. He did some decent glue stuff with limited minutes. Surprised with his rebound total.
He’s so pure. I don’t ever mind any shot he takes.Brad was so right. He is an elite shooter! I get more surprised more by his misses than makes now.
Post game presser was awesome. No participation trophies in Brad’s locker room. Interesting he mentioned Kofi laboring a bit with a bone bruise. One thing I’ve noticed over the last few games is he isn’t looking to dunk as much and looks a little less explosive going into his moves. Wonder if the born bruise issue has impacted his lift and quickness a bit. Glad they get a week off to continue to recuperate and continue to get better. Time to win a few bunnies and practice a bit.
Where did I say I only want to cheer for a team that wins every game, every year? Original poster said something like this could be a turnaround game for Illini, and I said I hope so but people have been saying that since Marquette game — and that includes wins. Team is having trouble building upon each game and gaining consistency. Rutgers was a great win as was Iowa. But things such as poor turnovers continue to haunt Illini (overcame them against Iowa but not against AZ). Hopefully they’ll get there, but right now feeling like it is two steps forward and one back. And I’m not referring to wins and losses.
Agree completely. It is the biggest non con of the year on national TV broadcast. Electric atmosphere. If you can't get swept up in the energy and be engaged with your team, there is something not clicking. BU in the post presser certainly didn't seem confident he would be back anytime soon.
They also got some friendly bounces at the rim late in the second half. Feels bad that the win was tantalizingly close but stepping back should be proud of this team for coming together and competing in a really fun basketball game.
Hoopster
- Peoria, IL in a van down by the river
Tough loss, AZ is really good, but I personally will be shocked if we don't win the BIG 10 this year. The more I see of this team, the more confident I am. We've got so many weapons and once AC returns and begins to gel with this team the sky is the limit.
I believe the ship can be righted with Belo. My concern is that it might take several games to adjust the gameplan with Belo back in the lineup.
Also, I think we can assume we will make this many 3ptrs against good teams. We shot 44% tonight. If we needed 65% to stay even, I would be worried, but 44% is not much above the teams average so far. (37%). Our three volume shooters will shoot about 44% - Plummer is at 43, Grandison 48 and Trent 38% on the year. This is the type of basketball that I think BU has been moving the team towards - strong inside, strong from the arc - opening up opportunities for each.
Just a fun fact I found when looking up out 3pt %. Between RJ and Goode, they have played a combined 144 minutes and committed a grand total of two TOs so far this season. Goode has zero.
Always like BUs postgamers and this was one of his best. I could not be more in agreement with his assessment. On the bright side, I am pleased with the steady progress of this team, especially since Cincy game. But they have a ways to go and I am indeed delighted to see progress forthcoming. There is just as much progress to be made to reach goals, but it should be fun to watch them battle for a B1G title....and that is absolutely in reach.
Some thoughts, you can’t have only 5 players score and expect to win a game but we stayed in it and played tough against a national championship caliber team which says a lot about our team. If Kofi and DMW would’ve had a better game we would’ve won. We have a good team. I just think it’s just missing one key player which is Curbelo and we got to shore up the mistakes. Too many turnovers and it seems like we are getting flustered when the other team is full court pressing. However, I’m confident that BU will get this team to where it should be.
Better to make this mistake early on in season. Bet everyone knows the rule come March and it won't come to bite us then for the first time.
AEX
- Danger Zone
Those of you blaming DMW for killing the momentum in the first half and effectively costing us the game need to go back and watch the tape. We had already surrendered 5 unanswered points as part of an Arizona 10-0 run by the time the tech happened. They made both free throws but missed the shot on the extra possession. After a couple misses by both teams, they complete the 10-0 run to get it down to 3 with about four minutes left. We then get the momentum back and push the lead up to 8. After that, the lead narrowed again by the half. I get the tech was frustrating, but it seems shortsighted to hyper focus on a play in the first half, which happened in the middle of their run that was effectively ended by 5-0 run of our own, as the reason we lost this game.
You could just as easily focus on Plummer’s lazy pass that led to a fast break that started the 10-0 run. Or, you could highlight the missed alley-oop from Trent to Payne at 2 minutes left in the first half with the lead back to 8, which would have blown the roof off the place. Or, for that matter, you could highlight any of the subsequent plays form the second half.
All in all, I thought we played well. Needed to be better / tougher on the boards to pull this one out, in my opinion.
You could just as easily focus on Plummer’s lazy pass that led to a fast break that started the 10-0 run. Or, you could highlight the missed alley-oop from Trent to Payne at 2 minutes left in the first half with the lead back to 8, which would have blown the roof off the place. Or, for that matter, you could highlight any of the subsequent plays form the second half.
All in all, I thought we played well. Needed to be better / tougher on the boards to pull this one out, in my opinion.
All this team missing is a point guard, and we have one on the roster not playing right now. It really is as simple as that.
Speaking of toughness, the one thing I would have liked to have seen at the end would have been Chester chest-bumping (or hip-checking into the stands) Tommy Lloyd in the handshake line. That would have salvaged the day.
Great Atmosphere tonight! Like what I'm seeing. I truly believe we will get there. Thought it was awesome seeing James Augustine there. Wish they would have had him out on the court during a timeout. One of the Illini all-time greats! Greatest Illini rebounder in history.
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
I double checked...the highest his feet clear is normally 6 inches on his pseudo jumper.
Love that the guys from the past are showing up. One big family.
Now we just need some slashers that can attack the rim, and drive to the paint to score. RJ is that type of player but we need more! Next year we should have that coming in... assuming they can earn their way onto the floor. Get to the charity stripe more hopefully!
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