Yup...for sure Illini fate was sealed before BU left home. Sad these kids have to play under such a burden.
Arizona 83, Illinois 79 Postgame
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I'd rather meet them again in the NC Game.
Agreed. Coach needs to dress "tougher!"Yup...for sure Illini fate was sealed before BU left home. Sad these kids have to play under such a burden.
The lose to Arizona was the mismatch at the 4 position....we all knew we would be questionable at this position but had hopes that Coleman and Omar and possibly BV would fill this role.....and for the most part they have, but yesterday they were up against a very good opponent and we were outplayed at that position...we played well at the guard position a fairly well at the post but just not much out of the 4 in this game....I think this gets better as the season progresses but right now against top 10 opponents that's our weak spot
sacraig
- The desert
Sure but they got Grandison and Plummer. They've said all along they want every player to be a good shooter. I'm just saying it's not just luck.
Yep, if it was good enough for Lou Do than it is good enough for BU.Yup...for sure Illini fate was sealed before BU left home. Sad these kids have to play under such a burden.
I was listening to him right after the game with Deon during my miserable 2:45 minute drive home after the game. He explained his position and it was valid.
He meant being pushed 35 feet away from the basket, setting up their half court offense, because AZ was just more active and physical. That can't happen.
He also means being stronger with the ball. They were constantly getting the ball ripped, leading to 3 on 1, sometimes 2 on 0 fast breaks. In the first half, 30 of AZ's 38 points came off of either turnovers or offensive rebounds.
Kofi not only got stuffed three times, but he constantly got the ball stripped. He had 5 turnovers.
As good as Plummer was scoring the ball, he was equally bad taking care of it(5 turnovers) and playing defense. #25 was eating his lunch late in the game. They finally had to switch Frazier over.
He attributed it to lack of live bodies in practice and the ability to run physical practices. Grab the pads and make them play through what they same last night.
I don't think that he meant they shied away from competition or backed down. It was the ability to execute and not turn it over vs a very long, athletic defense and offense for the matter.
Trent will always have a special place in Illini lore.
He wasn't afraid to come out from the sunny and safe warmth of Florida to the less sunny and not so warm prairies of Illinois.
He stayed true to his commitment to the Orange after coaching changes.
He willingly set aside his prominent role on the Illini a bit when Ayo arrived. He welcomed Ayo like a brother.
His energy and passion for the game are infectious.
He has fought through injuries, disappointments, and disruptions to normal seasons caused by outside interference factors.
As a streaky shooter, he's a joy to watch when he gets on fire.
Every Illini fan can have nothing but respect and appreciation for 'TRENT... FFRRRAAAZZZZZIERRRRR!'
And speaking of Ayo, one must think about as he watches the end of that Arizona game how much he wished he had the ball in his hands those last two minutes. But it was a moment in the program that he knows he helped to build and create.
BU recruited Trent very heavily while BU was at SFA.
Roundball Sage said:
Trent is a very well known "entity" to BU and IIRC it was one reason Trent decided to stay back after the coaching switch
He was lethal with the set shot on Intellivision
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
We haven't truly seen Andre Curbelo 2.0. He gets concussed in a practice game and then later tries to play in subsequent games erratically, then is held out. I don't know if anyone here has experienced a concussion, but I was in the hospital for several days with one and wasn't myself until a few weeks after the hospital stay. We aren't going to see freshman Andre when he comes back. We're going to see him with a year of maturing. Can't wait to see it after the rust comes off.
Different people are motivated by different measures. It is the coach's job to determine what is most effective. I am replying to your comment only. Not what BU did.
We lost by only 4. Kofi missed a few free throws that hurt. We were that close. It seems like some posts that we lost big time. It was a great game We play like that again we will many BT games. Most definitely we got to the bench going.
Just a reminder that Ben Simmons is an NBA all-star.
Sadly, all we have seen from Belo late in games is a desire to always take the shot himself, this year. And a concussion does not make you selfish. Hopefully, with the coaches pushing hard for him to be a distributor instead of a scorer, he will come back better.
If Hawkins would just start taking short jumpers in the lane when he's driving to the basket instead of an out of control shot at the rim or a wild pass from getting caught in the air he could elevate his game tremendously. I don't know if he isn't very good at at it or just doesn't think to do it. It's not flashy but it's still 2 points and very affective. This is one of the main things Ayo did for us. Of course we have gaurds that can do this but they don't have the length to shoot over people like Ayo and Coleman. If he could develop that or just start doing it if he already has that in his game it would add another dimension to the Illini offense. That would be a tremendous plus going into the rest of the season.
I think Hawkins would have played much better if the refs had not called those two ticky-tacky fouls on him at the start of the game. Meanwhile, the AZ power forward was pushing and hacking all over the place.
I like what you said but, who knows if BU is telling him that he has to take his drives all of the way to the rim.
Bigtex
- DFW
Maybe I was watching a different game. Game I watched
Guy dw was primarily guarding scores 30
Another huge T (regular pattern)
Illini play 4 on 5 on offense
I won't make any strong predictions but I will say if he was a stock I'd be buying. even if he just played how he did last year when Ayo was out we will be a top 10 team. If he gets smarter with the ball sky is the limit.
Tough game. AZ brought their A game, we were probably a B-B+. Their length, defensive discipline, & multi faceted offensive attack is going to make them tough to beat. Definite final 4 potential. They had us scrambling… often…
Was a 50/50 game with about 3:00 to go. They knocked down some tough shots down the stretch, we didn’t. We don’t have the length to bother big, confident guards. AZ has a couple of those.
I think most of us need to temper our expectations a bit. I think we all expected AC to be an all American type PG. not only has he been out, but he hasn’t shown that level of play when he was playing. Without that, we are top 25 good, but not top 10.
I think we got beat by a better team. We can sit around and point fingers, but that’s a matchup we probably lose 6 times out of ten.
Was a 50/50 game with about 3:00 to go. They knocked down some tough shots down the stretch, we didn’t. We don’t have the length to bother big, confident guards. AZ has a couple of those.
I think most of us need to temper our expectations a bit. I think we all expected AC to be an all American type PG. not only has he been out, but he hasn’t shown that level of play when he was playing. Without that, we are top 25 good, but not top 10.
I think we got beat by a better team. We can sit around and point fingers, but that’s a matchup we probably lose 6 times out of ten.
With the dust having settled, a few observations:
1) Above all, this was an extremely entertaining and well played basketball game between two good teams. Arguably, one great team…and one team that is good today, with the potential to be great.
2) The 19-0, 11-0 Trent run was a moment that we haven’t seen in front of a sold out AH in some time. During the Groce era, those runs always seemed to lose steam at 7-0, or 8-0 due to a sloppy, leaving the fanbase teased and wanting so much more. That 3/4 minute stretch last night was a vintage Illinois moment that gave me, and I am sure many others, goosebumps. I didn’t even cheer, I just sat back and took it in. I’m confident we’ll see many more moments like that under Coach Underwood in the coming years.
3) As BU called out in his presser, we were out-toughed. And by a pretty wide margin. That margin didn’t show up in the score based on how well two of players shot the 3 ball. Many of those 12 3’s between Trent and Plummer were contested, none the less. I expect us to be a much more physical, tough team come Feb/ March given who our head coach is.
4) I’ve read alot of ‘tough night/ game’ for Kofi takes. Yes, he shot poorly from the field, yes, he was blocked on 3 consecutive possessions, but when he was in the game our offense looked much more fluid than when he sat. It is no coincidence that Plummer’s numbers have gone through the roof since Kofi learned to kick it out. Speaking of, can you imagine our team last year with Kofi kicking the ball out and around as he has been?
5) For us to be sweet 16/ elite 8 dangerous we are going to need some meaningful production off the bench. Notably, from a big. Today, Omar and BBV hurt us more than they help. And if they’re out there with Damonte, our offense can feel like 3 on 5. We speak alot of missing Ayo. But can you imagine how critical a guy like Giorgi would have been last night?
6) The 5 second call will get most of the press, as may Kofi’s I’ll advised jump shot. But this game was lost between the 7 and 3 minute marks of the first half. After a 19-0 run to put us up 13 points, we proceeded to go 4 minutes without a point, and we watched that lead get cut from 13 to 4. If we play that 4 minute stretch neutral and go into half up 13/15…I’m not sure we lose last night.
7) Three early losses in the non conference stings. But this reads like a team that will be playing its best basketball in March. We may not win as many games as last years team. We may not win the big ten tourney like last years team. But it would not surprise me to see this years team advance further in the big dance than last years team.
1) Above all, this was an extremely entertaining and well played basketball game between two good teams. Arguably, one great team…and one team that is good today, with the potential to be great.
2) The 19-0, 11-0 Trent run was a moment that we haven’t seen in front of a sold out AH in some time. During the Groce era, those runs always seemed to lose steam at 7-0, or 8-0 due to a sloppy, leaving the fanbase teased and wanting so much more. That 3/4 minute stretch last night was a vintage Illinois moment that gave me, and I am sure many others, goosebumps. I didn’t even cheer, I just sat back and took it in. I’m confident we’ll see many more moments like that under Coach Underwood in the coming years.
3) As BU called out in his presser, we were out-toughed. And by a pretty wide margin. That margin didn’t show up in the score based on how well two of players shot the 3 ball. Many of those 12 3’s between Trent and Plummer were contested, none the less. I expect us to be a much more physical, tough team come Feb/ March given who our head coach is.
4) I’ve read alot of ‘tough night/ game’ for Kofi takes. Yes, he shot poorly from the field, yes, he was blocked on 3 consecutive possessions, but when he was in the game our offense looked much more fluid than when he sat. It is no coincidence that Plummer’s numbers have gone through the roof since Kofi learned to kick it out. Speaking of, can you imagine our team last year with Kofi kicking the ball out and around as he has been?
5) For us to be sweet 16/ elite 8 dangerous we are going to need some meaningful production off the bench. Notably, from a big. Today, Omar and BBV hurt us more than they help. And if they’re out there with Damonte, our offense can feel like 3 on 5. We speak alot of missing Ayo. But can you imagine how critical a guy like Giorgi would have been last night?
6) The 5 second call will get most of the press, as may Kofi’s I’ll advised jump shot. But this game was lost between the 7 and 3 minute marks of the first half. After a 19-0 run to put us up 13 points, we proceeded to go 4 minutes without a point, and we watched that lead get cut from 13 to 4. If we play that 4 minute stretch neutral and go into half up 13/15…I’m not sure we lose last night.
7) Three early losses in the non conference stings. But this reads like a team that will be playing its best basketball in March. We may not win as many games as last years team. We may not win the big ten tourney like last years team. But it would not surprise me to see this years team advance further in the big dance than last years team.
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skyIdub
Winged Warrior
I'll have to check the replay, but I remember Trent and Plummer guarding him with a lot of switching. That guy is a nightmare assignment.
WRT tempering expectations, we took what you consider a FF caliber team to the wire and could easily have beat them... Without an active PG on the roster. I'm just as optimistic as ever about our chances to win a B1G title. If Belo comes back and shows improvement, we have just as much right to a FF as any other team in the country.
Right. Sign me up for Ben Davis in this next recruiting cycle please. Hell I’ll take two of them.
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