Arkansas 73, Illinois 63 Postgame

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#176      

RDS

R
RDS
Next year becomes a big one for Brad and our program. Brad has proven he is a fantastic recruiter every year, and I continue to be very bullish on him. In a transition year with 2 senior portals and a bunch of frosh this year can be explained.
That said, some nagging questions continue that he needs to put to bed: can we regain a clear identity of toughness every year? Can he put together a team/ scheme that can be much more consistent on both ends of floor? Can we finally achieve some real success in the tourney?
The fork in the road is coming into view next year….
 
#177      

PNWIllini

P
PNW
PNWIllini
BashCtIllini said:
It's not a very fannish thing to say, but I'm so glad I don't have to watch this team anymore.

I've seen worse Illini teams, but never even remotely close to as frustrating as this team was.
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The Altenberger - Douglas infighting years were close. But at least they won a bit more.
 
#178      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
ILLFAN67 said:
Wow this thread is crazy. Went to the tournament for 4 years straight. Cobbled together a 20’win season out of what Have been a complete rebuilding yr. Team got rocked by our only pg leaving in the middle of the season. (Who does that?) Just because some people said this team should be great doesn’t mean it will happen. We had no pg play, bad free throw shooting and turnover issues all yr. that’s a recipe for not going far We did well with what we had. More on the players than Brad. Mayer (our 2nd best player) was 0-6 with 3 turnovers. Coleman had 6 turnovers!!!! It was on the players and they never jelled. Need shooting and good pg play to come in next yr. what we don’t need is to fire Brad and have staff turnover. Guy has won 20 plus games 4 yrs straight and won the Big Ten twice. Illinois has only been to 2 final 4’s since 1989. Brad will get players that will get us there! Give him a little more time. We are a top program in the BIG. He’ll break through.
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I’m 100% behind Brad. I also 100% believe the following:

(1) He was understandably hungry to maintain the type of success that gets #1 seeds and Big Ten banners this year, even after losing all five starters. He thought getting really talented transfers would do the trick, and I bet he now knows this won’t work, as games aren’t won on paper. I hope he’s in every returning player’s ear that they’re the future, and we return to an Everyday Guys mentality.

(2) Even if we acknowledge the amazing job he’s done here and how lucky we are to have him (and I do!), the next three years are crucial. We HAVE to keep recruiting up, and we have to have a Sweet Sixteen or more to show for this renaissance by 2025 or 2026 … we just have to. And that’s a lot easier when you’re getting top 4 seeds. Making a run as a #9 is difficult.

I remain confident for our program and even more confident that there’s no option out there better than Brad to lead this program. However, he’s not perfect and I'm hopeful this year will serve as a learning experience he’ll grow from just like when he switched up the defense after it initially failed and we were way better for it!
 
#179      

illinois_hustle

illinois_hustle
illinois_hustle
I will try to remember the bursts of absolute awesomeness. They didn't last long, but a compilation tape of the best moments of the season would show a cohesive, energetic machine. A machine that would not get reviewed well in Consumer Reports for reliability, but super slick, cool, and fun when it worked.
 
#183      

Dee_4_Three_83

Dee_4_Three_83
Mahomet, IL
Dee_4_Three_83
Thank you for your effort, Illini basketball team.

Thank you TSJ! It was a lot of fun seeing you in an Illini uniform and you have a bright future.

Thank you Matthew Mayer for choosing to come to the Illini as well. I'm sorry you had such a rough finish to your time with us. We all wanted a better finish I know, but you carried us for a large portion of the B1G season.

Thank you RJ! I'm so glad you finished the season strong. We all believed in you when things were going bad, and we believe its only up from here. I really hope you stay!

Thank you Luke! I admire you for coming back and contributing after the injury. I am looking forward to seeing you next year!

Thank you Sencire, Jayden, and Ty! Your efforts and heart are what made this team go. I can't wait to see you next year!

Thank you Dain! I am excited for your future as well! You have improved so much and I know you will continue to improve as your experience grows.

Thank you Coaches! I know this season was a transition year, but wow! Another 20 win season with all those twists and turns like that? That was truly remarkable. You deserve a nice rest and can't wait to see who you add to our team.

I am thankful to have you all as Illini! I know you are all disappointed, just as us fans are, but don't forget what you accomplished. It was not a smooth road, but how you respond to the bumps will define you. Let's all learn from this season and grow from it!
 
#185      

CoachHooleyHoo

CoachHooleyHoo
CoachHooleyHoo
I know the tournament plays differently but hard to win when you can't score. BU like "dogs" but it'd be nice to have some pure scorers as well. I like BU and I'm thankful he's turned the ship around. At some point, gotta make a run in March.

This team is who we thought they were. A ton of talent but too many weaknesses to be consistent. Turnovers, poor shooting, and just bad decision-making were the issues all year long & it cost them again today.

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#188      

Ga65

G
Ga65
Think this year’s team was overrated in terms of talent.
Like the returning players assuming they return.
Believe we have a true distributor in Moretti and possible future Trent type in DGL in terms of quickness and offensive ability. This year’s offense was schemed for TJ and MM. Hope next year’s is schemed for Hawk (if he returns) and Epps. Hansberry can replace MM and should be able to expect improvement in Dain, Ty and Sencire as well as Epps. RJ reasonable replacement for TJ defensively and don’t need to rely as much on him offensively. Also should have Luke for the full year and maybe a reliable go-to guy.
 
#190      

Cubfanbudman

C
Cubfanbudman
If we can keep all of the freshman, I don't even care what the rest decide to do. Give me 2 more incoming freshman (Everyday guys only) on top of DGL and Hansberry, and a couple of transfers (as stopgap role players only).
 
#192      

ILLFAN67

I
ILLFAN67
I’m
Navy_illini said:
Knowing how the season turned out would you rather had

Mayer
Nance or
Kept Grandison

Mayer won us games and played decent defense. Nance did nothing for UNC. I think Grandison maturity was missing at times from this team. However I don’t know if we would have been better
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not for sure about Nance, look how NW played without him and didn’t do much at UNC
 
#193      

lexwaldez

lexwaldez
lexwaldez
I thought we'd need to limit our three point attempts to 12 or under in order to win. We shot 22 threes and made a pathetic six of them. Arkansas shoots the same percentage from the arc but limits that stupidity to 11 attempts and they win. We looked like garbage. There's a lot to go into, struggling with layups, turnovers, poor passing, poor shot selection, finding success and then walking away from it (repeatedly). I don't know how you fix this offense (or lack thereof). I just go back to Underwood's pre-game presser and the athletes pre-game presser... they're all on the same page and they all say "we can't shoot desperation three's; we have to take the ball to the basket" and then you watch the first half and you realize it was all crap. Isn't the definition of insanity repeating the same thing over and over and over and expecting a different outcome? I expected a one-and-done given our back court, but that was yet another disappointing loss in a season full of disappointing losses. Are we a little spoiled as fans or did we crap the bed today?
 
#195      

Dee_4_Three_83

Dee_4_Three_83
Mahomet, IL
Dee_4_Three_83
Dee_4_Three_83 said:
Thank you for your effort, Illini basketball team.

Thank you TSJ! It was a lot of fun seeing you in an Illini uniform and you have a bright future.

Thank you Matthew Mayer for choosing to come to the Illini as well. I'm sorry you had such a rough finish to your time with us. We all wanted a better finish I know, but you carried us for a large portion of the B1G season.

Thank you RJ! I'm so glad you finished the season strong. We all believed in you when things were going bad, and we believe its only up from here. I really hope you stay!

Thank you Luke! I admire you for coming back and contributing after the injury. I am looking forward to seeing you next year!

Thank you Sencire, Jayden, and Ty! Your efforts and heart are what made this team go. I can't wait to see you next year!

Thank you Dain! I am excited for your future as well! You have improved so much and I know you will continue to improve as your experience grows.

Thank you Coaches! I know this season was a transition year, but wow! Another 20 win season with all those twists and turns like that? That was truly remarkable. You deserve a nice rest and can't wait to see who you add to our team.

I am thankful to have you all as Illini! I know you are all disappointed, just as us fans are, but don't forget what you accomplished. It was not a smooth road, but how you respond to the bumps will define you. Let's all learn from this season and grow from it!
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I forgot to mention Coleman, that was not intentional. Thank you Coleman for trying to put this team on your back. I hope you have a lot of time to get in the gym and work on your 3 point shot. Clean up some poor decisions with long passes and make some more 3s and you will be an NBA role player for sure.
 
#196      

Bacon Butkus Swanson

B
Bacon Butkus Swanson
Yes, these upper class transfers have been frustrating to watch. All this talent wasted makes me sad. I’m starting to realize they aren’t the biggest problem Illini basketball has moving forward.

I’ve been a big BU advocate since his hire….
He’s had several chances when the lights are brightest, the NCAA tournament. Choke jobs.

I’m starting to think it’s BU’s lack of an offensive “system” and coaching, not the players.
 
#197      

CV Illini

C
CV Illini
Not a fun game to attend. But on a brighter note….the beer is cold and Iowa is currently losing!
 
#198      

Illini2010-11

I
Sugar Grove
Illini2010-11
Disappointing season (considering the success of the last 3 seasons), but playing in Mid March that is not NIT is still better than alternative of not being in bracket.

I hope RJ stays and plays next year like he did in the second half today, as well as many of the young guys sticking around...you can see the talent ready to develop.

Hopefully we will get a solid true PG next year that gels with the team and does not leave mid season. I think we see less careless turnovers with a better floor general. Chemistry issues really plagued this team, which made this season such a roller coaster.

I expect Brad to navigate NIL and the portal and have this team better next year (for a fourth straight tourney appearance...and hopefully second weekend).
 
#200      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
PizzaHutParkingLot said:
I’m a huge Brad supporter, but can you tell coach to infuse some variety in his schemes? Shrewsberry (and coaches who are great tacticians) coaching circles around us and our lack of success in set plays will be a hinderance in future postseasons.
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my friend , I liked your post and i agree with you but did anyone hear the post game presser ????.............If you didn't it was BU , TSJ and RJ.................TSJ and RJ both said the players needed to listen to coach BU more as they didn't follow his instructions as far as plays to run and etc......................Sounds , to me at least , that R J is staying put with the Illini and BU said he hopes that everyone who can come back , will come back ......As always he commended the players on being truly great young men and zero issues in the locker room ...........

Now I am very familar with coach speak or coach spin , but when the Chicago (whatever paper it was ) asked him about players and portal stuff , it just hit me as kinda over the top..........Coach handled it well by he hoped everyone comes back , but they will follow the portal and he really emphasized the 2 recruits we have coming in next year ......made mention of depth down low , but I thought it was kinda coarse by the repoter to ask that type of question now..........
 
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