Baylor 82, Illinois 69 Postgame

#126      

champaignchris

C
champaignchris
Numbers said:
Our shooting percentages on fg, 3s and FTs were nearly identical which it sure didn't feel like they were in the second half, but the box score doesn't lie. The difference was Baylor shot 7 more field goals and 8 more free throws. They won the game because they had 5 more offensive rebounds and 5 fewer turnovers.
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I came here to post the exact same thing. We lost this game on turnovers and the offensive glass.

Kofi looked tentative out there after he got his third foul.

Our team ran out of gas about midway through the second half. I think you have to credit Baylor with how hard they were making Illinois work on the offensive end.

Baylor is a little older and a little more experienced, and it looked it tonight.
 
#128      

GallopingGhost

GallopingGhost
Denver, CO
GallopingGhost
So we aren’t the 04-05 team. But we are good. Very good. Baylor was great tonight. We hung with them for basically 34 out of the 40 minute game. It fell apart there in the middle of the 2nd and we never got a good enough run to get back into range.

A few of my thoughts:
- great game for GB. If he could play like that every night then I don’t think the “foul out” Kofi strategy goes as far as other teams want it to

- Curbelo impressed me. Not in terms of carelessness, he can still tighten up and plays fearless like a freshman. But he slashed, opens up lanes, makes good passes. I’m not worried when Trent has to go.

- Baylor’s defense is just impressive. Flat out. They shut down Ayo with switches and Kofi with fouls and for the most part it worked. I am hopeful it’s not something most teams can replicate. They have 3 all American defensive guys and not every team does.

I’m not hopeless for the season. I’m hopeful! I still am going to enjoy the ride of being ranked (maybe not top 5) for a long period this season. Duke looks vulnerable, but will be our next biggest challenge. There are fixable things from tonight’s game but I want to give everyone hope that this team is good, fun and we are in for a heck of a season and March.
 
#129      

sacraig

sacraig
The desert
sacraig
Fr8trn16 said:
A 4 or 5 star recruit should not be getting outplayed by a Presbyterian transfer... period...
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This is just a flat out bad take. Look at all the 5-star fools in the NCAA and now the NBA who have been outplay by a skinny kid from Davidson. Talent can show up anywhere, and a kid's skill level and size while in high school (which are when stars are divvied up) don't just stop then and never change.

Good grief.
 
#130      

Ubermensch

Ubermensch
BOOM! Feed my ego.
Ubermensch
About what I expected. Baylor is a clearly superior team and will be all year.
 
#131      

sacraig

sacraig
The desert
sacraig
champaignchris said:
I came here to post the exact same thing. We lost this game on turnovers and the offensive glass.

Kofi looked tentative out there after he got his third foul.

Our team ran out of gas about midway through the second half. I think you have to credit Baylor with how hard they were making Illinois work on the offensive end.

Baylor is a little older and a little more experienced, and it looked it tonight.
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I don't even think they ran out of gas. I think they had a lapse, Baylor hit them in the mouth, and then they moped about it for just a tad too long, and a good team like that is going to make you pay. We didn't have an equivalent moment of our own.
 
#132      

Pop'sBlackDog

Pop'sBlackDog
Pop'sBlackDog
Unforced turnovers and Baylors offensive rebounds should be correctable errors. Baylor played terrific defense and took away any transition game by getting back on defense and with offensive rebounding. Sub par shooting from Ayo and Miller could not be overcome against such a solid team.
 
#133      

Mitch Hennessey

Mitch Hennessey
Mitch Hennessey
Hey guys. Thanks for being such gracious hosts this week. I've really enjoyed posting here and interacting with your great (and extremely knowledgeable) fanbase.

Don't be too hard on your guys. You have a young team, and they played their butts off. I haven't seen Baylor look as out of sync as they did in the first half in a long time. Cockburn picking up his second foul early on was a killer, though. Giorgi kept your guys in it by playing out of his gourd, but the inability to establish an inside-out game due to foul trouble was the difference between this game coming down to the wire and what ended up happening.

Underwood probably had a really good gameplan coming in, but losing your major advantage (Kofi) early on threw cold water on that, and it's tough to prepare for the perimeter defense we throw at guards if you haven't experienced it before. Don't be too hard on Ayo, either. It was clear our defensive gameplan was to make him work extremely hard for anything he got, and we're probably going to make a few more stud guards look like they're having a rough night this year (hopefully starting with Kispert and Nembhard this Saturday).

You'll bounce back. You have a dang good squad, and a new fan in me. Good luck the rest of the way, and we may see you guys again in March (or April, May...whenever this season finishes up)!
 
#134      

the juiceman cometh

T
the juiceman cometh
sacraig said:
I don't even think they ran out of gas. I think they had a lapse, Baylor hit them in the mouth, and then they moped about it for just a tad too long, and a good team like that is going to make you pay. We didn't have an equivalent moment of our own.
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Agreed and I think this is why the performance was disappointing to many, including myself. I was hopeful that experienced players like Ayo, Trent and DMW wouldn't react like that in this kind of situation. I think it's a lesson they'll learn, and hopefully when something like this happens later on this season, they'll rise to the challenge. Even so, I think it's reasonable to be disappointed in how it played out tonight.
 
#135      

sacraig

sacraig
The desert
sacraig
the juiceman cometh said:
Agreed and I think this is why the performance was disappointing to many, including myself. I was hopeful that experienced players like Ayo, Trent and DMW wouldn't react like that in this kind of situation. I think it's a lesson they'll learn, and hopefully when something like this happens later on this season, they'll rise to the challenge. Even so, I think it's reasonable to be disappointed in how it played out tonight.
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I'll be honest, I saw lots of mopey body language in that short stretch but I didn't catch specifically who it was. Maybe it wasn't Ayo, Trent and DMW at all but even two mopers is two too many. Of course, maybe it was them, too. Importantly, I bet BU knows (or will shortly after watching the tape) and whoever it is will know it.
 
#136      

LostinNebraska

L
LostinNebraska
You know what though... After the way last year ended, we got to watch a game like this in early December, knowing we can hang with the team that I feel should be #1 in the country. I can't go to bed mad, that's a blessing. And it's all good from here - this team will get better as they mature and on a pure talent basis, that's a lot of upside to look forward to.
 
#138      

JSpence

J
Evansville, IN
JSpence
the juiceman cometh said:
I watched West Virginia against Gonzaga, and their fans should be happy with how their team played despite the loss. I don't feel the same way about the Illini, particularly in the last 10 minutes. But if you're happy with tonight's effort, then great!
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Whatever, man. If your fandom involves a race to the bottom, you speed on ahead.

It's barely December. If you let the silly #5 ranking set your expectations for an early game against a top-3 team, that's on you.

I hope that you don't seriously need a minimum of 40 minutes of one-possession basketball to keep you off a cliff. Illinois could have won this game by double digits and what would that guarantee? No more losses? A national championship? Nothing was ever going to be settled here today.

You're acting like you've seen enough to write this season off, but me and the Thanksgiving leftovers in my fridge say that's totally premarure. Losing a signature non-con game does not define a season.
 
#139      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
Fr8trn16 said:
A 4 or 5 star recruit should not be getting outplayed by a Presbyterian transfer... period...
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This is just a silly take. Whole lot of people were very excited about adding a Wesleyan and Holy Cross transfer to the Illini roster. Flagler averaged 16.0 ppg at Presbyterian and scored 20 against Marquette, 29 against UCLA, 13 against Butler and 20 versus Dayton that year. He’s also had a year plus of playing against/with a top 10 team. This isn’t some kid they pulled out of the Little Sisters of the Poor rec league.
 
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#140      

Peoria Pipeline

Peoria Pipeline
Peoria Pipeline
Baylor is the best team in the country. I’m sure some people will overreact but it is what it is. Our best players played poorly and we still had some chances to get right back in the game at the end. Kofi has to be smarter and has to get better at his pick and roll defense. Trent has to take care of the ball better. Curbelo looked good and Hawkins flashed in his very limited minutes. We are good just not Baylor good.... yet.
 
#141      

Hair Like Keene

H
Hair Like Keene
Offensive rebounds stood out more than anything. Just hard to control the boards with Kofi playing like he did and having an undersized 4. Not a knock on Williams. Just reality.

What bothered me the most, though, was the offensive sets the team used. Our weave does absolutely nothing against a team that is switching everything. It looked like we were playing a man offense against a 1-2-2 actually because we didn't make them move out of position. All we did was waste clock and then forced too much at the end of the clock. That's a coaching issue that has to be addressed. We need to allow the players to be able to make plays, and that offense doesn't do it against a top defensive team. It makes it too easy on them. If Ayo's runners had been falling it would have bailed us out...and might have even been enough, but they clearly weren't.
 
#142      

the national

the national
the Front Range
the national
Hair Like Keene said:
Offensive rebounds stood out more than anything. Just hard to control the boards with Kofi playing like he did and having an undersized 4. Not a knock on Williams. Just reality.

What bothered me the most, though, was the offensive sets the team used. Our weave does absolutely nothing against a team that is switching everything. It looked like we were playing a man offense against a 1-2-2 actually because we didn't make them move out of position. All we did was waste clock and then forced too much at the end of the clock. That's a coaching issue that has to be addressed. We need to allow the players to be able to make plays, and that offense doesn't do it against a top defensive team. It makes it too easy on them. If Ayo's runners had been falling it would have bailed us out...and might have even been enough, but they clearly weren't.
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off-topic but your name is awesome!
 
#143      

Tenacious D

T
Tenacious D
This game was very special for me as a Baylor alum but as a Illini fan growing up in Bloomington, IL.

I grew up as a Illini fan of all sports, especially for basketball, and it is great to see the basketball program with such great talent and young talent with such a high ceiling for this year and years to come. I turned my attention to Baylor sports as football and basketball got to be more competitive, but I'll be sure to keep a close eye on the MBB program going forward. Great future ahead.
 
#144      

sacraig

sacraig
The desert
sacraig
Tenacious D said:
This game was very special for me as a Baylor alum but as a Illini fan growing up in Bloomington, IL.

I grew up as a Illini fan of all sports, especially for basketball, and it is great to see the basketball program with such great talent and young talent with such a high ceiling for this year and years to come. I turned my attention to Baylor sports as football and basketball got to be more competitive, but I'll be sure to keep a close eye on the MBB program going forward. Great future ahead.
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I'm sorry you had to spend at least 4 years in Waco.
 
#145      

JFGsCoffeeMug

JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
Chicago
JFGsCoffeeMug
Ayo is mentally tough. This loss will be like jet fuel for him. It will motivate him to work even harder and be better down the stretch this season. I think you will see a big difference even next week. He won't have a repeat of this stat line against Duke.
 
#146      

Miles Leonard

M
Miles Leonard
CDRUSN said:
I don't mind too much losing to a great team in a tough game, but giving up in the last 10 minutes is pathetic. That ending was embarrassing.
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That stretch is the only thing that didn't sit right with me. The communication and rotations on defense were non-existent. Baylor had unimpeded access to the rim at that point. They beat our butts to every loose ball and killed us on the offensive glass. It was reminiscent of the mentally weak Groce/Weber teams that hung their heads and jogged back on defense when a shot didn't go in or they didn't get a call. It's tough when that happens but good teams, especially ones striving to be elite like us, have to fight through those things.
 
#147      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
Baylor’s offensive rebounding early in second half was the killer. Illini were right there and playing good D only to have Baylor get the ball back for second chance points. That really seemed to energize Baylor’s D and take some of the wind out of the Illini’s sails and frustrated them — leading to a lapse/stretch of bad play that energized Baylor even more.

I thought Ayo played fairly well in 2nd half. Not as good as we’re used to seeing or enough to beat Baylor, but not terrible. With Kofi never able to get rolling and Adam not playing well (threw up several ill-advised shots), Illini just didn’t have the fire power to combat a very good Baylor D.

As many have pointed out, Illini pick and roll defense is very troubling But other than that I think it was mostly just a case of going up against a really good Baylor team. I wasn’t convinced that the Illini are a top 10 team let alone a top 5, so outcome wasn’t totally unexpected for me. But still plenty to like and the 3 freshmen will only improve, so this is by no means a finished product.