Game Thread: Illinois vs Valparaiso

[GetAWin]

Arena looks electric

 

[dbeverly26]

Even the kid shooting during the timeout can’t get a bucket to fall smdh

 

[jumpingjack]

Omg...here come the CoHawk hot takes. I'm out.

I'll catch the replay.

Ditto.

 

[Pikeillinifan]

They are not ready to play tonight.

We can talk about who to blame, but this team did not show up ready to play.

Seems like we’re saying this in the vast majority of games every year.

 

[vikings001]

The last 2 games we’ve been better from 3 and FT than from 2/layups. That’s a big problem. Unless we’re shooting 40%+ from 3 consistently and we aren’t

 

[State of Chicago]

Maybe “bad Coleman” was really just “injured Coleman” playing against top 5 competition.

 

[dbeverly26]

Nice job of slowing it down there by Amani

 

[NarrowJ]

Haha that Valpo guy thought it was football

 

[hoopsfan47]

Arena looks electric

And relatively empty. I like what I see from Coach Powell's team. They look like they play hare, play fast, and take care of the ball. Depth on Illini's side but who knows where this will end as Valpo is far more motivated and has a lot less to lose. Typical MVC team that plays with a high IQ and takes good shots.

 

[BRucks]

We've shot more threes than twos.

 

[Gbop]

This reminds me of a Bruce Weber offense.

 

[Illiniam1984]

 

[DB11Headband]

Need to figure out these slows starts

We’ve been saying that for far too long, brother

 

[aaeismacgychel]

Need to figure out these slows starts

That's a mentality issue. While it does come down to players preparing themselves, the coach needs to also find the right tools to get them coming out frothing at the mouth. Brad needs to insert himself here in my opinion until the players can do it themselves

 

[grantlab]

Trying not to overreact, but we’ve seen 3 Spain games, 2 exhibition games, and are into our 4th regular season game where it’s safe to say, this is a bad shooting team, and that’s just not going to change this season. We need to find a way to manufacture more looks at the rim, because hucking from 3 is going to lead to a lot of losses

 

[FloridaMan]

Oh look. More turnovers.

 

[FrankNitty30]

Anyone who is more than a casual fan can feel the absence of CoHawk. He does a lot of things that some take for granted.

This

 

[OrangeAndBlueBlooded]

Points off turnovers is 7-0 Valparaiso.

 

[FrankNitty30]

When you don’t have a starting caliber PG, this kind of stuff happens. Going to be a long season

Not even remotely the problem and has not been the problem at any point this season so far.

 

[pruman91]

A layup , a layup , my kingdom for a made layup...............geesh , same ole same ole......slow start and can't hit a 2 foot shot......we really really can't...........................

 

[zentrails]

Need to figure out these slows starts

Plus maybe give some credit to our opponents for not being pushovers from the start?
It's not like we are playing local guys from the gym

 

[BBlock24]

Not even remotely the problem and has not been the problem at any point this season so far.

Disagree. You’re asking Ty Rodgers who isn’t a PG to be a PG and in doing so, takes him away from what he does best. He needs to be on the inside because he doesn’t have a jump shot. Not a recipe for success imo.

 

[mydosburns]

Nico looking pretty good.

 

[aaeismacgychel]

Back to back 2 good offensive possessions by DGL. While I liked the drive and finish, I loved that entry pass

 

[grantlab]

Plus maybe give some credit to our opponents for not being pushovers from the start?
It's not like we are playing local guys from the gym

Lol. This is a Kenpom 300+ team. If this is the answer, we are nowhere near a top 25 team