Illinois 105, Cincinnati 96 (Exhibition) Postgame

#51      
HoopsterMan
blackdog said:
Ethan Brown looks like a sniper. Him, Jake, and Vaaks look like dudes that have such a quick release they can't be given any airspace.

QC just looks like a freaking stud.

Robert seems to agree

https://twitter.com/x/status/2111596041438888288
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QC is a stud. He's a box filler, plays harder than any freshman will play this year. He compliments this roster perfectly. I can easily see him being FOY this year across CBB.

This could be the year. We'll see what they're made of in the early non-con.
 
#54      
hoopsfan47
ChiIllini75 said:
The possibilities on offense are limitless. If Andre can pick some spots to kick out (in the highlights he had guys wide open all over the perimeter while Cincy sold out on his drives) not sure how you handle this group.
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From his first game, I recognized his elite ability to finish which is as good as anyone. But it was also quickly evident that he has little awareness of his unguarded teammates due to tunnel vision. Not sure what BU wants, but I would like to see him kick out a couple of times a game and keep the triple teaming to a minimum.
 
#57      
blackdog
hoopsfan47 said:
From his first game, I recognized his elite ability to finish which is as good as anyone. But it was also quickly evident that he has little awareness of his unguarded teammates due to tunnel vision. Not sure what BU wants, but I would like to see him kick out a couple of times a game and keep the triple teaming to a minimum.
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Biggest draft feedback besides shooting was this and he talked about it during the offseason being able to make better reads. The fact that he had multiple assists in this game was huge because that only happened 9 times all season.
 
#59      
Appleknockersaluki
I like how the team continued to keep fouls to a minimum. If I read the boxscore correctly, UC never got into the bonus and no Illini got into foul trouble. Although, Big Z did have three in ten minutes.
 
#61      
DICKnaggie
If you watch this video poseted above (early season, exibition) video and are not totally excited...
 
#63      
skyIdub
Dan said:
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Ummm…so….uhhh…this is our offense…without….our pre-season first team All American?

Hehe….Live look at the rest of the B1G…

200_d.gif
 
#64      
BTM33
LETS OVERREACT!

So glad basketball is back...

The good:
- Offensively skilled...all of them. They ALL can shoot, pass, dribble and make plays for others, and this will be even more evident when Mirk is back. There are no weak links on offense...I think they are going to blow teams out that they wouldn't of last year. The games when we get hot from 3 are going to just be "forget about it".
- Pace. Last year was slow, rely on Keaton and make the right play...I think this year will be alot more popping the ball around, make a play, beat your guy and let our skill shine. It should make for alot of fun.
- Andrej is locked in... his downhill game in the half court is...as good as anyone you can name in college. From spins, to angles to ball handling. Gonna be a huge year.
- Ethan Brown. The shot release is insane quick and he plays with poise. He's going to get minutes and I cant wait to watch the development.

The bad:
- DEFENSE.

But we knew this...my question is how can they address it. I didn't get to watch as much as I would have liked...but from those who saw the entirety of the game, what were the struggling with on that end?
- Outhustled?
- Out of position?
- Lack of athleticism?
- Gameplan?

It'll be the top issue all year. If they can get them to guard, we have everything else...
 
#65      
Emerson Bigguns
ChiIllini75 said:
The possibilities on offense are limitless. If Andre can pick some spots to kick out (in the highlights he had guys wide open all over the perimeter while Cincy sold out on his drives) not sure how you handle this group.
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Andre is kind of a weird fit for how the rest of the team plays, but whoa… He was getting wherever he wanted.
On nights when the 3’s aren’t falling, give him the ball and get out of the way is a heck of a Plan B.
 
#66      
FloridaMan
I will say, those highlights looked awesome! The freshman, while I'm sure will take some lumps, did not look like typical freshman. And Andrej appears to be especially locked in both on and off the court. Man, I hope we can get fully healthy and stay that way because we are on the verge of something huge!
 
#68      
kyillinifan
What I saw were our freshman playing against some veterans from Cincy. UC is a very experience team with a group of players from different schools. Yes Ethan looked good. We have a good group of freshman. Mirk would have made a difference on the court. We are going to be a good team. Andrej is a heck of a driver. Enjoyed the game. There was a lot of orange in the stands. Beat Baylor and then beat Oregon.
 
#71      
jamarvelous31
Fish1960 said:
Brad said brown starting was a reward for how he has done in practice
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Which the way he played seems reasonable.

I also meant you use this as a reason to light a fire under guys' asses about the D*

*Knowing that you didn't game plan at all and we're playing the entire roster in a way that results in giving up more points.
 
#75      
Uihoop2023!
Just got back from the game. Coleman is so smooth..he just glides. He out hustles everyone to loose balls. He went on a personal run of hitting 3 buckets and drawing a charge to put the game away. Ethan Brown will get minutes and has a quick release.Landon Davis had some moments. Andrej was a man among boys taking the ball to the hoop and even kicked the ball out a couple of times. Tomi hit a couple of threes but blew one easy layup and didnt take advantage of his height down low as much as he could or should of. I was surprised how much Vaaks tried to drive to the hoop. He needs to be less timid to shoot from three and get a quicker release...he got one three blocked that i definitely remember.
We had some terrible turnovers out top with sloppy passes that led to fast breaks.
Big Z struggled bad...had some terrible turnovers and some bad fouls. Riley abused our defense no matter who was on him as Andrej, Quinton and Lincoln all tried and failed to contain him. Their big guy Hastings had at least 4 dunks. All in all a good win considering our substitution patterns and missing an all big ten player. LOTS to work on with defense
 
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