Illinois 105, Cincinnati 96 (Exhibition) Postgame

#101      
Battle89
BTM33 said:
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...
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Feels like I just flashed back to a September football thread.
 
#102      
NarrowJ
Guest said:
At the end of one of the highlight videos posted here on IL, it included the end-of-game congratulatory routine. Does anyone know who the Cincinnati guy (player, assistant coach?) was who the Ivisic twins and Jake (and maybe one or two others) hugged? And why. They kind of made a big deal of it, even. Former Illini, maybe? Just curious.
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Andrew Bittle
 
#103      
OrangeBlue98
Second place is 1st loser said:
Our defense definitely got better as the year went on last year, but man, it still lost us a lot of games.

UCLA-20+ point lead

MSU-lead late in game and we couldn't get a stop.

Wisconsin- let's focus on the BTT where we lost not one, but TWO 15 point leads. The game at our place we also had a double digit lead, but let's write that off to attrition given the injuries.

That's off the top of my head. It did get better, especially in the NCAAT. Playing at that level would be ideal.
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I understand and respect that point. Here’s why I’m optimistic.

1) The switch turned on during the tournament. With the retention, I think they’ll remember what that meant and focus more on defense. Being in Crocker’s system for a second year doesn’t hurt.

2) Q brings a level of athleticism that maybe wasn’t there last season.

I’ll admit that Vaaks on defense concerns me. I also am concerned about focus on defense when they are so good offensively. But the tournament gives me reasons for optimism.
 
#104      
lstewart53x3
In their first exhibition, Cincy beat Ohio St, currently #21 in KenPom. Cincy played 10, we played 12 (which without Mirk means we went 13 deep).
 
#105      
Username
Morillo went from (early in the offseason) being our potential 6/7th man to getting just 5 mins in the exhibition.

Can anyone tell me if this is all attributed to his injury and recovery, if there is something else, or if it's just that the other freshman (like Brown or Zens who both got significantly more minutes) have outperformed expectations? I know it's the first exhibition game, and I should not read too much into it, but Morillo only getting 5 minutes was a surprise to me.

I appreciate anything anyone can share.
 
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#106      
EmeraldCityIllini
orangem said:
Seems that Brown has outplayed Vaaks, and from last night may be particularly better for the team if Vaaks is not needed as the main facilitator instead of Q or Mirk.

We've seen high school rankings can be meaningless very quickly.

Right now I'd be surprised if Vaaks starts.
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I’d still be fairly surprised
 
#107      
EmeraldCityIllini
Username said:
Morillo went from (early in the offseason) being our potential 6/7th man to getting just 5 mins in the exhibition.

Can anyone tell me if this is all attributed to his injury and recovery, if there is something else, or if it's just that the other freshman (like Brown or Zens who both got significantly more minutes) have outperformed expectations? I know it's the first exhibition game, and I should not read too much into it, but Morillo only getting 5 minutes was a surprise to me.

I appreciate anything anyone can share.
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He had a bad cut early and either needed stitched up or a nice butterfly.

Weren’t gonna bring him back in an exhibition with that.
 
#108      
Username
EmeraldCityIllini said:
He had a bad cut early and either needed stitched up or a nice butterfly.

Weren’t gonna bring him back in an exhibition with that.
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I appreciate that. I hadn't read/heard that anywhere. Hopefully he heals soon and gets more tick moving forward. The guy sure has had some bad luck injury-wise.
 
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