Illinois 113, Jackson State 55 Postgame

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#101      
Illini in Italy
grue2 said:
Coach style comments -- if you only want the orange tint, move along.

Humrich and Davis had solid games. They did not do anything flashy. They just did their assigned tasks and were (mostly) in the right places at the right time. The offense was much smoother when Davis was on the floor.

Big Z: Needs to work on protecting the ball. When you have a rebound, the first priority is holding onto it. You can't just lazily bring it down, and you especially can't go straight to a dribble. He lost multiple balls after the initial grab. Another issue is his passes. The passes, especially the ones inside out, are telegraphed. Several were tipped, and at least one was stolen. He also needs to get his arms up sooner when guarding the perimeter and they are going to shoot. They took several successful shots over him.

Mirkovik - He did well based on his size and strength. There were a TON of mental mistakes. First, like Z, there wasn't enough emphasis placed on protecting the ball. There were multiple lazy passes, some dangerous passes, and some poor decisions when to pass, e.g. the pass out to Davis when he should have just dunked it with authority. He also is too loose with the dribble in traffic. Mirkovik was out of position defensively a fair bit, and did a poor job of closing out on his man; he reacted too late, thinking "should I", vs. just doing it. The offense often stalled with Mirkovik in the lineup and then smoothed once Davis came in. Some of this is arriving late. Some of it is not.

Wagler: A bunch of freshman mistakes. He tried to do too much 1:1 at times. (Not bad play, just freshman play.)

Defense: A solid team defense was nowhere to be found tonight. The defense played was purely using size/athleticism vs. being in the right positions and doing the right things. Rotations were off (missing, missed). Closeouts were poor. I get we had some people out. This looked to be more than just a coordination issue. Individuals were looking lost and didn't have their job down yet.

Offense: Despite the score, the offense didn't seem to flow most of the time. (It flowed far better with Jake than with Mirkovik.) One issue was the passes, both inside out, and around the horn were not crisp enough. They gave the defense time to rotate and recover. Another issue was when an player near the hoop noticed a teammate driving at them. They blindly vacated the area leaving their defender right in the path of the driving player. Stay and seal them off.

Lets get better each game, and make a run in March.
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Beyond the usual Loyalty gleeful reaction to a non-con blowout, we did what we're supposed to do against a competent mid-major (one could argue they are more than competent as a mid-major ranked at #200). And based on last night's results for other ranked teams (see below), we had much better results than many. If your post was to demonstrate coaching chops or educate the masses here on Loyalty, well, good luck.

#4 UCONN 79
New Haven 55 (#359)

#18 Tennessee 76
Mercer 61 (#212)

#22 Michigan State 80
Colgate 69 (#182)

#2 Houston 75
Lehigh 57 (#293)

#20 Auburn 95 in OT
Bethune Cookman 90 (#193)

#12 UCLA 80
E. Washington 74 (#187)

Enjoy the ride, it's going to be an entertaining season!

fx ride GIF by Mayans M.C.
 
#103      
doowink
Pretty impressive win, not just because we won by 50+…and maybe JSU wasn’t the highest quality opponent, but because of the way the (basically) 9-10 guys played together. Many here have been concerned (and rightly so) how bringing so many new faces together for the first time, how would they mesch and how quickly would they play together…what I saw last night was a group that looked like they had played together for quite some time (especially offensively)…everyone seemed comfortable playing their position and knew where their team mates were on the floor…sure there’s room for improvement…better free throws…need some more work on defense (especially the zone)…but with some improvement what will this team look like in January??….color me Orange
Jim Carrey Flirting GIF
 
#106      
hoopsfan47
sacraig said:
Almost like they've had *checks notes* coaching and practice.
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IMHO, Ben's confident demeanor we have seen on the court this year is due to feeling like he belongs in the B1G coupled with having bulked up to the point of being able to physically compete on both ends. He is now Big Bad John. He always had the shooting skills and technique, but was missing the confidence. He has become exactly what I expected him to become....and an extremely valuable piece to this team.
 
#107      
bschulte1978
They're in the SWAC. One of the two absolute WORST conferences in D1. A championship there means nothing.
 
#109      
OB positive
hoopsfan47 said:
Personally, it is a better take than most I have seen. Make no mistake, this team has a high ceiling and that is in the NC stratosphere.

But two things made tonight's performance almost inevitable...height advantage and shooting performance. Both of those will disappear on several occasions. Then, whether this Illini team wins against evenly matched teams depend on willingness to hustle until exhaustion, connecting with every pass, grabbing really tough, contested rebounds, hitting contested shots, knowing who will be cutting when and seeing them and getting the ball in that their hands, keeping turnovers in single digits and....of course....hitting free throws...especially when they are crucial to winning. All those things need improvement. Its not being unreasonable to point that out. I am certain BU will do that. This was a good game where our guys hit shots at a high level, but we all know that does not happen very often.

But that what these early OOC games are for and it is hard to keep focus and energy up when you lead by 30 after 12 minutes. I do not feel the criticism is anything but constructive and supportive. The bar for this team is and should be set very high. Focus, hard work, and improvement are what is needed right now. The win and performance were enjoyed by all, but it was a first step against very low competition, not Michigan or UConn.

This team may have the best talent and highest ceiling of any in Illini history....and I loved the Flyin' Illini and '05 Illini as much as anyone. One thing most miss about this team is the importance of Ben. I won't state that I knew he would improve greatly, and that is not proven yet by in fact has become almost a guarantee, but there was little doubt in my mind that after a season of B1G fermentation, months of work with Fletch, a significant gain in self confidence, and the reduction in pressure to be the team's go to shooter, that he would become a critical piece of the puzzle that would fit a huge need for a dependable front court big. Finding Mirk was a cherry on top and takes tremendous pressure off him to have Ben's support.

I also agree with grue's post that Z's performance was sub-standard, but what a great guy to have. If and when BU gets his attention and changes some of his habits, he can be an amazing plus factor to this team when the stage gets huge.

As I said earlier, I am not sure how much AS, Ty and Petro can raise the ceiling for this team. I sure hope they can, especially when the going gets tough, and that is when the tough get going. I truly hope this team belongs in the tough group....along with getting a bit lucky too!!
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Once we get Petro back the offense will really take off. He is great facilitator and ball handler that will create a lot of opportunities for himself and others. He was one of the top players in the same league we got Mirk from. As good as our offense was last night we were lacking consistent dribble drive penetration.
 
#112      
BrownTown
OB positive said:
Z will be fine. He did pretty well in his first two years with Calipari.
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It's crazy to think how Z was the primary get for Calipari over Tomi.

Obviously, Coach Cal likes to play a certain way with speed, athleticism, and size..

I still think we'll see a few games where Z gets hot and absolutely takes over. Though his brother is just clearly on another level. It's Tomi time
 
#114      
Combo
BrownTown said:
It's crazy to think how Z was the primary get for Calipari over Tomi.

Obviously, Coach Cal likes to play a certain way with speed, athleticism, and size..

I still think we'll see a few games where Z gets hot and absolutely takes over. Though his brother is just clearly on another level. It's Tomi time
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That's a perfect way to put it. Z would be well served to watch his brother play.
 
#115      
IlliniFan42
NarrowJ said:
No you’re absolutely right and I’m being too harsh

Though hamstrings and knees aren’t things you try to play through for an extended time period like you would forearm pain… can’t see them doing that

Indy and LVille have repeatedly said they’ll be fine, so it just feels the constant hammering of “it’s worse than they’re telling everyone” theory is off base here (we knew Ty’s injury was a serious one immediately; there was no “oh he’s trending upward” it was “he’s likely out for a few months minimum” which is what I’d expect to hear if that were the case for Petro and AS)
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I mean, we sit here wondering how serious the injuries we're aware of are, and then Brandon Lee walks out in a boot and we find out he's probably out until December hours before a game. It's comical how cagey the team is when it comes to injuries and we're expected to accept "he'll be fine" and wait around. I don't want "fine", I want "worth the millions we paid to recruit."
 
#116      
Brosky
pruman91 said:
well , I respect your opinion......I really really do........but I consider myself to be a very much die-hard fan and I am supremely satisfied with our performance last night and I respectfully disagree with your post..........

I am of the opinion that there are people who are optimists and there are people who are pessimists......I think we all want more from our favorite teams but us optimists have the ability to enjoy a complete domination like last night and are able to not voice a concern and just enjoy the game results.........the wanting more should never be the major opinion after what we witnessed on the court last night........

if you wanted more after last night's rout of jsu then I don't know what to say to ease your pessimistic slant on sports and what you expect each game.........there will never be an acceptable outcome and that's not being a die-hard fan , that's being an unrealistic fan.........there's never a perfect game played.....there's always something to nitpick about.......it's what level of play you decide to be enough for you to be happy and I'm as happy as I could be after watching the Illini throttle a supposedly good mid major team on every stat you could think of....

It's another example of being a glass half full fan or being a glass half empty.......I can't be a pessimist about the Illini EVER.......

JMHO.......and no disrespect to anyone intended...........

the more you know..........................
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I agree with all of this. What I posted was meant to be lighthearted. I was highly satisfied last night. The only "more" I wanted was physical health for Petro and Stoy. I assume that will happen soon.
 
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#117      
NarrowJ
IlliniFan42 said:
I mean, we sit here wondering how serious the injuries we're aware of are
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Do we though? We've been kept up to speed on progress of injured players... its been asked and answered ad naseum by the staff as well as Indy & LVille. We've literally been getting updates nearly every single day on progress of injured players.

IlliniFan42 said:
Brandon Lee walks out in a boot and we find out he's probably out until December hours before a game. It's comical how cagey the team is when it comes to injuries
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Brandon has a high ankle sprain, exactly as was reported.. where is this caginess? You wanted them to just hold a press conference the very minute he goes down in practice? Brad mentioned it the very first chance he got, which was in the pre-game show prior to the game. We report our injuries exactly as every other college program does. Everyone pretty much knew immediately that Ty would be out several months, possibly the whole season. There was no downplaying or hiding it or even delaying any announcement of the injury. There's no grand conspiracy here, its all in your imagination.

IlliniFan42 said:
we're expected to accept "he'll be fine" and wait around. I don't want "fine", I want "worth the millions we paid to recruit."
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Did you pay part of their salary? What a weird comment. And yes, you are damn right you are expected to accept it. Injuries happen.. If the player is injured you don't just force them to play anyway because they're getting a paycheck. You hold them out and let them heal. This is so obvious, come on.
 
#118      
Combo
IlliniFan42 said:
I mean, we sit here wondering how serious the injuries we're aware of are, and then Brandon Lee walks out in a boot and we find out he's probably out until December hours before a game. It's comical how cagey the team is when it comes to injuries and we're expected to accept "he'll be fine" and wait around. I don't want "fine", I want "worth the millions we paid to recruit."
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I share your general sentiment - it seems the info they allow to get out on injuries is overly optimistic. However the bolded doesn't make sense. If you pay a kid $1M and he gets hurt, all the screaming and crying doesn't matter. Players get injured. Always have, always will.
 
#120      
HensonHall71
Oracle21 said:
I don’t see Z playing any real minutes during the real games unless Tomi is in foul trouble. I see Tomi at 33+ minutes in the tough ones and Z very spot minutes. Plus Mirkovic is just better than Z so it makes no sense to play the twins together anyway
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I think this is starting to become clear that Z is mostly backing up T - I still see Z getting 15 min or so a game. I think you have to start Mirk at the PF, based on how he is playing and he fills so many needs with toughness on the boards, playmaking, scoring etc. It's also clear Ben can be counted on this year to be a designated shooter and to rebound when he's in there. If Wagler continues to play with maturity, it's a whole different outlook for this team with Wagler and Mirk stepping up big time to have large roles so far. I have to think Petrovic eventually starts once he gets healthy and is worked into the lineup. Our top 8 looks really good and I even feel good about Lee, Jake and JJ if we have to go deeper some games they seem ready too.

Petrovic
Boswell
Andrej
Mirk
Big T

with Wagler, Big Z, Ben, Lee, Davis, JJ coming off the bench is a formidable top 11
 
#122      
IlliniFan42
NarrowJ said:
Do we though? We've been kept up to speed on progress of injured players... its been asked and answered ad naseum by the staff as well as Indy & LVille. We've literally been getting updates nearly every single day on progress of injured players.



Brandon has a high ankle sprain, exactly as was reported.. where is this caginess? You wanted them to just hold a press conference the very minute he goes down in practice? Brad mentioned it the very first chance he got, which was in the pre-game show prior to the game. We report our injuries exactly as every other college program does. Everyone pretty much knew immediately that Ty would be out several months, possibly the whole season. There was no downplaying or hiding it or even delaying any announcement of the injury. There's no grand conspiracy here, its all in your imagination.



Did you pay part of their salary? What a weird comment. And yes, you are damn right you are expected to accept it. Injuries happen.. If the player is injured you don't just force them to play anyway because they're getting a paycheck. You hold them out and let them heal. This is so obvious, come on.
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I'm not saying to make them play, I've been assuming that all the injuries are worse than we're told. We were told it was minor with Petrovic and Andrej, both have missed a game so far.

Brandon we could've found out sooner. We didn't know until Scott Richey watched the Illini come out for warm-ups and tweeted about it, which seemed to force their hand. It's not 1970, a lot of money legally moves around on sports and transparency is expected or you end up facing what the NBA is facing today. Lee won't change any betting patterns but Andrej being a gametime decision against real opponents might.

We operate under a budget, I'm not blaming them for getting injured, but if they're recovering they're not gonna be 100%, which is different than fine. Fine to me is play decently for 20 minutes. We need them to be great, we're not facing Jackson State every night.
 
#123      
NarrowJ
IlliniFan42 said:
I'm not saying to make them play, I've been assuming that all the injuries are worse than we're told. We were told it was minor with Petrovic and Andrej, both have missed a game so far.
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They missed 1 game and it was said Andrej could've played if they really wanted him to. This is a positive that they're being held out for games we can win by 55 points without them. You say you're assuming, and that's the big problem here imo. Why are you 'assuming' the very opposite of what Indy, LVille and Brad keep saying?

IlliniFan42 said:
Brandon we could've found out sooner. We didn't know until Scott Richey watched the Illini come out for warm-ups and tweeted about it, which seemed to force their hand. It's not 1970, a lot of money legally moves around on sports and transparency is expected or you end up facing what the NBA is facing today. Lee won't change any betting patterns but Andrej being a gametime decision against real opponents might.
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Could have found out sooner? How? And why? Lol at forcing their hand, like they were going to put a blanket over his leg so nobody would see the boot & crutches. This truly is wild conspiracy stuff here lmao. We are not reporting our injuries any differently than any other program does, bottom line. As fans, we are not entitled to any information at all, so its great we are getting so much of it (we are getting pretty much daily updates via Brad/Indy/LVille, not sure what more can be done).

IlliniFan42 said:
We operate under a budget, I'm not blaming them for getting injured, but if they're recovering they're not gonna be 100%, which is different than fine. Fine to me is play decently for 20 minutes. We need them to be great, we're not facing Jackson State every night.
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I just disagree (and thankfully Fletch & the staff do too). There is absolutely zero reason to roll these guys out with hamstring and knee injuries when we can win by 55 without them.
 
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#125      
IlliniFan42
I'm not saying to roll them out with injuries, I'm saying there's a possibility they're not gonna be 100% this season, and that's a real problem for the team. Eventually they'll play when they're "fine", but it's not gonna be at the level the team was expecting when they signed them.
 
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