Hail Alma Mater, Ever so true...
Illinois 70, Iowa 66 POSTGAME
Hail Alma Mater, Ever so true...
Just got back from the game. What an incredible second half!!! Watching all those Hawk fans head home as TJon was going to the line was a joy to witness. This feels sooooo good. What a huge win!! Congrats to Groce and the team. We looked like a good college basketball team in that second half. Tourney worthy. Just wish we could have consistently played like that all year.
First half? Wow. Both teams were awful.
Was surprised by the crowd. Nowhere near the sellout I heard it was supposed to be. Iowa honored their 1980 Final Four team (as well as several other players) and there were a lot of empty seats. There was some orange sprinkled around the arena, but not as much as there normally is for an Illinois game at Carver Hawkeye Arena.
Great day!!!!!
First half? Wow. Both teams were awful.
Was surprised by the crowd. Nowhere near the sellout I heard it was supposed to be. Iowa honored their 1980 Final Four team (as well as several other players) and there were a lot of empty seats. There was some orange sprinkled around the arena, but not as much as there normally is for an Illinois game at Carver Hawkeye Arena.
Great day!!!!!
Couldn't have put it better. There is no way Groce is oblivious to the chatter and the press surrounding his job status. There isn't a single member of this board who wants that ball club to succeed more than he does.
At this point in the season, I just want to see them finish strong so the seniors can get as suitably positive of a send off as is possible given the circumstances.
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I'm sure he feels bad for Malcolm and Maverick never seeing the NCAA Tournament outside of their television, too.
Because he's actually a good guy and knows hes probably done after this season. He cares for the guys and wants them to succeed... unfortunately there are some deficiencies at the head of the snake that he NEVER addressed with a competent assistant coach. Its sad beacause Groce is one of those coaches you can legitimately build a brand around if he just had the help. Oh well.... on to the next one
It's a shame he couldn't convince Brandon Miller to stay, or to return after he left Butler.
SampsonRelpenk
- Edwardsville, IL
The fact that Iowa plays on "Mediacom Court" makes me hate them that much more.
Like I mentioned before I was one of Groce's last defenders. Why does he limit the minutes of Kipper while continuing to play Tate and Abrams (sometimes at the same time). Tracy is a shadow of what he was earlier in the season, I believe his legs have left him along with his confidence. Tate is Tate.
So regardless of how many wins the Illini get the rest of the season, Groce is gone. He has failed to fully utilize guys like Kipper and DJ, two players who can provide mismatches in favor of players who pose no threat to defend or score.
Black next season better look to develop into a Roger Powell type. He is not big enough to compete with most bigs inside. Finke I hope he can develop a bit more back to the bucket and inside scoring. But I like the outside threat he has. Kipper and TJL just look to have more tools in the bag than many of the current players. Not even counting motor, heart, and drive.
So regardless of how many wins the Illini get the rest of the season, Groce is gone. He has failed to fully utilize guys like Kipper and DJ, two players who can provide mismatches in favor of players who pose no threat to defend or score.
Black next season better look to develop into a Roger Powell type. He is not big enough to compete with most bigs inside. Finke I hope he can develop a bit more back to the bucket and inside scoring. But I like the outside threat he has. Kipper and TJL just look to have more tools in the bag than many of the current players. Not even counting motor, heart, and drive.
Foul trouble, and generally not a great matchup against Iowa's frontcourt to be honest. I think he has slow feet, and is too short...
Illinidreamin
- Paris, IL.
He had 4 Fouls in 8 minutes
Same reason as Black he had 4 fouls in a short time. It wasn't as if Groce was not playing him. Both guys have got to learn not to play with their hands. Their footwork is where they are lacking.
True, though I thought the officiating was way too involved in today's game. Iowa was all over the place reaching, hand checking, pushing and hardly any calls until the very end when they had to foul. One play with the ball going out of bounds Jok literally jumped and pushed JCL to the floor in front of the ref and no call....
Deleted member 4960
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You do realize Kipper plays 3 or 4 and has nowhere near the handles that Abrams or Tate have? Abrams is a 1 or 2 and Tate is a 1. Abrams and Tate are usually subbing for Lucas or JCL. Kipper has worse handles than JCL and that is saying something.
I wasn't talking about putting Kipper at PG, but a combination of Hill with Kipper, where Hill slides to the SG. Kipper's handles looked pretty good in driving to the basket. The combo of Tate and Abrams just doesn't work, poor offense and defense. It was pretty obvious in yesterday's game.
I was busy yesterday, and for some reason my DVR didn't record the game even though I have it set to record all Illinois games. Maybe it's DirecTV's subtle way of telling me not to get excited about wins at this point, it's too late to start having hope, lol
Deleted member 4960
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I'll agree with you that I don't like Tate or Abrams on the floor together at the same time but they're not taking minutes from Kipper. Kippers minutes come from black, JCL, finke, certainly not Tate, possibly Abrams. With subbing him for Abrams you really give up a lot in the ball handling department. Which was at a premium with the press Iowa through at us all day.
Next years roster is going to be much better for his system or for any other system. Point guard will actually be a strength instead of a weakness. Yesterday is a loss if we have to play Tate and Abrams at the point the whole game. Lucas was probably worth 10-15 points. Frazier and Lucas will change the whole team in my opinion and Tillmon will be a real good big
Ditto...
Against Iowa Lucas was +14, Abrams -1, and Tate -10 so I agree that yesterday is a loss without Lucas. I think this staff's biggest weakness has been managing the minutes and the substitutions especially at the PG position. I don't see this staff ever getting the most out a roster because of that.
Deleted member 29907
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Yes, plus an experienced coach coaches to the team / players he has and doesn't try to force fit the team to an O. This team (except maybe for TJL and KN) lacks the ability to get by anyone on their own - so the O should have been a TON of screens and back screens and cutting off the ball. That, plus he did not recognize that TJL had to be thrown in the fire early as our only PG. I continue to scratch my head on why that took so long, and, gee, looks like he plays really good D. So remind me again what the hold up was?
Foggy Notion
- San Francisco
TJL was recovering from an injury.
Thanks for the actual metrics, they confirm what my eyes saw. My concern with the staff is that Walker seems to be the only one that teaches and recruits well. That was my concern lasy year, so Groce's loyalty to certain coaches and to some players cost him his job.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
Watched the game on Saturday and I'm still not sure how they won. It helps that Iowa isn't very good but Illinois did play some exceptional defense in the final four minutes or so and also hit some big time shots down the stretch. The foul shooting at the end of the game was abysmal so in that sense they were fortunate to win. I wish I felt like this was the beginning of a five-game winning streak to close out the regular season, but I don't. To me it just shows that even a blind squirrel can occasionally find a nut, especially in a season when the league is definitely down.
Deleted member 29907
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Didn't mean to imply that he should have started day 1 - but it was clear by the FSU game he was ready. He then got 16, 5, 11, DNP, DNP, 3, 10, DNP... mins right after??? Was he injured during the season?
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