Illinois 71, Jackson State 47 Postgame

#101      
So used to seeing the inside out game the last two years with Kofi and Gorgi. I don't remember seeing one pass to the post all night. A much different game than what we will be seeing once Kofi is back.
As a side, I hope to see Kofi kicking it out to an open shooter once and awhile this year when he is double teamed. We have a lot of shooters.
Kevin Kugler: "What do you think scouts and other teams can take away from watching this Illini team tonight?"
Robbie Hummel: "Nothing"
 
#102      
I think some people aren’t giving Jackson Stare enough credit. They were undefeated in their conference regular season last year and were ranked 5th in the nation in defensive efficiency.

They’re a solid, well-coached team with a strong defensive identity. Easily the best low-major we play this year and the exact kind of team that could bite a higher-ranked team playing without its primary ball handlers.
You left out a few things. Yes, they were undefeated in regular season, but because of Covid, they didn’t play the other top 2 teams — Texas Southern, which they lost to in conference tourney, and Prairie View, which was also undefeated. They also lost all 5 of their noncon games by an average of 24.6 points. The only noncon team they lost to by less than 23 points was Iowa St, which they lost to by 15. Iowa St was 2-21 last year. By the way, Jackson St also lost its all everything player Tristan Jarrett. And I’m not sure what the defensive efficiency ranking you cite is supposed to mean. Not gonna tell me they were the 5th best defensive team in nation are you? If they were in BIG, they wouldn’t even have been fifth best defensive in the conference.

Could the Illini have lost to Jackson St last night? Sure, anything is possible. We’re they likely to? No. And if they had it would have been their worst loss in quite some time.
 
#103      
Podz - I think he is further away than we think, especially when compared to Goode and Melendez which is funny given how scared everyone was about him decommitting when we lost Chin. I still think he could be a good player. I love that he was identified as the one with the biggest chip on his shoulder. I hope he turns into a Lucas Johnson type for us that is scrappy, energetic, and can drain an outside shot once in a while.
Did anybody else notice that right before the inbound play at the end of the first half (the 2nd one - after the review), Podz took his sweat towel and tossed it in the face of Goode. At first I thought he was goofing (which he may have been), but I rewound it 3 times and Goode was not amused.
They may have a little rivalry brewing...not that there's anything wrong with that.
 
#104      

blackdog

Champaign
Something that stood out to me was how good some of the passes were by the young guys. Hawkins, Goode, Melendez, Podz, BBV all had some really nice ball move and slick passes. That one possession where they moved from side to side and ended up with a nice drive and dump from RJ to BBV was just basketball at its best. I'm super excited to see them gell more as they gain experience.
 
#105      
I’m not going to get to excited about or down on a player based upon this game — especially when it comes to the 5 spot. Only thing this game told me about Payne is that at least right now it doesn’t look like he’s a plug and play at the 5 when Kofi leaves. But I still think he’s going to be primary backup and will do a good job. Think he’ll definitely be upgrade over Giorgi when it comes to D.

As for BBV, my take away is that he may be a more productive piece if needed than I think most, including me, thought. But I’m not willing to put him above Payne nor even into the rotation based on this game.

Going forward, I’m probably most interested in seeing Hawk perform against better competition. He has looked great in the exhibition and first games, and I don’t doubt he has taken a step forward. How big a step remains to be seen. But certainly looks like at the least he gives BU some nice flexibility.
 
#106      
I'm hopeful with time Payne will figure out his fit in this team, but man if Kofi hadn't come back this could have been a frustrating season if he was going to be the starter at the 5. Also just hoping Plummer had an off night and that's all. I wonder if there is a benefit to the sit out year for at least some transfers. Grandison was well integrated into the team by the time he played his first game, whereas Plummer and Payne seemed almost like Freshmen in a way.
 
#107      

blackdog

Champaign
I'm hopeful with time Payne will figure out his fit in this team, but man if Kofi hadn't come back this could have been a frustrating season if he was going to be the starter at the 5. Also just hoping Plummer had an off night and that's all. I wonder if there is a benefit to the sit out year for at least some transfers. Grandison was well integrated into the team by the time he played his first game, whereas Plummer and Payne seemed almost like Freshmen in a way.

Plummer still had 4 assists and 3 steals playing an offense and a position that's he's not used to. I actually thought the offense ran better the few times he played the point vs Damonte.
 
#108      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
Someone posted CoHawk's potential with a KD comp yesterday.....and I'm not convinced it's crazy talk.

The potential....

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#109      
How about some love for Robbie Hummel? Pleasant radio voice, good demeanor, says sweet things about us... If he had thrown in a couple examples of in-depth analysis, it would have been a near-perfect job.
I'll be happy to hear that he's calling future games for us.
and no, I'm not his mother.
 
#110      
Not really getting the Payne criticism. There will be nits to pick with any player over the first couple games. Last night, Payne's were the turnovers and fewer rebounds he's capable of. Otherwise I thought he played his role really well and showed a little bit of everything he can do. He's a monster athlete and defensive presence.
 
#111      
I'm hopeful with time Payne will figure out his fit in this team, but man if Kofi hadn't come back this could have been a frustrating season if he was going to be the starter at the 5. Also just hoping Plummer had an off night and that's all. I wonder if there is a benefit to the sit out year for at least some transfers. Grandison was well integrated into the team by the time he played his first game, whereas Plummer and Payne seemed almost like Freshmen in a way.
I think Plummer will be fine. I do think some people on here were playing him up more than he deserved. During summer I saw posts saying he might start over Trent, might start with Trent and Belo, can create his own shot, and is a good defensive player among other things. I saw him play in a handful of games over last two years and what I saw was a very good shooter from 3 who can dribble it a few times to get in better position for shot (but not what I think of when talking about creating your own shot). I think he’ll be all that with Illini and can almost guarantee that there will be at least a couple of games when we are breathing a sigh of relief that he is on the team because his shooting was key part of win. He’s not going to be that guy every night but he’ll at least be a positive most nights.

As for last night’s performance, really the only thing that bothered me was him not going to the ground for loose balls. And in these early games, not surprising that Plummer and Payne look a little behind. Not only are they learning new system, but in games they’ve been part of lineups we’ll rarely if ever see rest of the season. That was certainly the case last night with those 4 guys out.
 
#112      
Plummer still had 4 assists and 3 steals playing an offense and a position that's he's not used to. I actually thought the offense ran better the few times he played the point vs Damonte.
Also 3 turnovers and 1-4 from 3 (which is supposed to be his strong suit) against weak competition. Was it catastrophic? No. Was it a good night for him? Also no.
 
#113      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
Plummer was so far out of the role he was brought in for...I agree with BU's praise of him last night. He held his own against a pretty solid defense.

He's not going to be a ball handler after Friday. Then he will shoot his way into our hearts and minds forever!
 
#114      
Nice opening win for the team. While injuries are not welcome it was nice that 8 players were able to get on the court for 17 minutes or more.
 
#115      
Did anybody else notice that right before the inbound play at the end of the first half (the 2nd one - after the review), Podz took his sweat towel and tossed it in the face of Goode. At first I thought he was goofing (which he may have been), but I rewound it 3 times and Goode was not amused.
They may have a little rivalry brewing...not that there's anything wrong with that.
I noticed that too. It seemed inadvertent since the ref had just given the go-ahead and he had been wiping off to prep for the hail mary pass, but you're right, didn't look like Goode took it that way. I hope it was nothing.
 
#116      
After last night’s game, I wouldn’t be surprised to see minutes at the 5 distributed:

Kofi - 28
Omar - 6
I think that's a bit of an overreaction to one game and too limited in his minutes, but if he continues to let the ball be knocked out of his hands like he did last night then this may end up being the case. I imagine he'll get an earful from BU during the film session for being so careless with the ball. After the 2nd one you could hear Geoff screaming at him (through the TV) from the sidelines while the play was still going.
 
#117      

lstewart53x3

Scottsdale, Arizona
I think that's a bit of an overreaction to one game and too limited in his minutes, but if he continues to let the ball be knocked out of his hands like he did last night then this may end up being the case. I imagine he'll get an earful from BU during the film session for being so careless with the ball. After the 2nd one you could hear Geoff screaming at him (through the TV) from the sidelines while the play was still going.
Well, we know Kofi is going to get 28+ (in tight games, assuming no foul trouble, I could see him inching his way up to 30).

I also think it’s possible for Hawkins to see a few minutes each game at the 5 and BBV to grab a couple of minutes as well, which doesn’t lead a whole lot available for Payne.

Unless he picks up a few minutes a game at the 4, which i suppose is possible.
 
#118      

The Galloping Ghost

Washington, DC
Also 3 turnovers and 1-4 from 3 (which is supposed to be his strong suit) against weak competition. Was it catastrophic? No. Was it a good night for him? Also no.
Definitely not a great night, but I'm not particularly concerned. I chalk the subpar shooting up to two things. One, he didn't have one of our facilitators feeding him the ball. And two, he was forced to play 36 minutes. Neither exactly show how he's gonna be used as the season goes on. He'll come in with fresh legs and with good looks and shoot it as he has previously. As for the turnovers, again, he's playing out of position. None of our ballhandlers were great, but I'd argue he was the best of the bunch and calmed down the game in the second half. The biggest ding against him is that he didn't get on the floor on loose balls. That'll get cleaned up as the season goes on. Admittedly, I'm a pretty big Plummer apologist. I just think there's gonna be several games this season where we'll blink and he has 15 points and ballooned out a lead. He's that bit of instant offense not a lot of teams have coming off the bench.

Ultimately, I think this game is really tough to tell exactly what we have. We ran an offense we haven't really practiced with lineups we'll hopefully never have to run out there again. Yeah, the opponent wasn't great, but the circumstances our guys were working through were not insignificant.
 
#119      
How about some love for Robbie Hummel? Pleasant radio voice, good demeanor, says sweet things about us... If he had thrown in a couple examples of in-depth analysis, it would have been a near-perfect job.
I'll be happy to hear that he's calling future games for us.
and no, I'm not his mother.
I thought he was almost overly gushing about Illinois. It will be interesting to see if he praises all of the teams he covers as much as he did the Illini. Probably can't go wrong saying positive things about every team. He will get a support of the teams he praises and it does not cause a great deal of negative reactions. He also made some strong statements against the NCAA for the Kofi suspension.
 
#120      
I thought Grandison looked way more athletic out there yesterday than he ever did last year from a speed/quickness standpoint. I know we threw him some lobs last year too. Maybe it was him being more aggressive and decisive in a different role yesterday, and having a year of experience with the team already. I'm not sure but he looked way better to me.
An inferior opponent but Grandi seemed to be able to score at will. Hopefully he can make up some of scoring that left with Ayo.
 
#121      
I saw growth in Hawkins, but also a long way to go to fulfill his potential.
Plummer will not be relied upon to create his own shot. he's a pass and shoot guy only.
BBV - I see this more as an outlier for now. I don't doubt he has improved and can be a solid breather for the team once in a while, but he was just a larger, more physical person than the Jackson state had and thus was able to succeed. I don't think I'm ready yet to say he has lots of promise and lots of upside as we did when he came in as a freshman during exhibition and dubbed him the next heir apparent.
Podz - I think he is further away than we think, especially when compared to Goode and Melendez which is funny given how scared everyone was about him decommitting when we lost Chin. I still think he could be a good player. I love that he was identified as the one with the biggest chip on his shoulder. I hope he turns into a Lucas Johnson type for us that is scrappy, energetic, and can drain an outside shot once in a while.
Not sure I agree with all of that but more than not. For BBV, he has just always looked the part. He is in the canoe with Hutch in that he needs to just stay healthy first. His injuries have really held him back. The reason he may end up getting more tick than Payne is that he has spent years in the program and is culturally bought in more than Payne watching the game last night. Plummer is another one that doesn't seem 100% bought in. If he isn't he will be pushed out of the line up at some point. Can't see a lot of situations where he plays outside of giving Trent a few minutes rest. Podz seemed fine to me. Him and Melendez are different but in similar spots. Don't expect either to do much this year. Goode on the other hand seems quite a bit ahead of either of them. He had the look of a rotation player. I can see him pushing for time at the 3/4 with his size and skillset.
 
#122      
I would encourage Kofi to be careful what he does while on the bench, cameras may be on you at all times. Wondering if anyone saw anything when Hummel was riding the NCAA about their decision on kofis suspension? Sure hope someone on this forum has contacts that can tell him
 
#124      
It was fun to watch the young and new guys play in a real game. I think the only things you can really take away are things we saw defensively and from an effort perspective. Offensively, I don't think we learned anything about anyone. Everyone was out of their element. We weren't even running our usual offensive sets.
 
#125      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
I would encourage Kofi to be careful what he does while on the bench, cameras may be on you at all times. Wondering if anyone saw anything when Hummel was riding the NCAA about their decision on kofis suspension? Sure hope someone on this forum has contacts that can tell him

Well, there have been some really confusing posts on Loyalty in my time...but this cracks the Top 10!
Congrats!