Seems a bit overblown. As others have mentioned there is a bit of a leadership/clutch vacuum with Ayo gone. Otherwise this is an extremely talented roster that should continue to grow and gel.Serious question: How bad is this team? Expectations were high, so it's hard to leave those at the door and go with what we've seen. I know the expectation is to make the dance, but from what you've seen, are we a tournament team?
I'm not all that surprised, simply because the past few seasons Underwood's teams have had some head-scratching losses and struggled to look well coached by the time conference play rolls around. To be fair, most teams do. Was hoping this year would be different. For sure there have been unusual circumstances, and I for one, fell for all the talk of quality depth, and how the returning players would steady the ship.
It's 5 games. Going to wait until January before making any grand pronouncement on our team.Serious question: How bad is this team? Expectations were high, so it's hard to leave those at the door and go with what we've seen. I know the expectation is to make the dance, but from what you've seen, are we a tournament team?
I'm not all that surprised, simply because the past few seasons Underwood's teams have had some head-scratching losses and struggled to look well coached by the time conference play rolls around. To be fair, most teams do. Was hoping this year would be different. For sure there have been unusual circumstances, and I for one, fell for all the talk of quality depth, and how the returning players would steady the ship.
One game does not make him elite.Thank you Alfonso! ... for choosing the O&B. Dude truly is elite at putting the ball in the basket at long range.
If I'm Underwood, I'm having the managers put together a T.J. Ford highlight tape and making Curbelo watch it on repeat. They are very similar players. The are a similar size, both lightning quick, both capable of spectacular passing, neither could shoot the 3, but are good FT shooters, TJ probably had a better midrange game, Ford actually turned the ball over quite a bit.Why do other teams seem to be able to drive to the hoop with impunity
And we just seem to be good at running the weave until not enough time to get a good shot
We are what we are. A mixture of good points and bad points. And each of us seems to have a ceiling built in to our singular life paths. Best we can do is reach that ceiling and not fall short of it. You can’t blame somebody for not being what you want him or her to be. They’re just being who they are.Hard to have any ill will towards by all accounts a really great person, bled orange and blue, ran a clean program, coached one of Illinois's best teams in history to the NC game and was coach for the best and most important comeback in Illinois history.
We need to take care of the damn basketball. 18 turnovers is absolutely middle schoolish!
Hit free throws and cut turnovers in half, this is not even a game!
Wow, I know you’re very early on in your posting career here, but I can tell you’re just going to be a joy to have around…One game does not make him elite.
Grandison is not a ball handler, he is a valuable part of this team for other reasonsHere's my thoughts on lineup for most control, good D and offensive success..
hutch, grandison, plummer with kofi and one of (prefer trent):
Trent, DMW, curbelo, hawkins
Grandison and Hutch are both potential playmakers and seem to take care of ball...plumer is 3p weapon.
Hawkins and curbelo have both showed signs of not protecting ball....if ball protection is not valued now.. it will continue to be a problem
Pretty decent comp.If I'm Underwood, I'm having the managers put together a T.J. Ford highlight tape and making Curbelo watch it on repeat. They are very similar players. The are a similar size, both lightning quick, both capable of spectacular passing, neither could shoot the 3, but are good FT shooters, TJ probably had a better midrange game, Ford actually turned the ball over quite a bit.
I think the difference is Ford was much better at facilitating the offense. He drove with more of a purpose. He had his head up and was able to get teammates open looks. When you create that reputation of driving and dishing, you create a major problem for defenses, they can't necessarily crash on you, and that opens up opportunities for you to score.
But it all comes down to, you can't drive with your head down, or with the sole purpose of you scoring. I think we all remember the Tracy Abrams drives where everyone knew he was going to take a layup whether 1, 2, or 3 guarded him at the rim. The defense knew it and you didn't have to defend anyone on the perimeter when he drove. That's a killer. I think Curbelo has been more in the mode of TA with his drives than TJ.
This game was better, but I still think if I'm Underwood I reward Curbelo for assists and I have a stopwatch going when he dribbles. Yes, we want you to drive, but you need to drive with a purpose, and if you didn't crack the defense, pass instead of dribbling in circles. Ball movement was much better in this game and we scored more and more consistently. Simple as that.
I do not think Curbelo’s sole purpose is ever to score on a drive.If I'm Underwood, I'm having the managers put together a T.J. Ford highlight tape and making Curbelo watch it on repeat. They are very similar players. The are a similar size, both lightning quick, both capable of spectacular passing, neither could shoot the 3, but are good FT shooters, TJ probably had a better midrange game, Ford actually turned the ball over quite a bit.
I think the difference is Ford was much better at facilitating the offense. He drove with more of a purpose. He had his head up and was able to get teammates open looks. When you create that reputation of driving and dishing, you create a major problem for defenses, they can't necessarily crash on you, and that opens up opportunities for you to score.
But it all comes down to, you can't drive with your head down, or with the sole purpose of you scoring. I think we all remember the Tracy Abrams drives where everyone knew he was going to take a layup whether 1, 2, or 3 guarded him at the rim. The defense knew it and you didn't have to defend anyone on the perimeter when he drove. That's a killer. I think Curbelo has been more in the mode of TA with his drives than TJ.
This game was better, but I still think if I'm Underwood I reward Curbelo for assists and I have a stopwatch going when he dribbles. Yes, we want you to drive, but you need to drive with a purpose, and if you didn't crack the defense, pass instead of dribbling in circles. Ball movement was much better in this game and we scored more and more consistently. Simple as that.
I'm tracking with you, Calvin. I would say this team has a much lower floor than I anticipated. Averaging 18 turnovers a game is a concerning data point already. There are also times where we are not winning the rebounding battle in the way we've become accustomed to with BU teams. PG depth is a real concern right now.I still think it's legit to talk about calibrating where the team is thus far, especially when your tournament invite is based on the entire body of work. Illinois had a slow start last year, and managed to get a #1 seed with some very impressive wins to get there. Could happen again, especially if Marquette and Cinci are better than expected.
He completely overlooked the fact that Plummer was considered an elite shooter in a major conference before he transferred to Illinois.Wow, I know you’re very early on in your posting career here, but I can tell you’re just going to be a joy to have around…
The early numbers suggest Maryland was holding back Morsell. His scoring average (acknowledging the early sample size) has jumped from 9 PPG at Maryland to 17 PPG at Marquette.I still think it's legit to talk about calibrating where the team is thus far, especially when your tournament invite is based on the entire body of work. Illinois had a slow start last year, and managed to get a #1 seed with some very impressive wins to get there. Could happen again, especially if Marquette and Cinci are better than expected.
It's early to tell for sure but he seems to be having better free throw formI confess that I thought passing out of a double or triple team was somehow out of Kofi's skill set, given the number of times he has failed to do so over the past few years. I also thought his inability to do so was a major contributor to his low NBA draft stock.
Seeing him pass out for not one but two assists in one game is one of my brightest spots of the season so far, even if does pretty much guarantee we won't have him back next year because he goes in the first round.
He's not bringing it across his face to shoot like he used to. Everything is in the same vertical plane and he's shooting with his fingertips instead of pushing it with the heel of his hand. Also by doing this he gets more arch on the ball which always helps with free throws.It's early to tell for sure but he seems to be having better free throw form
I think a ton of this season hinges on TF. Value beyond scoring too.I'm tracking with you, Calvin. I would say this team has a much lower floor than I anticipated. Averaging 18 turnovers a game is a concerning data point already. There are also times where we are not winning the rebounding battle in the way we've become accustomed to with BU teams. PG depth is a real concern right now.
That's some of the bad. On the other hand, I would also say this team has as high of a ceiling as predicted. This team absolutely has the potential to be a Final Four caliber squad. If our coaches can get everything humming together, there is enough talent to have a strong season and make a deep run in the tournament. I don't think we were wrong to be excited going into this season.
Yep. I think when I checked last night, Torvik had them at #110, which is Quad III. You absolutely have to account for the suspension, injuries, and new coaching staff as you evaluate our early season form, and wins are wins. But anything short of dominating a Quad III game is way below my expectations going into this season. This team is capable of more, and I expect they will get much better with time.I think a ton of this season hinges on TF. Value beyond scoring too.
I think we saw last night how some guys can all contribute to help alleviate not having him out there, but I think the floor and ceiling drop significantly without him.
KSU is flat out not good. Probably a similar level to NW, perhaps even worse. We've got a long way to go if we want to be considered a top big ten team