Illinois 73, Northwestern 66 Postgame

#201      

Rocky

Rocky
Rocky
sacraig said:
Indiana doesn't reciprocate that, though. We are in a weird position where we don't have a true, two-way, conference rivalry. Iowa is probably the only case to be made there. They don't like us as much as we don't like them.
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Luckily I like both programs. My older brother went to Univ of IL 2 years before my older sister went to Univ of Iowa. I went to a division 3 school in Indiana. This all happened before the Bruce Pearl fiasco. Our family has never had any problem with liking both programs. I have leaned to the Illini over the years because they are usually just better. I can tell you that during the Lute Olson years of Iowa, the biggest rivalry for Iowa was with Indiana.
 
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#202      

80'sIllini

80'sIllini
Arizona
80'sIllini
Dose of Reality said:
Frankly, a disgusting win. 1 for 13 from three point range in 2H with turnovers galore. The drumbeat continues--the trajectory of the offense, individually player driven, is not coming along and not progressing as a whole. We aren't going to make any noise at all come tourney time.
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This! So many turnovers against a mediocre defensive team are inexcusable. Our long stretches without scoring will haunt us in the tournament unless we can develop a more dynamic offense. If Curbelo wasn't such a turnover machine and Brad played RJ and even the other freshmen more we'd be better on offense- Podz subbing 10 minutes/game for Plummer or DMW, Goode and RJ subbing for Grandison. I don't see Hawkins giving us anything other than a few tip-ins and occasional good defensive sequence all year. Too many of our post feeds to Kofi are so telegraphed he's already swarmed before he even gets the ball and he really had trouble getting into his often awkward "gather" to shoot the ball if getting it more than 5 feet from the basket. An occasional pass fake after receiving it in the post and some actual quick passes to a perimeter shooter in the process of collapsing down or digging the ball from him would be nice and take give him more space to maneuver for his shot. We have to play much better to beat Rutgers at their place. Would like to see take more TO's to break up runs by the opposing team before it hits double digits.
 
#203      

HailChief89

H
HailChief89
Probably the best press conference and insight on our players that coach has given this year. Saddened not having Andre this whole season and watching the game slow down for him and him. RJ Melendez he looks so comfortable out there. He's starting to end up in the right spot of the court on offense and especially defense!!! Coleman Hawkins still lost. in the first half I saw him literally looking for someone to guard and running after three people towards the end of the first half. I hope it slows down for him and he stays patient and stays with the University of Illinois. he's going to be a beast. great press conference by coach let's go ahead and finish this season as the Big Ten Champs.💯
 
#204      

FortWayneFan

F
FortWayneFan
Well, my first in-person game in longer than I can remember, and I’ve been doing my best pruman imitation since then, so take these observations thusly:
- loved, loved, loved watching a game at sfc/ah. Mostly just tried to take it in and smile. So much fun. A great day!
- I felt we relied on a lot of made 3s first half, but wasn’t too nervous 2nd half
- always wondered what people saw in RJ. Now I know!
- Not a great game from most of our guys today. That happens. They’re human.
- Best moment: block by Omar, rebound and pass by Coleman, incredible dunk by RJ.
- It sure seemed like Kofi held the ball too long every time he got it inside.
- Not sure what was said to DMW when he got taken out, but he seemed upset about it the rest of the game from the bench. Didn’t join huddles until later. Seemed a lazy pass by Jake got him benched, and... I don’t know. Something happened. Hope it’s nothing.
- It was a W. I’m feeling good. Go Illini!!!
 
#205      

ILLFAN67

I
ILLFAN67
80'sIllini said:
This! So many turnovers against a mediocre defensive team are inexcusable. Our long stretches without scoring will haunt us in the tournament unless we can develop a more dynamic offense. If Curbelo wasn't such a turnover machine and Brad played RJ and even the other freshmen more we'd be better on offense- Podz subbing 10 minutes/game for Plummer or DMW, Goode and RJ subbing for Grandison. I don't see Hawkins giving us anything other than a few tip-ins and occasional good defensive sequence all year. Too many of our post feeds to Kofi are so telegraphed he's already swarmed before he even gets the ball and he really had trouble getting into his often awkward "gather" to shoot the ball if getting it more than 5 feet from the basket. An occasional pass fake after receiving it in the post and some actual quick passes to a perimeter shooter in the process of collapsing down or digging the ball from him would be nice and take give him more space to maneuver for his shot. We have to play much better to beat Rutgers at their place. Would like to see take more TO's to break up runs by the opposing team before it hits double digits.
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It’s not the telegraphing of passes that’s the problem. It’s Kofi not passing out quickly enough. Also tonight Kofi was being hacked every single time he touched the ball. Refs wouldn’t call it because everyone would have been fouled out in the 1st half. Our offense is fine. The turnovers are what killed us tonight. 14+ the 2nd half. By absolutely everyone. That is what needs to be cleaned up. You make that 5 we win by 15+. A little bit of that was northwestern was hacking everyone and again the refs would have called a foul on every possession so they swallowed their whistles.
 
#206      

illini55

illini55
The Villages, FL
illini55
Anyone who is a long time Illini fan always fears an early out in the Big Dance. It's in the DNA.

What I've noticed is that the wars in the Big Ten are very often close because the coaches (usually world class coaches) know each other's teams so well. They have virtually unlimited video on every aspect of the Big teams. They know what to do to scheme against every tendency of those teams. They have actual film of their own players against our players, going back several years.

When you get to the Tourney, none of those things apply. Yeah, I know, Loyola. An aberration, that game. At least I hope so. If we played them 100 times, we win 90 of them. But that's water under the bridge. This year could be special. Let's focus on that.
 
#207      

frozenrope9190

frozenrope9190
Aurora, IL
frozenrope9190
ILLFAN67 said:
It’s not the telegraphing of passes that’s the problem. It’s Kofi not passing out quickly enough. Also tonight Kofi was being hacked every single time he touched the ball. Refs wouldn’t call it because everyone would have been fouled out in the 1st half. Our offense is fine. The turnovers are what killed us tonight. 14+ the 2nd half. By absolutely everyone. That is what needs to be cleaned up. You make that 5 we win by 15+. A little bit of that was northwestern was hacking everyone and again the refs would have called a foul on every possession so they swallowed their whistles.
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I really feel like the 2nd half strategy was to overplay on everything and dare the refs to call a foul on every possession. They didn't, so they were able to frustrate the team.
 
#209      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
FortWayneFan said:
Well, my first in-person game in longer than I can remember, and I’ve been doing my best pruman imitation since then, so take these observations thusly:
- loved, loved, loved watching a game at sfc/ah. Mostly just tried to take it in and smile. So much fun. A great day!
- I felt we relied on a lot of made 3s first half, but wasn’t too nervous 2nd half
- always wondered what people saw in RJ. Now I know!
- Not a great game from most of our guys today. That happens. They’re human.
- Best moment: block by Omar, rebound and pass by Coleman, incredible dunk by RJ.
- It sure seemed like Kofi held the ball too long every time he got it inside.
- Not sure what was said to DMW when he got taken out, but he seemed upset about it the rest of the game from the bench. Didn’t join huddles until later. Seemed a lazy pass by Jake got him benched, and... I don’t know. Something happened. Hope it’s nothing.
- It was a W. I’m feeling good. Go Illini!!!
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I'm so glad you got to see the Illini in person after so many years and also so glad we got the W........So happy for you bro....................
 
#211      

Manual3for4peat

M
Manual3for4peat
illini55 said:
Anyone who is a long time Illini fan always fears an early out in the Big Dance. It's in the DNA.

What I've noticed is that the wars in the Big Ten are very often close because the coaches (usually world class coaches) know each other's teams so well. They have virtually unlimited video on every aspect of the Big teams. They know what to do to scheme against every tendency of those teams. They have actual film of their own players against our players, going back several years.

When you get to the Tourney, none of those things apply. Yeah, I know, Loyola. An aberration, that game. At least I hope so. If we played them 100 times, we win 90 of them. But that's water under the bridge. This year could be special. Let's focus on that.
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I’m not so sure on the Loyola point. They were a top ten team in every computer service. They should have never been on the 8/9 seed line. The committee got cute.
 
#213      

BretMyBeachHouse

B
BretMyBeachHouse
illini55 said:
Anyone who is a long time Illini fan always fears an early out in the Big Dance. It's in the DNA.

What I've noticed is that the wars in the Big Ten are very often close because the coaches (usually world class coaches) know each other's teams so well. They have virtually unlimited video on every aspect of the Big teams. They know what to do to scheme against every tendency of those teams. They have actual film of their own players against our players, going back several years.

When you get to the Tourney, none of those things apply. Yeah, I know, Loyola. An aberration, that game. At least I hope so. If we played them 100 times, we win 90 of them. But that's water under the bridge. This year could be special. Let's focus on that.
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Parity keeps growing in college hoops. B1G could go anywhere from sending no teams to the second weekend to having 6 in the final four.

Okay, I know that won't happen, but I just don't think there's much certainty to the performance of any Big Ten team. The sky's the limit at the top, but certainly the sewer will find at least a few of our teams.
 
#214      

Roundball Sage

R
Roundball Sage
80'sIllini said:
So many turnovers against a mediocre defensive team are inexcusable.
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The Illini made enough turnovers again today to open up a bakery.

Turnovers (the other kind) usually result from a simple lack of concentration or poor reactions to shifting floor situations.

Think... before you throw a pass.

Don’t take a unreasonable chances with the ball.

Concentrate... when the ball is coming your way.

And grab it. And have some good idea of what you want to do with it next.

See what you’re defender is doing.. so you don’t let him pick your pocket or you make an ill-advised floor move for where he is.

Turnovers are momentum killers. They stifle your game and give the opponent confidence.

If you turn the ball over 20 times... and you normally score at least at a 45% rate... that’s 9 possessions that you would have scored 2 or 3 points (that you DIDN’T). To round it off, let’s say 7 twos and 2 threes. That’s 20 points given away on the Offense side.

And you let your opponent right back into the game.

Coach knows this. But Coach can’t make guys concentrate. Human nature thing.

The Serious Season is coming soon. The Illini have got to clean this stuff up.
 
#215      

WyattEarp

WyattEarp
WyattEarp
Well how about that? I thought we couldn’t win BIG Ten games WITH freshman? Or is it we can’t win BIG Ten WITHOUT freshmen?
The later has been true at least twice now.
 
#216      

RockfordIllini

R
RockfordIllini
HailChief89 said:
Probably the best press conference and insight on our players that coach has given this year. Saddened not having Andre this whole season and watching the game slow down for him and him. RJ Melendez he looks so comfortable out there. He's starting to end up in the right spot of the court on offense and especially defense!!! Coleman Hawkins still lost. in the first half I saw him literally looking for someone to guard and running after three people towards the end of the first half. I hope it slows down for him and he stays patient and stays with the University of Illinois. he's going to be a beast. great press conference by coach let's go ahead and finish this season as the Big Ten Champs.💯
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I realize Coleman didn’t score but I thought this was the best he’s looked in several games. Maybe a little afraid to shoot but didn’t force anything and had 3 great assists
and generally made the right play. I think he’s really close.

If we get an engaged Hawkins on Thursday that would be huge. He really shut down Harper in the first game and we don’t really have anyone else to check him.
 
#219      

Haha

H
Haha
ptgd1 said:
I think BBV is way under-rated and does great when he gets in. Not to take anything away from Payne. Need him too.

I think Coach should have put BBV in when Kofi picked up his third in the 2nd half.

Two rebounds in two minutes. He has a nose for the ball.
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Bbv is great at times and overmatched other times. Depends a lot on who he is guarding
 
#220      

Haha

H
Haha
Bigtex said:
Our defense was sooooo good.
Our turnovers that led to easy buckets not so good
Williams 23 minutes and grandison 25 minutes are still too many
I don’t need to echo how good rj was
Curbelo is not anywhere near mid season form.
Kofi’s reactions are very slow
Win and led from start to finish
Alone in first place
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We had a hard time getting kofi close to the basket before the catch. Feeding him way out did not help with every one on the wildcats hacking away at him until he could get closer to the rim. Other times I wondered if kofi was tired or just didnt want it bad enough. He finished with plenty of fire though
 
#221      

DRS

D
DRS
BlabDunkAnd1 said:
I'll take production over experience any day of the week. Grandison has had several bad games in a row.
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Not really true, but I do think he needs to play at a higher level. He had a solid game against IU and was quite good against Wiscy.
 
#224      

Bebes_J

B
Bebes_J
SuperMetroid said:
If I have one consistent criticism of BU it’s waiting way too long to call a timeout to stop a big run. Especially since we seem to give one up almost every game
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Unfortunately timeouts don’t stop runs, they just allow a pause in the middle of the run.
 
#225      

Illiniindian

I
Illiniindian
Dose of Reality said:
Frankly, a disgusting win. 1 for 13 from three point range in 2H with turnovers galore. The drumbeat continues--the trajectory of the offense, individually player driven, is not coming along and not progressing as a whole. We aren't going to make any noise at all come tourney time.
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Disgusting??? More like gritty… always proud of our guys