The flood of students towards the floor with about a minute to go made me very nervous that we were upsetting the basketball gods.
But then CoHawk and Damonte did what they do and all was well.
Illinois 74, Iowa 72 Big Ten Championship Postgame
But then CoHawk and Damonte did what they do and all was well.
Tacomallini
- Washington State
C. McCaffery with a loveable stat line too
At halftime I took some time to check the game thread(instead of watching the golf team) and I could not believe the people saying Hawkins was playing bad and we had no chance with him playing. Honestly can't understand what was going through people's heads. (This was before the missed dunk that was obviously disappointing.) The man guarded Murray and held him as in-check as the guy gets held, rebounded his behind off, showed his court vision with assists(and great passes that weren't converted, and had a crazy good block. He had two points I think at that point but his impact was way more than that. The guy clearly isn't perfect, but he 100% has the most NBA potential on this team. He is going to be really special and is already showing how important he is for our success. Not sure what it is about him that people don't like. If its inconsistency then you must not like anyone on the team.
Watching the Final Play from Tonight's game (you know, the one where we won the Big Ten Regular Season)... Y'all have to watch DMW on the play. Definition of an everyday guy. Tough as Nails. Gets screened as Perkins is bringing it up. HUGE screen, knocking him to the floor. GETS BACK UP. Damn near steals the next pass. Continues on to contest Murray's shot as best he could. All this happened in a span of 5 SECONDS. THATS THE KINDA GUY YOU WANT TO GO TO WAR WITH. Love the Super-Senior-Leadership.
That Payton Sandfort kid played like he'll be a PITA against us soon.
Coleman played an epic game. I know I'm a broken record, but his upside is insane. Just awesome.
The "safety school" chant
Iowa's free throw shooting was just stunningly, jaw droppingly bad.
So so so happy to see Trent and DMFW get THIS on senior night. I'm gonna miss the hell out of them whenever this season ends.
Coleman played an epic game. I know I'm a broken record, but his upside is insane. Just awesome.
The "safety school" chant
Iowa's free throw shooting was just stunningly, jaw droppingly bad.
So so so happy to see Trent and DMFW get THIS on senior night. I'm gonna miss the hell out of them whenever this season ends.
Court was a party! I went down there for about 15-20 minute.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
WE'RE NOT DONE YET.
After this celebration, let's go win a bunch more games!
After this celebration, let's go win a bunch more games!
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
I'm sure it's been said a bunch of times already, but what the hey I'll say it again. If you need a late-game rebound to help you win a game, DMW is your guy. Exceptional.
Staying up later than I should to see the recap on Sportscenter. You would think two top 25 teams playing with one winning the B1G would make the cut. Guess not.
ESBSPN was most likely too busy worshiping coach ratface. Its best to not watch that horrific channel unless Illinois is playing on that station.
Chilliniwek
- Chicagoland
Actually he didn't because he was the the one controlling tempo from the moment he came he snatched the lead from Iowa and gave us the momentum and then controlled that tempo the rest of the way until he fouled out even with turnovers .
In the first half we took Belo out and they went on a 13-0 run and when put back in we cut the lead to 6 at halftime
To start the second half we traded baskets with them until the 11:30 mark when Below came in down 5 . We scored exactly 19 points between that time and before DMW split those fts free throw
Belo scored or assisted on 14 of the 19 points .
Iowa came out of a timeout with a set play to try and foul him out because it was they knew they were more than likely have to foul and press and it removes our best ballhandler and a guy who was controlling the tempo and nailing all his fts effortlessly at that point.
The one thing I've complained about all year was the team didn't seem to have anything to go to if they couldn't get the ball to Kofi besides Plummer unsustainable shooting . Tonight though I finally saw things open up a a bit with Belo and Cohawk because for us to be cutting down the nets next months is those two that have to announce themselves to the world the next 4 weeks .
The Super seniors are there to add some stability
Kofi brings the star power and national respect
Belo, Cohawk, and ill even add RJ have to be driving this bus with their effort ,energy, play because ultimately that will be the difference between last years team and this years team.
Tonight Brad basically allowed Cohawk's and Belo's chaotic energy to dictate the teams pace . I don't think it was a coincidence that he didnt bring Belo in until the 11 minute mark or so of the second half and tried to ride him all the way to the end.
This is shaping up to potentially be a great run but if people are freaking out over Belo and Cohawk now what are they gonna do next fall when those guys are the leaders of the team playing 30+ mpg ? LOL Tums for everyone I guess
Whoa, whoa, whoa! There you go injecting reason into Loyalty. How far do you think that’s gonna get you? (Great post btw).
Belo and Cohawk D was critical down stretch. Andre got a couple bum calls....
On offense, as chaotic as his baseline drives were he was able to rotate the ball and create extra confusion for defenders...if he can cut out a couple of TOs, he will be great
Man, I knew we had to shut those two guys (C McCaffery and Bohannon) down from the 3 point line, but this exceeded my expectations.
Kofi really moves his feet better than the perception on him is on defense. If he projected as a better NBA rim protector i think teams at the next level would be more willing to live with his lateral quickness but hes probably not a great nba rim protector
Think maybe his lateral quickness is underestimated because of his size.
Been lurking for years, made an account a month or two ago... what better time for a first post?
Thoughts on the Illini:
-Saw a lot of negativity directed Curbelo's way during the game. Some poor decisions, no doubt. Still not himself, and might not get there this year. But his defense on Perkins was excellent. Largely took his rebounding out of the game, which had been hurting our guys. Also moved the ball nicely, including a no-look assist for a Melendez 3 that was huge at the time.
-Also saw some ire thrown Hawkins' way. Think it needs to be said that it takes a real gamer to put up that 3 late in the game, as he did with 6 or 7 minutes left, with the cold stretch he has been on. Wide open (off a nice pass from Belo, I might add), not too early in the clock, flow of the offense. Good stuff. And he defended Keegan for most of the night. Refs allowed a lot of physical play, which helped a guy like Hawkins who's a work in progress w/r/t avoiding fouling. We all (rightly) talk about how effective Hawkins was on Harper in December. Murray is better, and a 7/22 night for him (with some of those makes coming on switches) has to be right up there with that performance. Amazing stuff from CoHawk.
-Kofi's perimeter defense was great. Kris Murray is good, but doesn't have his brother's smoothness or quick first step. Or maybe I'm wrong and it was simply Cockburn's size bothering him so much that he was taken out of his game a little bit. We'll take it! Kofi was game for a difficult assignment and he owned it.
-Damonte with a handful of massive plays. What more can you say?
-Trent with a rough shooting night--would have loved to see that late 3 or late layup attempt go down--but same top-tier D as usual. Bohannon surely hoping that he'll never see him again, as this isn't the first time his impact on a game vs. Illinois approximately equaled my own.
-Back to Kofi... could be mistaken, but I think he played the entire second half following a short rest during that frame in which Iowa made a big run (just after the Illini had finally come all the way back to tie it). In pregame threads on other B1G boards, I *always* see somebody mention that Kofi's stamina is one of his weaknesses. I don't blame other teams' fans for not knowing Illini players through and through, but I always get a kick out of it when I see them saying that. Kofi's stamina is arguably a strength of his as much as his... well, strength, is.
Thoughts on Iowa:
-Much respect to that team (except Fran and Bohannon, of course)... on paper you would expect them to be out-rebounded by double digits most nights, yet they've found a formula that works for them on the glass. Not sure if it's just preaching effort, scheme, can't say without watching them a bit more. But the difference between Iowa now and Iowa back in December is stark. IMO they, Purdue, and Illinois are the three best teams in the conference, with Wisconsin and OSU a step behind those three. Some might throw Rutgers into the mix in that second tier--I won't argue with you--though not sure they'll be the same team without the RAC for the rest of the year.
-We'll take the free-throw luck when we can get it. Can't count on a string of misses like that again, no doubt, but sometimes you can just shrug, smile, enjoy your good luck, and hang a banner ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thoughts on referees
-Thought the whistles favored the Illini last night. That's to be expected at home, I suppose, though it hasn't actually happened much this year. Again, primary reaction here is to shrug and take it. I'm sure Iowa fans are pumped for a potential rematch. I expect we'll see it on Saturday.
Thoughts on the Illini:
-Saw a lot of negativity directed Curbelo's way during the game. Some poor decisions, no doubt. Still not himself, and might not get there this year. But his defense on Perkins was excellent. Largely took his rebounding out of the game, which had been hurting our guys. Also moved the ball nicely, including a no-look assist for a Melendez 3 that was huge at the time.
-Also saw some ire thrown Hawkins' way. Think it needs to be said that it takes a real gamer to put up that 3 late in the game, as he did with 6 or 7 minutes left, with the cold stretch he has been on. Wide open (off a nice pass from Belo, I might add), not too early in the clock, flow of the offense. Good stuff. And he defended Keegan for most of the night. Refs allowed a lot of physical play, which helped a guy like Hawkins who's a work in progress w/r/t avoiding fouling. We all (rightly) talk about how effective Hawkins was on Harper in December. Murray is better, and a 7/22 night for him (with some of those makes coming on switches) has to be right up there with that performance. Amazing stuff from CoHawk.
-Kofi's perimeter defense was great. Kris Murray is good, but doesn't have his brother's smoothness or quick first step. Or maybe I'm wrong and it was simply Cockburn's size bothering him so much that he was taken out of his game a little bit. We'll take it! Kofi was game for a difficult assignment and he owned it.
-Damonte with a handful of massive plays. What more can you say?
-Trent with a rough shooting night--would have loved to see that late 3 or late layup attempt go down--but same top-tier D as usual. Bohannon surely hoping that he'll never see him again, as this isn't the first time his impact on a game vs. Illinois approximately equaled my own.
-Back to Kofi... could be mistaken, but I think he played the entire second half following a short rest during that frame in which Iowa made a big run (just after the Illini had finally come all the way back to tie it). In pregame threads on other B1G boards, I *always* see somebody mention that Kofi's stamina is one of his weaknesses. I don't blame other teams' fans for not knowing Illini players through and through, but I always get a kick out of it when I see them saying that. Kofi's stamina is arguably a strength of his as much as his... well, strength, is.
Thoughts on Iowa:
-Much respect to that team (except Fran and Bohannon, of course)... on paper you would expect them to be out-rebounded by double digits most nights, yet they've found a formula that works for them on the glass. Not sure if it's just preaching effort, scheme, can't say without watching them a bit more. But the difference between Iowa now and Iowa back in December is stark. IMO they, Purdue, and Illinois are the three best teams in the conference, with Wisconsin and OSU a step behind those three. Some might throw Rutgers into the mix in that second tier--I won't argue with you--though not sure they'll be the same team without the RAC for the rest of the year.
-We'll take the free-throw luck when we can get it. Can't count on a string of misses like that again, no doubt, but sometimes you can just shrug, smile, enjoy your good luck, and hang a banner ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thoughts on referees
-Thought the whistles favored the Illini last night. That's to be expected at home, I suppose, though it hasn't actually happened much this year. Again, primary reaction here is to shrug and take it. I'm sure Iowa fans are pumped for a potential rematch. I expect we'll see it on Saturday.
They can read?
BMoreIllini
- Baltimore, MD
Here are the clips of the quotes from the press conference if anyone wanted to see him say them. (if the recruits didn't enjoy the game and kicking his wife out of bed for the B1G trophy. (Videos are timestamped when you click the link).
Curbelo helped and hurt us last night. His points and free throws were crucial. Had 5 assists. He also had 4 bad shots and at least 3 horrible decisions that led to turnovers. I keep hoping he will learn some self control. Kofi did play more inspired last night especially on defense!! CoHawk was great defensively and tremendous on the boards. Hopefully those last couple of shots will give him some confidence on the offensive end. If we can get those 3 to continue to improve plus get Trent going and Grandison back healthy we got a chance to go along way. Plus play defense like we did in 2nd half for whole games!!
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Illini edge Iowa, win share of Big Ten title
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — No. 20 Illinois locked up a share of the Big Ten regular-season title when Kofi Cockburn had 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Illini to
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — No. 20 Illinois locked up a share of the Big Ten regular-season title when Kofi Cockburn had 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Illini to a 74-72 win over No. 24 Iowa Sunday night.
The Fighting Illini’s hopes for a conference crown were kept alive when Nebraska upset No. 10 Wisconsin earlier Sunday. They didn’t let the opportunity go to waste, claiming at least a share of the Big Ten championship for the first time since winning it in 2004 and ’05.
“Five years ago, I was wondering if we’d ever get out of the Wednesday game (of the Big Ten tournament),” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “We weren’t even close. For Trent (Frazier) and DaMonte (Williams) to go out this way, this is why I do this.”
Illinois (22-8, 15-5) erased a 15-point first-half deficit as Alfonso Plummer led the charge back en route to 15 points. Coleman Hawkins added nine points and 11 rebounds.
Iowa (22-9, 12-8) missed five of its first six shots but eventually got on a 13-0 scoring run. The burst started with Kris Murray’s 3-pointer, the first of nine straight made shots for the Hawkeyes. Peyton Sandfort hit a 3 and then made another jumper on the next possession before Tony Perkins’ layup put Iowa ahead 32-19.
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“(Illinois) has got some guys who are competitors that are really good players on really good teams,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “Very impressed with the job that Brad has done with his crew, not only this year, but over the years since he got here.”
This quote from Franny had to hurt him saying it.......................................
Go Illini
