I am happy with the win, just concerned that we still have issues that need to be resolved if we want to make it to the dance.
Illinois 75, BYU 73 POSTGAME
I am happy with the win, just concerned that we still have issues that need to be resolved if we want to make it to the dance.
I actually had no qualms with anything from the second half, however giving up most of the lead in the first half was inexcusable to me.
That said, glad to add another quality win to the resume. I thought when times got tough that Malcolm was going to put the team on his shoulders. That hasn't happened, but Tracy has emerged to be that guy for us. I can't believe some of the shots he takes and makes! He was one of the worst shooters on our team in 2013.
The fact that we can beat teams like BYU with 2 of our 3 best players having off nights is pretty comforting.
I would be interested to see how many big ten teams have 3 top 70 wins so far
That said, glad to add another quality win to the resume. I thought when times got tough that Malcolm was going to put the team on his shoulders. That hasn't happened, but Tracy has emerged to be that guy for us. I can't believe some of the shots he takes and makes! He was one of the worst shooters on our team in 2013.
The fact that we can beat teams like BYU with 2 of our 3 best players having off nights is pretty comforting.
I would be interested to see how many big ten teams have 3 top 70 wins so far
It depends how we do in the BTT, if we go 9-9 but lose in the first round then I agree we won't make it, but even one win would put us at 20 which I think would be good enough, or at least right on the bubble
If it wasn't for that end the 2 prayer threes at the end it would have been a comfortable 10 point win.
Also - does kenpom or any of those take into account how we lead throughout the whole game? Or anything like that? Or just end score results?
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There are certainly scenarios where we could get in with a 9-9 record, depending on who we beat in those 9 wins.
KenPom does a possession based analysis. All that really matters is the final results.
True if we get a couple of wins over say Wisconsin and Indiana it will allow for a slightly worse conference record then if we just rack up wins over the lower half.
Going back the last 5 years 20 wins and 9-9 record gets you in. But agree that still possible not to be selected. Need 10 BT wons and 1 BTT tourny win to be certain.
The B1G is also currently the worst it's been in that timeframe.
On another note, can't believe we got outdrawn by Dayton in Chicago. Embarassing.
Not at all really, our game started at 9 PM with 100 dollar tickets in zero degree weather..it has nothing to do with the state of our program or fans, and everything to do with horrendous scheduling/event planning
The tickets and weather were the same for Dayton fans. And people can !!!!! about the prices, but they were cut to 20 dollars this week. Not a lot at all.
Attendance is way down across the board for us. It has everything to do with the state of the program. We missed the top 25 in attendance for the first time in 35 years last year. Theres no excuse for that.
Good win. Really fun to watch the team up close. A really tough win against a good team. I have heard a few people talk about the freshmen and sophomores on BYU, but you have to look at ages - not years as a number of these players are upperclassmen or graduate ages. They typically have already completed their missions.
Dayton fans have not abandoned their program is the big difference.
I agree with the second part, but could care less about there being more Dayton fans. Their game started 3 hours earlier, and we won our game. Attendance will come with victories on the court.
10 years of decline will do that to a program. Have a positive year this year with a big recruiting class coming in, it will start to rebuild itself.
BillyBob1
- Champaign
Just curious, did Tate have two seniors playing ahead of him?
This is not true.
First of all, you can only compare the last 2 years of conference records, since the expansion. Records prior to expansion are not relative.
There were no 9-9 teams in 2015, 10-8 tied for 8th. Unless you have some top 25 wins non-conference, 9th place in the B1G won't cut it even in strong years. This is not a strong year, and we don't have any wins against top 25 teams non-con.
2014 we tied with IU at 9-9. IU had 10 non-con and did make it...but they had 4 wins against top 25 teams. If we have 4 wins against 10 25 teams, we will clearly win more than 9 games in the B1G, so this is a very poor comp.
Not only do we not have any top 25 wins, it is possible we don't have any wins against teams that will be in the top 50 at the end of the year. We could conceivably win 11 games in the B1G without beating a team that is in the top 50 at the end of the year.
It is clearly possible that we could sneak in at 9-9, but in a down year for the B1G it is highly unlikely (less than 5%, IMHO). Finishing 10-8 without any top 25 wins is very possible, and could easlity leave us outside looking in.
It is entirely possible that Rutgers, Penn St, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Northwestern are all outside of the top 50 at the end of the year, and we play 11 games against this group.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Excellent (and eye opening) analysis.
But thats my point he is not getting any experience. DJ so far in his year and half has played about as many minutes as Hill played his freshmen year. If you are a sophomore sitting on that bench and you see a 4-5 minutes stretch of bonehead play and the coach wont look your way at all. How do you see yourself as being a major contributor going forward ? Better yet when a team has not been to the tournament in years and you play the upper class men with little accountability how are you teaching them anything else besides the fact that they cant want to be seniors so they know they will play regardless of mistakes .
Next year we should have returning
Leron who cant seem to stay on the floor
Finke who plays the same position as leron
JCL who honestly has played more like a 6th man than a starter
DJ who doesn't play
AJ who doesn't play
TJL who doesn't play
and we are coming up to the end of the non conference schedule and Im just not seeing that transitional development in place that you would expect .
22-11 is in absolutely. I can see 9-9 being a bit problematic but as you point out the schedule is pretty favorable this conference season. All of the final 8 games are definitely winnable. Honestly the biggest concern is how the team weathers the storm in the first half. If things don't go great will they fold under the pressure or realize that they have a lot of "easier" games on the back half.
schnaurt
- Phoenix, AZ
This was a good win. It builds confidence and the team is continuing to get better. It was nice to see Mav and Finke play well when Malcolm and Black had subpar games. Thorne is looking better every game which is big for what is coming.
Beat Missouri and maybe we are all very happy 5 games into conference play. This team just looks to have a lot of upside. If they can put it all together they will be dangerous.
Beat Missouri and maybe we are all very happy 5 games into conference play. This team just looks to have a lot of upside. If they can put it all together they will be dangerous.
bredhartmann
- Centralia, IL
Last night Leron had two very questionable foul calls on him and the 5 games before last night Leron averaged 25.8 minutes per game. Can't seem to stay on the floor, huh?
Wait. Do you mean to tell me that the fans of a program that has gone to the tourney in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and were in the Elite Eight in 2014 haven't abandoned their program!
Why I'm shocked. Shocked I tell you.
Of course not. The facts ruin the narrative. Yes as a freshman Black was always picking up quick fouls. This year while he fouls a little more than he should he has mostly been able to stay on the court and contribute. This is one of many areas in which he is vastly improved.
Not sure why you use top 25 as a criteria, it's not used for determining at large teams. Maybe for seeding it has some relevance? Top 50 is used because that number will typically include all of the at large teams as well as many of the automatic bids from the power conferences. As of right now we are 2-1 vs the RPI top 50. And VCU is in the top 25, though I don't think they stay there long.
I do agree our "easy" conference schedule can actually be less than favorable because it limits our chances to get more good wins.