#2 is a great point I hadn't thought of.
Illinois 75, Tennessee 62 Postgame
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Honestly I think the biggest reason is 1/3 of the normal home crowd are a bunch of old folks, respectfully of course
Went to the game:
Defense much better and effort/intensity was very good especially 2nd half. Tennessee did not look good at all or shoot well. Hope this was more related to our defense than who they are.
We are physically a very weak team and it really shows up in rebounding. Most of our team gets easily pushed around and cannot hold there space to get rebounds and are off balance making it harder to get loose balls (really miss Morez here).
I am not sure Petrovic will make it to the end of the season. Underwood is not a fan and has a very quick hook plus Petrovic is VERY small. Not a good fit with the physical make up of the team. Too bad because he is crafty and our best player at creating opportunities for himself and others.
Good to see Tomi playing inside and out.
Defense much better and effort/intensity was very good especially 2nd half. Tennessee did not look good at all or shoot well. Hope this was more related to our defense than who they are.
We are physically a very weak team and it really shows up in rebounding. Most of our team gets easily pushed around and cannot hold there space to get rebounds and are off balance making it harder to get loose balls (really miss Morez here).
I am not sure Petrovic will make it to the end of the season. Underwood is not a fan and has a very quick hook plus Petrovic is VERY small. Not a good fit with the physical make up of the team. Too bad because he is crafty and our best player at creating opportunities for himself and others.
Good to see Tomi playing inside and out.
Earlier this year...Big Z had 7 in one game...
I’d be very surprised if he’s wearing an Illini jersey next season.
He and Stoj were in foul trouble most of the 1H
Pru that was totally unacceptable. Glad you are on the mend. Get better real soon.
Also Tomi was looking really good. If Tomi is good, Zs minutes are gonna take a hit.
One thing that is becoming apparent is that we have two different types of offenses- one, like last night where we move the ball around and get an open look and a second offense where it’s get the ball to Andrej and let him cook. Last night was great offense but Andrej really wasn’t involved and it’s not a coincidence
Andrej hasn’t fit into the flow of the offense yet where he is creating for others - he’s taking it to the hoop or just kicking it back out. For us to reach our ceiling we really need Andrej in the flow of the offense because he’s so good at getting a bucket. if he can do some drive and dish and get others involved - it will open up even more good looks. It can’t be an either or for the rest of the season, we just won’t reach our potential. He can be like a TSJ where he gets his looks going downhill but it’s within the flow of the offense
Andrej hasn’t fit into the flow of the offense yet where he is creating for others - he’s taking it to the hoop or just kicking it back out. For us to reach our ceiling we really need Andrej in the flow of the offense because he’s so good at getting a bucket. if he can do some drive and dish and get others involved - it will open up even more good looks. It can’t be an either or for the rest of the season, we just won’t reach our potential. He can be like a TSJ where he gets his looks going downhill but it’s within the flow of the offense
Couple more observations:
Clearly this was the best defense we've played this year. But this was also our most efficient offensive game against a high major since beating Iowa 106 - 94 in last year's BTT. Probably our best all around game since beating Michigan by 20 last March.
And it wasn't because we shot fewer threes. We actually shot threes at a higher rate than our season average. IMO, it's because we played more inside out and moved the ball well to get good, in rhythm looks.
We also made a little more of an effort to get the twins the ball in the post. They had, I think, 9 total post touches which resulted in 14 points. 1.56 points per possession. Pretty good.
I think Andrej played within the offense and within himself well which is another reason for the efficiency although it didn't amount to a great individual night for him. Hope he's ok with that.
Clearly this was the best defense we've played this year. But this was also our most efficient offensive game against a high major since beating Iowa 106 - 94 in last year's BTT. Probably our best all around game since beating Michigan by 20 last March.
And it wasn't because we shot fewer threes. We actually shot threes at a higher rate than our season average. IMO, it's because we played more inside out and moved the ball well to get good, in rhythm looks.
We also made a little more of an effort to get the twins the ball in the post. They had, I think, 9 total post touches which resulted in 14 points. 1.56 points per possession. Pretty good.
I think Andrej played within the offense and within himself well which is another reason for the efficiency although it didn't amount to a great individual night for him. Hope he's ok with that.
Sorry to hear. Praying for a fast, complete recovery for you!
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I thought Tomi played with purpose last night, kinda like his smashing the guitar
. We need this to compliment BAM. Wagler and Mirk just play, so they are great compliments in their current roles. I think there is some upside as Hum has now turned the corner on what it takes to stay on the floor against P5 competition, so with his focus now on defense and the intangibles, his shot will come around (ala TJ a couple years ago when he decided to focus on defense). The big upside is Drej finding his defense, intangibles and rebounding and getting more involved offensively - just some fine tuning. X, Petro, Lee, Davis are all key gap fillers and depth in case of injury, but the main rotation will be the other 6.
. We need this to compliment BAM. Wagler and Mirk just play, so they are great compliments in their current roles. I think there is some upside as Hum has now turned the corner on what it takes to stay on the floor against P5 competition, so with his focus now on defense and the intangibles, his shot will come around (ala TJ a couple years ago when he decided to focus on defense). The big upside is Drej finding his defense, intangibles and rebounding and getting more involved offensively - just some fine tuning. X, Petro, Lee, Davis are all key gap fillers and depth in case of injury, but the main rotation will be the other 6.The difference is that they didn’t settle on the three early in the shot clock. They moved the ball around and found a cutter or open threee that they stepped into. This teams calling is balll movement and motion. Not ISO’s and three jacking. We play more ball movement and motion and we will win games. FT shooting is still an issue as I am glad it didn’t bite us as it did against Bama. Glad Tennessee missed 10 FTs.
As of right now, he is not on any draft boards. That will most likely change as the season moves along. Lots of Freshmen are high on the draft boards. It might be best for him to get feedback and them come back next year to try to be a top 10 pick.
Because they had a freshman who might be the number 1 pick in the draft in Peterson. Same position.
Please, no.
True. Maybe some destination game pre-partying as well. A destination game is an event not just a game for fans. Just a thought.
I think they got the advantage on several calls, and it seemed to affect the guys....but...they didn't hang their heads, they rose to the challenge. A really good sign for the many tough games to come.
We shot it well in the second. The rebounding still concerns me --there were some 50-50 balls TN was faster to, but pulling away against a defense that good, getting stops, hitting shots and keeping their poise really impressed me. This was a game where it was really important to keep your foot on the gas until the other side lost hope. Essentially a road game where TN fans were trying to keep them in it. And yet, the guys valued every possession until there was no doubt. A++
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
This has always been my biggest X factor with the Illinois offense. The four games coming to mind for me are (last year) Minnesota, Michigan, and Iowa and (this year) second half of last night. In the good games, we are attacking, working inside out, and getting threes after working the ball on the attack. When we just swing the ball outside and play “noon ball”, we miss shots. We were just way more stagnant last week against UConn.
I get the overall philosophy on offense is to exploit matchups, but there has to be some library of set plays to run when the regular attack isn’t working. Basically, look at the Minnesota and Iowa game film and always have ways to replicate that if the normal offense turns stagnant.
Yeah. Tennessee is brutal. That was good practice for playing the Spartans.
Ben is more complete for sure. Lucas brought intangibles and depth on the frontcourt that really gave those teams a chip on their shoulder in an era when the game was more physical and teams needed an enforcer type of player who wouldn't back down when the refs let things escalate. He epitomized role player and gave 100% to the team. Different roles and different era in my mind.
I just don’t recall a lot of player bashing in general back then, but I guess smartphones weren’t really a thing yet and the armchair QBs (or PGs in this case) didn’t really have the internet at their fingertips as they do now.
People used to understand those players had a role on the team, whereas now it’s been simplified to “low usage on offense = bad player”.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Man, just watching this game again, the atmosphere was great - particularly in the second half. Had the feel of a regional semifinal or regional final. I'll always contend there should always be a game like Texas Tech at SFC each season. But these neutral-site environments are great.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I think the point of the question is why do Illini fans at the UC, Braggin’ Rights, Vegas, Nashville, etc. seem so much louder, more energetic and more engaged than our home crowd?? And I very much want to know this, too.
The Champaign crowd needs a buy one get one free deal for beers or something, we need a looser and rowdier feel at SFC!
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