Illinois 76, Iowa 64 POSTGAME

#126      

haasi

haasi
New York
haasi
IlliniGman said:
(16:55 - 13:51) - Up 10-0, Iowa outscored us 4-2 (12-4)
(9:09 - 7:18) - Up 22-11, We outscored Iowa 7-2 (29-13)
(4:27 - 2:33) - Up 34-17, Iowa outscored us 4-2 (36-21)
(15:50 - 12:58) - Up 47-31, Iowa outscored us 8-3 (50-39)
(8:51 - 5:13) - Up 59-43, Iowa outscored us 10-6 (65-53)
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Interesting that Groce felt the need to rest him so much. Longest stretch he played was about 5 minutes, most stretches closer to 3 (next to TV time for extra rest). Wonder whether TJL is not as well conditioned as some of the other guys (maybe because of injury + lack of offseason training) or whether Groce just wants to make sure he's playing at max speed while he's out there.
 
#127      

Gorilla Gorilla

Gorilla Gorilla
Gorilla Gorilla
RML said:
Watching JCL take another awkward shotfrom the freethrow line extended made me wonder:is part of the current system over-emphasison individuals taking shots from certain locations, rather than taking shots inrhythm?All things being equal, I certainlywould like to have the players take the shots from the locations where theyhave the most success.But one of thethings that needs to be equal is the quality of the shot, and whether it’s “inrhythm.”Against a bad defense, youmight be able to get a shot in rhythm from anywhere, so taking your shots fromthe optimal locations should bring better-than-normal results against those baddefenses.But against a good defense, it’sgoing to be harder to get shots in rhythm.And a really good defense will know where the preferred spots are, andguard those even tighter, meaning you’re almost never going to get a shot in rhythmfrom those preferred locations.If theteam is passing on (or not ready to take) shots in rhythm from other locations,then you’re going to have a bad to abysmal performance against that good defense.
Is that part of our problem against good defenses?
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for some reason your font scares me...
 
#128      

Obelix

Obelix
Obelix
haasi said:
Don't think so. He was a different player early on. Fan expectations don't explain why his open jumpers were falling and then suddenly started missing. There have been allusions to his injuries finally getting the better of him. Can only be explained by reinjury (no evidence that's the case) or fatigue related to his long absence and injuries.
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Competition was much different early on. Same with Thorne earlier last year before his injury, people thought he was a better player than he had been in his career.

Abrams played 3 years injury free, and even in those seasons, he had significant limitations, including keeping the ball too long, not pushing the ball, etc. Some of the things we are also witnessing this season.

It is not that injuries have not taken a toll on him, but fans knew about those injuries. Yet, that did not stop people from envisioning a better Tracy than even before he got injured, playing 35 mins per game, a high level B1G PG, etc. Health is not a binary thing (healthy/not healthy). You have two major critical injuries and you do not play organized ball for a full 2 years, it is hard indeed to just come back and ignore that those injuries happened. It's going to show in your conditioning and performance.

As for the game last night, TJL started and played 27 mins, in a game that was well in-hand. It is not that Tracy lost us the game. If anything, I blame Groce for not progressively giving more and more mins to TJL as Abrams has not been the answer at PG for a long time, rather than all of a sudden going cold turkey. It should have happened progressively much earlier in the season.

As for Tracy, he struggled mentally/psychological last night more than even physically. It was obvious. Groce trying to lift him up and giving him some minutes to get him mentally back, in a game that was well in hand, was no issue IMO. I actually felt good that Tracy ended the game on a positive note.

Tracy will play minutes, and we actually need him. Not only to back-up TJL but also JCL, as Nunn is not on the team and our other SG backup option (AJ) has not panned out yet.
 
#129      

haasi

haasi
New York
haasi
Obelix said:
Competition was much different early on. Same with Thorne earlier last year before his injury, people thought he was a better player than he had been in his career.

Abrams played 3 years injury free, and even in those seasons, he had significant limitations, including keeping the ball too long, not pushing the ball, etc. Some of the things we are also witnessing this season.

It is not that injuries have not taken a toll on him, but fans knew about those injuries. Yet, that did not stop people from envisioning a better Tracy than even before he got injured, playing 35 mins per game, a high level B1G PG, etc. Health is not a binary thing (healthy/not healthy). You have two major critical injuries and you do not play organized ball for a full 2 years, it is hard indeed to just come back and ignore that those injuries happened. It's going to show in your conditioning and performance.
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To be clear, I agree that weaker competition is an enormous factor in Tracy's much better early season performance. Driving into the lane against serious defenders obviously way harder than against RPI 200 schools. But the question is why his wide open shooting suddenly went kaput. Maybe he lost confidence against better competition and it's psychological. But if it's related to his prior injuries, as I believe Groce has alluded to, then it makes sense that he's lost his legs a little bit as the season's worn on.
 
#130      

coltjames03

C
coltjames03
haasi said:
Believe Dustin Ford has some role in in game subs. Not sure how much is him and how much is Groce.
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A majority of the subs are from Ford and why I want him gone no matter what. His Canada connection is amazing his subs are amazing sadly I think he is the biggest downfall.
 
#132      

breadman

B
Herndon, VA
breadman
Mav's botched dunk has to be in the top 10 bloopers of the season so far. Yes?
 
#134      

BillyBob1

BillyBob1
Champaign
BillyBob1
coltjames03 said:
A majority of the subs are from Ford and why I want him gone no matter what. His Canada connection is amazing his subs are amazing sadly I think he is the biggest downfall.
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Do you really think Ford is in charge of substitutions? He has probably been given directions and told when players are to be put in well before the game starts.
 
#135      

Swamp Donkey

Swamp Donkey
Swamp Donkey
I have a hard time believing that any college coach scripts his substitution pattern before any game. I feel these are determined by situation. Maybe they have a general idea on how many min each player might get but that all goes out the window when the game begins.
 
#138      

illini80

illini80
Forgottonia
illini80
haasi said:
Believe Dustin Ford has some role in in game subs. Not sure how much is him and how much is Groce.
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I have heard (Tate?) that substitutions early in the game are scripted ahead of time. Makes no sense to me, but it was presented as fact so I assume it came from JG.