Don’t poke the bear. Beat him!
Illinois 76, Minnesota 53 Postgame
I don't think this is isolated. I too have been trying to read the tea leaves and like I think most of us, I hope he continues to stay because he has such a huge upside and when he plays well, I see NBA. I don't see him as boisterous as he was early on. Also, I don't see him in the middle of things (like Curbelo)...when we beat Mizz-ery, I always saw him on the outskirts of the group. I really think if he can get a handle on some of his mental snafu's and firm up his dribbles - he can be awesome! I'm willing to eat crow here all day long, but I do see the same detachment as you are seeing and I'm worried it's not going to be good for us.
It's funny because fans act like players play to be ranked and are satisfied with that alone. Players want to win games.
Our players don't suddenly stop trying because we are ranked. We lost some games we would have liked to win. We did not lose them because we were ranked. And us winning games now is not because were unranked. We were ranked #3 at the end of last year and we did not even get passed the 2nd round of the tournament. I'm sure our players would have traded more wins in the tournament over a ranking.
I believe that both Damonte and Trent are all about winning and not individual stats. If they are needed they step it up. If someone else is carrying the load they are okay with just supporting them. This makes for a very hard team to scheme against. One night Trent steps up and gets almost 30 with outside shooting. Another night someone else does. Who do you plan to stop? Sag on Kofi. Which 3 point shooter is going to be the problem? The offense is not built around any particular shooter.
I'd go one further. Our offense was not good when Kofi rested. Without the inside threat, the opposition played the 3 point line and we passed the ball around for 20s, and then someone took a low percentage shot. There seemed to be several contributing factors.
- CoHawk had several open 3 looks that he faked and passed. His defender was pretty much daring him to shoot and defending the drive. I wonder if he was told to not shoot 3s. Each time, after he pulled it down, his drive failed and we went back to passing on the perimeter.
- Payne doesn't block out well when receiving an entry pass, or on the single dribble to set up the shot -- his defender gets a hand in too often.
- If there was a cutting scheme, so that we could (bounce) pass the ball to someone on the way to the hoop, I didn't see it.
I saw one try at an alley oop. I'd like to see the alley oop to CoHank and Payne be practiced set plays. The feed can come off the top pick, or as the defender steps forward to block the lane. They need to practice arcing it over the defender.
Kofi's game was great. The one repeated issue I saw was that he seemed to roll a heartbeat too early on many of the picks. The defender wasn't forced to fully go around him making the PGs job much harder. They didn't get the extra heartbeat of freedom to get him a clean pass.
Overall, a well done game. I like that BU is getting next years starters minutes now. It will help during the tourney slog, as well as next year. It does mean that our rankings on Pomeroy, Sagarin, etc. will always be lower due to the closer games as people learn.
I feel where you are coming and the reasoning in sound, but...
1. People speculated for years that Aaron Jordan was going to transfer. It never happened.
2. There was speculation after year 1 that Giorgi was going to declare for the NBA. Some even said he would transfer because of Kofi and that he appeared down during some games. That did not happen.
3. Some people chose to speculate Adam Miller would transfer and it happened. And the argument for why it was obvious was because he seemed disconnected at times, but people ignore the several other instances where he was very active.
My point? Getting absorbed in body language from 1 photo, what you interpret as a change in behavior on the bench, etc will just lead you to exploring random possibilities. Not to mention we're discussing a photo that Illinois basketball chose to tweet out.
In the end, unless you know players personally, there's no way to tell for sure who will/will not transfer.
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Maybe you're not looking for an answer, but...
I think those two get more press than you'd expect partially because we're in an era where a ton of emphasis is placed on analytics. Despite their record, Michigan and Purdue are 27 and 5 respectively in Kenpom. Michigan is also stacked on paper having brought in the #3 class nationally with a pair of 5 stars, as well as a stable of 4 stars from this year and last, plus they've had recent success. I can see why they continue to get talked about even though they've been underwhelming.
I love Kofi. He's unstoppable when not doubled or tripled, and proved yesterday he can still shoot 50% from the field even when two or three defenders crash down on him once he puts it on the floor. Imagine what our shooters will do from the three point line when he learns to pass in those situations, too.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
Man, look at how bad BU's body language is in this photo: standing alone, leaning back, disengaged. That is not the facial expression of someone having fun. He's probably thinking about the team he's going to leave us for.
I guess we'll need to find his replacement in 2019.
I guess we'll need to find his replacement in 2019.
Bigtex
- DFW
Very good if his feet are set
If he is on the move his shots rarely go in
sacraig
- The desert
Some fans have convinced themselves that the players will be more motivated if they feel slighted by the rankings. Of course, there is no evidence that this is in any way true.
Bigtex
- DFW
Not an insider but imo defense is keeping him from getting early minutes.
Calillini
Now appearing in Tampa
Omg, what will we do, what will we do?Man, look at how bad BU's body language is in this photo: standing alone, leaning back, disengaged. That is not the facial expression of someone having fun. He's probably thinking about the team he's going to leave us for.
I guess we'll need to find his replacement in 2019.
Mark Smith and Jamall Walker were at Illinois last year? I learned something new today. Also when did Mizzou change their colors to Blue and Maize?
I believe that’s Mark Smith wearing number 13 at the far left of the picture so that was not last year, it was the 2017-2018 year. But it doesn’t really matter.
CoHawk retweeted this this morning:
Point being, it’s best not to speculate off of one still frame photo. A video might provide more context but even then, best not to speculate as it’s just one small moment in a persons life.
Oh I get what their thinking. I think the benefits of being in the top 25 by far out weigh that rationale.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
Man, look at this still frame photo of BU after we dominated Minnesota yesterday. He looks totally unhappy and checked out. Must be some kind of chemistry issue within the team.
I know that look. Gastritis.
Perhaps the only thing worse than the locker room decor is the food?
Thanks to the OP for giving us a nice still that makes the point of how ludicrous basing anything off a snap shot is.
JUMP shot is a generous description. Reminds me of Tal Brody's shot.
I've seen Hawk at a number of the WBB games and he's always clowning with Curbelo. I've only seen him once in public, and once again, he was clowning with his teammates. He seems genuinely happy to be an Illini. Not saying he will or won't transfer, but FWIW.