Oh yeah!! Maybe give him six fouls. Otherwise, I’m not sure how BU gets him anymore than he got
Illinois 80, Missouri 77 Postgame
- Status
USAFILLINI
- Florida
WR has 9 rebounds over the last 3 games and BH has 3. If you can’t shoot, playing soft on D, and you can’t rebound, that’s a tough mixture. WR will come out of his shooting slump but not for sure BH can come out of lack of rebounding and D, when it’s never been a strong point in his game (against weaker competition).
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
In addition to so many other great posts, I’ll just add one point. If you want this game ever switched to a generic home-and-home just like every other series, you’re insane.
I wasn't saying he was perfectly vertical. I was saying he went up more vertically than a lot of others I have seen go up to contest shots at the rim this year that were not called for a foul. He got the typical big10 freshman treatment on those types of calls.
Also, neither Ben nor Will are as strong on D as Morez but there actually quite a few plays vs Mizzou and others were Ben defended without fouling and turned guys away. He isnt perfect or as strong as Big T or Morez but he does jump vertically and challenge, making opponents shots much more difficult without fouling and some made shots shots good players just make. They make them over others too. Fans say it's poor D but it's not. He is doing what BU is asking. Defend. Jump vertically arms uo, without fouling and the thing is so many ignore the many times he challenges and they miss. Ben contributed to some key moments when Mizzou missed key shots with him and others challenging.
Also, when Boswell along with WR and Ben hit shots look out. Will and Boswell and getting to the line at a high rate and shots will start to fall.
Agree. If you don't believe it go back and watch the tape.
Riley can also do more ballhandling to attack the rim or get a short turn around. Ben is a cone on defense. I'm sorry but it is what it is. There's a difference between walling up and forcing a tough shot abd just sticking your hands up and letting the offensive player easily shoot over you or pivot past you.
if you look at the first four fouls he was not straight up with his arms. they were at about 65 degree angles toward the player and, when that player (deliberately) runs into them, that's called a foul all day. Plus he was swaying toward the other player. He'll learn to have arms straight up body straight up and he will have less fouls.
No excuse for the last one though. That's as clean a block as you'll ever see. Bad, bad call.
But I LOVE this young man's attitude-=DON'T come into my KITCHEN! and as only a freshman! Been a while since we had an an intimidator in the middle like that!
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
You jump straight up, not forward. He was jumping forward with his body and arms straight up, but still forward into the guy.
Even then, post defenders are whistled for fouling. Refs nowadays make it next to impossible to defend the post.
This is the truth. Everybody calling for mor Morez isn’t going to get it because he can’t stay on the floor without fouling. I would like to see more Booth, if he can play better D than Humrichhous and also rebound.
It's mostly KJ. Against our best non-con opponents, his A/T has been bad.
TN 2 / 7
Bama 6 / 6
Mizzou 4 / 5
IMO Mizzou was a poor man's TN, still very disruptive defensively though. So the question is, does KJ figure out how to protect the ball? Every freshman PG is going to make some head-scratching plays - even Deron did. KJ is struggling with it though. Riley seems to be struggling at times too. If those two guys figure things out and the team gels more, we'll be happy come tournament time. I expect road games to be a slog, with several losses we thought we should get.
I also think that KJ is part of the reason we're not playing nearly as fast as we should. I can see his hesitation. Feels like he needs to find his identity for the team to. Several guys are playing really well, though, so I think the floor for the team is still good.
One more thing about this game: I couldn’t help but think about how much this game symbolized a battle of opposing philosophies (and team composition). Mizzou = bunch of bully ball players that basically could only hit 2 point shots for 95% of the game. Illinois = skilled, versatile players that could hit shots all over the court. Our lack of physicality almost got us, but we were able to put together more runs feeding off guys hitting 3s and making nice reads.
Oh I definitely agree with playing WR. I’m more talking about the criticisms on here/social media.
Of the times it worked... felt like it was 95% over Ben. At least to start the game.
Wrong. 100%.
Last edited:
Which website has this box score layout available, can’t find it?
Link is on the game thread, first post.
In fairness, the coach running onto the floor was very distracting to the refs. Maybe it was a coordinated hit?
Went to the game yesterday...have been to 15-20 Braggin Rights games, mostly in the 80's and 90's ,but not since 2016....so I thought I'd share some thoughts.
1. Attendance looked to me to be about 2/3 Illini fans 1/3 Mizzo fans....Mizzo was home team and wore their yellow uni's while the Illini visitors wore throwback whites (good)
2. Did anyone else at the game think that during timeouts the big information screen displayed Missouri fans, pep band, cheerleaders way more than Illinois?
I would guess that screen time for both teams was around 70% Mizzo and 30% Illini....I don't remember it being like this before....always thought that they
did a good job of splitting this 50-50....but yesterday was certainly a heavy Missouri lean
3. Officiating was terrible....and sure seemed like Mizzo got the better, especially of those 50-50 calls...the call at end of first half....KJ was fouled on the 3pt attempt...but no call....but the put back by Morez was good....showed the replay several times on the big screen and it was clearly good...both teams left the floor and then officials said basket didn't count....fans went nuts....they didn't show the replay again on big screen after that...was wondering how they spun this on the tv broadcast
4. How long has it been since we've been able to say...this team can shoot and make free throws??? without good free throw shooting yesterday, we lose
5. I was a little surprised that after KB made the first FT near the end of the game to give us a 3 pt lead that we didn't call time out and say that if KB makes the second FT then get back make them use up most of the remaining seconds on the clock and don't foul, and if he misses then foul as soon as you can once they cross half court....Mizzo got a pretty good look from 3 that would have tied it and forced OT...which I thought we had no chance given our foul trouble to win in OT
6. We need to clean up the Turnovers....seems like we're good for 3 or 4 what I call silly TO's every game....
7. I'm not calling for us to abandon the high ball screen....but sure seems like at least a few times a game we need to just get out of KB's way and let him break down his man....let KB beat his man and take it to the hoop...someone comes over to help, dish it off to one of the bigs or kick it out for a 3
8. Don't know if anyone caught this....but I swear we played zone on one possession yesterday...it was in the first half, right after a timeout....it was a short possession by Mizzo, but sure looked like we were in a zone defense.....but next possession we were back to man D...
9. Was really happy to see the Illini hold off Mizzo ....several times Illini would stretch the lead to 7-10 pts, but Mizzo would make a run and even led a couple times....but Illini didn't break....they just kept playing and survived those runs...sign of a good team...
10. Morez showed that he's deserving of more minutes....the team needs more Morez....now if he can just avoid foul trouble and stay on the floor
11. Wil is adjusting to the physicality of the game....slowly....but he's adjusting....think he's due to have a breakout game here soon...that will help this team immensely
12. This team is young and pretty good, with a chance to be very good....I'm sure we'll have a few games in the B10 that will drive us nuts (like NW), but I really think come end of Feb. early March we will be a team that no one really wants to play
1. Attendance looked to me to be about 2/3 Illini fans 1/3 Mizzo fans....Mizzo was home team and wore their yellow uni's while the Illini visitors wore throwback whites (good)
2. Did anyone else at the game think that during timeouts the big information screen displayed Missouri fans, pep band, cheerleaders way more than Illinois?
I would guess that screen time for both teams was around 70% Mizzo and 30% Illini....I don't remember it being like this before....always thought that they
did a good job of splitting this 50-50....but yesterday was certainly a heavy Missouri lean
3. Officiating was terrible....and sure seemed like Mizzo got the better, especially of those 50-50 calls...the call at end of first half....KJ was fouled on the 3pt attempt...but no call....but the put back by Morez was good....showed the replay several times on the big screen and it was clearly good...both teams left the floor and then officials said basket didn't count....fans went nuts....they didn't show the replay again on big screen after that...was wondering how they spun this on the tv broadcast
4. How long has it been since we've been able to say...this team can shoot and make free throws??? without good free throw shooting yesterday, we lose
5. I was a little surprised that after KB made the first FT near the end of the game to give us a 3 pt lead that we didn't call time out and say that if KB makes the second FT then get back make them use up most of the remaining seconds on the clock and don't foul, and if he misses then foul as soon as you can once they cross half court....Mizzo got a pretty good look from 3 that would have tied it and forced OT...which I thought we had no chance given our foul trouble to win in OT
6. We need to clean up the Turnovers....seems like we're good for 3 or 4 what I call silly TO's every game....
7. I'm not calling for us to abandon the high ball screen....but sure seems like at least a few times a game we need to just get out of KB's way and let him break down his man....let KB beat his man and take it to the hoop...someone comes over to help, dish it off to one of the bigs or kick it out for a 3
8. Don't know if anyone caught this....but I swear we played zone on one possession yesterday...it was in the first half, right after a timeout....it was a short possession by Mizzo, but sure looked like we were in a zone defense.....but next possession we were back to man D...
9. Was really happy to see the Illini hold off Mizzo ....several times Illini would stretch the lead to 7-10 pts, but Mizzo would make a run and even led a couple times....but Illini didn't break....they just kept playing and survived those runs...sign of a good team...
10. Morez showed that he's deserving of more minutes....the team needs more Morez....now if he can just avoid foul trouble and stay on the floor
11. Wil is adjusting to the physicality of the game....slowly....but he's adjusting....think he's due to have a breakout game here soon...that will help this team immensely
12. This team is young and pretty good, with a chance to be very good....I'm sure we'll have a few games in the B10 that will drive us nuts (like NW), but I really think come end of Feb. early March we will be a team that no one really wants to play
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Thanks for relaying this, and this surprises me. From TV and some photos I saw posted on social media, it looked closer to 55/45 Illini. It looked like Mizzou finally filled up their side of the arena once again, but there was a smattering of orange on their side and practically no Mizzou presence on ours. Glad to hear the Illini turnout was even better than that!
I was also surprised to see attendance was below 19,000 (capacity is about 21,900). It looked completely full whenever they would show the crowd. I'll also throw out that, while I wanted a win more than anything else ... I was honestly happy the game was close. Three straight years of blowouts made me miss the classic intensity of this game.
So is your glass half empty and ignore key times Ben did deter and make key stops yesterday. Because he did. BU has him in because he is better at it than others whether you agree or not
Why hate on either of them?...they are Illini guys, wearing the uniform, playing hard, and trying to contribute to their team winning. There are almost always guys on every team at every level that are struggling at any one time. WE KNOW FOR A FACT that those things change. They need love too when they are struggling....and that will change in time. Lets hope very soon as both Riley and Hummer can make HUGE contributions when their shots are falling. It's all between the ears in that regard.
It is simply mind boggling when fans, who have never played the game at this level, bad mouth kids that are elite when they are in a slump. These kids should and do ignore such criticism as they work hard to fight through it.
I was wondering about this too. Looked like a clear good basket in the arena and on the arena’s big screen. No explanation for those in attendance. Those watching on TV..what happened? Or at least what was the explanation?
- Status