I thought he was a lot better on defense last night. Was a lot more aggressive and held his ground more. I don’t know if he’ll ever be a great defender, but yesterday was a positive step.
Go Speed Racer , GOOOOO...
Just a few generations too early (came in my freshman year, along with Dennis Pace, Dave Scholz, Les Busboom, and several others...) Steve would have been a great Illini, but freshmen couldn't play varsity back then... Loved that team pre-slush fund...
I thought that was his best overall game. His defense and rebounding were more consistent. It is easier to keep him on the floor when he is doing the little things even if his shot is not falling
Good to see names of familiar buildings. I played high school ball at Moline. Wharton Field House is an absolute gem. The Quad Cities had a CBA team back in the 80s-90s and they played at Wharton. I remember seeing Kenny Battle playing after he was out of the NBA. Great memories. I also played at Davenport Central’s gym.
Also has to do with how Washington was defending, Specifically in ball screens
Even better than that, from 1946-51 Wharton Field House was the home of the Tri-city Blackhawks … today’s Atlanta Hawks.
I’ll be surprised if Rez’s minutes increase much as the year goes on. Seems pretty clear at this point Brad wants shooters out there if at all possible
Yup. I believe Bob Cousy played for the Ti-City Blackhawks
Did they go from Tri-City straight to Saint Louis? Or somewhere else after TC? (long before they wound up in Atlanta years later)
Will just looks lost, and I think it's a direct correlation to his shooting and confidence. He needs development (offseason and in-season) to figure things out. A way more prominent argument in this regard is how is Morez only getting 9 minutes. (?)
Wow. So I start being a fan in 1970 when dad got his position with the U of I. I’d heard of the slush fund. Blows me away to think $35 a month was enough to wreck Illini sports for over a decade - my entire childhood fandom years.
Morez has managed to get the same whistle that Dain Dainja was getting. Dude breathes on his man and it’s a foul. Reputation calls suck. But they are keeping his minutes down.
I was struck during the game at how much KJ seemed to look for Morez when he was in, sometimes passing as soon as he touched the ball. I got the impression KJ sees some real opportunities with him, and damn does Morez look strong in person.
They lost to Nevada (8-7, #58 in Kenpom) and Seattle (5-10, #146 in Kenpom), and lost by 24 at home to USC (9-5, #77 in Kenpom). That Maryland game is really their only good win.
Compared to that resume, I think they're very much more improved.
I dont think they are a bad team and they play hard plus I think Sprinkle is a good coach but I just don't see a ton of talent.
From Moline to Milwaukee, then St.Louis. Here’s the story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Hawks
Seems like Rez is often fumbling the pass giving the defense time to react. Can’t be strength by the way he rebounds. Don’t understand why but is holding down his scoring.
Don’t know numbers or how to find them but post defense seems much better than last year. Think Ben gets some of the credit along with Tomi and Rez. Layups are consistently challenged and percentages would tell the story but I think Tomi doesn’t get enough credit for his defense. Michigan will be the test with two scoring bigs.
Based on losing to us in a game in which we shot 5/26 (19%) from 3? Guess we'll find out. Honestly looking at their schedule, I don't think they have 5 more wins on there. Torvik only has them as favorites in only one of their remaining games.
Maryland's metrics are propped up by beating the snot out of bad teams. Their NCSOS is 364th out of 364 teams.
