Most of what I have to say is a repeat of what has already been said, but I'll give my review.
The last couple minutes of the first half until around the second t.v. timeout in the second half, the Illini played pretty well. They moved the ball, they got out in transition, and my favorite, they played lock down D. The other 28 or so minutes were ugly. I told myself a couple times, that it is only an exhibition and it is the first game, but I felt I saw too many of the same mistakes and issues that have plagued the last couple of teams.
Offensively, most of the first half our offense was a high ball screen or two, which were never set. Literally, the post players never even came close to setting the screen. Four players would then stand around, while the ball handler dribbled, with maybe one or two passes into a highly contested shot. Definitely not the ingredients for a successful offense.
When we got into our good stretch, our defense was really creating offense. We were getting steals and forcing very tough shots that we could run-out on and get layups. Every shot was contested. Even in the half court,on offense, all 5 guys were moving, drive-and-kick, back-doors, no "hero" ball, you name it...we looked like a really good team and were getting easy looks. Got up 29 or so and the tv timeout and everything completely changed. Back to the "hero" ball and lazy defense and turnovers. 29 went to 12 in what seemed like a minute. Just seemed like a microcosm of our season last year. Play extremely well in spurts and then just forget what we were doing that worked.
A few notes...
Abrams- Looked really good. Seemed so calm, even when he got into the lane. He'd take his time and find the open guy. Could get into the lane any time he wanted. His outside shot even looked pretty good. I believe he was 1-2 from 3 and the miss was in and out. Most impressive player for me yesterday.
Te'jon Lucas- Also had a pretty solid game despite not having an impressive score sheet. He made some really nifty passes and probably should have had at least 5 assists. He hit a couple of our posts players with some great passes that should have been easy dunks, but went right through their hands.
Finke- Played pretty solid for the most part. Don't think offense will ever be a problem with him. Defensively he was pretty solid and he really battled on the boards. Thought he got a little lazy at times and had some really bad turnovers due to the lazy part.
Morgan- Same with Finke for the most part. Offensively he is really good. Defensively he still has his troubles. Did have a couple of nice box-outs, but wish he would go to the boards a lot harder.
Thorne- Is his knee still bothering him? Seemed to labor around and was in slow motion. Just didn't look healthy.
Williams- Man, when he's on the court, he looks like an NBA player. The size, length, and athleticism (hopefully the skills [progress). He made a couple of really nice plays and then a few "that's why he doesn't play more" type of plays. The tools are all there. Obviously, if he puts it all together, look out.