It is fine here at Loyalty, in my view. I like to hear well-presented views from different positions across the spectrum. A bit of bother is fine with me, as long as the scrum isn't ill-intentioned.
Illinois 83, Northwestern 74 Postgame
- Status
He did the same thing in a game earlier in the year and won of the other Illini players picked it up.
We average about 30 a game so that’s where the 9+ came from.
Personally, I yell at the TV. Wife doesn't understand.
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
Yeah, we could've used Ty on this roster. I wasn't at all being critical of your post. It was just an observation of how fickle a good portion of us are. Simply amusing myself.
However, the cohesion is also a huge point and has been magnified by the recent surges in injuries and illness.
Could also say we're 10-1 when we shoot at least 30% from three.
I think the insight is that we don't even have to shoot it well from three. As long as we don't shoot it poorly, we're hard to beat.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Somebody please explain this time narrative to me. NU got 52 points or whatever in the second half. While I certainly agree that the last five minutes were the worst of it, saying we played well for 35 is a big exaggeration.
The Sprouting Divot
Invisible and Bulletproof
- Miracle Mile
Let me guess - you weren't active on any of the many balkanized Illini message boards back in the Self and Weber eras, were you?
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
Yeah, we could've used Ty on this roster. I wasn't at all being critical of your post. It was just an observation of how fickle a good portion of us are. Simply amusing myself.
However, the cohesion is also a huge point and has been magnified by the recent surges in injuries and illness.
No worries I didn't think you were, I just realized my point was probably not too clear in my original post.
Missing the Dawgs at times this season. Morez and DGL show it consistently, and I saw more dawg in KJ right from the tip today.
KB has the dawg, but it seems to get the zoomies sometimes? Squirrel!
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
Same with Tre. And Will really needs to channel his Inner Dawg.
Those were really annoying times. Whiners and censors on both sides. By contrast, this board is great, hasn't a whiff of trouble.
sacraig
- The desert
I gave up sports message boards for a bit because of those.
My dogs just look at me and get up and leave the room.
Gee Willikers people! Get a grip! Step back, take a deep breath, and examine what actually happened. In the first half we took Northwestern to the woodshed. At the half we were up by 22 points. Wonderful stuff! Led by 15+ points for much of the half and our biggest lead was 24 points with 2:13 left. This performance was against a good but not great Northwestern team that you remember did beat us at their place, and significantly, beat Maryland recently, the same Maryland team that beat us by 21 points. Yes, we were sick which contributed to our poor performance. And our coach reportedly figured we would lose without Tomi.
Then in the second half the game went AS IT OFTEN DOES IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL after a crushing first half, the teams traded baskets, in this case for 17 minutes. The score was 79 to 60, a 19-point lead for our beloved with 2:50 left on the clock. We had lost 3 points from our first half margin. Then rather than closing out Northwestern in good fashion, we farted big time. We scored 4 points and NW scored 14 in a desperate attempt to catch up. YUCK. However, we did win a game we all thought was crucial before the tip off.
I guess the point I want to make is what happened should not be surprising to those of us who have watched basketball for ever. The doom and gloom seems a bit overwrought. Most often teams trade baskets in the second half after a blow out first half. We did not suck for the whole second half or the last 10 minutes as many of you have stated. Of course we should be very unhappy with the last three minutes. But we won! I L L! I am 77 years old, attended the Big U in the late sixties and early seventies. Some of the best 7 years of my life, BTW. And Nick Weatherspoon was about the only basketball bright spot during my tenure. After seeing countless college games in my life, trading baskets in the second half is the norm unless the losing team totally sucks. NW does not.
Don't like my point of view? That's OK with me. After all it's just my opinion.
Then in the second half the game went AS IT OFTEN DOES IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL after a crushing first half, the teams traded baskets, in this case for 17 minutes. The score was 79 to 60, a 19-point lead for our beloved with 2:50 left on the clock. We had lost 3 points from our first half margin. Then rather than closing out Northwestern in good fashion, we farted big time. We scored 4 points and NW scored 14 in a desperate attempt to catch up. YUCK. However, we did win a game we all thought was crucial before the tip off.
I guess the point I want to make is what happened should not be surprising to those of us who have watched basketball for ever. The doom and gloom seems a bit overwrought. Most often teams trade baskets in the second half after a blow out first half. We did not suck for the whole second half or the last 10 minutes as many of you have stated. Of course we should be very unhappy with the last three minutes. But we won! I L L! I am 77 years old, attended the Big U in the late sixties and early seventies. Some of the best 7 years of my life, BTW. And Nick Weatherspoon was about the only basketball bright spot during my tenure. After seeing countless college games in my life, trading baskets in the second half is the norm unless the losing team totally sucks. NW does not.
Don't like my point of view? That's OK with me. After all it's just my opinion.
The Sprouting Divot
Invisible and Bulletproof
- Miracle Mile
Well, you would have been right at home in some corners.
I think Will has a very, very long way to go yet. Like everyone else, I can see the extraordinary talent. I can also see the want-to, the willingness to make things happen. He is willing to take shots, including hard ones. He is a pretty darn good ball handler and passer. Really impressive for his (skinny as can be) size. And the kid's court awareness is fantastic -- knowing where everyone is all the time helps him on defense and with rebounding as well as offensively, as a scorer or facilitator.
But although he is incredibly precocious in this regard, and only KJ and Tomi on this team now, or will ever in the future, show this killer skill, Will is still playing like a very green freshman. Why? His body betrays him, for now. His height and slinky flexiblity are critical advantages, but he remains so far away from having the strength he needs to physically carry-off against this level of competition what he is able to see in his mind.
I hope he comes back next year, gets Fletched over a long and full off-season, has a great sophomore season for us, and then gets drafted as a lottery pick.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Never said it was linear.
Points are points. I was in Welsh-Ryan for that game too and watched the carnage. We don’t need a big lead to step off the gas. I want enough cushion that a bad half doesn’t sink us.
Nor do I expect that every night. But when the team is firing on all cylinders, and man alive were they in the first half, I want it to keep going.
We played well enough to have a 23 point lead with 5 minutes left to go in the game.
It was a 23 point lead with 5 to play and a 19 point lead with 2:50 to go.
- Status