John Groce can't play defense for Finke and Mav. Coach is accountable for his team but those players need to step it up while they're wearing an Illini jersey.
Illinois 85, IUPUI 77 POSTGAME
John Groce can't play defense for Finke and Mav. Coach is accountable for his team but those players need to step it up while they're wearing an Illini jersey.
I guess my point is that, while a great scorer, Malcolm continues to frustrate me at times by seeming soft/passive on defense/loose balls/rebounding. He reminds me of Scottie Pippen in that I think he could be the best "2nd banana" in college ball... But he sometimes fails to lead as the alpha.
Regardless- I didn't mean to knock Malcolm's game tonight or anything... Just voicing the opinion that he occasionally frustrates. While as of late, LB does nothing but impress
illinoisfan11
- Peoria, IL
I totally agree. Winning close games comes down to the confidence of knowing you can do it. These last 3 games should give them the confidence they can close games out, even when they don't have their best stuff.
He is projected as a top ten tweener.
Amen. Both times I thought, welp- we're gonna lose. Was glad to see our fight at the end to not let it happen.
+1000.
Up until the last 2 mins, IUPUI players either unguarded behind the arc, or allowed to walk into the lane for unopposed jumpers. It hardly seems possible to allow both to happen but we somehow make that work. Atrocious on ball defense except for some good hustle plays, like steals by Tracy and Tate
Malcolm has never been a natural leader but he's been put in that position by default because he's been by far the best player on the floor the past two seasons. He's doing his best but He appears to disappear for a bit but that's going to happen when he's the main focus for every team he faces. Luckily, our other weapons are starting to warm up.
For all the crap Weber takes on this board, he taught his teams defense. Hands in the face and man to man. We are a zone team and leaving guys open.
NOPE!!!!
Interesting analogy..Not sure Black handles the ball as well, but better on the boards.
So much of our offense ends up looking like one on five. I'm starting to think we're going to need a new coach even if Malcolm somehow carries us to the tournament (though I don't see that happening.)
Wow, Ohio State loses today against Florida Atlantic. Indiana lost to Fort Wayne earlier this year.
BirdDog9048
The Chief Lives
- Chicago, IL
You're nitpicking against Malcolm, while ignoring nits that could be picked against Leron. After the aforementioned missed free throw that you hastily attributed to Malcolm, Leron got the rebound and promptly gave it back to IUPUI by dribbling out of bounds.
Well, RPI doesn't use margin of victory, but the committee can use other tools that do. But I doubt this one will hurt us there anyway.
Impressed by what Black and Abrams have given us this year, surpassed what I expected. For us to be an NCAA team JCL is going to have to step up. Has to be the player that rarely gets taken out because he is too valuable. Has to be able to fill the void left by Nunn. I think there is a role for a guy like Kipper, to bring energy and defense.
No that would be Black. Hill best offensive but all around black is better.
lol stop
618 Illini
- Chicago
It still baffles me that a Big Ten team falls back into a zone defense against mid-majors consistently. You would think our players, as a whole, are significantly more athletic/gifted than middle tiered teams but it doesn't seem that way.
Malcolm scored efficiently tonight. I don't think he will ever truly have that LB bulldog mentality, just doesn't seem to be in his blood. However, he always seems laid-back, calm and collected which I think is a plus at times. Also enjoyed him throwing down some dunks today that he would prolly lay in last year.
Love Leron's game and energy. He should get significant minutes and only come out when in foul trouble. Seems like he dropped his moving screen foul average from 1.5/Game to 0.5/game so that should help.
Not a fan of Tate on the floor purely because the offense is stagnant. I can accept occasional TO's from TJL as long as they are aggressive moves to the hoop.
Malcolm scored efficiently tonight. I don't think he will ever truly have that LB bulldog mentality, just doesn't seem to be in his blood. However, he always seems laid-back, calm and collected which I think is a plus at times. Also enjoyed him throwing down some dunks today that he would prolly lay in last year.
Love Leron's game and energy. He should get significant minutes and only come out when in foul trouble. Seems like he dropped his moving screen foul average from 1.5/Game to 0.5/game so that should help.
Not a fan of Tate on the floor purely because the offense is stagnant. I can accept occasional TO's from TJL as long as they are aggressive moves to the hoop.
If Weber were still here, we'd be riding a 5 year tourney drought going on a sixth. As much as people want to complain about Groce being a bridesmaid so much with elite recruits, they forget that Weber couldn't even get an invite to the wedding with elite recruits.
Illini1221
Peru,IL
I think Lucas and Tate were both bad tonight. Abrams was the guy tonight. That being said, its nice to have 3 solid point guard options, if one or two are struggling.
I don't care on who you guys decide is your #1 but it's great that it's even debatable.
Agreed.... but if the coach is going to play those guy he needs to come up with some sort of strategy that tries not to expose their weak points....For example
- maybe we need to play a lot more zone. These bigs and JCL may never learn to switch well.
-or maybe he needs to think about encouraging them to using their 10 fouls (plus 5 more from Thorne). If you can't grab a board or find yourself out of position just make an aggressive foul. I think I saw Thorne wrap up one guy tonight when out of position. Not my idea of " fun" basketball but at least it might promote aggressiveness and get other teams out of sync.
Doing the same thing and expecting different results is not good coaching.
618 Illini
- Chicago
Abrams is for sure the man. Nice scoring touch from the PG position and can create shots for others.
Would be nice to have TJL step up and get some minutes in Abrams absence. Not expecting Tate to make the jump as I haven't seen enough throughout his career.
bredhartmann
- Centralia, IL
Not even close. Hill is averaging more points (18.4 vs 12.8), one less rebound (8.0 vs 7.0), more assists (2.1 vs 0.5), and more steals (1.0 vs 0.0).
I'm a huge fan of Leron but the thought that he's better than Malcolm is comical.
Malcolm missed the front of a 1-and-1 at the 6:45 mark. I didn't attribute it to the wrong guy, but it wasn't as "final minutes" as I thought. It was, however, in a very close game. As were his two turnovers after that point.