How fun was that? Let's make this more of a habit.
Illinois 86, Rutgers 51 Postgame
How fun was that? Let's make this more of a habit.
Man, I loathe Iowa.
IMO, the only way Belo starts when he returns is if he has a VERY short leash. As previously stated here, he better have learned something watching from the bench. Hero ball normally doesn't work.
It wasn’t (except the first 8:00.)
MustangWally
- Mayfield
Looks like an eight man rotation tonight. Will Curbelo make it nine? Nice depth.
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
Belo will go right back into the starting lineup these hot takes are getting ridiculous. He's basically the ONLY PG we have on the roster .
Then we looked pretty good today with no point guard.
against another team with no point guard who couldn't apply no ball pressure and who didn't have a Kofi to draw all the attention.
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
Agreed. We would not do well against ball pressure without AC.
I disagree. He will start but he HAS to have a short leash. His turnovers have been absolute momentum killers and there is a proof of concept with the offense running well without him. He’s one of the most talented PGs I’ve seen in an Illini uniform, but he needs to make better decisions.
Alfonso has been our fire power on offense. You really want to start the game without him? I wouldn’t but for now he definitely starts haha
Plummer is much much better than Ekey
If he can take care of ball, he will be our floor leader. That should be his #1priority....if not he should back up someone else.
We had 7 TOs in first 7 min and 3 the remaining 33 min.
We have got to emphasize a quick passing offense that is unselfish and taking care of the ball. That's what we saw tonight.
Noice win, was impressed with Omar and how he contributed, best of the year for him.
There’s a very real chance he hasn’t been 100% yet. Post concussion syndrome could definitely be playing into him not seeing the court clearly.
blackdog
- Champaign
BTW Kofi is now averaging 1.3 assists per game. He was made some great passes out of the post and even when they missed or he got a hockey assist he had a HUGE smile on his face going back down the other way. There were some times this game where I thought he passed when he could have powered through but its been such an amazing change seeing him move the ball.
great call on the 'hockey assists' and has been awesome to see Kofi enjoying other's success when he kicks it out.
This makes him a valuable NBA player. He is a great guy for the locker room. But when he passes out quickly, he cannot be double teamed as a defensive strategy.
I will say this, the past couple of games (and why not his frosh season I don't know) he has shown to be on top of all the critics shortcomings in his game. Not a reliable FF shooter but not to the point of being a liability. I hope and believe he is thankful he made the decision to return to the Illini where he is surrounded by shooters. Kofi, when he plays like he did tonight, is not only the Alpha Dog of this team, but deserving of his pre-season All-America accolades.....and who knows how much better he can become. Maybe he will cherish going scoreless with 18 boards and 12 assists for a double-double. We should feel assured that BU values his shooting percentage, but with the shooters this team has....why should he care. The more assists he gets, the more money he will make in the NBA. To me his value is boards, defense, assists, and scoring....in that order.
Bottom line is we all feel good because the entire team played their roles and played well at both ends. And we saw what Kofi is capable of bringing to the court...and it is massive if it continues. He is no longer a black hole...and the team will be colossally better if he continues his trend to improve and add parts to his game that are so important. I assure you that the coaches are having the time of their life coaching him.
Great game from the entire team...and a great day for Kofi Cockburn!!! I-L-L....