Illinois 86, Xavier 73 Postgame

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#301      
Brosky
Wow! 18 of 18 free throw shooting. I'm not a math genius, but that looks like 100% to me. We've always been a good FT shooting team, but this sets a new standard. You can win a lot of games doing this.

I didn't realize Ben had another year of eligibility...is that the case? I'll take Owen Freeman from Moline/Iowa and Ben can transfer out or watch from the bench.
 
#302      
1m4tr
IlliniRunIn07 said:
One thing I am thinking about this morning. While this season hasn't been an outright disaster by any stretch, I think it's fair to say it's been disappointing for the most part. And if we lose Sunday, it will still probably lean to the disappointing side overall. But if our new baseline for "disappointing" is a 6 seed and 2nd round exit, it is another testament to the program Brad/Josh have been able to build here. And if we win Sunday, I'll consider the season successful. We should just go ahead and win Sunday.
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The season has been 100% successful already. How much returning production did we have? “Hasn’t been an outright disaster?” But it’s been a plain disaster? Wow we are a spoiled entitled fan base. Sure the season has been up and down but we all love this team so much and we are in a very good spot currently.
 
#303      
nichi
AndyKaufmanstutor said:
Huh?? I don’t mean to be a jerk but how many games have you watched this year? This was a typical/standard game for him.
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How many have you watched?
His season average from 3 is 1.8-5.3 per game, for 34.3%
He's been below 33% 12 times; 40% or better 13 times. He was "0 for" from three 5 times counting last night. So, no. 0-4 is not typical for him.
 
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#304      
jumpingjack
blackdog said:
It wasn't a good game for a two big lineup since with the way Xavier plays D it was easy to spread the floor and find cutters. I'm sure when the situation calls for it they will go back to them playing together.
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Super Troopers Yes GIF by Searchlight Pictures
 
#305      
nichi
jacekpardol said:
Energy and grit? Ben empty mins have to be approaching something historic at this point.

These are some of the worst per 40 numbers you’re going to see.

See All
STATS
2024-25
2023-24

GPMINFG%3P%FT%REBASTBLKSTLPFTOPTS
3426.237.534.368.83.70.90.70.51.50.57.8
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Those are not per 40 numbers.
 
#306      
ejam21
jacekpardol said:
Energy and grit? Ben empty mins have to be approaching something historic at this point.

These are some of the worst per 40 numbers you’re going to see.

See All
STATS
2024-25
2023-24

GPMINFG%3P%FT%REBASTBLKSTLPFTOPTS
3426.237.534.368.83.70.90.70.51.50.57.8
Click to expand...

These per 26.2 minute numbers are the WORST per 40 numbers ive ever seen!!!! LOL come on man those arent per 40s
 
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#307      
ejam21
nichi said:
The last 5 games before Xavier, he shot a combined 9-19 from three. That might have contributed.
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For some reason, some people only notice negative ben plays. Dude talking about "it seems like he only hits 25%", meanwhile he's .33 or better literally the last 5 games before this. Can't make it up

last 5 games
MD: 1/2
Iowa: 1/3
Purdue: 2/4
Mich: 3/8
Iowa: 2/2

Loyalty after some bricks tonight: "HE NEVER MAKES THREES!"
 
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#309      
Chuck Nuggets
Sean Miller has made eight Sweet 16 appearances. BU has been to one. Sean Miller is a great coach and we would have been lucky to get him if BU decided to take the K-State job or the Texas job.
 
#310      
BTM33
I have zero issues with the bench use.

This is the tournament. You play your best guys the most minutes you can and each game is different. We may run into foul trouble next game and need good minutes from DGL and Ben.

Great.
 
#312      
Big Jack
sacraig said:
christmas vacation GIF


What energy and grit? The kind where he just out of the way to let a ball handler drive to the basket?

I don't care how hard someone plays. If they can't keep up with the game, effort and attitude won't fix that.

I feel bad for the kid. He seems like a good kid. But, based on his body of work this season, he can't hack it at this level.
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Sorry but I will take Ben every day over Jake and DGL. He could be useful if bought on sale
 
#313      
sacraig
Big Jack said:
Sorry but I will take Ben every day over Jake and DGL. He could be useful if bought on sale
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Disagree. None of them are consistent contributors, but BH had enough of a sample size this year to know he was not ready for this level. DGL was inconsistent but has a much higher ceiling than BH. JD... who knows? Small sample size.

They also aren't also playing the same position/role.
 
#317      
ejam21
List of Illini who hit 50 or more 3s in the underwood era

Plummer 2022: 98
Frazier 2019: 80
Shannon 2024: 77
Mayer 2023: 67
Frazier 2022: 63
Ben H 2025: 62 and counting
Goode 2024: 61
Frazier 2018: 61
Hawkins 2024: 59
Frazier 2021: 55
KJ 2025: 52 and counting
miller 2021: 52
Frazier 2020: 51
Ayo 2019: 50
Shannon 2023: 50
Tomi: 50 and counting
 
#318      
csd
NarrowJ said:
Not every player has to average double figures, we need guys who will come off the bench (and accept that role, not 'quiet quit' as they say and/or be a distraction with their displeasure, etc)

You'd think he shoots 0-5 every game... he made some plays on defense, he spreads the floor, etc, the shots just didn't go down

Its the same thing with most of our players though... Kylan is roasted on here often... KJ missed a triple double by a rebound last night yet we have people saying our best lineup is with him on the bench
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There is a lot of recency bias on this forum.
 
#319      
Battle89
1m4tr said:
The season has been 100% successful already. How much returning production did we have? “Hasn’t been an outright disaster?” But it’s been a plain disaster? Wow we are a spoiled entitled fan base. Sure the season has been up and down but we all love this team so much and we are in a very good spot currently.
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I'm somewhere between the two of you. Portions of this season have been a disaster, but certainly not all. Can't ignore the worst loss in program history as a data point. A lot of bad luck too with injuries and disease.

By the same token, it's difficult for me to portray a 7th place finish in conference as "100% successful". But point taken on the complete roster rebuild, and a sweet sixteen would cure a lot of those ills (pun intended) and I think, on balance, would make most of us feel this was a great season.
 
#322      
ejam21
Battle89 said:
I'm somewhere between the two of you. Portions of this season have been a disaster, but certainly not all. Can't ignore the worst loss in program history as a data point. A lot of bad luck too with injuries and disease.

By the same token, it's difficult for me to portray a 7th place finish in conference as "100% successful". But point taken on the complete roster rebuild, and a sweet sixteen would cure a lot of those ills (pun intended) and I think, on balance, would make most of us feel this was a great season.
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Kinda disagree

-difference between 2nd and 7th was 2 games

-we had like 6 weeks of being not whole spanning like 10 games? KJ missed games, tomi missed a bunch of games and still isnt 100%, Morez broken wrist, riley/tre/jake davis/DGL all missed time or have been questionable. I think ben and KB are the only ones who had zero issues

-18 teams with unbalanced schedules: our conf SOS was 6, the teams in front of us: 12, 15, 8,17,14, 18
 
#323      
sacraig
ejam21 said:
List of Illini who hit 50 or more 3s in the underwood era

Plummer 2022: 98
Frazier 2019: 80
Shannon 2024: 77
Mayer 2023: 67
Frazier 2022: 63
Ben H 2025: 62 and counting
Goode 2024: 61
Frazier 2018: 61
Hawkins 2024: 59
Frazier 2021: 55
KJ 2025: 52 and counting
miller 2021: 52
Frazier 2020: 51
Ayo 2019: 50
Shannon 2023: 50
Tomi: 50 and counting
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Now show me percentages. Ben has hit a lot of threes but it's been a low efficiency. If he can start shooting them at 41% like he did at Evansville, then great. But he shot 34% this season, so those 62 threes were on 181 attempts.

If he had other aspects to his game, then great. But, at least at this level, he really doesn't, and we need a three point specialist to hit threes at a higher clip than that.

Who knows, maybe he will figure it out if he stays and shoot closer to his earlier form or learn how to add legit booty ball to his game or something. But I am just not optimistic.

34.3% on threes translates to 1.029 points per possession when BH shoots like this year.
41.4% on threes translates to 1.242 points per possession when BH shoots like last year.

1.029 PPP for an offense is usually near the bottom of the B1G. 1.242 PPP is generally near the top.
 
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#324      
illini510
Battle89 said:
I'm somewhere between the two of you. Portions of this season have been a disaster, but certainly not all. Can't ignore the worst loss in program history as a data point. A lot of bad luck too with injuries and disease.

By the same token, it's difficult for me to portray a 7th place finish in conference as "100% successful". But point taken on the complete roster rebuild, and a sweet sixteen would cure a lot of those ills (pun intended) and I think, on balance, would make most of us feel this was a great season.
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I would say it hasn't been a failure like 2022-2023 b/c 1 game already won in the tournament with an advance to the Second Round. I think the floor with this team has been reached. The ceiling has always been another Elite 8/possible Final 4 run. I don't see a Final 4 in this team's future but they can definitely beat Kentucky and gave Tennessee all they could handle, so another Elite 8 appearance is not out of the question. A success would be a Sweet 16 appearance at the least. But, overall, given a brand new team and a young team, my expectation was at minimum a Second Round appearance. That has been achieved.

People have to remember that a 7th place finish in the B10 resulted in a 6 seed, which is pretty respectable. Even more important, that 6 seed yielded a Midwest region and Milwaukee pod for the first two rounds. That's best case scenario for a non top 4 seeded team. Considering all that Tomi went through, KJ and Morez being out for multiple games, Tre White/DGL being really sick, it's no wonder that these guys finished where they did in the B10. I'm not mad about that. It's been a rollercoaster but that was to be expected. I've grown to enjoy watching many of these guys and have warmed up to most of them
 
#325      
lstewart53x3
ejam21 said:
Kinda disagree

-difference between 2nd and 7th was 2 games

-we had like 6 weeks of being not whole spanning like 10 games? KJ missed games, tomi missed a bunch of games and still isnt 100%, Morez broken wrist, riley/tre/jake davis/DGL all missed time or have been questionable. I think ben and KB are the only ones who had zero issues

-18 teams with unbalanced schedules: our conf SOS was 6, the teams in front of us: 12, 15, 8,17,14, 18
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I agree with you. To the bolded:

We played 13 games without at least one starter. Could be wrong, but I believe all of those were conference games too. So 65% of our conference games were played without a starter and a handful of those games were played with another 1-2 guys playing with the flu.

Yet, we’re still 16 in KenPom with a very similar efficiency to last year (24.46 vs 24.53) after losing an All American and another first team all conference guy.
 
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