Illinois 87, Eastern Illinois 57 Postgame

#26      

One Man Fast Break

O
One Man Fast Break
The good -

Terrance Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins are a Top 2 players we can feel more than good about. Coleman is going to play in the NBA if he can keep stroking the three like that. We know who the Alphas on this team are, and we can feel confident that we are in good hands.

Dain Dainja is legit, he is going to be playing real minutes and we can feel good about it. Nice to see a guy that's waited a long time get an opportunity and play well.

The bad -

The foul shooting outside of TSJ was atrocious. Hopefully it was just some first game jitters, but Rodgers can't see the floor if you aren't be able to make those dude.

Team looked very reckless and out of control at times.

All in all, good 30 point opening win. Lots of things to improve on and keep getting better. Good to see so many guys play big minutes. Looks like a deep team that is going to have competition for rotation spots well into the season. Lots of potential, just need to put it together to have the makings of a great team.
 
#30      

dbeverly26

dbeverly26
dbeverly26
Kinda feel like we did what we came here to do. Don’t have much more to say about it until we start playing the big boys.
 
#32      

IlliniKat91

IlliniKat91
Chicago, IL
IlliniKat91
This team is going to be scary in a month. Their defense is beautiful to watch. They just need to develop their touch (Mayer, Rodgers in particular) and gel.

We're gonna have so much fun this season. The rest of the Big Ten will hate us.

Again
 
#44      

21ChampaignSt

21ChampaignSt
21ChampaignSt
I really enjoy these early season games. They're always fun. Low pressure. And it's great to see the new faces in their first real game action.

There will be growing pains. And fouls. But I love the individual pieces we have. I trust BU will have them playing as a unit by March.

Good: Hawkins, TSJ, Sencire, Dainja
Bad: Mayer, Jon Crispin, defensive chemistry
Ugly: free throw shooting
Quiet: RJ, Skyy
 
#45      

Idea Gardener

Idea Gardener
Idea Gardener
People are saying they want more aggression out of Skyy, and that's fair, but at the same time I'm okay having a pg who is comfortable playing within himself instead of trying to force things. You can tell skyy is an intuitive player and once he hones his feel for the game at this level he'll be a beast!
 
#46      

jmwillini

J
Tolono, IL
jmwillini
Did Trent fly in from Serbia to play #1 again tonight? Got some serious Trent vibes from Sincere.

Skyy looked good, but to be pressing a bit.

Dain looked good, especially in 2nd half. Not worried about the early FT misses, none were bad misses. Sweet dunk from Rodgers.

Epps looked a little lost at times.

Rodgers, RJ and Mayer looked nervous tonight. All will get past it. Rodgers looked better in last 10 minutes.

Coleman & Shannon looked really good.

For EIU, Hodges and Carlissimo looked REALLY good.
 
#47      

Govoner Vaugn Fan

Govoner Vaugn Fan
New Orleans
Govoner Vaugn Fan
EIU had some talented and athletic guys, and seem to be fairly young. They only won five games last year but they looked like a team that could do well in the OVC. They hung around in the first half until CoHawk started raining threes on them. The Illini were impressive for a first game with all the new players. We have some athletes and some shooters. Impressive.
 
#49      

GForce

GForce
GForce
Idea Gardener said:
People are saying they want more aggression out of Skyy, and that's fair, but at the same time I'm okay having a pg who is comfortable playing within himself instead of trying to force things. You can tell skyy is an intuitive player and once he hones his feel for the game at this level he'll be a beast!
Click to expand...
I wish Skyy had the ball in his hands more. He looks in control, not sped up at all, has a good feel for the game and good court awareness.