Illinois 87, Iowa 83 Postgame

#302      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Did anybody really have realistic hopes that he'd contribute this year? The operative word being realistic. Hutch has not been healthy since he stepped on campus. It really stinks for him and we could really use the depth.

Not true. Hutch practiced his entire redshirt year. He's definitely been snake bit since then. Damn shame. Not throwing in the towel, FWLIW.
 
#304      
Good eyes to point that out Robert and Thank you Matthew for your courage and bravery in your support of our Fighting Illini.
After a second take on the pic, are you sure you didn't photo shop that image Matthew? ... lol
 
#306      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
CoHawk is a sophomore with 9 total starts.

Curbelo is a sophomore with FOUR!!! total starts!

DMFW came back from an ACL tear to become one of the most dependable, hard nosed, impactful players, that has played out of his natural position more than any Illinois player I can remember. Constantly guarding some of the best players on the opposing teams 1-5!! He is consistently called out by BU... (who by the way, probably has forgotten more about basketball than any of us know)....for everything he brings intangibly in every game he plays.
Edit: STOP wishing he was his dad...and APPRECIATE who he is!! 🧡

I can't believe there are still posters here that want to single out DMFW. Still. Absolutely clueless.



Perspective. It's the word of the century. Get some.
 
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#307      

Joel Goodson

respect my decision™
Coleman really does not get enough credit for the job he did on Murray last night. He's so rangy and quick - if he can get the benefit of the doubt on a few of those calls, and be a little choosier on some of his gambles, he has the potential of a DPOY before he graduates/goes pro.
Hawk has a high hoops IQ, but he doesn't have all that much experience (at this level). And that includes dealing with hack refs. A darn good defensive play gets flagged as a foul far too often. After you've been burned by one phantom foul, dialing it back is the prudent move. I'm guessing Hawk will adjust.
 
#308      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
CoHawk is a sophomore with 9 total starts.

Curbelo is a sophomore with FOUR!!! total starts!

DMFW came back from an ACL tear to become one of the most dependable, hard nosed, impactful players, that has played out of his natural position more than any Illinois player I can remember. Constantly guarding some of the best players on the opposing teams 1-5!! He is consistently called out by BU... (who by the way, probably has forgotten more about basketball than any of us know)....for everything he brings intangibly in every game he plays.
Edit: STOP wishing he was his dad...and APPRECIATE who he is!! 🧡

I can't believe there are still posters here that want to single out DMFW. Still. Absolutely clueless.



Perspective. It's the word of the century. Get some.
57amuz.jpg
 
#309      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
CoHawk is a sophomore with 9 total starts.

Curbelo is a sophomore with FOUR!!! total starts!

DMFW came back from an ACL tear to become one of the most dependable, hard nosed, impactful players, that has played out of his natural position more than any Illinois player I can remember. Constantly guarding some of the best players on the opposing teams 1-5!! He is consistently called out by BU... (who by the way, probably has forgotten more about basketball than any of us know)....for everything he brings intangibly in every game he plays.
Edit: STOP wishing he was his dad...and APPRECIATE who he is!! 🧡

I can't believe there are still posters here that want to single out DMFW. Still. Absolutely clueless.



Perspective. It's the word of the century. Get some.
Who said anything bad about Da’Monte?

The regression in his jump shooting is unfortunate, but he’s still absolutely essential and one of our best players. One of those guys you just hate playing against, he makes the game miserable because he’s always pushing the envelope of getting any tiny edge.

When he’s done they’ll have to make a highlight reel of “Da’Monte Williams’ most critical stolen extra possessions and fouls drawn” and it will be like an hour long.
 
#310      
CoHawk is a sophomore with 9 total starts.

Curbelo is a sophomore with FOUR!!! total starts!

DMFW came back from an ACL tear to become one of the most dependable, hard nosed, impactful players, that has played out of his natural position more than any Illinois player I can remember. Constantly guarding some of the best players on the opposing teams 1-5!! He is consistently called out by BU... (who by the way, probably has forgotten more about basketball than any of us know)....for everything he brings intangibly in every game he plays.
Edit: STOP wishing he was his dad...and APPRECIATE who he is!! 🧡

I can't believe there are still posters here that want to single out DMFW. Still. Absolutely clueless.



Perspective. It's the word of the century. Get some.
Kind of nitpicking here, but Curbelo was 6th on the team last year with 21.5 MPG. Starts isn't necessarily relevant to game experience
 
#311      
CoHawk is a sophomore with 9 total starts.

Curbelo is a sophomore with FOUR!!! total starts!

DMFW came back from an ACL tear to become one of the most dependable, hard nosed, impactful players, that has played out of his natural position more than any Illinois player I can remember.
Edit: STOP wishing he was his dad...and APPRECIATE who he is!! 🧡

I can't believe there are still posters here that want to single out DMFW. Still. Absolutely clueless.

I agree with all this. Except using “natural position” with DMW. He is not what you’d look for at any position 1-4, though he can play them all at a decent level. It’s great to have a kid like that.
 
#313      

GallopingGhost

Denver, CO
I have said it many times, and will do so again...nobody loves shooters more than I do. Not kids who bomb away at 25%, but truly elite shooters. I understand that they enter that category only after outworking everyone else by shooting hundreds of thousands of shots over a dozen years or more. Not only that, but they do it in about 80% of their games and do not force shots when not hitting 40-50% of them. That is what I see from Plummer. He is an aggressive shooter and will fire away from anywhere inside 30 ft. But if he is not hitting, he will look to get others involved and scoring. He does what he can on defense...knowing he has to score to be a plus player overall. Having watched every Illini team since the mid-50s, I have never seen a shooter in his elite category for consistency. I have seen hundreds of "willing" shooters, most of whom hurt their teams chances of winning from time to time by going 0 for 11 or 1 for 13 more than once. Rick Mount of Purdue, JJ Reddick of Duke, and Pete Maravich of LSU (who took way too many circus shots) were of the ilk. We have all been marveled by the performance of shooters who were on at a particular time, most recently by Carson Edwards of Purdue in a FF loss. But there are nights that the same guy goes 3 for 14 in a loss, most recently Ron Harper Jr. last Friday (1/9). I don't include the dozens of elite shooters in the NBA today because most become elite shooters because the practice continually to insure they stay in the league...college and high school kids do not have that time available....but some, even women like Jackie Stiles, spend unbelievable amounts of time shooting.

Point is, and we have only seen a small sample size, Plummer has made a strong case to becoming part of a select group of players.. Deron Williams, Dee Brown, and Luther Head were not quite there but seldom, if ever, were all three cold. Nick Anderson became pretty good as a pro, but I would not consider him elite...just a green lighter like his Orlando teammate, Dennis Scott. But Plummer, if not elite, is close, or has shown to be as a starter. Best grade transfer, one year Illini transfer ever at a minimum. Hope he becomes our Rick Mount. What is elite? You will know it when you see it. Start with Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.....or let's hope I can say it about Alphonso Plummer at the FF!!
Brad Underwood is that you?
 
#315      
4. It's officially time to discuss if we're better without Curbelo. We have really found something with four shooters surrounding Kofi and playing inside-out. In theory Curbelo and Kofi are a devastating pick and roll combo. In theory. And the shooting to stretch the floor enables that, something we were in a slump with when Curbelo was out there. But it's just a much more narrow, static way to play. I think at the very least when Curbelo comes back him dominating the ball needs to be one option rather than our default bread and butter.

I don't think this is true. The team should be better when Curbelo returns because they now have more offensive options to run. They have been a pick and roll offense for the better part of the last 2+ years. It has been mostly good, but we've seen what happens when a team takes that away and they have nothing else to go to. With everyone at full strength now, they can run pick and rolls and Kofi inside out with shooters. It should make the offense more diverse.
 
#316      
I don't think this is true. The team should be better when Curbelo returns because they now have more offensive options to run. They have been a pick and roll offense for the better part of the last 2+ years. It has been mostly good, but we've seen what happens when a team takes that away and they have nothing else to go to. With everyone at full strength now, they can run pick and rolls and Kofi inside out with shooters. It should make the offense more diverse.
Agree. Also answers one of the biggest questions I had going into this year: what do we do when Belo isn’t on the floor?

Trent is serviceable running the point but nowhere near what Ayo/Belo were/are. Plus with his defense I think we want to keep him on the court with Belo as much as possible.

This is fantastic plan B and means we don’t have to keep Belo or Trent out there 35+ MPG to score.
 
#319      

JFGsCoffeeMug

BU:1 Trash cans:0
Chicago
Well then they don’t understand basketball.
Most of the referenced posts are asking how DMW contributes to wins when he isn't scoring points.

That same question has been answered on this board hundreds of times (about many players), but the question still keeps getting asked. It's possible some don't understand the answer. It's also possible some refuse to revise their mental framework of what helps win games.

Either way, it's that kind of quality content that keeps me coming back to the board.
 
#322      

ChiefGritty

Chicago, IL
I don't think this is true. The team should be better when Curbelo returns because they now have more offensive options to run. They have been a pick and roll offense for the better part of the last 2+ years. It has been mostly good, but we've seen what happens when a team takes that away and they have nothing else to go to. With everyone at full strength now, they can run pick and rolls and Kofi inside out with shooters. It should make the offense more diverse.
We are in agreement that diverse multidimensional offense is good.

Curbelo ball-stopping on every possession is not that, even if he’s doing it extremely well.

We over-relied on Ayo playing hero ball from time to time over his career here. Thankfully Ayo is Ayo and we got away with it quite a lot. Allowing that same drift with Curbelo would have a much less happy ending.

If the defense has to respect shooters (which, forget these hand-wavey medicalized claims excusing Curbelo’s performance this year, the ice cold shooting slump letting defenses bunker in was the real problem) and the ball moves, you can’t guard Kofi and if you can’t guard Kofi you’re in serious trouble against us.

Whatever our personnel we need to keep hammering that equation.
 
#324      
He does. But there have been announcers talking about how the team and coaches had to get on him to shoot when he’s open. Because he’s money in practice. That’s the very definition of passive on offense.
Passive is not a word I would ever use to descrbe Damonte Williams. Does he pass the ball when others might take a shot? Yes. The young man understands his role.