Illinois 87, Ohio State 79 Postgame
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interesting...as of the game thread with about 10 mins to go some of our "fans" were declaring the season over.......soft lol
This...and same goes for people being dbags and calling him humbrickhous or whatever.
Any kid that chooses us and puts on that damn jersey should be afforded the BASELINE level of respect of not being called out of their name (unless they pull somethig crazy like a felony while with the program). Its ridiculous frankly
Deon Thomas averaged 15 and 7 as a freshman, on his way to being named to the All Big Ten Third Team.
Kofi averaged 13.3/8.8 on his way to earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Brian Cook also won BTFOTY.
Morez was great today, but he’s only averaging 6.5/6.5, and often can’t stay in the game more than 20 mins due to foul trouble.
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We have to keep in mind Morez is still just a freshman. He's not the greatest athlete in the world but he's good enough. I remember vividly an interview with Henson when he called Kenny Norman "a tenacious rebounder." I always find myself thinking of that comment when watching Morez play. I also remember the famous quote from Bill Russel who said, "Almost every rebound is taken below the rim."
Big Jack
- Decatur
Think many on here including myself at times are really not aware of how much we need Tomi on the floor. He is the major key in our ability to run our offense. Him being able to step out and keep his man out of the post opens it up for everyone else. I love me some MJ but he can not do that. I am hoping he finally gets the green light from Brad in our next blow out to step back and shoot a couple of 3s. Imagine if he does and makes one what the other teams defense would need to be prepared for on down the road.
Looking at how he's been handling the ball lately. He's clearly favoring his left arm. Has to be affecting his game.
I love seeing Dre step up and being vocal. This team desperately needs a leader. Dre can be the man!!
He's obviously still favoring it. Doesn't seem fluid with his left drippling.
halftimes are for adjustments, adjustments made, mission accomplished, great finish against a very good opponent. Confidence is critical and starting to look like it's returning. Unselfish team play, everybody contributing, balanced scoring, great bench, and great coaching. We've been through this before!
LouHenson
- Naples Florida
I think it is correct, except much like an NFL team no longer “features” just one running back. Basketball teams play 7-8 and it’s how much and when the ones “not listed in your top 5” play that really matters?
I have never really thought Ben was a terrible player or a waist of nil money. It’s more how BU is trying to use him. It’s clear he is not Domask, yet the plan seems to be 33-35 minutes per game? That’s crazy? He should come in an attempt 2-3 “good” 3’s. If he hits them then great, more time. If not, back to the bench (15-17 minutes per game). He has to be used if Tomi or Rez get in foul trouble no matter what due to poor roster construction.
Boz and DGL are exact equals in my mine? Play the one who is giving you more that game more minutes?
Tre, just in a funk. You have to get him 15-20 minutes to get out of it, because he has proven he can help us.
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Some really good frosh listed there with some impressive #s, probably played a lot more minutes early in the season for the Illini than what Rez was afforded. We have a lot of games left on the schedule so we will have see how this plays out for the youngster. Regardless, I like this kid better than any frosh we have ever had because he committed to the Illini early and came to Champaign with a lunch box.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
The morning afterglow of beating tOSU is warm and cozy.
What a performance by DGL, Morez, Will, Tomi at half-strength, and Kylan. Five dudes in double figures. Two monster double-doubles.
Props to Diebler: he's a solid coach with ample talent on the floor. I never tire of watching Bruce Thornton play, except when he's torching us. That guy is seasoned, savvy, and strong. We had no answer to Royal in the 1H and he nearly hung 30 on us. And Mobley is going to be a big problem if he sticks around.
All that makes the win even sweeter. Go to the RAC and take down the Knights for the second Illini helping of Jersey roadkill since November.
What a performance by DGL, Morez, Will, Tomi at half-strength, and Kylan. Five dudes in double figures. Two monster double-doubles.
Props to Diebler: he's a solid coach with ample talent on the floor. I never tire of watching Bruce Thornton play, except when he's torching us. That guy is seasoned, savvy, and strong. We had no answer to Royal in the 1H and he nearly hung 30 on us. And Mobley is going to be a big problem if he sticks around.
All that makes the win even sweeter. Go to the RAC and take down the Knights for the second Illini helping of Jersey roadkill since November.
Illini in OC
In. The. Alley.
This.Super proud of the team today. Dgl, my goodness kid can sky for little man and love the intensity. Kj has to be more hurt than what we know. He is so careless and lackadaisical with the Rock. Please, clean that up future pro! Mj keep rising Grown Man. We stink from 3, 15ft. to the rim team. We have the studs for that. OSU had 25 more shots than us from 2pt. Today. That will get us Bounced quick at end of season.
Great win. Amazed that Tomi is already back on court
BU shared that Tomi was sleeping 16 hrs/day a couple of days ago.
Had mono as a HS soph - wiped me out for 4 weeks followed by enlarged spleen that kept me off the court for another 2...
When I saw Tomi start, I was expecting Willis Reed - Play 2 min then sit the rest...
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I will say Deon and Kofi got more minutes than Morez does but also Morez fouls at a high rate and Brad early wasn’t playing him at a high minute clip. Morez needs to work on polishing his offensive game. He is like freshman year Kofi just all athleticism. Kofi had the advantage there was no other option at center, same with Deon.
Hard to disagree about the importance of this win given the schedule the rest of the way. A loss would not have ended anything, but it sure would have shrunk the margin for error the rest of the way.
Rode the roller-coaster at the game, but did not realize how resilient the Illini had been until I rewatched the final 15 minutes. Several times, it appeared they had climbed all the way back...only for Ohio State to answer. Often the team that has to keep climbing the hill only to be pushed back down eventually runs out of gas. Thanks to DGL, Riley and Co., Ohio State is the one that broke. Instead of running our offense side-to-side at a slow tempo, those relentless attacking downhill drives put the Buckeyes in foul trouble and just wore them down.
I would argue that the opponent playing poorly has as much to do with us playing hard on defense as anything. For whatever reason, our effort on that end has been inconsistent. Yesterday, we ramped it up in the last 10 minutes after being pretty sloppy in the first half.
Penn State lost their PG about a minute into the game, so they were way off. Indian and Northwestern played poorly because our defense was phenomenal in those games. they weren't getting anything easy. We are mostly making our own "luck".
I don't think yesterday was anything close to a complete game for this team... (see @ Oregon or @ Indiana tape) We played about 10 great minutes, fortunately it was toward the end of the game and the Buckeyes couldn't respond. Like Dre said after the game, they need to come out and play like that from the beginning.
Just want to point out you're misremembering on this one: Baldwin played pretty much the entire 1st half in which we outscored them 45-21
Editing to add this was a game KJ missed due to injury
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