PizzaHutParkingLot
- Vodice, Croatia
Maybe this is outdated thinking, but it bugs me when a seven-footer avoids the paint instead of leaning into the mismatch their size creates.
Illinois 87, UT Rio Grande Valley 73 Postgame
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madillini4
Ozamataz Buckshank
- Millywaukee
why even bring that up in this forum? Come on dude, be better.
That's all well and good. But if you're going to compete for titles you need guys that bring it on both ends of the court. It's a huge problem for us.
I really, really hope this is the case. You can coach an identity to "want to" dig in and play defense. You can coach that effort and fire. That's fixable. Being on the same page and communicating is fixable and can be improved upon.
What's not fixable is if the issue quickness and athleticism. That's just a problem and will be a problem all year.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Yes, we shot 22/30 from 2 (73%) specifically *because* our big men aren’t clogging the lane.Tomi & Z are shooting a combined 40% from three on the season
They are 23-25 for 92% from two on the season
Having bigs that can shoot and stretch the floor is good
Just seems like another weird thing to complain about to me, idk
I thought he had enough to harp on and teach from the 2nd half on Saturday, but I guess not.
Illin618
- The Dirty Dale
Attacking Illini on-ball defenders is starting to get exposed a bit it seems.. unfortunately, for the most part, toughness and tenacity are traits guys are born with. Easier said than done but.....they're gonna have to nut up on the def. end or light it up from three every game.
What about their defense? I know they were not at full strength against Bama, but saw several times a player 6 inches or more out- rebounded them. And, good athletic bigs post them up in the lane. I think they are our Achilles heal this year… defensively.Tomi & Z are shooting a combined 40% from three on the season
They are 23-25 for 92% from two on the season
Having bigs that can shoot and stretch the floor is good
Just seems like another weird thing to complain about to me, idk
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I see the same ills that are common to Brad's teams. Not much in the way of half court offense. Too much 1 on 1, go make a play hero ball. We need better off ball movement.
Defense was also not great. If teams pull our bigs out and get them in space, we get lost in switches and give up easy looks.
Defense was also not great. If teams pull our bigs out and get them in space, we get lost in switches and give up easy looks.
Wait until they see our three point "defense."
We don't know, because they rarely get the ball there.
In the postgame- Z admitted that Tomi has a long way to go to get 100%.
In both player and coach postgames- they mentioned scouting report failures, which I don't think I've heard before.
Give Tomi time. He underwent a tonsillectomy in October 2025 and recovery from this procedure is notoriously difficult and painful, requiring significant downtime and often a lack of energy for weeks.
He subsequently suffered a bone bruise on his knee during practice on November 5, which caused him to miss several games. This injury has further limited his mobility and ability to train effectively so he has missed a significant amount of practice time—reportedly only nine or ten of the team's first 40 practices. This has led to a noticeable lack of game conditioning, making him tire more quickly on the court.
He will be fine in time.
He subsequently suffered a bone bruise on his knee during practice on November 5, which caused him to miss several games. This injury has further limited his mobility and ability to train effectively so he has missed a significant amount of practice time—reportedly only nine or ten of the team's first 40 practices. This has led to a noticeable lack of game conditioning, making him tire more quickly on the court.
He will be fine in time.
It’s really obvious he’s not. Thats ok. It’ll get better
Last time I looked 92٪ from 2 is better than40% from 3.Tomi & Z are shooting a combined 40% from three on the season
They are 23-25 for 92% from two on the season
Having bigs that can shoot and stretch the floor is good
Just seems like another weird thing to complain about to me, idk
Still think this team is going to be really good, but this team is going to struggle big-time defensively against athletic teams. That & streaky 3point shooting lowers the ceiling on this team from what we thought pre-Bama.
Both are amazing percentages just fyi
Good job Ben. For most of the rest - if you play down to the competition, you are going to get a few nasty surprises.
Kylan passed up a number of open 3s. UTRG recognized it and started shifting the defense to contain his next pass or drive -- no attempts to get in his face. It was a pretty big defensive advantage. The possessions where Kylan was leading the offense out top were pretty stagnant. If he isn't going to shoot the 3 (which may be a right choice), I'd like to see him used more as a cutter or a sealer than as a ball handler.
Euros: Stop dribbling the ball up high when backing into traffic.
Z: Don't bring rebounds down to your waste.
Kylan passed up a number of open 3s. UTRG recognized it and started shifting the defense to contain his next pass or drive -- no attempts to get in his face. It was a pretty big defensive advantage. The possessions where Kylan was leading the offense out top were pretty stagnant. If he isn't going to shoot the 3 (which may be a right choice), I'd like to see him used more as a cutter or a sealer than as a ball handler.
Euros: Stop dribbling the ball up high when backing into traffic.
Z: Don't bring rebounds down to your waste.
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