Illinois 97, Missouri 73 Postgame

#151      
Been offline because had to binge-watch Squid Games The Competition with my oldest, and priorities are priorities. (She doesn't know I've watched season 1 already 🤫)
First off, Quincy GD Guerrier. Whatever cured your shooting finger, good lord, bottle it up and sell it.
Second of all, it's pretty clear TJ is something different. I thought Ayo was NBA ready. Ty is just plain NBA. He is a mismatch for damn near every college player he matches up with on either end.
Thirdly, Ty is clearly making a leap each game. There were some bad reads versus the pressure a couple of times (that he immediately improved from, IMO) but I'll take the insane effort on rebounding and defense he brings. The near putback offensive rebound slam....lord. I think his growth at PG will make the difference between an Elite 8 and a NC this year. I think he'll do it.
Beyond that, Amani continues to put in I wanna win effort and a nose for rebounds. As far as freshmen who will make big jumps next year, he might make the biggest. He really only ever seems sped up on offense. Defense, effort, and rebounding are B1G ready.
Domask is going to have some game in the B1G where he drops 50 because he is a confident shooter and he's getting the looks. We're probably better served right now when he's just taking that lethal turnaround J inside the circle, but dude clearly isn't lacking for confidence. That bodes so well for us.
I love the fact that Luke gets mentioned as much for his defense and rebounding as for his shooting. He high-fived one of my kiddos courtside when he was in a walking boot and flashed that big-!!! grin and it meant the world to the little man. Luke is a dude. Good enough for Trent Frazier, good enough for me.
 
#153      
This. I like Dain, but he’s three years out of high school. If I had to choose between Dain or Amani being happy come portal season, I would vastly prioritize Amani.
Yep, 100%. Dain may still have some moments to come this year, but it's pretty evident he isn't putting the time in to learn the scouting or understand what his positioning needs to be when on the court. Amani is coming for his minutes hard and right now it sure seems his teammates trust Amani more out there right now. That's not a good sign for an upperclassmen and a great indicator for a freshman. Amani is a big part of next year's team. Dain? Looking less and less right now.
 
#163      
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That was FUN.....................it really really was.....................This was a game with a well coached team running a smooth offense against a hero ball conglomerate of befuddled hicks.........Our PG issue is non existent as it has been all season as Ty has done a wonderful job of bringing the ball up against pressure and starting the offense..........

Our starting 5 is tough and battle tested with an Alpha Male in TSJ , a veteran do it all in Cohawk , a savvy MAN in Quincy Gerrier , another veteran and bully ball specialist in Domask and the ultimate energizer bunny in Ty Rodgers.......We have veterans off the bench .............................

TSJ with a double-double................
QG with 28 & 8.................
MD with almost a triple -double.........
cohawk with an excellent floor game........
Ty is doing everything BU wants him to do and is relenless on the court..............





BU post game remarks...................

We were spectacular on defense..............
TSJ left no doubt on who was the best player on the court.......30 pts , 11 rebs, 4 assists and only 1 TO.............
cohawk with a great 1st half.................
Quincy with 28 pts and 8 rebs...........a man through and through..........He as violent a driver to the basket as I have ever coached...
dominant performance on the glass.....51-35............
Marcus is an excellent shooter.....I got made when he turned down a 3 in the second half......
this group is fun to have fun with........chemistry is sky-high..........

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pru , that was fun , wasn;t it ??.......I'll see you in a couple days ,babe............

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We can't wait to see you sweetheart !!!!!!.............we really really can't.....................

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Cheers Illini Nation.................Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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leaving St. Louie with a lot of tigger skins................I absolutely love it........I really really do.......................
You are correct, mon frère...
That was pretty damn blissful of an Illini experience.
 
#166      
I just started watching the game after cooking dinner and missing segments.
I absolutely đź’Ż love the way we switch on defense currently. You cannot teach men at 6.5ft to 6.10ft that can guard point guards and centers. Just awesome đź‘Ś defense switches! Awesome job men!
 
#167      
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Much closer team than last year.
 
#172      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
I just listened to the Dennis Gates post game presser..........I was SOMEWHAT impressed with his remarks about the Illini being a Final Four team contender and he said it 4 times in his remarks .....so thank you coach Gates.......

But he kinda got squirrelly with his remarks about a coach should have the opportunity to call 5 fouls a game himself.....have a buzzer on the sidelines and then he could hit it for a foul called 5 times a game..........HUH ??...............

he speaks coherently so he has that over clownzo , but i'm not as impressed as I thought I would be......Maybe it's my hatred for misery.......Yep , that's it .....It's gotta be .....It really really does........................