In a lot of ways, I'm reminded of Brandon Paul when I see some of the negative posts on here about Curbelo. Kid played hard, really tried out there sometimes doing too much and as such would force things at times and take a bad shot or make a bad pass. Even when he'd play amazing for us people would still find ways to criticize him thinking that somehow he'd magically be turned into that perfect player who would average 30ppg, 8rpg, 5apg and 3 steals per game on 90% shooting and 0 turnovers when in reality he'd get you 15,5,3,and 2 each night with some turnovers. He was a solid player but people would just go out of their way on here to skewer him for anything he did wrong. Now part of that is that high end promise and talent he'd show so expectations were always wanting the world from him so you always fall short of it. Part of it is it's easy to see turnovers and bad decisions. But I can't say it sat well with me. Andre Curbelo has a lot more talent than Brandon Paul but just like Brandon he'll never be perfect, but when he's out there playing hard, hustling for rebounds and loose balls, taking charges, setting up his teammates for high quality shots, and doing all he can to try willing us to victory, he's pretty great. There are times to get angry with Andre Curbelo's play, just like there were with Brandon's, but when he plays games like he did today, I think you need to think long and hard about what you actually expect out of him because it is likely that most current NBA players let alone college players won't live up to those beyond lofty expectations. In any case just my two cents.
Indiana 65, Illinois 63 Postgame
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Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I think there aren’t that many good 2s at all (i.e., we could beat them all), but I want to avoid a team like Arizona.
Reading these comments while watching updates on Ukraine. Guys, this is just a game, nothing lose sleep over.
I think this loss serves us well. It stings now but the rest and extra time to reset will help. It’s difficult to come down off a btt high and go right into the ncaa tourney a few days later. I prefer this setup. Not to say we couldn’t lose in round 1. It’s an unpredictable tournament. But I see us going to the second weekend. Just watch. As long as we don’t draw Loyola again.
I think this loss serves us well. It stings now but the rest and extra time to reset will help. It’s difficult to come down off a btt high and go right into the ncaa tourney a few days later. I prefer this setup. Not to say we couldn’t lose in round 1. It’s an unpredictable tournament. But I see us going to the second weekend. Just watch. As long as we don’t draw Loyola again.
Like to understand why the shot clock after the Galloway steal (he had control) and turnover out of bounds the shot clock was reset to 30 seconds for Illinois than was changed to 17 seconds. If you watch the replay this is exactly what happened. As a result Curbelo heaved an out of control shot.
Was the shot clock reset at the discretion of the clock operator or the ref?
Was the shot clock reset at the discretion of the clock operator or the ref?
I wondered about that too, and went back to watch the replay. Galloway very clearly had one controlled dribble and then lost it when going up. No way that should not have counted as possession and a shot clock reset. I guess the refs did the reset, because there was a delay to hand off the ball for the inbounds. Bad call.
danielb927
Orange Krush Class of 2013
- Rochester, MN
It's not a stretch to say the last month hasn't been our best play. We did enough to win a B1G title and I'm absolutely stoked with that. During that time, we've steadily sunk from 12 to 16 in T-Rank since the 2nd Purdue loss, and in KenPom during the same time period, from 15th to 18th, and we can be realistic about that too.
By "be realistic" I mean let's keep things in perspective. We've gone from playing like the 12-15th best to 15-18th best team in the country. That's not really a huge difference, probably 1-2 points in an average game. The randomness of any single game is much larger than this slip. Will it make it harder to make a sweet sixteen or final four run? Absolutely. Will it make it 2x as hard? Not even close -- matchups and game-to-game randomness will have a far bigger impact.
By "be realistic" I mean let's keep things in perspective. We've gone from playing like the 12-15th best to 15-18th best team in the country. That's not really a huge difference, probably 1-2 points in an average game. The randomness of any single game is much larger than this slip. Will it make it harder to make a sweet sixteen or final four run? Absolutely. Will it make it 2x as hard? Not even close -- matchups and game-to-game randomness will have a far bigger impact.
When Miller Koch or whatever his name is, stole the ball, drove the length of the floor, and lost the ball out of bounds, why didn’t the shot clock reset? We were only given 17 seconds, and had the shot clock violation when Plummer wouldn’t shoot. Am I the only person who noticed, jumped up and down yelling “reset the shot clock”?
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
If this loss is the difference between playing in Milwaukee, where there would be a sea of orange vs Buffalo (for example)....don't think that this was the best thing at all. I don't care that we didn't win the tournament, I care that it may have changed our path significantly.
If you call 24th ranked . Was speaking of a top 20 team.
LOL, it has been Top 25 since 1989!
I'm agree 100%. Maybe getting some good rest and everyone healthy is just what the doctor ordered. Don't get me wrong, would've loved to see another BTT title, but we're getting Grandy back and Curbelo is getting closer and closer to full strength. I'd guess he's about 80% right now. A good break for Kofi and Trent I think will do wonders. I agree with many that said make your layups and dunks and we win by double digits. Make 75% of our FTs and we win by 15-18. I'm not concerned. More experience for players like Curbelo, Cole Hawk, Kofi, Goode, and RJ. Now let's get to a Sweet 16.
If Kofi stays next year good luck against a lineup of Curbelo, (possibly Grandy), RJ, Cole Hawk, Kofi - and maybe better yet a 2nd team bench of Epps, Goode, Rodgers, Dainja, and Payne. And you still have Podz and Harris? Go ahead and mix and match any way you like. You have shooting, size, length, ball handling, and experience! Maybe Grandy is gone, maybe Kofi, but look how deep that team is and we're talking about adding good players out of the portal? Finally size, length, and athleticism. As good as 2004-05 team was (and they were incredible good) they didn't have athleticism and length like 6'10" Cole Hawk, 6'7" Melendez, 6'7" Rodgers, Kofi, etc. Try to enjoy what we have b/c Coach Underwood has us back to national prominence. Should be a great decade!
Get some rest and let's give Frazier and DaMonte the run they deserve.
I suppose you could say that part of that was because Hawkins (who usually comes off the bench) played as a starter due to injury. Nobody likes it whenever I say this, but Melendez or Goode would give us more of a spark offensively if they had DMW's minutes. You can't score if you won't shoot.
Actually, he got down court so fast no one could get in position.
Not sure I’ve seen anything out of Goode since midway through the conference season
Refs overall had a pretty decent game, but yeah, there were a couple calls/no-calls that I just didn't understand late in the game. That one was one of them as it certainly appeared Indiana had control of the ball. The hit to the face of Hawkins from behind as he was going up for a fast break layup I have no idea how that wasn't a flagrant foul or at the very least reviewed to be a flagrant. The dead-ball elbow thrown into Curbelo by Johnson way after the play also could have easily been called a technical as well (and probably should have). And then finally the Kofi reach in foul with 30s left- Was it a foul by letter of the law? Absolutely However the refs had not called any similar reach in a foul in the entirety of the game up to that point! So I can't blame Kofi for reaching there- they simply weren't calling that play a foul and then they do in a 1 pt game with under a minute to go? Right call by the book? yes. Right call based on how they officiated the entirety of the game? Not a chance.
And just so people know, I'm not blaming the refs for the loss, as I said, I thought they called a relatively decent game, just some real head-scratchers late in this one.
1-1 makes fouling an advantage for the defense. Should be 2 shots. After 10 fouls make it 3 shots to make 2. Penalize a foul, don’t reward it.
Let's be honest: the BigTen Tournament only ever matters to (a) bubble teams that desperately need a win or two, and (b) the winner.
We're neither, so ho hum.
We're neither, so ho hum.
Auburn lost. Baylor lost. Those are just two that come to mind as I type this.
Obviously you want to assume that, but in his interview Trent said he wanted to go to his left but TJD cut him off and wouldn't let him, thus changing the play. When Trent drove right they had 3 guys there to our 2 and we would have had to fire up a contested three or reverse the ball which it appeared to me Hawkins was preparing to do.
We don’t talk about Belo’s rebounding enough
Tacomallini
- Washington State
Hanging out in the Bruce Weber thread
Great post. I don't know about Kofi staying though. He could make a boat load of money in Italy or elsewhere if he doesn't go NBA.
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