Marquette 71, Illinois 64 Postgame

Sedino · Nov 14, 2023

Illini8420 said:
And that's why not having a real point guard is going to hurt us in March.

Gonna have to say what happened this game didn’t have to do with that. 10 of our turnovers were between just Coleman and Terrance and neither of them were running the point. The biggest issue was we got bullied inside when Coleman was in (offensively and defensively) and Dainja isn’t athletic enough to keep up with that team and makes dumb mistakes sometimes, plus can’t shoot free throws.

Having a PG definitely would’ve helped but I think we lose this game anyways because of our inability to control the paint on either side.

Illiniam1984 · Nov 14, 2023

I think we’ll be fine, but not having an experienced PG is going to be this team’s achilles heal. Would help in limiting turnovers.

HailtotheChief · Nov 14, 2023

skyIdub said:
We'll be fine.

We may be fine but it will be because of TSJ n Domask. I have seen very little to be encouraged about from Hawkins. As many turnovers and points tonight and averaging less than 5 points a game and just not off to a good start. He is a not a good shooter, just streaky. He is 1 for 7 thus year but at least he isn't forcing shots. Domask is our 2nd best player college player and its not close. So yes we will be fine as long as he doesn't get hurt and keeps getting better. He is every game. I hope others do too.

grantlab · Nov 14, 2023

Flyin' Illini said:
What would Sencire Harris on Kolek have looked like?

I don’t know that we need to play this game all season long. I love Sencire as much as the next guy, but his defensive prowess was more concentrated in short, energy bursts than anything else. I think he had a lot of moments outside of UCLA/Texas where he wasn’t in the right position defensively and/or was way too small to hold his own. We will miss Harris as the guy off the bench slapping the floor when we try to dig ourselves out of a 15 point hole, but if the team really needed him to win this game, he wouldn’t be redshirting right now

foby · Nov 14, 2023

80'sIllini said:
Pluses:
1. We were right there with the #4 ranked team
2. Goode finally got going
3. Shannon is improved from last year in all aspects
4. Our defensive rebounding was good in the first half
5. For a while in the second half we actually had pretty good ball and player movement in our half court offense
Minuses:
1. We lost
2. Dainja- not sure he can process what he needs to do out there to be an effective player- especially on defense
3. Freshmen who played looked very tentative- not playing freely
4. We are not deep so far
5. Harmon gave us nothing, same with Guerrier(who had a huge defensive error on fast break towards end of the game
6. Hawkins- if any better than last year- appears only marginally improved on offense and decision making
7. So many mental mistakes leading to turnovers in a veteran team
8. What was Ty thinking not taking that 1 foot layup/dunk?

Well, he did give us 10 rebounds.

Oldskoolkoach · Nov 14, 2023

All low court IQ and lower sideline IQ showed tonight. I would love for someone that had a lot of time on their hands to track:
1. How many times we score out a timeout (percentage)
2. How often we got a bad/desperate shot, or turnover out of a timeout. (Percentage)
3. Score on game continuation out of bounds play (Percentage)

And compare other coaches in the same categories. We have to be near the bottom in all of these categories. This worries me...

blife · Nov 14, 2023

Get more looks for Domask. Kid should be focal point of offense with TSJ by March. Lots of offensive tools.

RStarr · Nov 14, 2023

FrankNitty30 said:
Please tell me we are not going to hear how bad the PG play was.

That had almost 0 reason for us losing.

Our PG had 2 asts and 2 TO’s. Team had 8 asts/ 15 TO’s. Poor ball movement, poor shot selection = poor shooting %.

IllinistuckinGopherland · Nov 14, 2023

From a coaching standpoint:
- Can’t have the easy twos they got over and over
- very worried that BU overestimates Goode and Domask defense

From an execution standpoint:
- make layups
- less unforced turnovers

WhiteHorseWings · Nov 14, 2023

rtbritt said:
Having a really good point guard would take the ball out of their hands more and allow them to get the ball in scoring position and not have those TOs. Obviously, TSJ is a guy who needs the ball in his hands, but a really good point guard limits their TOs.

Sergio can handle it

eas23 · Nov 14, 2023

I mostly agree with the we'll be fine attitude, but it is disappointing that we hit empty possession bingo again.

Missed shots and turnovers happen, but we seem to make an artform out of it. TSJ's pass into the 3rd row and Rodgers passing out of the layup are just the latest examples.

1970 John · Nov 14, 2023

Get yourself a new map said:
Goode picks up his third on minimal contact and Domask gets a LOT of contact on a similar play. No foul.
Kolek doesn’t commit a SINGLE foul. Travels and then doesn't get anywhere near touched by DGL for the last foul.

It seems like that happens with a lot of wunderkind. Edy gets away with so much that he looks flabbergasted when he’s actually called on something. Who? Me?

HailtotheChief · Nov 14, 2023

Flyin' Illini said:
What would Sencire Harris on Kolek have looked like?

Harris redshirted for a reason. I love Harris but he isn't strong and really has one skill set and needs work. His time will come. I love Harris but he isn't Gary Payton.

alexander58 · Nov 14, 2023

Illiniam1984 said:
Even though Hawkins played better in the 2nd half, he’s not helping this team.

He appears to be the same player. He’s long and plays well on defense but struggles to score. Moving forward , it will be interesting to see how it works with Hawkins and Rodgers on the court at the same time.

Hope4better · Nov 14, 2023

PizzaHutParkingLot said:
Hawkins and Harmon were bad tonight

Shannon and Hawkins both had 5 turnovers

WeWillWhen · Nov 14, 2023

I’ve been watching Illini hoops for 40 years and am having trouble thinking of another player more frustrating than Hawkins; has the tools, seems on the verge of putting together a string of great performances, but it never happens.

Orangeandbrew · Nov 14, 2023

Let’s just be honest. This whole, positionlrss basketball, we don’t need a true point guard is coach speak bull crap. DGL, or even Morettiis the closest thing we have to. True point guard. Which is the thing we obviously need. They will get there but they’re freakin 18. We will never succeed with this team without a true floor general who can see 6 plays into the future. And we just don’t have that with Ty. Or TSJ. Or Coleman. We just don’t. Yeah they can dribble the dang ball but we need a floor general. We just don’t have that right now.

Tacomallini · Nov 14, 2023

Flyin' Illini said:
What would Sencire Harris on Kolek have looked like?

IlliniTaffy · Nov 14, 2023

PizzaHutParkingLot said:
Hawkins and Harmon were bad tonight

Hawkins was bad in the first half, thought his defense kept Illinois in it in the 2nd half

pruman91 · Nov 14, 2023

Playing the # 4 ranked team that had 8 of their top 9 players from last year returning this year was to big a hill for us to climb.....we compounded our dilemma by missing so many layups and having way to many turnovers .....The terrible pass by TSJ that was 6-7 feet over Domask's hands was a turning point in the game to me.....So many turnovers so late in the game destroyed our momentum as we have been pretty successful in the last 10 minutes of the two games proceeding this game...........

The difference in made layups by each team should cause concern when reviewing the game film tomorrow............Marquette outscored us 21 -12 to end the game after we had the lead at 52-50...........

TSJ was off on his dribble drives to the rim numerous times tonight and Domask missed a wide open layup late also.......I wish Ty had made his wide open layup instead of throwing that over the shoulder pass for a 3.........a bucket then might have changed the rest of the game and allowed us to press the end bounds....................

Oh well , we knew we wouldn't go unbeaten this year but this game was winnable if we had just played with better passing and more BB IQ...

CoachHooleyHoo · Nov 14, 2023

HailtotheChief said:
We may be fine but it will be because of TSJ n Domask. I have seen very little to be encouraged about from Hawkins. As many turnovers and points tonight and averaging less than 5 points a game and just not off to a good start. He is a not a good shooter, just streaky. He is 1 for 7 thus year but at least he isn't forcing shots. Domask is our 2nd best player college player and its not close. So yes we will be fine as long as he doesn't get hurt and keeps getting better. He is every game. I hope others do too.

I agree mostly. Would have loved to see some ISO plays for Domask and let him back his guy down. Having said that, his defense is not ideal. Hard to play him and Goode together against athletic teams. This team really needs DGL to mature quickly.

Illini2010-11 · Nov 14, 2023

Fighter of the Nightman said:
Agreed, but man … wanted that one. Assuming no epic collapses at home, we pretty much have to beat Rutgers in Jersey and FAU at the Garden now, IMO. Just a lot more pressure.

Not sure I agree with this. If FAU turns out to be a top 10 or 25 team this year, I don't see it as a must sweep of those two teams. The Rutgers game is more important in terms of B1G standings and momentum, but if the Illini go 8-3 non conference at worst, then things will be fine. If Illini can split FAU and Tennessee games and avoid any other non-conference losses, 9-2 looks excellent for non-conference. Taking care of the other non-conference games, especially Bragging Rights is imperative.

ILLFAN67 · Nov 14, 2023

phats22 said:
Because TSJ and Coleman had 10 TOs between them?

This!!!

Emerson Bigguns · Nov 14, 2023

Kolek might be the most fun player to watch in the country. He is so slick.

Good basketball game. We made too many mistakes, but played with good effort.

There is some really good film there from which to grow. Hopefully we take these lessons and use them in March. If we get where we would like to go, we might see these guys again.

Illiniguy13 · Nov 14, 2023

Illini231 said:
I want all the koolaid you guys are drinking. I just don't see it. it's the same as last year.

Around this time last year, we looked quite good. Considering all the new pieces, we appeared to be WAY ahead of schedule. Now, as history would unfold, there was a massive !!!! storm brewing behind the scenes and we all know how things played out. I’d say right now, we are pretty close to what we were around the time of that Texas win. With that in mind, imagine this team getting better as the year goes on. This team could be a force come tourney time.