Maryland 59, Illinois 58 POSTGAME

Steelyunk · Dec 7, 2019

Steelyunk said:
Feliz is a penetrator. I don’t think anyone else is. I think that’s a big part of the problem.

And Frazier (and maybe griffin) is a shooter. Not sure anyone else is. Feliz penetrates, Trent shoots and Kofi dunks seems to be an okay equation. But just okay. Won’t beat top 10 teams. Should beat lots of other teams... including Miami.

Yes33 · Dec 7, 2019

oldschool51 said:
Brad Underwood is not a big ten basketball coach, i am sick of its Dre fault or its Ayo fault we should never have been in that position to lose the ball game

Agreed, our guys were gassed and he did not have the confidence to use his bench. Is he playing head games with Griffin? We needed someone with a scorers mentality to get more minutes that second half.

mattcoldagelli · Dec 7, 2019

BoJack Underwoo said:
They matter. But there's no reason for the doom and gloom. They were expected to lose two of the three games too.

That win (true road game at #3) would have been one of the best wins in all of CBB this year.

As it stands, we remain 0-for-every-real-opponent.

saukee · Dec 7, 2019

JIllini said:
Relax people. We were playing the #3 team on the road. This wasn't a game we were expected to win; in fact we exceeded the expectations going into the game. That being said...TERRIBLE last minute. That timeout call was inexcusable. Not giving up on the season though. Michigan game will be very important.

As i agree with you completely,Maryland is not a #3 team in the nation

Steelyunk · Dec 7, 2019

oldschool51 said:
Brad Underwood is not a big ten basketball coach, i am sick of its Dre fault or its Ayo fault we should never have been in that position to lose the ball game

Did he say that? I haven’t heard him overtly call out individual players. The team fought. They faltered in the face of superior competition. That’s sports. The opponent has a say in the matter. Lots of experts here that don’t seem to get that.

QCillini48 · Dec 7, 2019

Any idea why Underwood called his final timeout in between the two free throws instead of saving it for when he missed it, grab the rebound, call a timeout and draw something up?

Btpk · Dec 7, 2019

Why wasn't Kofi in the game?were they saving his fouls when the game was over?

BoJack Underwoo · Dec 7, 2019

mattcoldagelli said:
That win (true road game at #3) would have been one of the best wins in all of CBB this year.

As it stands, we remain 0-for-every-real-opponent.

Obviously it would have been great to win, but it's not a bad loss at all. There's still essentially the same path to the tournament that prognosticators saw at the beginning of the season (the Miami loss being the only difference and there's plenty of time to make up for that)

Despite all the fatalism here, I still believe this team looks like a tournament team and will pick up several good wins. And they have a great chance to do that on Wednesday

oldschool51 · Dec 7, 2019

Steelyunk said:
Did he say that? I haven’t heard him overtly call out individual players. The team fought. They faltered in the face of superior competition. That’s sports. The opponent has a say in the matter. Lots of experts here that don’t seem to get that.

What we do not get is that you as a member of the ILLINI fan base has been programmed to accept mediocrity

jrichisamazing · Dec 7, 2019

RIVERCITYCHIEF said:
What was our biggest weakness last season and what is different about this years team?

Kofi- his defense and rebounding make us much better.. .BU did Maryland a favor not playing him down the stretch. Maryland had a few offense boards with him on the bench in they likely wouldnt have had.. Feliz tried to get that last board and couldnt. Then Cowan makes a shot. I'm sure BU would have him in there if he could have ado over it's a joke not to have Kofi in it to call that timeout where they could miss on purpose. That's just a bonehead thing to do.

But Giorgi is also a much better pick n roll defender and that is Cowan's bread and butter. So yes maybe Kofi comes in and gets a couple more boards. Or maybe he gives up more points because he can't stop Cowan. It's debatable.

jrichisamazing · Dec 7, 2019

Btpk said:
Why wasn't Kofi in the game?were they saving his fouls when the game was over?

Underwood said the team had a good rhythm defensively and he didn't want to mess that up.

Alma 19 · Dec 7, 2019

FWIW, Illinois moves up 3 spots in KenPom. Maryland down a spot.

chiefini · Dec 7, 2019

illinibballfan said:
I don't blame the players at all, this was all in coaching.

Shooting 60% on free throws is not on the coach...

Yes33 · Dec 7, 2019

jrichisamazing said:
Underwood said the team had a good rhythm defensively and he didn't want to mess that up.

Granted he had a better seat, but I didn’t see the rhythm. I believe we had a 7 point lead with 4 minutes left.. Good defensive rhythm says we are increasing the lead due to defense not giving it up slowly...

NotThatPierre · Dec 7, 2019

purcy51 said:
However, it is much more difficult to get a set play off a rebound as opposed to taking it on the end line after a miss. So in that context, of course he's going to miss it.

Previous posters were suggesting that our time out gave him the opportunity to miss. I think it was irrelevant

jrichisamazing · Dec 7, 2019

Yes33 said:
Granted he had a better seat, but I didn’t see the rhythm. I believe we had a 7 point lead with 4 minutes left.. Good defensive rhythm says we are increasing the lead due to defense not giving it up slowly...

Defense was great down the stretch. Maryland made 2 big shots. Smith 3 (he only made 4 going into this one) and Cowan 3 from deeeeep. Only thing you can do is tip your cap that they hit big shots and be annoyed that we didn't hit shots on our end.

SescIllini · Dec 7, 2019

In the end why we lost? One missed free throw to get us 4 ahead. Giorgi going for a quick shot instead of using some clock and/or picking up a foul, and give Cowen space to hit a 3. It is a long 3 but at this level very makeable.

Would love to see Tev back.

NotThatPierre · Dec 7, 2019

I won't speak for everyone but I suspect that others share my concern.

It's less about the loss and more about glaring coaching problems that we thought we were going to get rid of when we signed someone for 4 million a year.

QCillini48 · Dec 7, 2019

NotThatPierre said:
Previous posters were suggesting that our time out gave him the opportunity to miss. I think it was irrelevant

I think its very relevant and points to a lack of understanding on BU's part. Taking that time out in between free throws with 2.1 you gave an advantage to your opponent and left yourself with no timeouts. So when he does what your were banking on him not doing (missing the free throw intentionally) you gave your team absolutely no chance to win!

Goldtop · Dec 7, 2019

QCillini48 said:
Any idea why Underwood called his final timeout in between the two free throws instead of saving it for when he missed it, grab the rebound, call a timeout and draw something up?

If He makes the free throw we would be taking the ball out of bounds anyway. Underwood took the time out to make sure they new what to do for a make or a miss. Not a guarantee that you would have time to get a time out on a miss. There was only 2.1 seconds anyway. The game wasn't lost here.

NotThatPierre · Dec 7, 2019

QCillini48 said:
I think its very relevant and points to a lack of understanding on BU's part. Taking that time out in between free throws with 2.1 you gave an advantage to your opponent and left yourself with no timeouts. So when he does what your were banking on him not doing (missing the free throw intentionally) you gave your team absolutely no chance to win!

I agree. It wasn't relevant to whether Maryland decided to miss

Ramrod2010 · Dec 7, 2019

I just don't get it. Like none of this makes sense. We were up big in the 2nd half and ended up losing. All past experiences suggest that should have been a win for us.

Does Maryland not follow #fakerally rules?

Illini_Jack · Dec 7, 2019

On the one hand, we took the #3 team in the nation to the wire on the road. On the other hand, we should have won that game.

Flight#33 · Dec 7, 2019

We need a closer, an absolute go to, studbolt, unstoppable player. We dont have one, nobody with the cohones to be THE MAN. If I'm coaching the game, the ball is in Trents hand, hes the best option we have .
Dakitch is a tool

alexander58 · Dec 7, 2019

QCillini48 said:
I think its very relevant and points to a lack of understanding on BU's part. Taking that time out in between free throws with 2.1 you gave an advantage to your opponent and left yourself with no timeouts. So when he does what your were banking on him not doing (missing the free throw intentionally) you gave your team absolutely no chance to win!

That’s assuming Maryland would have tried to make the free throw without the time out being called. Had that happened, I doubt Illinois would have had a plan to score.

Maryland 59, Illinois 58 POSTGAME

Flight#33