This is what happens when you play a weak non-conference schedule prior to the B1G. We play 0 games on the road against worthy opponenents. All of our games were either at home or neutral sites. These guys clearly can't play defense and they were rattled from the opening tip. I am tired of getting waxed, particularly on the the road and it is clear these guys weren't prepared to play a decent (not great) opponent on the road with a fired up crowd. It is great to pad the schedule with non-conference patsies at home but does little to prepare them for conference play. I had my problems with Weber but at least his guys usually played decent D. There is no excuse for not playing good defense even when the offense is struggling.
Maryland 84, Illinois 59 POSTGAME
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mattcoldagelli
- Script Illinois Enthusiast
I think it's probably more to do with having the worst game coach/staff in the conference.
As damning an indictment of the coaching as I could imagine.
I expect guys to have off games. E.g. Tracy. I do not expect whole swaths of the team to just not show up, or be so disorganized they might as well have stayed in street clothes. There were some plays my jaw dropped at how this team just stood around and let Maryland do what they wanted.
Just speechless.
I thought the very same thing, im sorry but I for one am not going to rave about how Great Hill is playing, he loafs on D dribbles to much and plays to much hero ball, at times yes he kind of has to cause if tate has the ball no one moves so its better to get it away from him and not give it back. JCL takes some really really bad shots makes dumb passes, can go on and on about them all. SO I for one would not mind at all seeing that 5 on the floor for about 5-10 mins and just see what happens. they have good size better then avg Athletics and the way we play against good teams it cant hurt to try
Probably, the weak scheduling is driven by the realization that this staff can't coach anyone up. They will have a couple games where the 3s will fall and they will look good but it will be a facade.
I couldn't agree more. I've been a fan long enough to have been there through some bad stretches, missed tourney years, and I can't recall a coach as unwatchable. This pains me to say....really pains me....but Weber's ugly brand of defensive basketball was easier on the eyes than this mess. As ugly as it was, we were in most games and there was a reason to watch it unfold. With Groce, there's a surprising frequency of games where I don't feel the need to watch.
This game, as bad as we were playing, I felt involved in the game through the first half. I thought to myself, wow, we played horrible, really bad basketball, and we're only down by mid-teens. In college bball, you can turn that around in 5 minutes. Then we came out flat, and the beating continued, and I knew this would be like watching the Kardashians (and I don't watch the Kardashians)
Well put. The problem that this program is facing isn't the 5-1/2 pages of fans who still care enough to be critical. It's the other 14-1/2 pages of fans who used to care enough to post in 20-page postgame threads, and who have found other things to do with their time.
Angry fans still care. It's worse to lose them completely to apathy.
This was a big game for us. We had an OK non-conference season that had us squarely on the bubble. This was a game against a team that should be slightly better than us that would've been a big win as far as tournament purposes. Prior to this game, we had only played two games in over 2 weeks. I thought that would give us time to improve and prepare for conference season. I am just so disheartened at what I saw yesterday. I am hoping like hell we bounce back, I'm just not confident we have the team capable of doing it.
AEX
- West Lafayette
This game was so painful to watch. So many factors played into that. One thing that I don't understand is why we start nearly every offensive set with a hand off to one side of the court. It gives the other team more time to set up and makes us that much more predictable. It's amazing how easy we are to guard.
I'm with you. Idk why or where people get the idea that HATING to lose as often and as bad as we do and vocalizing it equates to bring a bad fan.
I've been a great fan since the mid 70's when illini basketball was fun and exciting. The last 10 years has been horrendous, but we should just sit around and pat Groce on the head and say "way to go coach" "you'll get em next time"!
I love my Illini but enough is enough.
I do not think Illni basketball was so fun and exciting in the mid 70's
I started watching in 78. So yeah that wasn't fun but then they hired Henson. But surely you got my point...........
Deleted member 533939
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More Lucas. More Williams. More Jordan. More Nichols. This reminds me of when Ekey was getting more time than Hill simply because one was a senior and one was a freshman.
Finally Groce started playing Nunn and Hill, but it was too late into the season and they ended up in the NIT.
Finally Groce started playing Nunn and Hill, but it was too late into the season and they ended up in the NIT.
frozenrope9190
- Aurora, IL
The game sucked. The players and coaching sucked. The end result from the committee's standpoint though, is a loss on the road in the Big 10. If it was 1 point or 25, the result is the same, yes? Minnesota's home loss to Michigan State will end up being more damning than this one, as crummy as the game was.
10-8. Finish 10-8 and win a game in the Big 10 tourney. You had your clunker, so now you have to go 10-7. If you cannot finish 10-8, I'm all for bouncing the coach, no matter what recruit might leave. But one clunker not a season make.
10-8. Finish 10-8 and win a game in the Big 10 tourney. You had your clunker, so now you have to go 10-7. If you cannot finish 10-8, I'm all for bouncing the coach, no matter what recruit might leave. But one clunker not a season make.
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mattcoldagelli
- Script Illinois Enthusiast
If you're able to find 10 wins on this schedule without the aid of a hallucinogen, Godspeed.
I was going to ask, how many times under Henson, Kruger, Self, even Weber did we get blitzed in a Big Ten game like that. I think you can count it on one hand. And the majority of the times would be under Groce. Unacceptable at Illinois.
CoalCity:
"It sure was and since the announcers were already talking about something other than the game they totally missed it. Best defensive play of the game for Illinois. "
I couldn't let these comments go with out a bit of crack back here.
One of the best plays was Tate stripping Trimble off of a breakaway earlier in half. And the announcers were actually paying attention and Dakich actually commented on it how difficult a play that was, and without ever fouling. Sure, I loved how handsy AJ was, that was very nice to see, but Tate made plays.
frozenrope9190
- Aurora, IL
I'm not saying it's an automatic we'll find it. I'm just saying that the goal for me all along was 10-8. We're 0-1 now, and yesterday's game didn't mean 9 losses. i'll do my 'Fire Groce' dance once that 9th loss hits. For now, the team will absorb the one loss, learn from it, and go play Ohio State.
Deleted member 3875
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Watching MD run smooth, efficient offense vs our struggling, predictable O was so telling. Turgeon gets it; JFG, not so much.
MD knows how to use the screener to score. Our offense is high ball screen and reset for an iso that isn't an iOS because Tate's man can help
Yes, Tate made A play. A good hustle play chasing down Trimble from behind. But for the rest of the game he looked like a matador at the top of the key as the Maryland guards blew by on either side whenever they felt like it. In fairness to him the starters all looked that way for the most part. There's no quit in Tate, I will not hate on his attitude or his grit. He's just not a B1G starting point guard and that's not his fault.
I watched all or large portions of all 4 games that were on yesterday and my cautious optimism has been replaced by a feeling of impending doom. The athleticism of the other teams including Rutgers and maybe with the exception PSU was startling compared to ours. I'm just concerned that this may not be the last 25 point whuppin we see in the next 10-12 days.
This sums it up. I truly think that Groce's offense would look terrific if and only if he had an aggressive PG with tremendous quickness, ball handling, and shooting ability. The inability to adjust his system is beyond frustrating.
Instead he plays a PG that has none of those skills and it's going to cost him his job. Amazing.
I don't know what to say about this mess of a basketball team. I have never seen an Illinois team execute this poorly on the defensive end and have been watching since the early 70s. It might be understandable if they were young and inexperienced but this is not the case with this team. MD's freshmen outplayed our seniors. I can't imagine they are just that good. Something has to change and, if that means the coaching staff, so be it.
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