Maryland 91, Illinois 70 Postgame

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#302      
NickOfTime
I can't fault Brad for hitting the portal hard - it's how we got dudes like Shannon, Plummer, and Dainja. But at the end of the day, the portal is free agency. Look at the NFL, the best teams are not the ones that spend the most in free agency, it's the ones that draft well consistently.

Check out Brad's recruiting classes:
2020 - Adam Miller, Andre Curbelo, Coleman Hawkins (all transferred, Hawkins stayed full 4 years)
2021 - Goode, RJ Melendez, Podziemski (all transferred, Goode stayed longest at 3 years)
2022 - Skyy Clark, Sincere Harris, Jayden Epps, Ty Rogers (all transferred but Rogers, who is taking a redshirt and almost certainly gone)
2023 - Hansberry, DGL, Zacharie Perrin, Moretti (3 transfers, 1 Every Day Guy).

Brad's got about 1 guy per class worth a darn who stays longer than a year. I understand that the years of a kid staying 4 straight at one academic institution are behind us, but if you keep missing on your draft picks you keep relying on free agency to plug the gaps. You can do it (see 2023 with Shannon, Domask, Harmon, Guerrier), but Ayo, Trent, and DaMonte staying three or four years to build the program are gone. And when the bill is due, you get games like tonight.
 
#303      
SAELION
Inexperienced freshmen playing mature senior opponents. I guess we need to get used to it. The weaknesses on this team are striking. Boswell and KJ are turnover machines. They constantly get picked clean on their dribble or throw it away under pressure. Ben H is utterly overmatched on offense and defense. No ability to create his own shot. Booty Ball??? he was successful twice in 19 games. BFD. Riley plays like a dribble-happy one-on-one high school player. Tre White is a mediocre role player, only effective at the rim. Cary Booth is a bum. Only guy with heart and balls is Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (the shortest, lightest guy on the team.) Oh, and the only pure shooters on the team are KJ and Jake Davis. The team used to pass to the open man. Now they just now dribble into double teams. When they make lots of threes they win. Otherwise... Really discouraging.
 
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#304      
Alfonz24
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#306      
Oracle21
So is Tomi our actual MVP? The highs and lows of this team is too great to expect much in the NCAA tourney.
 
#307      
pruman91
That was a prime example of what BU said about our defensive ability early this season and the 7th grade level of our performance......

Sickening to see the twerps LAUGHING at us in our house....
Well, another sleepless night for ole pru and NL # 3....It really really is ......

I will have nightmares about this one for a long long time
...
 
#308      
jamie13197
I miss TA, especially for players. Wtf man. Can you impart knowledge. He should still be here.
 
#309      
jamie13197
I love ya brother, but bull crap and BS.
No D1 player wants to sit! Seriously. No competitor will do this.
 
#310      
Oracle21
Maryland had the exact game plan to take advantage of what Illinois willingly gives up on defense:

#1. Illinois guards the 3s, plays drop coverage, and encourages teams to drive in and take midrange relatively uncontested 2s

#2. Illinois is weak inside (especially without Tomi) and Maryland has 2 excellent post players that can finish in the lane.

So Maryland was extremely comfortable this game taking what Illinois was giving. Take the easy 2s, let your big men eat in the paint.

Luckily for Illinois most teams going forward don’t have 2 bigs as good as Reese/Queen, and they aren’t comfortable taking short 2 point shots.

But tonight was the worse of both worlds. The opponent was perfectly comfortable taking what Illinois intentionally gives up. And Illinois was way off from 3. So that adds up to big loss even at home
 
#311      
BWA
lstewart53x3 said:
Some have compared this team to ‘23 and I’d just like to point out:

‘23 KenPom: 35
‘25 KenPom: 11

Let’s get healthy and go on a run.
Click to expand...
Yea the blowout wins are telling. This team has a much higher ceiling that ‘23. Similar floor unfortunately. Will see if they can put it together m
 
#314      
Brosky
You're right. Getting beat is one thing. Getting embarrassed is another thing.
 
#315      
Brosky
I would think Boswell could fill that role. But what do I know, really?
 
#316      
Brosky
Your source, if accurate, makes sense. If players have the flu, their strength is compromised along with their quickness and stamina. I don't know how many are sick with the flu, but if they are, it would be mainly responsible for such an astonishing beat-down at home.
 
#318      
derrick6
Because Brad is fixated on shooting potential to a fault, imo.
 
#319      
PepeSilvia
Can go through all of the excuses you want and I bought into the Michigan State ref loss(they would have won that game too if they didn't just chuck 3s for 20 straight minutes).

This team is just soft though.
 
#321      
OrangeBlue98
Well, this season went south in a week. It just gets tiring having these massive eggs dropped. By far the most frustrating part of the Underwood tenure, and because he’s so stubborn it’s just never going to change. Just have to win enough games you aren’t supposed to win to make up for it.
 
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#322      
RML
One announcer called us fragile. I do wonder if we sometimes stop BELIEVING.
 
#324      
OB positive
Both Boswell and Tre have fallen off the last few games. They both tend to get tunnel vision once they have decided to make a move. Ben hasn't got many open looks lately partially because Boswell just flat out misses or ignores him when he was open. Bos has to get out of that looking for his shot first mentality. That is one area where DGL has improved as the year has gone on. He has been using his quickness to create for others as well as himself.
 
#325      
Vinegarben
I am sick of the excuses. The flu, Tomi didn't play or KJ didn't play. Rez had a hangnail. Instead of coming together by February as Brad had said they would and hit their peak. This team is falling apart. I am 78 years old and I would rank this performance as probably the very worst effort right next to the blowout at the hands of Nebraska under John Groce. My grandson's 6th grade basketball team has never looked that bad. It seems to me that Maryland, Northwestern and Rutgers have a spell on the Illini. We just can't beat them.
Reese, Queen, Gillespie, Miguel had their way with us. The lane was like a super highway to the basket. 25 LAYUPS! This version of the Illini has no fight, they are a poor defensive unit. Beat up on the boards,. Turnovers, turnovers. Mini run turnover, mini run turnover! At the beginning of the year the hype was KJ, Tomi, Will would be one and done, off to the NBA. Well, they may very well go off to the NBA but it won't be as a player but as a fan .They have size at all positions, they can shoot 3's [not make them] Brad will chew on their !!!, and they may beat N.W. only to lay another egg at Nebraska and Rutgers. Over the years the Illini have had several games where they lack focus, have no energy, play like they have never seen each other before like last night.
KJ is a poor ball handler, turnover prone, struggles when pressured.
Will is just lost, very soft even weak physically. D1 opponents just manhandle him.
Tomi is not physical enough, goes long stretches where he just disappears.
Ben-is a no show most nights. I just don't know what he contributes period. Dra brings energy, hustles, he forces his way to basket, rebounds and Ben runs up and down the floor doing nothing.
 
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