I'd put Rodgers in that category. It would have been very nice to have Ty and Morez on this year's roster. That was supposed to be the case, but a father and a bad pickup game derailed that.
Michigan 84, Illinois 70 Postgame
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Anybody notice we have completely stopped moving the ball? We used to be so good at getting the ball in and out and making the extra pass. Keaton went full freshman last night and just drove into the paint against 3 defenders. Move the ball around, that’s what we were great at. We played at Michigan’s pace last night, we are a half court team and we didn’t play that way. Zero ball movement. Team better wake up.
The sun came up today! 
Michigan is like Purdue of a few years ago as we could not handle their front court like we could not last night. I think we are mentally and physically fatigued.
This shouldn't have been a shock. We have been winning because we are bigger than opponents, and we've been making our 3s this year. We still shoot an absurd amount of 3s. Every year seems to be a new high watermark.
Michigan is just as big, and more athletic, plus we didn't hit our 3s. You could say a similar thing with the UConn game and we had similar results. Our guys are big, but they're not particularly athletic.
People tend to make broad generalizations based on individual games. What we've learned is we struggle against big athletic teams. In the last 6 games, we've learned that our defense is not great, though we already knew that. We can score with most teams, but if your defense allows opponents to shoot at a high clip, there's going to be games where the other guy goes off and just outscores you.
Michigan is just as big, and more athletic, plus we didn't hit our 3s. You could say a similar thing with the UConn game and we had similar results. Our guys are big, but they're not particularly athletic.
People tend to make broad generalizations based on individual games. What we've learned is we struggle against big athletic teams. In the last 6 games, we've learned that our defense is not great, though we already knew that. We can score with most teams, but if your defense allows opponents to shoot at a high clip, there's going to be games where the other guy goes off and just outscores you.
I genuinely would like to hear the most optimistic fans explain how they aren't concerned after what we've seen recently...
At no point after the 10-15 mark if the first half did you think we had any chance to beat Michigan- they were CLEARLY better than us- we would have to have a perfect game against them to win. They just got beat by Duke in a close game but one in which Duke looked like the better team. I know anything can happen in the tournament- but there's no world in which I think we can beat Duke and Michigan. Houston is an atrocious matchup for our team- far tougher, far more athletic, I think we'd turtle against them. Uconn handled us early in the season and Hurley is a much better coach at prep and in game adjustments- clear advantage to Uconn.
Arizona, ISU, Florida- maybe similar in talent but I'd probably give the edge to at least Arizona and Florida as the better teams right now.
As fans- we really thought this team could possibly compete for a national championship- but definitely an elite 8 or maybe even final 4. Now that we are finally healthy- I feel far less confident in that than I did without Boswell.
So Underwood's most talented team he's ever coached- with the facilities we have, the fan support we have, the NIL we have- and we are getting belt to butt at home- with everything to play for... We've now lost to Nebraska, Wisconsin and Michigan at home... I have no problem saying I'll take this over Groce- but what a low low bar. I'll also admit we are a good to very good team- but no where near great in almost 9 years under Underwood.
I guess I just need to accept good to very good. I thought the standard of good was what I could hope and expect for in football, not basketball.
This team is talented- skilled- and Wagler has been a borderline grand slam find. Ben and Jake's development have been very nice, Bos is a solid guard in the league- Mirk has been a home-run. Big Z has been mostly good- but inconsistent, especially lately.
Petro = disaster, Andrej = major disappointment, Tomi = big disappointment, Losing Morez = a disappointment considering what he would bring to this team, losing White = disappointment.
And what will we be next year? Nice pieces, but even with Mirk, Jake, Tomi, Big Z- we are still insanely slow, unathletic, and not particularly tough.
At no point after the 10-15 mark if the first half did you think we had any chance to beat Michigan- they were CLEARLY better than us- we would have to have a perfect game against them to win. They just got beat by Duke in a close game but one in which Duke looked like the better team. I know anything can happen in the tournament- but there's no world in which I think we can beat Duke and Michigan. Houston is an atrocious matchup for our team- far tougher, far more athletic, I think we'd turtle against them. Uconn handled us early in the season and Hurley is a much better coach at prep and in game adjustments- clear advantage to Uconn.
Arizona, ISU, Florida- maybe similar in talent but I'd probably give the edge to at least Arizona and Florida as the better teams right now.
As fans- we really thought this team could possibly compete for a national championship- but definitely an elite 8 or maybe even final 4. Now that we are finally healthy- I feel far less confident in that than I did without Boswell.
So Underwood's most talented team he's ever coached- with the facilities we have, the fan support we have, the NIL we have- and we are getting belt to butt at home- with everything to play for... We've now lost to Nebraska, Wisconsin and Michigan at home... I have no problem saying I'll take this over Groce- but what a low low bar. I'll also admit we are a good to very good team- but no where near great in almost 9 years under Underwood.
I guess I just need to accept good to very good. I thought the standard of good was what I could hope and expect for in football, not basketball.
This team is talented- skilled- and Wagler has been a borderline grand slam find. Ben and Jake's development have been very nice, Bos is a solid guard in the league- Mirk has been a home-run. Big Z has been mostly good- but inconsistent, especially lately.
Petro = disaster, Andrej = major disappointment, Tomi = big disappointment, Losing Morez = a disappointment considering what he would bring to this team, losing White = disappointment.
And what will we be next year? Nice pieces, but even with Mirk, Jake, Tomi, Big Z- we are still insanely slow, unathletic, and not particularly tough.
And BAM needs to just stop shooting threes. He isn’t very good. Hasn’t been all year.
We miss Tre white and Morez. Imagine this team with Tre instead of Andre, and Morez instead of petro. That money should have gone to Morez since petro doesn’t play at all. Paying him to practice.
We miss Tre white and Morez. Imagine this team with Tre instead of Andre, and Morez instead of petro. That money should have gone to Morez since petro doesn’t play at all. Paying him to practice.
I heard they wanted to fire Woody and hire Dusty but Quinn Buckner convinced the Indiana people to give Woody one more year. Dusty was not going to wait and jumped at the Michigan offer. I miss Juwann....
This has been Keaton recently. There's been a LOT of him just dribbling, taking his time, while the shot clock runs down and we're in a bailout situation. If he's going to be a primary ball handler, getting the team into the offense and keeping it moving has to be drilled into his head. Unproductive dribbling has become a bad habit and you're right....the ball movement stops. He did that right before the half vs UCLA, then hands Mirk the ball with the shot clock running down. Mirk turns it over, we foul a shooter on a three and the rest was history.
He's a freshman and he's become the focus of the oppositions game plan. They're going right at him defensively and they're picking him up early and are putting an extreme amount of ball pressure on him offensively. He has not handled that well, but he's a freshman. It happens. Along with that, he and Boswell haven't meshed very well since Boz came back. It's been ok, but the dynamic changed. The ball sticks a lot more and it's critical that they get that turned around.
I am probably going to get some push back on this, but the thing that REALLY sticks in my craw is that we didn’t compete last night. No fight. No intensity. No “bite” defensively. No emotion. Nothing. I can live with the results if we leave it all the floor. We didn’t.
Tomislav and Andrej were WAY beyond soft. I really can’t use the words I’m thinking of if I want to remain a contributing member of this message board.
Both of those guys need to take a long damn look in the mirror.
Tomislav and Andrej were WAY beyond soft. I really can’t use the words I’m thinking of if I want to remain a contributing member of this message board.
Both of those guys need to take a long damn look in the mirror.
Well, Michigan looks like a national champion, and they beat us soundly across the board. I'm not sure any attitude change would have changed the outcome.
But I'm still in love with my idea that this team needs to discover an attitude of imposing its will and kicking tail. We have the talent and the teamwork and the resumé to justify it. We lack that moxie, and the funny part is that it's simply a choice. It's truly right there waiting for us. Michigan totally has that moxie. I swear: if we adopt that moxie? Look out.
If not? I'll keep enjoying a really enjoyable season. I mean, this team truly is a real joy to watch and follow.
But I'm still in love with my idea that this team needs to discover an attitude of imposing its will and kicking tail. We have the talent and the teamwork and the resumé to justify it. We lack that moxie, and the funny part is that it's simply a choice. It's truly right there waiting for us. Michigan totally has that moxie. I swear: if we adopt that moxie? Look out.
If not? I'll keep enjoying a really enjoyable season. I mean, this team truly is a real joy to watch and follow.
Disappointing, not this one game but our recruiting philosophies. We are built to look like world-beaters when we play smaller, not overly athletic teams with average defenses. These are the teams we should beat in the tournament. We are NOT going to beat the aggressive, athletic teams that will just maul us. The Euro strategy will only take us so far - while it's fun to watch at times, it's just not a championship winning strategy. The one-handed rebounds need to STOP immediately please! They all seem to do it for some reason. Morez was that dawg we needed to keep, a key piece that's missing from our team makeup this year. Could've really propelled us to a top-tier status. We are a Tier B team, that will hope to make the Sweet 16. I hope I am wrong.
The narrative going into this game was that we matched up better with them than anyone else. The true story is that they matched up with us better than anyone else. Yaxel neutralized KW and their bigs out toughed, out played, and out energized our bigs.
I am not nipping anything in the "bud." Who's not going anywhere? Where in my very short and simple post did I say BU should be fired. Let's nip your silly assumption in the "bud." I'll take any "hot take" I want, so maybe you should "stop."
In my opinion, this team has earned a 2/3 seed no matter how the last six games have gone. Last I checked, a 2/3 seed should make the Elite 8. Is that not true?
The coach you want here until he retires has the same expectations.
I suggest you follow your own username with "this year's team" and the high expectations the coach have placed on them.
Elite 8 or bust.
Frustrating and sobering both fall under the category of disappointing.
Previous losses to me were frustrating. Mostly because I thought we were the better team and due to x, y, z we just lost - injuries, losing Sandfort, etc. a lot of fans screamed that’s not what championship teams do, but the reality is, many championship teams, had in fact, plenty of those moments.
Last night was sobering. Close losses versus being handled matter greatly to me - that was by far the most disappointing result. We’re very clearly not with Duke, Arizona, and Michigan right now - I personally think Florida might be in that class too.
I still firmly believe this team can make an elite 8, but we’ll need some breaks for a final four. The good news is, when you have a team capable of that, you have a team fully capable of taking advantage of tournament breaks.
But for now… need to focus on us. Oregon is playing better with bittle back, Maryland sucks, but it’s at Maryland. Focus on us and bounce back from 3 subpar halves, and let’s reassess
Previous losses to me were frustrating. Mostly because I thought we were the better team and due to x, y, z we just lost - injuries, losing Sandfort, etc. a lot of fans screamed that’s not what championship teams do, but the reality is, many championship teams, had in fact, plenty of those moments.
Last night was sobering. Close losses versus being handled matter greatly to me - that was by far the most disappointing result. We’re very clearly not with Duke, Arizona, and Michigan right now - I personally think Florida might be in that class too.
I still firmly believe this team can make an elite 8, but we’ll need some breaks for a final four. The good news is, when you have a team capable of that, you have a team fully capable of taking advantage of tournament breaks.
But for now… need to focus on us. Oregon is playing better with bittle back, Maryland sucks, but it’s at Maryland. Focus on us and bounce back from 3 subpar halves, and let’s reassess
Seeing rumblings on X that Stojakovic may be gone or going. Insiders hearing this?
The sun came up today!
It sure did. But the sun is supposed to look Orange. So why was it glowing with a big dose of Maize and Blue?
And why was that old Bobby Vinton song playing in the background... "Blue on blue, heartache on heartache...".
This is the time of year that roundball fans are supposed to start getting really exited. It's supposed to be the most fun time of the year. Instead, we are licking our wounds and asking tough questions. And wondering how bad it's going to hurt this time around.
We love the Illini program but it seems land-locked into a second tier status at best -- again. That is not what the greatest basketball fans in America deserve.
I like these guys... but come on. Give us something to feel better about...
If we go out in the Round of 32 this season and miss the second weekend next season, the donors will probably call for BU’s head.
I’m not hoping for this to happen but some on this board are still comparing our historical performance of pre-NIL MBB and today’s game. Everything is different with player compensation. Being grateful for just making the tourney every year can’t be the standard if we have Top 12-15 funds, which insiders have expressed we do.
Illinois should make the 2nd weekend every year at worst and we shouldn’t accept anything less. I think this team will get there.
I’m not hoping for this to happen but some on this board are still comparing our historical performance of pre-NIL MBB and today’s game. Everything is different with player compensation. Being grateful for just making the tourney every year can’t be the standard if we have Top 12-15 funds, which insiders have expressed we do.
Illinois should make the 2nd weekend every year at worst and we shouldn’t accept anything less. I think this team will get there.
I wholeheartedly agree. Focus on pounding Oregon and Maryland--regaining that confidence.
If they can stay a two seed, their "potential" opponents in a "possible" S16 game could be PU, Nebraska, Kansas, Gonzaga & MSU.
All these games are winnable for the Illini, imo. If they become a three seed, I sense a possible S16 matchup with a Florida.
In the end, though, as you posit, need to focus on Oregon.
It's a miracle they have won any games at all then?
The problem with your analysis is it has no fact in it. All of the above is your opinion. If they are so soft, how come our best players keep getting drafted into the NBA? Second, how is it that this team didn't lose a game in regulation for over two months? Every team we played (MSU, Wisconsin, Purdue, Nebraska) They must be soft too.
And if we are so soft, how is it that we are one of the top rebounding teams in the nation?
You're taking one game and painting the entire season and Underwood's entire Illini tenure with it.
Just out of curiosity, what do you do for a living? Using the same level of fact that you used above, based on how you wrote your post, its pretty clear you haven't been nearly as successful at whatever you do as Underwood has been as a coach.
How in the world would you have a clue what any of these players are earning? How would you know which match ups were discussed in the huddle or at half time? But more important than that, Mirk had 10 shots, 10 rebounds. The offense we play is based on match ups and every time he brought the ball up the floor, Michigan switched when he got towards the 3 point line. The Fox broadcasters kept talking about "the Michigan switching defense."
The only time Mirk was in a mismatch in the front court was when the ball was in Boswell or Wagler's hands. Or did you miss that all together?
The game was lost on the glass (we only had 30 rebounds). If we follow what you are saying we take our best rebounder away from the glass and we certainly don't make up a 15 - 20 point deficit.
Give Michigan credit for their play. But can we please stop with the Illinois basketball program psycho analysis of factors that the posters have no first hand knowledge of whatsoever?
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
As someone who has seen my favorite baseball team win three World Series and my favorite NFL team win two Super Bowls, the following two things are left on my sports fan bucket list. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll live to see either.
Illinois football win in the Rose Bowl game
Illinois basketball national championship
Well most of the time when we are missing those threes we are often getting the rebounds giving us second chances. Michigan did a good job of keeping us from doing just that plus out rebounded us overall. That scenario will probably end in a loss every time. Plus they got to the free throw line more than we did.
Never mocked the May hiring. Just mocked the little man himself. Dusty has assembled quite the bigten all-star team. Wonder if he's offered Keaton to stay in school another year? Wonder who else is on his list after this season? I would like to see a one year wait on in conference transfers, that or pay the school whose player you poached. Imagine if Braden Smith had taken dustys offer? Muck fichiganI was one of the people mocking the Dusty May hire. No further comment at this time
Until last night every other time I have watched Mara play he looked a little awkward and clumsy just like Jacobson. If that's what he can do everynight then watch out. By the way he wasn't much of factor in the Duke game. Our lack of physical presence in the paint made him a lot better.
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This part of it was going to be a major problem.
You can struggle from 3, but grab a ton of offensive rebounds or shoot the ball very well and the need to chase down a second chance board is negated. Can't have issues with both.
Again, this is why it's just a really bad matchup for us. We don't have answers for a lot of what they brought at us defensively.
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