Nebraska 80, Illinois 74 OT Postgame

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#626      
the juiceman cometh
CoachHooleyHoo said:
Here’s my frustration with BU presser…he kept talking about needing to get whole. Yeah, ideally, but you don’t know when that’s gonna happen. Might want to try to figure out how to win consistently until then. 😡😡
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And also...this is just a reality of sports. You never know when you're going to have people out, or who is going to be out. What happens if someone gets injured right before the tourney? We just pack our bags and go home? Or try and adjust and figure out a way to win?

BU at his best has been able to adjust. We've seen that with the best teams he's fielded. BU at his worst has been completely unable to adjust. This seems to be one of those seasons where he just can't make the necessary adjustments. IDK, maybe it depends on who his assistants are in a given season?
 
#627      
steveinspringfield
Maybe we have the right coach. Maybe not. I'm not so sure. We're 7th in the conference. 1/2 game better than a HORRIBLE Indiana team. We just lost to an even worse Nebraska team that was coming off SIX STRAIGHT LOSSES. When Ohio State comes to Champaign on Sunday, I'm not confident of a win.

The Illini have now lost 4 of their last 6 games. They were the betting-odds favorite to win in 3 of those 4 losses. When you lose 75% of the games you were supposed to win...maybe the coach is the problem. His pressers remind me of Groce. Always an excuse for something.
 
#629      
ILLFAN67
You have to love a loss that people think we should win. 533 posts so far in the post game thread. Never have that many even if the most spectacular wins we pull off. I’m sure there is all sorts of coaching expertise being offered the staff. Pretty sure I don’t want to ruin my day by reading it all. Hopefully adjustments will be made and we turn it around on Sunday! I still trust Brad, most wins in Big for 5 yrs straight. He’ll get it figured out soon!
 
#630      
Calvin
illiram said:
My son and I were visibly dismayed when DGL was pulled in regulation for that last play. We both stood up and said what the hell are they doing. We needed people that could drive the basket and get fouled to win the game. What in the hell was Brad thinking?
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100% - why on earth would you take out DGL at that point. I was confused the whole game at the game plan and execution. Head scratching for a lot of the game, maybe more on the execution side, but still.

I've yet to see a first year PG that doesn't make some bad plays or decisions, so I'm kind of on board with KJ having his share, but that said, closing out....some of these have looked downright bad.

Feel bad for the team. Might be the most disorganized overall I've seen and we're heading into February. Are we really this bad without Tomi?
 
#631      
SVSTORM
Keisersose said:
We lost Chester Frazier (and his recruits) and Tim Anderson. We replaced them with ?????
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Some of these takes seem to have some rosy retrospection to them. Chet to OA was a net positive. TA was a last minute loss. Neither of these guys would bring a lot to the table schematically.

With that said, I’m equally as frustrated and hope that Brad does some serious introspection. As others have said, donors want results. I am optimistic that he can right the ship for this season but am realistic in thinking Brad must make serious staff changes this offseason if he wants to stay in Champaign for the long haul. Our program is in a good position, regardless.
 
#633      
OrangeBlue98
bluemountain said:
We know what we have with Brad. He just isn't a good enough coach to get us past the Elite 8 (IMO) but he is good enough at building a roster where we will be an NCAA tourney caliber team 9 times out of 10.
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I wish there was a way to combine the best of Bret Bielema and Brad Underwood into a type of "super coach".

Bielema is really good at making sure his teams don't beat themselves, making the right adjustments, and being very good in specialized situations during the course of the game.

Underwood is really good at identifying talent (not saying Bielema isn't, but I think Underwood is excellent at this) and having his team playing at its best at the end of a season (but we'll see what happens this season).

I think both are extremely good at building a culture and getting buy-in.

To me, it feels like the strengths of one are areas of improvement for the other, and vice versa.

To your point, I do think Underwood is good enough at talent identification and development to get a team to the Final Four. It will just take a lot of things bouncing the right way over the course of six games. I do not think, at the present time, the in-game coaching is good enough to make the appropriate adjustments to win a tough game. It's more like, "Plan B is Plan A, but better". When you're in the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, you're facing good teams and good coaches. At some point, you have to figure out a wrinkle on the fly to get you over the hump. I can't stand Danny Hurley, but he's elite at that ability. We need someone on the staff who can provide that, as I am almost positive we don't have that right now.
 
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#635      
From the cheap seats
Last night evoked some memories from days gone by. Giving up those uncontested dunks on the in-bounds plays made me think of Eddie Murphy's banana-in-the-tailpipe trick...except the cops finally caught on. The passes whipped into their own bench, the stumbling, bumbling, fumbling turnovers and the bricklaying festival from deep reminded me of something from my youth. Then it hit me. My parents took me to see the Globetrotters. The Illini reminded me of the Washington Generals getting their shorts pulled down by Meadowlark Lemon. Sorry to get all philosophical and nostalgic on you.
 
#636      
Battle89
the juiceman cometh said:
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
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I probably should know better than to post this, but I'm still frosty. I got annihilated last week (not you juice) for saying we did not play well in the second half of the NU game. The ending felt just like the first NU game, with the difference being we played spectacularly well in the first half and built up a big enough lead to withstand the later average-to-poor play.

I concede I was in a bad mood, people were telling me that IRL besides here - but that ending triggered all the memories and feelings from Evanston. And obviously this Neb game was far worse. There are so many aspects of our games that we seem to have no idea (or ability - I know people are out)...in-bounds, end of half / game situations, lineups, layups, good vs. bad 3s, TOs.

My later mea culpa still stands, I'm happy we beat NU and happy to see the emergence of Morez. Now can we see the emergence (and retention) of DGL please. This team is dying for an Andres Feliz / Trent Frazier type of fiery leader.
 
#638      
Se Il Illini
Second place is 1st loser said:
Meh, we have the right coach. People are nuts who are calling for his head. I'm not overly impressed with Miller in any event. He's a whatever guy.

That said, we can't keep losing assistants and we can't rebuild a roster from ground up again. No coach and I mean none, will be perfect when having to replace 9(??) guys. They were left short big men, which is part of Ben's minutes in the defensive side and now that Ivisic is out...... we've sprung leaks on both ends. We run everything through him. When healthy, we can be unbeatable. When he's not..... we're just bad.

KJ CLEARLY Isn't the same guy without him. He looks lost. The two man game with TI was a thing of beauty. Now.....he just is out of sorts.

To me, the issue is the off-season and bringing back no continuity. Running two more coaches off the bench doesn't help, ESPECIALLY when players are attacked at the hip.

THAT SAID.....money only goes so far.

JMHO
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KJ looks lost. This should be where the coaches step in and fix the situation, Change some things up.
 
#639      
BashCtIllini
Nuke Dukem said:
We have an everyday guy on this team. Unfortunately he was pulled for an every once in a great while guy at the most critical point of the game.
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This is my biggest beef, and I was no Rodgers fan. But, unless you're a blue blood and bring in nothing but top talent, I don't think this heavy roster turnvoer approach works. Heck, even some of the blue bloods are struggling with heavy roster turnover.

If you look at just Illinois, everyone was excited about bringing in Shannon, Mayer, Clark, Epps, etc. That team had some big wins, but was inconsistent and very frustrating. Sound familiar? With a lot of talent, you can win any game, but with no experience in the system or with your teammates, you're just not going to look like a well oiled machine. Again, sound familiar.

If you look at last year, which appears an exception to the rule, we had Shannon and Rodgers in their 2nd year, Hawkins in his 4th, Goode and Dainja in their 3rd, and we supplemented with 5th year guys. So we had a core of experienced guys, supplemented by some old transfers. That can work.

I also just don't like how Underwood approaches it. Oh he'll never tell a kid we're revoking your scholarship you've got to go, he'll just obviously recruit over you. But, when it creates such inexperience in your program, is it for the better? Who would you rather have right now Humrichous or Hansberry in his 2nd year? White or Rodgers in his 3rd year? Davis or Goode in his 4th year?

I'm not saying all of these guys were brought in specifically to replace the guy I linked them with, I'm more saying, don't run to the candy shop every year saying oh boy who will I get this time. Spend time and money keeping your roster intact. I absolutely advocate bringing in transfers every year, but not 5 or more.

If our roster next year includes Morez, Riley, Ivisic, Boswell, DGL, and Davis, I think that alone greatly improves our team. But will that happen?
 
#640      
sharpshot16
My first and only Brad shot, I don't normally do this. Huge Brad fan and what he has brought to Illinois. BUT...

The reason Brad has made excuses since the USC loss is because our offense is 100% on Tyler. He won't say outright that Tyler's scheme was bad or Tyler made no adjustments based on who was on the court. It's a cop-out. He's blamed officiating and players being out instead of publicly calling Tyler out. (It's not the case behind closed doors, but it's causing Brad to fall into bad, excuse-ridden mindset)

Side note - I am a fan of Tyler, he is really bright and has good analytics to back up his ideas. But the impact of Tyler being around Illinois is hurting Brad and what he stood for, current assistants and our culture. All the credit Tyler got for our elite 8 run, and rightfully so, he should be getting the same questions for our lack of offensive adjustment to players being out and fouls being called differently. It's just not happening because Brad is covering for him.

EVEN IN THE NEBRASKA POSTGAME he mentions Nebraska's FT attempts at home vs. away. It is making him look weak. Brad of 2 years ago would have made fart noises about this performance.
 
#641      
OrangeBlue98
Bevoillini said:
I’m wondering about the overall ability of the coaching staff to give Brad advice during in game situations.
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That's a major concern of mine as well. I've said this a lot, but Brad clearly has a lot of trust in his abilities and vision. 95% of the time, that's a great thing. You need that as a college coach when everyone is questioning you (yes, I'm part of that). But the dark side of that is that he really appears to be stubborn and not willing to explore alternatives and make adjustments. The assistants should be able to give advice during the game. That's why they are there, but if the head coach isn't going to even listen then why not just leave them in Champaign and work on the game plan for the next game?

I look at someone like Dan Campbell with the Detroit Lions who is actively talking with his assistants on the sideline and in the booth whenever you see him. It's clear that he's valuing input from them during the game. Now I do fully realize at some point the head coach has to make the decision and not take input to the point of paralysis, but there has to be a happy medium in there.

It probably looks like I'm dumping on Brad, but overall I'm firmly in his corner. He's done a great job overall at Illinois, and I do think he's the right coach. I just wish some of these blind spots could be addressed. I also, overall, like his strong personality and ability to trust himself. There just needs to be some temperance somewhere.
 
#642      
Battle89
altgeld88 said:
Nebraska had three fouls to give in the final 16 seconds. Even the most disciplined basketball for 19:44 of a half doesn't often yield that. Props to Hoiberg's coaching and his players' focus.

And, yeah: think ahead. What do think is going to happen when you call TO in that situation in a tie game when your opponent has that sort of slack to work with to shut down any attempt to set up a game-winner?

Far be it from me to second-guess BU (which, of course, I just did.) But geez. That was just horrible.
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At the very least, three more absolute $hit inbounding plays. I had no hope from the time out onwards.
 
#643      
Indy Illini Fan
CoachHooleyHoo said:
Sure...but the "losing key players" argument is the same thing BU is saying about this year's team. 5-6 in a pretty mediocre Big East doesn't scream significant improvement over what we have. I think Miller is very, very good....but I don' think he's elite. :ROFLMAO:

I 100% agree on all the rest you said. At some point, that has to come to a head.
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Sean also has a fraction of the NIL Brad does and doesn’t have a top 5 pick on his team … 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’m not here saying Sean is the best coach ever … But he’s a better coach and recruiter than Brad is when he has the same or somewhat equal resources… And that’s been proven …
 
#644      
Indy Illini Fan
Keisersose said:
We lost Chester Frazier (and his recruits) and Tim Anderson. We replaced them with ?????
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Well pick whichever you want … One got replaced with Antigua … That’s an upgrade …

Brad knew in the early summer about the TA thing and did nothing … I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now … Replacing TA with Kwa Jones was not the right move … Having Hamer recruit Chicago is not the right move …
 
#647      
Indy Illini Fan
Buck526 said:
Really poor coaching down the stretch. Is there a coach on the staff that knows how to run a sideline out of bounds play? Costed us last night as well as earlier in the year.....
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Used to be Gentry …

Tyler is one dimensional … Make shots offense … And when the shots aren’t falling … Shoot more … No adjustments …

Hamer should never have been an assistant coach … He was a video guy for a WNBA team … He should’ve been a video guy here and I wouldn’t have been complaining … Running our defense ??? Unacceptable …

Brad loves analytics so much … Here’s some analytics for him … 28.6% from 3 during Big Ten play as a team … Boswell 25% from 3 during Big Ten play … Will Riley 21% from 3 during Big Ten play … Tre White 17% from 3 during Big Ten play … DGL 29% from 3 during Big Ten play … Ben Humbrickhous 31% from 3 during Big Ten play …

Elite shooting team huh ?? 🙄💩

Now how bout we analyze how to make adjustments and win a daggum game …
 
#648      
jayd
Besides our horrid three point shooting, inconsistent interior defense, our giving up points off of turnovers keeps rising. Just curious to see if we have one player getting close to setting a team record for turnovers in one season.
 
#649      
I-L-L 1318
Next year will be interesting. It's clear that retention combined with a few portal pieces is the way for success in the NIL/transfer portal world. We have struggled with retention, this offseason will be a big one. Not ready to write off the guy who rose the program from the grave and brought us to the elite eight. . .
 
#650      
Illiniindian
Navy_illini said:
We are not a top 25 team. We have flashes but we are not consistent. We don’t bring the energy every night. We don’t shoot well from 3. We make too many dumb mistakes. We are not a great defensive team.
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Do you feel this way with Tomi playing?
I think we are really hurting without him.

I was disappointed in Booth’s defense the few minutes he played
 
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