Good analogy but the Illini will live to compete another day. Love to see the growth in this young team. This alone will make the season worth watching even if there is no great success. I am on board and hope other fans can see the talent and improvement of this team.
Ohio State 75, Illinois 73 POSTGAME
Good analogy but the Illini will live to compete another day. Love to see the growth in this young team. This alone will make the season worth watching even if there is no great success. I am on board and hope other fans can see the talent and improvement of this team.
Here's the story....
"Both teams' defenses let up in the second half, with Ohio State shooting a sparkling 52 percent from the field and Illinois shooting 44.4 percent over the final 20 minutes. The two teams combined for 92 second-half points after totaling 56 in the first half. The Buckeyes had 14 turnovers and made just five 3s compared to the Illini's 12, but Ohio State held a massive edge in free-throw shooting, making 28 of its whopping 39 foul shots. Illinois was 9-for-11 from the stripe.
While it was a strong showing by the Illini, the absence of their two starting big men, Mike Thorne Jr. and Leron Black, was noticeable. Ohio State had a 42-33 rebounding advantage and blocked nine shots while Illinois blocked none.
Four different Illini players scored 14 points: Coleman-Lands, Hill, Nunn and Finke. Coleman-Lands hit four 3-pointers, and Finke scored all his points in the second half. All four guys had to put up a lot of shots to get to those point totals, though, combining to shoot 36.5 percent (19-for-52)."
http://www.csnchicago.com/big-ten/illini-fight-back-buckeyes-hold-victory?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo
"Both teams' defenses let up in the second half, with Ohio State shooting a sparkling 52 percent from the field and Illinois shooting 44.4 percent over the final 20 minutes. The two teams combined for 92 second-half points after totaling 56 in the first half. The Buckeyes had 14 turnovers and made just five 3s compared to the Illini's 12, but Ohio State held a massive edge in free-throw shooting, making 28 of its whopping 39 foul shots. Illinois was 9-for-11 from the stripe.
While it was a strong showing by the Illini, the absence of their two starting big men, Mike Thorne Jr. and Leron Black, was noticeable. Ohio State had a 42-33 rebounding advantage and blocked nine shots while Illinois blocked none.
Four different Illini players scored 14 points: Coleman-Lands, Hill, Nunn and Finke. Coleman-Lands hit four 3-pointers, and Finke scored all his points in the second half. All four guys had to put up a lot of shots to get to those point totals, though, combining to shoot 36.5 percent (19-for-52)."
http://www.csnchicago.com/big-ten/illini-fight-back-buckeyes-hold-victory?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo
I was wondering if we had any to's remaining.
Sadly, no.
I was not able to watch the game, but what has been written is very encouraging. I hope to see similar energy against Sparty. We're going to need it.
One comment, based only on looking at the box score, is that Hill only played 28 mins, but grabbed 7 rebounds. Nunn also had 7 rebounds. Both were about 1.5 over their season average, but Hill in significantly fewer minutes. I think they'll both need to rebound at that rate if we are going to have success moving forward.
One comment, based only on looking at the box score, is that Hill only played 28 mins, but grabbed 7 rebounds. Nunn also had 7 rebounds. Both were about 1.5 over their season average, but Hill in significantly fewer minutes. I think they'll both need to rebound at that rate if we are going to have success moving forward.
Malcolm Hill spent time on the bench due to foul trouble.
Agreed, growing self-confidence for both players.
Finke make a couple of pretty difficult shots.
Massive Growth Potential
rarely....
Offensive fouls count towards the team foul total but I don't think you shoot on them.
Finke=Wolverine as in X-Men.
Wisconsin did it last year. Finke is going to keep getting better. I agree size would be great to have, but we can compete with Finke at the 5.
Haha, I think it would be even stranger if Frank Kamisky was a starter at power forward in college. He was clearly a center in college, imo. Also, last year, Sam Dekker played the 4 and he was easily a 4 for the college game, imo.
Also, I think Finke can play the 4, but eventually, he will be a very good center in college offensively AND defensively.
So I agree that we can compete with Finke as the 5.
I also agree that we can compete with Finke at the 5 though it would be better to have a physical PF like Black to pair with him. Finke will continue to get stronger and adjust to the physicality of college ball.
Not sure about the comparison to Wisky last year. They played a huge lineup with a 7 foot C and basically two PFs.
Oh yeah, I forgot about Nigel Hayes... yes, he and Dekker are both perfectly fine at the 4 for a good college team.
And Kaminsky is 7 feet tall. A lot bigger than MF.
Yeah and Finke is 6'9? 6'10?? How many college centers are taller than 6'9 or 6'10? Not a lot. I see that Finke has the skill to be a 4, but it seems to me with a bit more weight, he easily big enough to play the 5 in college.
I was referring to the OP who compared our starting 5 to last year's UW starting 5. He said UW's starters last year were similarly undersized. UW's starters were 7-0, 6-8, 6-8 on the front line. They were much bigger than our lineup now. In fact, they had one of the biggest front lines in the country.