He needs to be in the head officials office today raising hell, DJ and Dorsey should NEVER ref another of our games.
Ohio State 86, Illinois 83 Postgame
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I just think, in general, people grossly underestimate how difficult it is, even for a huge guy like Kofi to perform when players are allowed to bump and grab and hack and pull on him every time he touches the ball. It has to be exhausting. And then when you do have a "bunny", you adjust your shot to compensate for the anticipated hit. Which is one reason why he misses the "bunnies". Also, I'm not saying we lost because of the refs. I'm just tired of watching a brand of basketball where people are allowed to beat a guy up, just because he is big. A fist to the nose hurts a big guy every bit as much as a small guy. As someone else said earlier, it's either a foul or it isn't. His size shouldn't matter. I give him so much credit for not dropping the ball, pointing out to the refs the scratches and bruises on his arms and shoulders, and walking off the floor.
I'd have to re-watch the game, but IIRC, during one timeout Holtman was encouraging, basically begging his guys to force the issue physically. It wasn't just: "Be more physical." I think he saw the way the officiating was going, saw we were getting frustrated, and realized it played in their favor. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but it sure seemed commensurate with the start of their run spanning the end of the first and beginning of the second half.
This and also,
Young- 225#, Key 245#, Liddell 240#
Cockburn 285#
When 2, 3 or 4 players are hacking arms from different directions, the absolute wt difference doesn't matter vs the force/vectors on the arms.
the national
- the Front Range
I saw that too and it worked like a charm. It was the ol’ Gene Keady method. I told my wife after the first trip down after that, I bet you this game is going to flip. This is where brad has to help out his guys and counterpunch. We have so many tools at our disposal. This is where that lack of practice continuity hurts us
It was a good clean hit....in hockey.
This is the game I watched;
Played pretty solid in the first half but hit a dry spell late as usual for this team.
The 2nd half; For the first 12 minutes the Ilini were "Lost In Space" Absolutely no energy. Branham and Liddell did whatever they wanted to do. No one could stop them. The officiating was terrible but it has been all year for every team! Kofi was being held, slapped, mugged, pushed and absolutely nothing called! I saw Branham twice go to the basket and take his left hand and push the defender off but no call. The free throw shooting was horrible. I forgot how many times Illinois missed the front end of a 1 and 1 or basket and 1. The 2 technicals by Brad gave OSU 4 free throws, The flagrant fouls which Damonte Williams has a history of getting cost another 2 free throws. They have a history of game after game of having dry spells and allowing other teams to make long runs thus losing the momentum. OSU went on an 18-2 run that buried us. Plummer continued to somewhat disappear in the 2nd half.
3rd point; They finally woke up led by a gutty effort by Hawkins. This was by far his best ever performance since he came to Champaign. Had we made some of our free throws this game could have turned around.
Going forward I think we lose at Michigan and win 2 at home finishing 4th in Conference behind Purdue, Wisconsin and OSU.
Played pretty solid in the first half but hit a dry spell late as usual for this team.
The 2nd half; For the first 12 minutes the Ilini were "Lost In Space" Absolutely no energy. Branham and Liddell did whatever they wanted to do. No one could stop them. The officiating was terrible but it has been all year for every team! Kofi was being held, slapped, mugged, pushed and absolutely nothing called! I saw Branham twice go to the basket and take his left hand and push the defender off but no call. The free throw shooting was horrible. I forgot how many times Illinois missed the front end of a 1 and 1 or basket and 1. The 2 technicals by Brad gave OSU 4 free throws, The flagrant fouls which Damonte Williams has a history of getting cost another 2 free throws. They have a history of game after game of having dry spells and allowing other teams to make long runs thus losing the momentum. OSU went on an 18-2 run that buried us. Plummer continued to somewhat disappear in the 2nd half.
3rd point; They finally woke up led by a gutty effort by Hawkins. This was by far his best ever performance since he came to Champaign. Had we made some of our free throws this game could have turned around.
Going forward I think we lose at Michigan and win 2 at home finishing 4th in Conference behind Purdue, Wisconsin and OSU.
Well I generally don't watch the NBA but I do try to watch Ayo when televised. One of the things I noticed is that if there is contact around the rim there is usually a foul called. They don't let them hack each other like in college or at least the Big 10.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I largely agree with you; that's the game I watched, too. And don't forget that DMW's flagrant 1 occurred on an Illini possession. We gave them 2 FTs, which Ahrens converted, and a further possession in which they made another FT. From a potential +2 or +3 on our possession to a net -3, a swing of five or six points in their favor.
OSU missed as many FTs as we did but they also shot twice as many. And I couldn't understand how we came out for the 2H so flat. 22-5 in the first eight mins. At home. In a game where the title is on the line. Branham worried me most before the game and he killed us.
I disagree about where we finish. I believe we'll win at Michigan, and win out at home if we can contain Iowa's Murray. WISC will probably lose one of @ Rutgers or v. Purdue. Purdue may win out, but they may well lose to WISC. OSU may well win out, too, given its schedule. I won't be surprised if Purdue wins it outright, and I won't be surprised if it ends up a three-way tie for the title, and the Illini get a piece. Maybe even a four-way tie if OSU gets lucky.
Every time we draw Carsten as one of the officiating crew you know the other team is going to be allowed to mug Kofi without any consequences.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Dorsey, not Carstensen, is the more serious problem.
This has been an issue in the Big Ten for years. It sucks, but it is what it is at this point.
One thing I've noticed is Big Ten refs will call more fouls when the player is driving to the hoop than when he is camped out in the post and gets the ball in position. This puts us at a disadvantage because we don't really have anyone who consistently drives. Kofi establishes post position well and we shoot 3s. A perfect storm for not getting calls from Big Ten refs.
Don't count out MSU or IU beating Purdue. Obviously Purdue is better, but both of those teams are desperate to turn things around before the postseason. IU winning at Purdue is a big ask, but their defense is good enough to make things ugly. And I would be shocked if the MSU game doesn't come down to the wire. I have a feeling MSU will find their offensive rhythm at home against the soft Purdue defense.
We have one guy who can, but his leash has become super tight for some reason and he can’t even get enough tic to get in a flow. He started to last night and then never saw the court again. He should have been the one that brought the ball up the court with 14 seconds left too.
I don’t wanna get into the weeds about Kofi getting mauled for the ga-zillionth time… because he obviously was.
But if I had my way he would do extra speed work for dogging it up the court 2-3 times…and if I was Alexander I would make him watch a Kevin McHale highlight reel for an hour a day for the rest of the season.
It’s obvious, but his brute force enables him to score almost anytime he wants on teams without a dominant BIGs presence. He gets away with bringing the ball down (daring them to take it) and worse yet putting his head down and just going. But he has about 2 post moves. I hope it’s not too late but he needs to develop some other tools. (Even if not with us…at the
next level…for his own sake…I think he will in time.)
One thing he could do right now is keep the ball up and throw in a head and shoulder fake before he goes up. It ain’t hard… he has the ability…just needs to work at it. The trouble is he’s never had to. He could probably get serviceably good at an up and under move with a little effort. Or just a simple fake like he’s turning one way and go the other as he catches the ball in the post with his back to the basket…see Mark Aguirre.
Another thing I forgot to mention last night…I was really really hoping for a “picket fence” moment for Alexander, Anderson & Frazier…Don’t get me wrong
I wanted a W period but that would have
been kewl after Brad got evicted.
But if I had my way he would do extra speed work for dogging it up the court 2-3 times…and if I was Alexander I would make him watch a Kevin McHale highlight reel for an hour a day for the rest of the season.
It’s obvious, but his brute force enables him to score almost anytime he wants on teams without a dominant BIGs presence. He gets away with bringing the ball down (daring them to take it) and worse yet putting his head down and just going. But he has about 2 post moves. I hope it’s not too late but he needs to develop some other tools. (Even if not with us…at the
next level…for his own sake…I think he will in time.)
One thing he could do right now is keep the ball up and throw in a head and shoulder fake before he goes up. It ain’t hard… he has the ability…just needs to work at it. The trouble is he’s never had to. He could probably get serviceably good at an up and under move with a little effort. Or just a simple fake like he’s turning one way and go the other as he catches the ball in the post with his back to the basket…see Mark Aguirre.
Another thing I forgot to mention last night…I was really really hoping for a “picket fence” moment for Alexander, Anderson & Frazier…Don’t get me wrong
I wanted a W period but that would have
been kewl after Brad got evicted.
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Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
Kofi just got called for another foul.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Three games remaining; a lot can happen. I had Michigan as a loss for us before last night. Now I think if the guys are motivated enough, they will win. They have to find a way to play a full 40 and shots form more than one or two players have to start falling.
ChazzReinhold
Mom! The Meatloaf!
This game reminded me of when I would play nerf hoop with my Grandma Betsy. She would constantly grab and hack me on the way to the hoop. Of course I wouldn’t let that stop me from dunking on her.
Kofi just fouled out of the game again. The league office needs to do something about it and this is what they will do....
What a disappointing game, I turned it off after the half-hoping me not watching would turn things around and it almost worked.
The officials were horrible as always with Kofi, but we also missed way too many free throws. Not to mention Kofi brings the ball down low WAY too much - that drives me nuts.
The main issue with letting teams hammer Kofi, is that we go through him on offense. He then opens up our three-point shooters. When he's allowed to get hammered without fouls being called, it lets teams play tight on the perimeter and shut down threes.
Also, the fact that OSU shot so many free throws on our home court and the game was called so poorly in their favor just took us out of our game completely. These clowns did the same thing when we played Purdue at home and there is no way it's a coincidence.
The officials were horrible as always with Kofi, but we also missed way too many free throws. Not to mention Kofi brings the ball down low WAY too much - that drives me nuts.
The main issue with letting teams hammer Kofi, is that we go through him on offense. He then opens up our three-point shooters. When he's allowed to get hammered without fouls being called, it lets teams play tight on the perimeter and shut down threes.
Also, the fact that OSU shot so many free throws on our home court and the game was called so poorly in their favor just took us out of our game completely. These clowns did the same thing when we played Purdue at home and there is no way it's a coincidence.
It wouldn't surprise me if MSU beat Purdue. They are desperate and playing at home. Purdue hasn't been the sharpest in the past month either. I do agree that IU has no chance at Purdue.
I love this team. However . . . .
Prior to the rally, our success was generally based on hitting tough 3's. This has been theme. We have little offensive flow and, outside of Kofi, we have no one that can make a one-on-one play. We do very little offense creation generally (again outside of Kofi). In the OSU game, in desperation, we created more opportunities on offense by taking more chances and playing aggressive. (Not the weave for 15 seconds and then we default back to pick and roll that is consistently defended).
Kofi has been generally a defensive liability in Big Ten play. He can't guard more than 12 feet from the basket, gets burned on any pick and roll, and does not play defense with fire. I did see some glimpses of defensive fire/energy from Kofi this game that I haven't seen before. Coupling that with the more aggressive offense, I am hopeful we can build on this. The pieces are there.
Prior to the rally, our success was generally based on hitting tough 3's. This has been theme. We have little offensive flow and, outside of Kofi, we have no one that can make a one-on-one play. We do very little offense creation generally (again outside of Kofi). In the OSU game, in desperation, we created more opportunities on offense by taking more chances and playing aggressive. (Not the weave for 15 seconds and then we default back to pick and roll that is consistently defended).
Kofi has been generally a defensive liability in Big Ten play. He can't guard more than 12 feet from the basket, gets burned on any pick and roll, and does not play defense with fire. I did see some glimpses of defensive fire/energy from Kofi this game that I haven't seen before. Coupling that with the more aggressive offense, I am hopeful we can build on this. The pieces are there.
The hacking situation is one that that Kofi has to address directly on the floor himself , He has to let it be known to the refs know that hes gonna protect himself at all costs . Its not about wild reactions its about controlled aggression . You have to be willing to get in somebody's face and force the ref to face the reality that if I fold this guy into a human pretzel its gonna be your fault for not calling the foul. I honestly don't know how Kofi has let it go on for this long .
I dont get why Belo wasn't on the floor at the end with 9 seconds left if he was not injured . The amount of times we have seen him go coast to coast for a layup at the end of halves is quite extensive and you don't even use him as a decoy .
Good game for CoHawk and this was one of the topics a few weeks about when we talking about playing the younger guys . This team style of play is sorta of a Frankenstein monster in that you have Kofi and the older guys who play a very limited style of basketball which is dump into Kofi and shoot the three . When either of those things are not working the older guys struggle to sustain offense . Now for the younger guys they struggle in this offense because they want to use their athleticism and length and get to the rim something the older guys lack but you have Kofi in the lane with 3 guys surrounding him so its nearly impossible most of the time.
Cohawks in the middle and the floor opens up and the game and offense speeds up and it works better for the skills of Belo, RJ and Trent. Its why I have to give props to BU because it has to be driving him crazy to trying to meld the styles together
I dont get why Belo wasn't on the floor at the end with 9 seconds left if he was not injured . The amount of times we have seen him go coast to coast for a layup at the end of halves is quite extensive and you don't even use him as a decoy .
Good game for CoHawk and this was one of the topics a few weeks about when we talking about playing the younger guys . This team style of play is sorta of a Frankenstein monster in that you have Kofi and the older guys who play a very limited style of basketball which is dump into Kofi and shoot the three . When either of those things are not working the older guys struggle to sustain offense . Now for the younger guys they struggle in this offense because they want to use their athleticism and length and get to the rim something the older guys lack but you have Kofi in the lane with 3 guys surrounding him so its nearly impossible most of the time.
Cohawks in the middle and the floor opens up and the game and offense speeds up and it works better for the skills of Belo, RJ and Trent. Its why I have to give props to BU because it has to be driving him crazy to trying to meld the styles together
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