He wasn't in because they put in the shooters. Trent was always going to start that possession with the ball in his hands. The last thing we needed was for him to kick it to Belo for a jumper.
Ohio State 86, Illinois 83 Postgame
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He wasn't in because they put in the shooters. Trent was always going to start that possession with the ball in his hands. The last thing we needed was for him to kick it to Belo for a jumper.
As I said in the thread, I hope Josh sends this tape to the conference with examples of where the refs erred, not hard to see that BTW. We get all these ticky tack fouls and teams kill us and the refs swallow the whistle. I am hoping that we lose in the quarters which will give us a week to rest. We are burnt out. Too many minutes to the seniors. All 4 seniors getting 30 or near 30 a game. Trent is the one suffering the most. He has been overworked all year. Not playing Podz 10 minutes a game to give Trent a break will come back to bite us if it hadn't already.
He got the crap knocked out of him. It happened right in front of me from the 5th row. It's hard to see just how physical it truly is when your further back. Trent should've laid it up but i certainly understand why that !!! was so far off. He had a clear path and Liddell came flying over arms raised but put all 250 lbs into bumping him.
On a side note Podz and Goode just walked in to the Pancake house for birthday breakfast!
I could not have said it better. The ball movement is better when RJ, Goode and Hawk are on the floor. Sorry, but Grandy and DMW are just too slow for the type of game we need to play. I love Kofi but he will never learn to keep the ball high and dunk the ball instead of babying it up there. He needs better hands. I love the quicker lineup as it will confuse teams. I would love to start Hawk against Mich. Its time. We need Podz to get minutes. We need to rest players or we will be knocked out early. Plummer needs to come off the bench. Belo needs to start and Trent needs to work off the ball.
It’s sad that you can’t even get excited about hot starts, first half runs in favor of the Illini, because you know we will give up a huge run in the second half. Last night sucked some life out of me. Have to win out now
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
Kofi can't win. If they don't call the hacks, then he has to be more forceful in his moves to the basket, which results in offensive fouls being called on him. It's ridiculous.
Why am I mad about this game?
The Big 10 regular season title means something. The Big 10 is a grind. Last year we deserved the title but the Commissioner gave it to Michigan. Last year's snub provided motivation for our team to win the Big 10 Tournament Title. However, this also drained our team and contributed to the untimely exit to Loyola. When we don't play well in the Big Dance, we can always look back on our banner. Apparently, I am preparing myself for disappointment in March. It has happened too many times.
You look at a team like Gonzaga who plays in a weak pathetic conference. They will win their conference every year and come into the tournament healthy. We have battled injuries all year. However, they never face adversity during their conference season.
With that loss to O$U, perhaps we take our foot of the gas. Let's use these remaining games to get Curbelo back in fold. Work in Hawkins. Give Kofi, Trent & Williams a rest. Let guys get healthy. All is not lost. If we FINALLY make a deep run in March, I will not be as mad about this game.
My final thought, these officials still suck!
The Big 10 regular season title means something. The Big 10 is a grind. Last year we deserved the title but the Commissioner gave it to Michigan. Last year's snub provided motivation for our team to win the Big 10 Tournament Title. However, this also drained our team and contributed to the untimely exit to Loyola. When we don't play well in the Big Dance, we can always look back on our banner. Apparently, I am preparing myself for disappointment in March. It has happened too many times.
You look at a team like Gonzaga who plays in a weak pathetic conference. They will win their conference every year and come into the tournament healthy. We have battled injuries all year. However, they never face adversity during their conference season.
With that loss to O$U, perhaps we take our foot of the gas. Let's use these remaining games to get Curbelo back in fold. Work in Hawkins. Give Kofi, Trent & Williams a rest. Let guys get healthy. All is not lost. If we FINALLY make a deep run in March, I will not be as mad about this game.
My final thought, these officials still suck!
Warning: Long post that is mostly just my personal quest for catharsis.
The drive back to Chicago last night was heart breaking. After a full day of meetings yesterday, I finally left for the State Farm Center around 4:45. Traffic was bad. Roads were bad. Cars were in ditches. A Uhaul was upside down in the median. My GPS gave me an arrival time of 8:15 and as I raced it, I too almost found a ditch. Driving home after that disappointing roller-coaster ride of a game, I just felt sick, angry and gutted. I spent 7 hours driving down icy roads for THAT? We had control of the conference and just gave it away like THAT?
After an hour or so, I decided to listen to the post game presser and a couple things finally gave me some solace.
1. BU and the team have their eyes set on bigger things. The regular season championship is just a checkpoint on their way to March. They want a Natty. Whether that's realistic right now or not, I'm not sure. It seems less plausible than it was a month ago. But the fact that we have a coach and a team who is confronting that mountain head on, the fact that they aren't afraid of those expectations, the fact that they aren't simply talking about making it to the tournament, they want to WIN IT...That brought me some peace.
2. Before the season I thought we would finish 2nd in the Big Ten. And I was fine with that. Losing the regular season title (if we lose it) doesn't mean this was/is an unsuccessful season. Again, "March".
3. The last 5 minutes of that game, bad outcome not withstanding, was the most fun I've had at a sporting event in a longgg time. The crowd was electric and the adrenaline rush and jubilation that we all shared with every made shot and every turnover just cannot be replicated anywhere else. I'm again left wondering what it must have been like to see The Comeback in person. That's what it's all about right?
Overall, I'm still disappointed. But hope springs eternal with Illini Nation. Three days til March.
The drive back to Chicago last night was heart breaking. After a full day of meetings yesterday, I finally left for the State Farm Center around 4:45. Traffic was bad. Roads were bad. Cars were in ditches. A Uhaul was upside down in the median. My GPS gave me an arrival time of 8:15 and as I raced it, I too almost found a ditch. Driving home after that disappointing roller-coaster ride of a game, I just felt sick, angry and gutted. I spent 7 hours driving down icy roads for THAT? We had control of the conference and just gave it away like THAT?
After an hour or so, I decided to listen to the post game presser and a couple things finally gave me some solace.
1. BU and the team have their eyes set on bigger things. The regular season championship is just a checkpoint on their way to March. They want a Natty. Whether that's realistic right now or not, I'm not sure. It seems less plausible than it was a month ago. But the fact that we have a coach and a team who is confronting that mountain head on, the fact that they aren't afraid of those expectations, the fact that they aren't simply talking about making it to the tournament, they want to WIN IT...That brought me some peace.
2. Before the season I thought we would finish 2nd in the Big Ten. And I was fine with that. Losing the regular season title (if we lose it) doesn't mean this was/is an unsuccessful season. Again, "March".
3. The last 5 minutes of that game, bad outcome not withstanding, was the most fun I've had at a sporting event in a longgg time. The crowd was electric and the adrenaline rush and jubilation that we all shared with every made shot and every turnover just cannot be replicated anywhere else. I'm again left wondering what it must have been like to see The Comeback in person. That's what it's all about right?
Overall, I'm still disappointed. But hope springs eternal with Illini Nation. Three days til March.
Love us pressing a bit, hope for more and more the rest of the year. We have enough bodies to do it and CH showed he is clearly capable of playing the 5 AND be point on press with that length.
201154JC
- Rockford, IL
EXACTLY.
The PPP loans were meant to help businesses survive thru Covid. He applied for and received $20,000 twice. I do not recall that many college basketball games being cancelled due to Covid. At least not $40,000 worth. Here's a link to flag suspected fraud
PPP Loans in New Jersey :: PPP Detective
PPP Loans flagged for potential fraudulent activity.
www.pppdetective.com
Tre Demps says part of our issue is we play too many guards. I kind of agree but ito me it's because DMW is not a 4. He does well for his size but I think it's time to start or give the majority of minutes to Hawk at the 4. I think he can give us a lot more production and match up better going forward. I know a lot if what DMW doesn't show up in a box score but again DMW had 26 minutes, 2 pts and 2 boards. We need more than that out of the 4.. Liddell and Young had a much easier time shooting over DMW than Hawk plus Hawk is a better rebounder and scoring threat. Last night showed me it's time to change.
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redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
Sleeping it off didn't work. I am still mad as heck. Furious at the refs and the conference. Mad at us. Mad at Brad.
Bottom line, we are still doing the stupid things that we have done for the past 5+ years, and no one is going to help us out. We have the capability to get hot in the conference, but we have never shown anything to suggest that we can have any real success in the NCAAs.
Bottom line, we are still doing the stupid things that we have done for the past 5+ years, and no one is going to help us out. We have the capability to get hot in the conference, but we have never shown anything to suggest that we can have any real success in the NCAAs.
Some good news to report...Brad had a sit down with Coleman recently and they had a heart to heart. Coleman was super frustrated with his role and lack of playing time. I am sure everyone has been able to see the turnaround the last three games, that was no fluke. Coleman is here to stay this year and for the future
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
That is awesome. If he continues to play like he has the last 3 games or so, he'll have a plenty big role going forward.
I think coaches see fouls on game film are not called so a 'refs won't call fouls if we hack/bump Kofi ....' IS the game plan .... then the refs confirm they won't call, so in-game adustments are to ramp it up more (which is what Holtman was saying). Then the next game, it repeats .... i thought it started last year, not just Kofi, but the other thread comment that fouls are at all time low ... and i thought some teams noticed and exploited this at end of last year and in the tourney. Remember a few years ago when they implemented the 'reduce physical contact' and there were 50-60 fouls called each game ... that lasted about a 1.5 seasons and the pendulum swung the other way to increase physical contact and gets worse each year. In general, games have become unenjoyable to watch when defenses are allowed to aggressively bump.
I guess if they are hacking you, you hack back. If they're physical you man up! Except they only whistled 3 fouls when Kofi was in possession of the ball and he fouled out in a half! That is impossible to overcome. If they aren't going to call fouls when he is hacked (which is every time he touches the ball) they shouldn't call fouls on him unless they absolutely need to. You have a returning All-American to your league, one that is the running for NPOY, and you treat him like garbage. That is the definition of insanity. Promote your product!
Any former player will tell you its toxic to constantly complain about officiating and look to the officials every time something happens. It breeds a much weaker mentality during the game and is probably the reason why we sometimes look soft in games.
Watch a Baylor game. See how many times the players on the court have poor body language after a bad call from an official. That's why Baylor oozes toughness when you watch them.
Watch a Baylor game. See how many times the players on the court have poor body language after a bad call from an official. That's why Baylor oozes toughness when you watch them.
Agree and disagree here. We sure are doing some stupid things that have become a pattern over the past few years (not hitting freethrows, untimely technicals that swing momentum). We must absolutely clean it up come tournament time to have success. However we have shown flashes that we can have real success in the NCAAs. Last year we showed plenty of potential to make a deep run, in fact some had us winning the whole dang thing. Obviously that didn't happen, but a huge piece of the tournament is timing. Last year we picked a really bad time to collectively lay an egg against Loyola. It's all about coming together and catching fire at the right time. Hell, look at UCLA last year. They got bounced in the quarterfinals of the Pac12 tournament which happened to be their 4th loss in a row. Nobody, absolutely nobody, had them making a deep run and sure enough they go on a heater to make the finals. We have the pieces to do it, guys just need to do some real soul searching come tournament time.
InDaAZ
- Eugene, Oregon
Maybe we should go back to playing in empty arenas again. That way, the officials could hear all the slapping fouls Kofi absorbs every time he makes a post move. It probably sounds like a 10-yr-old’s birthday party after the cap guns are handed out…
Seriously, though, it’s what I call the Izzo strategy: If blatant hacking gains you the advantage 80% of the time, but it’s only called 10% of the time (due to the refs not wanting to constantly be blowing the whistle on one team) - well, that’s what is called ‘incentive.’
Last night’s debacle went way beyond Kofi contusions, though. I mean, two phantom traveling calls, two obvious flops mis-called, the Trent car crash at the end, etc., etc. - it’s quite a long list in a game decided by just three points in the end.
There was a famous comedian named Rodney Dangerfield. His signature line was, “I Don’t Get No Respect!”
Well, Ohio State gets respect. Michigan gets respect. Michigan State gets respect. Wisconsin gets respect. Penn State gets respect. Indiana used to get respect.
But there is one program that wears Orange that seems to be missing from this list.
Coach never wants to use ‘Referees’ as an excuse. Coach doesn’t want ANY excuses. But, one needs to push back a bit when respect seems to be missing.
That Ohio State game COULD have been the subject of Illini Legend for a generation. Perhaps it has another purpose. Illini serves notice from now on that it demands ‘R-E-S-P-E-C-T’ (cue your Aretha soundtrack).
The Illini went through their infamous ‘dead stretch’ of time when they did nothing. That’s what really did them in. But even with that, they still had a great chance to win in regulation time.
Winning the Big 10 would have been nice. But that’s not the Big Prize. We want The Dance. We want Sweet Sixteen at a bare minimum, and more if it’s in the Stars.
Thanks guys for the great comeback. You almost did something of Legend. But the Big Prize still lays ahead.
Actually, two big prizes. The Madness... and RESPECT.
Well, Ohio State gets respect. Michigan gets respect. Michigan State gets respect. Wisconsin gets respect. Penn State gets respect. Indiana used to get respect.
But there is one program that wears Orange that seems to be missing from this list.
Coach never wants to use ‘Referees’ as an excuse. Coach doesn’t want ANY excuses. But, one needs to push back a bit when respect seems to be missing.
That Ohio State game COULD have been the subject of Illini Legend for a generation. Perhaps it has another purpose. Illini serves notice from now on that it demands ‘R-E-S-P-E-C-T’ (cue your Aretha soundtrack).
The Illini went through their infamous ‘dead stretch’ of time when they did nothing. That’s what really did them in. But even with that, they still had a great chance to win in regulation time.
Winning the Big 10 would have been nice. But that’s not the Big Prize. We want The Dance. We want Sweet Sixteen at a bare minimum, and more if it’s in the Stars.
Thanks guys for the great comeback. You almost did something of Legend. But the Big Prize still lays ahead.
Actually, two big prizes. The Madness... and RESPECT.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
I have some perspective. We have to play better. The B1G officials have to do their job better.
The former is directly affected by the latter. In several games this season it has been nearly impossible to overcome....even with gritty displays of the team regrouping and fighting back.
The former is directly affected by the latter. In several games this season it has been nearly impossible to overcome....even with gritty displays of the team regrouping and fighting back.
Refs are Refs. Who cares. This program is on the rise. O. State is a great program. We will win some and lose some. Whoever wrote the no cigar article needs to get over it. He mentions the O. State losses but fails to mention that we beat them twice last year and took the tournament crown from them. I like this team and both the rest of this year and next should be a whole lot of fun.
I don't get to watch every game. When was the last time Kofi dunked the ball?
Payne looked like a spaz last night, no idea what he was trying to do out there LOL
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