Penn State 74, Illinois 59 Postgame

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#126      
Spokane Illini
Illini8420 said:
Penn State shot lights out, our D was bad, our O was bad. We need a reliable go to scorer badly and we don’t have one right now. Can’t have someone like TSJ showing up only half the time. Someone needs to step up and just take over or we’re going to have some more losses like this.
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Agreed. Shannon has really had a step back in his confidence and consistency. Epps is about the only other confident shooter. Mayer has shown new life but still has consistency lapses. I think this is something we can work out but I could easily see us only .500 in the Big Ten unless we can turn things around.
 
#127      
Champaign88
BRucks said:
It seemed as though Pickett was a mismatch against everyone that we had on the floor. Dain seemed to be the one who could hold him off.
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I would think Coleman, TSJ, and RJ have the ability to make things tough on him. The constant switching is going to lead to teams who have a really good individual player hunting for Epps, Skyy, Mayer. A soft screen gets any of our players switched onto any of their players in our defensive system. Not every team has that level of player to hurt the scheme, but the good ones will fairly often.
 
#128      
Gunner23
chief said:
Pickett punked us today. Wonder if he will be able to do that against a zone defense?? Seems like we had no answer today and we got out coached and out played at home. Penn St. not the only team in the Big Ten with dawgs!!
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Against a zone, he would probably matched or bettered Hawkins' performance against SU.
 
#132      
21ChampaignSt
LvilleILL said:
Penn State could very well be a tourney team this year. Would not say that. This team will figure it out on a night to night basis soon. One loss does not change that.
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I agree that this isn't the Penn St. of yore. But at home we need to beat teams like Indiana and OSU, not to mention a bubble team like Penn St.

I also agree that this team will eventually figure it out but after today, I'm not quite as steadfast in that belief as I had been.
 
#133      
JFGsCoffeeMug
Goillinikobd said:
I see BU in his post game presser lament and lambast the lack of leadership.

No disrespect intended, but doesn’t leadership start at the apex of an organization.

BU says he saw the problem since they landed from NYC. Doesn‘t he own a part of this vacuum ?
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BU says he failed the team, so he is taking responsibility. But he is also pointing to a lack of focus and leadership among our players. That's something he can influence, but it's not something he can make happen. That requires buy-in from the players themselves.
 
#134      
chief
47 points in one half? Can't remember giving that many up in a home Big Ten game. Changing it up for the sake of changing it up sometimes works.....personally don't like zone defense, but I know other Big Ten coaches will be implementing it against Pickett to keep him out of the paint. This is a good game for them to scout on what not to do against Penn St.
 
#135      
illinitiger
PSU has our number at our house...we are rightly humbled.

probably better strategy to let Pickett get more 2ps than let Funk and Dredd go off on 3ps.

TS had a not so great game...he seems to be a little TO prone.
 
#136      
BretMyBeachHouse
Flyin' Illini said:
It isn't why they lost, but it is one of many factors that could have contributed. The entire performance today was sub-par and you can't discount the early start time having been part of the letdown.
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This is a great point. And because PSU is in Eastern Time, the game started an hour later for them.
 
#137      
Illiniam1984
Either Mayer, Hawkins or Shannon Jr. needs to step up and be the leader. However, Hawkins doesn’t seem to have it. It seems like he doesn’t have the motivation or drive to lead the team on the court. It’s got to be either Mayer or Shannon Jr. that has to step up. They have it but just haven’t shown it yet consistently. Only in spurts.
 
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#138      
ChiTown
BlindLoyalty said:
Mayer and Shannon are simply inconsistent. You never know what you will get from them game to game. If that doesn’t change the ceiling for this team is limited. Book might be out on Dainja…go small and make him shoot FTs. Dainja has to be on the bench in close end of game situations. Hawkins is a very good all-a-rounder, he can score but he is not a scorer. Currently, Hawkins is not a AA alpha type. The guard play on this team has great potential but it is inexperienced and erratic. Typically, you will go as far as your guards can take you in the tournament. 100s of players in the NCAA can be great on a given night. Only a few are great every night. Underwood will be fighting inconsistency and trying to find the right lineups each night in the B10. This is a good team that might develop into a great team. There will be highs and lows, but this is a fun team to watch.
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Honestly the team as a whole are inconsistent.You really don’t know what to expect from anyone of them.
 
#139      
Spokane Illini
21ChampaignSt said:
One of the biggest regular season disappointments of the last 5 years.

You just never know what this team will give you from one game to the next. Which is not great.

I've always maintained that this team will struggle for the first couple months of the season before they hit their stride. But this game certainly plants some doubt in my mind. Very few (if any) Final Four teams have ever lost to Penn St. at home.

Most of all, I'm worried about the defense. For as many problems as it causes it gives up easy, open shots. Some will say that every once in a while you just run into a team that shoots 60% and there's nothing you can do about it. But the reason PSU shot 60% is because they were mostly uncontested.

Oh well. Placing trust in BU that he can figure it out.
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When we got the momentum back in the second half, I thought the two quick 3 pt shots were a poor selection. We needed to work the ball inside and play around the rim. Make them guard and maybe pick up a foul. As it turned out, the poor shot selection led to run outs and the quick 9-0 run in the course of about 1 minute of play. That sequence pretty much sealed the game for the Lions. Dainja really needs to shoot 1,000 FT's a day. He is going to be hacked all year long.
 
#140      
mydosburns
illinitiger said:
PSU has our number at our house...we are rightly humbled.

probably better strategy to let Pickett get more 2ps than let Funk and Dredd go off on 3ps.

TS had a not so great game...he seems to be a little TO prone.
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From listening to Brads radio interview I believe that was the plan. He said they didn’t care if he scored 60.

Out 3 point defense was horrible. Late recovery fly by’s.
 
#141      
illini0440
Champaign88 said:
It was not just the players. Underwood should also note that he was also mentally tuned out. Instead of knowing he has his use it or lose it time out with PSU ball, 30.x seconds to play and 26 on the shot clock and being ready to call a time out… PSU scores with 5.x and the ball rolls around and clock basically expires right after we inbounds. How about some awareness and calling a time out to try to draw up a play?

And the only adjustment I saw was to sub out 5 players when the results weren’t working. We let Pickett hunt for mismatches all day and then either let him get layups by backing down from the three point line or kick out to shooters after we finally doubled him way too late.
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You think he didn’t know he had a timeout? And you think he didn’t make any adjustments? Also hard to make adjustments when there isn’t any effort given.
 
#142      
RDS
Illiniam1984 said:
Either Mayer, Hawkins or Shannon Jr. needs to step up and be the leader. I’m concerned Hawkins isn’t it. You can tell, he just doesn’t have that motivation in him or desire to lead the team on the court. It’s got to be either Mayer or Shannon Jr. that has to step up. They have it but just haven’t shown it yet consistently. Only in spurts.
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I think CH is motivated, but he can’t be the floor leader bc he makes mistakes when he forces his game. MM not it either IMO. Either TSJ steps back up (which would be ideal), or one of the freshmen will ultimately claim that role (in which case it’s unlikely this will be our year).
 
#144      
WyattEarp
Flyin' Illini said:
It isn't why they lost, but it is one of many factors that could have contributed. The entire performance today was sub-par and you can't discount the early start time having been part of the letdown.
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Really? Are you joking? If that is, even 2% of the reason for the letdown. That might be the softest thing I’ve ever heard. We had our heads up our butts. We didn’t deserve to win and we didn’t win. That’s all you can say.

I like to think I’m not a nattering, knuckle-dragging troll on here. Admittedly, I’m probably guilty of erring on the side of an orange-tinted point of view…so I somewhat sympathize.

But, why go to such lengths
to be an apologist after a showing like that?
Underwood certainly isn’t mincing words about it.
 
#145      
Vinegarben
Illini8420 said:
Penn State shot lights out, our D was bad, our O was bad. We need a reliable go to scorer badly and we don’t have one right now. Can’t have someone like TSJ showing up only half the time. Someone needs to step up and just take over or we’re going to have some more losses like this.
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Why just point out TJS, what about C0-HAWK. I have never been a fan of his. He is a sloppy passer, has weak hands cannot shoot on the move. But don't be mistaken this was TOTAL TEAM LOSS!
 
#148      
MustangWally
Spokane Illini said:
When we got the momentum back in the second half, I thought the two quick 3 pt shots were a poor selection. We needed to work the ball inside and play around the rim. Make them guard and maybe pick up a foul. As it turned out, the poor shot selection led to run outs and the quick 9-0 run in the course of about 1 minute of play. That sequence pretty much sealed the game for the Lions. Dainja really needs to shoot 1,000 FT's a day. He is going to be hacked all year long.
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Shooting 1000 FT's a day isn't going to help unless someone teaches him proper technique. Otherwise he'll just be reinforcing bad form.
 
#149      
KingWolf11
Illiniam1984 said:
Either Mayer, Hawkins or Shannon Jr. needs to step up and be the leader. However, Hawkins doesn’t seem to have it. It seems like he doesn’t have the motivation or drive to lead the team on the court. It’s got to be either Mayer or Shannon Jr. that has to step up. They have it but just haven’t shown it yet consistently. Only in spurts.
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It won't be Mayer and I'm not totally sure Hawkins is capable of it either.
 
#150      
IlliniShelt
If Underwood felt the need to go nuclear on the team in the post game presser, I can only imagine what he has been saying to the guys all along. This isn't how a coach addresses issues the first few times they happen.
 
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