We need shooters and players with some grit and toughness. I don’t see this team going that far in the tourney with what we have. Possibly one and done again. There definitely needs to be some changes in the offseason.
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Thats the $64,000 questionSo....how many guys from the 2022-23 team will be on the 2023-24 team?
Watch the game again….they did not stop feeding Hawkins. He had Pickett on him several times and Pickett was in foul trouble….Hawkins deferred multiple times to take him on. He was looking for others instead. You only do that if you can’t handle the moment. It’s the same with his free throws in crunch time. It’s what is keeping him from being a 1st round NBA selection. He is a very valuable role player in college right now. He needs another year to get mentally tougher and stronger. I’m a big fan and want to see him take that leap.Underwood owns this one.
Hawkins unstoppable inside? Stopped feeding him.
Mayer 1-15 last 2 games on threes? Keep allowing it.
Funk being Funk? Keep leaving him. Junior high coaches are smart enough to know what shooters you don't double off of.
Our offense is consistently worse than our opponents. We take harder shots every game. We are a collection of great talent but very seldom a good team.
That is coaching.
Is recruiting enough? We might have to hope it is, because I don't see the X's and O's in this staff.
Illini were leading 46-40. Then came the 'T'. Penn State went on to secure a lead of 69-59. Outscored the Illini 29 to 13. After the Illini had finally grabbed some momentum to get that 6-point lead after playing catch-up most of the way to that point. The table had been set for the Illini to take control. In front of a mostly Orange crowd. But Penn State met just shook all that off and grabbed hold of the game by the throat.
Penn State had an Alpha (or two or three) on the floor to seize control when the game started to slip away. And once again... the Illini showed a lack in that area of the game to respond in kind.
…and this is coming from “Skyys Not Falling”Looking at our resume now are we even deserving of an at-large?
2-11 in quad 1 now? That’s an NIT team. This team is trash. I’ve been extremely optimistic all year but I just can no longer see it.
Failure of a season. Complete failure.
I have been noticing this lately. We seemingly have a lot of instances where we are on a run and/or are building momentum and we kick the ball out to someone for that open three pointer... and we miss, again and again. "That would have been huge" we say, but it wasn't, and the other team heads back the other way with the ball.It seems when we’re flying high with all the momentum on our side we always go for the big play. The dagger. The play that will blow the roof off the place. But it seldom happens.
But his middle name is jumper, sooo…and this is coming from “Skyys Not Falling”
6 would be my guess
What does that tell you?…and this is coming from “Skyys Not Falling”
I think I'd call this a train that sputters, stops, sputters, stops, picks up steam, sputters, stops and has a couple of wheels pop off the rails. It's the Little Engine that thinks it can, maybe, maybe not. It's not quite sure, gets 18-25 miles behind and attempts a miracle comeback.Tell me you don't know what a "trainwreck" is without telling me you don't know what a "trainwreck" is.
And possibly Shannon or Coleman-time will tell on those guys.RJ, Goode, Rogers, Harris, Epps, Dainja?
That’s not a bad core if they stay.
Does that mean you won’t post anymore?Like I said, made this account this year after the Northwestern loss on the road I believe. Held out and started trying to talk all optimism. Saw so many great flashes but this team is what it is and my glasses are no longer foggy.
Don’t play with a purpose
Don’t run anything on offense
Lazy on defense 75% of the time
Freshman play tough but can’t beat B1G teams on their own
Veterans don’t care at all
Can’t shoot for s***
They just have 0 purpose, they don’t care about this loss. It’s all talk. I’m sick of it. Won’t be watching our tournament game and will lose by 15+ first round. Done with this disaster.
This team is a lock. Let's stop saying they can get snubbed. Wisconsin has a chance to make the tourney for crying out loud. This year has been disappointing so far yes, but they are a lock for a top 10 seedThis is an NIT team that will probably get in due to a couple wins that look increasingly more and more like flukes, and an overall weak At-Large field, but at the same time they've done enough to give the Committee reason to snub them if it comes to it.
You could of stopped right there........Anyone with a basic concept of BB knows that the illini this year had their flaws and it would take a masterful job by BU to get all the pieces to mesh into a consistent highly productive unit........it's real easy to enjoy the comeback's against texas and ucla , and northwestern ........easy as can be to support the team when they win.....In the heat of frustration, it's been easy to rip on this team. Of the last 4 years, this team has had the lowest basketball IQ with repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot in multiple ways, and it hasn't even been the youngsters at the root of the problem. It's been the vets like Shannon, Mayer, Hawkins, and Melendez. Ironically, without those guys we don't even win 20 games much less make the tourney. This season has been a grind, and a lot of close games didn't go the teams' way. Part of it was the odd structure. Shannon and Mayer are good but are not primary scorers. Shannon averaged 12.9 and 10.1 PPG his last two years at TTech. Mayer average 8.1 and 9.8 PPG his last two. Part of that may have been due to the depth and scheme of those teams but there needed to be another guy to help shoulder the scoring load. Hawkins was too inconsistent from a scoring standpoint and Melendez had his problems for whatever reason. The freshmen, as expected, were inconsistent, and Goode's injury certainly wasn't helpful either. Oddly enough, I'm really hoping nearly everyone that's eligible to return comes back. It would be a battle-tested group with a chip on their shoulders.
Well, Dra is quite the scorer! Amani ain’t too bad for a big.The poor shooting from distance is this team’s downfall. If they could just shoot 35% from behind the arc, they’d be a very tough out. None of Shannon, Clark, Melendez, Epps or Goode filled that role. Makes the departure of Podz even more aggravating. Got to fix this in the off-season.
Add hawkinsPoster suggested 6 players currently will be here next year. My guess is Lieb,Rodgers,Goode,Epps,Dainja,Harris. Would love to include Melendez, but his body language tells me otherwise.
I don't see Matt Mayer's name in any of this?Big problems:
Luke Goode and RJ Melendez were supposed to be our shooters. Goode missed too much time and Melendez lost all confidence in his shot.
Coleman Hawkins and Terrence Shannon worry too much about showing off for NBA scouts than playing smart to win.
Gave the entire keys to the Point Guard position to an overrated Freshman that got cut by Kentucky, who ended up sucking and then quitting, no backup plan. Some of us (like yours truly) mentioned we really should go after a Mid-Major Point Guard transfer, but I guess we needed to keep a scholarship open for Zacharie Perrin to enroll mid-season.
Due to no Point Guard, doesn't matter when we play bad defensive teams, our offense isn't one that knows how to take advantage because we don't really have much of a set offense.
This is an NIT team that will probably get in due to a couple wins that look increasingly more and more like flukes, and an overall weak At-Large field, but at the same time they've done enough to give the Committee reason to snub them if it comes to it.
Isn't Moretti somewhere built into this?RJ, Goode, Rogers, Harris, Epps, Dainja?
That’s not a bad core if they stay.
yes him as wellIsn't Moretti somewhere built into this?
Is that all? Luther will write the check!Thats the $64,000 question