Pregame: Illinois vs Bethune-Cookman, Thursday, December 29th, 7:30pm CT, FS1

Status
Not open for further replies.
#27      
pruman91
Fighter of the Nightman said:
When you create an account to only post about how much you dislike OUR coach and then compliment one of the most underwhelming coaches in the conference, maybe the nation, don’t expect us to treat you like anything other than a grumpy, sad little troll … even on Christmas. :)
Click to expand...
troll11.gif
 
#28      
ILFaninFL
Illinois makes it a game with a late rally when all the freshmen are put in during a long second-half run.

Illinois - 78
Bethune-Cookman - 81

Before the Penn State game, I saw the beloved ripping off 20 straight wins. Now I see them in the bottom half of the Big Ten along with Michigan and Michigan State. How quickly the wheels came off the bus.
 
#29      
illini80
Whew, I hope some of you got a nice christmas gift and come back in a better mood! I’m sure there’s something wrong with me because I’m not nearly as down on this team as most seem to be. Then again, I wasn’t nearly as high as most of you were when we dropped 100 on Monmouth. Lots of practice time between now and our next real game on Jan4th. I fully expect to see a much better team by mid-January.
 
#30      
OrangeLife
illini80 said:
Whew, I hope some of you got a nice christmas gift and come back in a better mood! I’m sure there’s something wrong with me because I’m not nearly as down on this team as most seem to be. Then again, I wasn’t nearly as high as most of you were when we dropped 100 on Monmouth. Lots of practice time between now and our next real game on Jan4th. I fully expect to see a much better team by mid-January.
Click to expand...
Well, I was pretty upset after the game, but a friend helped me regain my perspective.
1672066011357.png
 
#31      
hoopsfan47
This group of young men are at a point where their three experienced leaders MUST decide the legacy they want to leave and bond together to lead this team to excellence. Before the season started, a stated that I wondered who was going to be the leader. Also, while acknowledging the elite skills provided by the roster, how could those skills be used to offset the obvious holes that every player must overcome such as free throw shooting, defense, three point shooting, passing, etc.

This group, it would appear, has the talent to beat anyone, but lacks in areas that can be exploited in a long schedule of challenging opponents. Some stumbles will occur and are expected. How they bounce back will show us much about their character and even more about the leadership of the coaching staff. They must get to work bringing out the best in their team in many ways.

Before the season started, I also stated this would be BU's most challenging puzzle. He must fit all the pieces together to max the potential of this team. As we have seen with our own eyes, that just is not an easy task, and maybe one that no one can do to the satisfaction of most. But Underwood's responsibility is to those players, to get them to grow into to better players as well as better people. It is proving to be as tough of a task as I expected.

Yet, there are a myriad of goals for this team that can be reached. Will they? Not a soul knows. But we will be watching to the end to see if this is a true bunch of Fighting Illini.
 
#32      
IlliniFanTX
Tacomallini said:
My 7 year old's favorite player is Boo Buie. Gotta admit, it is fun to say that name.
Click to expand...
Went to high school with a kid named Bill Bui. Every time I hear a commentator say Boo Buie I’m just reminded of my Vietnamese buddy who endured our 8th grade English teacher asking him about his immigration experience to the US to which he replied “uh.. I was born in New Jersey?” Classic.
 
#33      
DeonThomas
hoopsfan47 said:
This group of young men are at a point where their three experienced leaders MUST decide the legacy they want to leave and bond together to lead this team to excellence. Before the season started, a stated that I wondered who was going to be the leader. Also, while acknowledging the elite skills provided by the roster, how could those skills be used to offset the obvious holes that every player must overcome such as free throw shooting, defense, three point shooting, passing, etc.

This group, it would appear, has the talent to beat anyone, but lacks in areas that can be exploited in a long schedule of challenging opponents. Some stumbles will occur and are expected. How they bounce back will show us much about their character and even more about the leadership of the coaching staff. They must get to work bringing out the best in their team in many ways.

Before the season started, I also stated this would be BU's most challenging puzzle. He must fit all the pieces together to max the potential of this team. As we have seen with our own eyes, that just is not an easy task, and maybe one that no one can do to the satisfaction of most. But Underwood's responsibility is to those players, to get them to grow into to better players as well as better people. It is proving to be as tough of a task as I expected.

Yet, there are a myriad of goals for this team that can be reached. Will they? Not a soul knows. But we will be watching to the end to see if this is a true bunch of Fighting Illini.
Click to expand...
Not sure I can commit to watching to the end.

An 0-5 conference start to the Big10 season just might be my limit. However, I really hope it doesn't come to that. I'm seeing way too much "hero ball" up to this point. Selfishness. It's the antithesis of the 2004-05 squad.

Heading to Tampa in a couple of days to take my mind off basketball. ILL !!!
 
#34      
Roundball Sage
hoopsfan47 said:
This group of young men are at a point where their three experienced leaders MUST decide the legacy they want to leave and bond together to lead this team to excellence.
Click to expand...

This is true. But the thing is with veteran players you pretty much know who they are and what you've got. This vet group seems to have topped off their skill and leadership level. It's time for one of the young guns to become more alpha and assertive.

hoopsfan47 said:
This group, it would appear, has the talent to beat anyone, but lacks in areas that can be exploited in a long schedule of challenging opponents.
Click to expand...

Most every team has weak spots and vulnerable areas. You leverage your strong game to cover the weaknesses in your game. With the Illini the need is better Three shooting and a 40-minute strong 'D' effort WITHOUT those god-awful five minute stretches of no points and loss of intensity. I'm really not all that concerned about where the Illini finish in the Conference as long as they get into The Dance and do some significant dancing for a good long stretch.

hoopsfan47 said:
Before the season started, I also stated this would be BU's most challenging puzzle.
Click to expand...

But good coaches love that kind of challenge. When one gets to the top programs of the profession they have already seen just about everything in talent and game and program situations. Coach is up to the task but he needs to get less frustrated when his message is not getting across to these guys.

hoopsfan47 said:
But Underwood's responsibility is to those players, to get them to grow into to better players as well as better people.
Click to expand...

We don't really know what's going in the locker room and in those one-on-one talks in Coach's office. Just about anyone who plays for BU is going to be both a better player and person. But the player has to be open to the message and realize that sometimes tough love is just what someone needs at the moment.

It would be interesting for someone to study the overall player's mentality over the years in terms of toughness and coachability. It it easier or harder now? Do players feel more 'entitled' now and are not as receptive to listen? Or are players about the same as they were a generation or two ago?

At least at the college level the coach still carries the power in the locker room and on the floor and not like the NBA where the players run the show and the coach is an afterthought.
 
#35      
FromTheLogo
Illini: 87
Beth-Cook: 65
Loyalty: 25 post-game pages on how "this game didn't prove anything", who should be the "trigger-man", how "NW will still smoke us", "how something has to change" and yet a couple posts about how "We should be ranked!"

If the Illini somehow lose, it could be ILmageddon.
 
#36      
Battle89
DeonThomas said:
Not sure I can commit to watching to the end.

An 0-5 conference start to the Big10 season just might be my limit. However, I really hope it doesn't come to that. I'm seeing way too much "hero ball" up to this point. Selfishness. It's the antithesis of the 2004-05 squad.

Heading to Tampa in a couple of days to take my mind off basketball. ILL !!!
Click to expand...
I’m not sure one-year transfer players think or care about a legacy. Not here long enough.
 
#37      
Emerson Bigguns
Battle89 said:
I’m not sure one-year transfer players think or care about a legacy. Not here long enough.
Click to expand...
They certainly care about the optics of losing on a team this talented. They didn’t come here to lose. No matter what your counting stats are, if you have a bunch of L’s, scouts are going to notice.
Maturity and grit are important. Those guys better show they have it.
 
#40      
PNWIllini
LvilleILL said:
Different as in a team playing with more intensity and focus
Click to expand...
Didnt Bobby Knight used to motivate his team by letting them lose early as an attention-focusing exercise. Maybe it was Keady. Or Izzo.

The players we have didn’t come here to lose. They all have that in common. They’ll figure out how to grow up and play as a team.
 
#43      
Se Il Illini
PNWIllini said:
Didnt Bobby Knight used to motivate his team by letting them lose early as an attention-focusing exercise. Maybe it was Keady. Or Izzo.

The players we have didn’t come here to lose. They all have that in common. They’ll figure out how to grow up and play as a team.
Click to expand...
Knight did not hesitate to bench player(s) for extended periods of time.
 
#45      
jumpingjack
LvilleILL said:
Different as in a team playing with more intensity and focus
Click to expand...
I am glad to hear it
Mini rant to follow....
At a certain point, one of them needs to decide that no matter what, they will never ever let the energy on the court get to where it was against Missouri.
Coleman has had those games.
TJ has gone nuclear.
Mayer has gotten buckets.
Epps too.
Harris has played spoiler in a couple of big games.
But one of them needs to decide they will never accept a night off energy-wise from themselves or the team. That mentality is what has had me excited about this program even when overall recruiting wasn't there yet. This crappy stretch of games is not about talent or scheme.
 
#46      
EyeoftheIllini
Birdus said:
It happened to Iowa.
Click to expand...
Woooohhh what a meltdown the board would have. But have to admit a team that seems to have a couple capable 3-point shooters and a leading scorer from Chicago area — Marcus Garrett from Hillcrest — does sound like some of the ingredients needed for an upset. I think it will be interesting to see if Illini let them hang around or if they can actually put the hammer down early.
 
#47      
BRucks
jumpingjack said:
I am glad to hear it
Mini rant to follow....
At a certain point, one of them needs to decide that no matter what, they will never ever let the energy on the court get to where it was against Missouri.
Coleman has had those games.
TJ has gone nuclear.
Mayer has gotten buckets.
Epps too.
Harris has played spoiler in a couple of big games.
But one of them needs to decide they will never accept a night off energy-wise from themselves or the team. That mentality is what has had me excited about this program even when overall recruiting wasn't there yet. This crappy stretch of games is not about talent or scheme.
Click to expand...
Looking at those names, not one of them has been an alpha for a college team. May take a while for our alpha to emerge.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back