Pregame: Illinois vs Tennessee, Saturday, December 6th, 7:00pm CT, ESPN

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#101      
Battle89
theNewGuy said:
I think this is less hero ball and more just making sure your feet are behind the line. That would mess me up mentally to have to think about that every time I shoot the ball. Much less mental effort to just be behind both lines and not worry about the line.
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You're right and I don't think anyone would disagree with you. The point is that the players should not have to make this distinction, this isn't some high school football field with existing lines, being used for soccer.

The guys practice at 22-23 feet and then shoot in the game from 24-25 feet. It's no coincidence that most misses fell short, especially early in the game. Later tired legs can come into play but we should not see consistently short misses in the first half.
 
#102      
BretMyBeachHouse
Battle89 said:
You're right and I don't think anyone would disagree with you. The point is that the players should not have to make this distinction, this isn't some high school football field with existing lines, being used for soccer.

The guys practice at 22-23 feet and then shoot in the game from 24-25 feet. It's no coincidence that most misses fell short, especially early in the game. Later tired legs can come into play but we should not see consistently short misses in the first half.
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Uconn went 10-28.
 
#103      
jjv0004
ImGonnaBeILL said:
đź’Ż

Can't shoot. Can't defend. Not tough. Can't consistently finish at hoop. Too many of the same type player upfront with same weaknesses.1 tough player in starting lineup. And 1 potential one off the bench with Lee.

Brad can yell at the top of lungs about defense. This team assembled isn't it. (Good) teams will attack the Illini relentlessly bringing up any big on high screens if Brad is married to man defense with this team

Mid pack B1G team. 6-10 seed.
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But this board kept telling everyone this might be Brad's most talented roster at Illinois.

It was obvious with the construction of this roster they would struggle to defend, finish at the rim (although Andre looked pretty awesome against Alabama) and lacked toughness.

This should not be news to anyone when they saw the team that he put together. Wish they had some Morez.
 
#104      
NarrowJ
jjv0004 said:
It was obvious with the construction of this roster they would struggle to defend, finish at the rim (although Andre looked pretty awesome against Alabama) and lacked toughness.

This should not be news to anyone when they saw the team that he put together. Wish they had some Morez.
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We are in the top 7 percentile in 2 pt % and our (read: opponent adjusted) defensive metrics are the best they’ve been in a few years, so maybe we need to calm down a bit

I do agree with you on overall toughness though
 
#105      
Dee_4_Three_83
Not sure if it's been said already, and this is certainly not an excuse for the poor shooting performance, but our guys were constantly shooting beyond the NBA line and all of our missed threes were short. I don't know if it is a "look at me, I can make NBA 3 pointers" thing or just a lack of court awareness, but I credit a lot of our inaccuracy in the UConn game to this. It was odd to see that many wide open looks not go down. I am not saying they all should go in, but 3 or 4 out of 10 on wide open looks doesn't seem like too much to ask for the guys that were shooting them (with the exception of Mirk, who I think needs to step in to a 15 foot jumper instead to keep the floor spaced).

I agree with others, toughness and putting people in places to succeed is what I hope was the focus in practice. Shooting comes and goes like a shot clock in a UConn game ;)
 
#108      
Illinisnake
Illinialldayeveryday said:
I gotta say lot of people seem pretty restless this early in the season.
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I think most people are tired of seeing the same "chase players around screens" defense. People are so happy when he makes adjustments, throws double coverage, plays zone, because that is what a coach is supposed to do in tight games, adjust. You aren't going to win many matchups forcing your slow roster to adhere to your quick defensive scheme (we have two players that can get through screens at a high level, 2). Also our offense is super bad, we are huge and we have our 7 footers playing on the perimeter, he keeps saying, find a way to win when the shots aren't falling. How about we get the ball inside more so we get less pressure on shooters. We were way bigger than UCONN yet we shot a crazy amount of threes. 5 out offense works well if you can score at a high rate and you have good shooters, doesnt work when you continue to take the shots you are missing.

It gets frustrating, I am fine with them scheduling hard teams but when you are 1-9 (that record might be wrong) in home and away matchups, it becomes frustrating to the fan base when your team can't win those big games.
 
#110      
Illinifrank67
Some of you guys are wild. We’ve lost two games to a couple really good teams…. At least wait until late January to write us off. 🤣

That said, if we’re fully healthy and HumBRICKhous still has the green light I’ll utter my first complaint about BU. A dude who shoots 70% from the free throw line is not an elite shooter.
 
#111      
alaskaillini
21ChampaignSt said:
Actually, it doesn't take much "dog" at all to be loyal to a team that you think might be the second 6 seed ever to win a national championship. But, to keep tuning in, buying the tickets, wearing the merch even when you suspect your team could be mortally flawed - now, that's loyalty.
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I am thinking you made my point. My point is that a lot of fans here want to sit around and bemoan how imperfect our 14th ranked team is and write off any hope of post-season success, instead of just enjoying how good our 14th ranked team is. Compared to being a fan during some of the Harv Schmidt years, the early Henson years, the end of Weber and the Groce years, this is a piece of cake. You shouldn't need much dog in you as a fan to support this team.
 
#112      
alaskaillini
Illinisnake said:
I think most people are tired of seeing the same "chase players around screens" defense. People are so happy when he makes adjustments, throws double coverage, plays zone, because that is what a coach is supposed to do in tight games, adjust. You aren't going to win many matchups forcing your slow roster to adhere to your quick defensive scheme (we have two players that can get through screens at a high level, 2). Also our offense is super bad, we are huge and we have our 7 footers playing on the perimeter, he keeps saying, find a way to win when the shots aren't falling. How about we get the ball inside more so we get less pressure on shooters. We were way bigger than UCONN yet we shot a crazy amount of threes. 5 out offense works well if you can score at a high rate and you have good shooters, doesnt work when you continue to take the shots you are missing.

It gets frustrating, I am fine with them scheduling hard teams but when you are 1-9 (that record might be wrong) in home and away matchups, it becomes frustrating to the fan base when your team can't win those big games.
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Between Andrej and Mihailo, we went 1 for 11 from 2 even with the spacing of a 5 out offense. It wasn't just threes not falling that was the problem.
 
#113      
21ChampaignSt
alaskaillini said:
I am thinking you made my point. My point is that a lot of fans here want to sit around and bemoan how imperfect our 14th ranked team is and write off any hope of post-season success, instead of just enjoying how good our 14th ranked team is. Compared to being a fan during some of the Harv Schmidt years, the early Henson years, the end of Weber and the Groce years, this is a piece of cake. You shouldn't need much dog in you as a fan to support this team.
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I think you're conflating criticism with lack of support. I'm almost positive everyone here supports this team in some form or fashion. In fact, criticism itself can be a form of support when delivered well.
 
#117      
EmeraldCityIllini
jjv0004 said:
But this board kept telling everyone this might be Brad's most talented roster at Illinois.

It was obvious with the construction of this roster they would struggle to defend, finish at the rim (although Andre looked pretty awesome against Alabama) and lacked toughness.

This should not be news to anyone when they saw the team that he put together. Wish they had some Morez.
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We’re 8 games into the season, if you want to write it off because they lost to Bama and UCONN, that’s your choice.

But where in the world do yall get this Morez johnson toughness stuff? When he got his opportunity without Tomi, he totally folded and we were at are worst. The Maryland game I actually felt bad for the kid he got dominated so badly.

He couldn’t stop fouling, wasn’t big enough to defend 5s, and got lit up from the outside. Not only that, he flat out told us he didn’t wanna be “tough in the paint” he wanted to be on the perimeter.
 
#118      
cjw1901
chiefini said:
Paid $ article, but some info…
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Thanks. So, Andrej's ankle injury occurred around Monday, 11/24. I noticed, after watching him in the extended highlights, that:

1. Andrej had no visible wrap on either ankle, although the injured ankle was likely taped under his socks. So, there, but not visible.
2. Andrej never seemed to favor one ankle, so it seems it was a mild ankle sprain.
3. Andrej never appeared to re-injure the ankle during this game.
4. Andrej never seemed to check on the ankle while on the Illinois bench, nor receive any attention from the staff on the ankle during this game.
5. I didn't notice Andrej playing differently due to this injury, neither on offense nor on defense.

Therefore, I'd guess the injury was a mild ankle sprain that Andrej seemingly got on Monday in practice and that it mostly affected him by being unable to practice and maybe just a little tender on the likely-taped ankle. Andrej went 1-6 in the first half and 0-1 in the second half. I'd guess his 1-7 poor shooting night was more about not having practiced the 4 days before this Friday game, than it was due to ankle pain or stiffness, say related to a tight or heavy wrap. Again, I couldn't see any effect of the prior injury in the extended game highlights. It seems this ankle injury may have affected Andrej prep for this game and perhaps his confidence in this game, but it didn't appear to me to affect him physically in this game.
 
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#119      
Brosky
That's exactly how I feel, but in the past, we've been surprised. I remember how the Flyin' Illini went up to Michigan and blew them out in their own arena. That same year, we went to LSU and overwhelmed them down there. I'm not saying this team is as good as that one, but I'm hoping for another surprise.
 
#120      
NarrowJ
cjw1901 said:
Thanks. So, Andrej's ankle injury occurred around Monday, 11/24. I noticed, after watching him in the extended highlights, that:

1. Andrej had no visible wrap on either ankle, although the injured ankle was likely taped under his socks. So, there, but not visible.
2. Andrej never seemed to favor one ankle, so it seems it was a mild ankle sprain.
3. Andrej never appeared to re-injure the ankle during this game.
4. Andrej never seemed to check on the ankle while on the Illinois bench, nor receive any attention from the staff on the ankle during this game.
5. I didn't notice Andrej playing differently due to this injury, neither on offense nor on defense.

Therefore, I'd guess the injury was a mild ankle sprain that Andrej seemingly got on Monday in practice and that it mostly affected him by being unable to practice and maybe just a little tender on the likely-taped ankle. Andrej went 1-6 in the first half and 0-1 in the second half. I'd guess his 1-7 poor shooting night was more about not having practiced the 4 days before this Friday game, than it was due to ankle pain or stiffness, say related to a tight or heavy wrap. Again, I couldn't see any effect of the prior injury in the extended game highlights. It seems this ankle injury may have affected Andrej prep for this game and perhaps his confidence in this game, but it didn't appear to me to affect him physically in this game.
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I’m not sure it was mentioned specifically in the post game, but Werner and MLT said that Z also missed multiple practices leading up to the game because he got his foot stuck in the bleachers

Whoever is running this simulation needs to lower our injury/illness slider…
 
#121      
Cary67
NarrowJ said:
I’m not sure it was mentioned specifically in the post game, but Werner and MLT said that Z also missed multiple practices leading up to the game because he got his foot stuck in the bleachers

Whoever is running this simulation needs to lower our injury/illness slider…
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Really...this resembles a bad soap opera. Tennessee going through their own rough patch.. Need to figure out a way to win this one.
 
#122      
PasadenaIllini
lstewart53x3 said:
Huh? Tennessee is currently #11 in NET. It’s a neutral site game so they only have to end the season in the top 50 to be a Q1 W/L.
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This comment assumes that Tennessee will stay at #11 in NET. Based upon what I saw yesterday against a fairly mediocre Syracuse team, that's a pretty tall assumption.
 
#123      
NarrowJ
PasadenaIllini said:
This comment assumes that Tennessee will stay at #11 in NET. Based upon what I saw yesterday against a fairly mediocre Syracuse team, that's a pretty tall assumption.
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They had a couple guys out, most notably their 3rd leading scorer JP Estrella (12 pts 5 reb)... Tenn will be fine

Look around the country... there are no 'flawless' teams... Duke & Florida both looked meh last night, UConn & Kansas looked meh last night, UNC vs Kentucky did not look like high-level ball, so on and so on
 
#124      
PasadenaIllini
NarrowJ said:
They had a couple guys out, most notably their 3rd leading scorer JP Estrella (12 pts 5 reb)... Tenn will be fine

Look around the country... there are no 'flawless' teams... Duke & Florida both looked meh last night, UConn & Kansas looked meh last night, UNC vs Kentucky did not look like high-level ball, so on and so on
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Tennessee had ONE guy out of any significance AND Syracuse was missing their best player.
 
#125      
NarrowJ
PasadenaIllini said:
Tennessee had ONE guy out of any significance AND Syracuse was missing their best player.
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Okay thanks for the correction on that, wasn't aware of Syracuse being down their guy...

I still stand behind the 2nd part of my post, as far as I can tell from early season viewing: every team has flaws at this point. So, I think we should calm down a bit with the questioning of a Tennessee team that just beat the #3 overall team last week. Road games are hard and the reactions a lot of you have to single game results are extremely knee-jerky imo. The 2005 Illini lost 2 games the entire season and if you focused solely on the two losses where they shot barely 30% from 3 and under 70% from the FT line, you guys would all wonder how they even won a game that season lol.
 
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