The dude just won't put the ball in the basket - hesitant, no confidence, even when he is right under it. That's my issue with BBV.
Purdue 84, Illinois 68 Postgame
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
BBV has done a lot better when he uses the backboard and banks his shots .......
Yes, we do sadly. That durn Glen Rice. …certainly had other plans for us.
Tough loss. I feel better about it this morning than I did last night. They are a very good team and a horrible matchup for us IMO. I thought Kofi vs Edey/Williams was basically a wash. We let Ivey get a couple of easy ones in transition and you can't let players of his caliber get going that easily. We just didn't make enough shots in the 2nd half to stay in the game which was ultimately what ended up being the difference.
Purdue reminds me a lot of our team from last season honestly. It's hard not to look at Ivey and not see Ayo, and Edey is as close to as dominant a big as you will find to Kofi. '20/21 Illini were the better defensive team and I do think Purdue has some obvious flaws that will ultimately get them bounced in the tourney before they should. But when they are on, they are one of the best 4 teams in the country without a doubt.
We will be fine. Tough to win games in Mackey when you don't make shots. Beat Northwestern and forget about it until we meet again in BTT.
Purdue reminds me a lot of our team from last season honestly. It's hard not to look at Ivey and not see Ayo, and Edey is as close to as dominant a big as you will find to Kofi. '20/21 Illini were the better defensive team and I do think Purdue has some obvious flaws that will ultimately get them bounced in the tourney before they should. But when they are on, they are one of the best 4 teams in the country without a doubt.
We will be fine. Tough to win games in Mackey when you don't make shots. Beat Northwestern and forget about it until we meet again in BTT.
It was a missed opportunity but doesn't really hurt us.
However, the fashion in which we lost and the way their offense just seemed to do whatever it wanted against the league's top defense, makes me think for the first time in three years that Purdue has a better basketball team than us.
I still think game 1 is closer to the expected outcome than what we saw in game 2. If we shoot at our regular clip in the second half, it's a whole different feeling this morning. (Though likely still a loss.)
However, the fashion in which we lost and the way their offense just seemed to do whatever it wanted against the league's top defense, makes me think for the first time in three years that Purdue has a better basketball team than us.
I still think game 1 is closer to the expected outcome than what we saw in game 2. If we shoot at our regular clip in the second half, it's a whole different feeling this morning. (Though likely still a loss.)
I'm not sure there is a guard in the country that can stop Ivey for 30 minutes.
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Most days...yes I do know this.
Trent and Damonte are shut down defenders. Trent shut him down in the first half. Nobody was shutting him down in the second half...which is why he will be a lottery pick.
In your original post, you were insinuating that Curbelo had the quickness to stay with him...but somehow Trent and Damonte weren't big enough or athletic enough. It didn't make sense. That is what I responded to.
You said nothing in your first post about first half vs. second half. I pointed out that Trent did indeed keep up with him in the first half.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
Your expectations are not reasonable. Really good defense disrupts and makes it more difficult for your opponent to score. Done well, defense shifts overall scoring opportunities in your favor. But a team that has Ivey, Edey, Williams, and a bunch of guards who can shoot and get each of them the ball isn't getting "shut down." There's a reason why Purdue is the #1 offense on both Kenpom and Torvik.
Thankfully that isn't his role. Any points BBV ever provides, however and whenever they come, are a luxury. He has done a great job against Purdue this season.
Yes my expectations are too high. Let me turn it down a couple notches.
BU is just playing mind games with Painter. BU knows our history...he knows what happened in '89. The key is to lose the regular season matchups and win the post season matchups. 
I think you’re probably right on the $$.
The combined might of Baylor’s guards last year maybe…but we’d need a delorean for that.
Seems like they made a lot of tough shots while we missed a lot of open shots. Their defense is not good. A healthy and in shape Curbelo would tear this Purdue team apart.
I’m interested in hearing everyone’s response to this. Does anyone think the 05 Illini team could beat this year’s Purdue team?
Here are my thoughts…
No one was beating PU in their building tonight the way they played in the second half. I forget where I first read this but someone smarter than me once said college BB teams have 4-5 games a year where they play above their ceiling and everything they throw up goes in, and 4-5 games that are opposite of that. At one point they were 15-20 in the second half. No one can hang with that. I thought we did well to stem the initial blitz and kept it within 6-7 for the first 7 minutes or so, but they didn’t let up and we lost our composure a bit and started rushing shots, and the game got out of hand.
The good:
First and most importantly Trent looks to be okay. Initially I was terrified he blew out his knee cutting to keep up with Ivey. I was so relieved after the replay showed he knocked knees with Ivey. Will see how sore it is but he shouldn’t miss any extended time. Second,
Kofi had a bounce back game and was at least a wash with their bigs.
Third, Belo looked better and looks like he is getting closer to full strength.
Fourth, obviously was RJ. If he can consistently do what he did tonight that gives us a piece we don’t currently have. Would be huge.
The bad:
I know Payne had 3 rebounds which isn’t bad but just feel like he lacks the mindset/toughness to really mix it up down low, as compared to BBV who is much more physically limited. Maybe he isn’t a great fit in the BIG. I hope he finds it because he could be a monster in our drop coverage.
Kofi stopped passing out of double teams. Reminded me of the Cincy game where he was just a little too amped up/trying to do too much. Just need him to be aggressive when he has the advantage and pass out when he doesn’t.
Belo with 0 assists. I think part of that might be the way they were playing our ball screens but he needs to get other people involved. 13 points on 10 shots not super efficient.
DMW/Grandi were hesitant and passed up a lot of open looks. Just need them to shoot when they are open. I know they are upgrades defensively over the frosh but the frosh look less scared to shoot at this point. Might be worth splitting DMW/Grandi with RJ/Goode just for better offensive/defensive balance.
No one was beating PU in their building tonight the way they played in the second half. I forget where I first read this but someone smarter than me once said college BB teams have 4-5 games a year where they play above their ceiling and everything they throw up goes in, and 4-5 games that are opposite of that. At one point they were 15-20 in the second half. No one can hang with that. I thought we did well to stem the initial blitz and kept it within 6-7 for the first 7 minutes or so, but they didn’t let up and we lost our composure a bit and started rushing shots, and the game got out of hand.
The good:
First and most importantly Trent looks to be okay. Initially I was terrified he blew out his knee cutting to keep up with Ivey. I was so relieved after the replay showed he knocked knees with Ivey. Will see how sore it is but he shouldn’t miss any extended time. Second,
Kofi had a bounce back game and was at least a wash with their bigs.
Third, Belo looked better and looks like he is getting closer to full strength.
Fourth, obviously was RJ. If he can consistently do what he did tonight that gives us a piece we don’t currently have. Would be huge.
The bad:
I know Payne had 3 rebounds which isn’t bad but just feel like he lacks the mindset/toughness to really mix it up down low, as compared to BBV who is much more physically limited. Maybe he isn’t a great fit in the BIG. I hope he finds it because he could be a monster in our drop coverage.
Kofi stopped passing out of double teams. Reminded me of the Cincy game where he was just a little too amped up/trying to do too much. Just need him to be aggressive when he has the advantage and pass out when he doesn’t.
Belo with 0 assists. I think part of that might be the way they were playing our ball screens but he needs to get other people involved. 13 points on 10 shots not super efficient.
DMW/Grandi were hesitant and passed up a lot of open looks. Just need them to shoot when they are open. I know they are upgrades defensively over the frosh but the frosh look less scared to shoot at this point. Might be worth splitting DMW/Grandi with RJ/Goode just for better offensive/defensive balance.
The '05 Illini team was two shots from finishing 39-0 and National Champions.
This Purdue team is especially good when they are on, as they were in the second half last night. But it sounds like they have been a little Jekyll and Hyde this year. On defense, especially.
This is not some otherworldly once in a generation amazing Purdue team.
We didn't get the ball to Kofi enough from the top. When it comes from the sides the double is more affective and they are a little closer to the same side corner shooter.
Yes, the 05 team I believe would handle this squad 8 out of 10 meetings. However, the 89 team is the one that is the greatest we have ever seen. Top 7 players were 6-5” to 6-8” and were more athletic and talented than any team at that time and would dominate even today. Bring back the Flyin’ Illini. Wow, they were so fun to watch. The most athletic and talented team I have ever watched play the game.
Ayo & Ivey are quite similiar. But who’s cooler? I mean really…They both have really fire names so that’s out…but who has the potential for a more kick butt moniker/pseudonym?
I think you’d have to go with Ayo, right?
Ayo: The Lone Ranger, The Masked Man, Ayo-Silver etc….
What’s Ivey got? Poison-Ivey?
Ok, so let’s say: Advantage Dosumu.
AND. While Ivey may be a slightly better athlete. Ayo has slightly better hair. I mean come on…he totally does.
*On a more serious note…agree with about 98 percent of this post. The only thing I would add is our effort on offensive rebounding has sharply declined.
(As Underwood mentioned.) That’s really the only thing that’s a little harder to live with IMO
My brother is not a sports guy at all. He was over last night while I was watching the game. He saw this and said, "man that Illini guy just smoked the other guy with the ball".
I said "he does that about once a game. It's kind of his thing".
I felt like Belo is getting it going. Some of his shots off of the dribble penetration had no touch. He will continue to get back to his old self and will begin to make those shots. Kofi had a respectable outing against Edey. The fact that we missed so many wide open 3's is why we failed to make it close later in the second half. It must have felt that way to Wisconsin when they came to State Farm Center. I worry that the chemistry is not quite the same and fear that Belo and Trent Frasier are not meshing well. It seems that both want to run the point and it is unclear if Belo can improve enough quickly enough to make a difference in the Big 10 race finish. I hope there is still time. Purdue's Ivey looked like a PRO.
Illini_1979
- Oregon
I'm certainly plenty old enough to remember the Flying Illini and how we had to play Michigan three times that year. Maybe this year will play out the same way only with Purdue. It's tough to beat any team three times in the same year. Go Illini!
