Calillini
Now appearing in Tampa
Ironic and not a good sign that poor shooting is the silver lining.
Rutgers 70, Illinois 59 Postgame
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Point taken. I did mention I had seen the quotes elsewhere. Will strive to not "dominate" the game and postgame threads. I rarely post in other threads, but again, point taken. Appreciate the board.It's never "Thanks to the mod for allowing me to dominate nearly every game thread."
On this issue FLMan last night you were mixing up facts and leaving things out (plus admitting you didn't watch the postgame) in what concluded with escalating harsh language directed at BU. An account with the most combined posts in the game & postgame threads should imho have the basic facts down prior to dropping a take.
Anywho the quote in question occurred on the radio postgame, I don't know if that's available to replay anywhere. Then there's the official media postgame, available to watch on the home page, there BU gave praise to RJ & CH. Ok happy Thursday everyone & Go Illini
That was a strange post game radio comment by BU regarding RJ. He only played 90 seconds in the first half. Clearly if he believes in the analytics like he says he does it is time to reduce DMW's time on the floor and increase RJ's time. We are trending the wrong way and need a change of personnel. In the last 10 BIG games we are 6-4.
I really find it interesting and disturbing that so many people think we are horrible. We have comments that are "BU doesn't know how to do offense," "He can't adjust," "Play players that haven't played more than 100 minutes all season," etc. We are still tied for the lead of the conference for losses so we are in pretty good position. The coaches see the players everyday in practice and does anyone really think they are not putting the players in that they think will give us the best chance to win.
I know that this is what a fan forum is about, but I find it crazy that we as a forum ALL know how to change a horrible shooting slump. Does everyone realize that earlier in the year Rutgers was shooting horribly?
Lastly, here are the schedules for the remaining teams currently in contention:
Illinois:
@ MSU
OSU
@ Mich
PSU
Iowa
Purdue:
Rut
@MSU
@Wisc
IU
Wisc:
Mich
@Minn
@Rutgers
Purd
Neb
MSU:
Ill
Purd
@ Mich
OSU
Mary
@ Iowa
OSU:
IU
@ILL
Mary
MSU
Mich
Iowa
Every team has some pretty tough games remaining. Sorry for such a long of post but, people let's get off the ledge.
Al Maguire? I know Loren Tate repeats that line a lot too
This....I'm not so disappointed that we lost...but the way we lost...you would of thought a veteran team would have responded in a much more positive and aggressive manor...not so much
Dan
Admin
Here it is, the Underwood postgame radio interview.
Starts around 3:19:30
Starts around 3:19:30
I am 100% with you, I was half expecting a loss, but not a game completely dominated by a Rutgers team that destroyed us on the boards and completely out-toughed us, and it wasn't even close.This....I'm not so disappointed that we lost...but the way we lost...you would of thought a veteran team would have responded in a much more positive and aggressive manor...not so much
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
The loss of Belo this season, his injury, his inability to practice with the team more than a handful of times until just last week, and his recent lack of game conditioning have really hurt the team. Having a talented, true point guard growing throughout the season, letting Trent play the 2 consistently, and having lineup consistency would put us in a different place in late Feb/early March. There's still time but if the problems were seeing are more about accumulated fatigue and injuries than effort then I don't know how it gets solved. This chart, which @PassingBy posted on Tuesday reminds me why it's amazing that we've been in first place nearly all season. OSU's performance is impressive, too.
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That game might have been the worst 11 point beat down I have seen this year. IMO, this team is a good, but not great, Illini team. They have a gap every game where they just look lost, culminating in this game that the gap was most of the game. I truly thought this year was special, but now I have doubts. But, there is still the thought in my head that if they could just put a full 40" game together ...
Appreciate the link. Was able to listen to coach and also appreciate his take. He has many of the same concerns as many on here do. Hopeful he can help the team get things going here for the final stretch.Here it is, the Underwood postgame radio interview.
Starts around 3:19:30
That is why I have been saying that playing Williams and Grandy the minutes they are playing hurts this team. We are a tired team playing multiple minutes to role players. Not getting Luke, Podz and RJ more minutes earlier will be our downfall. I hope BU learns this lesson as we will bow out early if we do not start getting the three FR 15 minutes a game.
Yes he had terrible plays while in but I think that's when coaching steps in and not just relegating him the doghouse aka bench. Get in his ear about what you see and have him go out there again. It's not like he was out there 10 minutes in the first half and just couldn't get anything going. I get though a freshman has less of a leash so to speak.
I agree - getting Belo starting and playing 30+ min a game is key to any hopes of a March run - I'm still surprised he isn't playing more - he's been back for a month now, I know he had COVID during that time and turned an ankle but it's hard to believe it's still conditioning at this point unless the ankle held him back again this week, it's almost as if BU doesn't see him as a starter even when completely healthy? Which would be mind boggling, teams have figured out if they pressure our guards and double Kofi on the catch we don't have a great answer for that - Curbelo is that answer, he'll get to the paint against pressure and get Kofi easy baskets, we just don't seem to want to take advantage of having Curbelo on the floor with Kofi for some reason.
It's almost as if we want to handicap ourselves unnecessarily - "we don't want to play our two best players on the floor at the same time, that would be unfair"
The only time I see good passing is when Luke or RJ is in the game.
We have no idea how he was affected by Covid. Plus, there still may be lingering effects from his concussion.
So I picked a somewhat arbitrary date. But (meathead alert) it has felt like a slog since the first Purdue game.
Going back through the games it's pretty clear why it's felt this way. The following are our 3 point percentages for each game:
@Maryland - 11/35 (31.4%)
MSU - 9/29 (31.0%)
@NW - 5/18 (27.8%)
Wisconsin - 7/22 (31.8%)
@Indiana - 10/23 (43.5%)
@Purdue - 8/26 (30.8%)
NW - 10/29 (34.5%) 9/16 in the 1st half, 1/13 in the 2nd
@Rutgers - 6/23 (26.1%)
That's 32.2%, which is elevated by a strong showing against Indiana and the first half of the 2nd NW game, from three over the last month. For the season we are at 36.2% (T-60 in D1), that 32.2% would be T-259 (out of 358) for the year.
Nobody should have expected the shooting to stay as hot as it was at the beginning of the year, but either this team isn't as good of a shooting team as we hoped or they are in a collective month long funk.
Going back through the games it's pretty clear why it's felt this way. The following are our 3 point percentages for each game:
@Maryland - 11/35 (31.4%)
MSU - 9/29 (31.0%)
@NW - 5/18 (27.8%)
Wisconsin - 7/22 (31.8%)
@Indiana - 10/23 (43.5%)
@Purdue - 8/26 (30.8%)
NW - 10/29 (34.5%) 9/16 in the 1st half, 1/13 in the 2nd
@Rutgers - 6/23 (26.1%)
That's 32.2%, which is elevated by a strong showing against Indiana and the first half of the 2nd NW game, from three over the last month. For the season we are at 36.2% (T-60 in D1), that 32.2% would be T-259 (out of 358) for the year.
Nobody should have expected the shooting to stay as hot as it was at the beginning of the year, but either this team isn't as good of a shooting team as we hoped or they are in a collective month long funk.
the national
- the Front Range
Sit them both? Neither had their head in the game. It happens, it’s a long season. Give them a break to take some of the pressure off. Might also help light a fuse. They need to get hungry.
Not very synchronized when Belo is in there, for 2 reasons: 1) Not much time spent in developing that sync (due to illness), and 2) Belo is best when he creates - and that means "play"s are pretty much out - he creates on the fly
I happen to think Coach needs to play the FR a lot more when things are going south. Yesterday Coach played RJ and when RJ got beat twice on D RJ was pulled. Found that to be extremely odd - the starter's D was so bad that we were down double digits already. RJ was subbed by someone who played no D AND had no offense. AT least RJ had offense (and energy). So, playing FR - IMHO - could help the older players. ????
the national
- the Front Range
He was a little rough around the edges and still out played Grandison and Williams in the second half. He did what he could do (that block was huge) and he impacted the game where he could. We need that even if there are occasional mistakes. We get those types of efforts from Hawkins and RJ and why I think they should start. Inject that blood into the starting lineup.
the national
- the Front Range
I'm a borderline Belo apologist. He's been my favorite player basically since his first game last year. And I really want to believe that he's just rusty right now. But I'm beginning to wonder. A lot of his mistakes don't seem to be fatigue or chemistry related.
One of the things that made him so great last year was the way he would just kind of probe a defense, keep his dribble alive, and then in an instant make a move that either gets a bucket for him or for someone else. This year he's probing less and pressing more. Trying to split double teams, making predetermined drives to the basket, etc.
I'd really like to see him string together a few games of the brilliant point guard play of which he's capable. As a fan of his, it's hard to watch the inconsistent play. As a team we'll never reach our potential without him. And I think Kofi can even take it to another level if Belo regains his old form.
As many have mentioned, we're 0.5 games out of 1st with 5 games left - I'll take that any day. This comes even with our expected 2nd best player Belo not playing much (don't want to say regressed - yet) and our X-factor CoHawk not making the jump he's capable of. 4-1 to finish the year and a share of 1st is likely ours, just need to get back to playing with energy, especially on the glass. The shots will start falling again.
Watch the replay of RJ in the first half. He looked lost, hesitant, unsure…..idk, just not game ready. I honestly can see why BU was concerned about playing him more
I’m also of the camp that he needs to play MUCH more, but I’ll defend Brad for being reluctant.
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