Rutgers 70, Illinois 59 Postgame

Status
Not open for further replies.
#76      

azillini1

A
Scottsdale
azillini1
Mistakenj said:
Our starting guards were a combined 8 for 27. Yeeikes.
Click to expand...
Right now we need offensive energy and scoring. RJ needs more minutes. He didn't get much time in the first half. He even out rebounded DMW tonight who only had one rebound and no points. BU needs to find more minutes for him and our freshman when we are having offensive problems. I am not saying to bench the seniors, but their shooting has been horrible the past 5 or 6 games. Give others an opportunity.

Rebounding is also a major issue right now for us.
 
#77      

dbeverly26

dbeverly26
dbeverly26
theres-an-aroma-stinks.gif
 
#80      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
My starters Saturday...................

Trent
Plummer
R J
Hawkins or Goode
Kofi.............................

we can't continue being in contention in the B1G with lackadaisical play from both DMW and Jake....................I'm worried about DMW ......he just shuffled around the whole game and was absent on D.......Jake missed a 3 ft bunny and it's his second game in a row with less than 5 points....

R J 's time has come .......He played with confidence and even though he made some mistakes , you can't take out our only wing who has the athleticism to take it to the rim or hit a 3..........

JMHO
 
#84      

Trent is the Man

T
Trent is the Man
The Galloping Ghost said:
In a sea of guys that look like they want nothing to do with offense right now, RJ has both the tools and willingness to be a force. And after two bad defensive possessions in the first, he played lights out d in the second. He needs at least 20 minutes a game from here on out. He is the difference-maker this team desperately needs right now.
Click to expand...
you are 100% correct. And while I am normally a Demonte supporter, he was bad tonight on both sides of the ball.
 
#87      

GBIllini

G
GBIllini
The Galloping Ghost said:
In a sea of guys that look like they want nothing to do with offense right now, RJ has both the tools and willingness to be a force. And after two bad defensive possessions in the first, he played lights out d in the second. He needs at least 20 minutes a game from here on out. He is the difference-maker this team desperately needs right now.
Click to expand...
Ya if RJ hadn't given up baseline to Harper twice early we would have got to see a lot more of him. I don't know if he was expecting help or just bad decisions on his part. When he did get on the floor again he made the most of it. Big future for him on the Illini especially if he can put on 10 to 15 pounds to take the physical play.
 
#88      

JSpence

J
Evansville, IN
JSpence
DB11Headband said:
RJ will be starting Saturday.
Click to expand...
Plummer off the bench? Kind of doubt that Brad could personally stomach pulling anyone else.

I can't let a good game by Kofi go unnoticed. Superior job at staying in the game and available tonight, and making the most of his underutilization.

Also, DMFW is great at disappearing, but he needs to not do that when everyone else is struggling.
 
#92      

Nuke Dukem

Nuke Dukem
Nuke Dukem
Ken said:
Games like this are a hard sell to young players especially when you are starting 4 seniors and they combine to give you 20 pts 9 rebs and 8 assists and go for 4-17 for three and 8 of 23 overall

Its always great to run it back but you also have to figure out a way to add wrinkles and improve upon the previous season and it just looks as though weve squeezed about all we are gonna get from the seniors . I mean how do you explain to a freshmen that someone could be ahead of you and grab 3 rebs and 1 assists and have 1 to in 30 minutes but there are no minutes for you because you lack experience ?
Click to expand...
I think RJ is smart enough to realize there will be at the very minimum three of the current starters gone in a few weeks. I am not worried about him leaving. That being said, he has earned more minutes. I am sure he will get them.
 
#93      

Birdus

B
Birdus
That's what happens when you have all shooters and no guys that can drive the basketball consistently. Melendez should starting. Look how many times he got to the line. Gotta have guys willing to take a hard foul. Besides Trent, all of our other guys just stand around behind the 3 point line. Dribble drive and penetration wins games.
 
#94      

Illini-Rule

I
Illini-Rule
Dose of Reality said:
Individual offensive production includes passing the ball effectively, and I swear we are one of the worst passing teams I've watched. And that's been going on all season
Click to expand...
This! I don't know how many times we don't throw it to a open person, usually Kofi. Then try a bounce pass to him in a double team. And if we make our free throws we are in this game at the end. Shoot 30% from 3 pt and we win this game. I Also think that we looked a step slow all night, also in our last few games. It's almost as if our guys are thinking too much instead of playing free and loose. I also agree with whoever said that it seemed as if we were out hustled and it toughed all night.
 
Last edited:
#95      

JSpence

J
Evansville, IN
JSpence
Zorak said:
I think that's a little silly. This team is too inconsistent to be this bad the rest of the season. XD
Click to expand...
Kofi is still healthy and giving great effort every game. If the result is this awful with him getting 20-10, this team has much more downside. Not worth talking about, but just saying that reverting to the mean is not a strategy.
 
#96      

Navy_illini

N
Navy_illini
The sky is not falling

Even with how poorly we played from a rebounding and energy level think how different the game could have been if

DMW got the 3 off right before half

Hawkins would not have been called for a foul on his block at the end of the game

RJ didn’t force it up after his steal

And if we made our free throws earlier in the game

Our team has the talent to come back and are never out of a game. Come March every possession matters and the game is not over until the buzzer goes off. A game like this makes you appreciate the 2005 comeback against Arizona and how many things have to go right. I am glad we fought back tonight. Now beat MSU
 
#97      

DICKnaggie

DICKnaggie
Champaign
DICKnaggie
JSpence said:
Plummer off the bench? Kind of doubt that Brad could personally stomach pulling anyone else.

I can't let a good game by Kofi go unnoticed. Superior job at staying in the game and available tonight, and making the most of his underutilization.

Also, DMFW is great at disappearing, but he needs to not do that when everyone else is struggling.
Click to expand...
DMFW off the bench or Grandi. +1 with Kofi. He came with the energy early and he is challenged when our guards can't hit anything but still rocked.
 
#98      

Illiniam1984

I
Illiniam1984
This isn’t a national championship/final four team this year. They are a good team but not a great team. We are missing some bigger players and some players that can take over a game any given night. We have some recruits coming in that can however, so no worries we’ll be back sooner than later.
 
#99      

101screamingeagle

1
101screamingeagle
Last six half's we have played, we stunk up four of them. I hope I am wrong, but do not see us winning two remaining road games, Ohio State at home scares me. Do not know if Curbelo has enough time to get where he was last year. I was amazed to hear he has only practiced fifteen times the whole year
 
#100      

blife

B
blife
Maybe we are seeing the post AYO effect. Noone has stepped up to be that guy who is the closer for us, and who keeps this teams' head in the game. It was a question going into the season and looks like we are still searching for an answer. Got to find somebody capable of making the tough shot in crunch time under pressure(or just making a shot anytime right now give our offensive impotence lately)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.