I agree... Let's use Coleman and his length in good ways. Love to start throwing that in there for a change up
Tennessee 86, Illinois 79 Postgame
Fan for 50 years who just discovered this forum today? Tennessee is not "head and shoulders" better than Illinois. We had an off game with quite a few questionable calls. Play this on a neutral court and I bet the outcome would be different.
Bigtex
- DFW
Tennessee was the better team today - definitely received some home cooking. I liked our fight…Marcus had a rough day….dain should have had more minutes….
The lack of offensive movement and resulting 3 point shots make a team susceptible to an early exit in March. Typically teams who advance in March have good/great guard play.
While the loss today is disappointing, I'm satisfied enough seeing them go 2-1 in this 3 game stretch.
Just a few thoughts on our loss to Tenn.....Tenn was quicker to lose balls and a little more aggressive on the boards, esp. on their offensive end.....Illini weren't at their best today defensively....not bad, but they can play better defensively....Tenn did a good job of stopping TSJ from getting into the lane and to the basket, they also did a good job of pressuring and defending Domask...Illini shot well from the FT line, hope this is a trend that continues....would like to have seen a little more post pass entries rather than just trying to drive the ball to the basket since Tenn was doing a pretty good job of stopping the drive...Illini full court pressure the final few minutes of the game was something that I would like to see a little more of.....not a lot, maybe 4-5 possessions each half, esp if other team begins to get on a run and we need to break their momentum.... Hawkins, with his wing span on the point of the press made it difficult for Tenn guards to pass out of the trap in the corner....this Illini team doesn't seem to get rattled...we got down double digits and just kept playing and got ourselves back in the game with steady play.....this team will be in the mix for the B10 championship.....finally the officiating in college hoops today is just total crap....and I'm saying there were calls that seemed to go against both teams that left one shaking his head as to what were they looking at?.....the blocking call on QG under the basket I particularly hated...the Tenn player made contact, put the shot up and the ref waits until the ball is clearly off the rim and then makes the blocking call.....I know that NBA officials will not call a foul in that situation if the ball goes through the hoop....no harm no foul....but I hate it....a foul is a foul....I mean if the ball goes in the hoop and you don't call the foul, then you're denying the offensive player the opportunity of an "old fashion" 3 point play.....anyway....not too disappointed with the loss, Tenn is a good team and they played well....lets win out the month of Dec and go into the conf schedule with some momentum
"Typically teams who advance in March have good/great guard play."
Yup. Which is why I wouldn't predict us to get beyond the Round of 32.
This should be pinned up.
Well said. We all should feel this way. Impressive outing by our guys despite some things not going our way. Good three game stretch. Have a good week of practice, do great on finals and off we go again!
I was so impressed with the control that Coleman Hawkins showed in that stretch. He had to remove himself to the corner of the floor at one point, but he managed to control emotion and keep his head in the game. He's grown a lot during his time at Illinois. This team is learning, too. Thus, I'd say it was a good experience today.
We are so much better as a team when Coleman is at the 5 rather than Dain,
that's why his PT has been short when Coleman is not in foul trouble, IMO.
Also you can't have Dain in near the end of close games because his FT shooting
doesn't appear to have improved much from last year.
Whenever I see Coleman hit a couple of threes early, I get really worried that he will continue to shoot even if he cools off. Especially when one is a step back with a man in his face.
I didn't get to watch a lot of the game, but we most certainly resorted to how we played last year. Desperation threes in the first half of the shot clock, just hoping for one to fall.
That being said, I wasn't expecting a win, but it would have been nice to play our game more. It's a close loss against a real team. We've played four real teams and have proved we can play with them all. Still plenty to work on, but this feels different than the past couple of years.
I didn't get to watch a lot of the game, but we most certainly resorted to how we played last year. Desperation threes in the first half of the shot clock, just hoping for one to fall.
That being said, I wasn't expecting a win, but it would have been nice to play our game more. It's a close loss against a real team. We've played four real teams and have proved we can play with them all. Still plenty to work on, but this feels different than the past couple of years.
TSJ is a guard most of the time, IMO and will probably qualify as "great" by the time we get in the dance, if not sooner.
We started 3/4, went 6/32 the rest of the way. A lot of the bad ones were when we started falling behind and were looking for a miracle. Once we stopped, we clawed our way back into the game.
I'm talking about ball-handling guards with good court vision who are decent outside shooters and make FTs at a decent rate. Teams that go far in the tournament tend to have multiple guys that fit that description. As great as TSJ is, that's not him. And I don't think we have anyone like that on our roster (except Nico, who may not be ready, even when healthy).
This game proved exactly the opposite for me. We scored 79 on one of the best defenses in the country, despite the poor shooting from 3 and our 2 best scores having off nights. That's pretty darn impressive, and shows we aren't reliant on hot shooting to put points up.
It's our defense that let us down. And I think it will get cleaned up soon.
1. We have a pretty darn good guard tandem with TSjr at the 2, and there is no one better.
2. Ty lacks the ideal role of a facilitator and shooter, but if he becomes a bit more aggressive getting to the rim, he can become a great facilitator. He is a better defender than most PGs and a far better rebounder He needs to get better in a few areas and he is and will continue.
3. Harmon's contribution needs to continue to rise and I think he will as he gains confidence and his roll becomes clear.
Overall, the guard play is pretty strong. The error many make is that the shooting from the arc comes from 5 guys who are 6'6" to 6' 10" which is not the traditional backcourt. But it can and has worked. The weakness of this team has not been "guard" play. It has clearly been the frontcourt and no consistency scoring in the paint.
What so many miss about this team is the quality of the parts...and they are not parts developed in the image of a stereotype. They are of high quality with properties we have not seen in Huff or AH before. I intend to give them time and enjoy the way they grow, learn and conquer. Meanwhile, I have been highly impressed. All of the rotation guys have had their moments of praise in the spotlight as well as blunders. But the bottom line is most of us know for sure that they will win our hearts, minds, and respect before the season resume is published.
This is the most enjoyable team I have seen almost two decades. They have earned and deserve our support.
2. Ty lacks the ideal role of a facilitator and shooter, but if he becomes a bit more aggressive getting to the rim, he can become a great facilitator. He is a better defender than most PGs and a far better rebounder He needs to get better in a few areas and he is and will continue.
3. Harmon's contribution needs to continue to rise and I think he will as he gains confidence and his roll becomes clear.
Overall, the guard play is pretty strong. The error many make is that the shooting from the arc comes from 5 guys who are 6'6" to 6' 10" which is not the traditional backcourt. But it can and has worked. The weakness of this team has not been "guard" play. It has clearly been the frontcourt and no consistency scoring in the paint.
What so many miss about this team is the quality of the parts...and they are not parts developed in the image of a stereotype. They are of high quality with properties we have not seen in Huff or AH before. I intend to give them time and enjoy the way they grow, learn and conquer. Meanwhile, I have been highly impressed. All of the rotation guys have had their moments of praise in the spotlight as well as blunders. But the bottom line is most of us know for sure that they will win our hearts, minds, and respect before the season resume is published.
This is the most enjoyable team I have seen almost two decades. They have earned and deserve our support.
I'm OK with the loss today. We didn't play great, and yet we were in it until very near the end.
About the only thing that had me upset (at losing) was Zakai Zeigler's stare downs of Domask when he had a good play on him (two steals/deflections, guessing more not caught on camera). The second was the moment when I suddenly realllly wanted the guys to pull out a W to shove that down his throat. Not to be today unfortunately...but hopefully it'd be the other way around come March. That's all that matters.
Edit: today's game resurfaced the slight pang that is the feeling that if we had RayJ, we'd be a sure-fire dominant, top 5 team.
About the only thing that had me upset (at losing) was Zakai Zeigler's stare downs of Domask when he had a good play on him (two steals/deflections, guessing more not caught on camera). The second was the moment when I suddenly realllly wanted the guys to pull out a W to shove that down his throat. Not to be today unfortunately...but hopefully it'd be the other way around come March. That's all that matters.
Edit: today's game resurfaced the slight pang that is the feeling that if we had RayJ, we'd be a sure-fire dominant, top 5 team.
I kinda figured that we'd lose this game because it just seems to be the nature of college basketball these days. Few teams are coming in with their A and B games each night. Post game there was talk of match ups, but I think it's more mental. Not sure where we'll end up, but I'm feeling good about a top 25 finish which is really my bar for a successful season.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I’ll say this … losing in Knoxville to a pre-season top 10 team doesn’t make me less enthusiastic about this group!
Share the same sentiments as everyone else… encouraged by this three game stretch. This one felt like it was gonna be nearly impossible as soon as I saw the spread.
Game totally changed when that hook and hold was called. The way we were playing up until that point it was going to take something like that to change the game.
Like everyone else, think we settled for too many threes, but wish we would’ve utilized Ty and even Quincy driving more. When those two drove, the defense didn’t collapse like they did for when TSJ and Domask drove. Ty made some pretty good plays on the drive.. need him to be more aggressive.
Not going to win many games TSJ and Domask shoot like that. Wish we ran some more offensive sets… definitely got a little stagnant, but that’s what a top 5 defense like Tennessee does.
Keep going and getting better.
ILL..
Game totally changed when that hook and hold was called. The way we were playing up until that point it was going to take something like that to change the game.
Like everyone else, think we settled for too many threes, but wish we would’ve utilized Ty and even Quincy driving more. When those two drove, the defense didn’t collapse like they did for when TSJ and Domask drove. Ty made some pretty good plays on the drive.. need him to be more aggressive.
Not going to win many games TSJ and Domask shoot like that. Wish we ran some more offensive sets… definitely got a little stagnant, but that’s what a top 5 defense like Tennessee does.
Keep going and getting better.
ILL..
Probably not going to beat good teams when Domask and Shannon go 1-11 from 3.
Tennessee goaded the Illini into taking too many 3 pt shots. If Coleman is taking 10 3s in a game it's not going to be a good offensive game for the Illini.
Need to clean some things up defensively and they need to look to create open looks for Goode. If team is going to force the Illini to shoot 3s, Goode needs to be the one getting 10 attempts up.
Tennessee goaded the Illini into taking too many 3 pt shots. If Coleman is taking 10 3s in a game it's not going to be a good offensive game for the Illini.
Need to clean some things up defensively and they need to look to create open looks for Goode. If team is going to force the Illini to shoot 3s, Goode needs to be the one getting 10 attempts up.
Yeah I consider a potential B1G/NCAA NPOY candidate and lock for first team all B1G as pretty good, and the fact that a player as promising as Sencire is taking a redshirt as indicative of a pretty great backcourt in fact and potential. Domask just dropped 33 on a pretty good squad too
.Damn our standards got high. I love it but I also think we're privileged AF.
You wouldn't or you won't? You can go ahead and say it right now that we're a zero or one win team in the tourney
Legit my only complaint today was that for a stretch where we lost the lead, we kind of went away from the matchups that we were winning. That said, that's an elite defense in a tough environment and that's going to happen some. Learn from it, get better, and keep going.
Tenn moved the ball really well and shot faked/penetrated easily. We were a little slow adjusting defensively. Also w/the changes to charges, i saw hesitancy w/coleman sliding over to stop the drive. We settled for open threes, that werent dropping today, and the refs were a little home biased, but were a good team and this game will help down the road.