UConn 77, Illinois 52 Postgame

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#427      
ChiefGritty
LvilleILL said:
2021 team was slightly better but this team will always be one of my favorites ever. I think had Quincy and Harmon not fallen off this team could have won a national title. In the end, just too much was put on TJ
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As a note of positivity for next year, I choose to observe that the team was playing its best basketball when Goode and DGL started progressively eating into Quincy and Harmon's playing time.
 
#428      
TheodoreRex
Insiders, what do you think led to the fall off for Quincy and Harmon? Baffling to me how far they fell (to almost unplayable).
 
#429      
ChiefGritty
TheodoreRex said:
Insiders, what do you think led to the fall off for Quincy and Harmon? Baffling to me how far they fell (to almost unplayable).
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Harmon is a real grinder who works super hard on the court and it obviously meant something to him to put a cap on his college career at his home state school and I applaud and thank him. His sheer pugnacity was a real asset in some games. But he's just not a very talented player and could only give us so much.

Guerrier kinda came and went the whole season, but when Goode cleaned up his fouls his ability to stretch the floor really made him pretty essential to Quincy's detriment.

All of which is to say, I don't know that either of those guys really fell off. The team got deeper and less dependent on its grizzled old heads as the season went along, which is a promising sign. There were games in the middle of the year where guys we won't have back basically got all of the minutes and scored all of the points, scary stuff. But we were a better basketball team the more that became not the case.
 
#430      
SoCal Illini
ChiefGritty said:
His brother and son further confirm that family just has a gift for obnoxiousness.
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If it makes you feel any better, his brother will probably end up getting fired from asu. Couple more years tops.
Then Danny will hire him as asst at UConn like he did at Wagner and Rhode Island, so they’ll all be at one place. Easier to avoid that way.
 
#431      
LvilleILL
ChiefGritty said:
Harmon is a real grinder who works super hard on the court and it obviously meant something to him to put a cap on his college career at his home state school and I applaud and thank him. His sheer pugnacity was a real asset in some games. But he's just not a very talented player and could only give us so much.

Guerrier kinda came and went the whole season, but when Goode cleaned up his fouls his ability to stretch the floor really made him pretty essential to Quincy's detriment.

All of which is to say, I don't know that either of those guys really fell off. The team got deeper and less dependent on its grizzled old heads as the season went along, which is a promising sign. There were games in the middle of the year where guys we won't have back basically got all of the minutes and scored all of the points, scary stuff. But we were a better basketball team the more that became not the case.
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I would say that they did-and I am still super grateful for both this year. Quincy was a borderline all big ten player until Feb and his numbers dropped off of a cliff. Harmon was really good for us until about the same time-think I saw yesterday he had 9 points in his last 9 games and 5 came yesterday. Also missed like 15 straight threes to end the year
 
#432      
Ryllini
LvilleILL said:
I would say that they did-and I am still super grateful for both this year. Quincy was a borderline all big ten player until Feb and his numbers dropped off of a cliff. Harmon was really good for us until about the same time-think I saw yesterday he had 9 points in his last 9 games and 5 came yesterday. Also missed like 15 straight threes to end the year
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Harmon was huge for us this season and had some great moments. I know he was hurt most of the season, but I can’t help but wonder what the team would’ve looked like with Jeremiah Williams in the mix as well.
 
#433      
OrangeBlue98
ChiefGritty said:
His brother and son further confirm that family just has a gift for obnoxiousness.
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I just wish that we lived in a world where being a jerk wasn't celebrated and rewarded. Seeing people like Danny Hurley being held up as a beacon like he his is pretty sad.

Great coach (and just ask him if you don't think so), but he really has no other redeeming quality. His dad and brother are cut from the same cloth.
 
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#434      
Illini_1105
Does anyone have a clip of the ovation Hawkins et al got as coach subbed them out at the end of the game?
 
#435      
Goillinikobd
Good morning. After emotional night, I tried, with a clear head, to evaluate what happened last night.

I had watched the first half of the game only, mainly because in Brad’s quick interview during the first half he noted that his strategy going forward was to wish they could make Connecticut center a foot shorter, and that they would continue to drive at him. At half time, I switched to another channel.

I couldn’t stand the suspense so I logged into ESPN’s website and saw that with 7 minutes left, the score was 59 to 29 and that Illinois had been shooting about 15% from the field. Six points in 13 minutes.

This morning I revisited ESPN‘s website and went through the play-by-play account. A couple things stand out. In the first half we had scored one point (MD made free throw) in the first four minutes.

In the second half we scored zero points in the first 7 minutes. Instead of calling it a 30 to 0 scoring run for Connecticut, let’s look at it as a 7 minute drought for Illinois.

During that drought, we missed two jump shots, seven three-pointers, and five lap ups. We never shot a free-throw. Underwood called one time out in addition to the television time out during that 12 1/2 minute drought.
 
#436      
bluemountain
We needed UConn to have a bad game for us to have a chance, and they gave that to us gift-wrapped and on a platter in the first half and we didn't take advantage of it. They made adjustments and started to execute better, we didn't. UConn is a really good team and Hurley is right up there with the best coaches I've seen in my 60 years - he's right up there with Knight, Pitino, Donovan, K and Stevens IMO

I'm really impressed with how BU built this team; it was almost a complete reconstruction from the '21 team and he had us in a position such that if we had beaten UConn we would have probably been the favorites to win it all.
 
#440      
Illini in OC
Was at the game. Atmosphere was like a UConn home game. Nasty. UConn fans remind me of SCUM fans - just a bunch arrogant d*cks. The difference is that the product on the court is high class.

Proud of the Beloved who needed an A+ performance to thread the needle against that beast of a team. They did not back down - they were just beaten.
Say what you want about D Hurley - he had a great plan on Offense with Clingan AND found a way to contain TSJ - AND then got his team to execute it perfectly.

There is no shame here and no blame here. Our guys ran into buzz saw. It happens.

What an amazing season. BU has this thing in a great place with an awesome culture. Guys who stay will maintain the EDG mindset and welcome new players who buy in. Guys who don't buy in will be marginalized by the team. BU will be able to recruit highly skilled players who fit. Looking forward to adding Rez and Butler to Amani, DGL and Buck on top of old men Ty, Luke and (maybe) Dain.

We will miss MD, CH, TSJ, QG, and JH.

The future is bright. We have lots of banners in our future.
 
#441      
bleedsorangenblue
Yesterday was rough..... Came in today thinking I might catch up on this thread and read a few pages. Decided I didn't need to read it all. From what I did read, I am happy to see the fans here mostly appreciative of the team and Underwood for the season. No use in beating them up over this last game. It was what it was.

I don't think the strategy to try and drive to the basket and get fouls was all that bad. The refs were not cooperative and a lot of real fouls just were not called. I think the strategy probably should have been abandoned sooner and something different tried. It really would have helped if a lot of our lay-ups would have been made, as well as having better 3-point shooting, not to mention free throws. The team really is better than this and I can't explain why they were so off yesterday. It would have taken our A-game to be competitive. Kudos to U-Conn. I won't be surprised to see them cut down the net.

Looking forward to following recruiting in the off season and a slower pace to the board. It has been tough to keep up with all the posts here of late. Never want to miss out on what is happening here with the best fans in college basketball. Loyalty never ceases to to inform, entertain, and make me laugh. Kudos to all of you here as well.
 
#444      
MaineIllini
I was at the game. First game I attended in person since 2014 when Ravonte Rice led the Illini to a win over Boston University in the NIT. I found the UConn fans to be loud and passionate for their program. I didn’t have any issues with the ones I talked with. Maybe that just comes from living in the Northeast for 20+ years now.

Emotionally this feels a lot like the Rose Bowl loss versus UCLA in 1984. It’s not an exact parallel, but it was an Illini team which had a wonderful season and then their season ended with a beatdown on a national stage. As a fan, it’s hard to watch.
 
#445      
BoiseBaller
ChiefGritty said:
It's a little bit of fun with selected endpoints, but I just want to note:

2021: 7 wins versus KenPom top 15 (Michigan, Iowa twice, Ohio State twice, Wisconsin twice)

2024: 1 win versus KenPom top 15 (Iowa State)

That's why I said we needed to lose last night to have this debate. You knock off the UConn juggernaut and go to the Final Four and it kinda ends the debate. But by the same token if we'd lost to Iowa State I think the argument that lucking into a helpless Duquesne team to go one game further in the tourney makes up for the much, much weaker resume this season would be an absurd, laughable argument.

It's 2021 for me. And I think 2024 advocates would have been helped if last night had been a bit less of a walkover.
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It's great that we get to have this debate. Says something about the program.

Part of the tourney is always luck of the draw. This year we got Duquesne which was a break but we were in the toughest 1 seed's bracket. Kind of a wash.

Both years you are comparing were successful but the tourney optics from 2021 stunk. That put a blemish on the year overall. Still great but a letdown. This year we ended the season quite well outside of last night. Better optics, but I suppose it depends on what you value more - regular or post season.
 
#446      
FreshlySqueezed
ChiefGritty said:
Assuming they don't blow it this is the best team since Anthony Davis' Kentucky at the very least.
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This UConn team is special. They're currently the 4th best team of the KenPom era, by his measure. I know it doesn't quite capture something like "greatest team" very well, but it's still a testament to how good this UConn team is.

2015 Kentucky +36.91 (lost to Wisconsin in FF)
2021 Gonzaga +36.48 (lost to Baylor in title game)
2008 Kansas +35.21 (won title)
2024 UConn +35.10 (TBD)
 
#447      
FloridaMan
Illiniam1984 said:
The program is heading in the right direction. We have had multiple 20 wins seasons in a row, one regular season B1G title, 2 B1G tourney titles, and one Elite 8.
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The program has been here before. Not that I disagree with anything you are saying, but it all hinges on school admin, Josh, and BU to staying committed to making it happen. For various reasons, one thing or another have knocked the program off track in the past. Hopefully, that does not happen before we get a title in the next 10 years.
 
#448      
1970 John
Dan said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1774466158692802727
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It would be great if this were live-streamed. If not, an extended production that can be put up on YouTube forever.

Or both.

By the way, Saturday afternoon Illini baseball hosted Oenn State at home, and was down 6-0 at the end of the fifth. A singleton homer changed changed that to 6-1. But then in the seventh and eighth Illinois went crazy with hits and home runs. The game ended in the eighth with two outs and the score 17-6. The coach threw in the towel (figuratively) and stopped the game. Hey, it happens everywhere
 
#449      
illini_frog
I do think two things are true. Brad nails the personality and culture and “atmosphere” a team needs to win aspect of coaching.

There are significant signs that scheme/Xs and Os aspect could limit us. I’m trying to remember a game or situation where a scheme or play was why we won. It’s really easy to coach from the stands, I get that, I was a basketball coach at HS level for 10 years, but I do think we need to improve at our ability to “draw something up” to get a bucket off baseline plays, out of a timeout, or a sideline. Too many times this year I felt our scheme wasn’t there to execute in a specific situation
 
#450      
RockfordIllini
Just wanted to share some last thoughts on the game. UConn likely rolling to a national title this year and would have beaten us anyway, but I thought we had a very poor game plan. We haven’t really had a “drive, drive drive” game plan all year, so not sure why we decided to try it for the first time against a team with a 7’2 center who is a big reason why they are tops or near the top of fg% allowed at the rim. We played right into their strength defensively.

And what’s frustrating is we didn’t have to do that and had the personnel to make them play out of their comfort zone. We should have played 5 out and either shot 3s or forced Clingan to guard on the perimeter. As soon as I saw them cross match on Ty, I would have subbed in Goode. Nope. Your big guy isn’t going to be able to camp in the lane. He’s going to have to do something he’s uncomfortable doing.

We probably lose anyway, as our shooters weren’t hitting shots. But I would have rather gone out firing open 3s and playing to our strength/their weakness.
 
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