Wisconsin 64, Illinois 58 POSTGAME

#126      
The loss lies at the feet of the Illini. There were at least 5 empty possessions in the last 4 minutes on just sloppy passing . The officiating wasn’t perfect , but it was as good as you expect on the road. Again, Illinois has no one to blame but themselves.

I agree regarding the refs except the TO call by Iverson falling out of bounds. Absolutely ridiculous.
 
#127      
It was that simple. Man... We honestly almost had this one. Such small things. Correctable things.

That sequence where Trent missed a layup all by himself and acted like there was a defender there too, followed byba Davidson 3 at the other end...5 point difference and basically the game.

Can we throw in the NW game where we were 0-13 from 3??

...and still likely win that game if we get the rebound off the missed 3 with 20 or so seconds to go and a 2 point lead.

when the game was on the line tonight, with under a minute to play, happ was on the bench. How valuable can he be to them?

Before last night he had 121 assists and the next highest player on the team had 57. I won't even go into rebounds. You realize he's one of only 4 B1G players EVER to have over 2000 points and over 1000 rebounds.

Maryland and tOSU both play 7. Illinois , PSU and Rutgers all play 6

But our top 3 scorers are all underclassmen. Not true of any of the other teams.
 
#128      

sacraig

The desert
Yeah but he also has Wisconsin at 11

That's because Wisconsin has a good-for-Wisconsin offense and one of the nation's best defenses. It's a shame we missed some open shots last night that might have swung the game, but we also missed a lot of tough shots that were forced because Wisconsin is, get this, a good team.
 
#129      

jmilt7

Waukegan
Ayo made a few big plays down the stretch but he also tried to be the man too many times. Even in the inbound pass that got stolen... he had Trent open, but I think he passed it out too bc he wanted it right back in his hands. That’s not entirely a bad thing, but there was another play right before that where he had Georgi open for a dunk, but he short armed an 8 footer.

Not down in him though, it’s all part of his development.

Who's Georgi?
 
#131      
While I never discount them as they (at least in the past) have seemed to find some killers at their perimeter. However, Happ leads the team in points, rebounds AND assists. I don't see how they don't take a step back next year. If they could execute a better offense this year and win more games I would assume they would do that now. I don't think they are running things through Happ and letting him be a black hole just because, rather they feel that is their best odds of success.

Prior to last night, Happ had 121 assists and their #2 player in assists had 57.
 
#132      

ginabackes00

CrazedUIFan
This may have already been stated, but what will help this offense and Giorgi's game is his ability to take and hit the shot from the elbow where he has the ball quite a bit in the offense.
 
#133      
I'm just gonna say it. Giorgi is the best big man we've had since Augustine. And yes, that includes Meyers. Giorgi is such a diamond in the rough. Can't wait to see him in 2 years. Look out Big Ten!
I thought that he had a reasonable outside shot. Since a bad start he has not shot from outside 15 feet. When he gains confidence in the outside shot it will make him even tougher to handle.
 
#134      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
I'll take it that you disagree with me. For the record, I'm not saying Giorgi is more athletic and has the NBA upside Meyers had. But as a college player, Giorgi is showing better scoring ability than Meyers had in college already. Defensively, we'll see how Giorgi develops.

No no....not disagreeing at all. I was just piling on more accolades!
Augie was the last 1000/1000 Illini, so I was just adding on to your comment that I think Giorgi will reach the same level. I don't think he is as athletic as Augie or Meyers, but his footwork and his maturity will lead him to the same place.
 
#135      

ChazzReinhold

Mom! The Meatloaf!
No no....not disagreeing at all. I was just piling on more accolades!
Augie was the last 1000/1000 Illini, so I was just adding on to your comment that I think Giorgi will reach the same level. I don't think he is as athletic as Augie or Meyers, but his footwork and his maturity will lead him to the same place.
Giorgi's biggest obstacle in rebounding may become Kofi.
 
#136      

skyIdub

Winged Warrior
Giorgi's biggest obstacle in rebounding may become Kofi.

Yeah, plus Augie had 30+ games each year including the 05' run which I think was 39? If Giorgi can translate his footwork and get better at positioning, he will average 7+ per game IMO. If he can do that, it's gonna be real close. If Kofi is a 2 year player then it will be tougher.
 
#138      
What are the board's thoughts on Giorgi getting blocked by Iverson on what should have been an easy 2 near the end of the game? Was Giorgi too relaxed on that shot attempt? Should he have gone in for the dunk? Was it just a demonstration of Iverson's superior athletic ability? I'm not used to seeing a guard swat a center.

I'm not blaming Giorgi or that particular play for the loss. Overall, I was happy with our performance on the road. We'll keep getting better.
Was curious about the play, then they showed the replay. Reuvers was helping on D and I think Giorgi wanted to get a shot up before he recovered. Iverson made the switch on defense, and put himself in a good situation to help out. My 2 cents.
 
#140      
There were a couple of other defensive breakdowns as well. The one that comes to mind is when they let Davison take the 16 foot jumper near the foul line late in the game.

I was yelling at the TV on that one. Looked like one defender expected to switch and the other didn't. They both went to the picker/roller and left him open. Not sure if that was a brain fart or bad on-court communication.
 
#142      
I was at that one ... my girlfriend's first impression of the Illini. OUCH, haha. She - an Iowa graduate born in the Quad Cities - now considers herself an Illini fan and is obsessed with Giorgi. :)

I approve of you dating someone from the QC (being from there myself). I STRONGLY disapprove of you associating with anyone that went to the University of Iowa, much less had the audacity to stay there for 4 years. You have brought shame upon your family for generations to come...

I'm sure my opinion on this matter carries a lot of weight with you...
 
#143      
This may have already been stated, but what will help this offense and Giorgi's game is his ability to take and hit the shot from the elbow where he has the ball quite a bit in the offense.

That makes him super-dangerous. If he can hit that elbow shot consistently with someone in his face then the respect defenders have to show him allows him utilize that footwork and get to the hoop for layups/dunks.
 
#144      
No no....not disagreeing at all. I was just piling on more accolades!
Augie was the last 1000/1000 Illini, so I was just adding on to your comment that I think Giorgi will reach the same level. I don't think he is as athletic as Augie or Meyers, but his footwork and his maturity will lead him to the same place.
Oh sorry, thought you were being sarcastic. lol
 
#145      
I approve of you dating someone from the QC (being from there myself). I STRONGLY disapprove of you associating with anyone that went to the University of Iowa, much less had the audacity to stay there for 4 years. You have brought shame upon your family for generations to come...

I'm sure my opinion on this matter carries a lot of weight with you...

Haha, well SHE is dating a University of Iowa graduate, too. o_O Turns out even when you are a native Peorian going to high school in Iowa City as an Illini fan, it is still a heck of a lot cheaper to go to Iowa than to go to Illinois. :) Happiest day of my life to that point was when I got accepted into Illinois, but ... $$$$$$ won out in the end. I have regrets from time to time, but it worked out for the best - I'm pretty confident of that.

Luckily, growing up an Illini fan was never going to be something I could "turn off" like the flip of the switch, and I will be an Illini until the day I die!
 
#147      
Rutgers did that straight drive into our defense too. That’s one way other teams will beat us if we don’t find a cure for it.

This may be the cure for that...
Kofi Cockburn.jpg
 
#148      

Deleted member 4333

D
Guest
Haha, well SHE is dating a University of Iowa graduate, too. o_O Turns out even when you are a native Peorian going to high school in Iowa City as an Illini fan, it is still a heck of a lot cheaper to go to Iowa than to go to Illinois. :) Happiest day of my life to that point was when I got accepted into Illinois, but ... $$$$$$ won out in the end. I have regrets from time to time, but it worked out for the best - I'm pretty confident of that.

Luckily, growing up an Illini fan was never going to be something I could "turn off" like the flip of the switch, and I will be an Illini until the day I die!

My grandmother, my father and my older brother all went to Wisconsin, so I grew up a Badger fan. As soon as I stepped on campus in Champaign, I became an Illini for life. As did my two younger sisters and my daughter.
 
#149      
My grandmother, my father and my older brother all went to Wisconsin, so I grew up a Badger fan. As soon as I stepped on campus in Champaign, I became an Illini for life. As did my two younger sisters and my daughter.

Different strokes for different folks. If I didn't know any better, I would say you are actively advocating shrinking our fan base to alumni only. ;)