Wisconsin 95, Illinois 74 Postgame

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#203      
CHILI1992
Chukwuwumba said:
Brad must still have that fire.
He’s only been head coach at a high major for a short # of years, relative to others. I cannot believe he waited this long for an opportunity to then just be content with life and coast. Something is going on but I have not figured it out. Could be anything- staff, players, physical status, mental status, something is preventing him to put stress on the team.
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Good take for sure it is strange
 
#204      
Fly Illini Fly!
RickBB said:
Serious question.., was Tonje expected to be this good when he was in the portal.
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Im Not No Way GIF
 
#205      
dainjazoner
tomi, morez, lawhorn, and davis are the only ppl im considering bringing back. KJ and will go to NBA and the rest is all dead weight.
 
#206      
Indy Illini Fan
RickBB said:
Serious question.., was Tonje expected to be this good when he was in the portal.
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I mean the kid averaged 15 PPG at CSU ... I knew he'd be a good player ...

I didn't think he'd be All Big Ten 1st Team level good ... He is my pick for Big Ten POTY at this point ...

And Gard should win coach of the year unless Michigan wins the Big Ten ... The job he's done is incredible ...

Crazy thing is that Tonje was supposed to go to New Mexico ... That team would be crazy good with him ... And they are crazy good without him ...
 
#207      
sacraig
tcb13 said:
But they are in proximity to other people, the public, they're on college campuses, that has been hit with the flu. The flu isn't exclusive to the Illini men's basketball team, but the Illini men's basketball team seems to be unique in their ability to not manage the situation.
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I am aware, but most people stay home when they have the flu. They have to, because they are knocked on their butts for at least 3 or 4 days.

But we have a team full of kids who have been raised to fight through it and "not let the team down," so they come to practice and/or games super sick and super contagious. And they're all breathing hard while running around playing the game, which doesn't generally happen in the supermarket or on the quad.

It's a very straightforward lack of an adult in the room to tell them to stay the heck home until their fever is gone.

So, maybe if the team really has been that sick, it gives Brad a pass on how poor we've played to an extent and how resigned to it he seems. But on the other hand, he seems to have had a large hand in allowing whatever illness it is burn like wildfire through the team by not following some pretty simple rules about when it's safe for sick people to return to the team.
 
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#208      
Chukwuwumba
RickBB said:
Serious question.., was Tonje expected to be this good when he was in the portal.
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No. From memory…seemed like a big step up, wasn’t sure if it he could handle BIG. Obviously wisky coaches thought he could handle it, and they nailed it. Not sure what other teams were in play, but I don’t believe there was a lot of P4 interest, but I could be wrong.
 
#210      
Illini2010-11
sacraig said:
I mean... is this true or a manufactured narrative?

Just using Occam's razor here, it would explain a lot. In particular, it is about the only sensible way to explain why Brad is so calm about this if he legitimately feels powerless as disease runs rampant through the team.

But it's also been 2 months, and the things going around right now (flu, norovirus) generally don't do that.
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If this was Michigan they would have only played 5 conference games at this point.

But more seriously, it is a concern if the team has really collectively been that sick. Maybe we should give a respiratory doctor one of the assistant coaching positions.

Still doesn't explain the terrible game plans.
 
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#213      
Second place is 1st loser
HereSoIDontGetFined said:
The problem is, you're describing Underwood's coaching philosophy - score in under 7 seconds.

Ten years ago that sounds exciting to us, because we had a team with no point guards who struggled to put up 70 night after night, usually requiring a heroic performance from a combo guard running the point out of necessity.

But you see now what type of team that can produce. If you don't have a lot of strong shooters, you have to run real offense because you can't get that under-7 bucket. Now add in players who haven't played with each other for more than six months.

And no, it's not a given that teamwork improves over that period. If it did, there'd never truly bad teams.

Our bigger problem right now is defense. Ben is awful. On at least two possessions tonight, he was completely outmatched physically. On the first, he needed leverage and so put his back foot directly behind him, like someone pushing a broken down car into a parking lot. That led to a quick move by the attacker which Ben couldn't get in front of. On the other, he was simply thrown backward by a charging attacker. That's the game for every offense we play. Find Ben. Exploit him. And when they try to help, you have an open shooter. On another play, Crowl was playing booty ball against Ivisic, which led to a pass out to the top of the key. Ben is for some reason standing in the semicircle, seven feet from the shooter. No man's land. Trey. Another momentum break. Dra got beat on the drive a couple times too.
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Quit with the Ben narrative. He's the LEAST of our problems.

Why is KJ off limits to some of you? Seriously. Our star had 6 points, 7 turnovers and 0 assists.

For us to win, that needed to be 22 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds and or less 2 turnovers. That should be the focus. Nothing else at this point. If he doesn't reboot....we won't win again this year.
 
#214      
HereSoIDontGetFined
Indy Illini Fan said:
Well when KJ slides from top 5 lock to maybe outside the lottery ... People are going to point the finger somewhere ... And his agent ain't going to be pointing it at his client ...

How did we make him worse ???
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I mean, if you don't think his arc looks eerily like Curbelo's, I don't know what to tell you. International player who makes the game look easy, gets into the Big Ten and finds out it's a lot more physical and athletic than what you're used to, so you just keep pounding your head against the wall thinking you're better instead of making the adjustment. KJ hasn't made the adjustment. You want to blame Brad for that? Go ahead, but it's not like Brad doesn't know this.

The fact is, KJ didn't get worse. Teams figured out that he's wild with the ball. He was wild with the ball in game one and he is wild with the ball in game 31. So was Riley, for that matter, and what's happened since? Riley has adjusted, and now is one of our more reliable scorers and is less likely to turn the ball over than he was early in the season. And it took fewer minutes for him to figure that out.

Do we think Riley just did that all on his own? Or did he simply...listen to his coaches?
 
#215      
the juiceman cometh
sacraig said:
Then Brad needs to be a grown-a** adult and tell him to stay home! What good is it letting him trot out there at 25% while infecting the rest of the team? Same for DGL playing with flu earlier. What in the Sam Hill are they even doing?


Then Greg Gard is more intelligent than Brad Underwood.

I mean, look... if we had sat 2 or 3 players back in January when they first got the flu and told them to stay home, we would have been at full strength again in a week and a half or so.
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Wasn't the earlier sickness the regular flu, and tonight's issue the stomach flu, which is an entirely different illness (norovirus)?
 
#216      
STLini25
I got a hot take. Zero chance KJ is a lottery pick. Basically leads the country in turnovers, below average defender, below average shooter.
 
#218      
Old Farm Illini
Whatever has been going around has been terrible. My family has it right now and it’s been the oddest thing. Daughter throwing up, fever since Friday, fever free for a day then came back for another two days and barely left the couch the entire time. I’ll judge this team in March but I’m not losing sleep over losing on the road against a top 15 team when we’re this depleted.
 
#220      
jamie13197
CoachHooleyHoo said:
How’s he supposed to get shots when he’s turning the ball over every other time he touches it? Offense was bad but KJs turnovers were on him.
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Kj has also forgotten to go to the rim. Our spacing has been bad, but Dgl and Riley seem to make it work.
 
#222      
sacraig
the juiceman cometh said:
Wasn't the earlier sickness the regular flu, and tonight's issue the stomach flu, which is an entirely different illness (norovirus)?
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Hard to say when the general public often uses the two terms interchangeably. Influenza can cause nausea and vomiting as well, but it's more common in kids and adolescents. A bunch of 18 and 19 year olds may still count.

Norovirus is also very contagious but only lasts for like 1 to 2 days, usually.
 
#223      
Turn N’ Burn
Can we get a reporter to ask why we refuse to switch up defensive looks? Drop coverage is a joke. Guard play is too good to have them know that when they get a screen, they will have the entire lane to drive, pull up, or pass. It makes me want to go play in traffic when I am constantly watching Illinois trail defenders get caught on a players backs and the help defense is just retreating and never makes the ball handler make a decision.
 
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