Ughh....reminded me of Iowa last year. Get a nice lead at halftime, get f***ing blown out in 2nd half. Pathetic.

Ughh....reminded me of Iowa last year. Get a nice lead at halftime, get f***ing blown out in 2nd half. Pathetic.

 

Why doesn't Olaseni play more?

Why doesn't Olaseni play more?

 

 

He's played his two best career games in a row. The North Florida coach that questioned the team's toughness said "he's a beast" and gave him the highest amount of props of any player on Iowa. And he makes almost all of his foul shots, which is unusual for a big man.

 

McCaffrey said they didn't do a good job feeding him in the post in the 2nd half...so it always goes back to guard play, and the lack of a consistent 3 point threat now. (And the fact that Trice was like 8/9 from 3, unguarded or poorly guarded half the time and they just shot the lights out, better than most teams would in pre-game warm-ups with no defenders).

 

That and the fact that they keep waiting for Woodbury to put it altogether. It reminds of the same situation with Jared Reiner a decade earlier, highly-touted and heavily recruited big men that haven't developed as expected at Iowa after showing early promise. Melsahn Basabe peaked his freshman year. Olaseni, to the coaching staff's credit, has come a long way and has an outside shot at making an NBA roster as the final man off the bench if he finds the right team.

 

So now 1-14 in their last 15 against MSU. SIGH. Iowa has probably blown 12-15 big games in the last 2 1/2 seasons when they held double-digit halftime leads.

 

Now they get Minnesota on the road, OSU and at Wisconsin. Lucky to get one win in three out of that schedule, which is why starting 3-0 would have been so huge. Oh, well. Getting thoroughly used to disappointment with football and basketball these days.

Edited January 9, 201511 yr by caulfield12

Why doesn't Olaseni play more?

No idea. They should have kept going to him early in the 2nd half. They didn't and really lost all levels of aggression.

Very proud of Mizzou for winning their first conference game. The team has been steadily improving, and you can see in 2 years they'll be stacked, but man, much tougher slog of a season than I expected.

IU and OSU needs more official reviews. Jesus.

Kentucky is going to lose at some point before the tournament.

Huge win for ISU at West Virginia in a game that gets more chippy every matchup.

Huge game for Illinois tonight at Nebraska. If they can beat them and Northwestern at NU. 3-2 with 4 of 5 games on the road would be huge in my opinion.

Giving Starks and Cosby scholarships was such a terrible idea.

Groce =Weber 2.0. Lose to inferior teams. Come out totally unprepared for inferior teams. Can't call a frigging set play to save his life. Pathetic.

Groce =Weber 2.0. Lose to inferior teams. Come out totally unprepared for inferior teams. Can't call a frigging set play to save his life. Pathetic.

 

Losing the far and away best player off a mediocre team will do that to you.

 

 

Wow...can't believe NW almost won at MSU.

 

And Rutgers over WISC? Nobody saw that one coming.

Wow...can't believe NW almost won at MSU.

 

And Rutgers over WISC? Nobody saw that one coming.

 

No Kaminsky and no Jackson, but still should've won.

The NC State Duke game was a way more impressive upset.

Giving Starks and Cosby scholarships was such a terrible idea.

 

Starks was supposed to be a one year guy and they had an extra scholarship last year. The mistake there was not realizing that there was a decent chance he wouldn't be eligible to play for Illinois last year with the changes to the hardship rules and that is on Groce.

 

Taking Cosby was an absolute no brainer at the time. He was a really good player at Seton Hall playing against high level competition in the Big East. I've said it before but I'm not sure I've ever seen a player ever completely fall off a cliff like this where it wasn't related to either age or injury. That is a guy who was a 40% 3 pt shooter against good competition on a high volume of shots who now is completely incapable of making a shot. It is incredible to watch and a mystery as to how this has happened..

What really grinds my gears is his inability (or refusal) to call set plays. He gives guys way too much freedom. When Starks jacked up about 3 of his bulls***, rec-league, fall away three pointers, he remained in the game. f*** that. Sit his ass down. Those are TERRIBLE shots. You can't mount a comeback against a 9 or 11 point deficit with wasted possessions.

 

Not to mention his whole game plan last night was stupid. Nebraska is a very good defensive team and a terrible offensive team. So why are they spending 30 seconds every time down the floor? Run and gun that s***.

 

 

What really grinds my gears is his inability (or refusal) to call set plays. He gives guys way too much freedom. When Starks jacked up about 3 of his bulls***, rec-league, fall away three pointers, he remained in the game. f*** that. Sit his ass down. Those are TERRIBLE shots. You can't mount a comeback against a 9 or 11 point deficit with wasted possessions.

 

Not to mention his whole game plan last night was stupid. Nebraska is a very good defensive team and a terrible offensive team. So why are they spending 30 seconds every time down the floor? Run and gun that s***.

 

Sit his ass down for who? Cosby? Rice/Abrams? Hill/Nunn? Tate? As far as running and gunning, we need our guards to rebound because our F/C can't, which limits our ability to have those opportunities. I don't disagree with you in principle, but the roster as constructed is just not good enough. And that is definitely mostly Groce at this point.

 

Everything changes if he can land a point guard or center, though.

 

 

Not to mention his whole game plan last night was stupid. Nebraska is a very good defensive team and a terrible offensive team. So why are they spending 30 seconds every time down the floor? Run and gun that s***.

 

For the same reason that you don't see teams running and gunning against Wisconsin. If you aren't turning a team over, they use a lot of clock on offense and they aren't crashing the offensive glass it is hard to play at a fast tempo at the college level without taking bad shots. Pushing the ball against a defense that is set when you don't have guys who are great at creating their own shots generally isn't that effective.

For the same reason that you don't see teams running and gunning against Wisconsin. If you aren't turning a team over, they use a lot of clock on offense and they aren't crashing the offensive glass it is hard to play at a fast tempo at the college level without taking bad shots. Pushing the ball against a defense that is set when you don't have guys who are great at creating their own shots generally isn't that effective.

 

It's also hard to run and gun when you only really go 6 deep. This team is going to win games against relatively equal or better competition if someone gets hot and they play great defense. The defense was there last night, but unlike against Maryland, no one was on fire and, instead, everyone was awful.

 

Nebraska flat out didn't guard Tate during certain possessions and Starks took several horrible shots. Yesterday, on offense, the Illini were playing 4 on 5 no matter who was playing PG. Not many coaches can coach around that.

 

Cosby's regression from his time at Seton Hall (and offseason reports from Champaign that said he was the second best player on the roster) is positively Adam Dunn in Year 1 for the Sox-like. No one could have foreseen how bad Cosby has been this year.

 

Ultimately, however, it's unfortunate that this roster is without two of the five projected starters (and objectively it's best player this year). And its unfortunate that Snider backed out of his commitment on signing day. And, yes, it's unfortunate that Groce misevaluated Ulis (worst miss by an Illini coach since Self misevaluated Iguodala or Webber misevaluated Hummel).

Edited January 12, 201511 yr by illinilaw08

Sit his ass down for who? Cosby? Rice/Abrams? Hill/Nunn? Tate? As far as running and gunning, we need our guards to rebound because our F/C can't, which limits our ability to have those opportunities. I don't disagree with you in principle, but the roster as constructed is just not good enough. And that is definitely mostly Groce at this point.

 

Everything changes if he can land a point guard or center, though.

 

Tate. Tate isn't a threat offensively, although he's shown that he's capable of driving and getting some FT's or hitting a jumpshot every now and again. What he does do is run the offense better. He's a better passer. He understands how to dribble into the lane and pass to an open shooter. I get that the roster isn't 100% and isn't what Groce was planning, but it's called adjustments. That's what good coaches do. I haven't seen it yet from this guy.

 

Also totally disagree on the run and gun comments. That's how you attack good defenses with terrible offenses. I'm not saying you run down the court and jack up a three (they do that anyway!) i'm saying you quickly get into your set to maximize the number of possessions you have when you know the other team on their offensive possession is going to take the entire shot clock and won't be very efficient scoring the ball. I saw (and continue to see) way too much Weber bulls*** offense where everyone is at the three point line, passing for 30 seconds before jacking up a contested three. It's garbage offense and hasn't, and doesn't, work unless everyone is on fire (the Maryland game).

 

I mean, someone explain to me why they weren't doing some ISO post plays for Hill? Why is it that after 4 years Egwu hasn't learned to look for a cutter during his post "moves" (I think i've seen him pass one time out of the post in about 50 attempts this season). Why aren't they running designed plays to get Egwu an open 15 footer on the baseline which he's deadly at? Why is it either terrible post move or 3 pt shot from him?

 

Snider is absolutely the biggest issue here. He changes the trajectory of this entire program if he honors that verbal. As it is, this program is stuck out of the big dance unless Murray reclassifies or JCL becomes the best freshman in the conference next year. I don't see this team being any better next year with the additions of Abrams, Paul and JCL and the losses of Rice and Egwu. Jesus, we have to rely on Maverick Morgan and Darius Paul for an entire season. That's scary.

For the same reason that you don't see teams running and gunning against Wisconsin. If you aren't turning a team over, they use a lot of clock on offense and they aren't crashing the offensive glass it is hard to play at a fast tempo at the college level without taking bad shots. Pushing the ball against a defense that is set when you don't have guys who are great at creating their own shots generally isn't that effective.

 

Wisconsin's offensive efficiency is #3 according to Kenpom. Nebraska is #259. We instituted a moronic gameplan against them, plain and simple.

Wow, B12 with SEVEN ranked teams right now. That doesn't include a significantly improved TCU program, or a dangerous KSU team. TT may be the only weak team in the entire conference.

 

Tate. Tate isn't a threat offensively, although he's shown that he's capable of driving and getting some FT's or hitting a jumpshot every now and again. What he does do is run the offense better. He's a better passer. He understands how to dribble into the lane and pass to an open shooter. I get that the roster isn't 100% and isn't what Groce was planning, but it's called adjustments. That's what good coaches do. I haven't seen it yet from this guy.

 

Also totally disagree on the run and gun comments. That's how you attack good defenses with terrible offenses. I'm not saying you run down the court and jack up a three (they do that anyway!) i'm saying you quickly get into your set to maximize the number of possessions you have when you know the other team on their offensive possession is going to take the entire shot clock and won't be very efficient scoring the ball. I saw (and continue to see) way too much Weber bulls*** offense where everyone is at the three point line, passing for 30 seconds before jacking up a contested three. It's garbage offense and hasn't, and doesn't, work unless everyone is on fire (the Maryland game).

 

I mean, someone explain to me why they weren't doing some ISO post plays for Hill? Why is it that after 4 years Egwu hasn't learned to look for a cutter during his post "moves" (I think i've seen him pass one time out of the post in about 50 attempts this season). Why aren't they running designed plays to get Egwu an open 15 footer on the baseline which he's deadly at? Why is it either terrible post move or 3 pt shot from him?

 

Snider is absolutely the biggest issue here. He changes the trajectory of this entire program if he honors that verbal. As it is, this program is stuck out of the big dance unless Murray reclassifies or JCL becomes the best freshman in the conference next year. I don't see this team being any better next year with the additions of Abrams, Paul and JCL and the losses of Rice and Egwu. Jesus, we have to rely on Maverick Morgan and Darius Paul for an entire season. That's scary.

 

Nebraska dared Tate to shoot unlike Maryland, and like everybody expected Tate wasn't able to make them pay. The result: we were playing 3 on 5, and the offense stagnated. That's how things are going to be until Tate actually hits those open shots or until Starks magically becomes worthy of playing time. The team just isn't good, and doesn't look to be good for the foreseeable future. Unless JCL becomes Melo Trimble or we get Lovett/Murray.

 

 

Nebraska dared Tate to shoot unlike Maryland, and like everybody expected Tate wasn't able to make them pay. The result: we were playing 3 on 5, and the offense stagnated. That's how things are going to be until Tate actually hits those open shots or until Starks magically becomes worthy of playing time. The team just isn't good, and doesn't look to be good for the foreseeable future. Unless JCL becomes Melo Trimble or we get Lovett/Murray.

 

Then if you're Groce you tell Tate to take 10 shots in a game to keep the defense honest. They both shoot about the same percent (32% for Starks on 3 times as many shots, 40% for Tate).