uneblinstu’s postgame chatter: vol 11, ed 8 - Illinois

The entire team went over to congratulate Kent

Alright, a few thoughts:

- The offense seemed so much better when Glynn is on the floor. The lead hovered around 10 in the second half when he was out. I really feel like they could have really put this thing away long before they did had he not been in foul trouble.

- I've said it before, but I continue to maintain the best NBA prospect on this team right now is Copeland.

- I'd like to see Tom let it fly more. If it were me, I'd make that a point of emphasis post Creighton til the restart of conference play.

- That said, and it's been mentioned already, but Allen's defense might be the biggest development of the season.

- I do like his increased willingness to drive. He's proving effective doing that, too. Hopefully will open up more opportunities for him beyond the stripe.

- Is Roby still feeling effects of the foot issues he had in the fall?- Nana took a couple hard tumbles today. His tailbone is gonna be a little sore for a few days. 

- Amir's dunk was kinda ridiculous. He made putting his elbow through the rim look easy. If they can figure out how to develop his shot, he's gonna be a stud.

- Underwood has an annoying squad to play. As those young dudes develop, they're gonna be a problem to face the next few years.

- He's got a little Bobby Knight in him, though...

- We only attempted 14 3's tonight, I think. That's the number that I think is right for this team most nights.

All-in-all, good start to conference play. Let's see if we can get it to 2-0 on Wednesday. I think that's a very winnable game for us.

The reason we shot so few 3s is because taking it inside against their lack of shot blockers was there most of the night.  

Minnesota will invite us to do the same thing but they have a couple of shot blockers. Ditto for the Jays with not as good shot blockers.

2 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

26 D Reb on 43 misses from the field isn’t good enough. 

Roby only drew 2 fouls....

very efficient from the field and keep getting to the line. 5 less TO and we win by 20+  Sort of the nature of the beast when you play a high pressure D team. 

5 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

Overall. we did what was necessary to easily win that game.  We jumped up early, and then did a good job keeping them at arms length the remainder of the game.  Are all these European players pyscho?  The house was 90% full, but pretty quiet.  Where were the students?

Yes!!! Wtf is going on there? Every team seems to have a scrappy stretch 4 euro with a long,  unpronounceable last name. Seems to have started last year with Mikhailyuk or whatever,  that buzzer beater kid on Kansas. They're getting on my nerves but I suppose I have to tip the cap to them. Lol

7 hours ago, TZAHL said:

26 D Reb on 43 misses from the field isn’t good enough. 

Some of that is skillset but a lot of it is philosophy. I think starting in 2016-17 we started prioritizing transition points over crashing the boards with everyone.  

We'll see how this plays out against a team like Minnesota with the skillset and game plan to hunt for offensive boards.

Not sure whats up with Roby. There were many opportunities for him under the basket and he seems to stand around at the top of the key or in the corner like he is waiting for a 3 point shot. The dude can flylike a bird when he wants to and imho he needs to look for the pass near the rim and then slam it home. 

35 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Some of that is skillset but a lot of it is philosophy. I think starting in 2016-17 we started prioritizing transition points over crashing the boards with everyone.  

We'll see how this plays out against a team like Minnesota with the skillset and game plan to hunt for offensive boards.

Hmm.  I am not sure I buy into that 100% Matt.  Note, one of our leading rebounders the past couple games is Glynn.  What I am seeing is defensive positioning and help defense is what may effect defensive rebounding.  I see most of our guards/wings going for rebounds on a consistent basis.  

14 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

My thoughts...

- Great job by the team and university in honoring Kent.  Wonderful to see.  I really loved when the team all came over after the game to congratulate him.  Nice!

- Great job getting to the line and making free throws.

- Good job with the selection and shooting of three's.  

- Illinois plays a squirrelly defense.  It worried me going into the game, but we did a decent job offensively.

- Somebody should give Tom Allen a game ball.  The dude had a great defensive game.

- Turnovers turned my stomach a bit.  Gotta improve in that area.

- As a part B to the previous comment, we sometimes hesitated or passed up on open looks, and then turned the ball over.  I believe I saw that happen six or seven times.

- We persevered when Glynn was out of the game, but we need him.  He is definitely the engine.

- I would like to further explore the substitution thought process involving Isaiah.  I don't believe I had a problem with it, because it seemed to have worked, but did anyone else notice the change?

 

Overall. we did what was necessary to easily win that game.  We jumped up early, and then did a good job keeping them at arms length the remainder of the game.  Are all these European players pyscho?  The house was 90% full, but pretty quiet.  Where were the students?

can you elaborate on this?

I only saw bits of the first half and the last 10ish minutes of half number two.

Looks like we took a low amount of 3's. Was that by design or did Illinois take em away from us? Nana and Tom combined for one 3PA.

Also did I see a lineup of Watson, Palmer, Cope, Roby, and Hieman/Tanner at some point? Could have sworn I did.

Illinois did what they do. Make a game ugly and muck it up with TOs and fouls. But we still won comfortablly. On to Minnesota.

2 minutes ago, khoock said:

Also did I see a lineup of Watson, Palmer, Cope, Roby, and Hieman/Tanner at some point? Could have sworn I did.

You did indeed.

Mike Eades, Tom Eades or any Eades with a whistle is an incompetent fool.

Palmer needs to let his game do the talking. The refs are watching him and a stupid technical because he is running his mouth could cost us a game. After one of his free throws in the 1st half he ran directly to the guy he was guarding and was talking to him all the way down the court, along the baseline and back up the sideline to where the NU coaches sit on the bench. The players need to realize that some of these officials are just watching and waiting for them to do something so that they can give them a "T". And speaking of the officiating? Has anyone else noticed that when the NU bench stands to cheer a nice play, the refs will motion for them to sit down? But yet yesterday the Illinois bench was standing and never got this signal? And I've also noticed this same thing several times over the past few years. The refs make our bench sit down but opposing teams aren't.

1 hour ago, ConkintheCorner said:

can you elaborate on this?

Isiah came out of the game at the first stoppage.  I did not know he allegedly was poked in the eye.  Typically he goes longer (than what appeared to be a minute or less).  He came out very quickly in the second half as well.  While at the game, and when I wrote this I had not heard or read the reasoning for the original quick move.  Reading other "takes" leads me to believe he may have had a minor injury.  

Whatever the reasoning, he seemed to stay out of foul trouble until the last third of the game and he did play 30+ minutes.  

Just now, rr52 said:

Mike Eades, Tom Eades or any Eades with a whistle is an incompetent fool.

Palmer needs to let his game do the talking. The refs are watching him and a stupid technical because he is running his mouth could cost us a game. After one of his free throws in the 1st half he ran directly to the guy he was guarding and was talking to him all the way down the court, along the baseline and back up the sideline to where the NU coaches sit on the bench. The players need to realize that some of these officials are just watching and waiting for them to do something so that they can give them a "T". And speaking of the officiating? Has anyone else noticed that when the NU bench stands to cheer a nice play, the refs will motion for them to sit down? But yet yesterday the Illinois bench was standing and never got this signal? And I've also noticed this same thing several times over the past few years. The refs make our bench sit down but opposing teams aren't.

I do like the swagger that we are playing with so far this year.  Honestly, it looks to me like the Tech game lit a fire under them.  Especially on the defensive end.  You are right that we don't want to play to get a "T" but a little friendly banter on the court is fine I think.  

Now when James turned and said something to their bench yesterday, that is a big "no no."

1 minute ago, rr52 said:

Mike Eades, Tom Eades or any Eades with a whistle is an incompetent fool.

Palmer needs to let his game do the talking. The refs are watching him and a stupid technical because he is running his mouth could cost us a game. After one of his free throws in the 1st half he ran directly to the guy he was guarding and was talking to him all the way down the court, along the baseline and back up the sideline to where the NU coaches sit on the bench. The players need to realize that some of these officials are just watching and waiting for them to do something so that they can give them a "T". And speaking of the officiating? Has anyone else noticed that when the NU bench stands to cheer a nice play, the refs will motion for them to sit down? But yet yesterday the Illinois bench was standing and never got this signal? And I've also noticed this same thing several times over the past few years. The refs make our bench sit down but opposing teams aren't.

It seems a lot of players tend to get a bit "talkative" when they hit a big shot.  Heck, it has been a lot of years, but I personally ran my mouth more than I ever should have.  Plus, if you watch the NBA, it is non-stop talking.  

I am not saying it is right, but if a ref T's up a player for talking some trash, there will be a lot of technicals given out.  A good ref will simply provide warning(s).

BTN video:

2 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

Now when James turned and said something to their bench yesterday, that is a big "no no."

Illinois 'defense'

We could have done a little better hunting these backdoor oops that they give you.  Roby eventually ended up getting a lob for an And-1 put in.

Not an issue...but just curious.  Would Kent's thing been a good time for Moos to make an appearance at a basketball game?  Mark Boehm is important and all, but is a Moos appearance at basketball meaningful or is he just going to be a football only AD for appearances? 

11 minutes ago, Nighthawk said:

Not an issue...but just curious.  Would Kent's thing been a good time for Moos to make an appearance at a basketball game?  Mark Boehm is important and all, but is a Moos appearance at basketball meaningful or is he just going to be a football only AD for appearances? 

Good question.  I am not sure I have seen our Director of Athletics at any of our games.  I am sure he has appeared at one or two.  

4 minutes ago, Huskerpapa said:

Good question.  I am not sure I have seen our Director of Athletics at any of our games.  I am sure he has appeared at one or two.  

I think there was mention last season of him attending a game but he was in the box seats.  I could be mistaken (and probably am) but I don't think he's made one game in a public fashion.  Any presentations on the floor have been done my Mark.  Seems like Mark and Bill made it to all the presentations at the football games.  

Moos commenting about how we need to win 22 games and us having analytics that showed we could get a 6 seed with 19 wins gives one the impression that the AD isn't very involved.  That being said, the last guy got fired because the football team didn't win and because the football team didn't win, not to mention because the football team didn't win.

I agree about Copeland.  I am a little surprised he isn't getting more run for the NBA.  6'9 guy who can shoot and has shown some moves with a nice pull up jumper.

Also anybody else get stuck having to walk out the bottom door from the 300 level and walking halfway around the arena to get to stairs that went back up to the bridge?  For some reason the doors were locked with security not allowing anybody to exit through the main concourse level.