Jumpingjack-well said! Defense IS THE KEY! If we don't man up, then we will lose most of our BIG games regardless of who we are playing and how hot we get. Practice will not help that. It is effort, heart, intensity, consistency! I watched the Flyin Illini get down to Missouri by 18 in the first half but never let down or give up. They came back to win. Defense was the key to the run. Defense propelled them to the final four that year. If you are bought in and play dee, you may get beat but you will not get beat up! And if you are playing D and your offense is hitting on all cylinders, good things happen.
Illini Basketball 2022-2023
- Status
This team should not be able to wear orange or the script uniforms for the rest of the season unless they start playing like a team
They should wear regular white and blue uniforms until then. Maybe a change of colors will help them
They should wear regular white and blue uniforms until then. Maybe a change of colors will help them
SKane
- Tennessee
Message board path of an Illinois recruit.
High School - I hope coach can sign him - he's the missing piece to the puzzle!
Freshman - Why isn't he getting more minutes?
Sophomore - I hope he doesn't declare for the draft. Some NBA teams could use him!
Junior - I thought he would progress more. A real disappointment.
Senior - I can't wait for him to be gone. It's time for our Freshmen to get to play. They are the future.
Graduated - I really miss him. He had what our team is missing this year.
High School - I hope coach can sign him - he's the missing piece to the puzzle!
Freshman - Why isn't he getting more minutes?
Sophomore - I hope he doesn't declare for the draft. Some NBA teams could use him!
Junior - I thought he would progress more. A real disappointment.
Senior - I can't wait for him to be gone. It's time for our Freshmen to get to play. They are the future.
Graduated - I really miss him. He had what our team is missing this year.
Joel Goodson
- dawgville
The person that's affecting RJ's tick is RJ.
Illini in Indiana
- Indiana
IMO, not sure if I'm watching a train wreck or a team develop
The good
Mayer & Shannon must start, and they have been somewhat consistent. They can take over a game and can both rebound well
Harris need more minutes, he lifts the whole team.
Epps is playing great and he has earned his minutes. He is our only creator & break down the defense guy right now
The OK - needs a tweak or two
Skyy - needs to be allowed to create his own shot. He is the better option many times and turns down good opportunities
Danja - great feet, but not so much hands. Passes must be more selective. - overall pretty good
Rogers - as advertised - not a scorer (yet), but makes the team better
The Bad
RJ - What happened? he has no confidence yet. Maybe doesn't feel like he fits in???
Hawkins - Somebody got in his ear and said NBA, and he's trying to tune his NBA game. He needs to forget that and just go play.
Goode - only because he can play yet
Underwood - Miss read the chemistry of the team. New defense still has everyone lost - too many easy buckets. I liked him taking some ownership from the Missouri game. I do like him as our coach, but it's ok to say "well that ain't working"
This team can still be a blast to watch, and can play with anyone. It's going to take a lot libations to get through this year.
Merry Christmas
The good
Mayer & Shannon must start, and they have been somewhat consistent. They can take over a game and can both rebound well
Harris need more minutes, he lifts the whole team.
Epps is playing great and he has earned his minutes. He is our only creator & break down the defense guy right now
The OK - needs a tweak or two
Skyy - needs to be allowed to create his own shot. He is the better option many times and turns down good opportunities
Danja - great feet, but not so much hands. Passes must be more selective. - overall pretty good
Rogers - as advertised - not a scorer (yet), but makes the team better
The Bad
RJ - What happened? he has no confidence yet. Maybe doesn't feel like he fits in???
Hawkins - Somebody got in his ear and said NBA, and he's trying to tune his NBA game. He needs to forget that and just go play.
Goode - only because he can play yet
Underwood - Miss read the chemistry of the team. New defense still has everyone lost - too many easy buckets. I liked him taking some ownership from the Missouri game. I do like him as our coach, but it's ok to say "well that ain't working"
This team can still be a blast to watch, and can play with anyone. It's going to take a lot libations to get through this year.
Merry Christmas
Epsilon
M tipping over
- Pdx
So, what do y’all think? Are we on the cusp of changing defensive schemes? If so, what do you think needs to change? What do you think coach will do? Even if we don’t change schemes, how do we dig ourselves out of these lapses? It seemed like things were going swimmingly well when we took out UCLA and Texes - what happened? Did other teams simply figure out how to break our pressure? Is it as simple as we’re not playing hard enough or not enough buy in? Seems like it’s gotta be
more than that…
more than that…
Maybe B.U. could try an implement at simpler defense, like a 2/3 or 1/2/2 zone. If communication is the problem on they're man to man, and switching problems. I realize this may seem old school, but it has work for many good programs.
drsmitty74
- Rochester
Not soon enough
Someone in the other thread mentioned that if we played straight man-to-man, Hawkins(or maybe they said TSJ) could have shut down Kobe Brown from Mizzou...and that made me think...I definitely agree. We have several dudes that could potentially shut guys down, and we can hide our freshmen guards on weaker offensive players, and likely have far greater success. I hope BU makes a big change defensively for the second half of the year.
Bigtex
- DFW
Look who played the last 10 minutes
TS, MM, Epps, Harris & Rodgers/Hawkins
A result of others not delivering the goods?
Clark can’t guard anyone
RJ seems lost
Dain has been a pleasant surprise but significant work still to be done
man to man makes sense also because it's less thinking and just doing for the players. guard this guy and that's it. no thinking should I switch here or am I supposed to switch here. also should make it less likely that weaker defensive players get exploited like skyy the other night on switching mismatches
I posted this in the postgame thread of our exhibition game, but RJ got lit up by BU at halftime. He didn't even make it to the tunnel. He came out with a ton of swagger to start that game, and then completely lost it. He hasn't gained it back. I'm not saying BU should've done something differently, but RJ's body language from the first half to the second half changed significantly, and I haven't seen the same kid.
Only on this board SKane . . . only on this board.
Big Jack
- Decatur
Well it takes Hawkins 7 seconds to think about passing or shooting the ball
Last edited:
He is being played out of position. This experiment needs to be terminated.
To the basketball savants (or those who pay real attention): How many high level college teams switch everything on defense?
One of the greatest Loyalty posts right here
So before I read this, I was thinking, what if we took RJ out of the starting lineup, started Dain, ran more ball screen looks. Put the ball in Shannon’s hand and you have the best attacker coming off the screen, and your 3 best remaining shooters waiting for kick outs. Put the ball in Clark’s hand and you get a true 1/5 PR.
In a 5 out like we’ve been doing, the middle is open, but if you don’t get good ball/player movement (ahem), the gaps to shut down are actually not that big for the defense, so the closeouts aren’t as far when their man gets the ball. Quicker closeout means “not as open” of a shot.
I don’t know what our defensive numbers are with a Dain for RJ lineup, but we’re a little more controlled being that we have to run drop coverage on pick and rolls.
Sometimes making it way more simple allows guys to just play. I’m not in practice or the locker room, and therefore have no real answers. But it seems like something needs to change based on my uninformed opinion.
Transfer Portal School - Boy he sure blossomed into a big-time talent, didn't he? Must have been that time he spent with the Illini.
Goes Pro - I ALWAYS KNEW HE'D BE GREAT!
I am only a fan and do not pretend to have any answers here, but I do have one question: Wouldn't subbing Dain for RJ mean giving up the switching defense in addition to changing the offense.
The line up of Clark or Epps along with RG, Shannon, MM, CH is pretty good. But slight/moderate loss of focus, effort, confidence and teamwork has put the Illini in this position.
Believe we have been outschemed, outcoached and outscouted. Teams are waiting for the favorable switch and exploiting it.
BU teams have a history of challenges early on, then signicant turn arounds and then losing game two of NCAA.
Believe we have been outschemed, outcoached and outscouted. Teams are waiting for the favorable switch and exploiting it.
BU teams have a history of challenges early on, then signicant turn arounds and then losing game two of NCAA.
- Status