Illinois 71, Boise State 56 POSTGAME

#30      
AEX
ivwilsoniv said:
Interested to see his role next year once Frazier and (hopefully) Mark Smith join the group.
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Yeah, the interesting thing there is that Lucas won't have any more experience in Underwood's system than Frazier (and hopefully Smith). They'll all be starting at square one. On the other hand, you have to imagine there's some advantage for Lucas in having adjusted to the speed do the college game, etc.

That said, it was a lot of fun watching Lucas play tonight; it was also great seeing Tracy make Tracy plays -- hustling, taking charges, etc. Really going to miss him next year, and I'm thrilled that he has been able to stay healthy.
 
#31      
BillyBob1
Very nice win tonight! Lucas with some nice passes, Hill with a great block, Abrams with some clutch shooting.

Very disappointing they didn't announce about Malcolm becoming #3 scorer in Illinois history.
 
#33      
winorlosewestillbooze
BillyBob1 said:
Very nice win tonight! Lucas with some nice passes, Hill with a great block, Abrams with some clutch shooting.

Very disappointing they didn't announce about Malcolm becoming #3 scorer in Illinois history.
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I think I saw somewhere that since technically this is a tourney game the announcer is supposed to stay somewhat neutral. He didn't announce when the seniors came out of the game either like you'd expect him to.
 
#34      
Dan
[YOUTUBE]_Y1rcBYUdWM[/YOUTUBE]
 
#35      
jrichisamazing
AEX said:
Yeah, the interesting thing there is that Lucas won't have any more experience in Underwood's system than Frazier (and hopefully Smith). They'll all be starting at square one. On the other hand, you have to imagine there's some advantage for Lucas in having adjusted to the speed do the college game, etc.

That said, it was a lot of fun watching Lucas play tonight; it was also great seeing Tracy make Tracy plays -- hustling, taking charges, etc. Really going to miss him next year, and I'm thrilled that he has been able to stay healthy.
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Agreed with the speed of the game. Also since Lucas already learned 1 system it should help him learn BU's system faster. I expect Lucas to start at least for the first half of next season. But maybe I am accustomed to Groce's method of freshmen having no chance at starting until January at the earliest. The nice thing is it's really easy to see all 3 playing together.
 
#37      
HTT
Depending on the rotation pattern, is it reasonable to suggest that if Walker stays, Jordan is more likely to transfer out than DJW?
 
#38      
jrichisamazing
HTT said:
Depending on the rotation pattern, is it reasonable to suggest that if Walker stays, Jordan is more likely to transfer out than DJW?
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I don't see why one is more likely than the other. Malcolm Hill and Tracy Abrams leaving means there is a ton of playing time to fight for. A new coach is a fresh start for everyone.
 
#40      
Dan
[YOUTUBE]MprszvwPVSs[/YOUTUBE]
 
#41      
Whitmans Sampler
whitesxfan2012 said:
too many, lol
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So basically all we need to do is make the NIT championship and have Malcolm average a tad over 43 ppg in the next 3 games, lol.

Sounds like a oddly familiar number...someone call up BP3 and have him get some shots up with Malcolm before Wednesday evening :thumb:
 
#42      
Rich
I had an irrational smile when I watched the highlight video and Underwood was smiling at the end.

I'm excited for Illini Basketball in a way I haven't been in a while.
 
#43      
Seagee
jrichisamazing said:
Agreed with the speed of the game. Also since Lucas already learned 1 system it should help him learn BU's system faster. I expect Lucas to start at least for the first half of next season. But maybe I am accustomed to Groce's method of freshmen having no chance at starting until January at the earliest. The nice thing is it's really easy to see all 3 playing together.
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Yeah, that's why I was excited to hear Underwood say he has started Freshmen everywhere he's coached.

Also I was at the game and they did announce that Hill had moved past Dee to become the #3 scorer, but maybe it was only after the game was over.


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#44      
PNWIllini
Where was this team all year? I watched a handful of games, not as many as most of this board probably, but I saw a ton of selfish or not smart play in Big Ten games, that I for the most part did not see last night - guys seemed more committed to offense and moving the ball and getting smart looks. Great to see. A shame that Groce had to get fired to make it happen, but I am super stoked we got Underwood.
 
#45      
Deleted member 8213
PNWIllini said:
Where was this team all year? I watched a handful of games, not as many as most of this board probably, but I saw a ton of selfish or not smart play in Big Ten games, that I for the most part did not see last night - guys seemed more committed to offense and moving the ball and getting smart looks. Great to see. A shame that Groce had to get fired to make it happen, but I am super stoked we got Underwood.
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I was substantially less impressed with the way they played last night. They seemed to sleepwalk through the 1st 30 minutes and yet got away with it due to the level of competition. Don't think Boise St. would be too competitive in the big 10.
 
#46      
Second and Chalmers
Since volume individual scoring doesn't often correlate with great basketball teams, plus elite players often go pro, I bet this isn't as uncommon among programs nationally as you'd think, but (not so)fun fact:

Illinois' top 3 leading scorers have only 6 combined NCAA tournament game appearances in their careers, none past the first weekend.
 
#47      
TCTORNADO
Second and Chalmers said:
Since volume individual scoring doesn't often correlate with great basketball teams, plus elite players often go pro, I bet this isn't as uncommon among programs nationally as you'd think, but (not so)fun fact:

Illinois' top 3 leading scorers have only 6 combined NCAA tournament game appearances in their careers, none past the first weekend.
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Plus, Hill on a per game scoring basis is not in the top 10 Illini career leaders (Weatherspoon is #1) or for that matter on a season basis (Freeman is #1 @ 27.8 ppg).
 
#48      
Deleted member 8213
Second and Chalmers said:
Since volume individual scoring doesn't often correlate with great basketball teams, plus elite players often go pro, I bet this isn't as uncommon among programs nationally as you'd think, but (not so)fun fact:

Illinois' top 3 leading scorers have only 6 combined NCAA tournament game appearances in their careers, none past the first weekend.
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This stat would be less not so fun if you would please include #4.
 
#49      
bleedsorangenblue
PNWIllini said:
Where was this team all year? I watched a handful of games, not as many as most of this board probably, but I saw a ton of selfish or not smart play in Big Ten games, that I for the most part did not see last night - guys seemed more committed to offense and moving the ball and getting smart looks. Great to see. A shame that Groce had to get fired to make it happen, but I am super stoked we got Underwood.
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This team had the seeds all along but only showed up at the end of the season. There were a few games under Groce where they played smart unselfish ball but not enough of them. I don't think you can exclusively credit Walker with this. I have never understood why it always took Goce's teams a long time to gel. It was happening but was too little too late. Like you, I am glad this will be behind us and am excited for Underwood ball.
 
#50      
Illiniaaron
jcgoldie said:
I was substantially less impressed with the way they played last night. They seemed to sleepwalk through the 1st 30 minutes and yet got away with it due to the level of competition. Don't think Boise St. would be too competitive in the big 10.
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I pretty much agree with this assessment. Especially in the first half I thought the Illini were very careless with the ball and defended the three point line poorly. It was basically a 50-50 game with seven minutes left and the Illini went on a nice run to close things out. A couple of other observations: Listening to Stephen Howard do color on TV was quite painful. It was funny listening to them talk about the Underwood hire and refer to Illinois as the only Big Ten school in the state. Doesn't Howard remember Northwestern, he played at DePaul for goodness sake. And I love the progression Leron Black is making. He is a great athlete and is just scratching the surface of how good he can be.
 
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