Ohio State 83, UI 63: Just the facts
What happened: The perfect storm suggested Tuesday’s mismatch was over before it started. No. 8 Ohio State was motivated (to earn another Big Ten title and No. 1 NCAA tournament seed), vengeful (after five-point loss in C-U) and fired up (after Saturday’s loss at Michigan). The Illini? They are fried. After a sixth straight loss, this season is spiraling out of control.
What it means: With almost nothing left to accomplish as a team, the Illini only can point to potential individual awards. Meyers Leonard or Brandon Paul could be second-team All-Big Ten picks. Both won't get it. Paul could be on the All-Defense team. Tracy Abrams is All-Freshman material. The 2007-08 Illini (16-19) didn’t select a Team MVP. But a repeat in 2012 is unlikely.
What the Illini said: “It’s nothing on the coaches. They got us prepared. It’s on us. We’ve got to play better defense, including myself.” –Meyers Leonard
What the Buckeyes said: “I love it here. I’ve been here for four years. I might cry. No, just kidding.” – William Buford on Ohio State’s Senior Day – Sunday vs. Wisconsin
What’s next: Illinois hosts Iowa on Sunday (5, BTN). It means as much as offseason results. On their Italy tour, the Illini used an athletic, deep rotation to go 4-1. They shot 37 percent from three (compared to 30.6 percent in Big Ten games this season) and had more assists than turnovers (that’s happened only five times in 15 league games). The lesson there: summer promises are as misleading as recruiting rankings.
What it means: With almost nothing left to accomplish as a team,
Not sure I agree with this. Two home wins in a row puts us in a position for a one game upset at Wisky to get us back in the tourney. Unlikely, but at 8-10 we would be in at that moment. The Big Ten Tournamnet will decide our fate either way.
Not sure why you changed your last post accusing me of trying to save Weber's job. I thought it perfectly represented who you are and what your agenda is. My post said nothing about Weber it was just explaining what we need to do to make the tourney. As a fan I will always hope for the best which means winning. Please refrain from posting on IlliniHQ. Itis intended for fans of Illini athletics.
Lighten up Frances. FYI: My previous post referred to JimOats comment (which was removed by IlliniHQ for repeated spamming) not yours. I had no issue with yours. Yet here you are attacking posters for being critical of coaching. That's a sorry attitude and in the minority fella. Let's keep this civil.
I don't care how much our coaches know about basketball if they do not get the desired results.. Coaching is like managing people. You have to not only be a manager, you have to be a leader, you have to do the total job, and you have to get results.
It is obvious that something is missing either with the players, all of whom were recruited by this group of coaches, or by the coaches who appear not to be able to get the players to perform at a level at which theys seem capable of performing.
Everybody agrees that Bruce Weber has had success in the past. Everybody agrees that Bruce Weber is a good guy. Those things are interesting, but what is relevant is that he has not gotten the total job done here for 6 years. This is not a one year problem. Any objective evaluator would be able to see that and would know that a change is necessary.
This statement is just stupid, “What it means: With almost nothing left to accomplish as a team, the Illini only can point to potential individual awards. Meyers Leonard or Brandon Paul could be second-team All-Big Ten picks. Both won't get it. Paul could be on the All-Defense team. Tracy Abrams is All-Freshman material. The 2007-08 Illini (16-19) didn’t select a Team MVP. But a repeat in 2012 is unlikely.”
They have a heck of a lot to play for. Reality is that this even if they win the rest of their games that are on the schedule most likely they will not be asked to go to the big dance. But there still is the Big Ten tournament. If they are going to make a splash in the tournament or even win it they need to correct what is happening on the court and be in groove by the time the Big Ten Tournament rolls around. For this team that should be their top priority. In my eyes that is pretty important and if that is not their goal I would be very upset. Every game they play should be pointing to get them prepared to make a run at winning the Big Ten Tournament.
If these players start thinking about individual awards all is lost for this year and that sort of attitude will carry over to next year. In the title of this article is the words “just the facts” The paragraph that I quoted has not one fact in it and is all opinion.
And how in the heck with the defense that Paul has played (especially over the last two games) could you put him on an all defensive team is beyond me. Yes, he makes some spectacular plays but for about the last five games he has been breaking down defensively and the man that he is guarding has been getting easy bucket after easy bucket. Last night ESPN did an excellent job of pointing this out.
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