Starting with the last play first. Don't agree with going for the last shot there, w/o even time for an offensive rebound. Second, just putting it in Smith's hands with no play. Not good, IMO. I've seen many of these lately by other teams, and it doesn't work very often. We had plenty of time to set something up and a timeout in our pocket. Dickinson had a mismatch in the lane, Smith never tried to get him the ball. Personally, I'd like to just see us run the offense there.
We got into that come from behind spot for a couple of pretty obvious reasons. We were awful on threes even though we had great looks. Franz had two in a row that he missed.m Chaundee was way off until that last make. Smith made a couple but missed a bunch, too. Only Eli looked good. OTOH, Liddell made three in a row and Washington was red hot. (Later in the game, we started hedging the high ball screens, which I thought helped.) We made up some of the three point discrepancy at the line, but not enough. Johns was 7-8, IIRC. But he has to finish the in close stuff more often.
We had so many little runners and floaters that we missed in the lane. OSU was going to stay with Dickinson on penetration, so missing those allowed them to congest the middle. Another problem was the number of extra possessions they got on rebounds, most of which were long rebounds or tipped. We never seemed to be able to corral those. We made a few mistakes on defense, but overall played pretty well. I was disappointed in late/no help on drives by Walker and Washington. Franz's block was above the square - just incredible. How is he not on the all defensive team?
The inability to score in the second half put a lot of pressure on our defense. Eventually, OSU was going to make a couple of shots and get a working margin. We kept going inside, and Hunter, IMO, rushes it a bit too much. He had a couple at point blank that he missed. He also needs to be able to go to his right hand. Defenders play him to go left. The refs blew it when he tipped it in with a player hanging on him and didn't get the basket. We needed that three point play. Hunter's steal and finish was great, and he got fouled on the shot by Liddell with no call.
I liked that Juwan posted up Johns. It was effective even though Brandon didn't finish thru contact. To his credit, he hit the free throws. Early in the game, Brandon tried to drive baseline and was pushed, causing the ball to be dribbled off his leg. Later in the half, we had the exact same play with Johns defending, and the foul was called. Williams would sub in for Johns and barely scratched the score sheet. I though that he got a little too much run. He did make a nice entry pass to his buddy Hunter for an easy two.
We played hard, fought until the end with Livers out and Franz on the bench for the last 5 minutes. Would have been a story for the ages had we pulled it out. I think that Illinois will handle Iowa and take the BTT title tomorrow, although I'd like to see Iowa win it.
Juwan has had a strong edge recently. Coaching his ass off. At least a week until the next game against a 16 seed. We have the advantage of having already played in that stadium. Will be very interesting to see the 8/9 seeds in our bracket. As I understand it, the team is not returning to AA before next weekend. Wonder where they practice? The next week will seem like forever. Go blue!
We got into that come from behind spot for a couple of pretty obvious reasons. We were awful on threes even though we had great looks. Franz had two in a row that he missed.m Chaundee was way off until that last make. Smith made a couple but missed a bunch, too. Only Eli looked good. OTOH, Liddell made three in a row and Washington was red hot. (Later in the game, we started hedging the high ball screens, which I thought helped.) We made up some of the three point discrepancy at the line, but not enough. Johns was 7-8, IIRC. But he has to finish the in close stuff more often.
We had so many little runners and floaters that we missed in the lane. OSU was going to stay with Dickinson on penetration, so missing those allowed them to congest the middle. Another problem was the number of extra possessions they got on rebounds, most of which were long rebounds or tipped. We never seemed to be able to corral those. We made a few mistakes on defense, but overall played pretty well. I was disappointed in late/no help on drives by Walker and Washington. Franz's block was above the square - just incredible. How is he not on the all defensive team?
The inability to score in the second half put a lot of pressure on our defense. Eventually, OSU was going to make a couple of shots and get a working margin. We kept going inside, and Hunter, IMO, rushes it a bit too much. He had a couple at point blank that he missed. He also needs to be able to go to his right hand. Defenders play him to go left. The refs blew it when he tipped it in with a player hanging on him and didn't get the basket. We needed that three point play. Hunter's steal and finish was great, and he got fouled on the shot by Liddell with no call.
I liked that Juwan posted up Johns. It was effective even though Brandon didn't finish thru contact. To his credit, he hit the free throws. Early in the game, Brandon tried to drive baseline and was pushed, causing the ball to be dribbled off his leg. Later in the half, we had the exact same play with Johns defending, and the foul was called. Williams would sub in for Johns and barely scratched the score sheet. I though that he got a little too much run. He did make a nice entry pass to his buddy Hunter for an easy two.
We played hard, fought until the end with Livers out and Franz on the bench for the last 5 minutes. Would have been a story for the ages had we pulled it out. I think that Illinois will handle Iowa and take the BTT title tomorrow, although I'd like to see Iowa win it.
Juwan has had a strong edge recently. Coaching his ass off. At least a week until the next game against a 16 seed. We have the advantage of having already played in that stadium. Will be very interesting to see the 8/9 seeds in our bracket. As I understand it, the team is not returning to AA before next weekend. Wonder where they practice? The next week will seem like forever. Go blue!
