This isn't that complicated. Illinois killed us with rebounding and second chance points, and their quick guards beat us off the dribble at will. At the other end, they overplayed us and pressured us, and we never got in rhythm. We never countered the overplay. Our shooting was bad because we weren't getting the open looks that we normally get. Dickinson struggled against Cockburn's strength, missing everything inside. He could have really used a mid range shot because he could get that anytime he wanted. When he was on the floor, he defended Cockburn pretty well. But he didn't rebound, nor did anyone really.
Illinois was very physical even though they were smaller at every spot but the 5. Frazier really stepped up. Curbello got them off to a good start, but Frazier hit threes and drove the ball right through our defense. 11 points is not insurmountable at the half, but I didn't feel a comeback coming.
Franz was nowhere to be found. 2 points. Yikes. Livers, same. Usually, one can have an off game and the other picks him up. No one played well. All of the energy was with the Illini. We were sluggish. We needed Smith and Eli to control their guards, but they couldn't stay in front of them. At the offensive end, we had trouble making passes and there was no movement. A lot of trotting from spot to spot. A lot of one on one stuff.
I don't know if we were tired or just one of those games. But we were outplayed to put it simply. Juwan was T'ed up after the game was out of hand. Don't know if that was a particular call/non call or game long frustration. He has a big challenge now. With one day between games, he has to get their heads straight and their confidence back. Livers may be gimpy.
Bilas was pretty nice to us considering that we getting our heads handed to us. He's been on our bandwagon lately. I watched Baylor win in OT at #6 WVU right before out game. They are impressive. I expect them to reclaim #2 next week. Fine with me.
Illinois was very physical even though they were smaller at every spot but the 5. Frazier really stepped up. Curbello got them off to a good start, but Frazier hit threes and drove the ball right through our defense. 11 points is not insurmountable at the half, but I didn't feel a comeback coming.
Franz was nowhere to be found. 2 points. Yikes. Livers, same. Usually, one can have an off game and the other picks him up. No one played well. All of the energy was with the Illini. We were sluggish. We needed Smith and Eli to control their guards, but they couldn't stay in front of them. At the offensive end, we had trouble making passes and there was no movement. A lot of trotting from spot to spot. A lot of one on one stuff.
I don't know if we were tired or just one of those games. But we were outplayed to put it simply. Juwan was T'ed up after the game was out of hand. Don't know if that was a particular call/non call or game long frustration. He has a big challenge now. With one day between games, he has to get their heads straight and their confidence back. Livers may be gimpy.
Bilas was pretty nice to us considering that we getting our heads handed to us. He's been on our bandwagon lately. I watched Baylor win in OT at #6 WVU right before out game. They are impressive. I expect them to reclaim #2 next week. Fine with me.
