Hail to the Orange: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
New Blog: The Nova Blog for Villanova Fans!

Illini beat Northwestern, regain fans... for now...

 
What more is there to say about the Illini basketball season?  The NW game definitely summed up the season.  Pretty well.  Looks like the 3-pt defense was still hung over from the Missouri game, giving up open three's and leading to an early deficit.  Also prevalent again, is our penchant to start the game slow.  This season has definitely been a tale of two teams

.

However, it looks like like Bruce made all the adjustments he needed to tonight.    Let's go over the key points I took from this game:

Yanking Brandon Paul for Bill Cole (nice shooting game, sir) after giving up a few open three's led to the defensive turnovers on 2 of the next 3 possessions.  I love BP but he needs to get his sh*t together defensively.

Great game, Bill Cole.

Billcole_medium

Ed Hightower sucks.

Mike Tisdale's career game.  Scoring the Illini's first 2809 points and not missing a shot for as long as I can remember.  It's good to see him heed Weber's word to be more aggressive.

Mike Davis got his usual double-double in convincing, and early fashion.  He was huge for us in overtime.

I have a feeling every team is going to play the trap against us for the rest of the year.  McCamey needs to be more aggressive in breaking the half court trap.  When he finally did, it lead to Cole's open 3 and an easy lay-up too.  The lolly-gagging and lob/bounce passes have given up at least 3 breakaway layups for the other team this year.

Ed Hightower sure looks funny when he makes calls.

Star-divide

This team is still dependent on the play of freshmen and defense.  Early in the game, BP struggled with his defense, and his man hit the open 3.  Him and DJ never found their groove offensively.  Come second half and something just clicked.  I don't know if their defense improved or not, but NW's 3's stopped going in.  BP and DJ hit their 3's and all of a sudden we had the lead back.

One area of concern though is our last minute play execution.  DJ lolly-gagging for 7 seconds was enough to give Weber a heart attack on the sidelines and call a time out.  So two-time outs and 14 seconds later what happens?  A turnover and a near-miraculous half-court shot by NW.  What a way to lose.

This team needs an emotional leader.  BAD.  I thought Keller could be the guy.  We just looked flat near the end of the game.  Didn't have that refuse-to-lose attitude we had last year in Chet.  Luckily we found that desire in overtime.

 

NO MORE NEUTRAL SITE GAMES.  Oh wait..  Dammit.

0 recs  |  Comment 1 comment |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

Well . . .
Ed Hightower sucks.

In other news, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Also, monkeys will not be flying out of anyone’s ass.

"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." -- Don Marquis

by Donut King on Jan 1, 2010 12:14 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

I am the Lando Calrissian of Fighting Illini Sports Blogging
Start posting about the Fighting Illini »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

Connect_with_facebook

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recent FanPosts

Dee_brown_small
I want this so bad
Monsters_inc_pic_02_small
Illini at Michigan Openthread!!!
Small
Hello
Athf-carl_small
ESPN College Gameday in Champaign Feb. 6
Monk_in_a_wagon_small
What to Know About the U:
Larry_bird_small
Illini beat Northwestern, regain fans... for now...
Small
Ron Zook, The Man!

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

SBNation.com Recent Stories

FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2010, file photo, Kansas fans celebrate before an NCAA college basketball game against Missouri at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.  (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File) +11 updates

Selection Sunday: Kansas, Kentucky, Duke And Syracuse Tabbed As No. 1 Seeds

Sam Houston's Gilberto Clavell, right, shoots a jump hook over Stephen F. Austin's Mark Gomillia in the first half during an NCAA college basketball game at the Southland Conference Championship, Saturday, March 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Bob Levey)

Sam Houston State Wins Southland; Prevents Stephen F. Austin Repeat

Temple's Rafael DeLeon, left, and Ryan Brooks, right look on as Luis Guzman kisses the trophy after Temple defeated Richmond 56-52 to win, for the third time in a row, the final round NCAA college basketball game at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships Sunday, March 14, 2010, in Atlantic City, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) +2 updates

Temple Edges Richmond 56-52 To Win Third Straight Atlantic 10 Title

More from SBNation.com >


Managers

Metoo_small Joe Kutsunis

Official Partner of CBS Sports