Illini Basketball performances

[Vinegar Ben]

It's not just the losses but it's the performance or should I say lack of. The Alabama and Nebraska losses came because these guys couldn't make a free throw. That is one of the first things I learned in grade school. Practice shooting free throws, hell no they would rather practice high flying dunks. They lack emotion and are not ready to play from the start. It is something that has plagued Brad's teams ever since he came. They are not prepared. I see a downward spiral for this team against competition they should easily handle. Mizzou will kick their butts.

[Rickster]

respectfully disagree on some of those points...

FT - yeah, they clearly pooched FT against AL, but overall they are 18th in the nation at 78.2%. Keep that up and they'll be fine. What I would nitpick about is who is shooting them (or more importantly, who is NOT shooting enough of them). T. Ivisic should be drawing way more fouls, as should Mirkovic. Some games he draws a lot and others he doesn't.

I don't know what the answer is for the defensive woes. I understand that some players just don't have the skill sets needed to defend certain ways against certain types of players. That's a coaching issue, to make adjustments that put your team in the best position to succeed.

[marlu]

Mizzou will kick their butts.

This sure aged well.

[ChiefSTL]

Mizzou will kick their butts.

This sure aged well.

Yeah, there was a team that didn't look prepared, and it wasn't Illinois. For all the hand wringing that some people do over Underwood, I've never seen a team under him look like that Mizzou squad. I get that Gates has some big recruits coming in, but he had some good recruits on that team and they weren't prepared or very tough at all. Their defense was laughable and I have no idea what they were trying to do on offense.