can we play our way back to a #2 seed?

[Rickster]

hard to argue with anything I saw last night against USC...other than maybe 9 turnovers and 19 fouls (although nobody really got into foul trouble)

this team is getting healthy and in sync at the right time...hopefully it's enough to get a W over Mich and get back on a solid 2 seed. Uconn lost again last night, so that helps. Even if Mich loses to Duke, that probably doesn't help because they still have a 2-game lead in the league standings.

I loved seeing Lee get a little time with the regulars but would've loved to see more from both him and Petro. I guess we're going with an 8-man rotation and hopefully they all stay healthy. We got a shot.

Shoutout to BU for working in new defensive sets. I'm really liking that matchup zone to slow down a good dribble penetrator and the half-court trap to get some key stops.

Big Z was 3-5 from trey against Northwestern, but the four games since he's 1-12 ...hi shot looks wonky. Hope he gets that going again.

[ChiefSTL]

Even after our OT losses, most bracketology I saw still had us as a #2 seed. They factor in injuries to some extent, so losing in OT to Q1 teams with 2 starters out didn't hurt us terribly. Some other teams in contention have some big games coming up that could move them up or down so still time for things to change. I would say absolute worse case at this point is a 4 seed, but that would probably mean losing at least 2 of 3 to teams like Oregon, UCLA or Maryland. So I would lean towards a #3 at worst at this point. Our Kenpom and NET rankings are still top 4 I believe.

[Rickster]

yeah, I'm not disparaging our resume at all. I see some commentors downplaying the Illini because of the 5 Ls. None of them are "bad" Ls although I'd like to have the AL game played again.

I think we're easily one of the best 8 teams in the nation, so I would be disappointed in anything less than a #2 seed. If we get beat by Mich, and don't win the BT Tourney, then we'll end up with 7 total Ls and I have a sneaky suspicion they'll find 8 teams with a better record for the 1 and 2 seed lines. Doesn't matter a whit in the bigger scheme of things, and maybe it would even "help" if we get "snubbed" for a 3 or 4.

On a side note, that one-handed put-back slamma jamma by Boswell? ....
first, I didn't know he could sky like that
second, please don't do that again with the hand that still has a cast/support

I was totally afraid he re-injured his hand.

[12xu]

Great game vs USC. So great to see Stojakovic healthy and perform so well. Jake Davis early 3's were key to getting off to the hot start, and the Illini never looked back. He ended up with 4 for 4 on treys. I agree with the match up zone being very effective and I hope Underwood continues to use it often.

If the Illini can win their 4 remaining regular season games, they definitely should get a #2 seed in the Big Dance, regardless of their Big Ten tourney result.

[ChiefSTL]

yeah, I'm not disparaging our resume at all. I see some commentors downplaying the Illini because of the 5 Ls. None of them are "bad" Ls although I'd like to have the AL game played again.

I think we're easily one of the best 8 teams in the nation, so I would be disappointed in anything less than a #2 seed. If we get beat by Mich, and don't win the BT Tourney, then we'll end up with 7 total Ls and I have a sneaky suspicion they'll find 8 teams with a better record for the 1 and 2 seed lines. Doesn't matter a whit in the bigger scheme of things, and maybe it would even "help" if we get "snubbed" for a 3 or 4.

On a side note, that one-handed put-back slamma jamma by Boswell? ....
first, I didn't know he could sky like that
second, please don't do that again with the hand that still has a cast/support

I was totally afraid he re-injured his hand.

That dunk was out of nowhere. It was like he was levitating the way he kept going up. Pretty awesome. Yeah I agree about the hand. The most important thing down the stretch is probably health even moreso than wins/losses right now.

[Rickster]

and the answer now is probably "no".

I'm still seething about that collapse Saturday night. Someone please convince me I'm over-reacting. I see an overall trend that this team can't win close games, before even talking about this individual game of giving up a 23 point lead.

On the defensive side of the ball, what frustrates me is having just praised BU last week for showing some new defensive sets (matchup zone, half court traps) to disrupt a team getting what they want on offense we suddenly didn't do any of that. Even with Boswell, we are susceptible to quick ball handlers getting downhill penetration from ball screens and we failed to do any of the new wrinkles to stop that during UCLA's 15 of 17 run the last 10 minutes of the first half. We tried a little zone and they got a couple offensive rebounds so we stopped. I get it, offensive rebounds are bad, but you know what's worse? Not stopping penetration.

On the offensive side, I know it's hard to criticize the overall numbers. When clicking, this team can put up 80+ on anybody. But we still don't take advantage of advantages when they come up. My case in point - first possession of OT, with 3 of their starters sitting on 4 fouls, Tomi gets the ball in the paint and promptly powers past his defender who's afraid to foul and gets an easy bucket at the rim. The rest of the 4:40 of OT, not one touch for Tomi in the paint.

I don't even want to get into the final 4.9 second play. We all know that's just (bleep)-poor fundamental basketball. At least BU took the blame (sort of) in the post-game saying "I need to teach that better". Well, yeah. you had 2 timeouts called (one by them and one by us) just before that....in 4 minutes of huddle none of the 5 on the floor got the message "disrupt the ball carrier, make him pass and eat up the clock"? That is ultimately on you coach, but also on the players. These guys have been playing basketball for years and they still don't seem to understand something as simple as that.

I said last week that we are one the best 8 teams in the country. I'm no longer sure of that. Please convince me I'm wrong.

[ChiefSTL]

and the answer now is probably "no".

I'm still seething about that collapse Saturday night. Someone please convince me I'm over-reacting. I see an overall trend that this team can't win close games, before even talking about this individual game of giving up a 23 point lead.

On the defensive side of the ball, what frustrates me is having just praised BU last week for showing some new defensive sets (matchup zone, half court traps) to disrupt a team getting what they want on offense we suddenly didn't do any of that. Even with Boswell, we are susceptible to quick ball handlers getting downhill penetration from ball screens and we failed to do any of the new wrinkles to stop that during UCLA's 15 of 17 run the last 10 minutes of the first half. We tried a little zone and they got a couple offensive rebounds so we stopped. I get it, offensive rebounds are bad, but you know what's worse? Not stopping penetration.

On the offensive side, I know it's hard to criticize the overall numbers. When clicking, this team can put up 80+ on anybody. But we still don't take advantage of advantages when they come up. My case in point - first possession of OT, with 3 of their starters sitting on 4 fouls, Tomi gets the ball in the paint and promptly powers past his defender who's afraid to foul and gets an easy bucket at the rim. The rest of the 4:40 of OT, not one touch for Tomi in the paint.

I don't even want to get into the final 4.9 second play. We all know that's just (bleep)-poor fundamental basketball. At least BU took the blame (sort of) in the post-game saying "I need to teach that better". Well, yeah. you had 2 timeouts called (one by them and one by us) just before that....in 4 minutes of huddle none of the 5 on the floor got the message "disrupt the ball carrier, make him pass and eat up the clock"? That is ultimately on you coach, but also on the players. These guys have been playing basketball for years and they still don't seem to understand something as simple as that.

I said last week that we are one the best 8 teams in the country. I'm no longer sure of that. Please convince me I'm wrong.

I'm unsure too. I don't know that I can convince myself that we can play enough defense for 5 games in a row against really good teams. That was just unreal letting a mediocre UCLA team that has a bunch of off court distraction going on with their coach, go on a run like they did without figuring out a way to stop it.

I'm with you on the OT and it's probably been my biggest gripe of the past 5 years. Our shot selection is just absolutely maddening at times. Like you said, they're in foul trouble, we've got a size advantage, and we don't use it. For the life of me I cannot figure out why we waste possessions like that where the ball never enters the paint and we have advantages.

I still think in a 1 game scenario we are one of the best 8 teams in the country and can beat anybody, but I'm not sure we can do it for 5 games in a row. Hope I'm totally wrong.

Unless we win out in the regular season, probably a decent chance we slide to a #3 depending on what other teams do.

[Rickster]

and the answer now is probably "no".

I'm still seething about that collapse Saturday night. Someone please convince me I'm over-reacting. I see an overall trend that this team can't win close games, before even talking about this individual game of giving up a 23 point lead.

On the defensive side of the ball, what frustrates me is having just praised BU last week for showing some new defensive sets (matchup zone, half court traps) to disrupt a team getting what they want on offense we suddenly didn't do any of that. Even with Boswell, we are susceptible to quick ball handlers getting downhill penetration from ball screens and we failed to do any of the new wrinkles to stop that during UCLA's 15 of 17 run the last 10 minutes of the first half. We tried a little zone and they got a couple offensive rebounds so we stopped. I get it, offensive rebounds are bad, but you know what's worse? Not stopping penetration.

On the offensive side, I know it's hard to criticize the overall numbers. When clicking, this team can put up 80+ on anybody. But we still don't take advantage of advantages when they come up. My case in point - first possession of OT, with 3 of their starters sitting on 4 fouls, Tomi gets the ball in the paint and promptly powers past his defender who's afraid to foul and gets an easy bucket at the rim. The rest of the 4:40 of OT, not one touch for Tomi in the paint.

I don't even want to get into the final 4.9 second play. We all know that's just (bleep)-poor fundamental basketball. At least BU took the blame (sort of) in the post-game saying "I need to teach that better". Well, yeah. you had 2 timeouts called (one by them and one by us) just before that....in 4 minutes of huddle none of the 5 on the floor got the message "disrupt the ball carrier, make him pass and eat up the clock"? That is ultimately on you coach, but also on the players. These guys have been playing basketball for years and they still don't seem to understand something as simple as that.

I said last week that we are one the best 8 teams in the country. I'm no longer sure of that. Please convince me I'm wrong.

I'm unsure too. I don't know that I can convince myself that we can play enough defense for 5 games in a row against really good teams. That was just unreal letting a mediocre UCLA team that has a bunch of off court distraction going on with their coach, go on a run like they did without figuring out a way to stop it.

I'm with you on the OT and it's probably been my biggest gripe of the past 5 years. Our shot selection is just absolutely maddening at times. Like you said, they're in foul trouble, we've got a size advantage, and we don't use it. For the life of me I cannot figure out why we waste possessions like that where the ball never enters the paint and we have advantages.

I still think in a 1 game scenario we are one of the best 8 teams in the country and can beat anybody, but I'm not sure we can do it for 5 games in a row. Hope I'm totally wrong.

Unless we win out in the regular season, probably a decent chance we slide to a #3 depending on what other teams do.

darnit... I was hoping someone would switch me back to optimism.

I listened to Latulip at lunch and he seems to still be optimistic. And he said we did switch to a matchup zone in the last 4 mins and got 3 stops on 4 UCLA possessions. He said BU saved it for ...reasons. I guess...it didn't really stand out in my mind.


guuuhhh...hopefully I'll be amped up again by Friday.

[12xu]

and the answer now is probably "no".

I'm still seething about that collapse Saturday night. Someone please convince me I'm over-reacting. I see an overall trend that this team can't win close games, before even talking about this individual game of giving up a 23 point lead.

On the defensive side of the ball, what frustrates me is having just praised BU last week for showing some new defensive sets (matchup zone, half court traps) to disrupt a team getting what they want on offense we suddenly didn't do any of that. Even with Boswell, we are susceptible to quick ball handlers getting downhill penetration from ball screens and we failed to do any of the new wrinkles to stop that during UCLA's 15 of 17 run the last 10 minutes of the first half. We tried a little zone and they got a couple offensive rebounds so we stopped. I get it, offensive rebounds are bad, but you know what's worse? Not stopping penetration.

On the offensive side, I know it's hard to criticize the overall numbers. When clicking, this team can put up 80+ on anybody. But we still don't take advantage of advantages when they come up. My case in point - first possession of OT, with 3 of their starters sitting on 4 fouls, Tomi gets the ball in the paint and promptly powers past his defender who's afraid to foul and gets an easy bucket at the rim. The rest of the 4:40 of OT, not one touch for Tomi in the paint.

I don't even want to get into the final 4.9 second play. We all know that's just (bleep)-poor fundamental basketball. At least BU took the blame (sort of) in the post-game saying "I need to teach that better". Well, yeah. you had 2 timeouts called (one by them and one by us) just before that....in 4 minutes of huddle none of the 5 on the floor got the message "disrupt the ball carrier, make him pass and eat up the clock"? That is ultimately on you coach, but also on the players. These guys have been playing basketball for years and they still don't seem to understand something as simple as that.

I said last week that we are one the best 8 teams in the country. I'm no longer sure of that. Please convince me I'm wrong.

This is what I just don't get, and I have seen it in an earlier loss this year. The team came out ice cold on three pt. shooting in the second half, but kept attempting them, even when UCLA had foul trouble and could not stop anyone in the paint for fear of fouling out.

The defense was just atrocious from the 10 min. mark of the first half until the final OT buzzer. Unexcusable. They have to make some major improvements for the Michigan game or they'll get blown out of the gym.