What went wrong
Too many turnovers-16. And not just too many, but some came at the
worst possible times.
Lack of execution. Take for instance the last big play with a chance
to tie the game and maybe send it to overtime-Plummer called for a
5-second violation. He shouldn’t have done that, but in his defense,
it seemed like it took the Illini a longer time than usual to get
into their set. That can’t happen.
Bad 2nd half.
Out rebounded, 43-42 but at times Zona’s margin was 5-8 more than
Illinois and they seemed to own their offensive glass.
Missed free throws, 9-14 AND Zona shot 4 more than the Illini [that
doesn’t happen very often at home. Also, may denote not enough
attacking of the basket to get to the line more].
Only 4 Illini players got into the scoring column. I don’t know the
last time I saw a box score with so few players making it into the
book. This game really needed some contributions from the bench.
Hutcherson out for the year. Austin has a sports hernia & will
undergo season-ending surgery.
This team needs Andre Curbelo [I feel like we’re playing without a
quarterback].
Kofi Cockburn did not have one of his better games but as my son
astutely pointed out-he still registered a double-double while not
having his best game [I’m quite sure most college stars can’t even
say that, he’s just now so good that we expect him to be really
special all the time!]
What went right
Great 3-point shooting.
Trent Frazier. Frazier had a monster game & deserved to be more
rewarded for it. It’s nice to see that he’s been able to shake off
what looked like maybe some prolonged injuries. [to top of second column] |
Alphonso Plummer. Continues to show that he’s a legitimate
big-time long-range sniper.
Jacob Grandison at times. Grandison hit some big shots in the
first half but seemed to cool off in the 2nd stanza.
Great first half.
Great 1st half shooting.
Great attacking of the basket & keeping Zona on their heels.
Find ways to sustain that [Illinois had one 19-0 run] for 40
minutes.
3 Stars
1 Trent Frazier=27 points
2 Alphonso Plummer=25 points
3 Kofi Cockburn/Jacob Grandison
What it Means
It was disappointing. But it shows that Illinois can play and
compete with the really good teams out there. Illinois has to
have more players step-up to get where this team wants to go.
The Illini will have to find better execution and more
consistency.
Illinois is now 7-3 and will host St. Francis on Saturday at
noon. It wasn’t a league loss & so the Illini are still 2-0 in
the Big Ten! It’s early in the season and this team has a much
higher ceiling and a lot of possibilities to grow. [By JEFF MAYFIELD]
Respond to the writer at
jeffqmay@gmail.com.
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