I am not happy with the Illini
I was really excited for last night's game against Missouri in the annual Busch Braggin' Rights game. And on ESPN no less. I'm not sure the last time that game was on ESPN, but I was totally cool with it.
Until I started watching the game. We came out hot, but we couldn't really stop Mizzou. But we never let them pull away either. We had the lead for most of the first half. Anyways, here are some problems I had with the game last night, in no particular order.
Marcus Arnold. Or should I say shitty fucking Marcus Arnold. I absolutely despise him on the floor. He had, what, two points last night, on one layup? The rest of the time he was entirely out of position on both ends of the floor. He can't jump enough to rebound, he can't jump high enough to make a freaking layup, he's slow, he sucks. Seriously, I can't complain about him enough.
Brian Carlwell. Why the hell didn't he play? He better be sick and or hurt, because there is no excuse to give shitty Arnold so much playing time when he's obviously so incredibly overmatched by everyone.
The rotations. If there is one problem I had last night, it's with Bruce Weber's rotations. I assume this will get better throughout the year as he gets more accustomed to having everyone healthy. However, there's no reason Arnold plays over Carlwell unless there's an injury. And I question why Calvin Brock wasn't on the floor more than he was. Except...
Calvin Brock. Learn to fight through a fucking screen! Brock is easily one of our most athletic defenders on the team, but when you see him a lot of the time defend a shooter, it's like he's lethargic in getting through the screens. If a man is going to curl around a screen and go to the hoop, then let him, but don't get stuck behind a screen as he nails a three. That is probably why he spent some time on the pine last night, as he could have played better.
Rich McBride. Glad to see he's still sucking. A lot. Comes out, hits his first shot, then misses the rest of his shots on the night, save for two free throws. And then down the stretch he actually gets hesitant to pull the trigger. Listen Rich, you obviously aren't going to be making any two's for a while. If you take a shot, I want it to be a three. And if it's a wide-open three and you miss, then you shouldn't be in the game, but that's not your fault. Take a shot.
Mother F'ing Free Throws. Seriously, would it kill this team to practice some damn free throws? Almost all of the team is shooting roughly 60% from the line. That is going to kill us all year long unless we improve. And it's such an easy fix. Shoot 1000 free throws a day. That's overkill of course, but damn we'll suck if we can't make a free throw.
It was good to see Brian Randle playing, although he still has those lapses where he gets called for a touch foul 22 feet from the basket. He's so quick too, he doesn't need to grab guys. I think as the season progresses he'll get more active. It was also good to see him drive to the hoop.
The referees absolutely blew ass. There were at least two no-calls that I saw that were fouls called on the Illini. There were shitty calls both ways, although I think Illinois got just a few more. But it's bullshit that the refs will not let Illinois play Big Ten basketball. Everybody knows that play in the Big Ten is the most physical, and if we're going to get dicked over by the refs in every non-conference game (or in the tournament) then something needs to be done.
All that being said, it's nice to get a quality win. I definitely thought we'd win by more than we did, and the game should not have been so close, but Missouri was a surprisingly good team. That game will do nothing but help us in the long run. Also, I would like to predict Missouri beating Kansas at least once this year (I don't know how many times they play).
Until I started watching the game. We came out hot, but we couldn't really stop Mizzou. But we never let them pull away either. We had the lead for most of the first half. Anyways, here are some problems I had with the game last night, in no particular order.
Marcus Arnold. Or should I say shitty fucking Marcus Arnold. I absolutely despise him on the floor. He had, what, two points last night, on one layup? The rest of the time he was entirely out of position on both ends of the floor. He can't jump enough to rebound, he can't jump high enough to make a freaking layup, he's slow, he sucks. Seriously, I can't complain about him enough.
Brian Carlwell. Why the hell didn't he play? He better be sick and or hurt, because there is no excuse to give shitty Arnold so much playing time when he's obviously so incredibly overmatched by everyone.
The rotations. If there is one problem I had last night, it's with Bruce Weber's rotations. I assume this will get better throughout the year as he gets more accustomed to having everyone healthy. However, there's no reason Arnold plays over Carlwell unless there's an injury. And I question why Calvin Brock wasn't on the floor more than he was. Except...
Calvin Brock. Learn to fight through a fucking screen! Brock is easily one of our most athletic defenders on the team, but when you see him a lot of the time defend a shooter, it's like he's lethargic in getting through the screens. If a man is going to curl around a screen and go to the hoop, then let him, but don't get stuck behind a screen as he nails a three. That is probably why he spent some time on the pine last night, as he could have played better.
Rich McBride. Glad to see he's still sucking. A lot. Comes out, hits his first shot, then misses the rest of his shots on the night, save for two free throws. And then down the stretch he actually gets hesitant to pull the trigger. Listen Rich, you obviously aren't going to be making any two's for a while. If you take a shot, I want it to be a three. And if it's a wide-open three and you miss, then you shouldn't be in the game, but that's not your fault. Take a shot.
Mother F'ing Free Throws. Seriously, would it kill this team to practice some damn free throws? Almost all of the team is shooting roughly 60% from the line. That is going to kill us all year long unless we improve. And it's such an easy fix. Shoot 1000 free throws a day. That's overkill of course, but damn we'll suck if we can't make a free throw.
It was good to see Brian Randle playing, although he still has those lapses where he gets called for a touch foul 22 feet from the basket. He's so quick too, he doesn't need to grab guys. I think as the season progresses he'll get more active. It was also good to see him drive to the hoop.
The referees absolutely blew ass. There were at least two no-calls that I saw that were fouls called on the Illini. There were shitty calls both ways, although I think Illinois got just a few more. But it's bullshit that the refs will not let Illinois play Big Ten basketball. Everybody knows that play in the Big Ten is the most physical, and if we're going to get dicked over by the refs in every non-conference game (or in the tournament) then something needs to be done.
All that being said, it's nice to get a quality win. I definitely thought we'd win by more than we did, and the game should not have been so close, but Missouri was a surprisingly good team. That game will do nothing but help us in the long run. Also, I would like to predict Missouri beating Kansas at least once this year (I don't know how many times they play).
Labels: Braggin' Rights, Illini
posted by Jtrouble at 9:00 AM
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