This season could suck for the Illini
I missed the first 10 minutes or so of the Illini game last night, but I knew we were playing Idaho State, so I'm positive it's no big deal. And, of course, I was not happy with what I saw. So I'll just review some of my thoughts on the game.
Glad we sucked a lot. How anyone is down at any point in a game to Idaho State is beyond me, let alone a team like Illinois (who should definitely be ranked in my opinion). Seriously, on offense we were doing nothing but allowing Rich McBride to take shitty shots, and on defense we were letting this dude with a crazy shot make everyting. They're assists leader had 2 fucking assists with 5 minutes left in the game. That means at most every other person had one. So we were getting beat off the dribble. That's shitty on the ball defense.
Rich McBride can't make a shot. All he's good for is shooting. He'll make maybe his first two shots of the game, maybe three, then he'll miss for the rest of the game. It's like clockwork. 'Oh, second half? McBride shoots, and misses, there's a shock.' Also, he can't defend quicker guards. He can get taken off the dribble too easily. And then there's still the argument about his lack of motion IN THE MOTION OFFENSE. I don't see what his deal is, but I think he's just too stupid to understand. Maybe he just spends a lot of time in the game thinking about getting another DUI. (Ok, that was a low blow, but he needs to stop sucking ass.)
Brian Randle is good. However, he seems reluctant to take a shot. There were at least 3 or 4 times last night when the ball got reversed to him and he was wide open, but you could tell he wasn't even thinking about shooting the ball. I think I saw him take one shot from outside the paint, a three with the shot clock expiring, and he drained it. I don't like seeing him hit the ground hard every game and then come up limping. Another thing is that while his defense is stellar, every now and then he just gets slightly lazy and he'll slap a guy (or like last night, hold a guy who is trying to post up 18 feet from the basket). That is why he continues to get into foul trouble. If he could stop with the ticky tack fouls, he would be on the floor that much longer, and if he's on the floor we're better for it.
Fucking Marcus Arnold. Arnold is no better than our 4th post option. Seriously, it should go Pruitt, Carter, Carlwell. Then, if two of those three must be out of the game, Randle moves to a four. Then, if Randle also needs to leave, you put Calvin Brock at 4. Then if all of them are in foul trouble, you go with Marcus Arnold. He's a terrible defender, he's slow, he's worthless, he can't jump more than 3 inches off the ground, so he can't rebound, and he is too short to get shots off inside (because he can't jump either). Also, he's a shitty fifth-year senior. Who will not be going to the NBA. Don't really need to play him for any reason at all. Worthless.
Our offense against the zone looked shitty until Calvin Brock came in with about 10 minutes left in the game. Seriously, the way to beat a zone is dribble penetration and skip passes. It's not that hard. I'm not a coach, and I know that. I also haven't played since I was a sophomore in high school, and I still know that. All Illinois was doing last night was passing the ball around the perimeter slowly. Oh, another way to beat a zone is to overload one side of the floor. Then skip it to the other side. Or get the ball to the middle. The motion offense isn't designed for use against zone offenses. That's fine. But we need something that will work. Also, against a zone, you usually get a lot of threes. Well, Rich McBride sure can't make them if it's the second half, so exactly what is he in for?
Last year the first time I saw Chester Frazier I thought he looked like a Deron Williams type of player. He doesn't run the offense as well, and from what I've seen, he doesn't create his own shot the way Deron could. Then again, he's only a sophomore. And Deron turned his game around phenomenally. So I don't know if it's insane to think that Chet could be the top PG in the Big Ten his senior year. Also, I like the options that McCamey will give us next year, assuming Weber actually plays him, unlike he does with Carlwell. Sidenote: CARLWELL NEEDS TO PLAY. If he can't play against cupcakes, how is he supposed to get coomfortable enough to contribute against good teams? Seriously Weber, what is up with that.
A win is a win, regardless, and if anything this points out a lot of weak points that need to be addressed. We just have Xavier left, so definitely from here on out, every game is meaningful. Hopefully we won't have any of those slow starts like we had, we'll be able to pick up our defensive intensity (which is always a Bruce Weber staple) and we'll be able to blow out the teams we should definitely be blowing out. Also, we might as well just win out and run the table in the Big Ten tourney so we can get a Top 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Glad we sucked a lot. How anyone is down at any point in a game to Idaho State is beyond me, let alone a team like Illinois (who should definitely be ranked in my opinion). Seriously, on offense we were doing nothing but allowing Rich McBride to take shitty shots, and on defense we were letting this dude with a crazy shot make everyting. They're assists leader had 2 fucking assists with 5 minutes left in the game. That means at most every other person had one. So we were getting beat off the dribble. That's shitty on the ball defense.
Rich McBride can't make a shot. All he's good for is shooting. He'll make maybe his first two shots of the game, maybe three, then he'll miss for the rest of the game. It's like clockwork. 'Oh, second half? McBride shoots, and misses, there's a shock.' Also, he can't defend quicker guards. He can get taken off the dribble too easily. And then there's still the argument about his lack of motion IN THE MOTION OFFENSE. I don't see what his deal is, but I think he's just too stupid to understand. Maybe he just spends a lot of time in the game thinking about getting another DUI. (Ok, that was a low blow, but he needs to stop sucking ass.)
Brian Randle is good. However, he seems reluctant to take a shot. There were at least 3 or 4 times last night when the ball got reversed to him and he was wide open, but you could tell he wasn't even thinking about shooting the ball. I think I saw him take one shot from outside the paint, a three with the shot clock expiring, and he drained it. I don't like seeing him hit the ground hard every game and then come up limping. Another thing is that while his defense is stellar, every now and then he just gets slightly lazy and he'll slap a guy (or like last night, hold a guy who is trying to post up 18 feet from the basket). That is why he continues to get into foul trouble. If he could stop with the ticky tack fouls, he would be on the floor that much longer, and if he's on the floor we're better for it.
Fucking Marcus Arnold. Arnold is no better than our 4th post option. Seriously, it should go Pruitt, Carter, Carlwell. Then, if two of those three must be out of the game, Randle moves to a four. Then, if Randle also needs to leave, you put Calvin Brock at 4. Then if all of them are in foul trouble, you go with Marcus Arnold. He's a terrible defender, he's slow, he's worthless, he can't jump more than 3 inches off the ground, so he can't rebound, and he is too short to get shots off inside (because he can't jump either). Also, he's a shitty fifth-year senior. Who will not be going to the NBA. Don't really need to play him for any reason at all. Worthless.
Our offense against the zone looked shitty until Calvin Brock came in with about 10 minutes left in the game. Seriously, the way to beat a zone is dribble penetration and skip passes. It's not that hard. I'm not a coach, and I know that. I also haven't played since I was a sophomore in high school, and I still know that. All Illinois was doing last night was passing the ball around the perimeter slowly. Oh, another way to beat a zone is to overload one side of the floor. Then skip it to the other side. Or get the ball to the middle. The motion offense isn't designed for use against zone offenses. That's fine. But we need something that will work. Also, against a zone, you usually get a lot of threes. Well, Rich McBride sure can't make them if it's the second half, so exactly what is he in for?
Last year the first time I saw Chester Frazier I thought he looked like a Deron Williams type of player. He doesn't run the offense as well, and from what I've seen, he doesn't create his own shot the way Deron could. Then again, he's only a sophomore. And Deron turned his game around phenomenally. So I don't know if it's insane to think that Chet could be the top PG in the Big Ten his senior year. Also, I like the options that McCamey will give us next year, assuming Weber actually plays him, unlike he does with Carlwell. Sidenote: CARLWELL NEEDS TO PLAY. If he can't play against cupcakes, how is he supposed to get coomfortable enough to contribute against good teams? Seriously Weber, what is up with that.
A win is a win, regardless, and if anything this points out a lot of weak points that need to be addressed. We just have Xavier left, so definitely from here on out, every game is meaningful. Hopefully we won't have any of those slow starts like we had, we'll be able to pick up our defensive intensity (which is always a Bruce Weber staple) and we'll be able to blow out the teams we should definitely be blowing out. Also, we might as well just win out and run the table in the Big Ten tourney so we can get a Top 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Labels: Illini
posted by Jtrouble at 8:09 AM
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