Okay, I think it's time to admit that losing Nolen killed this season. I don't blame Tubby, we just have no ball-handlers. I think we'll be lucky to sneak into the Tourney, but I no longer expect us to be able to. Illinois played like garbage last night, and we didn't seem to want the game. Here are some things I noticed.
- The mental errors were astounding. Many of our turnovers weren't caused by a guy cutting the wrong way, or by an overly aggressive play, they were just brain-dead turnovers. Rodney and Austin especially made some horrible, horrible plays.
- We cannot make the easiest shots in the game. In fact, we can't make any shots. We missed THREE dunks (though one was on the officials, who had an absolutely abysmal game as well). Armelin missed about five layups by himself as well. Plus, we couldn't hit free throws (apart from Ralph and Blake). Now, some days we'll get the bounces, some days we won't. I can't take that excuse on free throws and layups however. If we had hit fifty percent of the gimmes that we missed, we run away with this game. No question.
- The press was the worst decision I've ever seen Tubby make. Illinois couldn't score in the half-court, and obviously wanted to run. So we stick Blake (who's a warrior, but is also slow) on the press, and let them get a two on one every time, or an open three. That was a horrible decision, in my opinion.
- Colt was awful. Just awful. Couldn't make a layup, played bad defense, didn't look confident, faded away instead of taking it strong to the hole. Just awful.
- Mav was really terrible. Tubby was high on this guy coming into the year. I couldn't think why. He's been really bad. Misses free throws, can't do anything in the offense, refuses to shoot.
- Austin made some good and smart plays, and made some bone-headed plays too, chief among them lackadaisically dribbling, getting stripped, and then tapping McCamey on the head as he made the layup. Also, he missed some shots BADLY.
- Ralph was a bit frustrating, but he will always be. On the other hand, he was the only one who could get his shots off, and he got a few good rebounds (and got some others ripped from his hands, but there you go). I liked his game.
- What can you say? Trevor was a beast. They had no answer for him. And we never got him the ball. Terrible.
- Blake played badly. He's out of position, he's banged up, he's tired, and that's why his shot wasn't falling, but he tried to force his shot a little too much, and he made some poor decisions with the ball.
Did I miss anybody? However, for all I've said, I can't say I'm angry with Tubby, or that I'm angry at the team. Nobody could have expected Mav to be the only pg on our team. We've gotten some HORRIFIC breaks. Seriously, over the last two years, we are the unluckiest program in college basketball, bar none, and we're still (if we somehow can find our way) in the hunt for an NCAA tourney bid. So I was as upset as anybody after the game. But let's try to calm down. With Al, we win the game last night, we beat Indiana, and maybe Purdue. With Devoe, (as long as he's untethered from his mom's apron strings, and is not high as a kite) we win last night, and Indiana, at least, and we're fighting for a top three finish. With Mo, Colt doesn't have to play as much. By the way, Mo looked great out there with the team. He's dropped a lot of weight. I've got high hopes for him. With Royce, PC, Cobbs (we miss Cobbs a lot right now, I think), who knows.
Now, my final point. The fans need to get behind this team. They're dispirited, the wheels are coming off, whatever. But no fans should be able to come into our house and chant "this is our house." If I wasn't on the other side of the arena, I would have tried to do something about it. But we should have been louder, we should be more supportive. Indiana's team sucks more than ours (well, maybe not at this point, unfortunately), but they still show up, and are loud and proud. Let's be a little more supportive of the program (and yes, I know I just got done ripping most of the players, but I think there's a difference between ripping performances and what's going on around here at times).
- The mental errors were astounding. Many of our turnovers weren't caused by a guy cutting the wrong way, or by an overly aggressive play, they were just brain-dead turnovers. Rodney and Austin especially made some horrible, horrible plays.
- We cannot make the easiest shots in the game. In fact, we can't make any shots. We missed THREE dunks (though one was on the officials, who had an absolutely abysmal game as well). Armelin missed about five layups by himself as well. Plus, we couldn't hit free throws (apart from Ralph and Blake). Now, some days we'll get the bounces, some days we won't. I can't take that excuse on free throws and layups however. If we had hit fifty percent of the gimmes that we missed, we run away with this game. No question.
- The press was the worst decision I've ever seen Tubby make. Illinois couldn't score in the half-court, and obviously wanted to run. So we stick Blake (who's a warrior, but is also slow) on the press, and let them get a two on one every time, or an open three. That was a horrible decision, in my opinion.
- Colt was awful. Just awful. Couldn't make a layup, played bad defense, didn't look confident, faded away instead of taking it strong to the hole. Just awful.
- Mav was really terrible. Tubby was high on this guy coming into the year. I couldn't think why. He's been really bad. Misses free throws, can't do anything in the offense, refuses to shoot.
- Austin made some good and smart plays, and made some bone-headed plays too, chief among them lackadaisically dribbling, getting stripped, and then tapping McCamey on the head as he made the layup. Also, he missed some shots BADLY.
- Ralph was a bit frustrating, but he will always be. On the other hand, he was the only one who could get his shots off, and he got a few good rebounds (and got some others ripped from his hands, but there you go). I liked his game.
- What can you say? Trevor was a beast. They had no answer for him. And we never got him the ball. Terrible.
- Blake played badly. He's out of position, he's banged up, he's tired, and that's why his shot wasn't falling, but he tried to force his shot a little too much, and he made some poor decisions with the ball.
Did I miss anybody? However, for all I've said, I can't say I'm angry with Tubby, or that I'm angry at the team. Nobody could have expected Mav to be the only pg on our team. We've gotten some HORRIFIC breaks. Seriously, over the last two years, we are the unluckiest program in college basketball, bar none, and we're still (if we somehow can find our way) in the hunt for an NCAA tourney bid. So I was as upset as anybody after the game. But let's try to calm down. With Al, we win the game last night, we beat Indiana, and maybe Purdue. With Devoe, (as long as he's untethered from his mom's apron strings, and is not high as a kite) we win last night, and Indiana, at least, and we're fighting for a top three finish. With Mo, Colt doesn't have to play as much. By the way, Mo looked great out there with the team. He's dropped a lot of weight. I've got high hopes for him. With Royce, PC, Cobbs (we miss Cobbs a lot right now, I think), who knows.
Now, my final point. The fans need to get behind this team. They're dispirited, the wheels are coming off, whatever. But no fans should be able to come into our house and chant "this is our house." If I wasn't on the other side of the arena, I would have tried to do something about it. But we should have been louder, we should be more supportive. Indiana's team sucks more than ours (well, maybe not at this point, unfortunately), but they still show up, and are loud and proud. Let's be a little more supportive of the program (and yes, I know I just got done ripping most of the players, but I think there's a difference between ripping performances and what's going on around here at times).
