With the help of Coleman Hawkins 30 points, Illinois gets a much-needed bounce-back 95-85 victory against Iowa. Mike Carpenter reacts to the win which included Brad Underwood making a hockey substitution early in the second half. Illinois’ defensive intensity improved, and they closed the game out strongly and provided some reasons for optimism. Next up: a pesky Minnesota team comes to the State Farm Center on Wednesday.
It is the 200 level Mike Carpenter in the basement Studio on a Sunday morning after Illinois I’d say get off they got off the schneide but that’s not really what happened they weren’t on a schneide so to speak because they had only lost one game before that against Penn State
But we’ve used that term schneide before to indicate a slump or a stretch of games that you weren’t winning or struggling with and for me that was kind of what was going on for the last five or six weeks even though Illinois was still winning a decent clip of games and
Occasionally winning a game that you got excited about and that’s why the win at Maryland ju depos with the loss at Penn State was a little bit jarring the reason the Maryland game excited me as much as it did and that’s over a week ago now is that you went on
The road and you closed out a game against a team that was a bad matchup for you and we’ve seen this for years now but when you got a point guard like they have and a big like Julian ree you just wanted to escape with the win and
That’s exactly what they did and even though the defense was not on the whole great at Maryland it was when it counted late or I should say if not great they got the stops they needed and that to me was a sign of progress and then Penn
State happens and giving up 90 points that’s bad enough choking in the last 40 seconds that makes it even worse but I think the reason that that game bothered me as much as it did and really set me off on a weird path before the Iowa game
Yesterday was all the issues that I and many Alana fans have had with the Brad Underwood experience acknowledging that overall it’s been very good all the issues we’ve had came bubbling right back up to the surface in that loss of Penn State whether that be a lack of in-game adjustments inability to close
Out games late for this team maybe more than a brad Underwood thing and a seeming lack of urgency from a team that had something right in front of them I don’t know what the likelihood of Illinois winning a big 10 title was going into that Penn State game I
Thought what the heck let’s see what happens and let’s just win some games and make that Purdue game Count or something I felt like there was probably going to be another loss between now and the end of the season that would keep you from winning a big 10 title but when
You got that close to winning the Penn State game and that close to making each and every game after that be that much more meaningful and then you blow it and you blow it with a bunch of 22 to 23 year olds that was something that I
Really struggled with the last few days to the point of you know before the Iowa game I was this close to saying you know what I’m not going to watch it I need a break I need a mental break from it now come on who are we kidding I watched it
I watched all of it pretty much except for a couple minutes after I got frustrated and said I’m not watching this and then what you know two minutes later I turn it back on this is fandom this is Fanboy karp as the Twitter moniker would have it and it seems like
I’m not alone in that but there are some people that think Jesus Christ carp you got to chill just quit being so reactionary so why was I in such a mindset yesterday going in that game as I mentioned before it’s just it felt like a missed opportunity and it felt
Like we were wasting away a good offense but then the game starts against Iowa and while there were frustrations much through the first 30 minutes I noticed that the game took on this sort of desperate quality to it that at least indicated to me that Brad Underwood
Recognized uhoh we got to figure this out and we got to figure it out fast and that was a far cry from what we saw at Penn State where you had a game just slip away from you and a coach that just sort of shrugged his shoulders and said
I don’t know what do you want from me no instead he forced the issue Desperate Times Desperate Measures and that’s where you were at a few minutes into that second half against Iowa we get the hockey substitution five new guys come in what was it Nico ammani
Hansbury Luke goody Justin Harmon DNE I think that was your lineup by no means perfect but they basically played scratch with Iowa it was a two-point game when they left and remember that when the starters came back in it’s not as if they were guns blazing right away
It actually was Iowa took a six or seven-point lead but then I noticed that for the last 10 minutes of the game it did appear as a Illinois and those starters something flipped the light switch flipped on and they were finally playing with some defensive intensity I noted that Illinois had
Given up 29 Points to Iowa in the first 10 and a half minutes of that second half 29 Points easily on their way to getting 50 in that half with two and a half minutes to go in that half so that’s a span of seven game regulation
Minutes I think elino had given up nine or 11 points now there have been stats that have been more impressive than that but given how important this game was and given the fact that your defense had struggled so mightily and given that Iowa is a pretty good offensive team all
Those things combined made me feel a lot better down the stretch and yes Iowa did score enough down the stretch to finish that second half with what was that 44 points in the second half but when 29 of those came so early I don’t know I I
Feel like I can kind of live with that now as we sit here on a Sunday morning and I’m reflecting on that game and looking forward to the last four regular season games by no means are we out of the woods yet and we have a defense that still fundamentally is not
Good at the moment but I think yesterday showed us at least signs that they can’t be good and I think the course is not so much can they be a good defense the question is can they be good enough good enough whatever that would be and the
Fact is as you wake up on this Sunday morning Illinois has according to Ken pal the number four best offense in the country they moved up a spot for context in ‘ 0405 they had the third best offense according to Ken pom in the country that’s the kind of
Offense we’re talking about and no is it perfect no are there moments where maybe you get sick of the booty ball or feel like there’s not enough movement maybe so but the fact remains they are scoring and they’re basically scoring it will if you can just couple that with a a
Serviceable defense or back to the thing I’ll Echo the rest of the Year good enough good enough then yeah this team could make some noise do I believe that in my heart of hearts right now not necessarily I need to see more but I do think the last 10 minutes of that game
Yesterday were overall a step in the right direction so we’re going to talk about that today we got some of your thoughts on Twitter about whether or not your confidence level changed after that Iowa game and we’ll look forward to the last four regular season games and also
Address a little bit of you know the fan roller coaster that I rode but I think a lot of other people rode some of you on Twitter according to reactions weren’t riding that at all everything was hunky dory and I’m gonna after the this sponsor break get to something I tweeted
It out and I want to clarify and discuss the very intense re reaction I got to it what is it we went to Hubers after the game and ran into a friend lante who’s uh been a teacher and a coach around here for a while and he’s a big day fan
He’s like how what is it like getting all that stuff on Twitter I’ve had the champagne showers they reach out and said geez like you were a lightning rod for this I’m not going to pretend as if I don’t put reactionary things out there but I’ve tried my very best to find the
Humor in the absolute vitriol that sometimes comes back my direction you got to laugh at it and I would also admit myself that I can be a little ridiculous but it’s fandom so embrace it embrace the Ridiculousness of it all right our sponsor is DPO
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Couple snuck in here I I didn’t really publicize when we’d be starting this because Sunday mornings are nice and easy just kind of ease into the day um but I I see a few people in there and I know that a lot of people are starting to watch the replays as well so
You can subscribe on our YouTube feed here’s a tweet that I had yesterday and I want to just kind of react the reaction just just it’s almost like a sociological experiment just going on Twitter I had tweeted out at halftime I believe it was halftime has an alite basketball team so
Quickly Fallen I don’t see what’s controversial about this I didn’t say I hated them I said that they were unlikable and if you were one that liked this team at halftime yesterday good on you you’re much more patient and forgiving than I am because
What I was seeing was a bunch of 22 and 23 year olds not play defense with any real intensity continue to struggle in late half late game situations and make some boneheaded moves along the way if you found them still likable at that point you are a nicer person than
Me I don’t I don’t think that’s controversial and I’m not going to take too much time on this but I do think it speaks to fandom and the fact that sports are really a quick trigger kind of thing right it’s an emotional thing so sometimes when we’re pissed off or
When we see someone else more pissed off than we are we’re either trying to match that level or react against it and good Lord that that just seemed to blow up just between the oh you’re an awful fan you all that have listened to this podcast know I have never told someone
How to fan and if you want to respond to something like that with vitriol behind it that’s your prerogative as a fan as someone that follows me I think the easier thing would be if I really piss you off that much just mute me for Christ sakes I actually went and I think
On Twitter I have like 350 people muted I don’t block I mute and here is what I mute if someone replies to me with something that’s just not even constructive at all and just either smartass or insult or whatever it may be mute because I don’t need that but guess
What like whack-a-mole they keep dredging up and it usually all always happens when things are not going good and when I vocalize the things are not going good I saw a turd in the punch bow I said guys there’s a tur in the punch bow and that pissed people
Off why can’t we not hold two things in two truths in two different hands immediately after the game I gave credit where it was due to Brad Underwood for making a desperate call in that second half that I think did have something to do with the intensity going up and sure
Enough people will dredge up the tweet at halftime when if you again if you like the team you are a saint at that moment I did not like the team at all why can’t both be true it’s a game it changed in the course of one half to
The next from the first half to the second half and more specifically the last 10 minutes of the game things changed That’s Sports it could be the same way that I got a favorite band and they release albums and if their last album sucked at that moment I’m not going to like the
Band as much but then if they come out with a really good album to follow that up then I’m going to start liking them again people would view that cynically as man you’re riding too much of a roller coaster I guess but my God that’s fandom are you not riding the roller
Coaster if you were at State Farm Center yesterday at halftime did you feel that great going into that 15-minute break I didn’t so I just find that to be a really interesting thing that always seems to happen on Twitter if you were watching it out yesterday at Esquire or
Something like that or even Hubers I guarantee that there were groans and GH when Iowa got the baseball pass at the end of the first half and there were probably far worse things being said than you know what this seems a little bit unlikable right now I just I I sometimes am befuddled
How things get that much of a reaction if that’s really going to piss you off that much just mute me for Christ’s sake it’s just the easiest thing to do but I do think and I do stand by where I was at at halftime time an old team struggling to put it
Together now it did occur to me in the second half and probably should have occurred to me earlier in the game after the kind of loss that you faced to Penn State any win whether it be by a point or 20 was going to be a success because
That kind of loss of Penn State that is hard to come back from and yeah was I pissed off at the team for blowing it 100% I’m still not completely over the Penn State game because I worry that it could cost you chance at a big 10 title
And those are elusive those are hard to get and you don’t want to look back on a game like that as more costly than it has to be but as that Iowa game unfolded it’s like well wait a second this is a team just trying to figure themselves out right
Now let’s grant them a little bit of Grace this is me in the second half grant them a little bit of Grace and just say get the 1.1 and move on but we actually got something a little bit more than that and this is why there is can you believe it positivity today
I can ride both waves I can it was the fact that this team more than just escaping with the win which is what I assume they would do even five six minutes in the second half things were looking great but I thought you know what ultimately I bet they escape
And we don’t feel that great about it but to their credit the last 10 minutes of Regulation showed not just them finding a way to win but actual I hope fingers crossed progress on the defensive front and there were a string of possessions where Iowa was not getting a good
Look free throws that’s how most of the points were scored from basically the 10-minute Mark to the f- minute Mark of Regulation both teams went oddly cold from the field but Illinois less so than Iowa and I do think that the defensive intensity had something to do with it I
Think teren Shannon on Perkins had a lot to do with it because Iowa wasn’t able to as easily get into their sets following Miche W tulip who’s a far smarter basketball person than most and definitely a lot smarter than me with basketball he really ke in on the fact that eleno was switching
Less and that Terren being on Perkins like like flies on crap in that second half that was a major reason why I was offense struggle and I would agree with that and it was nice to see Underwood make a concerted effort to say we’re going to do something different we’ve
Already talked about the hockey substitution that is I think as meatball as it may sound the symbolic kind of coaching gesture that actually worked even though I had a friend text me like what are we doing here and I said I don’t know we’ll see but it worked and
Because it worked you got to give the credit for it and one last thing about the hockey substitution the criticism that I levied against Brad Underwood more than anything after the Penn State game was the stagnation the the lack of a willingness to change things up to just
Let it kind of fall like you see a fire and you just let it engulf the entire house in flames and it’s like well could you please go get a hose or something a bucket anything right now the house is burning down Brad well guess what he tried something
Against pen or against Iowa in a way that he didn’t against Penn State and that kind of urgency I will take a desperate move over no move at all when things aren’t going good that’s a credit to Brad Underwood and I tweeted that has such after the
Game but back to the progress part of this and why if you’re looking for potential long-term positives from a a hardfought win against Iowa where the final score maybe wasn’t indicative of how close it was for most of it but nonetheless you still won by 10 you still scored 95 points here’s the
Positive in the last 10 minutes against a top 15 offense you held them to I don’t know what was four or five field goals something like that and they got a handful of free throws as well but you slow down their offensive Pace considerably and most of those shots
Were very well challenged so it wasn’t just a matter of a team going cold and if you want to go back in hindsight to the first half some view the defensive intensity is a little bit better but Iowa was just making shots I I was waffling between that but then I
Think okay Iowa a team that’s pretty good at shooting mid-range anyway a lot of those were still contested as well so as Mike latulip had pointed out either last night or this morning in a tweet thread with or a tweet conversation with somebody you saw Iowa regress to the
Mean they started missing some of those contested mid-range jumpers so what we ultimately saw yesterday knowing that Brad Underwood doesn’t like to give up the three and I don’t like to give up the three either it would always drive me nuts when Alani teams would overh
Help and then that would lead to a open three in the corner I’m like no don’t give up the three what the guy have the two well this year it’s been almost to the Other Extreme where teams have been getting the twos way too easily and we’re finding out just how frustrating
That can be but to Underwood’s credit and to the teams credit that played perfectly into their hands in the last 10 minutes of that game it allowed Illinois to pull away it kept forcing Iowa to shoot contested mid-range jumpers not get anything easy from the perimeter and
Finally not get as many easy things as the rim Owen Freeman for example not a great game yesterday and that allowed you to pull away cuz the offense for Illinois it was going to keep chugging them getting 95 points against this Iowa team not a shock and what a
World we’re living in where Iowa or where Illinois excuse me is just willy-nilly getting 90 plus points in Big 10 games with seemingly no problem that’s rare and I’m I’m really appreciating that from this team and I want it to amount to Something in March but it only amounts to something if the
Defense as I mentioned in the opening segment can be good enough and yesterday they were and more importantly they were good enough when it mattered the most in crunch time so overall if you said and this is going to lead to the question that I asked on Twitter this morning and I got
A few replies to go through that leads to the question of okay well are you any more confident in this team after the Iowa game than before and I’m waffling on that because I think of course I’m a little bit more confident but not maybe to some huge
Extent because the Penn State Games and the Michigan State Games the Nebraska late game situation and even all the way back to at Northwestern or even take the Indiana game at home Indiana sucks and yet you allowed Xavier Johnson and Co to hang with you you won the game it’s that’s
That’s an afterthought that’s one of those you look at the media guide and you don’t really remember many things about it a couple years from now but there were enough moments in the last five six weeks where they were more than chinks in the armor this was a yellow
Red alarm fire that was saying hey you got a major issue here and it’s got to get fixed and because the way the Michigan State Games and the Penn State Games unfolded it didn’t feel like there was a lot of Hope in it getting fixed but where I do find some confidence
Today for team that was driving me mad with the lack of urgency for a bunch of older guys that didn’t seem to get it at Penn State that guys you can’t afford to slip you’ve got to win these games if you want to win a big 10 title which I
Assume they did after Coleman’s tweet after Ohio State beat Purdue last week maybe it just required one more huge wakeup call and are you going to get a bigger wakeup call than blowing an eight-point lead with 40 seconds to go is there such a thing as a bigger wakeup
Call than that I I don’t know now I would prefer to have the wakeup call and still have a chance of the Big 10 title and I don’t think we’re going to get that together unfortunately but if we are sacrificing a potential Big 10 title share for that big wakeup moment that
Leads them to a couple wins in March I’m going to take that and I think most of L fans would take that too so my confidence level today is slightly higher if only for okay Penn State was awful it could not have been any worse and that might have been the shakeup
That this team needed you might be saying well carp they didn’t really have that shakeup moment in the first half yeah and that could potentially be the fact that you were still in that hangover phase from from blowing that game I certainly was I I just didn’t
Have it in me like I Norm normally do would for an Illinois Iowa game yesterday my concerns were far beyond just beating a rival it was is this team okay is this team possibly broken and there were some really dark questions which might have informed hey
I don’t find them very likable right now controversial but I don’t know I mean weren’t you worried as well I was worried that things were starting to slip and that would have been so disheartening just such a buzz kill after a lot of things we’ve seen this
Year that indicate you know what this team would have a shot depending on matchups they would have a shot to do something in March so here’s the question that I asked people on Twitter today and got a few responses to go through how did yesterday’s win over the
Hawkeyes impact your confidence level in this Alana team going forward so just focusing on yesterday did how did it impact it right and this is from Jacob to start and Jacob before I get to yours I’m going to take a sip of my coffee all right and also I’m going to
Get on and see if there’s anybody and by the way hello to the 14 people hi guys uh if there’s anything that you want to add to this as well in the chat window how did your confidence level in this team change based on that
Win and hey Brad P I already got yours I’ll get to in a second from Jacob it was great that they won and holding Iowa to 35% second half was a huge Improvement they did look more active on D just need to see that intensity from
Here on out the use of the bench is encouraging and could be a game changer go three and one in the last four and we talk three seed Jacob we will well let’s talk about the last four right now here’s the latest on kenpom you move
Up to 11 in the nation behind kraton who was moved up after that Yukon win but you were fourth in the nation in offense and 57th in uh defense or 56 excuse me 57th I apologize now the last four games here Minnesota at home on Wednesday Wisconsin on the road Saturday
Purdue at home next Tuesday and Iowa Sunday March 10th now Ken pom projects you to go two and two I think that’s fair assuming that a game at Wisconsin and a game against Purdue at home those are going to be tough I would agree Jacob that three and
One maybe that gets you back into the three seed conversation especially if you beat Purdue but I think more importantly well not more importantly cuz the three seed is very important and that’s why the Penn State game one of the reasons why it was so frustrating seems like you might have
Lost that chance at a three seed but I don’t know if that’s over if you were to beat a Purdue and if you win both of those games against Wisconsin and Purdue what the heck if this team though to your point goes three and one in the
Last four I think we’re all feeling pretty good that would be one quality win one quad one win either at Wisconsin or at home against Purdue which is like quad one double A like that’s really big if you were to beat a one seed what will be an NCAA tournament
One seed a win in Iowa would feel good and I assume would be a quad one win as well three and one the last four Jacob I think we’re feeling pretty positive going in the Big 10 tournament from David nice to see Coleman play Within himself and the offense impressed
Especially given that tsj and Marcus were off their game but defensively still not looking like is tightening up like it should and the metrics continue to slide away from Deep Run potential going into March and yes I think the the defense of metric took another hit yesterday I don’t think there’s a chance
That you’re going to find yourself back in the top 50 defensively on kenpom and yeah they’re only numbers but they tend to be fairly predictive of March success so David I think that going forward I I I tweeted yesterday before the game it’s just all eye test at this point it’s
Just all eye test which will inform how confid we are when those brackets are revealed from Evan great bounceback win I still have concerns def uh defensively though and would like to see us win in different ways that isn’t just scoring 90 plus don’t have concerns about the offense at
All but the attorney is weird and if we have one night offens one off night offensively I don’t want to don’t see this team being able to Bear Down defensively and get enough stops Evan that’s my concern too there was a moment in the game yesterday where any stop they got
Against Iowa just felt like phew we escaped and I don’t man should defense feel that way should a winning defense feel that way probably not this is from Brian it improved slightly we rebounded after a tough loss and the defense despite giving up 85 points showed more
Effort we forced a lot of tough twos it was also good to see Hawkins show up with a huge game Brad mentioned that they had a get real talk and he responded I noticed that Brian in the postgame where Brad said we had a get real talk and it was a long conversation
According to Brad Underwood Coleman didn’t really elaborate on it but you know that was the worst Coleman game you could have asked for at Penn State and that was the best Coleman game you could have asked for against Iowa now he wish that you didn’t have to ride that roller
Coaster with the senior and Coleman being a Mercurial guy whose Legacy at Illinois is going to depend on who you’re asking some love him some can’t stand him that’s not going to change well other than a deep March run that would certainly put everybody on his side
But however you got there as frustrating as it is that it took the Penn State debacle to do that if this unlocks good Coleman for the rest of the year fantastic regardless he was Brian as you mentioned fantastic yesterday from Justin the most encouraging thing was Brad making a drastic in-game adjustment
That paid off for the most part hopefully that will carry into March great to see Coleman bounce back immediately after such a bad game too won’t be fully confident until they string more wins together yeah Justin I think that is what encourages me as well think about big games where Brad has not
Really changed a lot I’ll give you a more recent example against Arkansas last year I think Matthew Meyer was just checked out just don’t get me started Matthew Meyer I shouldn’t even mention his name but he played all the way through like 10 minutes left in that second half and
We’re watching that game and we’re reacting like get him out he doesn’t care he losts his freaking shoe at one point in the game that happens but it’s just such a Matthew Meer thing to have happened but you kept playing him and finally just you cut your losses but it
Still felt like even that was taking too long to cut your losses you continue to throw out the same lineup really a lot last year without trying different things and eventually it just kind of bit you we know that the biggest example of not not being desperate
Enough was the lyola game and that’s the Crux of a lot of this conversation right I mean that is just such an albatross on this Brad Underwood era right now and as I’m watching that game part of the sleepiness of it was the fact that we weren’t really doing anything
Differently we weren’t forcing the issue and not that that would have led to a win anyways but 40 minutes of game time elapsed and it didn’t really feel like you tried anything different now maybe there were things that Brad Underwood was doing out of desperation late but
From what I recall and from a lot of you probably recall that experience was all the more painful because you were just staying the course and it wasn’t working so Justin I agree with that it was a drastic move it was a desperate move it paid off yesterday if you find yourself
In a situation in the NCAA tournament where you are sucking for 25 minutes I don’t mind a desperate move I don’t if you were call against Houston I think you put RJ Melendez in there and said what the hell give us something kid and he did you might find yourself in
That spot in a second round in CA tournament matchup and I I am encouraged to see Brad Underwood is at least willing to say you know what what the hell let’s roll with it from Dave last 10 minutes gave me so much more hope for the defense sitting the starters early
In the second half was a great move by Underwood just got to continue the momentum also Nicolo yeah we haven’t even mentioned him yet he looks like a natural out there as far as a point guard and defensively we know that that is a major concern but to his
Credit he kept his guys in front of him he did have he did cough up a few fouls because he got beat off the dribble but you know what I mean he had minutes to burn he had fouls to burn I don’t mind that nikoa great and I you weren’t going
To be able to bot that up and get that every game but I do think that gave you a different kind of look on offense and it allowed a damask and a Terren and a Coleman which they all tend to do in different in varying degrees play off the ball for
An entire offensive possession he was Finding guys he was finding angles he was making things happen I think he did finish with three assists but it felt like he was much more impactful and the two threes I mean he’s got a great looking shot so I think you do continue
To sneak him out there I don’t expect that kind of level of production I don’t expect him to be the difference between this team making a sweet 16 or not but but I do think he can be a factor in a couple more wins maybe more I don’t know maybe you
Capture lightning in a bottle here and now his confidence is Skyhigh and you ride that 17 minutes for Niko Moretti 17 in a game you had to win hey it worked Brad Underwood stuck with it that’s fine and what led him to put him out there in
The first place a move of desperation and that worked out too so credit to Underwood for making that choice I remember thinking when they made it why not Dre Gibbs law horn but hey it worked from Aaron always sweet to beat Iowa yes absolutely Aaron have had some many uh
Very entertaining games against them at home over the last several years and actually Aon now that I think about it I think you beat them in all those home games so Kudos Underwood Aaron continues encouraged to see some good game coaching encourag to see what a point
Guard could do for them not sure it really moves the needle a whole lot though and I think those are all fair right and there were some replies here from Aaron unless he I I’ll just read all these and these are good it’s hard to determine growth in general Big 10 in
Big 10 games at home encourage to see bounceback games from Harmon and Hawkins and Spark Off the Bench kind of what kind of know what this team is they have uh mentally processed that it’s likely not a second weekend team a baby step Improvement on defense I’m not near as
Excited about the slight Improvement as latulip was in the postgame I still think Illinois coverage is way too predictable I still saw plenty of open shots in the first half can they catch fire a few games and be a tough out in March possibly I hope it happens but I
Wouldn’t bet on it do the seniors and super seniors want it it’s up to them defending their butt off and avoiding a poor shooting night will be key to making a run can they get mentally and physically locked in at the same time I don’t know the Penn State loss and the mental
Processing after that with the Iowa bounceback has gotten me to recalibrate expectations a bit in order to watch them without stressing the blank out Aaron uh you and I are I think on pretty similar wavelengths there yeah uh that was a lot to digest but I think Aaron
The Crux of it I want to focus on is the seniors and the super seniors how bad do they want it and we know they want it right we know they want it but the the teams that win in March they just play like a chicken
With their head cut off not in a bad way but in terms of intensity they just go just do that I mean what I don’t want is and what I fear would be a second round loss or even a first round loss depending on the matchup you don’t know
Where you’re watching the game and you’re like Jesus guys you’re this is your last game if you’re going to go out you’ve got to go out balls to the wall it’s why a Quincy has been so maddening and hey the first half with him encouraging but man what a weird
Five six weeks it’s been for him it’s like how are you checked out this is it there’s no other opportunities in college ball for you this is it why would you not go balls to the wall and that goes for all of them and the lack the lack of Dayal defense
From a bunch of veterans like that back to the unlikable tweet I had how could you find that even remotely likable how would that not get under your skin as a fan to see a bunch of older guys veterans in their last opportunity not defend that’s why I was so ticked off
That’s why I was finding them unlikable and then hey yeah they had a stretch in the second half where they look like that likable team again that’s sports that can happen that’s the pendulum swinging Aaron is a little bit less convinced that yesterday means a whole lot and I I
Understand that I’m I’m probably a little bit more that side than I am yesterday you know drastically changing what this team can do I think what they can accomplish is about the same as it was a month or two ago what they can accomplish and this is what makes it so
Frustrating and possibly encouraging it’s all up to the defense and it does feel like God guys if you just walk in and just play your butts off defensively you are going to be a really tough out if you’re a team game planning against Illinois you are not having a
Lot of fun game planning against that offense you’re thinking man just let’s hope their their defense looks like it did for that stretch in January and February that’s what you’re hoping for and you might get that but man if Illinois can just control the controllables here and that does include
Defensive intensity if the defensive intensity is there I don’t know what’s stopping this team in the first two rounds and then you roll the dice against better teams or higher seeds in the third and fourth rounds I so badly want to see them get
To that and it would be such a kick in the gut if they flame out in the second round giving up 90 points even to a good team that would be a bummer losing 90 to 88 that that would suck because it would have been something that we saw a mile away right
And and I just like Aaron is kind of mentioning here the stress uh that that’s kind of building up it’s it’s years of not making the second weekend combined with the last five or six weeks seeing this defense slip to the degree to which they have and Aaron I’m right there with you
But yet we still know they can do it and that’s what’s so vexing about it and I know there’s a lot of other teams that would probably say the same thing of course we can make a run but will we but this Illinois team in particular we know
For sure that they can that they’re able that they have the talent to do so so as far as the Spectrum if one side is can they and the other side is will they to me there’s no question about the can for Illinois it’s all about will they exert themselves defensively as
They should from David let me get some water here sorry no breaks on the 200 level from David yesterday’s win doesn’t erase the sting of the MSU and PSU meltdowns it does give me hope of potential future adjustments and getting away from Brad’s stubbornness and just riding with his
Guys when everyone can see that something isn’t working in parentheses David mentions lyola and David I’m very much in the same with you you know the Michigan State game perhaps it was because my wife and I were up there and that’s her alma mater and it was a
Christmas gift and just enjoying the weekend that we had up there and it is a cool campus that meltdown didn’t bother me as much at the time and then I woke up and thought oof that’s that’s not good that that is a meltdown it was such a quick
Change of Fortune in the last five minutes of that game where I was maybe Shell Shocked I didn’t really process it but yeah that was bad the PSU game was historically bad so that’ll linger that’ll linger and it’ll linger until it doesn’t and the the only thing that would help it
Not linger is you well you already know it’s a it’s a chorus amongst the L fans making the second weekend from Tyler they bounce back from a really bad loss and prove they have some grit that’s I totally agree with that Tyler this team is so talented and deep offensively that
Even if a guy has an off night there is someone else there to step up if they bring the effort on defense they are tough and I still expect a sweet 16 run Tyler I think if they bring defensive intensity I would agree it’s a better
Than 50% shot they make the sweet 16 and sometimes that’s all he can ask for going into March Madness from Grant we’ll know more in the coming games would like to continue to see a 91 man rotation fresh legs l a mass dribbling off his leg and making jump passes from
3ars court you don’t like the jump pass Grant yeah uh I I I like him mask a lot and he was not great yesterday but he’s been on the whole fantastic this year I do think that it will be more beneficial for him especially in late game situations to
Keep those fresh legs to not always be the guy bringing it up not always be the guy doing booty ball I think you can mix all these different weapons you have and we saw yesterday as you mentioned grant that deep rotation didn’t hurt you and if anything when you had or when you
Called upon your big three to finish the game for you they were fresh this is from Chev Chev chellos any relation to Chris I wonder coming off a historic collapse with so much to play for in late February I don’t understand how you let your effort
Be called into question it’s too late in the season to need to quote send a message with gimmicky hockey substitution our team has all the pieces but I expect more now let’s address this it was a desperate move but to chev’s point why why do we need to play that
Card in late February with a bunch of seniors and super seniors yeah that’s a valid question of valid concern you know you won’t be able to do that again I mean I guess you could you could do the hockey substitution but if you have to do that again then that does not bode
Well for any indication of oh the Ia game could be a turning point and notice I I haven’t really said that much today because I don’t know if that’s the case I don’t believe it to be the case that oh all is well Turn the Page they
Figured it out I don’t think you can fix that mental component overnight or with one hockey substitution I agree with Chev there I just hope that they innately find it in themselves that I mean guys this is it there’s no tomorrow when you get into the tournament there is no
Tomorrow will they I don’t know God I hope so and back to the likable or unlikable thing there are likable piece the the players themselves are overall likable so people were confused by that tweet I get it but I just don’t find anything likable about a bunch of guys with their
Last opportunity not going out giving it everything they have that sounds really hokey and meatball Fanny I get it but how can that be remotely likable 22 and 23 year olds with one last go and they aren’t playing balls to the wall defense they aren’t chasing that big 10 Crown which
Again not my biggest priority but you had a path and now you don’t why because you weren’t playing hard on defense we can boil it down to that and yeah Underwood pissed me off too and that’s why we called it bad Underwood on Wednesday cuz it was deserved he sucked
On Wednesday they all sucked but Chev if I’m trying to find a silver lining here it is that they did respond yesterday they got to keep responding they got to show us that they can be a serviceable defense because I don’t think we can ask for a good defense at
This point that might be a little bit too much but they do have an elite offense I mean listen if you’re top 10 in the nation you’re you’re Elite and they have that all right from Teddy no change I’m still highly skeptical of this team’s interior defense and capability to close
Out games I thought yesterday was a good first step but it is a bad Iowa group I’m still concerned you know Teddy even though Iowa had been winning games they’ve looked bad at certain points this year they didn’t look bad yesterday and you ask okay is it us is it them but
They have looked bad and and if I were to go to Ken pom what what is their thing on kenpom they’re 49th you know Ken pom projects them to finish 17 and 14 under 500 in the Big 10 they’re eight- n right now they got Penn State at
Home Northwestern on the road Illinois at home yes so they predict them to win one of their last three games and they do predict them to lose to Illinois in the last game of the year at Carver Hawkeye but yeah are they great no it was just a
Bad bit of time in to play a really good offense after the choke job at Penn State and that’s where Teddy I’m encouraged by the last 10 minutes against that offense what they did from Andrew hey Andrew just echoing others and I’ve said this elsewhere but the December and early January version of
This team was mean to opponents and just bullied their way to Victory you felt invincible and all that went all of that went back to their defense opponents got no easy shots the ball was always getting stripped and blocked No Easy Pass in the lane we need a
Back we do Andrew and I don’t know if we’re going to get back to that level I don’t know what got Lost in Translation I I really think the biggest thing we got to talk about Quincy which I was encouraged Again by his first half but man if you get December Quincy
Back you got a shot if you don’t the questions about interior defense about toughness and meanness on defense and by the way Tai was bad Tai was bad yesterday and this is after I was calling for Tai to play over Harmon and Harmon was great so again Kudos
Underwood he read the room correctly yesterday in terms of who do you play I thought against Penn State you put tieback out there because he was better than Harmon yesterday he kept Harmon out there because Harmon was great he was mean on defense he was mean on the
Boards he was mean attacking the rim we need more of that meanness and Quincy bringing that back I think Andrew would be Monumental this is from Aaron elois can beat anyone but they have to consistently defend consistently defending is the stressful part because they’re offense is good enough to make a
Historic run it is Aaron that’s the thing it is good enough to make that run and I want to use an example here and this is maybe from I forget if Derrik Piper or Michael L tulip was talking with Jeremy about this but Miami last year let me make sure I get this
Right okay Miami last year makes a final 4 run they had the 99th defense and the number number six offense 99th defense I mean Illinois is in the 50s and will probably finish around when you got Purdue and Wisconsin and Iowa coming up you’re probably going
To finish in the low 60s right you you not going to have metrically a great defense but the offense you look at Jim Lena last year he makes that sneaky run with Miami and then they play Connecticut and they lost Connecticut Because by the way Connecticut wi in the
National title I mean Jesus did they have the slip against kraton and then last night I turned on a little bit of that game against Villanova at home oh my god wow um they’re extremely good and better than Purdue I would think but Purdue is probably gonna make the final
Four as well I think but why not I mean come on you and I’m looking here this Miami team right it’s not as if they got all the breaks seating wise they beat Drake in the first round they beat Indiana in the second okay well that’s a pretty easy
Path to the Sweet 16 te but then they played Houston on Ken palom last year Houston was number two they outscored them 89 to 75 and Houston’s defense last year was Elite as it always is Texas the next game they beat them 88 to 81 so and Texas was fifth in kenpom that
Just goes to show that yes I guess sometimes an offense can carry you it can and I mean look at this guys all right am I trying to find a path here last year Miami on February 25th they played Florida State 205th in kenpom awful Florida State team they played him
At home they lost 855 to 84 and it was a choke job of monumental proportions and then I mean if you look at the graph here whenn probability it looks basically like the pennstate game for Illinois what happens after that well they sneak out a home win against
Pittsburgh they beat wake force on a neutral site they lose to Duke in the ACC tournament and then they won four games in the row in the NCAA tournament it can happen now is it common no without a good defense it’s not common but it can happen uh one other from Aaron here
Aaron great stuff most encouraging part of yesterday was Underwood stop being so stubborn and predictable seeing him make a coaching move that change the direction of the game is very encouraging and uh he continues that one of the best showing some Underwood in his time in Illinois clearly out coach
Mcaffry and I would agree with that that you know mcaffrey is a good coach that I think has been hamstrung by being overly systemic or systematic in terms of the kinds of guys he brings in you’re only going to have a chance if you have some Elite Talent a chance for
Deep runs I mean Illinois has that Iowa other than Alca Garza and the Murray Brothers haven’t always had that Elite Talent this team is just a collection of Fran mcaffrey guys without that Elite dude if they had an elite dude they would be a Surefire on CAA tournament
Team don’t know if that means they would win anything in the tournament but so we’re going to end on positivity right and you might have if you started this episode and you finished it and listen the whole thing you might be thinking well where is karp exactly I don’t know where
Exactly I’m at but I think I’ve settled on this they can make a run and now it’s just a question of will they they can but will they and of course there is luck and they intangible things that go into that as to whether they do or
Whether they don’t but looking at that Miami template from last year it can happen and when Miami needed to just you know toughen up on defense in the games that matter the most they did and they made a surprise final four run I don’t think people would be shocked if
Illinois made a final four there’s pundits even field of 68 they still have a conversation I think earlier this week after Penn State that this Illinois team can make a run and I’m I wasn’t feeling it then and I don’t know if I’m feeling it now but I would agree that they still
Can so it really comes down to the 22 and 23y olds on this team the harmans the Quincy gas the tsj the Damas the Coleman Hawkins those five if they all play well this is a hard team to beat if you look at the losses there’s usually a
Common denominator of two or three guys being bad not just okay but bad Harmon cost you that game against Penn State Hawkins cost you that game Quincy was a noow that’s three and you still put up 89 and you should have won it so God if
You just clean it up there are a few teams that are as dangerous in that four line which I’m assuming Illinois will finish in the four line if you’re a one seed you don’t necessarily want an Illinois in the sweet 16 because they can drop 90 on you but
Likewise or on the other hand I should say a team could easily drop 90 in Illinois unless they decide you know what we aren’t going to let that happen and I do think they have the power within to do that all right oh and also from Aaron let’s close out on this a
Break in the draw for a change would really help yes it would Aaron and we will try to get you some details this week about a selection Sunday special here in champagne and have some fun with that which is what is that two weeks away it’s three weeks away so we still got
Time but yeah we’ll have some fun with that as well and we will be very keenly watching the unveiling of whoever that five seed may be or heck who even the 13 seed would be because again I’m banking on a four and it would
Be nice to look at it and think hey we got a path here cuz you know what last year no Arkansas and then maybe Kansas that’s not a path not for that team the year before that oh Houston great Elite defense and yeah maybe you weren’t the same as me but when that
Loyola name dropped I thought oh God dang it here we go how cute is that don’t even get me started on sister Jean I’m sure she’s a nice lady I just don’t want to see her on my TV when I’m watching my team play all right listen up and down podcast positive negative
We’re reconciling all of it likable unlikable God forbid but we are at a weird position right now with this team overall good and I want in on one more thing 20th win first time since 2000 to 2007 that Illinois had five consecutive 21 Seasons I will end on this Brad Underwood is the
Long-term guy I even tweeted that after Penn State he is your guy and I’m glad he’s your guy but it’s that in-game stuff that worries you right but I’m not going to dismiss the fact that five straight 21 Seasons that means something five straight tournaments because we’ll count the one
That you didn’t get because of Co that means something you are at a far far far better place than you were before and I am so grateful for that I don’t want that to get misconstrued so when criticism is levied it’s not criticism like get Underwood the heck out of here
It’s not that it’s called Nuance I like most of the things he does but unfortunately when things go bad and you can pinpoint a few areas of weakness with him which is what makes yesterday particularly encouraging as I know some of you have said he made a desperate
Move when it called for it it paid off we’ll see if it resonates with this team and hopefully he knows that if it comes down to it he does have more depth available to him if certain guys are either checked out or not playing playing well on defense that going
Forward I hope helps this team and we’ll find out Wednesday which I think is a great opportunity to really show something and come out against a far less offensively talented well not far less but a less offensively potent team in Minnesota that’s been playing tough let’s come out and answer the Bell
Against them if you do that then I think you should feel pretty confident going into Wisconsin which I just think is a good match up for this team all right Champagne Showers podcast Network appreciate them appreciate DP do online a DP do State Farm agent Brian Hansen online at
Brian is my guy.com Dogtown heating air and plumbing your home’s best friend at 217 84147 28 and Owen Builders LLC online at Owen Builders llc.com thank you for those who tuned in on this Sunday morning and now it is time to enjoy the rest of your day we’re going
To smoke some chicken I’m going to have a cigar I’m going to have my TV on in the garage and watch some college basketball and just enjoy this early spring weather 70° the next two days I mean come on this is absolutely perfect perfect but we will be back I believe
Wednesday we’ll do a second half pod so take care everybody enjoy the beautiful weather Illinois with her 20th win of the Season Big 10 title maybe not but the bigger question looms can this team get right or get right enough before March Madness I certainly hope so and I
Think they can we’ll see it is the 200 level thanks for tuning in everybody on a Sunday morning and uh have a great rest of your weekend and thanks for the comments and we will see you Wednesday evening bye everybody
