Some hoops hot takes just for you guys here on the board.
Coaching college basketball has never been tougher. I don't have much sympathy for millionaire whiners like Rick Pitino, but the fact is being a college basketball coach has never been more complicated. It's not just Illinois. Just about every team brings an inconsistent effort and loses to teams they should beat.
Why? In the age of the NIL / Portal mercenaries and social media stars, the athletes don't care as much about winning. That's a broad statement and it obviously doesn't apply to every player or even most players. It might sound harsh and unfair to some. But in general, it's harder now to motivate your team than just a few years ago. They aren't motivated by the same things as they were in the past.
It's hard to even control your team's behavior these days. Underwood and his staff asked TJ Shannon not to go to Kansas, and he went anyway. They ask Coleman Hawkins to take it easy on social media, and he's on there all time trolling fans. Even on the court, they give instructions that players ignore, and you rarely see guys getting benched for it. I was pretty surprised when Underwood criticized the effort of Justin Harmon against Penn St. considering he kept putting him right back in the game.
Remember when Lou Henson would bench kids for not going to class? A lot of today's college players never see the inside of a classroom, especially since the Covid year.
The defensive mistakes are effort based. It's about focus too, but this is a senior-laden team of guys who have been playing basketball their entire lives. Harmon knows not to stare at the ball and give up one back-cut after another. They know not to go under a ball screen against a good shooter. They know not to turn their back to a cutter on baseline inbounds play.
Three layups on inbounds plays is incredible, especially considering the defense has the numerical advantage. You have to jam guys and not give them freedom of movement. Illinois also has issues defending the rim. They should front guys more and deny the entry pass. Once Coleman Hawkins gets backed down deep, he's pretty easy to score over. Go right into his chest and lay it in.
They aren't trying as hard on defense as they did early in the season. Why? Not sure. But it's the coach's job to light a fire under them. Underwood implied there would be more bench time for some guys. We'll see.
Guerrier is a shell of himself. If Illinois is to make a run in March, Quincy Guerrier has to be the guy we saw early in the season. Everyone is wondering what's wrong with him. IMO, he's juggling family, school, and basketball, and it has worn him down mentally and physically. You don't see the fire and effort that he gave in games like Mizzou when he had 28 points and 8 rebounds.
The point guard discussion disappeared, but it shouldn't have. The offseason talk was all about not recruiting a point guard. When asked about that legitimate issue, Brad Underwood poo-pooed it and implied it was a media creation. Obviously, it wasn't. And its at this time of year during the stretch run, conference tournament, and NCAA Tournament that the importance of guard play is greatly enhanced. Everyone defends at a higher level, and scouting plays a big role.
Obviously, Underwood knows the need for a primary ball handler. He signed Jase Butler for that reason. They probably still need another guard from the Portal in the offseason.
The remainder of this year, Illinois can't find itself relying too heavily on Marcus Domask to bring the ball up against pressure. When Rodgers went to the bench with foul trouble, Domask turned it over. Underwood didn't seem to recognize the issues Domask was having against high-level defender Ace Baldwin Jr. Illinois had 18 turnovers.
Hawkins needs to focus on basketball. I really like Coleman Hawkins as both a player and a young man. He wants to win and he really knows the game. He's having a great season.
That said, he needs to lay off the garbage on social media, get his emotions under control on the court, and focus on playing winning basketball down the stretch of the season. Arguing every foul call is a bad look. Trolling opponents and fans on social media is bad look.
I agree with Coleman when he says he's largely misunderstood. He wears his emotions on sleeve and he wants to win. That doesn't mean he's a bad guy. But it impacts his play at times, as it did on Wednesday.
End of game situations. I don't want to get into bashing Underwood. He has actually had one of his best seasons at Illinois, all things considered. But he seems to wash his hands of the end of game situations that resulted in losses to Michigan State and Penn State, and nearly cost them the game against Nebraska.
Among the things he doesn't seem to recognize as problems are 1) shot selection and 2) the rotation - two things that he can control.
An open 3 is usually a good shot. But chucking them up late in the game (and early in the shot clock) when you want to limit the opponent's possessions is not good basketball. Luke Goode's 3-point shot attempt late against Penn State was game changing. Goode shoots 39% from three. So there's a 61% chance he misses that shot. I believe at the time of the shot there were :16 remaining on the shot clock. 2:06 in the game with Illinois leading 87-79. Bad shot. I don't necessarily like taking the air out of the ball - it can lead to worse shots - but there's a happy medium.
The lineup issues are maddening. Rodgers didn't sub back in with 4 fouls until 1:17. Did they forget he was over there? Harmon and Goode on the floor at crunch time instead of Rodgers and Guerrier isn't a good decision. Michigan State picked on Goode in its comeback, and that was a major factor in the loss. No lesson learned, apparently. Harmon had a team worst 134.6 defensive rating, and yet he kept playing. Only 16 minutes played for Rodgers and 15 mp for Guerrier. Harmon 25 mp. Goode 22 mp. Make it make sense.
Another issue is the lack of set plays. You want the ball in the hands of Shannon and / or Domask on every possession at the end of close games. Illinois never runs set plays. All scoring opportunities come organically. There are few scripted plays, even coming out of timeouts. Draw something up on the white board.
Illinois won't win the Big Ten. And that's okay. To me, its all about the NCAA Tournament. You're playing for seeding and hoping to get favorable matchups. I would guess the fans care mostly about the Tournament as well, especially considering the lack of success in March. Even an early loss in the Big Ten Tournament isn't catastrophic. Sure, you'd rather win it, but bailing early means you won't be playing on selection Sunday and have more time to rest.
All is not lost. That's a terrible loss. The worst of the season by far. Not just the W, but the way it happened. The challenge to Underwood is to not let it linger. An immature team might have a hangover from that epic collapse, but this veteran team should be able to bounce back. Fix the mistakes, but otherwise put it in the rearview mirror. Go out and beat the shit out of Iowa on Saturday.
Remember, every team in college basketball has flaws. It looked like UConn was far and away the best team, then they got waxed by Creighton. Illinois isn't great, but its good. Purdue losing at Ohio State is inexcusable, but the Boilers also have exploitable holes in the lineup. The Big Ten in general is not very good.
illinois.rivals.com
illinois.rivals.com
