If you are good enough to have a 12 point or a 15 point lead, you have enough talent to win a game. We’ve seen plenty of Illinois teams with less talent than this.
Kofi gets frustrated easily and tries to force things.
Curbelo is very immature on the court. Same with Hawkins. They get T’ed up for a reason.
Grandison and Williams are complementary pieces that don’t have confidence.
Frazier should be the leader of this team. He would do it but he’s more of a backup at the PG spot and isn’t very tall so recent matchups have been tough. Look for him to step up as a leader.
Goode has toughness. He’ll be involved more as we go. Hutcherson can help this team because he can score ugly. He’ll be more involved too.
What we really need though is more maturity from Curbelo and Hawkins.
This team lost its leader and its security blanket when Ayo left. They did fine without him last year but never really had adversity in those games.
We did see guys crumble under the weight of expectations in the Loyola game. It’s the same thing we’ve seen in the Missouri games lately. When they are the favored team and guys just come at them and punch them in the mouth they have no answer.
This team doesn’t know how to win in a street fight. They need to recapture their underdog mentality and start attacking the other team with confidence. Don’t play desperate hero ball but attack by making the right basketball play with conviction.
So many weak desperate attempts that had no chance. Nobody trusting the system or their teammates. I’ve seen this in other underachieving teams in other sports. It can get ugly for a while but with practice and a better attitude it can improve as the season progresses.
Kofi gets frustrated easily and tries to force things.
Curbelo is very immature on the court. Same with Hawkins. They get T’ed up for a reason.
Grandison and Williams are complementary pieces that don’t have confidence.
Frazier should be the leader of this team. He would do it but he’s more of a backup at the PG spot and isn’t very tall so recent matchups have been tough. Look for him to step up as a leader.
Goode has toughness. He’ll be involved more as we go. Hutcherson can help this team because he can score ugly. He’ll be more involved too.
What we really need though is more maturity from Curbelo and Hawkins.
This team lost its leader and its security blanket when Ayo left. They did fine without him last year but never really had adversity in those games.
We did see guys crumble under the weight of expectations in the Loyola game. It’s the same thing we’ve seen in the Missouri games lately. When they are the favored team and guys just come at them and punch them in the mouth they have no answer.
This team doesn’t know how to win in a street fight. They need to recapture their underdog mentality and start attacking the other team with confidence. Don’t play desperate hero ball but attack by making the right basketball play with conviction.
So many weak desperate attempts that had no chance. Nobody trusting the system or their teammates. I’ve seen this in other underachieving teams in other sports. It can get ugly for a while but with practice and a better attitude it can improve as the season progresses.
