When I was in junior high school, my art teacher had an expression he’d blurt out whenever he couldn’t quite find the right words to say.
He’d say it when flustered or when he flabbergasted and I believe the word actually has a variety of definitions. But ever since, I’ve tended to mutter that word when something happens that defies description.
And so, after watching a head-scratching 38-33 Penn State victory over the Illini Wednesday night, I give you:
“Ishkabibble!!!”
For just a moment, forget the score and the multitude of missed shots and missed opportunities. The score is somewhat secondary. The loss means Illinois has plunged from second to third in the Big Ten race and are realistically unlikely to catch Michigan State. Yes, I realize the plunge could be more severe, but the immediate impact is that Illinois’ first home court Big Ten loss of the season hurts big-time in the league standings.
As for the resounding lack of offense, the game produced some historic numbers.
It was the lowest scoring game in Division I basketball since Dec. 14 of 2005 when Monmouth beat Princeton 41-21.
Illinois shot just 30 percent for the game (15 of 50) and still outshot Penn State (13 of 46, 28.3 percent). But Penn State won the game at the free throw line by making 9 of 11 while the Illini set a school record by not attempting a single free throw.
The game broke Assembly Hall records for lowest winning score (38, previously 51 by Michigan State on Jan. 19, 1999 and Ohio State on Jan. 14, 1982); fewest combined points (71, previously 85 in a 48-37 Illini victory over Northwestern on Feb. 18, 2007); worst combined field goal accuracy (.292, previously .298 on Jan. 6, 2007, Illinois vs. Ohio State); and fewest points scored by Illinois (33, previously 44 on Jan. 6, 2007 and Feb. 18, 1982).
The last time Illinois generated such a puny offensive output was Jan. 6, 1947 when the famous “Whiz Kids” played at Huff Hall and lost to Minnesota, 33-31.
To be accurate, both teams defended their tails off. Penn State was very physical with the Illini and Illinois returned the favor. I thought Illinois did a great job with Chester Frazier on Talor Battle, with Trent Meacham on Stanley Pringle and with Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis post-trapping Jamelle Cornley.
And Penn State did a great job blanketing Demetri McCamey and Trent Meacham and by limiting Tisdale’s touches in the post.
Battle, however, made some big plays down the stretch. He scored eight of his team-high 11 points after Illinois had jumped ahead 29-20. Penn State outscored Illinois 18-4 down the stretch, which brought to mind Illinois’ very similar rally to win last week at Northwestern.
“I haven’t been involved in one like this ever,” Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. “It’s unchartered water. I kept looking at the score and I didn’t know what half we were in.
“We set this back a few years. (Basketball inventor James) Naismith probably rolled over in his grave.”
Illini coach Bruce Weber pointed to the free throw disparity shook his head.
“That’s our fault,” he said. “We didn’t go strong to the basket. We didn’t get the ball inside enough. (Tisdale) was the only one to score down the stretch. We talked in timeouts and said to just get it inside, but we didn’t do it.
‘When you get a nine-point lead at home, you have to finish the game and we didn’t do it.”
No Illini scored in double figures. Frazier and Meacham led with seven points each. McCamey picked up two fouls and sat out the last 10 minutes of the first half. He vomited at halftime (still dogged by the flu, not because he looked at the box score).
There were several Tisdale shots that were nearly down but rattled out. Tisdale was called for offensive basket interference tipping in a McCamey shot. Weber lamented the no-call on a Davis layup (he thought he’d been fouled twice). And Calvin Brock just missed a tip-in try at the halftime buzzer. Those missed opportunities come to mind quickly, and I’m sure Penn State had more than their share, too.
It was kind of maddening, however, that Illinois didn’t get the ball to Tisdale more down the stretch. No one had a hot hand. No one off the bench did anything except Jeff Jordan. So Illinois was desperate for anyone to score and Tisdale was getting his hook shot up on the rim. But the ball never went inside often enough. And that’s where Illinois could have gone to the free throw line, but never did.
I knew Illinois was in trouble coming out of a timeout with 3:55 to play. Penn State had been shooting horribly and when they walked back onto the floor, I would have expected to see doubt and hanging heads. But Illinois had not made them pay. Penn State led 32-31 at the time and they looked energized and confident.
Moments later, Battle scored on a beautiful drive and shot over Tisdale.
Weber, who was screaming to get the ball inside, said Illinois was without much emotion at the start of the game and looked “static” in its motion offense.
“We were not very good cutting. We didn’t cut hard. They looked in on Trent and we didn’t make the next play, either the next pass or the next cut. We were very flat and not cutting hard.
“We’ve got to get the ball inside and go to the baskete, too. We can’t settle for jump shots. We have to turn the corner and make them guard you, get a play. I don’t think we’re ever going to get a lot of free throws. We’re more of a jump shooting team.”
So it’s on to Ohio State and on that subject there’s only one thing I can say:
“Ishkabibble!!!”
February 18th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Just one work… PATHETIC!!
One side note, this game exemplify one of the issues I have with Weber’s coaching; his use of the bench. I can’t understand why he tends to settle for a short rotation and stick with it… I keep thinking that if had used Semrau, Cole or Legion more they may be more battle ready, and may be able to come in when everybody else is stinking up the joint
February 18th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Brutal and embarassing.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I can honestly say I have never been as disgusted with an Illini team as I am after this game. No “real” words are bad enough so I will go with Tupps “word”.
Everything to play for and they play like that??? No emotion whats so ever.
Even Tis interview on the radio after game was just like - oh well, we just have to get ready for Ohio State. Wheres the emotion? Weber was the same way. And with Ohio State just losing to NW I dont think they can ready enough. Not after this pathetic performance.
This team could very easily lose out from here and miss the big dance all together.
With a performance like this could anyone really say they belong in the dance?
February 18th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Brutal. The 4th to last IL possession was a Tisdale back him down short jump hook basket. The next three were: Chet for 3, Meat from left top of key, Meat for wild 3. From Tupp’s comments, Weber knew that was the play to get it back to Tisdale and told the team to do it, but for three consecutive plays (including right out of a timeout with 14 seconds to go) they never came close to posting him or even getting him the ball mid-range so he could attempt to back the guy down or draw the double. Brutal.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
I bleed orange and blue like most of illini nation and I try to stay positive no matter how bad things get! But tonight was absolutely the most pathetic and uninspired effort I have ever scene. This has to be the most inconsistent team in Illinois history! 33 points is simply embarassing! No trips to the line….Didn’t know that was even possible in 40 minutes! Mike Davis has to be the weakest player in college basketball….If he was trying to wrestle the ball away from a 4th grader….my money would be on the kid…I know he certainly has more desire than Mike has! Pathetic!
February 18th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
I cannot remember EVER seeing 2 Division 1 teams play that badly. It was so bad, I’m surprised either one of them won. Iskabibble, indeed.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Ishkabibble. Seemed like nothing would fall tonight, even worse than Minny. I’m going to say two things, and take a day.
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I know no one will go with me on this, and everyone will probably say I’m just making excuses, but the officiating played a hand in that game. Because the game was so close (36-33 before the Frazier “intentional”.) Davis did get fouled, which would have given us points. Then McCamey gets hacked on a drive in with 1 minute left, and nothing is called. Battle then takes it down the court, barely gets touched, and a foul is called. He hits both. That’s not counting the travel calls missed (plenty others). I don’t want to hear the bull that Penn St. probably could complain about some calls. The foul discrepancy was 7-2 with 12 sec. to go. Call it both ways. I say it played a hand in the game because Penn St. was worse than us, and won on the officials calls. I know I’ll get ripped, so rip on.
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Can’t wait to see Maybe, and DIF, and KYM on here yelling about Weber. I’m guessing they’ll yell about substitutions, the motion doesn’t work, Weber didn’t tell his kids to drive, Weber doesn’t make adjustments, etc. I think Weber could have maybe done 2 things differently, but I’ll keep those to myself til the others post. Let’s see if I’m right.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Running red, You want to talk about Zook and being creative on offense, HELLO? Have you been watching Illini basketball? Brooks is always ripping on Zook for his lack of offensive adjustment for the one rose bowl game. How many of these 30 point basketball games do we have to watch before you agree with me that Weber is the one that needs to adjust on his offense. My main complaint about Weber has been his teams lack of offense. Now Brooks and some others on here have argued with me, saying we play hard defense. Ok. But like i have argued, Its just as important to play, just as hard and put just as much importance on the offensive end. Guys im sorry but scoreing 30 some points on the road in the middle of the season is one thing. But to turn around and score in the low 30s at home is a joke. Sure are team gets alot of assists. It passes around the outside, runs alot of clock, and takes almost entirely set shots. No creativity on offense at all. No freethrow shots. Big men always 18-20 feet from the basket. How are you gonna go inside to your big guys when there so far out on the court? Brooks you want to talk about someone with no imagination when it comes to offense, You need to take a closer look at the basketball coach. When or if you get to the dance at the end of the year, The weak parts of your game really show up.
February 18th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
WoW! Consistently inconsistent all conference season.
0 free throws?!?! They say you win with defense, but that’s usually true because it’s the defense that helps create easy points/free throws; it’s just not happening. Not sure if I’ve ever seen so many shots go in&out in a basketball game. So frustrating to watch when threes aren’t falling!
February 19th, 2009 at 1:06 am
They laid an egg, and that is being complimentary. Officiating was atrocious in the Indiana game, but this game was all Illini responsibility, from my view. Our offense featured one guy dribbling and four guys standing and watching, just like last year, and with the same result. Possibly we were ranked so high in the national polls that the players did not think that any effort would be required to win.
That was the worst Illini game that I can ever remember watching in almost 50 years.
February 19th, 2009 at 2:34 am
That was the worst game I’ve seen in my life! BOTH SIDES! Did the cold weather cause the bastets to shrink? This could be a long 2 weeks.
February 19th, 2009 at 3:37 am
Mark, my father used to utter this phrase on occasion. I did a little research and you are absolutely right. It can mean garbage or trash e.g. The Illini play was iskabibble. It can mean. stupidity, annoyance, irritating, not relevant or dumb. For example when someone says the Illini can still win the Big Ten you just look at them with a stupid glare and say “Iskabibble?” Or it is a word used when something is indescribable or when there is nothing else to say e.g. How did the Illini play? “Iskabibble.”
February 19th, 2009 at 5:26 am
The home crowd got to experience what I did at Minn 3 weeks ago. A pathetic offensive output. One thing about this bunch is that when they have a bad shooting day its contagious. We get no fast breaks or runouts after made baskets. Watch MSU, they get 10-12 points each game where they beat the opposition down the court after a made basket. This also leans to more turnovers but when you have an offense like we do that relies on jump shots, well…when the shots aren’t fallin you have a tendancy to look bad. I’ve never seen one team have so many in and out shots in one game. On the plus side our defense kept us in the game until crunch time. Regardless of the good defense you must score to win which we are very inconsistent at. Therefore I do not forsee big runs in the BT or NCAA tournaments.
February 19th, 2009 at 5:45 am
38-33??? Thank God I forgot to set the DVR to record this one!
February 19th, 2009 at 6:15 am
Awful offensive performance. Maybe they need to fire the coach. Just kidding. Bleep happens. Hopefully we can do well at OSU, but given the road woes and yesterday, I am not confident. Did Legion get in 2nd half? Given the scoring woes and Legion’s reputation (though he has not lived up to it yet) I would have liked to see him get more time. Especially since DMAC was apparently hurting. GO ILLINI!
February 19th, 2009 at 6:42 am
This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said things were going to get ugly. But, ugly they were. Sunday should be a real trouncing. OSU by 20.
February 19th, 2009 at 7:03 am
When North Carolina, Pittsburgh or UConn have a off-night they score in the 60’s. When Big Ten teams has a off-night they score in the 30’s. Different brand of basketball. crk
February 19th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Hedgehog, Tis has got to want the ball and put himself in a position to get it. I didn’t see that happening a lot last night.
I think I agree with BBjones (gasp!), I’m not knowledgable enough to know if it’s Weber’s offense, or just poor execution of the offense, but often Tis is so far out front setting picks, and then doesn’t “roll” aggressively towards the basket, that he’s settling for 10-footers. That’s fine when he makes them, but he wasn’t making them last night. (Didn’t he miss his first 9 shots?) It’s great that Tis got 10 rebounds last night, but I’d rather had points.
And what was with Davis? He was a no-show offensively last night.
As for officiating, I’m sure the bad calls went both ways, but that intentional foul on Chester sealed our fate. After seeing it on replay, it looked to me like Chester was just going after a loose ball.
All that said, lets hope that they come back strong against Ohio State. I’m not sure I can handle another game like this one.
February 19th, 2009 at 7:42 am
DIF & friends will have a lot to say and I see no rebutal for this game. We haved had 2 other games this season much like this one. The big problem is what to do and what will happen next. Oppenents must feel like sharks and they smell blood. Our guys must be looking over their shoulder wondering when the bb demons will get then again.
Remember, there is still some good news. We are 21-6 and at this moment still in the top 20. If we get back on track this can still be a very good season. IF, IF, IF is such a big word.
February 19th, 2009 at 8:15 am
The officiating was horrible, but Illinois did not deserve to win the game anyway.
Some blame must fall on coaching. This was a 3rd grade effort at best.
We again must be the laughing stock of the Big 10. C’mon guys learn the game and quit embarassing all your loyal fans. I now know why the game was not a sell out. I wish I hadn’t went. What a waste. Stinky stinky stinky.
February 19th, 2009 at 8:16 am
If I had not seen the game & someone told me later that the good news is that the Illini held PSU to 38 points, I would have been ecstatic & would have thought we really blew them out. The bad news must be that someone got hurt or something. Of course, the real bad news is really shocking. I would have assumed someone was yanking my chain, or whatever phrase is more current these days.
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I could tell that DMac wasn’t quite right. Throwing up at halftime verifys that. Tisdale was getting off better looking shots than anyone else on the team. Too bad we couldn’t get it to him more, inside or outside. He looked better on the boards. I know, both teams missed a lot of shots, so there were more boards to be had. I still think he looked stronger going after them. Do you get credit for a rebound when you catch an airball?
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Well, let’s see which team shows up for OSU. I really wish they would have beaten NW last night. Now, they’ll really be jacked up for our game Sunday. Go Illini!
February 19th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Worst game I’ve ever seen. It raises a concern for the NCAA tournament… what is our plan B when our jump shots aren’t falling?
February 19th, 2009 at 8:33 am
I’ve been watching Big Ten basketball since 1973. Last night’s game was bar none the ugliest I’ve ever seen.
On certain nights we’ve got nothing inside and our guard penetration is nonexistent. How can this happen at home? Zero FT attempts? Zero?!
Unbelievable.
February 19th, 2009 at 8:41 am
How can a coach sit and watch his team hold the ball at the top of the key until 7 seconds left while the rest of the team stands watching?? Not one player showing any signs of life.What ahuge coaching screw up.Thats not motion thats stagnation.Ohio stomps the Illini in thier worst defeat ever!
February 19th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Just to clarify when I talk about officiating, I don’t think the Illini deserved to win that game. I just don’t think Penn St. did either.
February 19th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Perhaps the TV angles don’t show everything, but it looks like there are numerous opportunities to get the ball inside if the passer fires the pass and not hold the ball overhead hoping Tis can reach far enough. I don’t recall any passes where the passer rifled the ball without really grabbing on to it. Time and time again it looks like Tis and MD are instantly open after a pick but the ball never comes. Instead the guards hold the ball over head feinting left and right and at times trying to lob the ball over the top hoping someone can catch it and score.
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What a shame. In a game that we rebounded well (especially in the first half) and played great defense, the shooting totally tanked for the second time in two weeks. I will never understand how an entire team can simultaneously loose touch on the ball. Perhaps emery boards to the finger tip are in order.
February 19th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Where are all the WEber supporters now??? What a joke for a game. Its the coaches responsibility to get u team ready. This has happened more than 1 time this year folks! The talent we have over there right now is a joke!! No bench! We have mid major talent sitting on the bench with a scholarship… This is the guy U want to run the U OF I!! NO WAY! We have overachieved this year… We are not very good and really could end of missing the tourney!! I said we would win 16-19 games this year. We have done that but really this team is not very good and has alot of question????? hey coach Weber maybe u should make some adjustments at halftime???
February 19th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Man, I left that stadium last night one Disgusted Illini Fan. Call me an Old Timer but one would think that Maybe this team could play with heart, dignity and some skill on its own floor. The motion offense needs to be renamed the kamotion offense. Kmike, I rationalized the ugly loss at Minnesota as oh well “it happens”, but to loose like this on your home floor at this critical point in the season should never happen. After watching closely last night there is at least one player who will try to create a shot off the dribble and that is Tisdale. Good points Illini Al. When we did build up a 9 point lead it was from run outs from turnovers not allowing Penn st. set up its defense. If a team forces the Illini to set up its offense and the guards struggle forget it. These three are not going to create scoring opportunities when the shots aren’t falling and the defense is in their face. Then I look at the paper this am and see that Ohio st. looses at NW, what a league. They call it parody in the B-10, more like overated.
February 19th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Bottom line, Meachum is either hot or cold. When hes hot, you can hide Chesters weakness on the offensive end. When hes cold, then you have 2 offensive liabilites on the floor at the same time. Did Kellar or Legion get any mins in the second half? Where is Semrau? Are our starters that much better then the bench? Coach is very stubborn when it comes to subbing for his starters. Guys you cant blame the loss of this game on the officials. This coach has a problem when it comes to adjusting his offense. Towards the end of the game, coach said he was telling his players to get the ball inside. To who? In the offense you run all night, the bigs are 18 ft from the basket. Now in the final 2-3 mins of the game, the team is supposed to know how to go inside? You need to do this earlier in the game. See how we do it, and adjust accordingly to there defense. Semarau i totally dont understand. This guy started the season looking very good. Now he dont even play. You know the talent is there. The only way to bring that talent along is with playing time here and there. Not games with no playing time at all.
February 19th, 2009 at 9:36 am
UI Luke; I, too, have two issues that I think the game turned on. One, was just plain poor execution. As the announcers kept saying we got good looks at the basket, and good shots. Sure, some of them were just not falling in, but on other plays we were bobbling the ball, missing layups, not going strong to the basket, or missing an open teammate by either not seeing him open or throwing a poor pass. I’m not going to put much blame on Weber for a poor game plan–although I didn’t check, I would bet that we scored at least 50% of the time when we had the ball coming off a time-out (and I’ll bet we had a good shot almost every time).
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What I will put on Weber is substitution pattern. Seven minutes for Jordan, four for Legion, and 12 for Brock–and most of that time was substituting for McCamey when he got his second foul in the first half. For the entire game (until the last few minutes) Battle could not drive around either Frazier or Jordan when they were guarding him. Battle’s final two goals were on drives around Frazier–tell me that those two made shots were not key factors to the outcome of the game. And tell me further that a more rested Frazier (or Jordan in the game defensively for that matter) would not have had a good shot at defending against those drives. Frazier played 37 minutes and he puts out a lot of energy defensively when he plays. Battle played all 40 minutes but he doesn’t exert nearly the energy on defense that Frazier does. Battle scored 11 points (a three point shot with Meachum on him, four free-throws, and those final two drives around Frazier). Again, tell me that he scores on layups with a more rested defender on him (Jordan or Frazier).
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Well, my venting is done. On to OSU–hopefully that game will wipe away the memory of last night.
February 19th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Ish Kabibble = “I should worry?”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ish_Kabibble
February 19th, 2009 at 10:09 am
I said it before…I’ll say it again. This team isn’t going anywhere without Legion & Semrau.
February 19th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Okay, never mind, I’m not taking a break.
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Maybe-you realize you make the point that Weber has helped the team over-achieve with mid-major talent right? That would be good coaching.
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I don’t understand the want to get Legion in the second half. He missed 4 shots in 3 min. in the first. That means Chester was shooting better. How do you justify putting Keller in when Davis had made a few shots, and Keller had missed 2. You can’t take out Tisdale, he was actually being aggresive (the only one). Trent had 7 which was more than everyone else.
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Everyone wants to criticize Weber about in game adjustments. I’m just curious if anyone read Tupps’ blog where he says Weber was telling them to get the ball inside? You could see (at least from my point in the stands) Tis posting up his guy every time for the last 10 min at least, not 2-3. No one got him the ball. The O scheme got us numerous open looks in the 1st, and when we couldn’t hit, BW said go inside.
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What Weber didn’t do last night was get his players to do what he was saying. I will fault him for that last night. I swear the guards would fake the good pass to Tis, and toss it around the perimeter. Somehow “maybe” stumbled upon this, but I guess even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes–the players weren’t prepared for whatever reason, and you can pin that on BW, not the scheme though.
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Long post, but everyone chill out. It was ugly, but it was 1 loss. We have 21 wins. Completely erase it from your memory, and move on.
February 19th, 2009 at 10:49 am
absolutely inexcusable to lose at home to an inferior team… EVER!! The intentional foul call was not even close but losing a 9-point lead in the last 10 minutes of a home game against an inferior opponent can NEVER happen. Anyone who wants to criticize Coach Weber’s lack of use for his bench wasn’t watching the game, or the entire year — Brock threw three passes away like he was blindfolded, Legion is clueless and Keller was almost as bad. After that, I don’t see much bench — who are you going to play — walk-ons or the fat dude who pretended to play football last year? That was the most sickening display of basketball probably in the history of the program. I can’t understand how a team can collectively lay such a big egg — playing basketball is all these kids do in the life (besides travel on private planes, study a bit in a state of the art facility and have three prepared meals per day) and you can’t make a basket??? Absolutely ridiculous. The relative success of this team has been such a nice story, especially coming off last year’s debacle. But after last night, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get that game out of my head when thinking of the 2008-09 team. I still can’t believe that a top 20 team could look that bad and choke so badly. Made the choke job against Virginia Tech in the tourney a few years ago look good. An absolute joke, at best.
February 19th, 2009 at 11:14 am
33? 33 stinking points, come on. Glad that game wasn’t on TV here. You gotta put Legion in and let him play if nobody else can score! And if TM can’t hit 3s, then Kellar should get more playing time. Twice in 1 year they don’t get to 40, Does Dave Scholz have any eligibilty left?
February 19th, 2009 at 11:21 am
To Zoik: I did set my DVR, but heard the score on my way home. Thank goodness for the delete button.
February 19th, 2009 at 11:32 am
That was like having a “BYE” and “BYE” wins. Say “Bye Bye”.
February 19th, 2009 at 11:37 am
illiniwhirlpool, you are certainly a stickler for statistics, that’s good. Maybe you or anybody with more B-ball knowledge than myself can tell me as to why the guards can’t get open. It’s not as if they are not in motion, they are constantly moving. I was at the game and focused on Meacham, he was at a dead run at times trying like heck to get open but he couldn’t shed his defender, why? I’ll have to say one thing about the Illini and Meacham in particular they work their freakin tales off. How this team doesn’t get to the fowl line at least once is beyond me. Most of the movement is not towards the hoop I guess that is one explaination.
February 19th, 2009 at 11:59 am
I missed the game last night, but it’s on my DVR. Not sure if I want to watch it. No excuse. If you would have told me PSU scores 38, I would have said we win by atleast 25. 33 points. Brutal. Sounds like we need less Meachum and Frazier and more Jordan and Legion.
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The entire officiating crew should be fired. Period. No team goes an entire game w/o shooting a foul shot. Completely ridiculous. The Big Ten is turning into boring basketball. I don’t think that the ACC has more athletic players, but they call more fouls. A low scoring game should be in the 50’s, never the 30’s. Yikes.
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Bball- What offense is more creative than the motion? 25 games in, everyone knows what other teams do. Everyone knows that Meachum and Frazier are very limited on offense. They take away Meachum’s jumper and dare him to drive and they take away the passing lanes and dare Frazier to shoot. 3 on 5 is never good. The motino is beautiful when you have 5 guys who can move the ball and can create there shot. We don’t have 5 guys who can do it consistantly. That is why you see guys like Paul, Abrahms, DJ, Head, JR, and Bertrand coming in. I love that Chester and Trent bleed orange and blue, but I won’t shed a tear when they are gone. Here’s hoping they learn from this loss and go out with a bang. No one will care about this loss if we make the Sweet 16. Atleast OSU lost to NW.
February 19th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
There sure is a lot of comments today echoing my sentiments about Bruce Weber being a lousy coach. This was bad coaching at its stinking high! This team is badly coached and badly prepared. Bruce sure knows how to shut up his backers. Just go out and do a terrible job like this one.
February 19th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
We crushed your overrated team in football and now do it again in basketball. Silly Midwesterners.
We are…PENN STATE!!!
February 19th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
This game highlights a couple of things about this year’s team. First, Bruce and staff have done a nice job getting a very average team to 21-6. I say very average because talented teams don’t perform like we have at Minn and last night. Secondly, Bruce’s rigid coaching style that he inherited from Keady can really hurt us sometimes. The NW game last week was not par for the course under Weber. He allowed McClain to implement the pressure to change the game. What did he do at Minn or last night to change the flow of the game? Nothing. Weber is very predictable. You know each year he’s going to give the bulk of the minutes to 6 or 7 guys, preach half court man-to-man and run the motion offense. By executing these principles well, we will win our share of games, but by not being flexible and adapting your game strategy occasionally you are vulnerable to nights like we just saw. We know there’s some creativity on that bench of his, but we never see it. Last night reminded me of a game at Providence in Bruce’s first year at UI when we were totally slaughtered and he didn’t make changes in lineup/strategy. I believe he’s a good coach but sometimes am frustrated with his lack of imagination.
February 19th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Zoik - 5-2 sounds right but we lose a “What the !” to Penn State. Not sure why I just have a feeling.
Comment by Kentucky Mike
— 2/11/2009 @ 10:04 pm
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Would of just said I told you so but you all would deny it then I’d have to find it then angry back and forths. Thought I would save us all some time.
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33 point says it all for the most part.
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UI Luke - The way this Tubby - Weber debate works is I tell you Weber deficiencies you tell me Tubby’s. Now to continue the debate, only this time tell me where Weber coached.
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What did Weber do to FIGHT FOR THE WIN!!
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Did he:
Change defense?
Press?
Go deep on the bench?
Pull the starters to make a point?
Jerk the starters for NOT LISTENING WHEN HE TOLD THEM TO GO DOWN LOW!!!???
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What did Coach do?????????????????????
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Do great coaches lose a 9 point lead at home when ranked #16 and the opponent is not ranked?
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Do great coaches lose three straight at home to a team who was never better than you????
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BB Jones - Excellent post. Hey, we understand that this motion offense keeps the bigs outside a great deal. But you gotta practice the pound it down low game. You gotta get those players, practice it in practice , and most importantly PRACTICE IT IN THE GAME!!!
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Folks drawing plays is easy. Running practice is easy. Building teams is hard, motivational psychology is hard, winning games you shouldn’t is hard. All I see is Weber doing the easy stuff well and really struggling at the hard stuff. And sadly the hard stuff is what you need to overcome to win a title!
February 19th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
I said we have mid major talent on the bench that is not even playing.. WASTED scholarships.. read the post ok!!! We will never be a GREAT team with WEBER at the helm!!! I dont care we have alot of talent coming in here. he is a AVG coach at best. He is over his head at the U of I!!!
February 19th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I hated the game and lost sleep over it, but how come so many assume the coaches are idiots? If Jarrance can’t fire them up, who can?
Substitutions: PSU played 10, UI played 9 guys.
PSU used one guy 40 minutes (Battle) and UI used one guy 38 (Davis). PSU had 4 guys off the bench who scored 0 points, and two of them played 12 minutes each. UI had 2 guys off the bench who scored 0 points, and Brock, our 6th man, was one of them playing 12 minutes. Legion, at 4 minutes, was the other.
Our starting 5 played 160 minutes, and PSU’s starting 5 played 151. That’s a difference of only 9 minutes spread out over our starting 5.
After you sub in Brock and he doesn’t score in 12 minutes, and you use Jordan and Keller who score 2 points when they have 7 minutes each, where do you go on our bench?
Battle played more minutes than any of our starters; Cornley played more minutes than 3 of our starters, and they combined for 16 points, which, in this game, was ALOT (feeble attempt at humor there.)
Just saying, we went to the bench and it wasn’t there. It was just awful offensive effort on the part of the players, and they seem to fall apart consistently when they get what Weber calls a “junk” defense.
Illinois, to say something positive, played well defensively. I just am thinking they don’t have the skills to get through some defenses put up by other teams.
But then, what do I know?
By the way (and this is way too long and I am sorry) I appreciate the comments of all the coaches/former coaches on this blog. You guys have really helped me understand some aspects of this game better.
February 19th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Ouch. Getting players to play hard…at home…with a possible conference title looming…CF, Jeff and Keller are the only two who try hard and show emotion. Davis is attacking the rim on rebounds better, but not on offense. Stuff the dang ball when you’re close. I haven’t seen Legion in practice so I can’t compare his shot, but in games he doesn’t elevate nor arch his shot much. I’d like to see them do a clear out for legion and have him take his man to the hole and draw contact. He has the size but maybe not the handles. Sorry that DMac was ill but he is making alot of bad decisions with the ball..passing..and shooting. he wants to be the star without paying his dues.
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Becca…I think you missed Chester grabbing and lifting Battle’s leg.
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To say we miss the dance because of this game is ludicrous. All year this team has been inconsistent. Despite that it has worked its way into the top 20 and has some impressive wins. So come back in off the ledge and enjoy the ride. It’s a box of chocolates.
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Peace Brothers
February 19th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
UI Luke, I for one am interested in your feedback (since it is rarely anything but orange kool-aid supporting). Please enlighten us.
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Speaking of Kool-aid, it’s good to see Brooksy FINALLY coming around about Chester, etc. Is it any real mystery that we have had some of the most frustrating, low scoring games, etc. during his years here?? The guy flat out stinks. Brooksy, I”l invite you to my “Thank goodness Chester graduated party” if you want.. Should be a LOT of people there.
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Hey Brooksy, How many games in the 30’s has Self ever coached?
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Is anyone really surprised that IF there was EVER a team in the history of NCAA basketball to play in a game like THAT and SHOOT ZERO FT’s, it would be the Beloved??? What do they say about “doing what you’ve always done….”??
As long as BAM is here, this will ALWAYS be a strong possibility.
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Sure wish that “malcontent” Pruitt was back on the team. At least we’d score in the 40’s AND take at least one Free Throw (though he’d miss it).
February 19th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
For those who don’t think it the offensive scheme that is the problem, you are wrong. It is a terrible scheme and it is as poorly executed as it is a bad scheme. The players move but their movement is wasted, going away from the basket, poor screens, poor rolling, failing to pass to the open men or passing at the wrong time–specifically to the middle. The bigs are usually open but no one throws the ball to them. I say that knowing full well that the bigs usually are not in the lane or down low but are out 20 feet from the basket setting bad and useless screens. Players have to go low and they have to go toward the basket. Playing catch 20 to 30 feet from the basket sets up 33 point games.There has to be a better offense. We will not get free throws playing catch outside of 20 feet. Weber’s teams have got to be the easiest teams to defend in college ranks. Slight exageration but not much.
Just as we say about Zook, Weber needs to hire an offensive coordinator and give him the offense to execute. Most of what I said Becca already said much more efficiently.
February 19th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Running Red: You focused on watching Meacham while at the game and I focused on tracking some numbers (to substantiate my beliefs) from the comfort of my couch. I don’t think either one of us missed many spectacular plays because of those individual foci. I agree with you that there seemed to be the effort and movement by the players on both offense and defense. From an effort perspective we played good defense, but only had three steals, and we played good offense, but only scored 33 points. Maybe that’s a product of emotion (as distinct from effort)– I don’t know.
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Again, other than substitution, I blame execution of the game plan. Nine to zero points on freethrows. Ballhandling (our 15 turnovers and their eight steals vs. their 13 turnovers and our three steals) gave PSU seven more possesions than we had. Though at less than 30% shooting that only adds up to about one basket. But, every little bit counts.
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UI Luke, while I’m on the subject of numbers, and I’m really sorry to nitpick, but Legion missed three shots in four minutes, not four shots in three minutes. There, I feel better.
February 19th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Well, the problems that the Illini showed in this game are not new problems, this year or any year since Weber came to Illinois. Live by the outside shot, die by the outside shot. Same thing that happened to Illini vs UNC in the Championship game a few years back. Weber coaches this tema like a midmajor. Finds guys that are athletic and sets up perimeter shooting. Midmajors are happy with 20 win seasons, the Illini should demand more!!! Bruce, this is the big time. When coaches at this level find out you are not going to force the ball inside, they will make the decision to let you shoot outside until you prove to them that you can hit the shots. If you do, it forces their hand, if you don’t then you get the result that we got in this game. Time to rewrite the GAME PLAN BRUCIE!!!!!!!
February 19th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Brooks, we know their names, but what I would like to know is can they shoot? Please tell me they can shoot for average more often than not! That would be a good start, with an above average outburst every once in a while. Now we’re talking. We know Weber can teach em how to play defense. Otherwise I’d trade three of em for a Talor Battle right now.
February 19th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
illiniwhirlpool - Not that it matters much, but I believe Battle’s last drive was around Davis & not Frazier. They switched out front on a pick, which PSU wanted to happen, & Battle then went around Davis without much trouble. The announcers even said that PSU was hoping for a switch like that to gain an advantage.
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Ned - I don’t think you can call PSU an inferior team. I’ve seen them play several times this year, including the game where they beat MSU at their place. I’m not excusing the way the Illini played last night, only saying that PSU is a very competitive team & is a much different program than their reputation of the past.
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I’ll agree with namber that there are numerous opportunities to get the ball into the post to either MD or Tis, but our guards often miss the brief window & don’t get it to them. I also agree with becca that sometimes Tis doesn’t put himself in the proper position to receive the pass, but many times he’s being defended well down low. Over the course of the year Tis has called for the ball more & more, but does not get the feed as often as he should. If he doesn’t get double-teamed, he doesn’t have much trouble getting off a good shot in the post if he gets the ball.
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I’ll echo UI Luke. Get it off your chest, then move on & get ready for OSU. If you choose to make yourself miserable by dwelling too long on last night’s game, that is your prerogative. Go Illini!
February 19th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Thank God this is not the team we have been watching all season ! Remember, it could have been.
February 19th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
One thing I do like about Legion. He is not afraid to shoot as soon as there is any kind of opening and he hasn’t backed off any from that approach whether his shots are falling or not. He has all the makings of a shooter with a quick release. He has to be frustrated beyond belief. And he’s probably pressing as a result of it. I do feel for the kid, that’s his m.o. a shooter. But the darn shots aren’t falling. We so need this kid to come off the bench and give us some scoring punch. Would love to see him shooting daggers.
February 19th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
When a team is not playing with emotion and the coach is pleading with them to play with emotion, I would sub the lowest 5 on the bench all at one time and call a t.o. to do it. I would get someone in there who wants to get some p.t. and let the rest see what desire looks like. You might get butchered, but that is what happened anyway with the starters.
February 19th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Inexcusable! Ridiculous! Emabarrassing! It is apparent that Bruce’s motion offense will only work with 3 - 4 NBA players on the floor at once! Certainly has not worked since deron and the gang.
Bruce, for the fans sake, please start at the 20 second mark of our offense rather then th 8 second mark. Your idea of motion puts me to sleep!
Why would a recruit want to play for a team that averages 45? points per game?!
February 19th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
You all have to much free time on your hands to get bent out of shape about one game. P State is a decent team that needed a win real BAD. The Illini are a very young team that is not completely sure how to handle there success. As a former coach the only thing you can do is give your players the tools to win games what they do with it from there is up to them. We have a GOOD SYSTEM and a GOOD COACH and GOOD PLAYERS.