Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Allan J. Lewis
Note - apologies for the live chat dying on me last night. Assembly Hall WiFi sucks just as bad as the non-existent media food.
SIUE showed me something last night. In a game the Cougars were out-rebounded 45-25 and shot just 29 percent from the field they were impressive, if the numbers make that possible.
The Cougars were likely not going to win this game. I believed that if everything fell perfectly into place they would have a chance to win, but the margin for error was basically eliminated before the game even started. In fact, SIUE could have won this game if they had shot better and the officiating crew was not wearing "Chief" undershirts. I am pretty sure they were.
These two reasons are why we are not talking about a monumental upset this afternoon. SIUE started the game 1-14 from the field but somehow that did not take them out of it. SIUE was never in the bonus and
Illinois was whistled for 10 personal fouls, three of which you can directly credit SIUE for forcing because they drew the charge. SIUE was called for traveling when in fact they were airborne going towards the basket or in one case the ball was clearly fumbled in the air when the extra step was taken. That did not help matters, but there is really nothing you can expect from the officials when you are playing in the "House of Paign." SIUE was not done any favors. The Cougars started the second half strong and got within seven before the Illini went on an 11-0 run, the last thing you would expect in this game to pull away and win by 20.
I have seen my fair share of 30 point losses, many coming against substantially weaker opponents than
Illinois. To lose by 20 and never lose sight of the game against a team like
Illinois is somewhat satisfying. I am disappointed, as some of the players were because the Cougars could have realistically won this game. Defense was the biggest concern the coaching staff had coming out of the exhibition games. SIUE forced 22 turnovers and were able to compete despite a terrible night shooting, a huge surprise and a positive. You could tell the SIUE bus rolled into
Champaign a little after five because the rust was evident in their stroke. Off nights like that happen.
I am not going to say we should have won. The spread was
Illinois -34. I know we could have won.
Illinois was simply too tall. They had a 7'1 dude, a 6'11 dude and a 6'8 guy. Shaffer is 6'7 and Jones is listed as 6'6, the same as Yelovich. The Illini had 11 blocks and all of those rebounds. We had 10 points in the paint but beat them on dribble drives and Corey Wickware hit some open threes. That's your ballgame.
SIUE was determined, showed emotion and was not intimidated by Assembly Hall. This team while young, is mature beyond their age. I couldn't help but think that while we were interviewing Kris Davis, who I think will grow into a very solid point guard and leader in a few years. He is good now and will be fantastic down the road.
The 66 points is the least SIUE has given up in its history against a Big Ten opponent. The Cougars are better than No. 341 in the nation and are perhaps a middle of the pack team in the OVC. Call me crazy, but
Eastern Kentucky lost to Presbyterian by 38 yesterday. That team is bad.
Tennessee State is bad.
Jacksonville State is bad and
Morehead State is nothing without Kenneth Faried.
Additional notes:
In his press conference, Bruce Weber said "We are just playing the little schools right now," in answering a question about the development of his team. I did not like that. He also said he asked his players where
Belmont was after they nearly beat Duke. ONE player on their team knew. #Respect. The answer is
Nashville.
Yelovich is still a little bit out of a shape as far as his endurance goes following his redshirt year. He said he is working on it. Mark led the team with 13 points and took himself out of the game with about a minute left. All is good.
Reggie Reed got a decent amount of playing time and did not look bad out there.
Lennox likes his defense, as do I.
There are not Illinois-like big men in the OVC.
That's all for today. Kind of brief, but that's because all-in-all I am happy with the game yesterday. I am a little disappointed we let down that 11-0 run and started 0-14 shooting. I don't care about the rebounding or the blocks because there were three goddamn trees in the paint and I was not happy with the officiating but it happens in these games. We will try again Thursday against a little bit easier of a team in
Illinois State. If we play like we did in this one on defense and can shoot 40 percent or better we have a great shot. I'll be there, live chat and all. Hopefully their WiFi works better.
Comment line is open for business.
2 comments:
Let me say this now....We played a solid defensive game. It was one of the best defensive games that we have played. I am very proud of their efforts. Stars of the game (In order)
Kris Davis
Wickware
Jerome Jones
Mark
Reed
Zeke
These guys deserve to have playing time. Shaffer made some very weak moves and seemed to just struggle all night. Did I think that he would do that bad? No. He was up against a taller team. He made some fundamental mistakes, but still played with intensity. Even with his stats I don't miss Bundalow. Bundalow was way too weak. Shaffer fights for the ball and tries to go up strong. Fouls were not being called.
Jerome Jones had another good game. He made 2 mistakes. He tried to dunk a easy layup and he overthrew a open pass to Mark (should have been a layup). Still a very good game though.
Davis was solid all night. Wish he would have let it fly more.
Wickware was just on target. He's got his 3 back. Great defense by him too.
Reed plays with soooooo much intensity. Shortest guy ive seen play D1 ball, but has amazing speed and defense. Hes gonna be the number 2 pg. Stineman will take a backseat.
Zeke showed some signs of progression. He was awake. I got to tip my hat on that.
Mark played better than the last Illini meeting. He was a little slow at times, but seemed to drive with confidence. He is going to be deadly by the end of the season. Getting better everyday.
Stineman, Birts, Heck, and Boarden were all inexistent in the game. They didn't make any notable mistakes, but they really didnt do too much. Stineman got a couple memorable steals, but thats about all. I am really hoping for Birts to step up. We will need his height in future games.
Joy is just continuing to struggle. I feel bad for the guy because I know hes way better than that. Something is just not clicking. I won't lose hope on him.
Playing this level of defense will make a lot of games close this year. We need to shoot better and learn to draw fouls. Keep the intensity up and practice shooting in the next day or so...we can and should be ISU.
Happy with the game for the most part. The D looked good. Need to have more scoring obviously but the Illini's height pretty much killed most of the scoring chances down low. The scoring needs to be there from now on though.
I agree with everything Alex said except for Stineman. He needs to play above Reed. I don't even mind him starting. He is a senior. He isn't going to light up the scoreboard but he isn't going to commit a bunch of TO's either. He just needs to focus on getting assists. He also gets some boards which Reed won't get many. I do like Davis though. He is growing on me. He hit some shots last night so that made me feel better about him. I think he will be end up being pretty good. I feel like the team has a little depth this year at least.
Schaffer hasn't impressed me. 1-6 vs macmurray and 1-10 last night. He played well vs Blackburn but its Blackburn and I don't count that for anything. I don't know if its shot selection or just misses but he needs to get that figured out.
With Joy, he is a freshman. I don't expect to much from freshman. If they contribute great but they are going to make freshman mistakes and as long as they improve as time goes on I am happy.
Also, Allan do you know what going on with Messer? Is he going to play anytime soon?
I think these next 3 games really will give us a better idea where this season is going. I feel all three could be wins but who knows. I would be happy with 2-1 as long as the 1 loss isn't a blowout. Hopefully we are past the days of blowout losses.
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