Fighting Illini Stud of The Game

[Herman Cain]

Tyler F. Kolek

[GoldenWarrior11]

Tyler

[UNC Eagle]

Tyler was truly studworthy

[Daniel]

Um.  It's close.    Hmmm.   I think maybe..... Tyler Kolek! 

[augoman]

T F K

[panda]

Jop

[pbiflyer]

Why are we even bothering. You know the mods always pick the guy who leads the team in scoring....and assists..... and is second in rebounds....all while playing days after an amputation!

[PointWarrior]

Fuk'em

[El Guerrero 2]

Shut her down. and unnatural carnal knowledge 'em

[Herman Cain]

Fuk'em

Fuk'em

[GoldenEagles03]

Kolek.

Unbelievable.

[PointWarrior]

I think this picture may be used a lot this year.

[TallTitan34]

^ Tyler to his ankle. 

[Goose]

Obviously it is Kolek, but big shout out to Kam. Several times he made a key basket when it is needed most to stem an Illini run. He has an uncanny ability of stopping other teams runs.

[MUbiz]

The Sean Jones 3 pointer with around 8:30 left in the game was huge. Last year against Purdue with around the same time left we missed two or three 3 point shots on one possession and that changed the game as we could not pull away. This team is battle tested and different. Love it!

[Shooter McGavin]

Obviously it is Kolek, but big shout out to Kam. Several times he made a key basket when it is needed most to stem an Illini run. He has an uncanny ability of stopping other teams runs.

Yep.  Those tough layups (for him not so much) and a couple of threes with people in his face were huge.

Rewatched a 20 min youtube highlight video of the game this morning and it seemed like every time the Illini scored and potentially were gaining momentum Tyler or Kam (in the second half) dribbled right to the hoop and laid it in the basket.  Early in the shot clock. The crowd could just not get into the game.  It sucked the life out of the arena.

[Goose]

Shooter

Spot on. MU could have had things slip away a couple of times and the backcourt stopped Illinois momentum each time. A thing of beauty.

[jfp61]

It is Kolek.

But Ben Gold is earning minutes. So far the two big lineup works. It provides excesses rebounding, top 50-70 offense, and elite defense.

[MUbiz]

It is Kolek.

But Ben Gold is earning minutes. So far the two big lineup works. It provides excesses rebounding, top 50-70 offense, and elite defense.

The Gold Bear lineup has been elite rebounding wise - which is so great to see:
https://twitter.com/PaintTouches/status/1724808817807143288

[Herman Cain]

Yep.  Those tough layups (for him not so much) and a couple of threes with people in his face were huge.

Rewatched a 20 min youtube highlight video of the game this morning and it seemed like every time the Illini scored and potentially were gaining momentum Tyler or Kam (in the second half) dribbled right to the hoop and laid it in the basket.  Early in the shot clock. The crowd could just not get into the game.  It sucked the life out of the arena.

I agree with this analysis

[JakeBarnes]

Yep.  Those tough layups (for him not so much) and a couple of threes with people in his face were huge.

Rewatched a 20 min youtube highlight video of the game this morning and it seemed like every time the Illini scored and potentially were gaining momentum Tyler or Kam (in the second half) dribbled right to the hoop and laid it in the basket.  Early in the shot clock. The crowd could just not get into the game.  It sucked the life out of the arena.

I was amazed how quiet the crowd was for most of the game. Our guys punched back repeatedly when they started to get momentum. Pretty impressive given how hostile that crowd usually is.

[brewcity77]

The Sean Jones 3 pointer with around 8:30 left in the game was huge. Last year against Purdue with around the same time left we missed two or three 3 point shots on one possession and that changed the game as we could not pull away. This team is battle tested and different. Love it!

Those were all Ross misses, and it's a good comp. Definitely a momentum play. Illinois never were able to tie it after that shot.

[DoctorV]

I was amazed how quiet the crowd was for most of the game. Our guys punched back repeatedly when they started to get momentum. Pretty impressive given how hostile that crowd usually is.

Yea it seems like their fanbase doesn't particularly love their squad.
They are extremely unhappy with Coleman Hawkins, and rightfully confused why such a long team that doesn't shoot the ball well chucks up so many 3s, and has a lot of their bigger guys out on the perimeter.
Part of that is Shakas game plan, but another part is Underwoods poor offensive planning.

There was a possession with under 10 left in the game where I realized Marquette wasn't getting beaten on the glass the way I thought they would because of the Illini length. I pointed out that part of it is because the way the Illini were playing with none of their bigs in the paint, all around the perimeter, chucking up 3s with no one there to try to rebound.
Sure as crap, Hawkins chucked a 3 and the ball bounced in the paint before Marquette grabbed it, not a single Illinois big in sight.

Brad Underwood really needs this season to be a surprisingly good one for his team because he has a lot of seniors and super seniors. He had been aggressively portaling with 1/2 year stop gaps, will be losing a lot and it won't look pretty. He's also had several higher rated recruits not pan out or move on.
The seat will get warm imo if this season doesn't turn out well

[PGsHeroes32]

Yea it seems like their fanbase doesn't particularly love their squad.
They are extremely unhappy with Coleman Hawkins, and rightfully confused why such a long team that doesn't shoot the ball well chucks up so many 3s, and has a lot of their bigger guys out on the perimeter.
Part of that is Shakas game plan, but another part is Underwoods poor offensive planning.

There was a possession with under 10 left in the game where I realized Marquette wasn't getting beaten on the glass the way I thought they would because of the Illini length. I pointed out that part of it is because the way the Illini were playing with none of their bigs in the paint, all around the perimeter, chucking up 3s with no one there to try to rebound.
Sure as crap, Hawkins chucked a 3 and the ball bounced in the paint before Marquette grabbed it, not a single Illinois big in sight.

Brad Underwood really needs this season to be a surprisingly good one for his team because he has a lot of seniors and super seniors. He had been aggressively portaling with 1/2 year stop gaps, will be losing a lot and it won't look pretty. He's also had several higher rated recruits not pan out or move on.
The seat will get warm imo if this season doesn't turn out well

Yeah I was most surprised that they didnt use halftime to try something different.

While they got some momentum early 2nd half it wasnt due to anything different. Like the 1st half we started slow missing bunnies/dunks and they got a couple run outs and hit some open 3s.

They knew how we were going to defend them in the half court and never once tried to change their attack even with a full intermission to tweak.

[Herman Cain]

Yea it seems like their fanbase doesn't particularly love their squad.
They are extremely unhappy with Coleman Hawkins, and rightfully confused why such a long team that doesn't shoot the ball well chucks up so many 3s, and has a lot of their bigger guys out on the perimeter.
Part of that is Shakas game plan, but another part is Underwoods poor offensive planning.

There was a possession with under 10 left in the game where I realized Marquette wasn't getting beaten on the glass the way I thought they would because of the Illini length. I pointed out that part of it is because the way the Illini were playing with none of their bigs in the paint, all around the perimeter, chucking up 3s with no one there to try to rebound.
Sure as crap, Hawkins chucked a 3 and the ball bounced in the paint before Marquette grabbed it, not a single Illinois big in sight.

Brad Underwood really needs this season to be a surprisingly good one for his team because he has a lot of seniors and super seniors. He had been aggressively portaling with 1/2 year stop gaps, will be losing a lot and it won't look pretty. He's also had several higher rated recruits not pan out or move on.
The seat will get warm imo if this season doesn't turn out well

I remember when MU was heavily recruiting Hawkins. Was hoping we could get him, although delighted when we got Oso.

Hawkins was a menace on rim protection last night . Glad he was improperly deployed on offense .