IL Annoy Report

[ILHawk]

Was invited by a friend to the Illini game. I came away thinking they are greatly over ranked. The inside game is sorely weak, which I knew. The bigs can shoot the f/t's though. The guards for the most part were lazy last night.

Norfolk was quicker at the big and forward positions. Weaker, but not weak at guards. Surprisingly NF played a very deliberate game and had trouble running speed up at the end. The game was closer than 10 points.

That said, I think they will struggle in B1G at the top. However, it seems their experience at guard will overshadow Iowa's youth. And even though they struggle inside, they are much quicker than Iowa inside. They will give Iowa a difficult time as is. They will not give the top tier a hard time unless the guards really light it up which does happen some in Champaign.

The coach is very positive and never dresses down the players for stupid things in public. He was very encouraging even when they were down and not playing well and doing dumb things. There are fundamental skills missing from this team. They are unselfish.

They will not finish 2nd as I earlier suggested. Likely somewhere around MN.

 

[franstheman]

Groce sounds like a panzy.

 

[ILHawk]

Time will tell.

 

[bcl20]

I wish Weber was still their coach.

 

[JHHawk]

From what I have seen, Groce is a bit like Mr. Davis,in that he inherited a roster that fits his uptempo style very well,and has allowed him to get this immediate pop out of the box this year. Weber had a bit of a straitjacket on these athletic,quick guards,which made them hesitant. Groce has taken the reins off,and boom,they are shooting well and running well.

Now, that said, jumpshooting teams do tend to struggle as their legs fatigue later in the season,in the physical grind of the Big Ten. Abrams,Richardson,Paul,Bertrand and Henry are a dynamic group of athletes...and if they continue to shoot this well from the arc,they will be very tough.

They are thin in the paint with only Egwu,Griffey,and Mclaurin as true bigs. That could hurt them on the road in the league. Iowa plays them late,at Carver,only. By then,I hope they are cooled off from the arc,and banged up down low. They fell off the cliff last year in the second half of the league season,losing like 11 of 12 games...I do think that they quit a bit on Weber...I doubt they will on Groce this first year,so do not see them falling off the map like that. Still, if they lose a few in a row in the league,it bears watching to see if they start saying...''this again''.