Why can't a loss be on the entire team? Why can't it be because the other team played well? Why does it have to be on the coaches or on the players.
Sorry but this falls mostly on the players. Fran can't get out on the court and sink the shots himself. We saw what Iowa could do against Indiana and Wisky ... The players were making shots ... Illinois played 'ok' but it was enough to silence the Hawks today.
Hopefully next year we will learn to get over this road bug and play as tough on the road as we do at home ...
I blame this one on the staff as well...when McCaffery kept turning the ball over and Speraw and Dillard kept missing wide open shots, I got so pi$$ed off that I swore I'd never watch another game...til the Hawks play at Nebraska...
we looked like donkey poo...and we still had a legitimate chance at winning the game. That's a step forward from years past.
Yeah... you're one of "those guys." It's easy to blame McC, Speraw and
Dillard but anyone with a brain would investigate further and see that the
real problem can be traced back to Norm Parker being unable to fulfill his
coaching duties for nearly an entire season...
Everyone thinks he retired voluntarily but insiders know that A.D. Barta
finally just got tired of his negative influence on the men's basketball program.
It makes total sense... several years of decline in the program...
Hair Boy... GONE
Lick... GONE
The one constant through that era is Norm Parker... he was here through it all!
DAMN HIM!
So go back and look at where roughly 1/3 of our TO's came from--trying to run against IL. There are teams you can run and press against and teams you can't. Pretty obvious IMO, that IL, because of superior athletes, is not a team we should be running or pressing against. Add to this we have a nonexistent bench for the most part and are playing guys major minutes, it makes even less sense.
I did not expect to win in Champaign, but thought IL gave us multiple chances to close the gap, but each time we did we came out with pressure after a TO and we gave up easy baskets, committed fouls or both.
Mike Krzyzewski says he does not change his offense to match up with other teams, he forces them to adjust to him. I understand that Illinois is more athletic than Iowa but why would you want them to run an offense that is out of their comfort zone just to match up better? I think a slow down, half court offense would have been a disaster for Iowa and would have given them even less of a chance to win. They are still developing and despite the match ups, you still have to stick to the game plan.