[Oskee] Fw: Wow...

Mon Nov 30 11:02:08 EST 2009

What I’m hoping is that the two tough losses this weekend teach our guys a
few things (things the juniors should know already but don’t act like they
do).  The biggest lesson being that teams will not give up when they are
down 16 points.  For whatever reason, our teams never seem to have that
killer instinct.  Maybe Weber is too old school in this regard.  I mean,
does he realize how often teams come back from 20 down these days?  You have
to keep the foot on the gas the whole game.  I can understand the freshmen
not getting this yet, but the older guys should already know this.

Secondly, that while it’s really fun to score 94 points in a game, you have
to play tough defense and rebound to be successful at this level.  I noticed
we seem to have a big problem with defensive rotations and guarding the 3
point line.  This usually starts with getting beat off the dribble and this
has to be fixed.  

This team will definitely have its ups and downs this year.  I wouldn’t have
been surprised to come out of Vegas with one loss this week.  Two is bad,
but worse is that we should have beaten both teams (of course, if we beat
Utah, we don’t play Bradley and OK state would have been tough).  We gave
away 1 win that could be important in March.  Our scheduling is favorable
enough that this team has time to develop…they just need to take advantage
of  it.

Clemson is beatable, but we need Richardson and Paul to score, defend and
rebound for it to happen.

Todd S

  _____  

From: oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net] On Behalf Of
Arbuckle, Jeanne
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 9:28 AM
To: Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List
Subject: Re: [Oskee] Fw: Wow...

Anybody see Clemson against Butler? Clemson was down the whole game and came
back at the end to win on free throws with 3.3 seconds left. I thought
Clemson had some bad shot selection, stupid plays, and lack of hustle at
times. In short, a lot like us. I do think they are more physical than we
are, and that seems to be something we don’t handle well. If we play well,
it might be an interesting game. Given that it’s at Clemson, I don’t expect
to play well. As you said, Robert, after Illini and Bears football, every
basketball loss is really hard to take.

From: oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net] On Behalf Of
Todd Sweet
Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2009 8:29 PM
To: 'Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts List'
Subject: Re: [Oskee] Fw: Wow...

No problem, Robert.  I only charge $150 per hour (Paypal will work fine)
HA!

BEAT CLEMSON!!!!

  _____  

From: oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net] On Behalf Of
Robert Mingee
Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2009 8:07 PM
To: oskee at heins.net
Subject: [Oskee] Fw: Wow...

This went just to Todd rather than the whole list -- sorry for the
duplicate, Todd (and thanks for talking me off the ledge :-)

-- robert

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Robert Mingee <mingee at swbell.net>
To: Todd Sweet <trsweet at ilstu.edu>
Sent: Sun, November 29, 2009 8:04:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Oskee] Wow...

Yeah, this is what happens when my primary rooting interests are Illini
football (sucks), Bears football (sucks in a much more unexpected and
spectacular fashion) and Illini hoops, the last being the most fanatical by
far. Despite my best efforts to relax and enjoy this season with a lot of
new faces and take whatever happens good or bad in stride, I've already
pinned a lot of hopes on the hoops team thanks to the total collapse of the
other 2, with no real grounds for it (defeating the Blue Hose and Terriers
back to back doesn't inspire fear in the hearts of many :-).  It's my own
fault...

I guess what surprises me most about getting outhustled is that Bruce seems
so old-school, and has really preached that in the past, but other of his
teams have suffered from the same thing, while many have not.  My hope is
he's just having a hard time getting all the new kids to buy in without a
vocal leader like Chester in the trenches.  I knew we would miss him much
more than his accomplishments on the floor would indicate, and this is
exactly what I was expecting.  Man, can you imagine how far up some of those
rear ends his foot would be right about now?  This is the first team Bruce
has had here where that piece was missing.  I was (and still am) excited
that Jordan came back afterall, because while he doesn't seem as vocal or
in-your-face as Chester, he seems like a lead-by-example type who gives his
all -- let's face it, he had a pretty good role model :-).  McCamey just
still doesn't seem committed enough yet (but he seems to be improving), and
Davis is simply too quiet and doesn't seem the leader type.

Here's hoping we learn from it, put it behind us, and lay the smack down on
Clemson on the way to the Big Ten's first Challenge victory so I can FINALLY
not have to by my Wake Forest alum friend yet another beer this year.  But I
promise not to come back here and spout off more doom and gloom regardless
of the outcome :-).

-- robert

p.s. - yeah, I forgot to mention Cole has been a pleasant surprise so far --
I hope he keeps it up.

  _____  

From: Todd Sweet <trsweet at ilstu.edu>
To: Robert Mingee <mingee at swbell.net>; Fighting Illini Sports Enthusiasts
List <oskee at heins.net>
Sent: Sat, November 28, 2009 10:07:19 PM
Subject: RE: [Oskee] Wow...

Come in off the ledge, Robert. :-)

This is exactly the kind of stuff we discussed a couple of weeks ago.  The
rebounding issue has to be solved.  The freshmen will get better at defense.
In addition, teams have already figured out that if you shut down our
guards, we struggle because our bigs are not aggressive around the basket.
There are definitely some issues, but I feel fairly confident that this is a
team that is going to get better throughout the year, and really begin to
hit its stride at the right time.  

I am, however, completely with you on the being outhustled part.  Absolutely
no excuse for that.  And if you’ve watched any hoops over this thanksgiving
weekend, you’ve seen teams that go after the ball on the boards with
reckless abandon and tenacity.   And I haven’t seen anyone on our team get
like that, except perhaps Bill Cole in limited minutes.

The good news is, our early big ten schedule is very favorable to start (and
yes, very tough at the end).  Hopefully, that will give the younger guys
time to figure it out.  We need Paul and Richardson to score and defend if
this team is going to be successful.

Todd S

  _____  

From: oskee-bounces at heins.net [mailto:oskee-bounces at heins.net] On Behalf Of
Robert Mingee
Sent: Saturday, November 28, 2009 9:22 PM
To: oskee
Subject: [Oskee] Wow...

What a major flameout.  I figured out I could watch for free last night and
watched the last 7 or so minutes to see us implode against Utah.  I was
pretty pissed, but after I calmed down I reminded myself it's a young team
and this is to be expected.  Besides, Utah has been pretty good in the
recent past under Majerus.  I decided to reserve judgment and see how they
rebounded tonight.

So much for that.  That's 2 games in a row with a total collapse down the
stretch.  Missed FTs.  Stupid TOs  And by far the worst of all, getting
outhustled and outrebounded when it counted (no idea what the total stats
were for either game, and not sure I care - when it mattered, we missed
them).  And it wasn't the young players making these mistakes, but they were
not having any positive impact either.

This is clearly not close to a top 25 team, and obviously we'll drop out
next week.  This is a team that needs to show major improvement to even
finish in the top half of the conference, let alone consider post-season
play.  It's a long season, so I'm not going to panic, but I am disappointed
that we're not where I'd hoped we'd be.  I am afraid we're going to get
humiliated against Clemson on the road and cost the B10 its first Challenge
win after way too many years.  And I'm very afraid of the damage that 3
straight loses will do to the mental state of a team with no real leader
(I'm not convinced McCamey is that guy yet).  Man, do I hope I'm wrong.
There will still be time to fix it, but it won't look good if we end up in
post-season contention.

-- robert

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

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