Illini Zip

That's right. The departure of Cotton feels like ancient history to me already, but really not so long ago in terms of the recruiting calendar.

This is so very true. It doesn't make sense to not have a second point guard so it has me wondering. I watched Mikal Dawson highlights again and there is nothing there that screams point guard to me in terms of running an offense or ball handling. I see a shooting guard. But this 2019 class would be the right time to bring in a back up/alternate point guard. Thoughts?

Is it safe to breath?

I quite agree. I will make that change right away.

Hey 1981 Grad, good to hear from you. There is plenty for us to agree upon even if we end up with two different opinions. I totally agree with limiting minutes. Somewhere in the high twenties to low thirties seems to be the sweet spot for starters. The star player often plays in the mid to high thirties. But you can totally wear down your team going through the grind of conference play if you are not careful. Often coaches will go with light walk-through practices towards the end of the year. I personally would prefer Groce have a large active roster, especially if we get to the point where the Zips open up a running style. The common debate is when you get past a 9 player rotation will you start to lose team chemistry. Anyway, I think it's easy for us to forget about the insane recovery time of these kids. In 2017 the Michigan wolverines had their plane slide off the run way. The next day they got up at 6:00 in the morning, flew from Detroit to Washington D.C. for a noon tip off and in their practice uniforms beat Illinois. They went on to win the Big Ten Tourney (4 games in 4 days). So my opinion is that the Zips had plenty in the tank and in their legs on Saturday. Now as to the refs. I really hate talking about the refs. I am not one to play that card often. But on the same note, there are good refs and bad refs and they do effect games. And in my opinion the other night the Zips had to battle a team that was hitting on all cylinders in the second half while trying to figure out what the hell was a foul and what was incidental contact, etc. In the end, it's the Zips job to figure it out and overcome the refs calls no matter what. They ended up losing their composure and the game in glorious fashion. Hopefully, they will soon have the mental toughness and the horses necessary to overcome such a challenge. But I don't have a problem at all throwing lousy refs under the bus as part of my analysis.

I'm hearing that Groce is about to float an offer to a trio of JUCO transfers.

Come on guys. I leave for the weekend and the whole place burns down. Anyway, I did watch this disaster, twice. I noticed a roster change with Ivey coming off the bench for both halves. I imagine that's to balance the rotation so we always have leadership on the court. You might find this strange, but I am more upset with the Zips letting the Central Michigan game get away from us. This game was a tale of 2 halves and 3 schizophrenic referees. I really felt for our guys. There were 8 minutes left in the game and our Zips were so confused and frustrated it was ridiculous. All I ask from referees is consistency for 40 minutes. They were the worst team on the court Saturday. The first half was actually pretty impressive basketball from our Zips. Great ball movement. Drive and kick. We were hitting our floaters and lay ups. Free throws went down. We actually had some inside game. Our defense was solid with steals, diving on the floor and a half-court press that really messed with them. And even though our three point shooting started out ice cold we salvaged 27% by half and a 9 point lead. The second half NIU came out more aggressive and Eugene German was on fire hitting everything from lay ups to NBA three pointers. All the floaters and circus shots we made in the first half were now going down for them. Every broken play, hustle play, buzzer beater and friendly rim went their way. All of that in the first 5 minutes of the second half and we are still up 42 - 38. You can throw in some of our mistakes now; bad passes, not blocking out, defensive breakdowns, poor shot selection, stalled offense without LCJ on the floor and moving the ball side to side instead of attacking the defense. Even with all of that we are now at the 12:00 minute mark, still battling and only down 45 - 44. Somewhere between then and the 8:00 minute mark our spirit was broken. From there on out we were completely rudderless and chucking up three pointers in desperation. And the last minutes were total garbage. I would argue the refs had a lot to do with that. I will spare everyone the details, but I did write them down. That said, we have to play the game that is in front of us. And if the nature of the game changes we have to adapt. The problem is we are currently a one-trick pony. This offense may be guard heavy, but it should not be guard only. The fact that we get so little offense from our bigs kept us from overcoming the more physical play in the second half. It's tragic that we have to discuss Gueye's departure because a guy like that could make all the difference. There are better days in store for the Zips offense. I promise. A better three point percentage I can not promise. One last note. I hope the Zips have a Eugene German effigy pinned to their board. He's a great player, but he's a punk-ass. He's also a junior so we get the pleasure of playing him another year. I don't believe in dirty play, but I do believe in hard fouls. That dance after hitting a three pointer was beyond celebration, that was taunting and disrespectful. Also, he should have been T-up at the end of the first half for knocking the ball out of Ivey's hands. Yes, I would definitely send him a message when they come to Akron. Bring on Eastern Michigan. Go Zips!!

The announcer called it a 1-3-1 zone, but I thought we were running the half-court press which worked well in the first half. What ever it was it didn't slow down German's drive to the hoop. The second trip down the court we really didn't get set and we were in man-to-man by the third trip down.

I agree with this sentiment up to a point. It's not an impressive stat line at all. But I did read in the Gamecocks Central comments that he was late to the game of basketball. So it's possible that a sit out year of nothing but weights and post-up drills could have done wonders for him. And after watching this NIU game it would be nice to have a guy who can double as an aircraft carrier and dunk anything within 5 feet of the basket. I would be interested to learn exactly what we missed out on, if anything.

There is not much online about Gueye, but the following are some comments related to his departure pulled from Gamecock Central. Notice there is nothing pertaining to him having a bad disposition or history. Gonna miss him. Fun to watch. Hustled and gave it his all. He was too late in picking up the sport. Good defender. Did not have the strength or footwork to excel in the paint. Played 5 minutes per game, never scored on a team with a ton of potential playing time available. I wish him well, but he was dead weight. I admired Gueye's hustle as well. He passed the eye test. A great looking athlete. Unfortunately, after 2 years he never developed the footwork, coordination and confidence to compete at this level. He seemed to have regressed this season. He's a project big that didn't pay off. I wish him the best. Good, he's trash ( That comment raised the ire of plenty on the site )

The answer to your question is yes. So these two were going head to head all the time. And possibly battling for a spot on next years roster. I have never watched a Groce practice, but have heard they go full speed and are highly competitive by design. So temper flare-ups and unfortunately some injuries are not uncommon. HillTopper said this altercation was unprovoked, but I also wonder if there was some lingering bad blood between them.

I'm so bummed. I have had this game circled as early as last year because NIU is here in my back yard. And now I can't go, Ugh!!!!

It sure would be nice to have a few more guys (at any position) who can rock the rim. It would make going on the road into hostile environments or up against good shot blockers a little less stressful. Just saying.

I didn't even realize Roscoe got in for 3 minutes last night. No idea what's going on there.

You're talking to someone who just watched the Bears lose a playoff game to the Eagles with a double-clank off the goal post. So yes, it is all starting to feel like horseshoes and hand grenades to me right now. I am late to commenting and I already "liked" all the comments critical of the second half defense and the stupid foul in the corner. As frustrating as tonight's loss is, I do think the whole losing 6 games by a total of 20 points is something to discuss. How much of it is learning to finish games? I mean we had some good looks for the win that didn't go down. Is it that we lack a cold-blooded closer? Did we get tight as a team and forget to play the right way down the stretch? There is a road-game component. I don't know, maybe it's a bit of all of it. But according to Kenpom math, there is only one other team who has fans that are more pissed off than we are with the close loses a record that doesn't match expectations and that's Mercer. Correction: I took a look at Mercer's schedule and their loses were not always close so I was reading the "Luck" column the wrong way. Kenpom "Luck" is the deviation in winning percentage between a team's actual record and their expected record using the correlated gaussian method. Correlated gaussian method, any statisticians in the house?

On the subject of luck. Mercer is holding strong as the most unlucky team in Division 1, but Akron is nipping at their heels in second place.

Amazing how much better a team looks when their shots fall.

I am able to watch on the internet.

I realize this is a road game and perhaps not the best time, but the question of where's Khadim Gueye has me concerned. I can't sleep at night I tell you!! Hopefully someone can solve that mystery. Go Zips!! I am feeling a win today too.

I am excited to see what Williams brings to the team next year because the videos show a much needed versatile big. But just to give everyone a reminder of how far our bigs need to improve to get this offense humming properly, everyone in a Zips uniform should have the versatility of Ivey and LCJ. Just like Clarkwgriswold points out, LCJ battles guys a foot taller than himself in the paint on a switch and so to our 7 foot center needs to be able to dribble the basketball up the court if necessary to break a press. Each player will have their strengths, but there needs to be a base level of effectiveness across all basketball disciplines. We might be a couple years away before we meet these expectations. Hopefully our bigs are still improving in practice.

I very much agree with the general sentiment of this conversation. Our bigs are lagging way behind the developmental curve. And the missed bunnies, so many missed bunnies by everyone has been very frustrating to watch. I too, am waiting for someone to claim the mantle as our back to the basket post-up player. But I also keep waiting for someone to get the green light to take more than one outside shot here and there. Give me a big who can get hot from the arch or even the mid-range and I will show you a wide open lane for our guards to attack.

Groce mentioned that a year ago the Zips would have lost todays game by 20 points due to tying poor defensive effort to poor shooting. It looks like that is what happened to the Golden Flushes tonight. 86 -62 loss at home to BG.

Pinky is all red and now T-up.

I agree. Take the win and run. But they can burn the tape on this one.