I agree with your assessment uofIgrad. I only was able to watch the second half but was disappointed in a seasoned verteran like Paul continually turning the ball lover. The entire team got sloppy at times but noone more so than Paul. As he goes....so go the ILLINI. Many of us figured that our inside presence would be aproblem this year and I think it shows - Having Leonard in there instead of Egwu would have made this a different team.

Soft defense, no rebounding, no solid screens, no blocking out, piss poor free throws, this team has zero basketball IQ either. I give Michigan a lot of credit, they're very good, and we sucked it up again...... Our shot selection is pathetic, can anyone coach these guys? I'm starting to wonder? We have to put this behind us and move on.......

Ok so we lost to Michigan....like everyone else.  If we come out of the next four games without a win I think it's pretty much over and Groce has to decide whether he needs to let go of the season and start the younger guys.  If we had won Purdue and Northwestern this would be a whole different story, a bump in the road.  But right now we are at the bottom looking up.  There is hope, but it's only going to last a couple weeks.  

I have to think BP's NBA stock is falling like a rock with each turnover.  That is sad, his future was bright but he's quickly going down the career path of McCamey right now.

Here's to hoping they can turn it around!

Same team.  Different Coach.  Same Result.


It's one thing if our losses in B10 play were close, but we are getting stomped.   AT HOME.


Fat Lady is singing.  The optimists can talk all they want, but it is fork time.  

What is inexplicable to me is that the team got the Michigan centers in foul trouble,
and had one and one as well, at about 10 minutes to go. Then not one foul called after that.

How does that happen?? Did the coaching staff instruct them of the situation. Did the 
team just rebel? How do you work on one and one, and then completely leave it? 

Something is seriously wrong somewhere. 

Go Illini. 

Those were the same refs we had the in the Minnesota game.  They were terrible.  I thought in the 2nd half we were trying to get the ball to the rim either driving or feeding McLaurin or Egwu.  That only last till about the 10 minute mark like you stated.  Michigan adjusted and hit us with the haymaker in that time frame we decided to pull are traditional closing collaspe.  

I just want us to be competative with MSU.  We ain't beating them.  Not after Indiana side stepped them.  I would love to see this team split their next four, but we will likely not pick up a single victory, unless we just have a game like Ohio State were we start fast out of the gate.

How many teams can say they own 3 top 11 victories for the season to date.  Answer 1. 

Time to Bench Brandon Pual for an entire game.  Enough is enough.

Paul

Unfortunately those top 11 wins aren't going to mean anything unless Illinois starts winning. The committee isn't going to care about November or December if Illinois loses 11 or 12 conference games. Problem looks like lack of leadership to me. A coach can only do so much, the mental state of this team is extremely weak.

I think the team gave good effort for most of the game with the exception of the first 6 or 7 mins. of the 2nd half. Breslin Center is a tough place to play, so it's not a surprise that they lost.

I think they played with effort and they didn't fold it in and call it a day when MSU went on the 14-0 run in the 2nd half. If this was last year, they would have wilted under the pressure and the game would have been a blowout.

They are close, even Sean Farnham said the same thing. He doesn't see much of a difference between now and when they were winning in Nov/Dec. The only big difference are that the shots aren't falling at the same rate.

Yesterday, they fought, they played hard, they left it all on the court, I can't fault them for the loss. It's just tough to watch the team lose and keep losing. I'm concerned that the continued losses will permanently cause the team to lose all of their confidence. I hope not, Groce is working hard on keeping their confidence at high levels but loss after loss, it's hard to keep that confidence.

I feel for the team right now b/c you can tell by last night's performance, that they are not far off, they are close to righting the ship. I hope they can squeak out a win vs. Wisconsin and they should if they play like they did at MSU.

I think with the loss to Wisconsin today, I think our chances of making the tournament are now slim to none. The team just didn't come out right today. Bertrand was the only guy creating his own shots and then stupidly, Richardson and Abrams and Egwu take shots instead of getting the ball into the hands of the only guy who could actually create his own shots.

I think the season was lost today. This was a must-win game and we lost and the score is not indicative of how far off the game was. I will continue to watch as a fan but I will no longer be in a state of delusion. The team is not an NCAA caliber team at this point.

Agree with ILL55INI.  It's over, and I'm done watching this year.  It's not a slump, they just aren't that good.  Next year Abrams and Egwu could be good.  Bertrand always has been pretty good so there is hope.  Paul, sad to say, is beyond repair.  

Coach should start with layup practice, we can't seem to hit those anymore.

The good thing is I just freed up a lot of time in my life I used to spend watching these guys.

See you next year. 

I actually would just like to Groce bench Paul.  There is an obvious problem with his on the court attitude.  He's the most selfish player I have ever watched to play for the U of I.  He only cares about his stat line, and when he isn't hitting, he decides not to play defense.   He is hurting this team and holding them back to a degree.  Abrams, Egwu, & Bertrand will be just fine next year.  Mike Henry might be alright too. I thought they played hard last night, just not smart.  Latulip was a huge liability for the few plays he was in, they immediately attacked his size.  I wonder why we abandoned the zone all of the sudden, especially against MSU.  2-9.  Good thing Nebraska and PSU are in this conference, otherwise we would be last.

The simple fact of the matter is that you don't teach an old dog new tricks (Any of the seniors).  Defense is an issue, shots aren't falling, we still don't have a true PG and no true presence in the paint.  This team is exactly who we thought they were at the beginning of the season.

This is still the team that depends heavily on jumpshots to win games and we were able to surprise non-conference teams by making shots.  The coaches in the Big Ten know all about this team and the recipe to beat them.  The only thing keeping this team's NCAA hopes alive are the early wins against ranked teams. 

Here's to next year, when we get a true PG and a couple of bigs that (I hope) can bang down low. 

Beating IU when they are #1 would be sweet but unfortunately I am not going to hold my breath on that one.

Honestly, I would think we're outrebounded by 15 and Victor Oladipo has like 5 steals

Vegas isn't overly confident in UI on this game.  Only +7 as the line.  Indiana does scare me.  Their depth is solid, but they do have ego problem that I could care less for.  Oladipo is number on that list.  I would like to see us come out and hit some threes to start the game somthing like 4 for first 5. Maybe a little a confidence booster to keep our heads in it and maybe keep us within firing distance in the end.  The realistic result is that we will likely get crushed unless we share the ball.

Ego problem, Indiana? I think you're thinking of some of these Illinois players that don't listen to their coach and just play for themselves (Brandon Paul).

well we beat IU... that was a good comeback. some better rebounding and a much better performance from griffey.

Ego problem, Indiana? I think you're thinking of some of these Illinois players that don't listen to their coach and just play for themselves (Brandon Paul).

Don't get me wrong, our players have been extremely egotistical in the past.  I do not disagree with that at all.  Indiana just has the game to back up the talk, but talk they do.  I'm sure glad Sheehey showed that last night.  That technical foul ending up being huge.  Although all plays are huge when its a one possession game.  Indiana sat on the ball too much in the final three minutes and also went to a zone at times, which was perplexing considering it was their aggressiveness that led them to playing well the first 35 minutes of the game.  Playing conservative does not win you games, I know this as John Fox is my favorite NFL team's coach.  lol &#*W! I am still pissed about that crap.