Illinois Basketball: Belief in the Illini isn’t wavering despite loss

I think everyone can agree the loss by the Illinois basketball team against Penn State on Saturday was ugly.

There really isn’t any way to smooth this loss over. Illinois was at home, they were celebrating one of the greatest teams in the history of the program and they were going up against, arguably, the worst team in the Big Ten. What happened to the Illini? Well, I think it is as simple as we laid an egg.

This Illini team has many deficiencies. I will get to my point of this article soon, but I want to point out that I see the flaws in this team, so no one says I am drinking the Kool-Aid or that I am a complete homer.

Illinois is essentially reliant on three players to carry this team. Ayo Dosunmu, Trent Frazier and Giorgi Bezhanishvili are the Big 3. If all three aren’t hitting, it is likely to be a bad game. Shooting is a major issue with this program as well. I don’t trust very many players on this team with shooting the ball. Rebounding has been a sore subject too. We are out-rebounded pretty much every game.

There are more issues I have with this team right now, but just because this team has issues doesn’t mean everything is going downhill again. I will be first to admit that I was extremely skeptical of what Brad Underwood was doing this season. I even wrote an article putting the question out there whether he is the right coach for the job. For me, as a fan, I was in a dark place with this program at one time this season.

Illinois then hit a stretch of games where things seemed to have clicked. They beat Minnesota, an NCAA tournament contender, by 27 points. They then beat No. 13 Maryland by 11 points. There was also a stretch of games in there where Illinois beat Nebraska, No. 9 Michigan State, Rutgers and Ohio State all in a row. This really turned the tides for me. This stretch of games showed me that this team is fighting, they believe in what is being taught and they haven’t given up on this coaching staff. So, if they are still fighting for this staff, so should I.

Well, we are now on a two-game losing streak after that four-game stretch of wins. The Wisconsin loss was understandable, although we could have won that game. But, the game on Saturday against Penn State was a gut punch. This was a game we should have won but failed to do so.

After this game, I saw some Tweets that were down on the program again. But, just because we have now lost two games in a row doesn’t mean this is the end. It doesn’t mean that this team is regressing in talent, knowledge or their belief in the coaching staff. I am fully bought into this coaching staff until the player aren’t.

The team I saw out there on the court against Penn State was lightyears better than what I saw at the beginning of the season. This team was flowing around the court knowing where each teammate was going to be and when they would be there. The alley-oop layups that looked so bad to begin the season are actually being completed now. Illinois had so many wide-open shots against the Nittany Lions because of how well the offense is working. We just didn’t hit the shots.

Illinois is working together as a team. They have been for the last 12 games. Each game is a learning process. We are developing as a team and getting better as a team. Everything that is happening now is to prepare for next season. That is when everything should come together.

So, no matter what happens the rest of this season and the Big Ten Tournament, don’t give up on this program. You might be sad about not making the postseason this year, believe me, I am too, but I have full confidence in the direction of the Illini. I believe in what is happening on the court, and I encourage you to believe as well.