Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Purdue

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – FEBRUARY 05: Big Ten referee Lamont Simpson talks with Illinois Fighting Illini guard Trent Frazier (1) during the college basketball game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 5, 2019, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

2. The Trent Frazier interview rang true

On Tuesday, the day before the game against Purdue, Derek Piper of 247Sports did an interview with Trent Frazier about how practice has been and what they are expecting against the Boilermakers.

The start of this interview was a little alarming to some Illinois fans. Frazier described the practice as not having a lot of energy. He said that they have been trying to find the team spirit again. He also said that when the team won four in a row, everybody came to practice every day ready to go. This, to me, meant that now that they had lost a few in a row, players weren’t putting in the full effort.

Piper also went on to quote Brad Underwood as well. In this quote, Underwood said the second team kicked the first team’s butt. That is paraphrasing, of course. All of these quotes made me a little uneasy heading into the game against Purdue, and they ended up becoming true.

This Illinois team kind of seemed checked out at times. You could tell the players who wanted to be out there on the court and were playing to improve their game for the future. But, there were also times where certain players seemed to have almost checked out mentally. Like, they didn’t want to be there at the moment.

I want this Illini team to finish the season strong. The second season, the Big Ten Tournament, starts here in a few weeks and we need to win that to go dancing. This team has talent, and I want to see them make a run. But, if they come out in the first round like they finished the Purdue game, the season will come to an end really soon.

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