The weekend kicked off in a bad way, as the Illinois basketball team couldn’t handle UConn.
This was a disappointing part of Black Friday. The Illini didn’t look good against the No. 5 team in the country, although we still managed to have the deficit down to seven points late in the game.
Illinois’ showing didn’t have Brad Underwood happy after the game, either. There is plenty to correct in the coming week, and Underwood touched on that in his postgame press conference.
Here are five interesting Brad Underwood quotes from the Illinois basketball presser vs UConn
- “Very proud of Kylan (Boswell), and the job he did. He basically played 40 minutes. Had his hands full with (Solo) Ball most of the night.”
Kylan Boswell was the only beacon of light for the Illinois basketball team on Friday afternoon. He was by far the best player on the court, giving the Illini 25 points, nine rebounds, and three assists.
Beyond his offensive numbers, I think he did a good job against Solo Ball, too. Ball is one of the most electric players in the country, and he was just 2-of-9 from three-point range. This was a great effort by Boswell.
- “We better get tougher…we’ve got to grow in those eight days.”
The next eight days are crucial for the Illini. We just got our butts whooped against a much better UConn program, and now we have eight days to practice and get better as a team.
Let’s not forget, there are a ton of new players who are just starting to play together. Injuries have hampered us this season, and the next week off will give us some time to gel.
- “We got to make them. It wasn’t just threes, it was layups and opportunities right at the front of the rim. And if you are not (making them), then you got to play with much more aggression and you got to want to get fouled. And like I said, three free throws, that is an issue with me.”
Illinois got punched in the mouth in the first half, and we didn’t have many answers. Shots weren’t going in, and Underwood talked about how the program wasn’t aggressive when that was happening.
James Harden does it the best in the NBA. When shots aren’t falling, he can get to the free throw line to score. Figure out a way to put points on the board during a bad shooting game. Illinois didn’t do that, as we only shot three free throws in the first half.
- “Practice, nothing, nothing, practice. He (Mihailo Petrovic) needs practice. He’s new to our system, it’s all new, it’s all foreign. You saw him at the end of the game get into people and really be an aggressive type guy.”
We are only just scratching the surface when it comes to the potential of Mihailo Petrovic. The kid is a superstar in the making, but he needs to get his feet underneath him.
Petrovic didn’t play well against UConn, but it is hard to go up against that good of a team without actually practicing much with the program. I think Underwood is going to do wonders with Petrovic in the coming days to help get him ready for what is to come on the schedule.
- “I’m putting guys on the court that have not been held accountable through practice because we are playing so many games. We are just trying to play guys into shape.”
This quote goes back to the last quote. Underwood is putting players like Petrovic on the court, and they aren’t in game shape. They haven’t been through practices to get into that type of shape when they’ve been running the entire time, and then they are asked to guard the best player on the opposing team.
I can’t imagine what this week of practices will look like. It is going to break some guys, and hopefully, Illinois comes out on the other end a better program.