(Picture from http://www.media.mlive.com/)
15:12- Matt Gatens has all six points for the Hawks on two threes, and as I type Eric May air balls yet another three. Eight possessions, six threes.
14:04- Cully Payne has done a good job this year running point for Lickliter, being truly loyal to the scheme of things, but you can tell he wants to bust out and run like a young mustang kept in a cage.
13:30- Little Lick gets some time early this game. His first possession as the Hawk point guard ends quick with the Illini defense committing three accounts of sexual harassment forcing him to call a timeout. Sorry Daddy.....
12:32- May makes up for the ugly air ball earlier by drilling a baseline three. 11 possessions, seven three-pointers. That a way to shake things up with the offense Lick. Bruce Weber could sub himself in for McCamey and guard this offense himself. It's that slow. Scored all tied up at 11 (Hawkeyes with three turnovers).
11:00- Jeff Jordan drives the lane and flips up an easy bucket. Has there ever been more pressure on a son/daughter, than Jeff faces on a daily basis? Either he didn't get free lessons from daddy and his NBA buddies, or his mother lacked all physical ability.
10:44- Cougill stomped his way to the three point line, ate a donut, scarfed down three $1 dollar hot dogs, and drained a three. He's a little winded after that.
9:10- Cole gets a beautiful feed from Payne, goes up with two hands for a huge dunk and it clanks of the back of the rim. You gotta ride the elevator young man, you gotta ride the elevator.
7:02- Bawinkel in the game, and we all know what that means. First time he touches the ball, it's going to fly. "Splash" as the announcers put it. The very next possession he launches another one (my count is 22 possessions, 12 threes). Bawinkel is kind of like that one kid in the Fieldhouse that you always see shooting by himself. Nobody takes him seriously, until you need one guy for 5 on 5 and its between him or the little Asian kid in the corner in a Yao jersey. You pick him up and every time you pass the ball to him on the wing, he lets it fly (and its not a natural shot, he shoots the ball from behind his head, and after he lets it go, he thinks its in every time). We all know that guy.
4:48- Little Lick is back in the game which got me thinking, couldn't this be the Iowa version of Rudy? He's this small little guy, that nobody takes seriously. Not his dad, not Iowa, not anybody. He walks on the team expecting to sit on the end of the bench his whole career gaining inside knowledge so he can one day become a coach. Then the star player goes down, the backup gets in foul trouble, and they have no choice but play him. Johnny! Johnny! Johnny! Johnny!
3:04- Mike Davis steals the lazy pass from Payne to Cougill at the three point line, and dunks it home. Cougill made it to half court when Davis threw it down.
2:45- Cougill still standing in the same spot from the last possession gets a risky pass from Payne and hits another three. It's like throwing hot dogs down a hallway for him.
1:04- McCamey has gone down the court two times in a row and knocked down two runners in the lane. Lickliter is a defensive coach, I swear. 33-27 Illini.
:25- Cougill with another three from the same spot on the floor, and misses it. Not to run those Fieldhouse references into the ground, but he's the fat guy that cherry picks because he's so out of shape to go play defense. He is literally walking from free throw line to free throw line.
0:00- McCamey drills a last second shot, giving him nine-points in the first half. He is the true emotional leader. The guy finds open shooters with ease, and can drain his share of shots too. The Hawks are getting a lot of second chance opportunities, but they haven't made much out of them. They need to get this team in foul trouble, which is hard to do for an offense that passes it around the arc until there is only three seconds left on the shot clock. And for those that care, on 38 possessions the Hawks have shot 18 threes (7-18 total), and are two for ten on shots inside three. 35-27, Illini at half.
Second half-
18:40- I like Cole a lot, but sometimes he looks like Bambi when he first tried to walk, always falling over at the knees.
17:56- McCamey knocks home another three. This guy leads the Big Ten in assists, and he can score at will. Just watching this Illini offense work it around makes me really jealous. They work the post, demand a double team, kick it back out and swing the ball. It's simple basketball. Develop a post game, and when the defense starts to cheat down, kick it and swing. Why doesn't Lickliter understand this concept? For a guy that loves the three ball so much, it seems like common sense.
16:12- Cully Payne, you are on the court to run the offense, not shoot, especially from NBA range. Two air balls for you on the night. TWO! Go look at yourself in the mirror, your no Devan Bawinkel!
14:07- Cougill misses a three, and trucks on down the court, fists pumping like he was doing a Richard Simmons work out video only to have the ball stolen making his effort worth zip. Good hustle big guy.
13:09- Cougill gives McCamey a fat elbow to the face! Then he skipped down the court yelling "That's one shot, that's one shot!".
12:45- Just five second half points for the Hawkeyes. FIVE! On top of it, Little Lick is back in the game, and turns the ball over again (that is the last time I ever say he could be a spark plug for this team). If I'm Gary Barta, I rid myself of everyone named Lickliter after the performances from this coach-player combo.
Only four three-pointers so far this half though (7-22 on the night).
9:38- Beautiful high-low action between Mike Davis and Tisdale. Oh real basketball, I never would have thought you worked. 45-38 Illini.
8:28- Cougill back in after sucking air from an oxygen mask, eating a Carver ice cream cone, and putting a Dora the Explorer band aid on the cut he got from popping McCamey in the face.
7:02- Nine total turnovers for the Hawks, eight for the Illini. The Hawks have played pretty good defense this half only giving up 12 points so far. 47-40 Illini.
5:42- Six three pointers have gone up this half, zero have gone through the hoop. They have clanked off the rim, gone under the rim, hell they have even gone over the back board, but nothing has grazzed the net at all.
5:04- Gatens looks like he might go on a fast break, and then picks up his dribble in the corner. Doesn't Lick tell them to not get caught in the corner? I don't think he does. They consistantly drive to that spot and get double teamed which forces them to make a bad pass.
4:06- Cole goes up and double clutches his lay up against a weak and lanky Tisdale. Tell me what part of that makes sense? You can move Tisdale with your pinky finger, there is no need to double clutch a lay up against him. At least he got bailed out with the foul. Cole to the line, knocks down both. 48-45 Illini.
3:41- After missing their last five shots, freshmen Tyler Griffey "Splashes" a huge baseline jumper for the Illini. These announcers have this weird infatuation with the word splash. "Griffey from the corner and SPLASSSSSSSSSSH". "Cougill takes his donut, looks at his coffee and SPLASSSSSSSSSSSH". "Todd Lickliter's favorite Tom Hank's movie is SPLASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!"
2:50- Mike Davis hits a jumper from the free throw line, and guess what the announcers said? "Davis off the curl, jumper from the free throw line anddddddddddddddd SPLASSSSSSSSSSSHED IT!" 52-47 Illini.
1:37- A great offensive rebound by Aaron Fuller and Davis gets called for a foul on what seemed to be a clean block. Fuller hits both freebies and cuts the lead to three. SPLASH.
:40.6- Cully Payne has drove to the basket three times in a row now and taken bad, falling away, ill advised, terribly ugly, lay up shots. I have no problem with him being aggresive, but he is trying to stay away from the contact instead of using it. No ref is going to give you the call if you fall away time after time after time. 54-49 Illini.
19.7- Payne drives again, gets caught, picks up his dribble, wastes time, feeds Gatens at the wing, forcing him to jack up one of the ugliest shots I have seen him take. UGLY. And now the Orange Krush are screaming "This is our house". Embarassing?
:01- Eric May throws up another air ball. This kid can't find the rim half the time.
Final score 57-49. The Fighting Illini take the trap game and now have to focus on Michigan State. Illinois has beat the Hawks ten times in the last twelve meetings, a gut punching stat. For those that care, the Hawks were 8-28 (28.6%) on three pointers, and 16-54 from the field, that is 29.6 %, a stat that shows why Iowa is the lowest scoring team in the Big Ten. Iowa is now 2-8 in conference play, and things don't look to be getting any easier.
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