UIC Preview and Game Thread -- 11/14/2023

[ahunte1]

I predict Trey Lewis leads Loyola in plus/minus.

[Sloth84]

Embarrassing loss. Drew was awful. Our offense is awful again. And our shooting - beyond awful. How many times did of our 5th year seniors miss the rim on 3s - in their own gym!!!

[kato669]

Agreed. I can't believe how badly we played. And how we did not seem to have a defensive adjustment in the second half.

Just disappointing bad loss. Only brights spot is that I left the game in the last 30 seconds and beat the crowd out of the garage.

[ahunte1]

[And it appeared that Des Watson got into some type of altercation in the handshake line.[/quote]

Really? I had left by that point. He was pissed out there. Can't blame him. Since I didn't see it, I guess I can't really say, but at least he's got some fire.

[goramblers2011]

[And it appeared that Des Watson got into some type of altercation in the handshake line.

Really? I had left by that point. He was pissed out there. Can't blame him. Since I didn't see it, I guess I can't really say, but at least he's got some fire.[/quote]

Yep, it was picked up on the broadcast. So if there's a replace on ESPN+, you should be able to see it.

[kato669]

That's not surprising re Watson. I think Okani was trash talking or just chippy during the whole game

[Mertz2003]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Trying to implement an NBA style iso offense with personnel that will not play in the NBA makes no sense.

Drew’s not good enough to coach it.

And the players aren’t good enough to play it.

He is lost as an HC. Players are lost in terms of how to play and flow offensively. Some of it is the new additions getting used to each other etc, but mainly it’s this: the coach isn’t very good and the team isn’t very good.

To add to this...which one of our players has gotten better over the last 3 years? We aren't developing our young guys, and then we keep recruiting mediocre 23-year olds over them for every open roster spot. The Ivy League guys look like they belong in the Ivy League.

[JCT]

From the last paragraph of the game preview:

UIC played Cincinnati (now in the Big 12) very close on the road to open the season, thanks to the explosiveness of Okani. His passing ability, mobility, rebounding and outside shooting (a respectable 29.3% last year from distance) makes him a matchup nightmare. Loyola may need to throw double teams or try different combos on defense to limit his production. But don’t forget about Rivera, who shot 37% behind the arc for Colorado State last year and already has a 25-point game under his belt at UIC. This UIC team is dangerous, particularly if more than one player has a super game.

That's pretty much what happened-- Rivera with 23, Okani with 20. Pretty sure we win if we have Alston in the second half, and Rubin on the court instead of with a knee brace for the last 15 minutes of the game. We had no post-up game at all, and we were zero for 11 on threes in the second half. Adelekun and Dolan were almost completely ineffective, and Mwamba looked like he was taken out of his game by Okani's trash-talking. And it's hard to criticize the student section, but man, the energy was off tonight-- the media timeouts and replay reviews were part of it, but they were off their game and need to step it up.

Braden Norris, the shortest guy who played on either team led Loyola in rebounding with 7. Alston and Rubin were the only two players to shoot .500 or better from the field, and they played a total of 5 minutes between them in the second half.

I've been very pro-Drew throughout, but this one seems like maybe his worst game as coach. We're fragile and SOFT. Some of our players seem reluctant to shoot, unconfident, and contact-shy. We don't set screens for threes at all. We don't seem to have plays to clear space for drives to the basket.

Hooray for the free throws-- 23 of 25 from the line. Hooray for turnovers, we had only 12 to their 16. Otherwise, weak and embarrassing and second-rate stuff on a lot of counts tonight.

[Cruyff]

That was tough to watch because Circle toyed with us. Every time we got close or the brief lead we had, they hit big shots. IMO a lot of basketball games come down to two things: (1) runs and, (2) big possessions. They won the overwhelming majority of big possessions. The runs weren't that lopsided. Credit Circle, every time they needed a big bucket, someone stepped up for them. In case we missed it, The Ramblers went over five minutes without a hoop from minute six until about the :30 second mark. I was convinced we'd win 20 games this year; I would like to scrub that predictive thinking from the record now. {Not saying Circle is bad. I believe they are underrated.} Keep fighting TLU Ramblers. Let's get to 19! It's still realistic.

[ahunte1]

From the last paragraph of the game preview:

UIC played Cincinnati (now in the Big 12) very close on the road to open the season, thanks to the explosiveness of Okani. His passing ability, mobility, rebounding and outside shooting (a respectable 29.3% last year from distance) makes him a matchup nightmare. Loyola may need to throw double teams or try different combos on defense to limit his production. But don’t forget about Rivera, who shot 37% behind the arc for Colorado State last year and already has a 25-point game under his belt at UIC. This UIC team is dangerous, particularly if more than one player has a super game.

That's pretty much what happened-- Rivera with 23, Okani with 20. Pretty sure we win if we have Alston in the second half, and Rubin on the court instead of with a knee brace for the last 15 minutes of the game. We had no post-up game at all, and we were zero for 11 on threes in the second half. Adelekun and Dolan were almost completely ineffective, and Mwamba looked like he was taken out of his game by Okani's trash-talking. And it's hard to criticize the student section, but man, the energy was off tonight-- the media timeouts and replay reviews were part of it, but they were off their game and need to step it up.

Braden Norris, the shortest guy who played on either team led Loyola in rebounding with 7. Alston and Rubin were the only two players to shoot .500 or better from the field, and they played a total of 5 minutes between them in the second half.

I've been very pro-Drew throughout, but this one seems like maybe his worst game as coach. We're fragile and SOFT. Some of our players seem reluctant to shoot, unconfident, and contact-shy. We don't set screens for threes at all. We don't seem to have plays to clear space for drives to the basket.

Hooray for the free throws-- 23 of 25 from the line. Hooray for turnovers, we had only 12 to their 16. Otherwise, weak and embarrassing and second-rate stuff on a lot of counts tonight.

Great post

Talking Blers podcast made a great point about this. It was a total failure to stop UIC's main threats. That was a staple of our best teams. Holding the stars to low totals. We need a lock down defender at guard.