Game day at UIC

[Superneck]

well...they made it interesting.

[WIU0812]

Covington and mike never got their shots on until the end which ended up being a big hurt to the offense. Tons of missed shots and no inside presence. Did Tate even score other than his free throw?

[sealhall74]

This group will take a while to figure out the right combinations at the right times. Never thought I would say this, but Mo's "slow and steady wins the race" ball actually might be the best strategy to win games this year. We are not big/physical and we are not overly quick either. Fewer possessions in a game means fewer opportunities for fouls. Lack of size and physicality could lead to a lot of foul problems as we saw tonight.

[Necks2003]

First time posting here, but long time follower.
This team is definitely more exciting to watch and the possibilities seem good, but we still struggle to close out a second half. Hopefully some more experience with all of the new guys will lead to more consistent scoring. Having some extra shooters should hopefully payoff in the long run. it's a long season but we need to pick up some wins from a confidence standpoint and to get the monkey off of coach wright's back

[sealhall74]

First time posting here, but long time follower.
This team is definitely more exciting to watch and the possibilities seem good, but we still struggle to close out a second half. Hopefully some more experience with all of the new guys will lead to more consistent scoring. Having some extra shooters should hopefully payoff in the long run. it's a long season but we need to pick up some wins from a confidence standpoint and to get the monkey off of coach wright's back

Thinking back over the last two games, I come away with a big plus. I would put both Pacific and UIC in the 3-5 range if they are in the Summit based on what I saw last year. So we played them both about even and if we end up in the 3-5 range this year, it will be a very good year. Alot will depend on how quickly these new guys mature as you pointed out.

[wiu712]

Big foul differential. 25 fouls on Western. Only 12 on UIC.

Western was 7 for 10 on free throws (70%). UIC was 24 for 29 (82.8%).

Attendance at UIC was 5,575.

[wiu2008]

Uic was 6-25 and 1-15 in the horizon last year. Their team is much the same this year. I don't see that team we saw tonight having any chance to be a top team in the summit.

Pacific lost a lot of players from last years squad that was average.

I could be wrong but I think we lost to two pretty poor teams. Those are the type of games that to me, you feel real good about winning but real bad about losing.

By no means am I giving up on this year because it seems like the team is close and some of the new guys have some talent. But it's time to win some close games

[JoeWx21]

So far without a dominate big man we are going to struggle rebounding and I don't like the 2005 Bruce Weber Illinois motion offense which was shoot when open.

These guys need to get back to fundemental rebounding and learn how to utilize the pick and roll game. They need to at least have one touch in the paint to either have the defense collapse or go one on one and hope to get to the line.

I see what coach wright wants to do but I don't think the players see it yet.

[beauspencer]

I agree that UIC and Pacific would be in the middle of the pack in the Summit League, but moreso around that 4-5 range, not 3. However, that's not a testament that those two programs are good, rather the Summit League is really down this season.

[sealhall74]

I agree that UIC and Pacific would be in the middle of the pack in the Summit League, but moreso around that 4-5 range, not 3. However, that's not a testament that those two programs are good, rather the Summit League is really down this season.

I don't think any team has a really good big man. Larson is good. Forbes is big. The League is probably wide open to who develops and utilizes their talent the best. BTW, this years UMKC team would probably be a good bet if they were still in the Summit.