Southern Illinois - 01/29/2023 - 2:00 PM - ESPN+

Redbird222

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Few things after a rewatch.

1. Can we stop planning out the Arch Madness run? We've won four conference games this season and just talked about how gassed we were against Bradley in one game and now we are saying we could win four times in four days. Realism is a good thing this year.

2. The biggest thing I've liked about what Pedon has done this year is he isn't afraid to change things. He'll play Stadelman. He'll play Kotov. He is okay with admitting that he doesn't have the answers. So many coaches are so strict in their view of things. Take a look at the other side - Mullins has had the exact same offense for four years now and never, ever changes it. Could be the reason he's exactly .500 in the Valley in his career.

3. Losing Darius Burford was a blessing in disguise that I hope shows up on film to the coaches because we stopped running ball screen offense. With DB in the lineup, we're so dribble-heavy. You can get back to some of it with the right personnel and in moments of games, but look at these numbers and tell me the offense isn't better without dribbling and in more of a traditional motion. A necessary improvement and change to close the year to sustain the offense we saw yesterday.

SIU: 119.9 offensive efficiency, 13 assists on 22 FG, 13 turnovers.
Bradley: 97.4 offensive efficiency, 9 assists on 25 FG, 24 turnovers.
Valpo: 84.3 offensive efficiency, 6 assists on 19 FG, 15 turnovers.
UNI: 96.2 offensive efficiency, 6 assists on 23 FG. 13 turnovers.
119 is outstanding. Less TOs and 17 for 18 FTs really help and we were outstanding from 3 yesterday. We still need to be more efficient shooting 2 pt FG.

We need to be in the 100 to 105 range consistently and we will be a much better team.
 

Matt Hein Fan

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Yesterday reminded me a lot of the Belmont game. Take and make a lot of 3’s is succcesful strategy. Another poster said Darius being out was truly a blessing in disguise and I agree. That is not to take take anything away from Darius’s skill as he is our leading scorer but the offense seems to flow better when Poindexter is running show, much more passing and less dribbling.

Speaking of dribbling I think Seneca struck the perfect balance yesterday with his game, wasn’t trying to force nearly as much as usual and played really well within the offense. When he puts the ball on the floor a little too often for comfort there is no rhyme or reason to it, yesterday was an exceptional game from him.

Kotov did have his best game as a Redbird (unless you count Greenville game several years ago) and he didn’t even score.
 
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Adunk33

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Just a reminder that you do not need to read the Pantagraph article...All the info you could possibly want can be found here. :cool:



 

Scipio

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Great win last night. Team win. For me there are a few things I took away:
- Birds are improving as a TEAM.
- They executed an offensive plan.
- I’ve developed confidence in Pedon and Staff. I believe in him and like how he’s bringing the team around.
- I’m excited for the future. I think this team will cause some problems Tournament time, but I don’t see us winning the tourney this year.
We need some players; but I’m now cautiously optimistic for next season.
 

Redbird222

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When Knight can make his 3s it completely changes how teams have to guards him. I think the whole league understands that he like to drive to the hoop. He is a streaky 3 pt shooter but it really helps extending the defense when he is on

The screens were much more solid yesterday. We often do the ghost screen and role quickly to the basket which we really didn't do yesterday. The dribbles were also getting closer to the screens which helps too

We have talked for a while what could happen if we had a big that could contribute. Kotov met the SIU physicality (defensively and screens), he was great on the boards, and OMG 4 assists (including the diving one). If he converted 2 or 3 post moves then you essentially had yesterday what most want. I don't think we need a super star but 6 points, 6 rebounds, post defense and a few good passes go a long way.

He had a good game against Bradley two years ago but I believe this was his best game as a Bird
 
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stats

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Kotov met the SIU physicality (defensively and screens), he was great on the boards, and OMG 4 assists (including the diving one). If he converted 2 or 3 post moves and you essentially had yesterday what most want. I don't think we need a super start but 6 points, 6 rebounds, post defense and a few good passes go a long way.
Sometimes we think of coaching as using our players as chess pieces. It is fun watching players develop into better players, assuming we can get them to stay here.
 

davehead86

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When Knight can make his 3s it completely changes how teams have to guards him. I think the whole league understands that he like to drive to the hoop. He is a streaky 3 pt shooter but it really helps extending the defense when he is on

The screens were much more solid yesterday. We often do the ghost screen and role quickly to the basket which we really didn't do yesterday. The dribbles were also getting closer to the screens which helps too

We have talked for a while what could happen if we had a big that could contribute. Kotov met the SIU physicality (defensively and screens), he was great on the boards, and OMG 4 assists (including the diving one). If he converted 2 or 3 post moves then you essentially had yesterday what most want. I don't think we need a super star but 6 points, 6 rebounds, post defense and a few good passes go a long way.

He had a good game against Bradley two years ago but I believe this was his best game as a Bird
I was wondering if I was the only one seeing the problem with the screens and I was just being a novice who doesnt know how to coach and didnt understand what I was watching. Im glad i wasnt wrong in that thought, and I agree with you regarding the improvement in that area last night.
 

stielowp

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It would be the most ISU thing to do to break the tourney drought by limping into STL under .500 and running the table. That said, it won't happen. Good W yesterday. Now get ready for Wednesday - because it would also be a very ISU thing to have UIC break their losing streak by sweeping us this season.
More like ISU to breakthrough to the Championship Game in Arch Madness, then lose by 30.
 

stielowp

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When Knight can make his 3s it completely changes how teams have to guards him. I think the whole league understands that he like to drive to the hoop. He is a streaky 3 pt shooter but it really helps extending the defense when he is on

The screens were much more solid yesterday. We often do the ghost screen and role quickly to the basket which we really didn't do yesterday. The dribbles were also getting closer to the screens which helps too

We have talked for a while what could happen if we had a big that could contribute. Kotov met the SIU physicality (defensively and screens), he was great on the boards, and OMG 4 assists (including the diving one). If he converted 2 or 3 post moves then you essentially had yesterday what most want. I don't think we need a super star but 6 points, 6 rebounds, post defense and a few good passes go a long way.

He had a good game against Bradley two years ago but I believe this was his best game as a Bird
That was when Kotov and Mahorcic got scolded by Dan for waving bye to the Bradley players.
 

RedbirdSoxFan

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Few things after a rewatch.

1. Can we stop planning out the Arch Madness run? We've won four conference games this season and just talked about how gassed we were against Bradley in one game and now we are saying we could win four times in four days. Realism is a good thing this year.

2. The biggest thing I've liked about what Pedon has done this year is he isn't afraid to change things. He'll play Stadelman. He'll play Kotov. He is okay with admitting that he doesn't have the answers. So many coaches are so strict in their view of things. Take a look at the other side - Mullins has had the exact same offense for four years now and never, ever changes it. Could be the reason he's exactly .500 in the Valley in his career.

3. Losing Darius Burford was a blessing in disguise that I hope shows up on film to the coaches because we stopped running ball screen offense. With DB in the lineup, we're so dribble-heavy. You can get back to some of it with the right personnel and in moments of games, but look at these numbers and tell me the offense isn't better without dribbling and in more of a traditional motion. A necessary improvement and change to close the year to sustain the offense we saw yesterday.

SIU: 119.9 offensive efficiency, 13 assists on 22 FG, 13 turnovers.
Bradley: 97.4 offensive efficiency, 9 assists on 25 FG, 24 turnovers.
Valpo: 84.3 offensive efficiency, 6 assists on 19 FG, 15 turnovers.
UNI: 96.2 offensive efficiency, 6 assists on 23 FG. 13 turnovers.
No one said you had to play.
 

Redbird222

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Am I the only one that think UNI has the toughest schedule down the stretch?
They do play the toughest schedule and six of their eight wins are against the bottom 4 teams.
They have one game remaining against Evansville and the rest of the games are against the top eight teams. They have a lot of underclassmen playing key minutes and I believe Heise is lost for the rest of the year.

On the flip side, Ben Jacobson is generally viewed as one of the stronger coaches who generally has his team playing better in conference. They also only have 4 losses versus our eight and we lose the tie breaker against them because we lost to them twice. They essentially have a 5 game lead over us with eight games to go.


Our best chance of catching one of the other teams may be MSU. We are down 3 games to Missouri State but own the tie breaker against them (we play only once this year). They have 2 games against Evansville and Valpo. If they slip up in one of those games it could happen (we would also have to play well).

A lot of speculation and we surely need to play consistently better down the stretch.

Let's beat UIC on Wednesday so we can keep the possibilities open
 

Baltimore Bird

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I would personally prefer ISU to finish 7th or 10th. I don't want to be the 1st game on Thursday and/or Friday.
We can beat anyone in the tournament on a given day and I think we will win a game on Thursday.
Can we shoot 11 for 19 from 3 and 17 for 18 at the line consistently? NO.
We have to keep getting better.
I watched Virginia tonight. VA's assist to turnover ratio is 1.78 to 1 for the SEASON. Our ratio is less than 1.
They average 9 turnovers per game. ISU must by around 16 or 17. I did not look for the actual #.
That is where we can get better. It is in our control.
 

Bird Friend

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It would be the most ISU thing to do to break the tourney drought by limping into STL under .500 and running the table. That said, it won't happen. Good W yesterday. Now get ready for Wednesday - because it would also be a very ISU thing to have UIC break their losing streak by sweeping us this season.
Nah, the most ISU thing to do would be to make it to Sunday, be leading at half, and get blown out in the 2nd half.
 

Bird Friend

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I would personally prefer ISU to finish 7th or 10th. I don't want to be the 1st game on Thursday and/or Friday.
We can beat anyone in the tournament on a given day and I think we will win a game on Thursday.
Can we shoot 11 for 19 from 3 and 17 for 18 at the line consistently? NO.
We have to keep getting better.
I watched Virginia tonight. VA's assist to turnover ratio is 1.78 to 1 for the SEASON. Our ratio is less than 1.
They average 9 turnovers per game. ISU must by around 16 or 17. I did not look for the actual #.
That is where we can get better. It is in our control.
We're averaging exactly 15 TOs per game, and we're only forcing 11.3/game. Can we shoot 17-18 consistently? Maybe not, but we've come damn close, 80.8%, so 16-20 with a game of 17-20 mixed in now and then . . .
 
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