EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 10:48 am
He also got some poor entry passes I noticed which didn’t help. He feels like a player that needs to get in rhythm early offensively.
But his defense and rim protection was just lights out in the second half when Kofi was not shoulder pile driving him of course.
And even wilder since leading up to the game, all they could talk about was how our west coast team wasn't prepared for big boy Big 10 basketball
And to tie that all together their coach admitted that his team just played in a big boy basketball game and said the difference at the end was that his team was too soft.
Guess the cryin Illini fans should listen to their coach.
he needs to be stronger on the rebound and catch - the thing with Koloko is that there seems to be unlimited upside, i have no idea why it feels like hes just scratching the surface but every year it does. he gets better, and better and improves so much but i still find myself saying, wow hes improved but he can be so much better. rare size and athleticism, if he stays another year in this system he could be a top 10 pick at his current improvement rate.
If the Illinois game taught Koloko anything, its that he has to get back in the weight room and add mass/muscle. Another year in college would be beneficial for his career long term........guys like Cockburn are a dime a dozen in the NBA. Koloko is going to get abused nightly in the NBA if he jumps now.
dmjcat wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 2:08 pm
If the Illinois game taught Koloko anything, its that he has to get back in the weight room and add mass/muscle. Another year in college would be beneficial for his career long term........guys like Cockburn are a dime a dozen in the NBA. Koloko is going to get abused nightly in the NBA if he jumps now.
But Koloko locked him down. 5-15 shooting for Kofi and by my count Koloko blocked him 3 times and turned him over 3 others. Koloko was +18 for the game.
My dude, respectfully, what are you talking about? If a matchup against Cockburn is his NBA baseline he should probably go pro immediately.
Of the 12 coaches, Rush picked the one whose fans have the deepest passion, the longest memories, the greatest lung capacity and … did I mention deep passion?
Haha exactly. His defense was A+. He will be a plus rim protector in the league and he can guard stretch players. Get his offense down and he is a lottery pick. Another add is zi think the league wants guys our CLo more than lumbering guys like KC
Waiting at the Rose Bowl patiently for the cats to arrive
"I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more wildcat sports"
2019 BDW Survivor Pool Champion
C-Lo did a really good job keeping his hands up straight, along with help from Zu and everyone else around him who also defended well, arms straight up. Also when Cockburn brought the ball down there were 3 hands trying to knock it away, which they did several times. The first thing bigs are taught is never bring the ball down.
Just needs some strength to not get pushed around if other players are allowed to play like Shaq.
Also, needs to really work on his offense with a huge guy like Cockburn. Both Koloko and Ballo played scared when trying to make a bunny and both missed several. Zu wasn't scared at all going to the hole and has tremendous footwork to deal with bigs.
Merkin wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 6:14 pm
Haha, Cockburn had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Koloko had 7 boards and 4 points.
"thoroughly outplaying" sounds like pure homerism if it wasn't Givony.
The game is played at both ends of the court.
Of the 12 coaches, Rush picked the one whose fans have the deepest passion, the longest memories, the greatest lung capacity and … did I mention deep passion?
Cockburn got a good portion of his rebounds against Ballo if memory serves.
Of the 12 coaches, Rush picked the one whose fans have the deepest passion, the longest memories, the greatest lung capacity and … did I mention deep passion?
I will say that koloko was no pushover, Kofi is a big son of a gun and koloko held his own, I also thought he and whoever was doubling on KC did a fantastic job of trying to tie him up. I thought that there seemed like a lot of jump balls, and that we were the ones digging in and tying up the ball.
I also could have sworn koloko altered more than 4 shots. Was surprised to see the number that low.
Arizona State might have the most surprisingly anemic history in men's basketball of any program that you might think is better than it is.
-Norlander.
Koloko did his job by blocking a few shots and making it difficult for Kofi to score. The main thing was he did this without excessive fouling and that was a huge benefit for the entire team. Not every debate has to end with who won or dominated the other. Kofi and Christian were both held below their average in scoring.
Last edited by TheCat on Mon Dec 13, 2021 11:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
Arizona needed Koloko to hold Cockburn under 15 to win.
And here we are.
Of the 12 coaches, Rush picked the one whose fans have the deepest passion, the longest memories, the greatest lung capacity and … did I mention deep passion?
U.P. Zona Fan wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 6:48 pm
I also could have sworn koloko altered more than 4 shots. Was surprised to see the number that low.
There was one where he went up with Tubelis and they both could have been credited with a block but they must have given it to Zu.
Of the 12 coaches, Rush picked the one whose fans have the deepest passion, the longest memories, the greatest lung capacity and … did I mention deep passion?
We did outscore them 42-16 in the paint so that’s very telling. Not all our bigs but it shows Kofi’s presence was minimal. C-Lo’s 4 blocks were all huge and some of Cockburns TO’s were probably caused by looking to see where he was
Waiting at the Rose Bowl patiently for the cats to arrive
"I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more wildcat sports"
2019 BDW Survivor Pool Champion
Looking at the box score for RAP and not only didn’t Kofi Cockburn get any fouls called on him, Koloko apparently never got fouled.
Cryin’ Illini fans can fuck off with their ref complaints. Our 7 foot center didn’t get fouled once in over 28 minutes of playing time?? Get the fuck out of here…
Of the 12 coaches, Rush picked the one whose fans have the deepest passion, the longest memories, the greatest lung capacity and … did I mention deep passion?
Yeah, that's a telling stat, but the only way to really analyze bad officiating is to replay the calls (and non-calls) multiple times, which takes hours and is absolutely not fun. A reasonably knowledgeable person can tell during the game, but some people insist that it's just a fan's personal bias. So the only way is with detailed slo-mo replays as your "courtroom evidence", and even then, some people say "maybe the ref had a better angle". But not usually. You may also notice that, unlike the NFL, broadcasters have rarely replayed controversial calls in college hoops over the last ten years or so. Instead, you get a cutaway highlight reel shot of the last slam dunk or three pointer. Because the NCAA (at the behest of the conferences) didn't like the criticism. So, you can go to great lengths to show how many calls were wrong favoring one team, how many 50-50 calls favored the same team, which unnecessary and overly technical calls were made at critical junctures favoring the same team...and then after all that, the door is still slammed shut in your face with: "Complaint Denied." And there are often repercussions for complaining. What a country. The good news is that our playing up-tempo increases the number of plays in a game significantly. And refs can only get away with blowing the whistle so many times, so their impact is lessened somewhat by that style.
I mean we had 17 fouls and Illinois had 15. That's really the only fair barometer to use although calls/non-calls can be scrutinized to death (when they happened, did they cause points to be added/subtracted, etc...) like TheCat mentioned.
To me, there is no way anyone can claim that one team had a decisive advantage on foul calls. It's just whining after the fact.
EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 10:00 am
I mean we had 17 fouls and Illinois had 15. That's really the only fair barometer to use although calls/non-calls can be scrutinized to death (when they happened, did they cause points to be added/subtracted, etc...) like TheCat mentioned.
To me, there is no way anyone can claim that one team had a decisive advantage on foul calls. It's just whining after the fact.
How many of Illinois' fouls were intentional because they were behind? Probably 3 or 4, which makes it more like 17 UA, 11 Illinois.
We are the people our parents warned us about.
-JB
2022 Survival Pool Co-Champion
EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 10:00 am
I mean we had 17 fouls and Illinois had 15. That's really the only fair barometer to use although calls/non-calls can be scrutinized to death (when they happened, did they cause points to be added/subtracted, etc...) like TheCat mentioned.
To me, there is no way anyone can claim that one team had a decisive advantage on foul calls. It's just whining after the fact.
How many of Illinois' fouls were intentional because they were behind? Probably 3 or 4, which makes it more like 17 UA, 11 Illinois.
Merkin wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 6:14 pm
Haha, Cockburn had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Koloko had 7 boards and 4 points.
"thoroughly outplaying" sounds like pure homerism if it wasn't Givony.
The game is played at both ends of the court.
Cockburn shot 5-15 and had 5 turnovers. Frankly it could have been more if the refs were calling Cockburn for dropping his shoulder.
Koloko's D was huge in making the Illini's primary offensive option wildly inefficient. That was a huge part in the win. He did it without needing doubles, letting the D stay home on shooters.
Who played better...I mean, Cockburn's role required bigger numbers, but Koloko was a rock on D and that enabled a win.
I saw someone (can’t remember who) who said he was playing a little dinged up? I had not heard that? Anyone else heard anything?
Last edited by azcat49 on Tue Mar 01, 2022 4:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Waiting at the Rose Bowl patiently for the cats to arrive
"I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more wildcat sports"
2019 BDW Survivor Pool Champion
He still needs to add weight and strength to be more effective. His scoring is way down in the last couple of games. I don't think he will be a first round pick and I am going to predict he will return to Arizona to get both of those things. Now maybe that is wishful thinking but you have to be able to score in the NBA even if it is a secondary skill.
azcat49 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 01, 2022 1:03 pm
I saw someone (can’t remember who) who said he was laying a little dinged up? I had not heard that? Anyone else heard anything?
I read that too, but can't remember where it was from. Something about his hip but might have been just speculation watching him trying to run down court.
He looked stiff and achy at Colorado. Thought it was his back.
Everyone is going to be banged up at this point in the season. Kriisa’s wrist, Pellet’s neck, etc.
Of the 12 coaches, Rush picked the one whose fans have the deepest passion, the longest memories, the greatest lung capacity and … did I mention deep passion?
I know his face got bloodied twice at Colorado but that's not what you are talking about.
Arizona State might have the most surprisingly anemic history in men's basketball of any program that you might think is better than it is.
-Norlander.
azcat49 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 01, 2022 1:03 pm
I saw someone (can’t remember who) who said he was playing a little dinged up? I had not heard that? Anyone else heard anything?
All I've heard or seen is a tight lower back. He rubs some gel on it prior to tip off. Same with Ballo and they've been doing that since November.
It is amazing to me how soft his "fouls" are. Someone needs to make a foul compilation video and send it to our refs to study up. Imagine where Christian would be today if he didn't get pulled early nearly every game due to fouls
He keeps putting up lines like that, he's going to get a first round guarantee.
What a night!!
Selfishly, I want him back next year but if he continues to blossom and we get a natty, he has my permission to go pro.
Love this team!!!!!
Arizona State might have the most surprisingly anemic history in men's basketball of any program that you might think is better than it is.
-Norlander.
