Illinois dominates Penn first NCAA tournament test

Said reacts to Illinois dominating Penn in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the pod. As always, I really, really appreciate it. And we are talking about, we are reacting. I'm reacting to what this NCAA tournament win, the beatdown that we just witnessed down in Greenville, South Carolina, Illinois, taking down Penn. In really a what game that turned out to be a beatdown, as I mentioned. But obviously, I mean at this point, I have a lot of thoughts really swirling in my head. That's why I decided to come on here solo and talk about what this game means in the short term, in the long term. And obviously, starting off the NCAA tournament with a good on a good note, which is was really important given the fact that Illinois had not won a critical game in quite a long time. Even the last time they won a game in the Big Ten conference, it was a game where they barely escaped Maryland. And the last time they put a beat down like this, it was Oregon. And and there's so many things that I think went into this game that so and a lot of things that are gonna be unpacked moving forward as the next 24 hours move along. But it is just nice to understand to know that Illinois will move on to the next round, uh, the way that they did. And let's let's just start there because that's to me was one of the biggest things coming coming into this game. They say that comparison is the thief of joy, but on a day when we were quickly reminded of the suddenness of the end, where we witnessed how many upsets, you know, I of course that is the nature of March Madness. That is the whole design, the whole point of this whole tournament. But on a day we were when we were reminded of the suddenness of the end, I think you come away really content with the kind of win that you got here tonight. If you're an Illinois fan, which of course all of you listening have to be if you're listening to this podcast, but really that's to me was one of the things that coming into this game, um, you had there was some anxiety induced because you were reminded of how teams can let up. And uh to me, one of the best examples of that was not only the game of Wisconsin lost, uh, of course, that that was high point taking down Wisconsin, of course, a team that Illinois knew very well in 2025 and 2026, but not only that, it it is the idea that that a team like Siena could go into the tournament and and be on the brink of something extremely special against Duke, and that is when you are reminded of the fragileness of your team being in the tournament because it's a one-game sample size. And to have this kind of win is certainly encouraging. While it it while I will, you know, I will one unpack a little bit more of that whole idea, that whole spectrum of way of thinking, I do think that first of all, that is a good way to start. And that that is the important, that is the if you're taking away something to start from this game, it's that hey, Illinois moves on, you can breathe again, you can you know go to sleep really well as an Illinois fan, and you can you can move on and and live another day knowing that Illinois will take on VCU in on Saturday in the next round, round of 32, with Illinois having which you could be favorites and and should you know be a team that you should have your eyes on uh going into that round. Okay, that's a good place to start. So now let's kind of unpack the game itself because Illinois, of course, was a team that uh coming into this tournament. It when when you talk about the design of this tournament, it's about you know, some of it is obviously you have levels to it. Big Ten, SCC, ACC, those teams are always going to be a certain level of good, and are certainly really, really good. Uh, but but there's a certain element as well of of who's hot and who's not, and certainly Illinois was a team that maybe stock their stock maybe wasn't as high as you would have expected coming into March, especially being a three-seed coming into this particular tournament, and a team that hadn't really been all that stellar since early February when they had a 40-point beatdown uh against Northwestern at State Farm Center. That's really the last time when you felt like this team was really, really special. And of course, we saw those five quad one games unravel the way that they unraveled, but this is new life. This is the tournament, this is kind of its own season and its own craziness. And Illinois, of course, began the game, you know, kind of shaky. That would when you felt like Illinois wasn't really uh putting up that many points, and and there's certainly a lot of it that that that we can't unravel, or excuse me, that we can unpack, but the the main takeaway from this game was David Murkovich. To me, to me, it was David Merk more than Keaton Waggler, but they both, of course, it felt like you saw a Keaton Waggler that you hadn't seen in quite some time. But to me, because of all the verbiage, all the discourse surrounding Illinois missing a guy who can quote unquote, and this is from Brad Underwood, give a damn. That's what Underwood has said for the last, not even since the tournament loss. He's he's said that, he's sprinkled that around, he's teased that over the last couple weeks. And to me, not much to my surprise, or it shouldn't be really to anybody's surprise. This is literally a guy who said, Quote, I if I if I didn't play today, I would have killed my you know, that kind of stuff, right? David Merkovich is the guy that gives a damn because his effort tonight was something that you you you you really won't won't forget. Eight offensive rebounds, nine defensive rebounds, 17 total. That's the he led the way in winning that rebound battle, which of course Illinois winning that rebound battle 48 to 25 was instrumental in winning this game. Is this is something that you hope you can continue to see as we move forward into the deeper rounds of the tournament, which of course is gonna get tougher. Uh, but this is certainly a great start in Illinois, and and excuse me, David Burkovich having that impact, 17 rebounds, 29 points, uh, only one turnable, through three assists and through 28 minutes. Because, of course, the other, let's say nine minutes, you underwood did not really have to play him uh at all because he was so stellar in those first 28 minutes that he played that it really left no you no doubt that Illinois was going to indeed win this game. And he was to me the principal difference maker inside of this game, the tone setter that Illinois had been looking for for quite some time. Now, I will go ahead and and and talk about how this doing this against this particular team not to diminish any value in this this game, but there must be you know kind of a disclaimer, uh, kind of uh, you know, I don't mean to be you know a Debbie Downer, but there needs to be realities that will must be acknowledged when we take into account the opponent inside of this inside of this particular round inside of this particular game. But for now, let's talk about how David Murkovic was that key difference maker and was the principal guy for getting this thing done. And you just saw him, you saw him as you saw him this entire season, which was a guy who puts in all the effort. It's why he's been the guy that we've been talking about as the guy you feel the best about going into this tournament, the passion, the grit that Underwood looks for, and the overall just the player that he becomes when it be when it turns into crunch time, that is what Illinois needed, in a sense. And he's got the quota, I would say, I would say, I don't know if Underwood would say that the nasty, right? That Illinois had been looking for, and that is encouraging to see 11 for 17 from the field goal. He even had four three three-pointers that to pair that up with, and so you certainly feel encouraged about what he did. And if he can start this and continue this going into the deeper rounds of the tournament, then Illinois should be in great shape. Um, you just hope this kind of performance can continue. Uh, it'll get tougher, and that is something that you know it'll that Illinois will have to deal with. Uh, but moving forward, you know, Keaton Waggler. Again, the Keaton Waggler kind of re-emerged as you know, the guy that we saw earlier in the season in January, and it was interesting because I thought that uh in the over the last couple weeks, his impact might have felt uh to the maybe the blind eye or to the to the uh you know to the the the the naked basketball viewing eye, like he wasn't the same player, and certainly you could say that statistically, his shooting numbers were probably not the same as what they were earlier this season, but today on a night where Illinois, do or die, uh it was clear that Keaton Waggler became kind of re-emerged as that guy shot 50 from the field, 7414, had four three-pointers to go along with that, uh, seven rebounds and seven assists. Uh, a guy that continues to be unselfish, as you know, we've seen all year. But a guy that that that you know needed this kind of game. Um, I thought that Andre Stoyakovich was would continue. Andres and and Kyland would would continue to drive into the paint. This is certainly a team that you you certainly could have done that, uh, but you know, David and Keaton were certainly the leaders on the floor when it comes to the production side of things and the prospect of having David uh for next season, and that's something that we'll have to that Illinois fans that Illinois will have to deal with once this whole thing comes to an end. But the prospect of that actually happening is is very, very intriguing for anyone in Champaign, any Illinois fan, of course. Uh and um that is to me the the biggest thing. And um on a night where uh on a night where you know you had to play, uh you put in your your secondary players, your bench, AJ Red, Brandon Lee, uh Blake Fag Fagbami, uh, and Mihailo Petrovich. Like when they hit you knew that this was a game that you comfortably led, that you comfortably won. You feel you certainly feel good about that, certainly because of where this program was just a short couple weeks ago, and um last weekend, this felt a lot like a team in that locker room. It felt like awake, it felt really, really down. And this is this is certainly something that you'll you'll feel good about. Mike Zanoni was man, he for Penn, he was incredible. He shot, you know, nine for 18, had 20 points. Um, it felt like uh uh Penn was nailing a lot of threes ultimately. They didn't really nine for 30. But if you were worried about anything, there were certainly times early on in that game where you felt the struggle, uh, but ultimately Illinois just powered through, totally powered through. But um, I do want to point out one of the things that I I did want to point out is that especially early on in that first half, uh, as the first staff, you've been wound down. Three-point shooting and just shooting in general was an issue because you you saw you know, Illinois ended the night shooting 15 for 36. I'm pretty sure by halftime, Illinois only shot six for 21 from three, and that is an issue. You cannot be doing that uh in the upcoming games if you want to continue to advance past the round of 32, past the sweet 16, all of that, and and and that is a point of concern for me. That three-point shooting, especially in that first half, was not there. Um, and then obviously, this is a matchup-based thing where Illinois was able to afford themselves a lot of three-point shots simply because they could move the ball around very comfortably against this particular team. But it's still important to acknowledge that they are still in a shooting slump. I felt like I certainly feel like they are still in a shooting slump. 37 for 74 is what they shot from field goal. It's like a little less than 50 percent. But I I I do think that's something that you should keep an eye on because besides David Merkovich and besides Keaton Waggler, you know, maybe there could have been a better, a little bit of better shooting night. Obviously, it's not the worst thing, right? Like 37 out of 74 is not totally awful, but it I 50 to shoot 50 from the field in a tournament game. I guess it's not totally bad, but I I do I do wonder, you know, I do wonder if that will continue to be an issue, especially in that first half, because yeah, the second half they totally, totally took off, and they it the shooting was what lifted this team past, and and the defense was also really, really good to not allow a foul up until really the last couple of minutes. I mean, they the first foul attempt for Penn came at the 10-minute mark in the second half. It's pretty ridiculous to be that clean on defense was it really speaks to the discipline that defensively that this team was able to make or was able to be at, the level of discipline that this team was able to be at. And that's props to Cam Crocker, that's props to Illinois for really putting on their straps and be being able to, you know, lock down defensively, albeit this team might not be the team that you know that that is gonna put up um the biggest fight against this particular Illinois team, just purely based on size, again, because of course Illinois being the tallest team in the country, and this you know, Ivy League team, certainly different levels. There's different levels to it, and you certainly saw that today. Uh, but man, um, one thing I will say again is that one I will emphasis besides that is that it felt like tonight Illinois did get the calls, right? Like Keaton Waggler was able to get the calls when he did go into the rim. He even got an offensive foul called on Penn when Keaton Waggler was defending a player, and that's the kind of stuff that we hadn't seen in a while that we really hadn't seen uh throughout the course of the season. And to see that was certainly a relief. Just hope that if Keaton Wadler continues to play in that style, that that continues to happen because we haven't always seen the fouls come down. Um, and so yeah, it's it's pretty impressive that those two things hopefully are something to to kind of moderate, right? To something to kind of feel good about. I think here's how I don't mean to end, I don't mean to end it like this, right? Uh, just to end the quick thoughts on on everything here, because there's certainly more to impact, but that will be for another time. I I feel the need to caution you guys because of course this is no doubt about it, a game that you that you feel good about, you know, coming out of this game with Illinois dropping a hundred points for the a hundred plus points for the first time in an NCAA tournament game, it is an impressive feat for the number two Kempom team in the country offensively versus an Ivy League team that while they did put up a fight in uh uh in the first half. While you are reminded on this day about the fragiless of your status in the tournament because of how many teams are able to really be competitive uh in the first round, this is still a pen team. This is still a 14 seed. You did what you needed to do, but I would hope that fans enjoy this today, tonight, enjoy it tomorrow, Friday, but are ready to turn the page the next thing because this is this is a pen team that really wasn't ever gonna really unless you unless things really unfolded totally differently. Illinois will have to do much more going forward. Uh defensively, you were encouraged, but it's not like Penn is is what uh uh perhaps a Houston will be uh in the future, you might see in the future. It's not like Penn is one of these Big Ten teams that Illinois has fallen victim to in the past. There's a lot of things that can happen differently, and I feel the need to remind you guys that well, yes, it's great to recognize and to feel good about this win that moves you along to the round of 32. Be careful with how excited you get about the potential of going even further simply because this is an 100 burger that you dropped on an Ivy League team that was clearly outmatched for pretty much everything that Illinois had to offer, whether it was perimeter guards and on the paint, it rebounded David Burkevich dominating Keaton Lagler attacking the paint, uh, even the end with with uh Brandon Lee suddenly going in and attacking the rim. It's that's this kind of stuff that's not going to translate into the VCU game. Maybe it will a little bit, but it won't it won't you as you move along into this tournament? You know that the margin for error will continue to be smaller, and that's something to keep in mind as you continue to get excited about this Illinois team. There's still an old Illinois team that got. Can get comfortable that that maybe tonight wasn't didn't have that opportunity. I was curious to see if Illinois would maybe get comfortable as this game moved along and as this game got out of hand. We obviously never saw that. Uh perhaps there wasn't a need to see that. May maybe Penn was didn't push the envelope enough for Illinois to feel that way. But maybe and maybe we'll see this going forward that Illinois is able to uh muster and kind of uh control those demons and tr and really be locked in on each game and not let up. I do think concerns are still valid. To have concerns, they're still valid because this is a 14-seed pen. Um it's not the the cream of the crop right now. Um, but that's the beauty of the tournament. You're gonna continue to see even better teams, you're gonna continue to push the envelope, and you just hope that Illinois has enough volume of of character, volume of of players and skill, and can continue momentum, can get right after this game, mentally be in the right mental space to continue to make a run. And we'll see. We won't know until we get to the end. We won't know. That's the beauty of it. And the beauty of it is also the fact that you really only have one game to prove it. So, Illinois, you did what you needed to do, but now it's time to continue that. Uh, Greenville, South Carolina, VCU, Saturday. That's gonna be pretty it's gonna be it's gonna be an interesting game, right? Simply because of the team that VCU was able to beat, and and Illinois having that path to hopefully make it to the Sweet 16. We'll see how it all unfolds. I'm excited to watch that game and uh we'll follow along as as everything unfolds and we'll see where they end up. So, subscribe rate review, if you so please. Uh, really appreciate the support and uh hopefully continue to consume the podcast, consume my stuff at theshamproom.com. A lot of more content coming up. So subscribe review. Peace out,