It is just an exhibition game, but it still stings to see the Illinois basketball team lose to Baylor.
The Illini were getting pounded in the first half of this game, giving up 63 points to the Bears. While Illinois managed to fight back and looked much better in the second half, this immediate jolt to reality was concerning to most.
Thankfully, it was just an exhibition game. Illinois got to see some glaring weak spots, and even with the putrid defense, head coach Brad Underwood had the exact attitude needed in the postgame press conference.
"Man, that was awesome. That is really good to get punched and then punched again. If the first half didn't end, we would still be getting punched."
Illinois got shredded in the first half to the tune of 63 points. The Bears shot 11-for-18 from three-point range. The second half was much better. The Illini came out and had a clear goal of slowing down Baylor from deep.
In the final 20 minutes of action, the Bears were 0-for-7 from three-point range. Underwood took notice of this improvement.
"Hats off to Baylor. They are good. Their guards are terrific. But it was very much a wake-up call. I was proud of our guys in the second half. I thought it was a much better focus."
It is good that Illinois isn't just playing cupcake teams in exhibition games. We have taken the non-conference mentality of to be the best you have to beat the best and applied it to the exhibition games.
Getting prepared for the season against some of the best teams in the country is a great idea, and it is a great stress test for the freshmen, too.
Brad Underwood sees the massive glaring issue for the Illinois basketball program
You can't ignore the improvement of Illinois' defense, or at least the cooling of Baylor in the second half. Underwood made note of this improvement, but he also sees the glaring issue that is upon us.
"You go from 63 to 32 points; you don't give up a three. We did cover scouting report, and you can have a long line of missed coverages. This team will struggle defensively until we learn to talk."
Illinois' defensive struggles make sense. It is not like the football team, which had numerous returning players on defense but is still bad. The Illini have a lot of newcomers, and most of those are freshmen.
"About 90% of our mistakes are simple communication. It started with the first play of the game with the two freshmen. They ran the same play again, and we gave it up again. It is a very simple guard-on-guard screen, and we don't even verbalize it. We are just very focused on our man. We can cover it 100 times, but until they learn that in-game slippage and game moments, it's pretty frustrating."
There are growing pains with freshmen. Illinois is going to have to rely on freshmen a lot this season, especially if David Mirkovic is out for an extended period of time.
Regardless, the Illini can still shoot the ball. Early on this season, I fully expect Illinois to have to put up 90 points to get some wins. We have the horses to do so.
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This article was originally published on www.writingillini.com as Brad Underwood has the perfect attitude following the Illinois basketball loss to Baylor.