Arch Madness - FRIDAY GAME THREAD

[isumvc1]

63-46 ISU leads, 3:25, Syc's will advance to face SIU-UNI winner tomorrow

[glm38]

Keith Pickens had 14 boards w/8 offensive. What a heart!

That was huge. Pick is seriously my favorite Bear over the last decade.

Ruder was awesome as well. No freshmen jitters for that kid. He just exudes confidence.

[DUShock]

I must confess,I find myself pulling for Barry & The Rants.

[jigga]

Did anyone get a chance to see Zach Lofton's game against MSU in the 1st round? or did it just go unnoticed?

I think if you had a chance to see it, you would be impressed.

The kid was bombing away from every where. He was the only bright spot for the RedBirds offensively.

He had 25 points on 9-19 shooting oof the bench, I think the next highest scoring RedBIrd had 6pts. and the rest of the team shot 7-32. And Lofton had over half the RedBirds scoring total for the game (48).

He single handedly attempted to win the game for the Birds. He brought them back from down 10, with a 9-0 run of his own in the 2nd half. He was making well contested 3's and bombing away from 26-28 feet.

It was an amazing performance if only the RedbIrds could have pulled it off. They gained the lead a couple times after that, but were unable to hold on. Primarily because of poor free-throw shooting and the inability to defend Austin Ruder who had 21 pts from 6 3pointers.

I havent seen many highlights or read much about this performance online.
But if anybody is really interested, I just noticed that he retweeted a bunch of instagram video highlights of his game...

https://twitter.com/ZachLofton

I just thought I'd bring it to the boards attention. I believe it deserves at least one post.
I really hope he remains a RedBird next season because with the players they have coming in I think they could be special.

But there is a general feeling that he is feeling very underappreciated by the coaching staff when if you watch a RedBird game it is usually apparent he is the most talented all-around player on a team that lacks size, talent, and depth.

[Wufan]

Lofton is a talent (one of many new talents for the Redbirds). He's streaky, but if he can bottle the good streaks, he will make Ill State a winner!

[Cdizzle]

Lofton is also a 34% shooter from the floor (lowest on the team), and 29% from 3. I think he is less under-valued by the coaching staff, and more over-valued by himself.

[jigga]

Lofton is also a 34% shooter from the floor (lowest on the team), and 29% from 3. I think he is less under-valued by the coaching staff, and more over-valued by himself.

You make a good point.

but
1st- that is not the lowest on the team, it is 1 of the lower percentages on the team, but not the lowest.

2nd- Hardly anybody on this team shoots a good percentage, we shoot bad collectively. A lot of it has to do with the whole team having to adjust to D1 level bball, because they are all newcomers & Freshman.

3rd- of the 4 gaurds getting more minutes than him the numbers look eerily similar with probably 1 exception.

Knight- 37%/29%
Hunter-48%/37%
Lee-34%/31%
Zeisloft(our shooter)- 38%/36%

Also have to remember 4 things

-none these guys can consistanly create their own shot, Knight can sometimes.

-Over the last 5 games of the season Lofton averaged 19pts a game and 2 of those games he saw limited action.

-In the tourney he went 9-19, the rest of the Birds went 7-32... he accounted for over half of the offense when they needed it most (Tournament time).

-He's also probably the best passer & ball handler on the team and has the ability to be a lock down defender.

Lastly if you have access to instagram on your device, you should check the degree of difficulty on these shots in live action.
If not the redBirds TV highlights at the bottom of the links are cool too and you be able to access that link from almost any PC.

http://instagram.com/p/lXsKGLR4Ke/#

http://instagram.com/p/lXvoA7x4PZ/#

http://instagram.com/p/lXxp0yx4CI/#

http://instagram.com/p/lXsjF-R4K_/#

http://www.goredbirds.com/allaccess/?media=439555

Hope the links work. I'll stop talking about him now.
Sometimes I piss off the posters on the redBird forum when I discuss Lofton.


I'll do my best not to do the same here.

Hopefully all parties involved get it together and get on the same page. (Lofton & coaches)

[Cdizzle]

Lofton can create his own shot. And those shots you show are very difficult shots.

But that's kind of the point. Creating and making 4 difficult shots doesn't mean creating and missing 50 other difficult shots is a good idea.

And to your point that the rest of the IlSU team can't shoot either, that just makes it more impressive that Lofton's shooting % is the lowest on the team (he is 1/100 % higher than Keane, on 250 more shots).

He has some talent. He also has some serious shot-selection issues.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Lofton is also a 34% shooter from the floor (lowest on the team), and 29% from 3. I think he is less under-valued by the coaching staff, and more over-valued by himself.

You make a good point.

but
1st- that is not the lowest on the team, it is 1 of the lower percentages on the team, but not the lowest.

2nd- Hardly anybody on this team shoots a good percentage, we shoot bad collectively. A lot of it has to do with the whole team having to adjust to D1 level bball, because they are all newcomers & Freshman.

3rd- of the 4 gaurds getting more minutes than him the numbers look eerily similar with probably 1 exception.

Knight- 37%/29%
Hunter-48%/37%
Lee-34%/31%
Zeisloft(our shooter)- 38%/36%

Also have to remember 4 things

-none these guys can consistanly create their own shot, Knight can sometimes.

-Over the last 5 games of the season Lofton averaged 19pts a game and 2 of those games he saw limited action.

-In the tourney he went 9-19, the rest of the Birds went 7-32... he accounted for over half of the offense when they needed it most (Tournament time).

-He's also probably the best passer & ball handler on the team and has the ability to be a lock down defender.

Lastly if you have access to instagram on your device, you should check the degree of difficulty on these shots in live action.
If not the redBirds TV highlights at the bottom of the links are cool too and you be able to access that link from almost any PC.

http://instagram.com/p/lXsKGLR4Ke/#

http://instagram.com/p/lXvoA7x4PZ/#

http://instagram.com/p/lXxp0yx4CI/#

http://instagram.com/p/lXsjF-R4K_/#

http://www.goredbirds.com/allaccess/?media=439555

Hope the links work. I'll stop talking about him now.
Sometimes I piss off the posters on the redBird forum when I discuss Lofton.


I'll do my best not to do the same here.

Hopefully all parties involved get it together and get on the same page. (Lofton & coaches)

I don't see how he can be stopped next season.

[jigga]

Lofton can create his own shot. And those shots you show are very difficult shots.

But that's kind of the point. Creating and making 4 difficult shots doesn't mean creating and missing 50 other difficult shots is a good idea.

And to your point that the rest of the IlSU team can't shoot either, that just makes it more impressive that Lofton's shooting % is the lowest on the team (he is 1/100 % higher than Keane, on 250 more shots).

He has some talent. He also has some serious shot-selection issues.

Thats 1 way of looking at it.

I on the other hand am extremely excited about the potential of Lofton and the RedBirds next season.

he hit his stride at the perfect time(tourney time) and our incoming recruits should provide some help, depth, an length.

I just hope he still a RedBird next season.