Braggin' Rights Pregame: Illinois vs Missouri, Saturday, December 22nd, 5:00pm CT, ESPN2

[Archie]

Originally Posted by trevdv

He's never been chosen to do this game before; the last couple of years it was Bob Knight that was analyzing it.

Yes, I know this.

Yes, Bobby Knight has been given this assignment the last couple of years.

It makes sense because Dykes does many SEC/Big 12 games. He rarely does a Big 10 game.

[trevdv]

Originally Posted by Archie

It makes sense because Dykes does many SEC/Big 12 games. He rarely does a Big 10 game.

Yeah, you're right. He and Brad Nessler usually do the Tuesday/Thursday SEC games nowadays. Wonder how "well-prepared" he'll be for a Big Ten team. Obviously the announcers always come prepared, but he doesn't know as much about B1G teams compared to SEC teams like Mizzou.

[Archie]

Originally Posted by trevdv

Yeah, you're right. He and Brad Nessler usually do the Tuesday/Thursday SEC games nowadays. Wonder how "well-prepared" he'll be for a Big Ten team. Obviously the announcers always come prepared, but he doesn't know as much about B1G teams compared to SEC teams like Mizzou.

I like Brad Nessler though.

Dykes isn't bad, he's just so over-the-top in regards to the two conferences (SEC/Big 12).

I'd like to see Sean McDonough and Jay Bilas.

Kevin Harlan is a good color guy too.

[ThreeInOne4Ever]

I don't care what part of the state you hail from, if you've ever had an encounter with Missouri fans at the Braggin' Rights or Arch Rivalry game, you have every reason you'll ever need to mark this game as one of the biggest of the year. Even their "classy" fans smack of white trash and are incredibly obnoxious.

[Illinoiss]

http://interact.stltoday.com/forums/...r=asc&&start=0

take a look

[IlliniKat91]

Originally Posted by ThreeInOne4Ever

I don't care what part of the state you hail from, if you've ever had an encounter with Missouri fans at the Braggin' Rights or Arch Rivalry game, you have every reason you'll ever need to mark this game as one of the biggest of the year. Even their "classy" fans smack of white trash and are incredibly obnoxious.

:laugh:

Fair enough. The two I know are both women (from Chicago) who aren't into sports, so I've clearly only seen the "good" version of Mizzou fan, if such a thing exists.

[troydove]

Checkerdome 1989, wish I could go back in time

[Priestspoets]

Honestly reading the St. Louis papers their fans are seriously delusional

[IlliniSpine]

We almost won the past 3 years with using 30-34 seconds of the shot clock.

Our offense is so much more potent than in the past. Even if they slow Paul down, we still have DJ/TG/JB that can shoot the 3 and make them pay. They are not good at defending the 3.

Main question is can we hold their big men back enough, like Gonzaga, to win.

I think our seniors + JB + TA will take this one.

[Brillini]

Originally Posted by Archie

I see this as Illinois' first loss of the year.

Illinois is going to have a difficult time dealing with Bowers, Criswell and Oriahki. Oriahki's strength will put Egwu in foul trouble, and the athleticism of Bowers and Criswell will give Griffey fits. Oriahki averages 8.6 boards a game, Bowers is at 6.4 a game, and Criswell averages 5 a game.

I want to see how the "transfers" from Missouri, which are mostly guards, play the guards from Illinois. These "transfers" are big and athletic.

Who will guard Pressey? I'm sure Groce will assign Richardson and Abrams. Paul will need to guard Jabari Brown, Ross or Bell, being that these three are ultra-athletic for being bigger guards.

I'm not going to go as far as to predict a loss, but other than that I agree with a lot of what you say. Our biggest challenge will be dealing with Oriakhi and Bowers. And I agree that NE will have a hard time staying out of foul trouble. From what I remember of Oriakhi from watching him in the past, he isn't overly skilled offensively in terms of being a fundamental postman, but he uses his strength and athleticism well to make up for it. I haven't really seen anything from NE yet this year that would convince me that he can handle a strong, experienced big like Oriakhi when it comes to banging in the post. And then like you said as well, Bowers is a matchup nightmare.

Also, I know a lot of other posters have suggested that we will look to play a good amount of zone. My biggest concern with going zone would be keeping them off the offensive glass. They currently lead all of college basketball in rebounding per and haul in about 16 offensive boards a game. It's a lot more difficult to find a man a box him out when your in 2-3, or any zone for that matter. However, I'm sure we'll go zone at some point, so I'll be looking to see how we board if and when it happens.

That all said, I'm itchin' for Saturday to get here. This should be a good one.

[danielb927]

Cheapest tix on StubHub are $200 a piece right now. It's gonna be a madhouse on Saturday.

[Illinoiss]

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Gonzaga have 2 7ft along with Elias Harris?
Everyone was worried about him going off. I don't know the exact number but I don't think he scored double digits. I firmly believe we'll lock bowers down, cause turnovers and hit our open 3s. We've also played great in neutral sites along with being in small arenas. Scott trade center isn't all that big. I have a good feeling about this game

[IlliniEX2011]

Originally Posted by Illinoiss

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Gonzaga have 2 7ft along with Elias Harris?
Everyone was worried about him going off. I don't know the exact number but I don't think he scored double digits. I firmly believe we'll lock bowers down, cause turnovers and hit our open 3s. We've also played great in neutral sites along with being in small arenas. Scott trade center isn't all that big. I have a good feeling about this game

I think the reason we held their bigs in check is that our guards made it really hard to get it into the post. BP and JB are really long and athletic and as long as they play tough D like they did against Gonzaga we'll be fine. They're bigs hurt us when they did get the ball, Kelly Olynyk scored almost everytime he touched the ball.

[jrichisamazing]

Who cares about their size. We beat Gonzaga and they are probably the biggest/most skilled big men we face this year. This is what I love about Groce, he likes guard oriented teams. There are so many ways to neutralize a post player, zone, double team, put ball pressure on the passer, etc. but if you have 3 or 4 good guards then its much tougher to stop.

So let's pack in that zone and use that ball hawking defense like we did against Gonzaga and this game shouldn't be a problem.

[Brillini]

Originally Posted by jrichisamazing

Who cares about their size. We beat Gonzaga and they are probably the biggest/most skilled big men we face this year. This is what I love about Groce, he likes guard oriented teams. There are so many ways to neutralize a post player, zone, double team, put ball pressure on the passer, etc. but if you have 3 or 4 good guards then its much tougher to stop.

So let's pack in that zone and use that ball hawking defense like we did against Gonzaga and this game shouldn't be a problem.

Yea, we won, but I wouldn't say that we did so because we neutralized their bigs. Harris, Olynyk, and Karnowski scored 16, 15, and 9 respectively on a combined 15-22. Their guards, who are normally pretty effective, did not play all that well that game. Credit to our guards for outplaying them and to BP for stepping up huge.

I firmly believe we can beat Mizzou, but their bigs aren't slouches by any stretch of the imagination and they have a heck of a point in Pressey that can can get the ball to those guys in positions to score. They're a good team and I fully expect this to be a good, tight game.

[Archie]

Originally Posted by Illinoiss

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Gonzaga have 2 7ft along with Elias Harris?
Everyone was worried about him going off. I don't know the exact number but I don't think he scored double digits. I firmly believe we'll lock bowers down, cause turnovers and hit our open 3s. We've also played great in neutral sites along with being in small arenas. Scott trade center isn't all that big. I have a good feeling about this game

Gonzaga doesn't have a "big" that compares to Oriahki and Bowers.

Who on Illinois can lockdown Bowers?

[JSpence]

Originally Posted by Illiniwek06

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...ege-basketball

North Carolina 79, at Texas 62: Not even Myck Kabongo could save the undermanned Longhorns in this one. North Carolina simply has too much depth and talent.

Final : Texas 85 - UNC 67 (35 point difference, more than UNC scored in either half)

Missouri 69, vs. Illinois 67: The Illini's magic has to end -- or at least hit a snag -- at some point. Doesn't it?

I'm glad he picked Mizzou!

[Kramer116]

Originally Posted by IlliniSpine

We almost won the past 3 years with using 30-34 seconds of the shot clock.

Our offense is so much more potent than in the past. Even if they slow Paul down, we still have DJ/TG/JB that can shoot the 3 and make them pay. They are not good at defending the 3.

Main question is can we hold their big men back enough, like Gonzaga, to win.

I think our seniors + JB + TA will take this one.

Exactly.

IIRC, we basically choked down the stretch with a minute or two left. Every game was basically a toss up with a minute left.

We are playing more confident and no longer employing the "not to lose" mentality. We are playing to win. I think we win by 7.

[FeelYourPaign]

I am amazed how much this game is dominating my thoughts !!
Just can't wait. I mean, I can, but I don't want to. Let's get it on !!

Ratings, #12 v #10 = close game
Pomeroy, Missouri by 1 = close game
Sagarin, Illinois by 1 = close game

Everything says close game but the fans !

[Dan]

Braggin' Rights Notes: #10 Illinois vs. #12 Missouri

TV Announcers: Dave Flemming (Play-By-Play), Jimmy Dykes (Analyst)

http://www.fightingillini.com/sports...122012aae.html

[Cool Hand Luke]

Originally Posted by illiniobserver22

Curry took Davidson to the Final 4 in his sophomore year.

No he didn't. He totally didn't.

[FeelYourPaign]

Originally Posted by Cool Hand Luke

No he didn't. He totally didn't.

Luke,
Like your pic !

[Kramer116]

Originally Posted by FeelYourPaign

Luke,
Like your pic !

Hahahaha +1

[IlliniSteve]

Originally Posted by illinifan31

I don't understand the defensive nature of some of the people here. Why is it so hard to accept that we don't live by Missouri or know people who go there, so this game is just another cool game on our nonconference schedule. I hate Missouri equal to Gonzaga, aka not that much. Give me a rivalry against Notre Dame or Marquette and that is a team I will hate on. Should be a good game and I can't wait to watch it on TV, just like I couldn't wait to watch the Gonzaga game.

It's nothing against people closer to St. Louis...don't take it so personally.

It's a big rivalry. They hate us, probably more than we hate them, but people get excited for it. As they should.

[alexander58]

Originally Posted by jrichisamazing

Who cares about their size. We beat Gonzaga and they are probably the biggest/most skilled big men we face this year. This is what I love about Groce, he likes guard oriented teams. There are so many ways to neutralize a post player, zone, double team, put ball pressure on the passer, etc. but if you have 3 or 4 good guards then its much tougher to stop.

So let's pack in that zone and use that ball hawking defense like we did against Gonzaga and this game shouldn't be a problem.

Missouri will be able tomspread the court and find seams better than Gonzaga. While Gonzaga is more talented overall, Missouris guards create more problems. That being said, I like Illinois chances if they shoot well from 3.