News & Notes - January 7th

[Dan]

Audio: First Word With John Groce 1-7-13

http://www.wdws.com/audio/2013-01-07...ce-1-7-13.html

[Dan]

Big Ten teleconference-

John Groce now on B1G conference call. Says team played probably most complete game of season against Ohio State.

Groce: Egwu and Abrams continue to get better and the seniors have been consistent all season.

Groce: He brings some competitive toughness to the team. Had active hands. Getting better at playing the PG position.

Groce: Minnesota is No. 1 offensive rebounding team in country and they can really force turnovers.

Groce: Must limit Minnesota getting easy buckets through offensive rebounding and not turning the ball over.

https://twitter.com/MarcusJ_NG

[mattcoldagelli]

Turnovers will really be critical on Wednesday, IMO. I think we were focused so much on the rebounding improvement that it flew a little under the radar we turned OSU over 10 times in the first half when they'd been averaging 10/gm.

[Botb9]

Seth Greenberg previews the Minny game:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=881...goryid=2459792

[TheChiefRises]

I'd be a little more worried but once I saw they only managed 17 in a half...

[Cool Hand Luke]

Originally Posted by TheChiefRises

I'd be a little more worried but once I saw they only managed 17 in a half...

The question is, are they the team that scored 17(!) in the first half or the team that scored 52(!) in the 2nd half?

[BexleyIllini]

Last night against NW, Austin Hollins knocked down 5 3-pointer's in 5 consecutive possessions during the 2H. Granted, NW isn't very good but this was still an impressive shooting display. I think Minny will be much tougher than over-rated OSU.

[RockyMtnIllini81]

I watched part of the Minnesota - NW game yesterday. I learned two things.
(1) Northwestern is awful. and (2) The Illini will have to play a solid 40 minutes against Minnesota. If there is a let down, Minnesota can go off and things can get out of control quickly. Witness those 5 three pointers yesterday that broke the game open.

[IntenselyOrange]

Originally Posted by mattcoldagelli

Turnovers will really be critical on Wednesday, IMO. I think we were focused so much on the rebounding improvement that it flew a little under the radar we turned OSU over 10 times in the first half when they'd been averaging 10/gm.

This is what I've been focused on as well. We need to be committed to creating turnovers. Even more so against Minnesota. Certainly our rebounding was improved against Ohio State, but they were not as committed to rebounding the ball as Purdue was. The aggressive, all-out attack on the offensive glass was not there. It will be there for Minnesota and so we'll need to turn them over. Of course you risk foul trouble when swiping for the ball, but I think we have a hard time winning this game if we don't hold a significant turnover advantage.

[Genesis]

It's so nice to be mentioned as part of Greenberg's Big Game Breakdown again instead of being ignored. Who woulda thunk we'd be here. Thank you, Coach Groce.