Pregame: Illinois at Grand Canyon, Friday, November 8th, 8:00pm CT

Status
Not open for further replies.
#26      

Ol Dirty Gamer

O
Ol Dirty Gamer
Coachcooperjd said:
I just read a interesting article on espn.com about Kansas and their 2 Big line up. The amount of turnovers they had against Duke cost them the game. It talked about spacing and flow of the offense. Makes total sense to me now. GB is getting the ball in so many spots away from basket vs. last year and he's been called for probably 5 travels in 2 games. We cannot play both big guys at same time. It also mucks up the guards. Looked at turnovers and Underwood called out GB for 4 TO's. Yet Ayo had 5. The starters accounted for 18 turnovers. Go 1 big at a time coach!
Click to expand...
All that happened last year when GB was at the 5 was teams scoring at the rim at will. You probably noticed how many shots were swatted and drives misdirected with kofi down under.
They can both coexist, but they need to gel. Also, depending on who they play; you may see more times where they’re not on the court together.
 
#27      

Berg88

B
Berg88
I haven't been impressed with the starting 5 as a unit. Hoping to see a shakeup, probably DMW for Feliz. I'm also on board with less of Kofi + Giorgi together. Maybe as the season progresses they will figure out how to make it work better (Trent and Ayo did last year), but through 2 games, Giorgi has looked out of place at the 4. And with the expectation to make the tournament this year, this team cannot afford a long learning curve from those two.
 
#28      

FiveStar

F
FiveStar
Ol Dirty Gamer said:
All that happened last year when GB was at the 5 was teams scoring at the rim at will. You probably noticed how many shots were swatted and drives misdirected with kofi down under.
They can both coexist, but they need to gel. Also, depending on who they play; you may see more times where they’re not on the court together.
Click to expand...

I think with our new defense Giorgi can hold the 5. The point of “flat triangles” that Ayo talked about is generally to be able to stop the drive further out, and force a shorter backwards pass that is easier to close out on.
It’s easier to keep the ball out of the paint that way and puts less pressure on the team to need a rim protector.
 
#29      

illinitiger

I
illinitiger
FiveStar said:
I think with our new defense Giorgi can hold the 5. The point of “flat triangles” that Ayo talked about is generally to be able to stop the drive further out, and force a shorter backwards pass that is easier to close out on.
It’s easier to keep the ball out of the paint that way and puts less pressure on the team to need a rim protector.
Click to expand...
I guess we should have adapted with this defense last year. Player movement on offense and having chemistry and not forcing things can avoid turnovers. For whatever reason BG is not thriving in new schemes this year. Need to figure out what spot works best for individual players and stick with it.
 
#31      

IlliniUSAFVet

I
IlliniUSAFVet
Richard Obert, Arizona Republic Published 9:19 p.m. MT Nov. 5, 2019 | Updated 10:19 p.m. MT Nov. 5, 2019

Grand Canyon received bad news before Tuesday's opener, finding out that two of its best players – forward Oscar Frayer and guard Jaylen Fisher – wouldn't be eligible until at least the semester's end.
 
#32      

haasi

haasi
New York
haasi
Wow. We’ve got to win this one. Win it and then bring the heat against Arizona on Sunday.
 
#34      

Illiniguy13

Illiniguy13
Illiniguy13
Ol Dirty Gamer said:
All that happened last year when GB was at the 5 was teams scoring at the rim at will. You probably noticed how many shots were swatted and drives misdirected with kofi down under.
They can both coexist, but they need to gel. Also, depending on who they play; you may see more times where they’re not on the court together.
Click to expand...

Not to mention, last year we were outrebounded and scored on in the paint too often. People were clamoring for more size...we got our wish. While I don't think Giorgi has ideal handles to play on the perimeter, it's not worth abandoning yet. Especially since we've seen he CAN knock down 3's. Give it a chance, because if they do gel, that will create a ton of mismatches.
 
#35      

PlayAZ

P
PlayAZ
haasi said:
Wow. We’ve got to win this one. Win it and then bring the heat against Arizona on Sunday.
Click to expand...

Nnaji vs Kofi will be interesting to see to say the least...one was a prospect for us and one we got? Nnaji will probably be a 1st rd 1 and done, and he was not expected to be when recruited iirc.
 
#36      

ILLHangOut

I
ILLHangOut
It’s not like playing two bigs guys together is a pioneering concept. It just seems that way for us Illini fans. IMO the key will be GB and Kofi’s ability to pass out of help defense. That’s true whether they’re standing on opposite sides of the basket, or with one on the perimeter.

I’m going to oversimplify this but even if they’re both near the basket and lets Kofi gets the entry. Then he either bodies up against his man 1:1, GB’s defender helps on Kofi, or someone sags off the perimeter to help, right? Kofi then either takes his shot, passes behind the help to GB, or passes to the open perimeter guy.

I feel like there’s too much emphasis put on GBs shmack attack. This is college, it’s not the NBA game.
 
#38      

skyIdub

skyIdub
Winged Warrior
skyIdub
ILLHangOut said:
How awesome would it be if we could get Schmack attack trending through the whole season?
Click to expand...

The kid needs to own it and give it more flair! Shout it out with some flavor!

I'm making SCHMACK! t-shirts!
 
#40      

BlueLeader

BlueLeader
BlueLeader
ILLHangOut said:
How awesome would it be if we could get Schmack attack trending through the whole season?
Click to expand...

potato-the-owner-s-adorable.jpg
 
#41      

alaskaillini

A
alaskaillini
IlliniUSAFVet said:
Richard Obert, Arizona Republic Published 9:19 p.m. MT Nov. 5, 2019 | Updated 10:19 p.m. MT Nov. 5, 2019

Grand Canyon received bad news before Tuesday's opener, finding out that two of its best players – forward Oscar Frayer and guard Jaylen Fisher – wouldn't be eligible until at least the semester's end.
Click to expand...


Doesn't look promising for GCU. We should be able to handle them relatively easily.

However, GCU is a difficult place to play. Hate to quote Rick Pitino but after Louisville played them a couple of years ago, he was quoted as saying "this arena is the toughest place to play in college basketball since I’ve been coaching..." After Nichols State, I doubt we are going to be looking past them. Should be a good learning experience for the team.
 
#42      

PtownIllini8

P
PtownIllini8
Ol Dirty Gamer said:
All that happened last year when GB was at the 5 was teams scoring at the rim at will. You probably noticed how many shots were swatted and drives misdirected with kofi down under.
They can both coexist, but they need to gel. Also, depending on who they play; you may see more times where they’re not on the court together.
Click to expand...
Game 1, take a deep breath.....hold it........now exhale slowly.........repeat.
 
#44      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
PlayAZ said:
Nnaji vs Kofi will be interesting to see to say the least...one was a prospect for us and one we got? Nnaji will probably be a 1st rd 1 and done, and he was not expected to be when recruited iirc.
Click to expand...

I didn’t see the AZ game, but might be s bit early to proclaim Nnaji a 1st rounder next year based off one game against an outmanned N. Arizona team.
 
#45      

whatahack

W
St. Peters MO
whatahack
Maybe a bit off topic but I didnt know where else to ask. I was trying to download the watch ESPN app and ran into problems.

Any help or advice.....thanks
 
#46      

Illiniguy90

I
Illiniguy90
whatahack said:
Maybe a bit off topic but I didnt know where else to ask. I was trying to download the watch ESPN app and ran into problems.

Any help or advice.....thanks
Click to expand...
Watch ESPN app is no longer a thing. You need the ESPN app which now has the functionality to stream.
 
#47      

The Dave

The Dave
CA
The Dave
ESPN has us at only a 52.8% chance to win. No idea how they come up with that calculation, but I'm guessing our less than impressive showing against Nicholls State is a big factor. *sigh*
 
#48      

PlayAZ

P
PlayAZ
EyeoftheIllini said:
I didn’t see the AZ game, but might be s bit early to proclaim Nnaji a 1st rounder next year based off one game against an outmanned N. Arizona team.
Click to expand...

Maybe so, but when the locals are comparing him to Deandre Ayton after one game, and the game he had...we shall see. With the NBA always drafting on potential and 6-10' slasher type rough player...first round sounds about right.
 
#49      

Illini_05

Illini_05
Illini_05
GCU's without Jaylen Fisher, they lost to a D2 school at home, therefore, we should handle them, but this is Illinois we're talking about, and we like to lose these kind of games. However, I believe we get a 15+ point win.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.