Pregame: Illinois at Indiana, Thursday, January 3rd, 6:00pm CT, FS1

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#26      

TMC999

Not Iowa
IU is underutilizing Langford. He is the real deal.
But I bet he goes for "only" 15 & 10... while Juwan Morgan torches us. All of our guys over 6'7" will foul out trying to guard him and on their 65th backcut for a layup I will rightfully go back to the Hallmark channel for some solace.
 
#27      
Indiana lost to Duke by 21
beat Northwestern by 2
beat Penn State by 2
beat Butler by 3
If you were BU, what kind of defensive strategy might be used to slow down Langford and Morgan?
 
#28      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
I usually feel a new wave of energy on new years day and look optimistically to the new year, BUT as far as illini BB not so much....This year will be a continuation of 2018 with loss after loss piling up on us and wearing the staff, players and fans down to a point of numbness that snuff's out the flame of hope and brew's an eagerness for the season to end asap....

Only a recruiting burst of energy (KC) will help me withstand the realization that we have descended to a mid major level with no sight in the future of a return to our former place in college BB....

SAD......so very SAD ! (and I am a glass half full personality )
 
#29      

Deleted member 645583

D
Guest
A while ago I somewhat tongue in cheek longed for the good old days when Illinois nearly beat Gonzaga in Maui. What happened to that team? Seriously, what did Illini do then that they're not doing now? Analysis, please, from someone who knows basketball better than I do.

Give Indiana a game!

By the way, 247 did a good review of top 10 Illini stories to watch in 2019.
 
#30      
Indiana lost to Duke by 21
beat Northwestern by 2
beat Penn State by 2
beat Butler by 3
If you were BU, what kind of defensive strategy might be used to slow down Langford and Morgan?

Foul them, foul them and foul them some more?
 
#31      
IU has a good team. Morgan and Romeo are very good and they have other guys that are capable. Our chances of winning are very remote
 
#32      

illini80

Forgottonia
IU has a good team. Morgan and Romeo are very good and they have other guys that are capable. Our chances of winning are very remote
Not sure the name of the metric, but SR talked about Indiana being in the top 5 for what basically sounded like points per possession. If we have a hot shooting night, we can probably hang with them and have a chance. But it will take something very different than what we have seen recently.
 
#34      
We should be double digit underdogs for this game. Maybe 15 points.... And I think I'd still take Indiana.
 
#35      
If you do not have strong defensive principles, you are never going to win. I have watched for 2 years and the lack of fundamental defensive principles is unacceptable. Young teams can struggle offensively but there is no excuse for a lack of defense.
 
#36      
The kids seem to perform better in the first half.

Then they tend to vanish, sometimes in the first 5 minutes, in the second half.
 
#37      
If you do not have strong defensive principles, you are never going to win. I have watched for 2 years and the lack of fundamental defensive principles is unacceptable. Young teams can struggle offensively but there is no excuse for a lack of defense.
Yep. I think Underwood and the coaching staff are still working things out on that front. He's never worked with any of the assistants prior to coming here, so think that is hurting.
 
#38      
If you do not have strong defensive principles, you are never going to win. I have watched for 2 years and the lack of fundamental defensive principles is unacceptable. Young teams can struggle offensively but there is no excuse for a lack of defense.

Actually young teams generally struggle on defense more than offense. But yes, the defense is concerning. Having a guy who can erase those mistakes by defending the rim make your defense look a lot better though. Haven't had a guy like that since Egwu.
 
#39      
Yep. I think Underwood and the coaching staff are still working things out on that front. He's never worked with any of the assistants prior to coming here, so think that is hurting.

Seriously? It’s his assistants? Must have had bad assistants at every place he’s coached because his team’s D always stinks.

Here’s my prediction for the next game. One-on-one offense with everyone standing around, dunk city for the IU, and another Illini loss.
 
#40      
IU is underutilizing Langford. He is the real deal.
But I bet he goes for "only" 15 & 10... while Juwan Morgan torches us. All of our guys over 6'7" will foul out trying to guard him and on their 65th backcut for a layup I will rightfully go back to the Hallmark channel for some solace.

IU fans agree that Langford is being under utilized hard to believe since he’s our leader scorer. Part of the reason is his struggles from the 3 point line. His ability to draw fouls is incredible though.

Morgan is a beast as well. But isn’t our leading scorer.

That being said IU has shown a willingness to ride these guys unless everybody else is struggling beyond belief. It’s very frustrating. We go long stretches where one of them doesn’t take a shot.
 
#42      
I thought it made more sense to put ayo at the point and Trent off guard as Trent is a better scorer and shooter at this point, and ayo has better potential for assists, rebounds. Seems like the reverse happened last game. Unless this is what happened the previous few games where ayo was not playing well???
 
#43      

Deleted member 29907

D
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Didn't view this as a win before the worst start in recent memory, not going to start looking for one now.

Will be interesting to see if Ayo covers Langford. The talent difference between "elite" recruits (like Ayo in the 30s nationally) and uber-elite recruits (like Langford in the top 10) is usually exacerbated by physical differences (in this case about 2" and 20 lbs). Seems like the job may fall to AJ.
No doubt it will be AJ
 
#44      
BU needs to figure out how to get the team win the second half. If only first half scores counted, Illinois would have also won against Iowa State, Notre Dame, OSU and Florida Atlantic and the Illini would have a respectable 8 win 5 loss record.
 
#47      

Tevo

Wilmette, IL
At some point this Conference Season, we will look like the team we all thought we would be. We will hit the open threes, we will cut effectively and actually pass to those cutters, and we will thoroughly frustrate the other team with denials and steals. And we will win the game that right now we have no business winning.

The question is: Which game will it be? @ Indiana is not a super likely choice, but hey, who knows?
 
#48      

Dan

Admin
What's the mood in the #Illini locker room? @AyoDos_11 says "next game, new year, 0-0 in 2019."
PG conflict? Not according to @CoachUnderwood. He said @_Trentfrazier1 is smart, recognized that @AyoDos_11 had the hot hand the other night, and got the ball to him. #Illini
https://twitter.com/IlliniReport/

 
#49      
Indiana lost to Duke by 21
beat Northwestern by 2
beat Penn State by 2
beat Butler by 3
If you were BU, what kind of defensive strategy might be used to slow down Langford and Morgan?

Obviously, we go with the three-headed monster of Longley, Purdue and Wennington.
 
#50      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
What's the mood in the #Illini locker room? @AyoDos_11 says "next game, new year, 0-0 in 2019."
PG conflict? Not according to @CoachUnderwood. He said @_Trentfrazier1 is smart, recognized that @AyoDos_11 had the hot hand the other night, and got the ball to him. #Illini
https://twitter.com/IlliniReport/

growing pains.....blab,blab,blab
tough losses........blab,blab,blab
Tevian will NOT play..........I don't know what to say

BU looked as tight in that interview as the players do on the court....Maybe someone's yelling at HIM......
 
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