Pregame: Illinois at Michigan, Saturday, January 25th, 11:00am CT, FS1

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#77      
Talk about a must win for Michigan. If we win I'm not sure they pul out of the tailspin.

After that NC game Howard was looking like coach of the year material
 
#78      
yea...I think Michigan now feels that they need to win this one to save their season
 
#79      

kiwanegarris22

South Carolina
Looked like several empty seats at Michigan tonight.
OK, Michigan lost to PSU last night and they looked much worse than I had anticipated. That makes it hard for me to predict an Illini loss on Saturday given how great we looked and how bad Michigan looked this week. Even so, I'm sure Michigan will be favored in the game.

ILL 72
MICH 69

Also prompts me to rank the teams I despise the most in the Big 10 (used to clearly be Indiana when we were the two best teams and it was an annual battle of good guy Lou vs. villain/bully Bobby).

1. Michigan (refer to 1989 Illini basketball season; we outscored them by 26 points and yet they win national championship. Believe we led by 30 in meeting #2)
2. Indiana (still can't get that old, rancid taste out of my mouth)
3. Ohio State (football school whose BB program benefits from the national exposure of the FB team)

NW sucks too much to be listed. They're not a rival and I don't hate them. It would be like Duke acknowledging a fear of Clemson. The Cats are too irrelevant to even mention.
 
#80      
If we play like we did against PU we win. If we play like we did against MSU, MI wins the game. So which team will be on the floor Sat for the ILLINI. Does this seem like the ILLINI are now clicking. I think the Ia and PSU game are going to be even tougher than the MI. PSU and Ia look good. We win Sat and MSU loses. That would be a dream come true. At the beginning of the year who would have thought that at this point we would be in second place. Could have been tied for first except for the Md game.
 
#81      

Captain Bubbles

Fairfield, IL
Hey fellas, been a while since I've commented on here. A couple thoughts I want to share...

1 - What I liked most about Illinois' win over Purdue that no one talked about is during that hot start to the 2nd half, they silenced the Boilermakers crowd. Trent said in a post game interview that Mackey is the toughest arena he's played in. It is a loud environment. To be able to go on the road, play against an opponent that plays darn well at home, and blow them out, that's a statement win.

2 - When you look back on it before the start of the season, everyone was wondering how many minutes Kofi was going to play because of his size and how much he was going to average in scoring and rebounding. In the Purdue game, he played 33 minutes, 8-14 from the field and finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds. He's averaging 15 ppg and 9.7 rpg of the season. He's a beast, and has exceeded my expectations. When he's locked in and aggressive, he can dominate and that's what we're seeing out of him.

Michigan this Saturday. Wolverines have been on a downhill skid as of late, by losing four out of their last five. The Big Ten has been wonky this year. Can't overlook Michigan. I foresee an Illinois win before being at home against Minnesota. Go Illini!
 
#82      
It seemed like vs. PSU, Michigan missed some shots they might otherwise make. Brooks was shooting well against Iowa.
Yesterday, not specifically one player but it seemed like a number of shots were bouncing out. If they work a lot on their shooting this week to address a poor shooting night (and get a lot of open looks) it could be a different game on Saturday.
If Giorgi and Kofi can stay out of foul trouble that should favor the Illini. As others have said UM has holes in the frontcourt.
 
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#83      
It seemed like vs. PSU, Michigan missed some shots they might otherwise make. Brooks was shooting well against Iowa.
Yesterday, not specifically one player but it seemed like a number of shots were bouncing out. If they work a lot on their shooting this week to address a poor shooting night (and get a lot of open looks) it could be a different game on Saturday.
If Giorgi and Kofi can stay out of foul trouble that should favor the Illini. As others have said UM has holes in the frontcourt.

Most B10 have shot poorly against us. The reason? Defense. UM can work as much as they like, but, if our D holds, which I expect them to do, it will not matter.

And, we should be able to throw twice as many players at them. And, I think we have a better bench.
 
#84      
This is definitely UM’s “circle the wagons” game. And if the thinking was to extend Livers’ recuperation time and get away with it in a home game against Penn State, that line of reasoning is out the window.

I also cannot forget the ’89 regular season finale when Michigan was booed off the court in Ann Arbor in what turned out to be Bill Frieder’s final game there.
 
#85      
It seemed like vs. PSU, Michigan missed some shots they might otherwise make. Brooks was shooting well against Iowa.
Yesterday, not specifically one player but it seemed like a number of shots were bouncing out. If they work a lot on their shooting this week to address a poor shooting night (and get a lot of open looks) it could be a different game on Saturday.
If Giorgi and Kofi can stay out of foul trouble that should favor the Illini. As others have said UM has holes in the frontcourt.

Without Livers they struggle on offense. We should roll them.
 
#86      
NW sucks too much to be listed. They're not a rival and I don't hate them. It would be like Duke acknowledging a fear of Clemson. The Cats are too irrelevant to even mention.


Guy here likes to say "More to be pitied, than scorned."
 
#89      

mhuml32

Cincinnati, OH
A win against Michigan and it's going to be awfully difficult to avoid a conversation about being a serious Big Ten conference champion contender.
 
#91      
Could you imagine if this team had a Rayvonte Rice, Brandon Paul, Richardson, or Nunn. A dominant wing would make this team unreal. They are already incredible but if they are missing a piece, it’s that spot. Hope they can get another big road win at Michigan!
 
#92      
NW sucks too much to be listed. They're not a rival and I don't hate them. It would be like Duke acknowledging a fear of Clemson. The Cats are too irrelevant to even mention.


Guy here likes to say "More to be pitied, than scorned."
Clemson beat Duke this year, but i get your point
 
#93      
A win against Michigan and it's going to be awfully difficult to avoid a conversation about being a serious Big Ten conference champion contender.
In conference, Illinois and MSU are both undefeated at home and .500 on the road. (They've played only two road games so far, we've of course played four).
 
#94      
Well, let’s not count on the teams on our schedule to help us out ... just keep winning!
By the way, you might want to update those cumulative winning percentages for Illinois and Purdue. It's now .640 to .639 (still Purdue on top).

And if my math is right, if we win the next two and they lose the next two, we move ahead of them.
 
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#95      
Was reading a Michigan board, and several posters say the team is lacking chemistry, and don't expect it to get better until Howard's stud class (#4 nationally) comes in next year. That's fine with me.
 
#96      
It seemed like vs. PSU, Michigan missed some shots they might otherwise make. Brooks was shooting well against Iowa.
Yesterday, not specifically one player but it seemed like a number of shots were bouncing out. If they work a lot on their shooting this week to address a poor shooting night (and get a lot of open looks) it could be a different game on Saturday.
If Giorgi and Kofi can stay out of foul trouble that should favor the Illini. As others have said UM has holes in the frontcourt.
Our bigs haven't really been in much foul trouble this year, especially Kofi.
 
#97      
A win against Michigan and it's going to be awfully difficult to avoid a conversation about being a serious Big Ten conference champion contender.

A win @Iowa. IMVVHO.

A win at Michigan should start a convo on starting the BTT on the 3rd day. Top 4.
 
#99      
Was reading a Michigan board, and several posters say the team is lacking chemistry, and don't expect it to get better until Howard's stud class (#4 nationally) comes in next year. That's fine with me.

#4, in 2020, with 5 recruits.

We are ranked #13 nationally, #2 in B10, with 3 recruits.

Just saying.

You're pretty late to that party. We have a 57% chance to finish top 4. Very well within reach even if we lose to Michigan and Iowa.

Hmmmm..... Where did you get that from?

57% even if we lose to Michigan and Iowa (both away)? It does not seem right, but cool if it works out. It pretty much means we win the rest or come very close to it, like 9-3. I have conceded Iowa and Rutgers (both away).

BTW, what's up with BVV? Is he still injured?
 
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