In good news, we have passed Rutgers in kenpom and T-rank.
Yup, on a neutral court, we would be favored by half a point. Hate to think it, but it's going to be a battle to stay out of the basement.
In good news, we have passed Rutgers in kenpom and T-rank.
Yup, on a neutral court, we would be favored by half a point. Hate to think it, but it's going to be a battle to stay out of the basement.
That a typo or is BU the type that also warshes his clothes?After the last game and I aged 10 yurs in the last 4-5 minutes of that game , i just want a win...1 point or 30 points , a win is a win for the Illini right now...post it in the lerft column as BU says and move on...
Illini 78
ETSU 66
That a typo or is BU the type that also warshes his clothes?
UNLV is a borderline top 100 team (will probably finish around 125 if I had to guess). They are probably the worst P6 shooting team we will see. We should've won that game by 15+. Blame it on youth or inexperience or what have you, but that's a fact.I think people are undervaluing the UNLV win. Tons of pressure on struggling young Illinois team and they won the game.
UNLV had nothing to lose and those teams can be dangerous. See ILL vs Gonzaga ‘18.
I think the ETSU game falls in that exact same category.
UNLV is a borderline top 100 team (will probably finish around 125 if I had to guess). They are probably the worst P6 shooting team we will see. We should've won that game by 15+. Blame it on youth or inexperience or what have you, but that's a fact.
I'm glad this team pulled together at the end to win, but it shouldn't have come to that. If we want to win B1G games, we have to play the final 5 minutes just as hard and effective as the previous 35 (assuming of course we were playing hard in the first place, but thats an argument for another time.)
ETSU is a deep and decently experienced team that has a great HC. Considering the team as a whole, I'd bet they finish the year very similarly ranked to UNLV, though their individual makeups differ.
Of course we need to finish stronger and I’m not debating whether or not UNLV is that good of a team.
Sometimes an athletic team is dangerous especially when they have no pressure and all the pressure falls squarely on the other team. That’s a thing.
There was a lot of pressure for the Illini to win that game and you could see they got tight at the end. Pressure always makes things more difficult, so I’m not putting a ton of value on the score.
ETSU has been solid the last couple of years. It will probably be a close game. People will panic if we barely win, because ETSU is a mid major, but it’s probably going to be close all the way. If it’s a blowout, we win though.
Agreed, and as to your "playing to the competition" is more a product of the age of this team more than anythingI think all of our wins thru the end of the season will be closer than we want.....We played Gonzaga close with a chance to win , but that team will not show up every game as we seem to be a team that plays to the level of our competition....
The one blowout I hope for is against Misery by 40 + points...Make it happen Illini.....I already wrote Santa that that's my xmas wish this year !
Bold statement coming. 15+ point win. I just feel this team needs a little break and some much needed confidence only a W today could have provided.
Samba needs as many minutes as he can handle, AG and TV need to get 12 to 15 a game in the next 3 games. This should help some with depth. B10 will be challenging though. There just isn’t a “bad” team this year.
I know it's not saying much, but I haven't watched a single illini win this year in any sport. Turned on volleyball last night in the 3rd. I don't have BTN Plus
Underwood: It’s been a good week. Added some things offensively. Spent some time on late-game situations. Challenging week for guys mentally between that & getting ready for finals.
Underwood: We’ve probably done 3 or 4 different segments each day in practice focusing on rebounding. We’ve got to clean that area up. They’ve got one of the elite rebounders in the country in Rodriguez.
Underwood: To practices this week, we’ve built in halftimes. Go off the court, watch some film and go out and practice. Trying to address our 2nd half issues. Gotta get the motor revved back up.
Underwood: We’ve spent a good amount of time working on some. I like to play zone when we’re playing the clock. Used it late against UNLV to try to keep them out of the paint.
Underwood: We need (Kipper) to rebound more. Haven’t seen the rebounding tenacity that we’ve seen in the past.
#Illini freshman Tevian Jones will not play tomorrow, Underwood said.
Underwood: Mental grind that guys have to go through at finals time. Have one guy who has 3 today. Guys have to do things differently at this time.. Staying up til 2 or 3 AM studying.
And yet, we have an opponent coming in who is going to try to take one from us.
https://twitter.com/DPiper247
Second half complacency could hurt us in this one.
ETSU has trailed in six of its eight wins this season, including coming back from a season-high 18-point deficit against Sam Houston State ... The Bucs also trailed by eight points in the second half against UT Martin, while rallying from a seven-point second-half mark against Winthrop ... ETSU has outscored its opponents by 105 points in the second half this season (488 to 383), while the Bucs are shooting 53 percent (182-345) and have a plus-9.4 rebound margin in the final 20 minutes
Uh oh. Don't like our recent track record against Teams Enduring Travel Hardship.
Uh oh. Don't like our recent track record against Teams Enduring Travel Hardship.
Commentator, as ETSU players drain multiple halfcourt threes and pull off several 360 dunks: "All they've had to eat in the past 18 hours are Pop-Tarts and RC Cola!"If they come out to play in their practice jerseys, we are hosed.
Are we sure this is our opponent and not a recruit?