Pregame: Illinois vs Missouri, Saturday, December 22nd, 7:00pm CT, BTN

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#76      
The more I think about it, the more perplexed I am that literally any Missouri fan anywhere thinks that this game "matters more to [us]" or that this is our "Super Bowl," haha. Even back in the day when they played Kansas regularly, it's not like we didn't have fierce, more-important-to-our-season rivalries with Indiana/Iowa/et al (which we of course still do) .... now, they're literally in the SEC with no real rivalries. (I'm guessing the SEC has done their best to turn Missouri/Arkansas into a *big rivalry*, but it's only been a few years.) And we all know it's not like they can treat this like a "little brother" game where they win all the time, LMAO. It's not like they've been a better program than us for more than 1-2 years at a time, well, ever.

What a strange bunch of people.
 
#78      

Deleted member 500209

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Oh please. He has an effective FG% of .634 on the year. Only Kane (on very limited minutes) has a better one on Illinois.
Smith's Offensive rating is 128, which is again higher than anyone on Illinois; AJ's is 118.

He is having a better offensive year than anyone we have and is being average-ish at defense. He is having a very good year. If Illinois takes your approach and ignore the best offensive player in the game, Missouri will run them out of the gym.
Perhaps Mark has figured out how to play against good competition. That is still unknown. I remember being pretty optimistic last year. That was before I realized he couldn’t figure out how to play against better and stronger athletes. The competition he has faced does not compare to what Illini has faced nor what he will face. Maybe he has figured it out, but comparing his pre-conference stats to Illini pre-conference stats is not a useful conversation.

I wish him the worst in his basketball career.
 
#79      

Dan

Admin
http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/...ll-again-be-shorthanded-against-missouri.html

“Tevian, he’s a young man that will be back,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said at Tuesday’s Illini Rebounders luncheon. “It won’t be for this game. Again, we hold our young men to a very high standard here. The one thing that when they violate a rule, we’ll handle that accordingly with our internal process. He’s practicing every day, but you will see him back in uniform.”

“We will probably officially make a decision on [Anthony Higgs] in terms of redshirting him pretty soon,” Underwood said. “He had surgery on his foot, had a pin put in it and it’s healed very slowly. Bad feet are something basketball players don’t want. We’ve got to get him in a healthy position.”
 
#80      
L - 5 of 12 shooting, L - 3 of 7, L - 7 of 10. Contributing to what? I see 3 losses, 2 poor shooting games and 1 good shooting game that they still lost.

Yes, yor rabsolutely right, very few teams would have room for someone averaging 11.6 pts a game, 5 rebounds a game and shooting 47% from both 2 and 3 point.
 
#81      
Oh please. He has an effective FG% of .634 on the year. Only Kane (on very limited minutes) has a better one on Illinois.
Smith's Offensive rating is 128, which is again higher than anyone on Illinois; AJ's is 118.

He is having a better offensive year than anyone we have and is being average-ish at defense. He is having a very good year. If Illinois takes your approach and ignore the best offensive player in the game, Missouri will run them out of the gym.

Smith first 5 games as ILLINI against the same like as what he has started against this year for Missouri that is:

First 5 games he scores less, he rebounds more, he assists more, he turns it over less....3 pt is the difference, because he is a set and shoot type with an occasional drive (which results in blocks because he cannot overwhelm the competition as he did in HS with his strength).

PPG 13.8 average vs 11.6
RPG 2.2 average vs 6.0
APG 1.6 average vs 2.2
TPG 1.8 average vs .04

3 Pt made/taken first 5 game 2/16 vs 13/26
24.8 MPG vs 27.0 MPG

So by bringing up the best offensive player they have....whom would that be? If it is Smith in your mind, we will not be ran out of the gym at all?
 
#82      
I absolutely cannot wait for Saturday! I posted some statistical findings for our team in the basketball thread, but wanted to post some notes/scouting report for Missouri below. All data comes from KenPom and I also have watched some Missouri basketball.

Overview/Style of Play:
- Missouri plays slow and likes to grind. Their tempo is one of the slowest in all of D1 (65 possessions per game).
- Their offense usually pushes the shot clock into its final seconds. They also tend to make opponents eat up a lot of clock as well.

Offense
- Good raw 3PT% team at 39% year to date. Haven't played a tough schedule really, and mightily struggled against the legit D1 teams they have faced
- Not a team system of play, one of the lowest assisting teams
- Very poor at shooting from 2 and from the free-throw line

Defense
- Pretty solid to very good defense. Coach Martin is known way more for defense than anything on offense
- They do a good job of defending the two-point shot
- Very unlikely to get blocks and steals, one of lowest rated teams in both categories

Players to Watch
- Jeremiah Tilmon - Uses the majority of possessions for the Tigers and is also a good rebounder. Not overly aggressive on offense (less than 30 FT so far) and has not attempted a single 3PT. Really struggled playing High D1 competition against Kansas State and Iowa State

- Jordan Geist - Shoots the ball more than anyone on the team, but isn't a great (or good) shooter. Very good at drawing fouls

- Kevin Puryear - Another sub-par shooter who shoots a lot. Turnover prone. Disciplined and does not get called for fouls often.

- Mark Smith - Throwing this in since the board loves talking about him. However, Mark Smith is nothing more than a role player at best for this Tigers team. Not a major focal point of offense but has an ultimate green light. Does shoot well. Under 50 attempts combined from inside the arc and at the free-throw line. Must watch in transition. Not a shot creator.
 
#83      
Tilmon, Smith, and Miznoz looking pretty good tonight against a Xavier team that beat us by 9.
 
#84      
I’m not able to follow the website as closely anymore....can someone tell me, if we know, what Tevian Jones did?
 
#86      
I am watching Xavier v Mizzou and this will likely be the worst offensive performance Xavier has all year.

Less Missouri defense and more horrendous execution by Xavier.

The Muskateers are shooting under 40% from 2PT, under 30% from 3PT, and under 55% from the free throw line!

Under 55% from free throws!

Missouri will obviously feel good about the win but please don't think this is a result of pure Missouri dominance.
 
#87      
They should feel good about the win and Illinois should note that this is not a gimme game
 
#88      
I am watching Xavier v Mizzou and this will likely be the worst offensive performance Xavier has all year.

Less Missouri defense and more horrendous execution by Xavier.

The Muskateers are shooting under 40% from 2PT, under 30% from 3PT, and under 55% from the free throw line!

Under 55% from free throws!

Missouri will obviously feel good about the win but please don't think this is a result of pure Missouri dominance.

Yeah it's definitely a little bit of Xavier just playing bad offensively and defensively. But I have been impressed with tilmon on the inside and their commitment to using him.

Hoping our guard pressure can make it harder for the entry passes.

Edit: Also, I don't know if anyone noticed, but Miznoz has looked a lot worse offensively in the second half when Xavier has been in their full court pressure
 
#90      

Deleted member 11241

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Yeah it's definitely a little bit of Xavier just playing bad offensively and defensively. But I have been impressed with tilmon on the inside and their commitment to using him.

Hoping our guard pressure can make it harder for the entry passes.

Edit: Also, I don't know if anyone noticed, but Miznoz has looked a lot worse offensively in the second half when Xavier has been in their full court pressure

I don't know what happened in the first 24 minutes, but I watched the last 16 minutes and wasn't all that impressed with them. Tilmon looked decent and Geist is good. But from what I seen Xavier just couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, and it wasn't because of Miznoz smothering D. That being said, this isn't going to be a gimmie, and we need to show up and play hard for 40 min. But this is a very winnable game
 
#91      
Interested in watching Mr. Smith. Maybe Cuonzo has put him in a style and position to be successful. Maybe a bad fit for BU system. Hope he puts up a bagel but we will have to give him his due if he plays well.
 
#92      
I'm an Illini fan, my sister's family are all Missouri fans. We're getting together to watch the game. I'm out-numbered by a substantial amount. I like my chances :rock:

Sister’s family? Aren’t you a part of it?
Her kids all went to Missouri. Interestingly, I still love them all.
 
#93      
Xavier couldn't beat the University of Our Sisters of the Poor tonight, they were atrocious in every aspect of the game. MIZNOZ played well, but I can't say they had much of a challenge. Tilmon looked solid, MS played an OK game (8 pts 1st half?). We have to play our best, and if we do it really shouldn't be that close - but if we pull a Xavier, it could make for a long night for the beloved.
 
#94      
MSmith a better fit for Mizzou, play zone defense and stand around the arc for a 3 pointer. BU wants pressure defense and constant motion and cutting on offense.

Xavier looked bad tonight, I don't see MU guards matching up against UI.
 
#95      
No Joke we better bring 100% pressure all day against Mizzou to win. Need to have a special game to pull this one off.
 
#97      
With all due respect, Mr Smith, there is more to contributing to team success than individual stats (against crappy teams). I hope your son has a terrible college basketball career.

1 assist tonight when your big is 10 of 15. Hey, just make sure you keep getting your shots off.

Hahahahahahahaha. Go check his +- and the teams +- when he’s on and off the court. He’s extremely in the green. His efficiency is through the roof. If he shot 20 times per game he’d go for 30 a night like Trent. Matt Harris does statistics for Mizzou and Mark is ranking the top of all in depth defensive statistics (we aren’t talking steals, or rebounds) I’ve watched alot of his games and his defense has improved 10x. More uneducated fans trying to talk basketball 🙄 in regards to assists. He had a dump off beauty to Mitchell smith who was fouled on a dunk, had a slick transition pass to puryear for a dunk who was fouled and missed the attempt. Then multiple kick outs for miss attempts. If anything, he could be more selfish..... uneducated
 
#98      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
Misery plays X at home and we played X on our third game in a row in Maui on a neutral court...maybe not the best example of what to expect saturday...

I'll play the prediction game\

Illini 92
Misery 72

IDKWMSI refuses to play because of the hostile BU staring at him during warmups ...
 
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