Pregame: Illinois vs Indiana, Thursday, February 25th, 8:00pm CT, ESPN

[icengineer]

Then, with the game tied at 72 and 0.9 seconds left, Illinois will have an inbounds play on the sideline by their basket. Nunn will get the ball, wait about 3 seconds, then see Finke breaking to the basket and hit him with a perfect bounce pass for a layup to win the game.

Seems familiar for some reason....

 

[TCTORNADO]

Current consensus Vegas line is Illinois -6.5 pts, that's a long way from the 34 pt Bloomington defeat. Maybe the Whitman in attendance factor is at work.

 

[kaptain80]

If any of you in St. Louis need a support group for the game, the alumni club is watching the game at Ozzie's in the Lumière: http://www.stlouisillini.org/article.html?aid=185

 

[TCTORNADO]

We need this game badly to move above .500 in the felony's vs B1G wins standings.

 

[Dan]

John Groce press conference

https://twitter.com/JWernerScout

Groce: We did a lot of good things at Wisconsin. Making progress defensively. Young guys understanding what to do better.

Groce: National defensive numbers have jumped in KenPom about 50 spots. Individual continues to get better.

Groce: Not having Morgan on the floor hurt us. He's improved tremendously.

Groce: Practice good the last couple days. Guys embracing the little things that make a difference.

Groce: Indiana is playing well. They're a great team. Their defense is underrated because of how good they are offensively.

Groce: It's going to take a great effort from our guys, great attention to detail to slow Indiana offense down.

Groce: I'm excited to see if what I'm seeing in practice translates to games. It has the last three games.

Groce: Had discombobulated rotation at Indiana, and they've blown out a few teams at home.

Groce: We have to do what we do well. Transition defense. Blocking out. We have to do all those things well.

Groce: If Finke is open, he needs to shoot the ball. Disappointed when he's done. That's his job. That's the role he's been given.

Groce: We had some sloppy turnovers down the stretch on Sunday. Missed a bunch of easy ones on offense. Not bad possessions.

Groce: Missed too many easy uncontested buckets during Wisconsin's big 2H run. Good possessions, just missed shots.

Groce: Once it got down to a few possessions, we had sloppy turnovers that I did not like.

Groce: Fouling is a mistake. It's not a good thing. That got us the other night, especially in the 2nd half.

Groce: We have to play hard without fouling. Even if they are some questionable calls, we had bad ones that led to UW in bonus

Groce: Team had great energy, very talkative, very energetic in practice yesterday. They've worked hard.

Groce: I want them tounderstand the things we have to clean up, show them defensive improvement. Mentions JCL, Mav, DJW

Groce: I want them locked in, keep swinging the hammer every day. Our kids have done that. Why you're seeing individual improvement

Groce: Last 3 games, we've probably played as well with this rendition of this team. Will continue to play KLew and Hill at PG

Groce: Tate must continue to be ready to play.

Groce: Defensive statistics are better in conference than nonconference. Better with little things and details.

Groce: Turned it over too much the other night. Even if 11 isn't that much, we take pride in that. When/how they happen is key.

Groce: Mav has a lot of confidence right now.

Groce: Guys came in today between practices. We've been good despite the weather so far today.

Groce: Our guys are aware of the tradition against Indiana. But our focus is on playing better than we did the first game at IU.

Groce: Hill one of the better players in league, country in impacting games in multitude of ways.

Groce: Hill has been more consistent. I still think there's more there. But he's done a lot for us.

Groce: The experience of all things he's had to do has put us at times past his comfort zone.

[youtube]wCrNNYCwLUU[/youtube]

 

[TCTORNADO]

Current consensus Vegas line is Illinois -6.5 pts, that's a long way from the 34 pt Bloomington defeat. Maybe the Whitman in attendance factor is at work.

Boy it didn't take long for the Vegas consensus to jump to Illinois + 8.5 pts from + 6.5 pts.
P.s. sorry about - sign vs. + sign in original post.

 

[Dan]

Game Notes

ESPN: Rece Davis, Dan Dakich and Seth Greenberg

http://www.fightingillini.com/news/2016/2/24/MBB_0224163719.aspx

 

[Ulysses Everett McGill]

Interesting comment re Finke having to shoot. He clearly has been hesitant to fire lately when in receipt of dishouts at the arc that he has time to get up before the D closes. Seems like the hard closeouts get him skittish about shooting. I do like that he's been putting the ball on the floor a lot to go around the closers, but he's too slow to take it all the way to the hoop when he does, and the play bogs down. Wouldn't hurt to learn to just stop after a couple dribbles and take/make a 10-12 footer once in a while. That might convince defenders to not close as hard, giving him less pressure on the initial shot. Just free advice from the peanut gallery.

Also, does anyone know a way to find out a player's (Finke's) shooting % from various spots on the floor? Seems to me Finke makes the vast majority from the left side of the floor. A JCL, OTOH, seems able to drop them pretty well from everywhere on the floor (except the corners, where he doesn't take many at all). Nunn's our only corner man. Seems to me by this point in the season other teams have charted where our guys like to shoot from, which makes scoring throughout the game tougher when we almost strictly rely on jump shots.

 

[WesterveltVictoryCigar]

Also, does anyone know a way to find out a player's (Finke's) shooting % from various spots on the floor? Seems to me Finke makes the vast majority from the left side of the floor. A JCL, OTOH, seems able to drop them pretty well from everywhere on the floor (except the corners, where he doesn't take many at all). Nunn's our only corner man. Seems to me by this point in the season other teams have charted where our guys like to shoot from, which makes scoring throughout the game tougher when we almost strictly rely on jump shots.

Not free

Free but not really what you asked for

 

[Dan]

Per ESPN, Thursday's broadcast will feature a "backseat coaches perspective"
https://twitter.com/MikeMillerHT/status/702606992041349121

 

[BillyBob1]

I hope the coaches show the players video of the last game. Yes Indiana had a great shooting game, but the were doing a significant amount of showboating. Guys on the floor and bench flexing after a made basket. This kept happening after they had a 25-30 point lead. Would like to see the team come out with a major chip on their shoulder and send these clowns home with a loss!

 

[CoalCity]

Dakich will be interesting. I know a lot of Illini don't like him, but he doesn't mince words when he sees a kid loafing or making a mistake. He is also pretty free with praise when he sees a kid doing something right.

Hopefully there's more praise for the Illini and more criticism for IU tonight. Gonna be tough sledding.

 

[CoalCity]

Who are the officials?

 

[TCTORNADO]

Who are the officials?

Ed Hightower, Jim Burr and Sam Lickliter.

 

[Dan]

We learn the game officials approx 1 hour prior to tipoff.

 

[Konnie]

Dakich will be interesting. I know a lot of Illini don't like him, but he doesn't mince words when he sees a kid loafing or making a mistake. He is also pretty free with praise when he sees a kid doing something right.

Hopefully there's more praise for the Illini and more criticism for IU tonight. Gonna be tough sledding.

+1. He will also call out an official if they make a bad call.

 

[BillyBob1]

Ed Hightower, Jim Burr and Sam Lickliter.

Tom Rucker is the alternate and he will come onto the floor and overrule any call!

 

[Poe's Law]

Ed Hightower, Jim Burr and Sam Lickliter.

At least we get a break from TV Ted.

 

[Cubby Blue]

Ed Hightower, Jim Burr and Sam Lickliter.

Believe it or not, I would take all three of them over Sanzere! :tsk: Always thought he had little mans syndrome.

 

[Adnarel]

Ed Hightower, Jim Burr and Sam Lickliter.

Oh God.

Re: Groce's pregame comments, I'm glad he articulated that point about defense. Many posters have described the team's defense as YMCA-like this season. Happily, this has improved, and I didn't realize the numbers supported it that strongly. Still missing a big, jamming up the lane, though.

 

[CoalCity]

Dok-itch makes games so difficult to watch... I'm not sure I've found an announcer I've found more annoying. Okay, maybe Billy Packer.

Yeah, he can be annoying at times...but I find him hugely entertaining because he really doesn't have much of a filter between his brain and his mouth.

+100 on Billy Packer. Bill Walton, Duke Vitale (he's gotten a lot worse) and not basketball announcers but extremely annoying anyway, Tim McCarver and Phil Simms.

 

[IlliniFaninHoosierLand]

Dok-itch makes games so difficult to watch... I'm not sure I've found an announcer I've found more annoying. Okay, maybe Billy Packer.

From living in Indy before, I can vouch for the fact that Dakich isn't that bad. He has a mid-day radio show in Indianapolis during the week and takes calls from delusional IU and Purdue fans during (and even not during) basketball fans talking about how great their teams are. Anyone would have a tough time dealing with those fan bases on a daily basis.

 

[Se Il Illini]

Dakich knows the Big 10. He can be somewhat overbearing at times. He coached Maverick Morgan's AAU team and has said some positive things about him.

 

[Bomb Squad 217]

Dakich is only annoying when hes going in on the guys you root for. When hes not, its just an honest, non sugar coated, observation.

 

[Moneybreaks]

Dakich will be interesting. I know a lot of Illini don't like him, but he doesn't mince words when he sees a kid loafing or making a mistake. He is also pretty free with praise when he sees a kid doing something right.

Hopefully there's more praise for the Illini and more criticism for IU tonight. Gonna be tough sledding.

I love Dakich in any game that doesn't involve his lovechild IU. He will be a complete Indiana Homer in this one, and you heard it here first