Pregame: Illinois at Minnesota, Wednesday, January 3rd, 8:00pm CT, BTN

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#53      
BRucks
Murphy was a no-show in our game last year - 2 pts., 4rebs in 23 minutes. Can't see that happening this year but if it did we might have a chance.
 
#59      
Illini B-Ball Fan
CoalCity said:
Good thing the game is indoors!

Kind of a heat wave today, it was -12 this morning and the highs have been below zero for several days.
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But wait, you're on to something - a new event to kickoff the Winter Olympics - outdoors basketball in the middle of the Midwest winter. :D While we're waiting for the committee to make a decision, go Illini.
 
#62      
Captain Bubbles
The stat no one talks about: Leron Black is 40-49 from the FT line thus far. Good for 7th best in all of Big Ten (81%).
 
#63      
Captain Bubbles
The key for Illinois is for the frontcourt to outperform Minnesota's Murphy and Lynch. Murphy is a double-double machine and Lynch can alter shots like no other in the Big Ten (59 total -- leads Big Ten). This game won't be easy by any means. If Illinois can do like what they did to Tilmon in the Mizzou game by limiting post touches, Illinois can get the win.

I also think Amir Coffey is a stud, as he's averaging 14 ppg. I also think Illinois has played a tougher schedule at this point than Minnesota.
 
#64      
JIllini
Genesis said:
Even when Minny is a middle of the road team, it's tough to win there. More likely we win at Michigan but I still think we lose. With that said, though I think we'll start 0-4, I also believe we have a realistic possibility of getting to 10-8. If I'm betting, I'll go with 9-9.
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I disagree that winning at Michigan is more likely, they've been playing very well lately. And we've actually done pretty well at the Barn in recent years, while we haven't won at Michigan in forever.
 
#65      
breadman
JIllini said:
I disagree that winning at Michigan is more likely, they've been playing very well lately. And we've actually done pretty well at the Barn in recent years, while we haven't won at Michigan in forever.
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And as Robbie Hummel summarized at half time last night, Michigan is a team you do not want to play at this time as they are hot. Watched the first half of their game against Iowa, and they could not miss if they tried. Therefore, BEAT Minny!!
 
#67      
Deleted member 631370
foby said:
But they were tough wins.
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Frank Williams hitting that late layup either at the end of the 2001 season or the 2002 season (can't remember which, though I think we had to close both seasons in Minneapolis in tight games) was one of my favorite memories from college. Won us the Big Ten that year.
 
#68      
bert1991
alaskaillini said:
It was 47 here in Anchorage today.:)
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My wife was born in Anchorage. In fact, if you are familiar with the long branch saloon, that used to be her grandfather's house. They homesteaded there. Funny to have her point out where her bedroom was while we have a beer at the bar. Family lives between Palmer and Wasilla now.

Anyways, enough about that. Go Illini! Beat Minny!!!
 
#69      
Deleted member 4333
What concerns me about the Illini this year, is that we don't have enough talent to cruise to any Big Ten wins. Every win will come from 40 minutes of hard fought, in your face defense. Even then, we'll have to hit some threes. It's tough to play that way for forty minutes, as we have already seen, let alone a whole season.
 
#70      
Calvin
jmilt7 said:
"some Illini players are showing early flu-like symptoms" and especially this:

"Black, who was coughing and wheezing after the game,"

Hope everyone is well for this game. Except Minnesota players, of course.
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Didn't MJ have an outrageous game with the flu in the playoffs? Time for some inner MJ! If our guys are sick, though, I don't see how we win. Really hard to sustain effort and hit shots when you're lacking energy. Add road game to it, and Minny being a decent team, and I think we're cooked. That said, I was pessimistic about Mizzou, and they gutted out a win there, so my track record is far from spotless. I like the report that the vibe on the team is getting better. Need some swagger to have a chance on the road.
 
#71      
GortTheRobot
I think our guards can give them some trouble, but we need for both Finke and Kipper to play well enough on the inside to scratch out a win. If they can rebound reasonable well, I think we have a good chance. I'm assuming Leron will do his bit, but if he is under the weather, then one or both of them will have to step it up even further.
 
#72      
JFGsCoffeeMug
Interested in seeing how we try to neutralize Murphy. If he gets a double-double tonight, I don't love our chances.
 
#74      
SampsonRelpenk
rbachhuber said:
What concerns me about the Illini this year, is that we don't have enough talent to cruise to any Big Ten wins. Every win will come from 40 minutes of hard fought, in your face defense. Even then, we'll have to hit some threes. It's tough to play that way for forty minutes, as we have already seen, let alone a whole season.
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The bottom of the league is also wayyyyy better than it used to be. I miss having at least a couple guaranteed laughers on the conference slate.
 
#75      
CoalCity
Captain Bubbles said:
The key for Illinois is for the frontcourt to outperform Minnesota's Murphy and Lynch. Murphy is a double-double machine and Lynch can alter shots like no other in the Big Ten (59 total -- leads Big Ten). This game won't be easy by any means. If Illinois can do like what they did to Tilmon in the Mizzou game by limiting post touches, Illinois can get the win.

I also think Amir Coffey is a stud, as he's averaging 14 ppg. I also think Illinois has played a tougher schedule at this point than Minnesota.
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I think you're spot on with all of this. Murphy is what we hope Kipper can turn into, an undersized 4 (yes I said it) that can use his strength and motor (which seems to be not firing on all cylinders lately) to clean up the boards and score a lot of points in the paint with the threat of knocking down a 3 now and then. We don't really have an answer for Lynch except try to get him in foul trouble.

Coffey is a different animal to deal with too. He's long and likes the perimeter a lot more than going inside and banging and they really don't need him to do that when Murphy and Lynch are in the game. He's going to be tough to defend, I could see Alstork spending a lot of time on him even though Mark is several inches shorter. Coffey likes the open court and I think Alstork could frustrate him with his in your face defense.

We need to be on our game tonight, Minnesota is pretty tough in the Barn. :illinois:
 
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