Pregame: Illinois at Michigan, Tuesday, March 2nd, 6:00pm CT, ESPN

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#201      
No they're just a smart person who pays attention to both team's performances and all their matchups. Michigan has 1 loss and has absolutely buried teams with struggled with/lost to. It's on the road and we don't have Ayo. You'd have to be insane to think that if they play their best basketball we win without a lot of luck. With Ayo I'd say it comes down to the wire but without they need to make some mistakes.
Michigan fanboy
 
#203      

Retro62

North Bethesda, Maryland
Don’t know if anyone saw this, but on today’s PTI, Mike Wilbon said he is rooting for Illinois since NW has clearly been out for a long time, and that he thinks we are going to beat Michigan. Wilbon usually trashes Illinois, once going so far as to say we were his “safety school” and repeating it twice with great emphasis. He’s said a few times we might be the best team in the conference. It’s fun to hear us talked about on a great program with great hosts.

I put this here only because of his comment on the UM game, but please move it if it’s more appropriate in the team thread, Dan. Thanks
 
#205      
Pulled out and dusted my trusty 24-hour-look-ahead crystal ball:

Half-time:
IL: 32
MI: 30

Ayo dressed, did not play 1st half
 
#206      
Don’t know if this means anything but cohawk again spilling the beans. (ayo is just on the plane)
 

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#207      
Honestly, we need everything to click. We need Kofi to have a great game, we need Curbelo to not turn it over, we need Trent/Adam/Da'Monte hitting from deep and we need Giorgi to do well when Kofi is out. The exciting thing is that it can happen, and if it doesn't ... so what? Move on to OSU.
We are playing with House money. We go 1-1 and get to the BBT final, we should be a 1 seed. West Virginia would have to run the table which i doubt. Houston isn’t strong enough and Iowa/OSU hopefully wont get to the BTT final. Everything is within our control. We just need to play to our capabilities
 
#209      
Wow, I didn't realize (or forgot) we were undefeated going into that Magic Johnson game - it was before my time, but I always thought it was a huge upset. We ended the year so badly, sounds like injuries played a role, that it looked like a huge upset in retrospect given they won the National title that year
We beat MSU then we lose Lanter against OSU and go from 15-0 to 19-11 and missing the NCAA Tourney. My senior year in HS was very depressing
 
#212      
Never underestimate the will of Ayo....NEVER....he came back for a reason and if he plays, I fully expect he will be as good as ever......
Me too bro. The chip will be big on his shoulder. It had to kill him sitting for 2 games. Go Ayo and I hope Kofi goes through Dicksmall all night.
 
#215      
I feel like even a pull-up midrange shot would do wonders. I know it's not the most efficient shot, but make a few of them and defenders will have to start playing him a little tighter, and then we know he'll be able to make plays with more room to work in the paint.
I think it's really efficient, effective and a great idea! Shoot the 12-15-footer BEFORE dribbling into the trees.
 
#216      
I hear that Ayo is hurt and is not 100% and therefor, should sit out until the BTT. I‘m not buying that line. He’s having a great season possibly first team BT and maybe even POY, he needs to play period. He‘s down to his last ~10 games or so as an Illini, let him take his place in history! If his safety and future health is an issue then he has to sit BUT if he can play he definitely should play. Let Coach Underwood decide how many minutes he gets. We’re going to see Michigan, tOSU, Iowa, Baylor etc again somewhere down the road this year. If you think you’re going to roll him out on the court after a couple of weeks off, I don’t think he’ll be at the top of his game. Just my humble opinion. GO ILLINI!
 
#217      
Even if Ayo plays, I’m really concerned about Wagner and think he’s a matchup nightmare for us. Not sure who guards him on our side. Jake might be the best bet? Seems like Franz has a major leg up on Damonte and Giorgi in different ways. Kind of just need him to have a bad game, because I think we matchup decently in every other position defensively.
 
#221      
Wondered at the time why Castleton transferred. It’s called Dickinson. Castleton starting at Florida and doing OK but not in same class as the freshman.
 
#222      
What I want to see. No expectations but would like to see the Illini step up and hold their turns to 10 or less from here on out. It may be just me, but the culture of accepting wins with a dozen or more turnovers as standard is unacceptable. It simply says at Illinois we accept players who never learned to play smart and make sloppy passes and a couple every game without even knowing if there is a player in the vicinity. And Curbelo called for travelling in every game and called an elite PG does him a huge discredit. He needs to learn how to stop or go without doing a rain dance first. Other than that, they will play hard and unselfishly as is their norm. Also, I am reasonably confident they will defend with smart and consistent effort.

It would be nice also to see the FF% in both games over 75%.

So, bottom line, relax you mind, improve and take accountability for weaknesses. Win or not, I will be happy. But a win is likely if those two things are done as this team seems to always play hard and together.
 
#224      
Even if Ayo plays, I’m really concerned about Wagner and think he’s a matchup nightmare for us. Not sure who guards him on our side. Jake might be the best bet? Seems like Franz has a major leg up on Damonte and Giorgi in different ways. Kind of just need him to have a bad game, because I think we matchup decently in every other position defensively.
I would bet a combination of the 3 weighted to who is most effective.
 
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