Pregame: Illinois vs Arizona, Saturday, December 11th, 4:00pm CT, FOX

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#226      
Big Jack
Ramrod2010 said:
Hey if our fans were able to do it fairly successfully for a football game, I am 100% confident we'll pull it off for a basketball game.

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An obvious photoshoped picture we haven't had that many butts in seats since Dick Butkus played!
 
#231      
trtl
Man, did AZ destroy a decent Wyoming team last night! The key to us hanging with them is Kofi staying out of foul trouble as AZ tries to establish a frenetic pace. I guarantee they are going to try to get 2 early fouls on Kofi by driving the lane and forcing him to decide whether to let them go or risk a foul.
 
#234      
jrichisamazing
A up tempo team that likes to push the ball vs a great offensive rebounding team is always an interesting battle. If we start killing them on the glass they will have to send all 5 guys to rebound instead of leaking out. OTOH, if we commit guys to offensive rebounding and don't grab those boards...they could have numbers going the other way.
 
#238      
RockfordIllini
Got a bad feeling about this one.

They are long and athletic across the board. If Coleman gets in foul trouble, not sure we have anyone else to match up with Tubelis. And not sure Damonte is quick enough or Trent is long enough to really bother Mathurin.

Only spot 1-5 I think we have a clear edge is with Kofi, but we’ve struggled to feed him and I can see their length on the perimeter really disrupting our post entries.

I’m sensing a Baylor like game. We maybe hit some shots to hang around but at some point in the second half we turn it over and they make us pay with a bunch of transition points and we go from down 6 to down 18 in a span of 2-3 minutes, putting the game out of reach.

They let off the gas a little and we make a little run to keep it respectable but wind up losing by 8-12.

I’ve watched Gonzaga, Duke, and Purdue and I don’t think any of them have more talent than AZ. JMHO. Hope I’m wrong.
 
#239      
Epsilon
trtl said:
Man, did AZ destroy a decent Wyoming team last night! The key to us hanging with them is Kofi staying out of foul trouble as AZ tries to establish a frenetic pace. I guarantee they are going to try to get 2 early fouls on Kofi by driving the lane and forcing him to decide whether to let them go or risk a foul.
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Its A Trap GIF
 
#240      
727ill
RockfordIllini said:
Got a bad feeling about this one.

They are long and athletic across the board. If Coleman gets in foul trouble, not sure we have anyone else to match up with Tubelis. And not sure Damonte is quick enough or Trent is long enough to really bother Mathurin.

Only spot 1-5 I think we have a clear edge is with Kofi, but we’ve struggled to feed him and I can see their length on the perimeter really disrupting our post entries.

I’m sensing a Baylor like game. We maybe hit some shots to hang around but at some point in the second half we turn it over and they make us pay with a bunch of transition points and we go from down 6 to down 18 in a span of 2-3 minutes, putting the game out of reach.

They let off the gas a little and we make a little run to keep it respectable but wind up losing by 8-12.

I’ve watched Gonzaga, Duke, and Purdue and I don’t think any of them have more talent than AZ. JMHO. Hope I’m wrong.
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It's hard to hit shots on the road in a hostile environment. Let's see if they can keep up their crazy numbers on offense.

Agreed that we cannot have 15+ turnovers in a game like this and expect to win.
 
#241      
ChazzReinhold
trtl said:
Man, did AZ destroy a decent Wyoming team last night! The key to us hanging with them is Kofi staying out of foul trouble as AZ tries to establish a frenetic pace. I guarantee they are going to try to get 2 early fouls on Kofi by driving the lane and forcing him to decide whether to let them go or risk a foul.
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And we destroyed a better team in Rutgers.
 
#242      
Rap73
RockfordIllini said:
Got a bad feeling about this one.

They are long and athletic across the board. If Coleman gets in foul trouble, not sure we have anyone else to match up with Tubelis. And not sure Damonte is quick enough or Trent is long enough to really bother Mathurin.

Only spot 1-5 I think we have a clear edge is with Kofi, but we’ve struggled to feed him and I can see their length on the perimeter really disrupting our post entries.

I’m sensing a Baylor like game. We maybe hit some shots to hang around but at some point in the second half we turn it over and they make us pay with a bunch of transition points and we go from down 6 to down 18 in a span of 2-3 minutes, putting the game out of reach.

They let off the gas a little and we make a little run to keep it respectable but wind up losing by 8-12.

I’ve watched Gonzaga, Duke, and Purdue and I don’t think any of them have more talent than AZ. JMHO. Hope I’m wrong.
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Maybe their 7 foot forward will have trouble guarding Hawkins on the perimeter. If they don't get transition points in bunches Illini will win.
 
#244      
727ill
Rap73 said:
Maybe their 7 foot forward will have trouble guarding Hawkins on the perimeter. If they don't get transition points in bunches Illini will win.
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As mentioned before probably, we are one of the best rebounding teams in the country right now. We will see very early what Arizona decides to do.

If they want to get out an run, Kofi and Coleman should feast on the glass. My guess is that they start the game out giving us the offensive glass. We just have to make them pay for it.
 
#245      
Pikeillinifan
While it's still early, I think this is a must win for the guys, not only for NCAA seeding purposes, but to really push their confidence up another notch.

If they can win this without Belo, this is going to be a true final four threat once Belo comes back and gets his legs under him again.
 
#246      
lstewart53x3
RockfordIllini said:
Got a bad feeling about this one.

They are long and athletic across the board. If Coleman gets in foul trouble, not sure we have anyone else to match up with Tubelis. And not sure Damonte is quick enough or Trent is long enough to really bother Mathurin.

Only spot 1-5 I think we have a clear edge is with Kofi, but we’ve struggled to feed him and I can see their length on the perimeter really disrupting our post entries.

I’m sensing a Baylor like game. We maybe hit some shots to hang around but at some point in the second half we turn it over and they make us pay with a bunch of transition points and we go from down 6 to down 18 in a span of 2-3 minutes, putting the game out of reach.

They let off the gas a little and we make a little run to keep it respectable but wind up losing by 8-12.

I’ve watched Gonzaga, Duke, and Purdue and I don’t think any of them have more talent than AZ. JMHO. Hope I’m wrong.
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I think Baylor from last year is a good comp for this game. It’s going to be tough to come out of this one with a win.
 
#247      
Emerson Bigguns
I think the consensus is that we have a good team and they have a good team. If we play defense, rebound, make shots, do what we are good at, keep them from doing what they are good at, we can win easily, or lose a close one, or win a close one, or get whipped.

Obviously, 5 days between games is too many. LOL
 
#248      
IlliniDawgs
lstewart53x3 said:
I think Baylor from last year is a good comp for this game. It’s going to be tough to come out of this one with a win.
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Well Baylor last year was on a neutral floor and against the (soon-to-be) national champs... and Kofi was in foul trouble the whole game. While it's not going to be an easy win this will be a much different environment at home and a (hopefully) foul-less Kofi. Hell, ESPN thinks we have a great chance to win at 67.7%. I would bet the game against Baylor was flipped if not more extreme to their favor.
 
#249      
Bacon Butkus Swanson
Oldskoolkoach said:
We will get every call at home!!!
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Sadly, we will not.

I've been rooting for the Illini for 55 years and it's always puzzled me. Why don't the refs call's at Assembly Hall/SFC favor Illinois? It seems to happen most everywhere else in college basketball. Anyone else feel that way?

I can't stand the Lute's.... I mean Kitties. If we can keep our turnovers close to 10 we win. Go Illini!!
 
#250      
IlliniInCAN
RockfordIllini said:
Got a bad feeling about this one.

They are long and athletic across the board. If Coleman gets in foul trouble, not sure we have anyone else to match up with Tubelis. And not sure Damonte is quick enough or Trent is long enough to really bother Mathurin.

Only spot 1-5 I think we have a clear edge is with Kofi, but we’ve struggled to feed him and I can see their length on the perimeter really disrupting our post entries.

I’m sensing a Baylor like game. We maybe hit some shots to hang around but at some point in the second half we turn it over and they make us pay with a bunch of transition points and we go from down 6 to down 18 in a span of 2-3 minutes, putting the game out of reach.

They let off the gas a little and we make a little run to keep it respectable but wind up losing by 8-12.

I’ve watched Gonzaga, Duke, and Purdue and I don’t think any of them have more talent than AZ. JMHO. Hope I’m wrong.
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Hate to say it, but I see the same.

And the advantage at the 5 might not be as big as people think. It’s a bad match up, no doubt.

IL - 76
AZ - 84
 
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