I agree Plummer has to start. They have to get him going. They will put someone on like glue. If that is the case then you have one on one with Hawk or Kofi. I would love to see more high low with Hawk and Kofi. Then Kofi passes out to Trent or Plummer.
Pregame: Illinois vs Chattanooga, Friday, March 18th, 5:50pm CT, TNT
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I checked out some vids of Malachi Smith when people were being cryptic about a guard transfer. Averaging 20 ppg and from Illinois, he made sense. After watching some videos my thoughts were, it's not him. I just didn't see the footspeed. He's obviously talented. You have to be to score 20 ppg at the Division 1 level. But I just don't see him getting 20 on our All Big Ten defensive team player.
Below is a video of his highest point total of the season against the only team they've played that made the tournament. Talented, but he's not someone that is going to break you down. He does a lot of scoring in the paint. So if Trent keeps him out of the paint and Kofi is down there waiting for him, it will be much harder than he is used to.
Given the length of Houston's lineup, I wouldn't be surprised to see RJ get some extended minutes on Friday to see if he's ready for Sunday (assuming Grandy is limited). Sunday's matchup appears to be horrible for Plummer and Trent (on paper).
blackdog
- Champaign
Well I am looking at everything because I'm not a player and my mental focus doesn't change the outcome of games
I definitely want the guys in the locker room only focusing on Chattanooga though.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
The difference is that Iowa has some solid seniors, two of whom (Rebraca and Boahnnon) start, and one of whom (C. McCaffery) gets major tick. Toussaint does, too, and he's a JR. We didn't have that sort of experience last year. We were young, unseasoned and (apart from that week when Ayo was out) relied on a JR closer when times were tight. I see little comparison between the two teams. IMO Iowa's run can plausibly be sustained. Ours last year was tenuous.
I always do, and he never does. Last year emboldened him, after years/decades of futility a non-KU b12 team made the FF and actually won a title. We really need the B1G to do the same.I am going to root for every BIG team just to get Seth Davis to STFU
These are college athletes and I doubt the four games in a row hurt Iowa's stamina that much. Hope I am wrong.
Trent can guard shead.
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
I took the day-to-day label as "he'll play, but we're not going to tell our opponent that until the last minute." Hope my optimism is right
I think he said, "give up now."
Gard can tell them to do in every instance…EXACTLY the OPPOSITE of how they tried to guard Kofi. He can learn by Wisconsin’s failure. Lol.
TheFameProtector
- Champaign
UConn is a really good squad on both ends with some high-quality wins (Nova, Auburn) playing a tougher schedule than Houston. Quality lead guard plus two big, toolsie forwards. Experienced closing out tight games. I wouldn't want to see them even if I were Gonzaga.
Nope. First meeting in Iowa City, Keegan was still not right from an ankle injury. Last meeting in Champaign, well ... that was tight. If we get by Tenn Chat, and that's a big "if" (these lower seeded teams play loose), I'm not certain at all we would be facing Houston. UAB is playing quite well.
The one thing I hope we took away from last year is that we need to play loose too. We got tight against Loyola and, well, we all know the rest.
We need to have fun, like last year in the Big Ten Tournament. We played angry but we were having a blast doing it. That may have been the last time we saw Curbelo dunk and the huge smile that erupted from him afterwards.
I want to see Belo get out in front of everyone and slam one down again off a steal. Wouldn’t hurt to have CoHawk or Payne slam one down off oops either to reintroduce themselves to the rims properly.
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it is not a big if. Some people have gone nuts. We are a 4 seed and they are a 13 for a reason. We are heavily favored. After the first round, you start to play a lot of good teams, but come on people. This is a team from a weak mid-major conference that has beaten absolutely no one. There should be no fear whatsoever of losing the first game.
One eery thing though is the last time Chattanooga had a conference player of the year was 1997.
IMO the bench has to be a spark. We’ll have a moment where we don’t score for 4/5 minutes. RJ, Goode, Payne need to produce.
I get a kick out of these comments about teams that go far in tournaments are "tired." Purdue and Iowa have elite athletes. They are really efficient in scoring, meaning that they don't spend as much energy to get points. They aren't killing themselves on defense either. Both will be fine.
Now, the emotional high from winning a tourney is definitely a disadvantage. Iowa plays Thursday, and has less days to recharge that aspect and not focus on all the praise.
Has handles, shoots well, and very strong. Looks good to me but would put Hawk on him. Let Trent guard the ball handler and disrupt the flow.
Hopefully we have a plan B this year if someone tries a Loyola style defense on our high ball screens. They were doubling and trapping our gaurds 25 to 30 feet from the basket. It wouldn't surprise me to see this tactic used again as it gave us problems last year every time we faced it.
Purdue's defense is still bad, but I don't understand the continued narrative that Iowa's defense is bad. Over the past month and a half, their defense is essentially equivalent to Illinois' defense (just three-tenths of a point worse, per 100 possessions, by Torvik's numbers).
I never said that we're here to stay. Just that we are back, and should be grateful to be back considering where we've been the last decade. The "nervousness" you describe that manifests itself in posts is not what I am talking about. It is much different than the many posters here and on social media that dog the team over and over but are quiet during our success. It irks me to no end.
Some people live to spread negativity. And they would continue to do it even if this team made a Final Four run (or at least crawl back into their crevices). That was my point.
I on the other hand will enjoy the best 3 consecutive years of Illini basketball since the 02 through 05 seasons.
Either way, Go Illini!
I believe we will be very focused this year. The reaction of the team when our name was called showed a business like attitude. Lets win on Friday and see who we play Sunday
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