Pregame: Illinois vs UCLA, Friday, November 18th, 8:30pm CT, ESPNU

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#176      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
zentrails said:
Our team is essentially all top 100 4 stars with maybe one borderline 5 star (Skyy)
UCLA is better than that? (asking, don't know anything about UCLA's team)
We need more experience overall, of course, but on paper that seems pretty good to me.
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Someone above has broken down the recruits for both teams as far as stars, but a little more info. UCLA’s latest class is made up of #9, 16, 44 and a recruit from Italy. Skyy is the only one with a ranking as high as their 3, and he falls third.

UCLA also has us beat in the experience playing together with a veteran PG, the Pac 12 preseason POY, and a 6-5 guard who didn’t start last year except for injuries (and he played very well then) but is leading team in scoring this year at about 17 ppg. Illini certainly have the talent to win, but make no mistake UCLA is at least as talented and probably more. Should be a great game and at worst a fantastic learning experience for the Illini.
 
#177      

Fr8trn16

F
Fr8trn16
#11Texas btw just put a beat down on #2Gonzaga. By 19 at the end, but had a large margin for a good while. Dominant performance. We have a chance to win some big time games, and put together a nice resume this season.
 
#181      

Champaignheat

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Champaignheat
Sorry to say but I am going with experience and that fact that they are traveling a much less distance. UCLA 77-69.
 
#182      

eas23

E
eas23
Putting out a preemptive strike that the game probably won't tip off until closer to 9. 10 PM for those of us in the Eastern time zone.
 
#185      

Birdus

B
Birdus
Fr8trn16 said:
#11Texas btw just put a beat down on #2Gonzaga. By 19 at the end, but had a large margin for a good while. Dominant performance. We have a chance to win some big time games, and put together a nice resume this season.
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Texas can shoot it. I had us losing to them and UCLA in my forecast. II had us beating Virginia and Syracuse but Virginia would be tough as they are very efficient and have great defense. In my opinion, we have the kind of team that is going to have growing pains. But at the end, I like this team to finish strong and knock on the door to the final four. If I am wrong about UCLA-Great! I really like their point guard though. Tyger really runs that team well.
 
#186      

Fr8trn16

F
Fr8trn16
Birdus said:
Texas can shoot it. I had us losing to them and UCLA in my forecast. II had us beating Virginia and Syracuse but Virginia would be tough as they are very efficient and have great defense. In my opinion, we have the kind of team that is going to have growing pains. But at the end, I like this team to finish strong and knock on the door to the final four. If I am wrong about UCLA-Great! I really like their point guard though. Tyger really runs that team well.
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Yea their point guard is tough. They are a good team. But I think we're up for the task. These are the types of games I'd rather us cut our teeth on early to get ready for March. This is what you come to Illinois for. If you're a baller, these types of games. And from what it sounds like, this team doesn't shy away from a tough game based on the secret scrimmage. This would be a good game to see Mayer and Melendez (M & M if you will) have breakout games for this season. I think this team is so deep that they can just keep attacking in waves with no let up. Eventually wearing teams down and pulling away to win games.
 
#187      

Rap47

R
Rap47
PNWIllini said:
From the parking lot in McPherson KS
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Birdus said:
Texas can shoot it. I had us losing to them and UCLA in my forecast. II had us beating Virginia and Syracuse but Virginia would be tough as they are very efficient and have great defense. In my opinion, we have the kind of team that is going to have growing pains. But at the end, I like this team to finish strong and knock on the door to the final four. If I am wrong about UCLA-Great! I really like their point guard though. Tyger really runs that team well.
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#188      

GallopingGhost

GallopingGhost
Denver, CO
GallopingGhost
InDaAZ said:
the princess bride GIF


Should be an interesting weekend, to say the least...
Will TJ & co show out against similarly skilled athletes?
Will the Freshmen stack up?
Will BU run as much press, and will high-level coaches solve it (you know Cronin will practice against it all week...)?
Will MM return to form?
Who will Dain wrap his legs around (aka, the Dainja zone)?

I want two wins and a top-10 ranking. Does that make me greedy? :love:
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To answer your questions: although probably rhetorical…

Yes
Yes
Yes, and yes lol
Not likely
Jacquez:p
 
#190      

Battle89

Battle89
Battle89
HailtotheChief said:
Walking around Vegas last night at the airport and on the strip we saw several Illini fans. Although I am sure there are other teams with fans here we have yet to see a single one. Hopefully the crowd will be to our advantage.
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Same experience.
 
#193      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
GallopingGhost said:
Someone who has ears to it: please tell me scale of 1-10 how much Brad-yelling there is at shoot around today.
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200 (8).gif

wisky.........tango...............foxtrot...................Arnold here..................I see & hear nothing out of the ordinary......kkkkkkkkkkkkik...............over....................

I'll be backkk...................over and out...................kkkkkkkkik.......
 
#194      

Rap47

R
Rap47
Texas shot it great against Gonzaga but even after that win they are only shooting 29% as a team on 3 pt. attempts.
 
#195      

ChiefKingfisher

C
ChiefKingfisher
Rap47 said:
Texas shot it great against Gonzaga but even after that win they are only shooting 29% as a team on 3 pt. attempts.
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I’m not counting that Texas game as a sure loss. They were hyped up at home and looking for revenge against Gonzaga, who I’m not convinced is as good as they were the last couple seasons. Texas is very good, but I think we have a decent shot at giving them a game on a neutral court.
 
#197      

WhiteHorseWings

WhiteHorseWings
WhiteHorseWings
DeonThomas said:
Laid back southern calif.

I totally agree that the outcome of this game is simply a nice-to-have. (In fact, the same is true of Baylor/UVA, Texas and Syracuse.) The important thing is to play well and give all the guys some experience in a neutral court "big game" situation. 2-2 would be nice. 1-3 acceptable. 3-1 pushes us up the rankings.
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The next time 1-3 will be acceptable to me is never
 
#198      

hodgesonfire

H
hodgesonfire
MDchicago said:
Who knows in a single early season game with freshmen playing significant minutes for both teams? It will come down to execution and clutch play on the court, with freshman play, 3s (whose are falling and whose are not) and refs as wildcards.
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I would add pre-game plan and in-game plan into this assessment. The only fault I have with Underwood at all is in game adjustments when the opponent has created a game plan that takes away a major strength.
 
#199      

TCTORNADO

TCTORNADO
TCTORNADO
MustangWally said:
Spoon was in one of my psych classes. He put in a token appearance the first day of class and the last day of class. That was it.
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I saw Spoon in HS at Canton McKinley a few times. He would have gone to tOSU but he had academic problems there.
 
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