Since Purdue also played a tough game on the road Thursday Night I guess the tired legs also apply to them too.
Pregame: Illinois at Purdue, Sunday, March 5th, 11:30am CT, FOX
- Status
Goode and RJ are gonna blossom
We can't even get the home whistle at home. I expect zero calls to go our way at Mackey.
I'm 48 and I still do this, lol.
This makes sense and was expected by all I’m sure.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
I see a 15 pt loss.
Pre-season, we looked like we’d have a lot of depth. Now, we have almost no depth.
With Goode back, he can give us 10-15 minutes a game. But we’ve lost our top 2 PGs (Skyy & Epps). Dainja won’t be playable this game (Edey’s gonna score no matter what, so you keep Hawkins in to have a mismatch on offense).
So you’ve basically got 7 guys:
TSJ
Mayer
Hawkins
Rodgers
RJ
Goode
Harris
That’s not enough to beat Purdue on the road on senior night.
Pre-season, we looked like we’d have a lot of depth. Now, we have almost no depth.
With Goode back, he can give us 10-15 minutes a game. But we’ve lost our top 2 PGs (Skyy & Epps). Dainja won’t be playable this game (Edey’s gonna score no matter what, so you keep Hawkins in to have a mismatch on offense).
So you’ve basically got 7 guys:
TSJ
Mayer
Hawkins
Rodgers
RJ
Goode
Harris
That’s not enough to beat Purdue on the road on senior night.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
BU talked in his presser that Dain would be playing a lot , so it should be interesting to see what transpires....
having cohawk guarding edey all the time will lessen our offense as cohawk will get worn down and our O will suffer.....
i think dain stays in and guards edey until he gets in foul trouble.....JMHO
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Agree on the depth being an issue. Don't see how Dainja won't play, though. They'll need his minutes to spell CoHawk at the very least.
I don't see how we have an answer for Edey, so I guess just hope he has a bad day and our athleticism can lead to some opportunities in other areas.
I think BLieb has put some pretty effective minutes out on the floor in spot appearances over the last month. He has looked confident and aggressive on defense for sure. I fully expect him to get at least a couple tomorrow, especially after the minutes CoHawk has been playing (49 of 50 is insanely high for a big under any circumstances) How we manage this matchup with Edey is going to be really interesting.
Lieb will have a 5 minutes, 5 fouls kinda game. Unfortunately (and a huge reason Edey is NPOY), he doesn't really miss his free throws (72.8 % on the season), but perhaps he will have a bad day.
Well, if Dainja isn’t playable because you have to play Hawkins a certain way and that’s not enough and you’re guaranteed to lose, then you play Dainja. Duh!
I actually feel like we take this one! Purdue has been slumping as of late and believe the boys come out with nothing to lose. Sure Edey will get his but believe we have the advantage with guard play if we continue to get down hill.
Five minutes fouling Edey is not the worst outcome. I'd prefer 73% on one point shots than 80% from the floor.
Is this a game where you say let Edey get what he gets and just try to guard the hell out of the perimeter?
Dan
Admin
FOX (Jason Benetti & Nick Bahe)
fightingillini.com
Illini Close Out Regular Season Sunday at No. 5 Purdue - University of Illinois Athletics
Illinois closes out the regular season on the road Sunday, at No. 5 Purdue (11:30 a.m. CT, FOX).
fightingillini.com
Nah you beat the hell out of him and make him get what he can.
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
This is a game where you take it right at Edey with quicker guards and get him in foul trouble. If they put him on his heels, our odds will be better
Ryllini
- Lombard
I hope you are right. I feel like we are other teams get right games as of late. Everything is a grind and I love it.
8 point underdogs, Purdue is comfortable favorite for sure, but it's not unobtainable.
USAFILLINI
- Florida
This is a game before noon……
- Status