Brad will continue to lean more on veterans going forward … Harmon does the little things … He’s such a good rebounder … He plays the DMFW role on this team … Dravyn is gonna have to take his minutes …
Pregame: Illinois vs Florida Atlantic, Tuesday, December 5th, 5:30pm CT, ESPN
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Brad will continue to lean more on veterans going forward … Harmon does the little things … He’s such a good rebounder … He plays the DMFW role on this team … Dravyn is gonna have to take his minutes …
Thank you.
FAU is legit. Aside from the Bryant hiccup they have blown everyone else out, and put up a lot of 80 and 90 point games.
However, I actually like how we match up with them.
Goldin is their leading scorer. At 7’1 240 from what I can see he is a traditional back to the basket center, albeit pretty mobile. If Coleman is healthy he plays these types of centers like Cliff and Hunter pretty good. And Coleman looked pretty healthy last game.
They have a stable of big, physical guards. However, so do we. From what I can see their guards are 6’2-6’4 and 200 ish pounds. Ours are 6’6 and 220.
They are a great 3 point shooting team. Our defense does a good job of limiting 3’s.
It doesn’t look like they go particularly deep into their bench, really only playing 7 guys. We are probably a little deeper with Dain, Luke and Harmon.
They’ve obviously played together much longer while we are still building rapport so I think they will be more connected,
But if we play like we did against Rutgers I think we will be tough to beat. Looking forward to see how our defense stacks up against a top 10 offense. Should learn a lot either way. Really need a marquee non con win though so hopefully we get this one or TN.
EDIT: and it doesn’t look like they force a ton of turnovers either which has been one of our bugaboos thus far.
However, I actually like how we match up with them.
Goldin is their leading scorer. At 7’1 240 from what I can see he is a traditional back to the basket center, albeit pretty mobile. If Coleman is healthy he plays these types of centers like Cliff and Hunter pretty good. And Coleman looked pretty healthy last game.
They have a stable of big, physical guards. However, so do we. From what I can see their guards are 6’2-6’4 and 200 ish pounds. Ours are 6’6 and 220.
They are a great 3 point shooting team. Our defense does a good job of limiting 3’s.
It doesn’t look like they go particularly deep into their bench, really only playing 7 guys. We are probably a little deeper with Dain, Luke and Harmon.
They’ve obviously played together much longer while we are still building rapport so I think they will be more connected,
But if we play like we did against Rutgers I think we will be tough to beat. Looking forward to see how our defense stacks up against a top 10 offense. Should learn a lot either way. Really need a marquee non con win though so hopefully we get this one or TN.
EDIT: and it doesn’t look like they force a ton of turnovers either which has been one of our bugaboos thus far.
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Let’s be real… before last year we all thought FAU was a NAIA school. 
Just kidding. I always enjoy when schools like this (not a lot of history of basketball success) pop up and do well for a few years. Hopefully we come out hungry from the start like we did against Rutgers.
Just kidding. I always enjoy when schools like this (not a lot of history of basketball success) pop up and do well for a few years. Hopefully we come out hungry from the start like we did against Rutgers.
I saw FAU play a weak school earlier this year, I wasn't overly impressed. I thought they would be more athletic. Sometimes these optics look different when they play your team, but I though Illinois would match up with them well. When I saw Marquette play, I knew we would have issues. When think I remember from the FAU game was that there guards didn't seem to be able to drive to the rim and would stop for mid-range jumper but more often kick it for the 3 pointer. Felt like this was very predictable.
sacraig
- The desert
I saw it on YouTube so it must be true.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
FAU is, quite possibly, the best team ever assembled
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
But have they played against the Greatest Athlete In Illinois Basketball History?
I feel like Harmon is far far more capable offensively than DMFW despite how passive he has been early in the year.
I feel like a lot of the Illini turnovers aren't even forced though. Just sloppy passes.
Overlooked them
They shot like 17% from three. Couldn’t hit anything.
That’s recency bias! There is absolutely no way this FAU club could take the ‘95-96 Bulls in a 7 game series. It would be Jordan and Company in 6 … AT THE MOST! Maybe 5.
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
But those old Bulls teams would look like unathletic sloths given the vastly superior modern training and nutrition the FAU players have enjoyed. FAU in 5, tops.
Would that put them in the “ELITE” category???….asking for a friend
Lean all you want but the kid has earned at least a right to a few minutes when the game was out of reach. Feels like the kind of thing that a kid like him might not respond well to
Honestly, this game means more for them than us. They don't have many opportunities to impress the selection committee, so they need to take advantage of games like this if they want a good seed.
But it sure would be fun to win these next 2 and see how far up the rankings we climb.
But it sure would be fun to win these next 2 and see how far up the rankings we climb.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Up to 16 in KenPom 
I feel like this team, especially the backcourt, owes some cultural personality collectively to Trent and DMFW honestly.
And of course, Ayo.
Retro62
- North Bethesda, Maryland
One of the takeaways from seeing the RU game live was that Harmon looked much better all around: I hope to see him continue that kind of play against FAU. He's certainly not on the same level with Domask, but he played a similar game in terms of just doing all the little things and making the most of his opportunities for a bucket. Domask, already, is just a HUGE addition to the team. After last year's parade of headcases, it's just fantastic to see guys like Harmon, Guerrier, and Domask come in. I feel very confident about our chances with FAU and Tennessee.
I don’t know how much FAU pressures normally, or how deep they go into their bench. I saw somebody said about 7 players in the rotation.
They probably have enough athleticism to give us some problems 1 on 1 in the full court, if their depth allows them to. If I’m them defensively, I’m worried about how well we’re gonna defensive rebound with Golden having to guard Coleman on the perimeter and taking him out of rebound position.
So, I think they either pressure the crap out of us to try to force turnovers so they don’t have to get as many rebounds, or they play much more conservatively to avoid having to scramble defensively which naturally gives more offensive rebounding opportunities. I’m interested to see what they choose and I don’t really see an in-between option for them.
They probably have enough athleticism to give us some problems 1 on 1 in the full court, if their depth allows them to. If I’m them defensively, I’m worried about how well we’re gonna defensive rebound with Golden having to guard Coleman on the perimeter and taking him out of rebound position.
So, I think they either pressure the crap out of us to try to force turnovers so they don’t have to get as many rebounds, or they play much more conservatively to avoid having to scramble defensively which naturally gives more offensive rebounding opportunities. I’m interested to see what they choose and I don’t really see an in-between option for them.
If they try to man press, wouldn't we just have Hawkins bring the ball up since his man can't defend like that?
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