Pregame: Illinois vs Iowa State, Thursday, March 28th, 9:09pm CT, TBS

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#801      

FoundersClub

FoundersClub
FoundersClub
Thought: we (certainly I) are anxious for tomorrow night to get here. The countdown to tip off is on. But, for fans as die hard as this group (you have a username on an Illinois fan forum; don't deny it...) its important to enjoy these moments before tip. It's been 19 (!) years since we last had an opportunity to enjoy a game of this magnitude. But I'd argue with the advent of social media and YouTube and fan sites, etc the exposure we have to the team and content around the team is greater than ever. Which makes the magnitude of this game even greater. I suspect it won't be another 19 years before we play another game on this stage (lets hope it is Saturday) but I still believe its important to enjoy these moments leading up. Something something about I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.

TL;DR - its possible if not likely that were back after nearly 20 years in the 'good ole' days. At times I wondered if we'd ever return? Enjoy the build up, and bask in being relevant again.
 
#802      

SkyysNotFalling

S
SkyysNotFalling
Might be a foolish thought but hear me out…. In February it felt like teams went into games confident in their shooting (see Minnesota) knowing our defense was really bad… In the flow of tomorrow nights game, do you think our guys boost their defense to match Iowa States intensity in the same way offenses got comfortable? If we play with a chip on our shoulder, communicate & are aggressive I do NOT see Iowa St out scoring us….
 
#803      

theNewGuy

theNewGuy
Dallas, TX
theNewGuy
21ChampaignSt said:
What worries me about their offense is that it's more predicated on getting to the rim vs shooting threes. We've had some games this year where we've struggled mightily at closing off driving lanes.
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This probably suggests that we play Dain at the 5 and Coleman at the 4.
BUT if they're defense stops a lot of paint points like this post suggests, then I would rather just play our best offense against their defense.
Mobi said:
ISU's defense is designed to deny paint scoring though. IMO, it would be nice if we shoot the three ball more than at least 33% in the game. Otherwise, we need to get enough FT with good percentage. Transition game is of course always desired and DR is very important.
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Just play our game and be the best offense in the country.
I don't Iowa St can get to 80 points in regulation.
 
#808      

ptgrd23

ptgrd23
ptgrd23
Dan said:
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1773049807285690532

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1773052754983870469
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Great to see they are relaxed and having fun. Love the marching off in perfect formation.

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#809      

Second place is 1st loser

S
Second place is 1st loser
SkyysNotFalling said:
Might be a foolish thought but hear me out…. In February it felt like teams went into games confident in their shooting (see Minnesota) knowing our defense was really bad… In the flow of tomorrow nights game, do you think our guys boost their defense to match Iowa States intensity in the same way offenses got comfortable? If we play with a chip on our shoulder, communicate & are aggressive I do NOT see Iowa St out scoring us….
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It's not a matter of boosting our defense. We are who we are. Defensively, we have a couple of areas where we can be taken advantage of. 1)A quick guard who can get into the lane and either score or drive, collapse the defense and dish(many times for an open three) and 2)a physical big man that a team can run their offense through.

Guys like Domask and Goode struggle with smaller guards, Hawk struggles with physical big men....so a lot of responsibility falls on TJ to turn the water off, a guy like Harmon....then of course Dain.

It's not an effort issue(unless we're not getting to loose balls) or a matter of cranking it up on defense. It's....how do we overcome some weaknesses and the answer has been extreme ball pressure from guys like TJ and Ty.

Scoring PGs have gone off on us all year.
 
#812      

lstewart53x3

lstewart53x3
Scottsdale, Arizona
lstewart53x3
I’ll say this about the #1 offense vs #1 defense.

Since 2002, there have been 3 offenses with better metrics than Illinois in KenPom.

Since 2002, there have been 44 defenses with better metrics than Iowa St. in KenPom.

This is a historically good offense matching up against a very good defense.
 
#813      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
lstewart53x3 said:
I’ll say this about the #1 offense vs #1 defense.

Since 2002, there have been 3 offenses with better metrics than Illinois in KenPom.

Since 2002, there have been 44 defenses with better metrics than Iowa St. in KenPom.

This is a historically good offense matching up against a very good defense.
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I mean, offensive efficiency in college basketball generally has gone continuously upward, so that's only natural.
 
#814      

lstewart53x3

lstewart53x3
Scottsdale, Arizona
lstewart53x3
ChiefGritty said:
I mean, offensive efficiency in college basketball generally has gone continuously upward, so that's only natural.
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True, but even looking at it since 2018. This is the best offense since Villanova that year. There have been 13 defenses better than Iowa St in the same time frame.

I don’t know if there’s anything you can actually pull from that though.

My biggest concern headed into this game is that even with our historically good offense, Iowa St still lands ahead of us in KenPom overall (10 vs 7) because our defense has been so bad much of the season.
 
#815      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
lstewart53x3 said:
My biggest concern headed into this game is that even with our historically good offense, Iowa St still lands ahead of us in KenPom overall (10 vs 7) because our defense has been so bad much of the season.
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I mean both teams are really good and capable of handing a beating to the other if the other doesn't play well.

But assuming both teams bring it, it's a fascinating matchup that should be a great game.
 
#816      

Pikeillinifan

Pikeillinifan
Pikeillinifan
ChiefGritty said:
I mean both teams are really good and capable of handing a beating to the other if the other doesn't play well.

But assuming both teams bring it, it's a fascinating matchup that should be a great game.
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This really is it, if we bring the energy from the tip and don't come out cold, I like our chances.
 
#817      

RabidDawgClassic

RabidDawgClassic
RabidDawgClassic
lstewart53x3 said:
True, but even looking at it since 2018. This is the best offense since Villanova that year. There have been 13 defenses better than Iowa St in the same time frame.

I don’t know if there’s anything you can actually pull from that though.

My biggest concern headed into this game is that even with our historically good offense, Iowa St still lands ahead of us in KenPom overall (10 vs 7) because our defense has been so bad much of the season.
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I don’t know if the metrics match it, but our defense has seemingly, to the eye test, been much better starting with the most recent Purdue game. We still give up a fair amount of points, but opponents don’t seem to be getting them as easily as they were in January and February.
 
#818      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
Pikeillinifan said:
This really is it, if we bring the energy from the tip and don't come out cold, I like our chances.
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If we dominate the glass and perpetually hold them to one shot attempt I like our chances. Fear of TSJ might bait them into giving us way more possessions than them.

But realistically, we've played teams of this quality four time before and don't have any wins to show for it, eventually taking more punches than we could throw in back-and-forth games.
 
#819      

Pikeillinifan

Pikeillinifan
Pikeillinifan
ChiefGritty said:
But realistically, we've played teams of this quality four time before and don't have any wins to show for it, eventually taking more punches than we could throw in back-and-forth games.
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This is the one thing that concerns me the most. I think we have the players and scheme to beat a top-10 quality team, and there is no better time than tomorrow night.
 
#820      

abchew2

A
abchew2
ChiefGritty said:
If we dominate the glass and perpetually hold them to one shot attempt I like our chances. Fear of TSJ might bait them into giving us way more possessions than them.

But realistically, we've played teams of this quality four time before and don't have any wins to show for it, eventually taking more punches than we could throw in back-and-forth games.
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It’s a real shame there was such a big gap between Purdue and everyone else in our conference this year. Would have been nice to see how this team measured up against Q1A teams that didn’t have a generational player after we found an identity. The opportunities just haven’t been there. Of those Q1A teams they’ve had success against only one remains though (Houston) so we will see. Now is our opportunity to see how much we’ve grown from the non-con.
 
#821      

ILL-Intentions

I
ILL-Intentions
I am curious to see the defensive scheme against our transition game. TSJ just does not care if there are already 3 guys back and it is 3-1, he takes it to them. If the fouls get called, I like his chances to carry a large load of our offense. I have seen that the tournament guys let them play more than the conference guys. If it does get to a half court game, he still pops and shoots well to get his but Domask could near another triple double with his assist rate. As its been said, its almost like we are playing with house money but not to discredit our chances either. I have seen alot of comparisons for our Q1 wins vs theirs and ours are unimpressive comparatively. This team has transformed throughout the season and can adapt to whatever we need. I do truly think we are so much better than we were even 2 weeks ago.
 
#822      

TheodoreRex

T
TheodoreRex
Chad Fleck said:
Right now, I would be:

1. Disappointed with an Iowa State blowout.
2. Content with a close Illinois loss to Iowa State.
3. Very happy with any Illinois win vs. Iowa State.
4. Disappointed with any loss to SDSU in the E8.
5. Elated with a FF trip over SDSU.
6. Completely content with any loss to UConn.
7. Over the freaking moon with any win vs. UConn to get to a FF.

That's all the further I can prepare myself for. :)
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this is basically my current sentiment with a dash of "I'm already pretty happy/pleased with the season-winning a big ten tourney championship, and making it to the sweet 16, anything else is gravy"
 
#823      

mjt

M
mjt
Let's say the #1 offense and defense cancel each other out. The game is going to come down to does Illinois's defense or Iowa State's offense. Is it more likely a team can play better defensively or offensively for one game? I think there's a better chance the Illini can play better defense for one game based on effort, energy, and communication. Iowa State would have to change the style of offense they play or score more efficiently, a skill they don't have, in order to score with Illinois.
 
#824      

ptgrd23

ptgrd23
ptgrd23
ChiefGritty said:
If we dominate the glass and perpetually hold them to one shot attempt I like our chances. Fear of TSJ might bait them into giving us way more possessions than them.

But realistically, we've played teams of this quality four time before and don't have any wins to show for it, eventually taking more punches than we could throw in back-and-forth games.
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Marquette loss at home 71-64- we did not have booty ball perfected yet. Too many turnovers.
Tennesee loss on road 86-79- got outrebounded by 9, shot 25% on 36 3 point attempts. again pre booty ball
Purdue on road 83-78 - No Shannon
Purdue at home 77-71 -Shannon has worst game of season going 3 for 13. It happens.

20/20 hindsight Shannon missing 6 games allowed Marcus and Quincy to find expanded roles and the start of booty ball half court offense.

I think we are much better team now then during the first 3 losses. TSJ is red hot averaging 30 ppg in BTT and 26 ppg in NCAA. I think Iowa State is very good team but so are the Illini. It will be a pickem but I think we pull it out at end due to better shooting and size. Who is going to guard Marcus?

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