Pregame: Illinois at Minnesota, Saturday, February 8th, 5:00pm CT, BTN

[RML]

If we lose to the Gophers does that mean there will be 6 more weeks of winter?

View attachment 39457

Or, if we lose, there will be no Spring this year.

 

[Illinialldayeveryday]

Not to be cliché, but this one's feeling like a must win game. The excuses have run their course, e.g. sickness, injuries, shooting slump. However, the wild card no one has mentioned is that maybe KJ is homesick and having a tough time away from family and friends. He's a young man, with a large NIL payout which comes with high expectations and pressure. Couple that with him being taken out of his comfort zone and that may be weighing on him. Should this be the case, going forward, the Illini should consider bringing over a close friend of any foreign recruit in a "buddy system," deal to keep them grounded and to ensure a friendly, trusted face is there for them.

Listening to Tay and Piper a bit yesterday and they brought that up that KJ basically played hoops all summer and then came to Illinois and right into it. He hasn't had a break, that is a lot of ball for a young kid. He's in a slump, probably homesick, and I am guessing a little burnout.

 

[Huggies5]

I think Brad should implement a new drill in his practices. Have the team toss the basketball into a dumpster from 20 feet away to start out just to give them some confidence. Maybe they can manage to make a decent percentage of those shots.

And add in some free-throw shooting drills while you're at it.

 

[NorthShoreIllini]

I can't believe it, but Pomeroy still has us at #17. That's one spot behind Sparty, one ahead of Maryland, and four ahead of Michigan. Go figure.

For KenPom it matters who a team plays and how efficiently it plays them (offensively and defensively) more than it matters who wins.

 

[bleedorange and blue]

Don’t like this message. It’s like telling Zook he needs new coordinators when the head coach is the end decision maker. It starts with the coach.

Underwood wants the team shooting a high volume of 3s. Till that changes, it doesn’t matter who the assistants are.

But Underwood has a boss. This day in age with all the money flying around you can't or shouldn't be stubborn if something doesn't work. Keep the coaches inexperienced kid running the offense (if he is ) and my funding for NIL will cease, and I know I am not alone in feeling this way.

 

[Battle89]

I think Brad should implement a new drill in his practices. Have the team toss the basketball into a dumpster from 20 feet away to start out just to give them some confidence. Maybe they can manage to make a decent percentage of those shots.

Is this dumpster on fire?

 

[OrangeBlue98]

Don’t like this message. It’s like telling Zook he needs new coordinators when the head coach is the end decision maker. It starts with the coach.

Underwood wants the team shooting a high volume of 3s. Till that changes, it doesn’t matter who the assistants are.

If you had a direct report who was not performing up to expectations, would you just let that report continue to do the same things that are not producing success?

 

[OrangeKrush1981]

Is this dumpster on fire?

I suppose lighting the dumpster on fire could help our shooters locate the target a bit better. Good suggestion.

 

[AnnaMay]

It really is amazing how bad this team is shooting from 3. You have to go back to Weber's final year to find a team that shoots as bad as this team from 3 and that team averaged 19 3pters a game while this team is averaging 30 lol. It's like someone put a hex on the entire team as, individually, each player has shot at a much higher clip then what they are shooting this year. Not one player is shooting better than they have from the previous year. It is mind boggling.

 

[Warren Carter Fanclub]

6 more weeks of bad basketball?

If that happens the 6th week would be playing in the NIT.

 

[thehass]

If you lose this game you are firmly on the bubble given the upcoming schedule

Not to worry. The good Illini are due to show up.

 

[Dan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1887927804144033962

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1887927804144033962

Well if DGL ain’t gonna go and Tomi ain’t gonna go …

Yikes …

 

[LvilleILL1]

DGL probably out, Tre will go, Tomi will probably try to give it a go

 

[doowink]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1887927804144033962

The Good News just keeps on keeping on

 

[Indy Illini Fan]

 

[LvilleILL1]

Think Tomi probably gives it a go tomorrow. Boswell and KJ will just have to play some heavy minutes tomorrow, along with Will getting some lead guard touches

 

[NarrowJ]

DGL flu game?

 

[BalloonsTheElephant]

I've complained more than most about the offense, defense, coaching, etc. but man, we have the worst luck with sickness and injuries this year which obviously contributes to the issues we are seeing.

Get well and stay well, everyone.

 

[jumpingjack]

DGL flu game?

Let the healing powers of Fletch and team expel the plague from this roster. Do we need a new humidifier in the locker room or something?

 

[PizzaHutParkingLot]

Well if DGL ain’t gonna go and Tomi ain’t gonna go …

Yikes …

It hasn’t worked out for both sides this year … Ben is not very happy that he’s been coming off the bench …

He wants more shots as well … 10+ shots a game every game and he’s not been getting that here consistently …

Alright Ben, here's your 10+ shots—make them count.

 

[jumpingjack]

Will might have to go for 50.

 

[illiram]

Are we making people sit at practice and games with the flu? Shouldn't they be away from the team? Why do we want this to keep spreading with the players?

 

[Dan]

 

[Dan]

BTN (Cory Provus & Shon Morris)

23rd-ranked Illini Face Golden Gophers Saturday in Minneapolis - University of Illinois Athletics

Tipoff set for 5 p.m. CT on BTN.

fightingillini.com