Pregame: Illinois vs Maryland, Friday, March 14th, 5:30pm CT, BTN

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#101      
Brosky
Recently, I've started wondering about the "lottery pick" part. Too many sloppy turnovers and dribbling himself into trouble in the paint. A pg can't have more turnovers than assists; it doesn't work that way. His points are also down. IMO, he was a much better player the first half of the season. These days he seems tentative and shaky. None of it may matter to NBA scouts, but like I said, I'm beginning to wonder...okay, fire away!
 
#102      
altgeld88
sacraig said:
My solution was I stopped watching games for a few weeks there during the dark times. Picked it back up during the Michigan game.

But now, if I want to watch the game yesterday or today, I have to either skip work or watch at work.
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Yep. I was happy to stay up for, say, Texas and UCLA in Nov. '22; Iowa State in the Sweet 16 last March, games like that. Seriously got to sleep around 1:30 after those games. Completely wrecked me the following day but whatever.

But, yeah, staying up for the Wisconsin second half in Madison while we were bedraggled last month? No thank you; I'll just read the post mortem in the morning.
 
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#103      
RockfordIllini
HensonHall71 said:
I'm not sure Ben's defense on Goldin and TKR, both of whom absolutely torched us as a measuring stick for success, but your second point is very valid.

Not only did we only have Morez to battle two bigs down low, he was in foul trouble and there was 21 minutes of that game where we didn't even have him - it was cupcake city at the rim for Maryland and Queen and Reese were on a sugar high

Just slowing them down inside and not allowing layups and dunks all game will be a huge improvement - I assume Tre will have to guard Queen to start the game, which won't be great, but the fact that we'll have Morez off the bench will be significant - I think he'll have to play a lot this game, like 25 minutes. Tomi should be able to make Reese work for his points with this length and while Queen will get his rebounds, we just can't make his points easy to come by.

I will say, while KJ has been in a funk lately for a stretch, he hasn't been as bad as last night and usually when he has a catastrophically bad game like last night, he bounces back with a good performance which bodes well for today
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A lot of Goldin’s baskets were on Big T. Ben certainly gave up some but fronted well, fought hard and was able to force both Goldin and TKR just a step or 2 farther out than they wanted, making their shots a little bit tougher.

We will have trouble with their bigs no doubt. My only point is I feel like we now have a stable of bigs to throw at them vs just one and Carey Booth.

If we can keep both of them to 50% shooting or below and not let their shooters get going we have a chance.

Plus I don’t think they have anyone who can check Will.
 
#104      
blackdog
sacraig said:
My solution was I stopped watching games for a few weeks there during the dark times. Picked it back up during the Michigan game.

But now, if I want to watch the game yesterday or today, I have to either skip work or watch at work.
Click to expand...

YouTube TV is the greatest thing ever for these types of games. I didn't get home yesterday until almost 6 central but was able to start from beginning and still catch up to live before the end of the game skipping commercials and halftime. Just have to tell all the friends no spoiler texts and stay off the internet until I can watch.

Also really the best solution to all the time problems is just simply move back to Champaign and come to games live!
 
#105      
EyeoftheIllini
BTM33 said:
It'll be a different game then last time.

Tomi will make a big difference inside and Will is playing well and with confidence.

This should be a great game.
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Having Tomi for this games is huge. Add in that Riley didn’t score in first game and you know it will be a different game. But really just have to say one thing to prove that point — Booth played 13 minutes in first matchup.
 
#106      
sacraig
blackdog said:
YouTube TV is the greatest thing ever for these types of games. I didn't get home yesterday until almost 6 central but was able to start from beginning and still catch up to live before the end of the game skipping commercials and halftime. Just have to tell all the friends no spoiler texts and stay off the internet until I can watch.

Also really the best solution to all the time problems is just simply move back to Champaign and come to games live!
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I am happy where I am, but if U of I had a job opening in line with what I do, I'd definitely listen... if they'd even have me.
 
#107      
frozenrope9190
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#110      
Second place is 1st loser
I don't want to go that far YET. I do want to see how we match up against them with a healthy Tomi and a developing Riley. I think that this Maryland team with a strong/deep frontcourt will wear us out(as recent history would suggest), but we weren't healthy when we played them.

Let's see how it unfolds.
 
#111      
Illwinsagain
sacraig said:
My solution was I stopped watching games for a few weeks there during the dark times. Picked it back up during the Michigan game.

But now, if I want to watch the game yesterday or today, I have to either skip work or watch at work.
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Has worked for me too. Just let my family know not to tell me the score.
 
#114      
NashvILLe05
Brad has taken a lot of heat this year (from me too) for the lack of timely in-game adjustments.

That said, I (somehow) forgot how well he develops players. He deserves a ton of credit for the development of Will, Bam, and Tre. Those guys have taken the biggest step forward and at the perfect time.
 
#122      
blackdog
NashvILLe05 said:
Man, I know! It’s like a switch flipped with him and Tre. They’ve been insane.
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It's easy to forget how young he still is even with 3 years of experience. He's still growing into his body and learning how to use it to drive. Remeber before this year he was pretty much purely a jump shooter so it's not surprising there were some growing pains while he figured it out. I think of it like Ayo and how he used to get blocked a TON as a freshman but as he learned he became a way better finisher when contested.
 
#125      
sacraig
NashvILLe05 said:
Man, I know! It’s like a switch flipped with him and Tre. They’ve been insane.
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Bos was good in the early season, too. It's just like he completely lost his way in the mid-season (along with the rest of the team).
 
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