Indeed. Let’s just go ahead and fix the space time continuum while we’re at it… We’ll see who thinks they’re a blue blood then.
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Pregame: Illinois vs Kentucky, Sunday, March 23rd, 4:15pm CT, CBS
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Confidence is such an intangible, but so important in sports. No less an authority than Yogi Berra said "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical." The same could be said about basketball. The Illini seem to be oozing confidence now. Even the young guys. Will's postgame interviews were great. He's just excited. KJ and Tomi said they had never really watched March Madness until a couple of years ago. They seem to be having fun and enjoying rather than fearing this spotlight. I think all of the pressure is off this team after last night's win.
Kinda like us vs ISU last year but it turned out not be the case. We will see.
Riley will remain Rileypilled because:
Riley saw Fletcher's Before/After pic,
but even moreso because
Riley's girlfriend saw Fletcher's Before/After pic!
If any one of those momentum 3's from last night would have gone in, the roof would have blown off that building. Good on the team not to let the misses deflate their run.
I’m going to preface this by saying I have not watched Kentucky all year. Looking only at the stats from their starters, if I was doing an analytics only scout on this game, it looks like what they have offensively plays into what we like to do defensively.
They have 4 shooters (34%+) we need to run off the line, and we can play drop on their center (25%) with big T. After that its about execution and what their bench guys do (stats say they are mostly decent shooters) vs how we can counter defensively if they have 5 shooters out there and we have big T out there.
They have 4 shooters (34%+) we need to run off the line, and we can play drop on their center (25%) with big T. After that its about execution and what their bench guys do (stats say they are mostly decent shooters) vs how we can counter defensively if they have 5 shooters out there and we have big T out there.
Plot twist, it’s Hamers son
Yeah I mean, I hate to say it, but Ben is probably the key player here. We wouldn't necessarily have needed him to go ham against Xavier. Here? I think we need it. Unless Brad thinks he can get thirty minutes of twin tower action out of Morez and Tomi which I doubt.
band camp
- STL City
No way Hamer's getting any.
Anyone thinking this is a psycho. We are the youngest team in college basketball. We've had more sickness and injury ridiculousness than any team I can remember. How he pushed this season along is one hell of a job just on its own merit.
Anyone that thinks that this season and it's fun/success comes down to one game versus Kentucky......go do something else with your time.
A win on Sunday makes this a phenomenal year. Just a phenomenal year. A loss and this will go down as one of those most fun, yet aggravating, yet unbelievable, yet wild season that I can remember.
I do believe that this should be the last year we EVER go this young. While these guys are talented and have a high ceiling, the margin for error is pretty much zero and development has to come extremely quickly. I honestly don't know how he kept things together, yet here we are.
We are SO lucky to have Brad as a head coach and for those who put this much weight into one game should remove their head from their rears. I associate all of that if we win too. I would be elated, but those 40 minutes don't define the previous 6 months.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Kind of amusing with all the "bracket matchup committee conspiracies" we've discussed over the last couple weeks.
My brother's daughter went to Xavier, and my sister's daughter goes to Kentucky. Oh how I want those family bragging rights for a year.
One niece down, one to go.
My brother's daughter went to Xavier, and my sister's daughter goes to Kentucky. Oh how I want those family bragging rights for a year.
One niece down, one to go.
Looking into Kentucky a bit more...
Kerr Kriisa wasn't even starting for them, but having another primary ballhandler obviously made them a much better team as they were 8-1 before his injury with wins over Gonzaga & Duke... 14-10 record after he went down
The injury to Jaxon Robinson also obviously hurt them
Lamont Butler has had a recurring shoulder issue, it flared up again in their conf tourney game vs Oklahoma (only playing 8 minutes total) and he looked not like himself vs Troy yesterday (0-5 shooting 0 points in 25 minutes)
They might be in trouble if Butler is limited, as they don't have any other PG on the roster
Oweh is a load and Brea can get red hot from outside, and Williams seems to be the type of big we've had some issues with (big, athletic, rebounds extremely well)
Kerr Kriisa wasn't even starting for them, but having another primary ballhandler obviously made them a much better team as they were 8-1 before his injury with wins over Gonzaga & Duke... 14-10 record after he went down
The injury to Jaxon Robinson also obviously hurt them
Lamont Butler has had a recurring shoulder issue, it flared up again in their conf tourney game vs Oklahoma (only playing 8 minutes total) and he looked not like himself vs Troy yesterday (0-5 shooting 0 points in 25 minutes)
They might be in trouble if Butler is limited, as they don't have any other PG on the roster
Oweh is a load and Brea can get red hot from outside, and Williams seems to be the type of big we've had some issues with (big, athletic, rebounds extremely well)
SuperMetroid
- Evanston
They had a ridiculous size advantage against Troy that they won’t have against us. Tomi and Rez will need to be ready to defend though
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
Pretty sure Mr. Choate has the plus sign wrong here
Sorry guys - just threw 10 mil on the beloved
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
IlliniwekKDR
- Colorado Springs, CO
I can't stop thinking about Will Riley last night.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
For those who are too young to have watched it, or (like me) sometimes go long periods without thinking about it, read these:
Home Cookin' Kentucky Style
When the Mideast Regional final was over last Saturday afternoon, Illinois coach Lou Henson wanted to know only one thing: "Did the last basket count?" He was
vault.si.com
Winters cannot forget ’84 NCAA loss to Kentucky
CHAMPAIGN — It doesn’t take long for Efrem Winters to think back to March 24, 1984, when Illinois played Kentucky in an NCAA Tournament regional final at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., for a berth in …
www.sj-r.com
That was my first season of Illini fandom. I visited campus in September, got in and accepted in during the fall as the football team soared to great heights, and then settled in to enjoy a great basketballs season. The boys won the conference for the first time in ~ 20 years (right before the Slush Fund scandal when the BT forced us to fire Pete Elliott and Harry Combes and set our programs back for two decades) and the program was fully back. It was Lou's 10th season. Those of us who saw it will never forget that game and that Saturday afternoon. It was such clear injustice, and such a great team. (and, as SI notes, Louisville got similarly shafted in the Sweet 16 the preceding Thursday night.) If Efrem had been at full strength we might have won the title that year.
As someone else noted, it will be 41 years to the day on Monday. Bury these guys tomorrow, heap another few shovelfuls of dirt on the memory, and grow a garden on it.
Does anyone know which Fiserv forum section will be the Illini’s tomorrow. There are four teams in the Sunday session, I know it can rotate, and it was 118 against Xavier.
For those who are too young to have watched it, or (like me) sometimes go long periods without thinking about it, read these:
Home Cookin' Kentucky Style
When the Mideast Regional final was over last Saturday afternoon, Illinois coach Lou Henson wanted to know only one thing: "Did the last basket count?" He was
Winters cannot forget ’84 NCAA loss to Kentucky
CHAMPAIGN — It doesn’t take long for Efrem Winters to think back to March 24, 1984, when Illinois played Kentucky in an NCAA Tournament regional final at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., for a berth in …www.sj-r.com
That was my first season of Illini fandom. I visited campus in September, got in and accepted in during the fall as the football team soared to great heights, and then settled in to enjoy a great basketballs season. The boys won the conference for the first time in ~ 20 years (right before the Slush Fund scandal when the BT forced us to fire Pete Elliott and Harry Combes and set our programs back for two decades) and the program was fully back. It was Lou's 10th season. Those of us who saw it will never forget that game and that Saturday afternoon. It was such clear injustice, and such a great team. (and, as SI notes, Louisville got similarly shafted in the Sweet 16 the preceding Thursday night.) If Efrem had been at full strength we might have won the title that year.
As someone else noted, it will be 41 years to the day on Monday. Bury these guys tomorrow, heap another few shovelfuls of dirt on the memory, and grow a garden on it.
I'm not sure how well this would translate to today's players, but they should fly Efrem in to speak to the team prior to taking the court on Sunday, just to reinforce how a loss sticks in your craw for 51 years.
It is shocking that we haven’t played them since. That game still burns in the memory banks of this old timer (I was a Jr in high school). I am more jacked for this game than any other in recent memory!For those who are too young to have watched it, or (like me) sometimes go long periods without thinking about it, read these:
Home Cookin' Kentucky Style
When the Mideast Regional final was over last Saturday afternoon, Illinois coach Lou Henson wanted to know only one thing: "Did the last basket count?" He was
Winters cannot forget ’84 NCAA loss to Kentucky
CHAMPAIGN — It doesn’t take long for Efrem Winters to think back to March 24, 1984, when Illinois played Kentucky in an NCAA Tournament regional final at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., for a berth in …www.sj-r.com
That was my first season of Illini fandom. I visited campus in September, got in and accepted in during the fall as the football team soared to great heights, and then settled in to enjoy a great basketballs season. The boys won the conference for the first time in ~ 20 years (right before the Slush Fund scandal when the BT forced us to fire Pete Elliott and Harry Combes and set our programs back for two decades) and the program was fully back. It was Lou's 10th season. Those of us who saw it will never forget that game and that Saturday afternoon. It was such clear injustice, and such a great team. (and, as SI notes, Louisville got similarly shafted in the Sweet 16 the preceding Thursday night.) If Efrem had been at full strength we might have won the title that year.
As someone else noted, it will be 41 years to the day on Monday. Bury these guys tomorrow, heap another few shovelfuls of dirt on the memory, and grow a garden on it.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
41 but I'm confident it will still stick in his craw a decade from now
Sorry to yank your chain. Couldn't resist 'cause I do that, too, sometimes.
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