Pregame: Illinois at Ohio State, Tuesday, December 9th, 6:30pm CT, Peacock/YTTV

[NarrowJ]

You literally missed the second half of the sentence.

…Subpar when BIG DPOY was preseason talk.”

I didn't miss that, why does talk re: KB being B1G DPOY make a statement about him being a subpar defender more or less true/false? That has no bearing on the statement whatsoever... if you said his defense was subpar to B1G DPOY level, that's a different claim entirely, and one that a person would perhaps feel somewhat less inclined to agree with... but shutting Gillespie's water off and holding UConn's guards in check does not make me think he isn't that level of defender anyway, so

You guys are just trying to litigate semantics, and in this case, I still think you're wrong even if you read the comment however you choose to

 

[Illinisnake]

really think Jake Davis can be a better player for this team, dude has the best shot on the team other than Wagler. I feel good about Jake shooting 3's, not so much Ben.

 

[fatt lacosse]

I ran some numbers last year and Ohio State is one of the teams I believe Underwood has a losing record against. Puzzling since we've spent most of his tenure being better than them, but not as infuriating as the Maryland thing.

 

[BWA]

if you said his defense was subpar to B1G DPOY level, that's a different claim entirely, and one that a person would perhaps feel somewhat less inclined to agree with…

Dude that’s exactly what the original post meant and you know it.

 

[NarrowJ]

Dude that’s exactly what the original post meant and you know it.

Ok, continue to argue semantics... this sort of thing is honestly insufferable

As I said, its still dead wrong even if that was what he meant... so your semantics argumentation is actually pointless anyhow

 

[thefalcon5]

really think Jake Davis can be a better player for this team, dude has the best shot on the team other than Wagler. I feel good about Jake shooting 3's, not so much Ben.

Love him offensively and not just for his shot, he does all the little things.

The issue is the guy is god awful on defense. Everyone can hem and haw over Ben, but Jake’s the definition of liability defensively.

 

[Retro62]

really think Jake Davis can be a better player for this team, dude has the best shot on the team other than Wagler. I feel good about Jake shooting 3's, not so much Ben.

I agree that Jake is the more reliable 3-point shooter, and perhaps he should be utilized in those games when we are cold from there. If we start our poorly from three, it wouldn't be a bad idea to sub him in to run a few sets where he gets open from the corner to get things going.

I also agree that he does not provide the defense Ben has been giving us. That's why he should be brought in when we need to make a shot.

 

[RollChief]

really think Jake Davis can be a better player for this team, dude has the best shot on the team other than Wagler. I feel good about Jake shooting 3's, not so much Ben.

Ben has an almost identical 3P% to Wagler (Ben is 14-40, 35% on the season, while Wagler is 14-41, 34.1% on the season). Outside of Wagler, Ben has a better 3P% than every single one of our guards, who are all below 30% except for Mihailo, who has only taken 4 threes.

It's almost like there his some compounding anger towards Ben with every missed shot for some folks. Crazy energy towards a guy who essentially doesn't make mistakes elsewhere (#4 in the nation in turnover rate for guys who are used on 12-16% of possessions) and honestly has probably been one of our best defenders through 10 games.

I don't mean to rant on a 4 words said at the end of the post but at this point every time I see this whole "Uh.... Ahh.... Ben..." stuff it makes me want to rip my hair out because the guy has succeeded expectations for doing exactly what we need him to do from last year to this year. I'm all for criticizing when it's based in current performance but at this point with Ben it's baseless unless you're focusing on a handful of games from last year, but if that's the case you can find ways to harp on every single one of our returners and the staff, which seems like bad fanhood to me.

 

[NarrowJ]

Ben has an almost identical 3P% to Wagler (Ben is 14-40, 35% on the season, while Wagler is 14-41, 34.1% on the season). Outside of Wagler, Ben has a better 3P% than every single one of our guards, who are all below 30% except for Mihailo, who has only taken 4 threes.

It's almost like there his some compounding anger towards Ben with every missed shot for some folks. Crazy energy towards a guy who essentially doesn't make mistakes elsewhere (#4 in the nation in turnover rate for guys who are used on 12-16% of possessions) and honestly has probably been one of our best defenders through 10 games.

I don't mean to rant on a 4 words said at the end of the post but at this point every time I see this whole "Uh.... Ahh.... Ben..." stuff it makes me want to rip my hair out because the guy has succeeded expectations for doing exactly what we need him to do from last year to this year. I'm all for criticizing when it's based in current performance but at this point with Ben it's baseless unless you're focusing on a handful of games from last year, but if that's the case you can find ways to harp on every single one of our returners and the staff, which seems like bad fanhood to me.

 

[I-L-L 1318]

I like how we matchup for this one... Bam on Thornton, Keaton on Mobley, Mirk (more so ben) on Royale. Nearly every B1G game is a dogfight, will come down to taking care of business rebounding and hitting open shots.

 

[OrangeBlue98]

I don't know if I'd say Peacock failed per se. Them losing the WWE content is going to hurt now that it'll mainly be on Netflix so they're trying to get more into other properties. They still have Premier League soccer on there so they won't be hurting too bad.

Not to turn this into a Peacock-yay or nay discussion, but I still think there is value there with the Big 10, some other college sports, Premier League, and some good original content. For me, Paramount+ is the one to dump. The only problem is they have Champions League soccer. But the new format is too drawn out, so I’m not sure how interested I am anymore:

 

[LvilleILL1]

Show up with intensity from the jump. Let's start 1-0 in the Big Ten.

 

[From the cheap seats]

Was intrigued by the discussion around Boswell's defense so I looked at some basic numbers against only the ranked teams so far and only against the lead guards. Anderson of TT was 4-12 and 0-6 from 3 (he's averaging 43% from 3). That doesn't even count the 6-4 Boswell shutting off Toppin down the stretch when no one else could. Philon of ALA was 9-18 and 3-6. Interestingly enough, that was his second-lowest FG percentage of the year behind his game against Purdue. Ball of UCONN was 6-14 and 2-9 with zero assists and 2 TOs. Gillespie of TENN was 6-20 and 3-9. I know these numbers are not pure in that there were switches and others guarded these players at times.
But the simple overall numbers were eye-opening to me: FG% 25-64 for 39% and 7-29 for 24% from 3. Boswell also is fourth on the team in defensive rebounds behind Mirk, Z...and Ben.

 

[altgeld88]

FWIW I went home to Columbus late last week for the funeral of a friend's mother (nearly 92 and had a long, happy life.) At the wake I was chatting with several friends, all of whom are OSU alums. Regarding basketball, they're seriously down on Diebler and this Buckeye team, in the way we were chronically about Groce. He apparently has a five star guard committed for next season and one of my buddies said he thinks that's the only thing that will preserve Diebler's job if they have another meh season.

They also disparaged Thornton, whom I love watching. Dude is a dawg and I think that the matchup with BAM tonight will be fun to watch.

It was amusing to hear them complaining about the basketball team. It's hard to win on the road and we often haven't played well the past several seasons in Columbus. However, this OSU team is a far cry from the one Ayo & Co. beat in that epic BT final in 2021. It lost a buzzer beater over Thanksgiving to Pitt (#109 KenPom) for the second straight season but then beat NW in Evanston. I hope the guys bring it the way they did late in Nashville and avoid the risk of this becoming a rock fight late, which often ends poorly for the road team.

Oh, they also assured me that OSU would beat Indiana last Saturday night by two TDs. I told them that my firsthand experience in September told me otherwise. lol

 

[Timj83]

Yeah….I don’t see that happening considering Bam is averaging like 36 minutes a game(P4 games)

Definitely not happening now given the gauntlet schedule, Keaton/Boz's consistent excellence and Mihalo needing to get necessary conditioning/practice. However, by late Jan/Feb we'll absolutely need Petro to be able to play ~ 20 mins with more needed if Wag/Boz are banged up or having an off game.

 

[SescIllini]

Ben is a great human being and I think a lot of the angst isn't the fact that he shoots 2-3% lower from the 3. I think a big part of it is that he has taken minutes away from players perceived to be better or rising stars. It started with Morez last year, I'm guilty of this as well. We have had similar angst when players like Malcolm Hill, Jereme Richmond, Myers Leonard etc... were playing behind guys much lower ranked. Glad to see Brad hype him up, he is playing better this year than last year. He is also a bit of a college tweener against the better, bigger, athletic teams. But overall we all should be glad to have him.

 

[illini0440]

Ben is a great human being and I think a lot of the angst isn't the fact that he shoots 2-3% lower from the 3. I think a big part of it is that he has taken minutes away from players perceived to be better or rising stars. It started with Morez last year, I'm guilty of this as well. We have had similar angst when players like Malcolm Hill, Jereme Richmond, Myers Leonard etc... were playing behind guys much lower ranked. Glad to see Brad hype him up, he is playing better this year than last year. He is also a bit of a college tweener against the better, bigger, athletic teams. But overall we all should be glad to have him.

Our offense is all about spacing.....You put Morez in the corner instead of Ben and that defender can now just sit on the block.

I guess what I'm getting at isn't that Ben is better or more talented than Rez he's just more beneficial and effective in helping us space the floor.

 

[WolfpackIllini]

Good news, looks like our game against Nebraska is as well.

This is my source by the way- NBC Sports Schedule: Watch Live & Upcoming and Replay Events - NBC Sports https://share.google/cyUyYIMMW5e4yMGSJ

Apparently, DirecTV does not carry NBCSN - does anyone find it on their DTV menu??
Does anyone know if Peacock provides access to a recording, and for how long?
What about a recording on NBCSN via the link above?
I am hosting a Holiday Party tonight and will miss the live event

 

[RockfordIllini]

Ben is a great human being and I think a lot of the angst isn't the fact that he shoots 2-3% lower from the 3. I think a big part of it is that he has taken minutes away from players perceived to be better or rising stars. It started with Morez last year, I'm guilty of this as well. We have had similar angst when players like Malcolm Hill, Jereme Richmond, Myers Leonard etc... were playing behind guys much lower ranked. Glad to see Brad hype him up, he is playing better this year than last year. He is also a bit of a college tweener against the better, bigger, athletic teams. But overall we all should be glad to have him.

I was at the TN game and I can definitively say that, at least for that night, Ben was the better overall player than Andrej and deserving of the minutes. Particularly defensively, Andrej was just awful. The first two defensive possessions he just lost his man somehow and there were other mistakes as well. Plus he wasn’t competing on the boards.

Going back to last year I’m with you, Ben played over Morez when he didn’t deserve to. But this year Ben is a different player. I saw someone call out that he’s playing a DaMonte type role this year and, amazingly, I think that’s correct. I’m hoping and in fact cautiously optimistic that his focus on defense/rebounding/toughness will eventually get him playing with more confidence offensively. At which point he will make 3s at a higher % and volume and also attack long close outs when the opportunity presents itself.

Credit to Ben. I think I would have looked for another opportunity after last year. But he’s bought in and think he’s going to be very valuable for us come conference season.

 

[I-L-L 1318]

Our offense is all about spacing.....You put Morez in the corner instead of Ben and that defender can now just sit on the block.

Ding ding ding! Even if we aren't shooting at a high clip, having bigs who have the ability to space helps our 2 pt % so so much as well as rebounding by pulling the opposing team's bigs out.

 

[pweo]

Ben has an almost identical 3P% to Wagler (Ben is 14-40, 35% on the season, while Wagler is 14-41, 34.1% on the season). Outside of Wagler, Ben has a better 3P% than every single one of our guards, who are all below 30% except for Mihailo, who has only taken 4 threes.

I don't have an issue with Ben or his play this year. I'd like to see him put up more threes but haven't been watching closely enough to see why his rate has gone down. Ben (26 mins) and Mihailo (6 mins) were the only guys that got in for us vs Tennessee that didn't shoot a three.

Playing the stats game - if you take out his 5-9 effort in our 58 point win over Jackson State he's 9-31 (29%) in the other games and he's 2-8 (25%) in our last 4 games while playing 90 minutes. Keaton is 8-23 (34.7%) over the last 4.

 

[PleaseMakeABowlGame]

But when Ben goes 1-9 from deep (like against NW), I'd rather have that defender on the block. The spacing plays right into the defense hands.

 

[DB11Headband]

They have a good starting 5 (who i think we match up very well with). After that? Not so much. Use depth to an advantage and attack Tilly to get him in foul trouble.

Good Guys 85
Bad Guys 75

 

[sacraig]

"lately has been subpar." you can't just use quote marks and make up the wording....

Sure he "can"

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

I'm not sure if anyone knows how much the Committee distinguishes results in a given Quad category (other than the supposed Quad 1A wins, which I can never remember the cutoff for those...), but I'm sure there is at least SOME analysis done ... in other words, I think it should be obvious that not all Quad 1 wins are created equally. As that relates to this game, this isn't some case of us playing at #73 Northwestern and getting a Quad 1 result because NU is clinging for dear life to a top 75 ranking, lol. OSU is solidly in Quad 1 category at #44, and this would be a really nice road win.

Let's get it!

#13 Illinois 78
Ohio State 69