Pregame: Illinois at Michigan State, Saturday, February 7th, 7:00pm CT, FOX

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#151      
Fighter of the Nightman
ChiefGritty said:
I miss Teddy Purplestein
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I was going to say, I feel like the complaining about the pro-Northwestern media has more or less dramatically died due to the twin factors of (A) us becoming good again and therefore less of an easy target punching bag and (B) the continued decline of newspapers and their continued slide into irrelevance.

But I will admit that Teddy really used to grind my gears ... as far as his schtick went, consider me successfully trolled.
 
#152      
alaskaillini
Second place is 1st loser said:
Well, shooting poorly when shooting a bunch of threes can lead to points in transition. That can go hand in hand. We really thrive on long rebounds, but if we pull a 5 of 30, that can go in the other direction. We haven't had one of those brick sessions in a while. Let's hope that continues.

Live ball turnovers lead to points in transition. Drej is a huge violator here. Brad has had to sit him because of it. Points off turnovers is a concern.

Any foul trouble to Keaton puts us in a world of hurt. He's been remarkably good keeping clean there. If he's in charge of staying in front of Fears....that's dicey.

MSU brings a pretty athletic lineup to the table, but they are absolutely brutal shooting it. We don't want to see a lob fest to Coen Carr because we're getting beat off the bounce.

We have to control the defensive glass. Our bigs have to play big.

Izzo is a master manipulator and motivator. I could totally see him benching Fears, then have him coming off the bench as a spark. When he's not playing like a moron and doing dumb things, he's a real problem and I expect no less here.

MSU knows that this is their last stand with regards to winning the conference. If they lose this one, they're done. I anticipate an extremely raucous crowd and we're going to have to survive the first 5 to 7 minutes because we're going to take a huge punch.

If we can control the pace, we'll be fine. That will be put to the test.
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This will be the most anticipated matchup of the weekend because we have been playing so well on the road and Izzo and MSU are like cornered rats having lost two in a row. Izzo might sit Fears until first timeout, but he won't wait the 4 minutes to the media TO to call one if we get ahead by 4 points or more. Breslin could be crazy in a close game. Would love nothing more than to curb stomp them from the start so that the crowd never get really into it (but not holding my breath).

I think I would start with Ben on Fears. He has shown he can guard points and his length will cause Fears some issues, and if Fears is able to bait fouls on him Ben can sit for 10 minutes a half - just his normal rotation. Saves Keaton from that risk.

Have Mirk bring up the ball. If Fears is guarding Keaton and trying to get up into him, maybe try Keaton in the dunker spot some, and have Tomi or Z set off ball screens for him (pin Fears to the baseline) - pop Keaton to the 3 or lob to the bigs. Think we can do some different things to put Fears in uncomfortable position on D to keep him from impacting the game as much on that end. Could be a real chess match.

Hope Fears behaves himself, and we have a good clean hard-fought game, because if someone takes a shot a Keaton it could get really ugly fast.
 
#154      
Scoregasm
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I was going to say, I feel like the complaining about the pro-Northwestern media has more or less dramatically died due to the twin factors of (A) us becoming good again and therefore less of an easy target punching bag and (B) the continued decline of newspapers and their continued slide into irrelevance.

But I will admit that Teddy really used to grind my gears ... as far as his schtick went, consider me successfully trolled.
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Podcasts with a national perspective are what I consume now for college basketball....maybe others have shifted as well.
 
#157      
DeonThomas
OrangeBlue98 said:
If the conference and officiating consortium had any foresight on assignments, they’d put their most thick-skinned officials who are not swayed by a home crowd on this game.

This was a game that, 30 years ago, I’d be begging for Ed Hightower to call. I always thought he was one of the best at not letting the home crowd get to him. For a modern-day, NBA example, that official would be Scott Foster. Love him or hate him, he does not have a favorable home whistle.

To be clear, I don’t expect this. We’ll get Carstensen, Anderson, and some other guy and they’ll do what every official does at Breslin.
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That's a pretty deep knowledge of referees!
 
#159      
skyIdub
Fly Illini Fly! said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2019504182684725336
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Road Dog. It's what we do.

dog-driving-dog-driver.gif
 
#169      
jrichisamazing
alaskaillini said:
This will be the most anticipated matchup of the weekend because we have been playing so well on the road and Izzo and MSU are like cornered rats having lost two in a row. Izzo might sit Fears until first timeout, but he won't wait the 4 minutes to the media TO to call one if we get ahead by 4 points or more. Breslin could be crazy in a close game. Would love nothing more than to curb stomp them from the start so that the crowd never get really into it (but not holding my breath).

I think I would start with Ben on Fears. He has shown he can guard points and his length will cause Fears some issues, and if Fears is able to bait fouls on him Ben can sit for 10 minutes a half - just his normal rotation. Saves Keaton from that risk.

Have Mirk bring up the ball. If Fears is guarding Keaton and trying to get up into him, maybe try Keaton in the dunker spot some, and have Tomi or Z set off ball screens for him (pin Fears to the baseline) - pop Keaton to the 3 or lob to the bigs. Think we can do some different things to put Fears in uncomfortable position on D to keep him from impacting the game as much on that end. Could be a real chess match.

Hope Fears behaves himself, and we have a good clean hard-fought game, because if someone takes a shot a Keaton it could get really ugly fast.
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I wonder if Izzo tries to disrupt this. Maybe he puts Carr on Mirk for stretches.

It would be interesting to see how we respond. I don't recall anyone trying to pick up Mirk full court yet.
 
#170      
Boomauer
The thing about Fears is he's strong and a very good ball handler who gets where he wants to by using picks. Don't like him but he's good. Also...over under how many free throws he shoots. I'll say 12.
 
#171      
Chukwuwumba
SescIllini said:
Of the top 5 BIG teams....MSU looks to have the lowest fire power. I'll take the Illini win, think the -1.5 in MSU favor is going to shift towards Illini.
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My concern is the transition offense and tempo for Michigan st. Could be a weak spot for Illini. Especially if they miss shots/offense not running great/rebound not elite. Spartans were able to make a come back very quick against Michigan with this strategy.
Illini hot and Spartans not- hope it continues.
 
#174      
Retro62
skyIdub said:
You don't get caught up in this. You don't fight the bully on his terms. You use your strengths and your superior brain power to let him punch himself out of it. They will. Just like the Minny and scUM games.

They will throw elbows and leg whips.
They will jerk their heads back and flop on the floor.
They will swing and miss and get mad.

We will dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge as our elusive unicorn surgically removes their ugly souls.
We will distribute three point shots like Oprah hands out free sh!t.
We will giggle as steam rises off of Izzo's tomato red face as he stomps and gesticulates at his hired officials.

In the end you will have to chisel the smirkovic's off of our faces as we taunt the Izzone.

This team is ready. 🧡 💪
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If I had any skills in that area, I would make this with Brad holding these like Moses coming down from the mount.
 
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