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

[RockfordIllini]

To me this game really comes down to rebounding and transition which are really one and the same.

We send 4 to the glass which allows us to get a huge % of our misses back. However, it also leaves us susceptible to transition. Sparty is a very good defensive rebounding team and is also good in transition. If they hold us to a 25% or under offensive rebounding rate, chances are they get a lot of transition points and have a good chance to win.

I don’t think they can score in the half court consistently enough to beat us. If we make enough shots, we win. If we get enough of our misses back, we win. If we don’t do enough of either, it’s a game and we likely lose.

 

[pruman91]

Based on how the B10 has staffed crews this season it appears that their A crew this year is Sirmons, Szelc, Reed. They've called most of the big ones so my bet would be in those three tonight. If so, that group, and Sirmons in general, is known for having a very loose, let the kids play type of whistle, which unfortunately tends to benefit MSUs style of play more. His crew also has been very inconsistent on flagrants this year so all in all, if this crew gets picked like I think they will, it may indeed be the all out brawl we're expecting.

That all said, just so long as it isn't Courtney and DJ reffing this game. The only thing they call consistently is making certain the foul count is about the same for both teams at the the end of the game and making sure key players are in foul trouble all night.

I haven't seen Courtney Green call a B$G game this year and I tape and watch almost every B$G game.....He usually does SEC , Big East and some ACC games this year..........There will be enormous scrutiny and pressure on whoever gets assigned to ref this game......
I just hope that the thuggery is dealt with early and let the game be decided by who plays the best basketball tomorrow night.....if that can be achieved then my worthless prediction is.............................

Illini 88
thugs 73

msu simply doesn't have the talent to keep up with the Illini as good as we are playing now.......if thuggery is allowed then I see some Illini players who will retaliate and let the spurtans know to stop it immediately.......

The Illini are a tight knit and cohesive and connected team.......all this talk about what msu will do ignores the fact that the Illini aren't the Loppypop Guild but the wicked warlocks from the Central Illinois Plains.................

They want a Pizza Hut Parking lot game ??????.....Then enter at their own risk !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pizza Hut Parking Lot Hare is watching you , lil jeremy fears...............He really really is............

 

[illinibbcz]

I hate to say this, but I think our winning streak comes to an end in an ugly shooting performance by us. I also think Wagler gets at least one offensive foul called against him by backing down Fears. I think it will be a very questionable foul, but Izzo will have worked the officials into the call. Michigan St. plays out of their minds and gets a victory, MSU 75-71 in a rabid Breslin environment..

I will say the above prediction is totally going against my usual optimistic attitude. I guess it is a defensive mechanism to make me not get bummed out if we happen to lose. My optimistic side says its close at half, maybe a 4-point lead by us at half and then we play a close second half until about the 10-minute mark and things begin to just go right for us and we pull away as the game comes to an end for a 79-70 win.

 

[Krombopulos_Michael]

I tend to lean away from the supposed 'backs against the wall' or 'pissed off team' narratives. Like losing somehow improves the overall psyche of the team.

Simple sports psychology tells us that there are a whole lot of negative dynamics that occur during a losing skid: confidence erosion, decreased communication/comradery between teammates, possible breakdown of mutual respect between teammates or coaches and players, general focus shift (playing not to lose vs playing to win), skepticism of system or tactics.

Add that stuff into the public hoopla with Fears and I doubt there's a real sense of cohesiveness or fellowship there. But, it is Izzo and he has a track record of turning this around so just have to hope it doesn't happen prior to tomorrow evening.

See: Carson Cooper’s comments about Minnesota

 

[Curbelo Fanboy]

Does DMFW or Lucas Johnson have any eligibility left?

Ideally we would have someone that is ok to get suspended for a game or 5 if it came to that. Lucas & Damonte were both starters or at least critical players to the team success. Jakstys would be the perfect guy for it if he were healthy.

 

[NarrowJ]

See: Carson Cooper’s comments about Minnesota

View attachment 47265

Yup, just a mix of deflected frustration and projected confidence there. Total coping mechanism, trying to reclaim a sense of control. At best, it was misplaced intensity, vulnerability masked as bravado, bulletin board material for Minnesota. Talked all that stuff then what actually happened was they went out and got beat by a bad team that basically had to play 5 guys 35+ minutes.

 

[CleverHandle1]

In the end, Goodman has a right to his opinion and may be correct in this opinion. I am not acting surprised that he has this opinion. Even the bookies have the Illini as a 1-point underdog, I believe. And that's fine. Play with confidence, don't get flustered and in the end, the better team should win.

If they lose, then let's pound Wisky and Indy in Champaign, which will make things better. Hold the home court.

 

[Illwinsagain]

Ideally we would have someone that is ok to get suspended for a game or 5 if it came to that. Lucas & Damonte were both starters or at least critical players to the team success. Jakstys would be the perfect guy for it if he were healthy.

Lee? If we are looking at Fears.

 

[NarrowJ]

In the end, Goodman has a right to his opinion and may be correct in this opinion. I am not acting surprised that he has this opinion. Even the bookies have the Illini as a 1-point underdog, I believe. And that's fine. Play with confidence, don't get flustered and in the end, the better team should win.

If they lose, then let's pound Wisky and Indy in Champaign, which will make things better. Hold the home court.

His initial opinion was fine

The (feigned or not) shock he exhibited in response to Rob saying Illinois could win was what I had to laugh at... like a 1.5 underdog has zero chance of beating a ranked team on the road... something we've now done in consecutive weeks

 

[RockfordIllini]

Obviously there’s a lot of intangible stuff hovering over this game. Sparty will likely come out with 10/10 intensity, home crowd, there will be foul baiting, potential for dirty plays etc where we will have to keep our composure. And all of that can tilt this game in Sparty’s favor.

But matchup wise I like it. Mirk can match up with Kohler and the Ivisics on Cooper and I think Ben can guard either in a pinch. I think you put Keaton on whoever starts between Ugochukwu or Scott. Jake on Carr is a tough matchup, but I think we just have Jake play off him to cut off rip drives, force him to shoot and block him out as best he can. Think Jake’s a smart enough defender to make it work and if Carr beats us by hitting 5 3’s I’m willing to live with that.

That leaves Fears. I think we put Andrej on him, and I think this is a great break glass in case of emergency game for Brandon Lee. Between those 2 I think we can mostly contain Fears and I imagine he will put some fouls on Andrej.

On offense in addition to our BAU stuff I think we could install a couple of simple actions to exploit what they do defensively. On ball screens it looks like they do sort of a combo show/hard hedge and recover with their big. In addition to pick n pop, if we have either Ivisic but particularly Z slip and then sprint to the basket there should be a lob or the defense should collapse to where we can get wide open 3s. And for B. Lee, if he is in the game due to foul trouble (and I think that’s highly likely), I would just park him in the corner and tell him to watch his man and as soon as his man helps in the gap or otherwise forgets about him (and I think they will forget about him), cut hard along the baseline. Think we could steal some easy baskets that way.

Excited to see what kind of wrinkles we put in. Tough game but also a house money game. Let’s just get out of it with everyone healthy and no suspensions.

 

[lstewart53x3]

I tend to lean away from the supposed 'backs against the wall' or 'pissed off team' narratives. Like losing somehow improves the overall psyche of the team.

Simple sports psychology tells us that there are a whole lot of negative dynamics that occur during a losing skid: confidence erosion, decreased communication/comradery between teammates, possible breakdown of mutual respect between teammates or coaches and players, general focus shift (playing not to lose vs playing to win), skepticism of system or tactics.

Add that stuff into the public hoopla with Fears and I doubt there's a real sense of cohesiveness or fellowship there. But, it is Izzo and he has a track record of turning this around so just have to hope it doesn't happen prior to tomorrow evening.

Yeah, I feel like the Fears drama would be a massive distraction for MSU, but I also thought half of their football team getting suspended in 2022 would be a distraction and we all know how that went, so what I do I know

 

[TheOx76]

Yeah, gut feel is worse than on paper in this one. I for example think it's very tough to replicate a really phenomenal shooting performance 2 games in a row. And I do agree that this will likely be a very pissed off team we're meeting in Breslin. As well, MSU is a team that does play very physical defense on the perimeter, and earlier in the year, that was something we struggled with in our losses. So I do think there are valid reasons why people will gravitate towards MSU winning this one in Breslin.

That said, to your point, we've been incredible on this streak. Beating Purdue at Mackey while they played an A game. Strangling Nebraska on the road after they went 55% from 3 in the 1st half. Absolutely destroying Northwestern. Fact is, if we play like we have during this run, opponents have almost no margin for error.

So all depends on how the teams come out tonight. And yeah, I could certainly see MSU showing up to this one incredibly locked in and flying around the court. But I also don't see us backing down, having a letdown game, or laying an egg either. Should be a good one.

I understand the hesitancy, especially going into the Breslin center. While I don’t expect us to shoot above 50% from 3, I think the difference with this team as that we really are an above average shooting team. In the recent past, we could get hot but never string together 2 shooting performances in a row, essentially because our team was composed of players that were not great 3 point shooters. We finally have shooters at every position that I would say are + shooters, other than Andrej. When you generate the type of shots that our offense does, the results are wins and the win streak that we are on. And one last thing that we haven’t had before, Keaton.
I expect MSU to have their A game. It wasn’t enough for Purdue who is more talented, and it won’t be enough for Sparty.
The beloved win this one by 8-10 points.

 

[Chieeeeeeefffff]

Doesn't everybody?

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

See: Carson Cooper’s comments about Minnesota

View attachment 47265

 

[Metal Bat]

Illini win with the power of the Toni Bilic era.

 

[fatboyslim]

Yeah I heard this same crap before we played Purdue and Nebraska when they were coming off a loss. They are going to be pissed and highly motivated. I always say just because a team lost a game before playing us doesn’t mean they can’t lose again. MSU should have been pissed after losing to Michigan and they lost again.

 

[eas23]

I think Jeremy Fears has a legitimate mental problem that needs to be addressed, but I also think we might be going way overboard thinking this game is gonna be thunderdome.

With the obvious nothing we say on a message board matters caveat, let's be careful not to forget about a basketball game breaking out while we're all focused on who might be available to fight on the end of the bench.

 

[fatboyslim]

What is their A game? Who was that against when playing teams the caliber of Illinois? I haven’t seen it yet unless it was against Michigan or Duke or Nebraska who they lost too.

 

[Dan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2019835779363795433

 

[floorburn]

If you want some entertainment and instruction in the delusional mindset, check out this gem of a thread concerning Fears on MSU's Red Cedar Message Board:

Jeremy Fears Appreciation Thread

Jeremy Fears Appreciation Thread

247sports.com

My personal fave is the post fulminating at "the University of Michigan controlled media."

In case you don't have time, I'll bottom-line-big-picture it for you: he's just as God made him, the greatest guard in CB in the past 20 years at the very least, and Dusty May is either a whining simp or Machiavellian genius.

Oh, and everyone does it. You know: "it." Fears just gets picked on.

Thanks for posting those comments from the MSU neanderthals - it reminded me of Cleveland Indian fans trying to defend Albert Belle…

 

[Chuck Nuggets]

I'm just not feeling confident. Anyone else? Feels like a 5-10 point loss. MSU is a wounded animal backed into a corner. I think they are going to try to be extremely physical. I think they're going to be in our grills all game long. Night and day from Northwestern.

But I'll tell you what, if they pull this off, I will not feel this way the rest of the season. Mackey, Pinnacle, and Breslin?

Someone talk me into some confidence in our boys.

 

[zentrails]

I lived in Cleve during the Belle era, man was he a good hitter in more ways than one.
Watched him live one game where he hit a laser beam out of left field that landed far across the street.
Too bad he was a head case, really impressive power. We admired his hitting skill, not his behavior.

 

[Second place is 1st loser]

I tend to lean away from the supposed 'backs against the wall' or 'pissed off team' narratives. Like losing somehow improves the overall psyche of the team.

Simple sports psychology tells us that there are a whole lot of negative dynamics that occur during a losing skid: confidence erosion, decreased communication/comradery between teammates, possible breakdown of mutual respect between teammates or coaches and players, general focus shift (playing not to lose vs playing to win), skepticism of system or tactics.

Add that stuff into the public hoopla with Fears and I doubt there's a real sense of cohesiveness or fellowship there. But, it is Izzo and he has a track record of turning this around so just have to hope it doesn't happen prior to tomorrow evening.

MSU's biggest issue over these past few games has been their starts. They've been awful, but they've bounced back a couple of times.

@ Rutgers. They started off just terribly, closed the gap ultimately win.

Vs Michigan. They couldn't have gotten off to a worse start. What were they down? 17, 18? They came back and took the lead before running out of gas.

@Minnesota. Same trend. Got down by 13? 14? Then cut it to 5 before Fears' meltdown. The lead went back to up to 12ish, but it ended up being a one possession game at the end.

I have no clue what their deal is to start games. Around here, we'd blame Brad for saying they weren't focused, weren't prepared and it's unexcusable. With Izzo....can we say the same?

Benching Fears to start the game would have absolutely nothing to do with his "immaturity". He'll say that to appease the media. It would be about getting them fired up and ready to go from warm-ups to tip off.

If that happens, what's the outcome? If we don't jump ahead by double digits, how does it end up? That's been their doom. MSU hasn't been awful for full games. In the recent stretch, for whatever the reason, they've dug themselves a hole, just to come back and give themselves a chance.

We'll know early how this is going to go. If they actually show up and that crowd gets into a frenzy, they are extremely tough to beat there. If we jump out ahead and play from the lead.....that's just what they've turned into. It's a team that's just lethargic and they play when they feel like it. This is the rubber meets road game for MSU and their last stand for any hopes of winning the Big 10. I expected an extremely spirited effort from the beginning.

 

[jezzadownunder]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2019835779363795433

I know it’s a week early, but…possible surprise?

 

[Retro62]

I would love to see Kylan come back and shut down Fears, but I'm okay with doing it by committee as well.