Pregame: Illinois at UCLA, Saturday, February 21st, 7:00pm CT, FOX

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#151      
ImGonnaBeILL
Keep Dent from dribble penetration and you beat UCLA.

Id also attack the hell out of him on the other end. Doesn't have the height to contest Wagler nor the bulk to handle Boswell.
 
#153      
Birdus
thefalcon5 said:
I didn’t see him limping in fact he landed on the injured leg after that dunk and popped right back up.

Not saying it won’t be nagging or isn’t bother him, because I don’t know. But I think saying he had a notable limp that game is wrong.
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Looked fine to me too.
 
#155      
Birdus
I think Dre coming off the bench is a great move for several reasons. What happened at USC was not an accident. This team is hitting on all cylinders right now. Let's keep it going!
 
#156      
skyIdub
I saw pimping. A little. I hope it's nagging.

images
 
#159      
Fly Illini Fly!
#160      
ptgrd23
Andrej loves to dunk

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I hope he shoots 500 3 pointers a day all summer like TSJ and comes back with the added weapon next year.
 
#162      
Kernal12
21ChampaignSt said:
Keeping Jake in the starting line up is the right move. But what I really like about it is just the fact the staff had the guts to do it...To put our prized transfer portal addition, the son of an NBA hall of famer, on the bench in favor of a kid from Mercer that no one heard of until last year.

And if Andrej accepts this with the positive attitude that it looked like he had at USC, then I like that even more.

Vibes around this team are immaculate.
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Underwood actually demurred when pressed on whether Jake would continue to start. I think we might be marginally better offensively with Jake, but Andrej is the more athletic and better defender.

I predict Andrej will be back starting in the Michigan game. Michigan just overwhelms teams with their size and athleticism and I suspect we'll want Andrej out there to help deal with Lendeborg, Cadeau and Burnett.
 
#165      
AirTran
Kernal12 said:
Underwood actually demurred when pressed on whether Jake would continue to start. I think we might be marginally better offensively with Jake, but Andrej is the more athletic and better defender.

I predict Andrej will be back starting in the Michigan game. Michigan just overwhelms teams with their size and athleticism and I suspect we'll want Andrej out there to help deal with Lendeborg, Cadeau and Burnett.
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I predict that there is no way of predicting. The game Illinois plays (both offensively and defensively) is all about match ups. Having a 6' 7" player who has all 4 tools offensively and has become a very good on and off ball defender come off the bench isn't something the opposition can plan for.

So as long as the coaching staff divide both the minutes and the combination of players we put on the floor, Andrej coming off the bench is just another headache for whomever we play. This team is all about winning and dominating. On a normal night when everyone is healthy one would think there are only 2 players that are going to get 30+ minutes.

The players that play the most minutes each night will be determined on how they are faring in their individual match ups. That is the way Brad has always coached and I don't expect that to change even against Michigan.

But right now we are playing UCLA and that is the most important game we will have played this year come Saturday night.
 
#169      
thefalcon5
Line opened at -6.5 already down to -5.5.

A little surprising to me, though perhaps my recency bias is showing. Pregame, this seems like a matchup between teams with velocities of equal but opposite magnitude.

FWIW Torviks got us as -7.3 favorites, so perhaps not too far.
 
#170      
TheodoreRex
Line opened at -6.5 already down to -5.5.

A little surprising to me, though perhaps my recency bias is showing. Pregame, this seems like a matchup between teams with velocities of equal but opposite magnitude.

FWIW Torviks got us as -7.3 favorites, so perhaps not too far.
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I would absolutely SMASH that spread for Illinois if I 1) Actually bet 2) could bet on Illinois lol.
 
#173      
Hessel Blvd
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he left out the sincere apology to the reporter that he bullied/berated totally unnecessarily after the game. Everything that dude says reeks of insecurity and the worst possible kind of masculinity. Full-on toolbox
 
#175      
illini510
Anyone worried that not starting Andrej will create some hurt feelings for Andrej and his camp(dad)? It's kind of hard to sell to one of your top 3 players that he should be coming off the bench the rest of the season when he clearly should be starting. In this era of NIL and ability to transfer wherever one wants to, it is best to tread lightly and not ruffle the feathers of impactful players b/c we see how that played out with Morez.
 
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