Pregame: Illinois vs Penn, Thursday, March 19th, 8:25pm CT, TNT

[illini0440]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2033380276316016840

Relevant

 

[Brosky]

Is there any place I can find a bracket large enough to read?

 

[Steelyunk]

I thought he was going more for the Freddie Mercury look….

I mean there’s no way he goes from that fuzz to a handlebar in less than a few months.

 

[MarvinShee]

Last time we played Penn in the tourney they had Michael Jordan!

 

[TheChief4Life]

If he were playing well, I would give him a pass...But he's not...This kinda of talk shows his focus is all wrong and his talk foretells another sub-par effort in tournament

No. This is exactly what I want him doing specifically because he’s not playing well. Good, talk about anything else except basketball. Especially 5 1/2 days before the game.

 

[NarrowJ]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2033380276316016840

Relevant

I think they also share some philosophy in first half timeouts

 

[21ChampaignSt]

Penn doesn’t have any athletes so I think Illinois handles this game easily. This game should be similar to the Northwestern game.

UNC/VCU…I actually think VCU would be a tougher matchup for Illinois. I don’t think much of Hubert Davis as a coach. VCU plays a ton of guys in their rotation. They are 16-1 in their last 17 games. UNC without Caleb Wilson is a bubble-ish team. They just seem like a mediocre team that doesn’t have much juice in them. VCU feels like a momentum type team. And if they knock off North Carolina they will have lot of confidence going into Sunday

Yep. VCU has been the better team over the last couple months. They have a couple things going for them. They're pretty solid defensively and a capable 3 point shooting team. They've made 10+ threes in about half their games. Have I mentioned we're 3-6 when opponents make 10+ threes? We should still beat them by hunting match ups but would prefer to play UNC.

 

[travelin' man]

Hope he proves me wrong … Should be a game he dominates on the glass … I’ll believe it when I see it … He’s only had double digit rebounds 3 times this season …

I didn’t forget … He’s an 18-22 year old making 7 figures … That’s a professional … Not a kid …

I seem to recall that NHL players make a big deal about their playoff beards.

 

[HereSoIDontGetFined]

At this point, our biggest enemy in this tournament is ourselves.

 

[NASchamp]

Andrej game. Think he & maybe Ben(?) get the Powers assignment. Feels like Penn is the type of team Andrej feasts on

When Andrej is driving hard he brings an element to our offense that no one else does. Kylan has shown flashes but never sticks with it. Having hard drives to the lane opens up dumps to the post or kickouts to open shooters, and obviously sometimes layups. We need that desperately to keep the defense honest. Our offense stinks when everyone stands at the 3pt line and watches, but we go through stretches of that every game.

 

[One Man Fast Break]

Not a huge fan of playing a team that shoots 38% from 3 as a team. They're top 20 in the nation and have 3 guys shooting over 40%, 2 more over 38%.

Upsets happen when an underdog gets crazy hot from 3.

They attempted the least amount of threes in the Ivy.

 

[pruman91]

VCU matches up well with North Carolina. VCU is not a typical A-10 team. They have 3 top 55 RSCI players. They have talent. I am also intrigued by Martelli Jr. as their coach. Maybe a future Illini coaching prospect? Dad was an assistant coach at Michigan as well as longtime St. Joe's coach.

selection chairman said vcu had to win their conf. tourney to get in the Dance......

 

[Homecoming 2019]

Be careful when buying tickets! NCAA official Ticketmaster website incorrectly lists Illinois as playing in Session 1.

We are session 2, just a little PSA.

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

We should still beat them by hunting match ups but would prefer to play UNC.

Hard, hard disagree. This game will be played in UNC’s backyard. Would rather play VCU.

 

[Illinialldayeveryday]

Ivy teams usually play tough but this really isn't a top Ivy team that makes the dance. I think before a few years ago the Ivy League regular season champ got the auto bid.

 

[21ChampaignSt]

Hard, hard disagree. This game will be played in UNC’s backyard. Would rather play VCU.

I'd rather have the worse team playing without their best player in a gym filled with fans from their rival school as well as our fans who travel well. VCU is also relatively close. About a 5.5 hour drive from Richmond vs 3.5 from Chapel Hill.

But to each their own.

 

[thefalcon5]

Hard, hard disagree. This game will be played in UNC’s backyard. Would rather play VCU.

Just an FYI Chapel Hill is almost 4 hrs away from Greenville (SC btw). I wouldn’t call that their backyard personally considering that would be like us saying Cincinnati is in our backyard. They’re close enough to drive to but not for a casual fan (though UNC surely has a very dedicated fan base).

Honestly I want UNC to exercise some demons.

 

[New Creation]

So … stats like our chances…

https://twitter.com/x/status/2033326982381924664

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

I'd rather have the worse team playing without their best player in a gym filled with fans from their rival school as well as our fans who travel well. VCU is also relatively close. About a 5.5 hour drive from Richmond vs 3.5 from Chapel Hill.

But to each their own.

“Worse team” when they’re seeded 6 compared to VCU who’s 11? VCU wouldn’t have even gotten in had they not won their tournament. It some point common sense can’t be so complicated.

It’s literally a case of would you rather play VCU or North Carolina.

 

[pruman91]

I hope I didn't fall for a fake tweet on the tipoff time & TV

View attachment 48331

don't worry , we will give you a............................

 

[pruman91]

Michigan at 31% for champion is really high. Not saying it’s wrong but they have shown some weakness in letting teams hang around that previous dominant winners haven’t imo.

losing Cason hurts them more than most people think......there was a reason Cason was getting more tick than McKinny.......McKinny is good but he isn't as stable with the ball as Cason was..............jmho........

 

[rdk573]

No. This is exactly what I want him doing specifically because he’s not playing well. Good, talk about anything else except basketball. Especially 5 1/2 days before the game.

I hope you're right..But if we lose a winnable game especially if its to a lower seeded team and Tomi doesn't play well, you do realize that this talk will come back to bite him big time..

 

[RockfordIllini]

Agree. Michigan hasn’t looked the same since Cason went down. Cadeau is talented but is unstable. He can win you a game but he can also lose you a game with poor decision making and turnovers. They’ve been able to pivot to Cason when Cadeau has been off but won’t have that luxury in the tourney. Odds are overwhelming Cadeau has at least one stinker in the next 6 and then they are vulnerable.

 

[From the cheap seats]

losing Cason hurts them more than most people think......there was a reason Cason was getting more tick than McKinny.......McKinny is good but he isn't as stable with the ball as Cason was..............jmho........

Good point. Cason gave Michigan a good backup point guard who shot 40% from three, best on the team. He was getting more minutes as the season wore on and had provided big sparks off the bench the second half of the season. Read that he also will sit out next season to rehab his knee.

 

[21ChampaignSt]

“Worse team” when they’re seeded 6 compared to VCU who’s 11? VCU wouldn’t have even gotten in had they not won their tournament. It some point common sense can’t be so complicated.

It’s literally a case of would you rather play VCU or North Carolina.

Yes. I mean I've watched very little of UNC this year and I haven't watched VCU at all. But according to Torvik, UNC has been the worse team since Wilson's injury. 5-4 and ranked #39 during that time vs VCU who is 9-1 and ranked #32.

It's all a bit premature anyway.