Just curious who is responsible for advance scouting and preparation for the tournament. Seems like HC and players have to be present and focused on the game in front of them but there has to be some advanced prep involved with so little time between games. This is where the depth of the coaching staff becomes critical. Am I wrong on this? Anyone have insights into strategies of advanced prep?
Pregame: Illinois vs Penn, Thursday, March 19th, 8:25pm CT, TNT
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It’s sad that the Boozers of the world do the same thing Keaton and Andrej do and get whistles. The only way to get calls in Big 10 is to be hyper-quick and flop, see Fears, Boyd, etc. I’ll give credit to Dent. He doesn’t do this.
Big Jack
- Decatur
There is and will never be anything that comes easy for us...
We got such a great draw - we can worry about Houston when/if we get there. FYI every 2 seed can play. Suck it up about the location. Let’s plant the twins in the post, feed them, and for the most part only let Keaton Jake Mirk take the 3’s. Keaton and Dre will figure out the angles in the lane - just get to the rim/draw fouls. Let Bos handle the quick guard on D and the others need to grow a pair. For the record I’d be more than fine with a box and one.
Full preparation is done on Penn, VCU and NC starting Sunday night. Penn is the primary team’s focus.
An assistant maybe someone like Kruger and staff personal will gather all information on VCU and NC on Sunday night and start full preparation on both team’s all the way through Thursdays game. After Thursday’s two games, the staff will have a meeting with a full developed game plan already done and prepared. Entire staff works on it more on Thursday night and Friday morning and then plan presented to team prior to a Friday practice.
In addition, they are already working on a scouting report for Houston too.
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Is that better or just old school and looks more engaged from the eye test? They both also probably have larger NIL war chests and both have multiple losses to non-Tournament teams. Not sure I’d be singing my coach’s praises if they lost to Providence or Creighton this year.
This is accurate …
I will also say it wasn’t a secret we were getting Penn and going to be in Greenville … We already had film ready and started prepping on Saturday …
No excuse to not be f’ing ready …
The game plan is SIMPLE …
Interestingly, he was WAY more active/aggressive on the sidelines during his first few years at Illinois. He has really mellowed out some.
McKinney like most freshmen guards is not good defensively. Sort of like Wagler at this time. Cason played a lot the last two years and is very good defensively. Cason's loss is big. I hate to pick on Morez as well because it sounds like sour grapes since he stiffed our Illini, but I noticed he always seems to fade at the end of the year. It happened two years when his high school team got upset in the Illinois high school tournament and Morez did not play well, it happened last year at Illinois and seems to be happening this year as well.
A former head coach at SIU was a friend. In terms of scouting the next opponent once the tourney started, he would assign one assistant to scout Team A and another to scout Team B. That included scouting those teams in advance and then scouting the A vs. B game itself. The assistant whose team won would take the lead on the game plan, but the head coach had the final say. I’m sure lots has changed since then though, including having more assistants.
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
No they aren't and if they are, it's a COMPLETE mismanagement of time. IF we get past the first weekend AND Houston does(no guarantees), they'll have, at minimum, of five days to prepare. That's a TON of time.
The focus of the assistant's will 100% on UNC and VCU. That is a LOT to scout with only only one day in between.
MLT is just so thorough. The FO68 guys for the most part sound so slow witted. Mike is by far the most insightful.
Yes, they already are gathering the information they need to prepare a scouting report for Houston. They have PLENTY of staff to do this. They aren’t starting to gather Houston information on Sunday flying back from Greenville. Houston’s scouting will done and ready for entire staff to review by the time Illinois wins on Saturday
I think college coaching staffs are more knowledgeable about how to advance scout than you are.
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
Thanks! I suspected something like this. Was just curious. I guess you could call me curious George
While a scouting report would be extremely advanced/complicated to the average fan, college programs (especially a major program like Illinois) is extremely capable of doing this easily and quickly at least at a sufficient level.
That’s the thing about The Tournament.
For many programs... just making the field has made your season. Anything beyond that is a bonus. Making the tournament is a feel-good moment that players and fans will remember long after the games are over.
For other programs... making the tournament is just the beginning. The success or failure of your entire season rests upon going further. And for the elite, it is about Final Four or Failure. Joy or disaster. Pride or shame. And the end result will have major repercussions for players, coaches, fans, and the immediate future of the programs.
Different expectations and pathways for everyone concerned.
And it can (and often) comes down to one single final possession and whether or not the ball rolls happens to one way or the other on the rim when the big clock hits -- The End.
Greenville is a beautiful city. Been here 13 years after moving up from Charleston, SC. Another very beautiful city. I think all those that make it to the game will thoroughly enjoy their time here.
Penn shoots the 3 very well which is always scary in a single elimination game. But they really struggle scoring at the rim.
We should be fine this game as long as we don’t try and make it a three point shooting contest and just lean on our matchup hunting. I don’t think they have anyone that can guard Keaton, Kylan, Andrej, Mirk or Tomi down low. I would like to see Keaton and Andrej attacking downhill, Tomi post ups, and a fair bit of bootyball from Kylan and Mirk. I think there are mismatches all over the court but we should especially hunt Levine. Find whoever he’s guarding and just go at him.
Let’s even put them down for 15 3s. Can they score enough from 2 to get to 75? And can they do enough defensively to hold us under 75?
It’s march and anything can happen but I think we should be okay if we attack the mismatches.
We should be fine this game as long as we don’t try and make it a three point shooting contest and just lean on our matchup hunting. I don’t think they have anyone that can guard Keaton, Kylan, Andrej, Mirk or Tomi down low. I would like to see Keaton and Andrej attacking downhill, Tomi post ups, and a fair bit of bootyball from Kylan and Mirk. I think there are mismatches all over the court but we should especially hunt Levine. Find whoever he’s guarding and just go at him.
Let’s even put them down for 15 3s. Can they score enough from 2 to get to 75? And can they do enough defensively to hold us under 75?
It’s march and anything can happen but I think we should be okay if we attack the mismatches.
I don't follow your math
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