If Illinois faces uconn, Illinois should be favored according to kenpom and bart torvik.
Pregame: Illinois vs UConn, Saturday, April 4th, 5:09pm CT, TBS
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DICKnaggie
- Champaign
Illinois was only 3/17 tonight from three. And yet we won. Stop talking about us as a three point shooting team team. We are not an Eastern European team. We are a team that can win with distribution in scoring. We can win in many ways. We can adjust. Also, Bruce Pearl needs to go away.
I hope U Conn wins because my wife is a passionate Puke fan and I would prefer to avoid that in a big game. Don't want to get a divorce. 
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
I always thought the more marquee matchup in the eyes of TV got the second game.
Have to think a Michigan/Arizona game would be the bigger draw, even if Duke is playing Illinois in the other game.
Normally I'd say you just jinxed us. But I have multiple "favors" that if called in...should counter your bad juju. Enjoy this monumental achievement either way
I'm still waiting for Jules to show up again. I haven't seen her post since the last Elite 8 run...
And yes...I'm that petty
And yes...I'm that petty
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It's not great. I've been to a couple and the fact is you're watching a basketball game in a pro football stadium. The are FAR more awful seats than good ones. If you want high quality seats, get an installment loan ready. You're paying for the experience of being there and if you haven't been....it's a bucket list item for sure.
Guys and gals I so pumped up I’m on my third rewatch ( one was only the last 12
mins)
mins)
Arizona and Michigan having to face each other and then play a game 2 days later will be tough. Similar to Wisconsin vs Kentucky in 2015
InDaAZ
- Eugene, Oregon
Similar to Duke and Houston last year.
If tonight's game (all 40 minutes) showed anything about the Brad offense and defense, its that his approach is all (100%) about match ups. The reason Jake is starting is to force the opposition to prepare for him both offensively and defensively. It forces the oppositon to guard Jake on the perimeter and he guards well.
There are 56 potential match ups when both teams play 8 players and what we do better than our opponents is prepare for them and then identify the best match ups with the different combinations on the floor. That is why Andrej never comes off the bench alone. That forces whomever we play to make a minimum 2 switches (which they may or may not have practiced) on both offense and defense.
Where this team has matured is their ability to both read and recognize the mismatches and then exploit them. Andrej actually guarded Stirtz quite a bit tonight. We scored on seven consecutive possessions in the second half. Why? Because Keaton, Mirk and Bam saw the mismatches. Overload the strong side on the perimeter and hit Andrej in the weakside corner and he drives to the hoop agains one defender. 2 possessions later same set same short pass and Z runs the baseline from the strong side and is open for the dunk. It was clinical basketball, not based on who started but who was in the game and reading the match ups.
We're in the final four - and I don't care whom of the 8 players starts. As I noted in several other posts this year, our starters are normally not the 5 that finish the game. Who finishes for us is based on who has performed in the best match ups with the players on the floor. I hope we can all agree that in basketball its not about who starts, but who finishes the game.
If Andrej coming off the bench creates more mismatches than him starting, let him come off the bench. I am more focused on winning the national championship than who has "earned" the right to start. The is a TEAM - not 5 starters and 3 role players.
Have my tickets. See you all there!
AND… the court won’t have double 3pt lines.
Keaton has been a starter from day 1. Now he dint play very good in the UCONN game but he was definitely in the core rotation
I'm sure we all thought that 21 yrs ago that 2005 wouldn't be the last time that the beloved would get to this point but it's been almost a generation, so we can't take these for granted. Iowa hasn't gotten there since 1980 so that's even worse. Arizona not since 2001 and they've been a bigger power than us. So, you never know but can't assume that these will come every few or five years. I think this year was a combo of a solid draw between Penn, VCU, and Iowa along with a team dialed in to beat a Houston team that I would say was a slightly superior team to us. The draw might not favor us every year like we experienced 2 years ago with dealing with UCONN. So, it's not far fetched to say once in a lifetime opportunity.
Section? Is there an Illini section?
Do we think prices go down when teams get knocked up tomorrow or just keep increasing. $2k for a decent seat right now.
Back when we played UConn it was being talked about how well Keaton was playing the dunker position for us.
Are any of you going solo currently and want to find others to hang out with or go to the Final Four with? I'm currently in this boat of wanting to purchase a ticket but also waiting to see if Duke wins b/c I have a friend who is a Duke alum who maybe would go but maybe the financials won't make sense for him to go. I hate the cost of the tickets but can afford it but also struggling with what the viewing experience would be like watching a basketball game in a football stadium? Should I spend over a grand for upper level center view seats if the view is ultimately going to suck/feel like the nose bleeds given a basketball court is much smaller than a football field? A little bit of a dilemma for me
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
We’re not done. I’ll be there, a dream come true!
Message me
Petro was PG and played more than Keaton.
Not exactly going to be the case this time around.
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