That's what struck me as well. UM looked shell-shocked, like the jv team taking on the seniors. We had our way with them the same way we did with NW and Minn in those earlier blowouts. It's the first time they've faced that kind of beatdown/adversity all season. It makes you question their resiliency. Now how will they respond against a physical MSU?
Illinois 76, Michigan 53 Postgame
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Deleted member 29907
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Agree - not a stellar shooting night for them and Trent was pretty much out of his mind. But I do think we sped them up and ran them off the line which contributed to their woes. And HD is not used to shooting against a guy the size of Kofi. All contributing factors. Again, I think we match up well against them.
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There are some teams that do not handle adversity well. Strange that they their two losses are by wide margins. When my son played AAU - you could tell the teams that would quit when they got down early. Wisc. seems like that type of team this year for some reason and albeit a heroic effort by one guy, we would have won by 15 there too.
If you weren't at least a little entertained by those dumb freshman turnovers... then you's a hater.
You are correct. If Illinois could've just got some offense going in the first 10 minutes of the game, it would have been a real blowout.
I have to disagree that Trent was out of his mind. He was 7-18 from the floor overall and 2-5 from 3.
He played an outstanding game on both ends, but it's not like he shot lights out. 22 points on 18 shots is good, but not out of this world and certainly replicable.
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Thanks - didn't look up his stats - just felt like he hit so many big / tough shots.
sacraig
- The desert
How very Beckmanian of you. We served Michigan all the beans they could handle and took our lasagna to go.
Got it. I agree it felt that way from just watching the game. I was surprised when I saw his line as well.
I believe he was 5 of 11 overall and 2 of 3 from 3 in second half, so while not out of his mind he did have an impressive half.
I certainly like our chances should we meet up with Mich again with Ayo, but they’re still a good team capable of beating the Illini. I do think Kofi gives us an advantage that most other teams don’t have because he can handle Dickinson on his own. But they didn’t shoot well and Illini did. They might have been feeling a little too confident being at home and with Ayo out. Maybe taking a loss like that helps them. Certainly should get their attention. I think we match up well against them, but I’ll be just as nervous next time we play them.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
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Sure, we can't underestimate Michigan should we run into them again in elimination play. But I think we can also recognize that, in the words of one Michigan fan, we are "a disaster-level matchup" for them. A big part of their offense is premised on Dickinson winning his individual matchup and then passing well out of double teams. Kofi singlehandedly neutralizes that particular game plan. Then you add in our faster guards who can also play smothering defense. On top of that, we are a strong rebounding team with multiple perimeter shooters. A splash of Curbelo collapsing their defense and keeping them off balance, and you have a recipe for too many problems with not enough solutions.
In a 10-game series against them, I think we could win 7 or 8. They're still a really good team on paper. We just happen to be scissors this year.
In terms of a team's overall body of work, no. To get a better idea of how well a team has played recently, a good measure is the Sagarin ELO-based model, which has a separate weighting for recent play: http://sagarin.com/sports/cbsend.htm
The top 25 based on Sagarin recent play weighting:
1. Gonzaga
2. Illinois
3. Baylor
4. Iowa
5. Michigan
6. Arkansas
7. Kansas
8. Purdue
9. Alabama
10. West Virginia
11. Houston
12. Connecticut
13. Georgia Tech
14. BYU
15. Ohio State
16. San Diego State
17. Maryland
18. Colorado
19. Oklahoma State
20. Florida State
21. Loyola-IL
22. Michigan State
23. Oregon
24. Colgate
25. Memphis
Not appearing: Villanova (26th), Virginia (47th), Wisconsin (40th), Creighton (43rd), Tennessee (73rd), Texas (33rd), Texas Tech (28th), USC (53rd)
Now, granted, Colgate is weird and mostly due to the odd scenario where neither they nor anyone they played has played anyone outside their conference, so there is no connected comparative data, which kinda breaks ELO because Colgate has dominated their bubble of opponents (and is 59th overall), but this is a pretty reasonable assessment of how good teams have been over the past 2-3 weeks.
JFGsCoffeeMug said:
“In a 10-game series against them, I think we could win 7 or 8. They're still a really good team on paper. We just happen to be scissors this year.”
Quote of the year!
“In a 10-game series against them, I think we could win 7 or 8. They're still a really good team on paper. We just happen to be scissors this year.”
Quote of the year!
Underwood mentioned a manager who they call "the juice" who helps get the bench hyped up for games. I think his name is Bobby... Anyway I guess he had a concussion for the MSU game and didn't travel... Need to cover that guy in bubble wrap and bring him to Indiana!!!
By the way, how does a manager get a concussion?
IlliniKat91
- Chicago, IL
Don't managers sometimes run drills/scrimmage with the team? He could have taken an accidental hit to the head then.
chrisRunner7
- San Diego
Probably bumped into Kofi in practice
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
Kofi dunk celebration.
You could get a concussion handing Kofi a water bottle
Michigan fans griping about the rough play and the refs calling it too loose. Howard whining too. I hope this garbage doesn't go all Lute Olson.
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Big difference between this team and 2001, that team prided itself on being more physical, this team can play with tight or loose whistles. As long as it stays "somewhat" consistent. I know, a lot to ask for form B1G refs.
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