Pregame: Illinois vs Alabama, Wednesday, November 20th, 8:00pm CT, SECN

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#126      
Iamgroot
ChiefGritty said:
Caring about basketball is Big Ten heritage.

Rutgers and Maryland were a financial mistake and don't belong, same can be said in many ways about Nebraska, but those are good basketball fans at least.

Except for UCLA (and even they have underwhelming crowds) we've let in some real riff-raff on the basketball fan side of things this time.
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I will say about Maryland they are a ruckus crowd they do care about basketball just haven't had much to really root for the past couple of years
 
#127      
ptgrd23
JMO - we allowed Ole Miss to defensively physically dominate us. All our passes were lateral (not toward basket). We had no penetration. Tomas and DGL were only people who had good games. We had 22 turnovers and shot 10-19 on FT. Morez really needs to work on his FT shooting.

Now that we are past first game/scrimmage jitters I think we will play much better vs Bama. Riley could put up 40. KJ could get a triple double. Humrichous could nail 4-5 3 pointers. Tomas could score 20. The potential is there!
 
#128      
Get yourself a new map
NarrowJ said:
My normally optimistic self is having trouble not seeing us lose this game in similar fashion as we did the Ole Miss exhibition.

I think we will struggle to guard their quick & athletic perimeter players and Omoruyi will clean up rebounds on both ends. While they do have a freshman starter, they're also much more seasoned/experienced.

That said, if this game were played in March '25 then I think we're a lot closer to them.

96-78 Bama

PS, still think we have at least a 2nd weekend team here. But we won't see that kind of quality until maybe halfway through the conference slate.
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Purdue played as well as they can play and they don't win if both teams shoot similarly. Purdue 9-16 from three and 'Bama 9-29 (on objectively high-quality looks). I don't see that happening on Wednesday but will note that Nelson's mobility looks limited for now - he's been dealing with various injuries since the spring. Purdue 46% as a team from deep on the season is just stupid, btw.
Sears only 4 ft attempts the other night but I swear he drew an additional 5 fouls just on the dribble. Gotta be wary of that whistle. Biggest worry is that the non-Illini games I've watched have had a different feel to them with regards to how hard the teams are playing. Just seems like guys are flying around more, whereas we have guys standing around without the ball, not attacking the rim hard with the ball, fewer steals than our opponent in every game so far.
 
#129      
sacraig
RichardKeenesCousin said:
you are my spirit (animal) poster. Favorite player from each team? Ill go first. Kendall Gill/Kenny Battle, Kurt Kittner or Jason Verdusko, Ozzie/Willie, Hull/Oates, and Reggie White.
Best Friends Friend GIF by PermissionIO
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Well, your username involves Richard Keene, suggesting we may be originally from the same town or school district.

Favorite players is a tough one...
Dee (probably, but this is really hard)

Kittner is a strong play. Hard for me to not say Mendenhall, though. Or I could say Nitschke and double count it with Green Bay.

Gotta be Ozzie for me. Yadi is up there, too.

Hull (I won't count Gretzky 🤣)

Probably Driver unless I do the Nitschke cop out. Reggie is a good pick, too, though. And I feel I owe a hat tip to Woodson but it's hard to do that for a Wolverine.
 
#131      
sacraig
Vinegarben said:
The Illini need a signature win to get some respect! Alabama would be a great place to get it!
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We just got ranked today, so if say we are at least somewhat respected.

It's a long season in a too conference. We'll have our opportunity to earn respect.

Though I agree, I hope it starts tomorrow.
 
#134      
Fighter of the Nightman
Iamgroot said:
I will say about Maryland they are a ruckus crowd they do care about basketball just haven't had much to really root for the past couple of years
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They’re hard to describe. While that arena can get crazy and they still live in my head as a “basketball school,” their lows for fan enthusiasm are closer to Penn State than Illinois or MSU or some of the other more successful programs. Like, they draw some awful crowds sometimes - crowds you never saw in Champaign even during the Groce years.
 
#137      
blackdog
Fighter of the Nightman said:
They’re hard to describe. While that arena can get crazy and they still live in my head as a “basketball school,” their lows for fan enthusiasm are closer to Penn State than Illinois or MSU or some of the other more successful programs. Like, they draw some awful crowds sometimes - crowds you never saw in Champaign even during the Groce years.
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They make the most cynical Illini Fan look like a bright ray of sunshine.
 
#138      
21ChampaignSt
I'm most curious to see if we'll be able to get open for quality looks consistently against this type of opponent. If we're going to shoot threes at a high rate, we need to be able to create quality shot opportunities. We've done that well enough so far but it's hard to tell how much of that is simply due to being bigger, faster, stronger, and more talented than our competition.
 
#140      
ILLI die hard
If Alabama bullies and hand checks hard against our young and slighter players it could be an ugly game. Much the same way Oakland used their bullying tactics, Refs gotta be aware and make the calls.
 
#143      
illini12345
Anyone going to the game and know if there is a pregame alumni meet up? I've seen these before for other non-conference away games, wasn't sure where to find the info on them.
 
#145      
Fighter of the Nightman
This will be the 18th time this millennium that we have played a top 10 non-conference opponent away from home and the fifth time in the Underwood Era. Brad is on a 2-game winning streak in such games. :cool: Overall, we are 7-11 in such contests. However, 4 of our 11 losses unfortunately occurred in the historically bad dark stretch lasting from Dee and James leaving campus to the first year Underwood really dug us out of the hole Groce left him in (2019-20).

Underwood Era
2023 - W 79-70 vs. #8 UCLA (Las Vegas, NV)
2021 - W 83-68 at #10 Duke
2021 - L 69-82 vs. #2 Baylor (Indianapolis, IN)
2019 - L 78-84 vs. #3 Gonzaga (Maui)

Groce Era
2016 - L 73-84 vs. #4 Iowa State (Niceville, FL)
2015 - L 59-73 vs. #7 Villanova (New York, NY)
2013 - W 85-74 at #10 Gonzaga

Weber Era
2011 - L 64-75 vs. #9 Missouri (St. Louis, MO)
2004 - L 81-88 vs. #10 North Carolina (Greensboro, NC)

Self Era
2002 - W 72-61 vs. #8 Missouri (St. Louis, MO)
2002 - L 82-87 vs. #7 Arizona (Phoenix, AZ)
2002 - L 63-76 at #5 Maryland
2001 - W 81-73 vs. #7 Arizona (Chicago, IL)
2001 - L 77-78 vs. #1 Duke (Greensboro, NC)
2001 - L 76-79 vs. #1 Arizona (Maui)
2001 - W 90-80 vs. #6 Maryland (Maui)

Kruger Era
2000 - W 84-70 vs. #8 Kansas (Chicago, IL)
 
#147      
I-L-L 1318
Will this count as neutral in the NET? Off-campus, but ultimately, I imagine it will be more of a road game for us than Bama
 
#150      
JKR
ILLI die hard said:
If Alabama bullies and hand checks hard against our young and slighter players it could be an ugly game. Much the same way Oakland used their bullying tactics, Refs gotta be aware and make the calls.
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...or Ole Miss.
 
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