Pregame: Illinois vs Penn State, Wednesday, January 8th, 8:00pm CT, BTN

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#80      
SeattleSlim
illiram said:
So happy for Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn. He has provided a spark off the bench that we may have been missing. That block against Washington was extremely impressive (called a foul but I do not think it was a foul). The guy is lightning fast and a great defender.

Illini 89
Penn State 71
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Dre reminds me of a more skilled, more athletic Larry … Lubin!
 
#83      
Vinegarben
Illini need to put the coast trips behind them and focus on Penn State then each game after 1 at a time. I am hoping they come out and finally put a beat down on the Lions and not be lulled to sleep again! Illini 94-76
 
#84      
sacraig
SeattleSlim said:
Dre reminds me of a more skilled, more athletic Larry … Lubin!
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Drawing Motivation GIF
 
#85      
aaeismacgychel
First home game back after a very successful road trip is always tricky, and short rest against a team that always seems to play plays well above their average against us adds to the complications. In my opinion this is a just an even if we win by 1 in the ugliest of fashions, you call it a good win type of game. Anything more than that and I'm thrilled. Just win this and move on.
 
#86      
Fighter of the Nightman
OrangeBlue98 said:
Honestly, any loss to Penn State is a bad loss. There's just no reason Illinois shouldn't be winning 95% of games against Penn State and Northwestern.
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Eh, I have kind of moved away from this type of thinking. The Big Ten is just SO deep these days, and a good coach can succeed at bringing talent anywhere ... look at the team Shrewsberry built at PSU before bolting. Not to mention, there are probably quite a few casual/bandwagon fans in Pennsylvania that live and breath PSU football and would gladly jump on the bandwagon for PSU hoops if they ever got good for a sustained period.

With that said ... too many of our losses to PSU have literally been superior Illini teams losing to less talented PSU teams, often blowing leads and collapsing. That HAS to stop.
 
#87      
Fighter of the Nightman
aaeismacgychel said:
First home game back after a very successful road trip is always tricky, and short rest against a team that always seems to play plays well above their average against us adds to the complications. In my opinion this is a just an even if we win by 1 in the ugliest of fashions, you call it a good win type of game. Anything more than that and I'm thrilled. Just win this and move on.
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I was actually just thinking that I really wish we could flip these games. I would feel a lot more comfortable playing USC first and getting PSU after a week of practice. I still think Penn State is a very dangerous team (let's remember that they are 12-3, including a close road loss and a convincing win vs. Purdue), and I worry about our rest.

With that said, there is a reason we will be favored by a decent amount ... we should win, period. It's HIGH time we get back to simply not expecting a loss at the House of 'Paign.
 
#90      
RabidDawgClassic
Guest said:
Didn’t Illinois come back down to earth when they played Washington? So, hopefully, they are well-grounded now.
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As much as I would’ve like to have seen us extend our 17 point lead and win by 32 or more at Washington, I can’t help but feel this game was a necessary step in our continuing evolution. We needed to have a road game where we faced great adversity on a night where the shots weren’t falling yet able to come away with a win. Mission accomplished. On to the next growth step.

Our evolution has been as followed:

Ole Miss — Who the hell are we?
Alabama — We’re nowhere near our potential.
Arkansas — Okay, maybe we got something here.
Northwestern — Life on the road in the B1G
Wisconsin — Regroup, overcome a setback
Tennessee — Gotta learn how to win
Mizzou — Learned how to win a close one.
Oregon — Recognizing vast potential.
Washington— Humbled, but found a way.

My hoped for evolution step for the Penn State game is to exorcise ghosts that only DGL is familiar with and make a home court statement. Then continuing that statement at home vs an underachieving USC squad. The big steps happen immediately after.
 
#91      
aaeismacgychel
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I was actually just thinking that I really wish we could flip these games. I would feel a lot more comfortable playing USC first and getting PSU after a week of practice. I still think Penn State is a very dangerous team (let's remember that they are 12-3, including a close road loss and a convincing win vs. Purdue), and I worry about our rest.

With that said, there is a reason we will be favored by a decent amount ... we should win, period. It's HIGH time we get back to simply not expecting a loss at the House of 'Paign.
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For sure agree with your last statement. As most of us well know, reclaiming Assembly Hall as The House of Paign many of usrecall from our days as students in the crowd is huge. Teams in the 00s absolutely feared walking into our building and fans expected a win every time regardless of opponent. And there's a definite argument to be made that teams with national title aspirations win these games.

The caveat though is that 1st home games after successful road trips are pretty dangerous for good teams. There's a lot more data available at the professional sports level, but to summarize, the differential in performance is about ballpark to your traditional home court advantage. There's lots of theories on why this is, but it's a real thing. Point is, fans need to show up for this one not only expecting a win, but supporting this team loudly even if there are struggles.

Maybe we show up and blow PSU out, that'd be awesome. But if this one is a tight one, and especially if it's a really ugly game, the fans influencing a possession or two can make the difference between a win and a loss. Fans gotta be on their A game in this one in my opinion.
 
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#92      
ILL-Intentions
Are students back and class in session? I'm sure we fill the stands regardless but am I wrong in saying there is a definite energy difference when class is not in session?
 
#93      
RollChief
#96      
Cook
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Eh, I have kind of moved away from this type of thinking. The Big Ten is just SO deep these days, and a good coach can succeed at bringing talent anywhere ... look at the team Shrewsberry built at PSU before bolting. Not to mention, there are probably quite a few casual/bandwagon fans in Pennsylvania that live and breath PSU football and would gladly jump on the bandwagon for PSU hoops if they ever got good for a sustained period.

With that said ... too many of our losses to PSU have literally been superior Illini teams losing to less talented PSU teams, often blowing leads and collapsing. That HAS to stop.
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This, on any given day etc. etc. But it has to be that they beat you, not that you beat yourself/collapsed...
 
#98      
DeeIL89
Penn State has been a thorn our side. I believe we have lost 4 straight to them. Defend home court and win this. Ace Baldwin will no doubt be assign to defend KJ and Ace will try to be just as frantic to KJ as Ziegler was in the Tennessee. They're going to try to get KJ to be turnover prone in this one. Also, let not part the red sea in the lane for Nick Kern like we did last season. Lol.
 
#99      
BillyBob1
DeeIL89 said:
Penn State has been a thorn our side. I believe we have lost 4 straight to them. Defend home court and win this. Ace Baldwin will no doubt be assign to defend KJ and Ace will try to be just as frantic to KJ as Ziegler was in the Tennessee. They're going to try to get KJ to be turnover prone in this one. Also, let not part the red sea in the lane for Nick Kern like we did last season. Lol.
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This needs to be turned around like we did with Wisconsin.
 
#100      
CrazyIlliniLady
SeattleSlim said:
Don’t know how many here ever saw Larry L. play but, to me, he always looked like he’d just been shot out of a cannon. Much less skilled and athletic than Dra, but played fast.
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I saw him play, and knew him in college. He was a freshman on Lou Henson's first team, and a senior on the team that beat Magic Johnson's Michigan State team. That was unfortunately the highlight of that year, It was all downhill from there. MSU went on to beat Larry Birds' Indiana State team in the NCAA finals. I do remember Larry as being fast, but I don't think he had Dra's hops, never saw him take it to the hoop like Dra.
 
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