DeonThomas
- South Carolina
Ditto with Purdue last night in their victory over FSU.
Pregame: Illinois vs Rutgers, Friday, December 3rd, 6:00pm CT, ESPN2
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RJ has been solid as well. Going to be fun watching those two develop.
Looking only at minutes played, just about everyone has 50+ minutes this season. Been a lot of unusual circumstances to leave the team short-handed, but we've been able to see some highs and lows across the roster. IMO we haven't played like a top-25 team so far, but I think our ceiling is easily in that group.
While it's easy to criticize the struggles, I expect this has been a nightmare for the coaching staff, not having consistency in practice and games. And if you look around the rest of the NCAA, there's a lot of inconsistency this time of year. As long as the guys get healthy and keep improving, should be a fun season. We're going to need patience though.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Totally agree. Johnson transferring out leaves Rutgers exposed against a guy like Kofi.
Captain Bubbles
- Fairfield, IL
I'm surprised my post generated over 20 likes. Thanks Kathy. However, I live a busy life these days. I may chip in every now and then. Just enjoy reading these posts from afar.
Captain Bubbles
- Fairfield, IL
One more thought I have before going incognito...
Thinking back on the shots Illinois made against ND. We can talk about the treys they drained, or the free throws made down the stretch. One of the biggest shots of the game that no one is talking about was Kofi sinking that mid-range jumper. You look at how he's progressed from the first time he stepped onto campus and now...what a story it is.
The mid-range game is beautiful. We didn't see Kofi hit those mid-range jumpers during his freshman year. Now, he's hitting them. Adding another dimension to his inside game.
Thinking back on the shots Illinois made against ND. We can talk about the treys they drained, or the free throws made down the stretch. One of the biggest shots of the game that no one is talking about was Kofi sinking that mid-range jumper. You look at how he's progressed from the first time he stepped onto campus and now...what a story it is.
The mid-range game is beautiful. We didn't see Kofi hit those mid-range jumpers during his freshman year. Now, he's hitting them. Adding another dimension to his inside game.
It’’a not only the mid range shot. This year Kofi looks like a basketball player and not just a big dude. Think he was a little pumped up and tried to do too much vs cincy, but has generally made the right read (ie score or pass from block) since.
We may not win the BIG and may wind up with a lower seed (maybe 4-6), but still think this team has a higher ceiling than last year once we get everyone back and figure out a few things.
foby
- Bonnaroo Land
Agree Kofi has a lot of targets to dish off
plus gelling together more and more
Cohesiveness
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Loved the end of that ND highlights clip:
"What did we learn about the Illini tonight?"
"When they're healthy good things are going to happen."
Yep. Convinced of that. So let's get healthy, stat, and continue to make good things happen in the meantime. Wish we could push Iowa to January.
"What did we learn about the Illini tonight?"
"When they're healthy good things are going to happen."
Yep. Convinced of that. So let's get healthy, stat, and continue to make good things happen in the meantime. Wish we could push Iowa to January.
I'd like to push Iowa into the ocean.
Wasn't that the year we beat no. 1 MSU, probably would have been ranked no. 1 but then lost our next game. Was a much smaller NCAA field back then.
I want to see AC come back and not force things and just find the open man and distribute and not feel like he has to do too much. The teamed played under control and had good spacing. They were all involved and were pretty cohesive. I don't want to see the helter skelter frenetic pace that leads to a disruption in the chemistry and flow. AC can do great things but I think he needs to pump the brakes a bit!
Kofi with a Maverick Morgan short corner jumper would push him towards college basketball God status.
If they pressure our guards, AC needs to move the ball and not try to dribble out of it. When he dribbles everyone stands around waiting for him to do something and there is no movement. No one knows where he is going next so they stand and watch. All of his dribbling also consumes too much time. What happened to the 7 second shot? To get that the ball needs to move by passing not dribbling by one player.
Is Curbelo playing? If so, do you think he has the bad judgment risks out of his system yet?
I don't know his health status as of now but he has proven to be a flat out baller and I'm confident he's going to play well moving forward. You just know Coach Underwood won't settle for less.
Hopefully we bring it strong against Rutgers. GO ILLINI!
What’s the spread for tomorrow? I don’t see it on ESPN or Bleacher Report. I’m guessing -6/-7 Illini?
Amen!
Going 4 OTs isn't ideal with only 1 day off before your next game.
Chad Fleck
- Eureka, IL
Nebraska went 4 OTs.
Not Rutgers.
I can understand getting them mixed up.
Illinois does get an extra day of rest over Rutgers, which is good.
well yah but that bleeds over to all conference teams with red school colors. I thought that much was obvious?
They could be waiting on Geo Baker's availability (or Curbelo's, though I think there's less of a chance there).
ESPN doesn’t currently have spreads for any Friday games. Probably sometime today.
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