Pregame: Big Ten Tournament

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#126      
skyIdub
D1959 said:
We can’t handle Maryland inside
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#127      
Fighter of the Nightman
aaeismacgychel said:
By the way, for all the Maryland talk going on, we have to beat OSU first (unless Iowa pulls off a shocking upset). They haven't been playing well of late but they have shown signs of waking up. They also have been better on the road than at home this season, winning @Mackey and beating Kentucky and Texas on Neutral courts. While we should still beat OSU when we're playing our best, I do not expect them to be a pushover whatsoever, especially if they get some confidence after playing an Iowa team that can't defend. Gut feel is OSU will give us all we can ask for, and it'll be good to see how we respond and close them out in a tournament environment.
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It always seems like Ohio State gives us a really tough game and plays above average against us, at least since Liddell was there.
 
#128      
RockfordIllini
If we do play OSU, hopefully our adjustments on ball screen coverages help. We can’t trail behind Thornton. He will drop in floaters all night.
 
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#132      
Fighter of the Nightman
I-L-L 1318 said:
Hopefully we can continue our run here and throughout the NCAAT. I want to prolong watching KJ and especially as of late, Will in the O & B. He has been a menace and has come a long way rebounding and on the defensive end.
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Agreed. I understand people wanting us to "get rest" before the NCAA Tournament, but even if you play on Sunday, that is multiple days' rest before the NCAAT First Round. In short ... I want to hang another BTT banner, and I want more games with this squad. Watching last year's team win it all in Minneapolis was awesome, and it will NEVER get old seeing Illini players hoist a trophy. I also don't buy whatsoever that winning the BTT is in any way bad for a team's NCAA Tournament prospects ... I think that was a short-lived myth that REALLY gained steam from 2021 Illinois, 2022 Iowa and 2023 Purdue going down in flames in the NCAA Tournament. However, if you look back at the full history of BTT champions...

1998 Michigan ... Second Round as #3 seed
1999 Michigan State ... Final Four as #1 seed
2000 Michigan State ... National Champions as #1 seed
2001 Iowa ... Second Round as #7 seed
2002 Ohio State** ... N/A (banned from NCAAT that year)
2003 Illinois ... Second Round as #4 seed
2004 Wisconsin ... Second Round as #6 seed
2005 Illinois ... National Championship Game as #1 seed
2006 Iowa ... First Round as #3 seed
2007 Ohio State ... National Championship Game as #1 seed
2008 Wisconsin ... Sweet Sixteen as #3 seed
2009 Purdue ... Sweet Sixteen as #5 seed
2010 Ohio State ... Sweet Sixteen as #2 seed
2011 Ohio State ... Sweet Sixteen as #1 seed
2012 Michigan State ... Sweet Sixteen as #1 seed
2013 Ohio State ... Elite Eight as #2 seed
2014 Michigan State ... Elite Eight as #4 seed
2015 Wisconsin ... National Championship Game as #1 seed
2016 Michigan State ... First Round as #2 seed
2017 Michigan ... Sweet Sixteen as #7 seed
2018 Michigan ... National Championship Game as #3 seed
2019 Michigan State ... Final Four as #2 seed
2021 Illinois ... Second Round as #1 seed
2022 Iowa ... First Round as #5 seed
2023 Purdue ... First Round as #1 seed
2024 Illinois ... Elite Eight as #3 seed

So of 25 BTT champions eligible to participate in the NCAA Tournament, we had...
- 21 of 25 at least make the Second Round (with 2 of the 4 failures being Iowa :ROFLMAO: )
- 16 of 25 made the Sweet Sixteen or beyond.
- 10 of 25 made the Elite Eight or beyond.
- 7 of 25 made it to the Final Four.
- 5 played for a National Championship, and 1 actually won it all.

Put another way, of the 9 Big Ten teams that played for a National Championship since the BTT began, over half of those teams won the BTT.
 
#134      
Fighter of the Nightman
Hoping to see a ton of Illini fans in Indy on Thursday and (hopefully) Friday! It kind of sucks we share a session with Purdue on Thursday, but there will still be plenty of tickets available. Let's also hope Purdue goes down on Thursday night and we win, as then tickets for the Friday night session would likely feature Maryland, Michigan, Illinois and either Rutgers or USC ... Illinois would EASILY outdraw every team in that window, IMO. It would also be nice if Indiana lost early on Thursday morning to make it even easier for Illini fans to swarm Indy!
 
#135      
ptgrd23
Always good to win the BTT. Championship game is on Sunday and earliest NCAA tourney game is Thursday or Friday so 3 to 4 days rest.

The trade off of rest vs a better seed. Winning the tourney probably adds 4 quad wins. Making us 12-9 Quad 1 and 25-11. Hopefully that would move us from 6-7 seed to 4-5 seed.
 
#136      
IlliniFan42
BalloonsTheElephant said:
20 wins a season with a more modern schedule (4-5 P2 teams, not just 11 cupcakes) is a real feat. 20 used to be the number that was seen as the cutoff line for making the tournament, which is why people played so many cupcakes.

We had 3 non-con losses to top 5 teams which is pretty crazy. Teams are getting penalized for playing weak schedules in the non-con now. It's all metric-based, and if you play a lot of good teams and exceed expectations, they will look favorably on you.
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This is why St. John's surprises me. Their non-con is a whole lotta nothing, but they're ranked very highly because they never embarrassed themselves.
 
#150      
TAK15illini
WolfpackIllini said:
So Morez gets 3 days' practice.
Not enuf, but better than 2.
Glad to have him back, in a big way!
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Of all our players, Morez needs the least amount of practice time to contribute. He is not a ball handler and he does not shoot much beyond 5 feet. Anybody else would show significant rust. His game now is see the ball....get the ball...dunk he ball. Defend, take up space, and rebound. I'm thrilled to have him back!!
 
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